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Full text of "The military and civil history of Connecticut during the war of 1861-65 : comprising a detailed account of the various regiments and batteries, through march, encampment, bivouac, and battle, also instances of distinguished personal gallantry, and biographical sketches of many heroic soldiers, together with a record of the patriotic action of citizens at home, and of the liberal support furnished by the state in its executive and legislative departments"

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X 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

LEDYARD  BILL, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


GEO.  C.  RAND  &  AVERY,  STEREOTYPERS  AND  PRINTERS,  BOSTON. 


LATE  SPEAKER 
OF  THE  CONNECTICUT  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES; 

A     PATRIOT 

WHOSE     ONLY     SON     FELL     IN    DEFENSE    OF     HIS     COUNTRY, 

AND  WHOSE  MANY  ACTS  OF  KINDNESS  HAVE  ENDEARED  HIM 

TO  THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CONNECTICUT; 


THE  RECORD  OF  THEIR  SERVICES  AND  SUFFERINGS, 
IS    CORDIALLY    DEDICATED. 


M18831 


PREFACE. 


THE  History  of  Connecticut  during  the  late  civil  war  was  announced  by 
Chaplain  John  M.  Morris  more  than  two  years  ago,  and  was  promised  to 
the  Publisher  more  than  a  year  ago  ;  but  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  precise 
information  was  vastly  greater  than  had  been  anticipated,  while  many  im 
perative  duties  of  the  projector  consumed  much  coveted  time.  To  prevent 
further  delay,  an  arrangement  was  made  whereby  "W.  A.  Croffut  became 
associated  in  the  labor.  The  book  has  been  mainly  written  by  Mr.  Croffut, 
from  materials  carefully  collected  by  Mr.  Morris.  It  is  proper  to  bear  tes 
timony,  here,  to  the  patient  persistence,  State  pride,  and  devotedness  to  the 
cause,  which  luftve  been  exhibited  by  the  Publisher,  in  overcoming  the  obsta 
cles  that  so  long  postponed  a  completion  of  the  volume. 

This  work  aims  to  give  a  fair,  accurate,  and  reasonably  complete  narra 
tive  of  the  services  of  the  soldiers  of  Connecticut  in  the  field,  with  a  briefer 
record  of  the  patriotic  support  furnished  by  citizens  at  home.*  It  presents 
no  scientific  discussion  of  strategy,  and  no  pi-ofound  reflections  on  the  causes 
and  results  of  the  war  for  the  Union. 

We  offer  no  elaborate  description  of  battles,  except  at  the  points  where 
the  regiments  of  our  State  were  involved  :  but  troops  fought  under  the  tri- 
vined  flag  in  every  rebellious  State,  and  in  almost  every  important  engage 
ment  ;  so  that  we  rise  from  our  wo.rk  to  find  that  the  story  of  the  soldiers  of 
Connecticut,  presents,  with  singular  completeness,  the  story  of  the  war. 

This  general  outline  is  rendered  more  palpable  by  the  fact,  that,  instead 
of  following  the  plan  of  giving  each  regimental  record  complete  in  itself, 
and  detached  from  all  the  rest,  we  have  rather  tried  to  group  events  that 
are  synchronous,  and  carry  forward  the  whole  with  something  of  the  con 
secutive  method  of  history. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate,  even  approximately,  the  number  of  men, 
much  more  the  aggregate  of  power  and  character,  which  Connecticut  con 
tributed  to  the  war.  On  every  great  battle-field  her  sons  and  grandsons 
lie.  In  the  regiments  of  every  State  they  bore  muskets  and  held  commis 
sions.  In  every  pivotal  hour  of  the  war,  leaders  appeared  among  the  fore 
most,  who  went  back  to  her  sterile  but  man-nourishing  soil  for  elements 
of  strength,  skill,  and  valor.  Not  only  Winthrop,  Ellsworth,  Lyon,  Poote, 
Sedgwick,  Mansfield,  Wadsworth,  McClellan,  Mower,  Wright,  Terry,  but 
William  Tecumseh  Sherman  and  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  sprang  straight  from 
the  loins  of  our  sturdy  little  Commonwealth. 

"  The  soldiers  fight,  and  the  kings  are  heroes,"  says  a  quaint  proverb 
of  the  Talmud.  It  were  an  easy  task  to  enumerate  the  illustrious  officers, 
l  i 


ii  PREFACE.  , 

who  were  lifted  up  in  the  gaze  of  all  the  world  ;  but  there  is  a  sense  of 
pain  and  profound  sorrow  in  the  consciousness  that  it  is  impossible  to 
render  justice  to  the  nameless  rank  and  file  who  never  wore  even  a  corpo 
ral's  chevron,  but  held  to  their  duty  with  sublime  patience.  The  last  of  the 
color-guard,  who  seized  the  standard  that  had  dropped  from  the  relaxed 
grasp  of  his  comrades,  and  bore  it  on,  and  planted  it  and  stood  by  it  on  the 
edge  of  the  rebel  rifle-pit  ;  the  martyr  who  perished  in  prison,  and  ever 
since  has  been  marked  "missing"  upon  the  roll  of  regimental  casualties; 
the  thousand  glorious  obscure,  who  were  mown  down  by  the  flaming  blade 
of  battle,  and  died  singing  songs  of  triumph,  and  praying  for  the  establish 
ment  of  Liberty  and  Law,  —  these  are  the  true  he-roes  and  martyrs  of  all 
the  wars  of  the  world.  But,  in  a  book  of  limited  scope,  we  have  no  alter 
native  but  to  mention  the  officer  as  the  unit  standing  for  his  command. 

Connecticut  sent  to  the  struggle  fifty  thousand  soldiers  in  her  own  regi 
ments,  and  probably  half  as  many  more  in  the  regiments  of  other  States. 
A  simple  catalogue  of  their  names  and  muster 'would  fill  two  books  as  large 
as  this  ;  while  a  complete  chronicle  of  the  service  of  all  heY  faithful  sons 
would  require  a  volume  for  each.  Yet  we  have  striven  to  record  every  act 
of  conspicuous  gallantry  or  merit  that  has  come  to  our  knowledge,  without 
regard  to  rank,  feeling  rather  that  rare  devotedness  was  nobler  in  the  un- 
titled  hero,  who  had  little  incentive  of  military  ambition,  and  little  hope 
that  his  deed  would  ever  be  marked  or  mentioned. 

In  treating  of  affairs  at  home,  we  have  kept  strictly  to  what  had  a  direct 
bearing  on  the  war  j  and,  in  touching  upon  local  politics,  we  have  written 
in  the  spirit  of  fairness. 

In  presenting  the  statistics  of  patriotic  benevolence  we  confess  to  a  dis 
appointment.  No  people  beset  by  war  ever  gave,  of  their  own  free  will,  so 
lavishly  as  ours  ;  and  we  hoped  to  compile  a  record  of  this  liberality,  so 
specific  and  so  remarkable,  as  to  amaze  the  dwellers  in  this  peaceful  land 
when  our  villages  shall  have  become  cities,  and  our  farms  suburban  gardens. 
But  we  find  that  our  towns,  societies,  and  churches  kept,  in  most  instances, 
no  systematic  record  whatever.  The  meager  facts  submitted  will  probably 
be  received  as  possessing  a  certain  interest  and  value. 

It  is  also  proper  to  say  that  the  portraits  which  appear  in  this  volume 
have  been  selected  with  regard  not  only  to  the  merits  of  the  subjects,  but 
also  to  the  desirableness  of  representing  different  regiments,  every  rank, 
and  all  sections  of  the  State. 

Instead  of  relying  upon  some  officer  of  each  regiment  to  write  the  his 
tory  of  its  service,  we  have  preferred  to  have  the  whole  book  grow  up  un 
der  our  own  hand  ;  and  to  this  end  we  have  gathered  facts  with  diligence 
and  care  from  official  reports,  diaries,  scrap-books,  newspapers,  private 
letters,  personal  interviews,  and  every  available  source,  seeking  corrobora- 
tion  as  far  as  practicable.  By  this,  we  have  incurred  an  enormous  labor ; 
but  we  have  secured  absolute  impartiality,  and  have  attained,  we  trust, 
substantial  accuracy,  even  in  the  multiplicity  of  detail  and  circumstance. 


PREFACE.  iii 

Many  gentlemen  have  placed  at  our  disposal  sketches,  letters,  documents, 
and  valuable  material.  Our  acknowledgments  are  duly  expressed  in  these 
plages.  There  are  a  few  to  whom  we  feel  peculiarly  indebted,  —  Col.  Philo 
B.  Buckingham ;  Capt.  T.  F.  Vaill  of  the  Second  Artillery  ;  Lieut.-Col. 
William  S.  Cogswell  of  the  Fifth  ;  Chaplain  II.  S.  DeForest  of  the  Elev 
enth  ;  Capt.  II.  P.  Goddard  of  the  Fourteenth ;  Cap"t.  Henry  G.  Mar 
shall  »and  Enoch  E.  Rogers  of  the  Fifteenth  ;  Chaplain  TV.  C.  TValker  of 
the  Eighteenth  ;  Capt.  Luther  G.  Riggs  of  the  Twenty-second  ;  Lieut.-Col. 
David  Torrance  of  the  Twenty-ninth  ;  Lieut.  J.  II.  Lord  of  the  Second 
(three-months'  troops)  ;  and  John  M.  Douglass,  Esq.,  for  an  admirably- 
written  chronicle  of  the  part  borne  by  the  citizens  of  Middletown. 

It  is  hoped  that  no  critic  Avill  be  so  unjust  as  to  compare  this  volume 
with  the  vast  and  eloquent  unwritten  history  of  the  war.  Keenly  will  the 
friends  of  many  noble  men  feel  that  we  have  failed  to  portray  the  self-deny 
ing  lives  and  valiant  deeds  of  their  heroes ;  but  they  can  not  more  than 
we  do.  Many,  even  of  the  worthy,  are  nameless  here;-  for  their  story 
has  never  been  told  us,  and  is  unrecorded.  The  whole  can  not  be  written. 
Our  facts  and  incidents  are  only  illustrative,  not  exhaustive.  They  may 
not  always  be  the  most  noteworthy  ;  but  they  are  the  best  at  our  command. 
'  It  is  hoped  that  some  compensation  for  any  omissions  of  this  kind  may 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  we  have  maintained  the  local  character  of  the 
work  by  introducing  as  much  personal  incident  as  could  be  added  without 
burdening  the  narrative.  Few  books  are  ever  published  that  are  so  full  of 
individual  achievement  and  experience. 

TVe  present  this  volume,  however,  with  confidence,  because  we  feel,  that, 
whatever  may  be  its  defects  of  construction,  much  will  be  preserved  in  it 
which  would  otherwise  be  lost,  and  much  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
whole  State,  which  has  hitherto  been  known  to  few  outside  of  town  or 
neighborhood.  It  may  tend  to  moderate  the  extravagant  estimate  which 
local  partiality  sometimes  places  on  individuals  ;  Jbut  it  can  hardly  fail  to 
exalt  the  general  impression  of  the  average  patriotism  and  efficiency. 

Deeds  of  daring  and  devotion  now  ennoble  the  records  of  every  town. 
A  filial  gathering  of  these  seeds  of  history  should  have  a  present  value  in 
nourishing  State  pride  and  stimulating  a  generous  public  spirit.  And  it 
can  not  but  be  prized  as  a  record  of  ancestral  sacrifice  by  the  generations 
to  come,  when  grandchildren  shall  cluster  around  the  chair  of  the  gray- 
haired  volunteer,  and  listen  while  he  tells  once  more  how  he  carried  the 
flag  at  Gettysburg,  and  when  the  venerable  dame  shall  resort  to  the  old 
bureau  fragrant  with  memories,  and  gaze  again  through  the  mists  at  the 
blue  coat  worn  by  one  who  went  to  battle  with  her  blessing,  and  died  joy 
fully  that  the  Republic  might  have  a  second  birth. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAOl 

Early  History  of  Connecticut.  —  The  Pequot  War.  —  First  American  Constitution.  —  Heavy 
Taxation.  —  Courage  of  the  New-Haven  Colony.  —  Character  of  the  Civil  Govern 
ment. —  The  King's  Officers  resisted.  —  The  Charter  preserved.  —  Connecticut  Decla-  , 
ration  of  Independence.  —  Putnam  at  Boston.  —  The  Statue  at  Litchfield. —  Brother 
Jonathan.  —  Connecticut  Men  capture  the  first  British  Flags  in  1812.  —  The  Blue- 
.  Laws.  —  Comparison  with  other  Colonies.  —  Pre-eminence  in  Mechanics.  —  First 
Steamboat,  Railroad,  and  Telegraph. — Influence  on  other  States  .  .  .  .13 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  War  begun  at  the  Ballot-Box.  — Elections  in  Connecticut  in  1860.  —  Attitude  of  Par 
ties.  —  Secession  becomes  Formidable.  —  Discussion  and  Recrimination.  —  Our  Repre 
sentatives  in  Congress.  —  Their  Action  on  Peace  Propositions.  —  Foresight  of  Gov. 
Buckingham.  —  The  Peace  Conference.  —  Hon.  Isaac  Toucey.  —  Spring  Election  of 
1861.  —  Connecticut  declares  for  Coercion 29 

CHAPTER    m. 

The  Fall  of  Sumter.  —  Enthusiasm  in  Connecticut.  —  "  Coercion"  accepted  as  a  Duty. — 
A  Battle-Sunday.  —  Winsted  and  New  Britain.  —  Sympathy  for  the  South.  —  The  Call 
for  the  First  Regiment.  —  Condition  of  our  Militia.  —  The  Massachusetts  Sixth.  —  The 
Towns  moving.  —  The  Hartford  Companies.  —  Meriden,  New  Haven,  Danbury,  Mid- 
dletown,  Norwich,  Derby,  Willimantic,  Mystic,  Putnam,  Danielsonville,  Bridgeport, 
Waterbury,  New  London,  Litchfield,  Wallingford,  Farmington,  Salisbury.  —  The  Old 
Flag 38 

CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Volunteers  uniformed  and  equipped.  —  Response  of  Wealthy  Men  and  Institutions. — 
Patriotic  Work  of  the  Women.  —  Another  Revolutionary  Sunday.  —  Call  for  Second 
and  Third  Regiments.  —  The  Troops  at  Rendezvous.  —  Outfit  completed.  —  In  Camp. 

—  Rations  and  Beds.  —  Contributions  flow  in.  —  Drill  and  Discipline.  —  Sage  Advice. 

—  Departure  of  the  Three  Regiments .66 

CHAPTER   V. 

Capt.  Dan  Tyler.  —  Henry  B.  Norton.  —  Cassius  M.  Clay  Guard.  — The  Fourth  Regiment. 

—  Towns  represented.  —  Departure.  —  Colt's  Revolving  Rifles. — It  becomes  the  Fifth 
Connecticut.  —  Towns  represented.  —  Home  Guard.  —  Yale  College.  —  The  General 
Assembly.  —  Message  of  the  Governor.  —  War  Legislation.  —  The    Constitutional 
Amendment. —  Great  Unanimity  of  Feeling. —  Independence  Day     .        .        .        .70 

CHAPTER   VI. 

The  First  and  Second  Regiments  in  Washington.  —  Welcome  Reception.  —  Camp  at  Glen- 
wood.— Joined  by  the  Third.— Death  of  Col.  Ellsworth.  — Ellsworth  of  Connecticut 
Stock.  —  "Invasion"  of  Virginia.  —  Ambush  at  Vienna.  —  Holding  the  Advanced  Post. 

—  Death  of  Theodore  Wintlirop.  — Sketch  of  his  Life  and  Character.  — Death  of  Capt. 
James  H.  Ward.  —  An  Advance.  —  Blackburn's  Ford.  —  Bull  Rur .  —  Gen.  Tyler  be 
gins  the  Battle.  —  The  Army  betrayed.  —  Behavior  of  Connecticut  Troops.  —  The  Last 
on  the  Field.  —  They  act  as  Rear-Guard  in  the  Retreat.  —  Good  Order  maintained.— 
They  bring  off  Public  Property.  —  Home,  and  Muster-out 83 

6 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

PAOB 

The  Effect  of  the  Defeat  at  Bull  R'.in.  —  Second  Uprising.  —  The  Fifth  Regiment  goes  to 
Harper's  Ferry.  —  Six  Regiments  begun.  —  A  Squadron  of  Cavalry. —  Peace-Flags  and 
Peace-Meetings. —  Seymour's  Resolutions.  —  Concurrent  Action. —  Goshen,  Bloom- 
field,  Darien,  Easton,  Cornwall,  Sharon,  Prospect,  North  Guilford,  Stonington.  —  A 
New  Saybrook  Platform. —  New  Fairfield. —  The  Bridgeport  Farmer. —  How  Step 
ney  stopped  the  War.  —  The  Farmer  Office  sacked.  —  Gov.  Buckingham's  Proclama 
tion. —  Life  and  Character  of  Gen.  Lyon.  —  His  Bravery  and  Decision.  —  His  Heroic 
Death 101 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  Fourth  in  Maryland.  —  Dissatisfaction  and  Insubordination.  —  The  Fifth  on  the  Poto 
mac. —  Recruiting  active.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh,  and  Eighth.  —  Towns  represented. 

—  Departure.  —  Sixth  and  Seventh  at  Washington  and  Annapolis.  —  Eighth  on  Long 
Island.  —  "The   Sons  of  Connecticut."  —  Ninth   Regiment   organized.  —  "All   Full 
Companies"  accepted.  —  The  Tenth. —  Towns  represented.  —  Eighth  and  Tenth  at 

*  Annapolis.  —  Meetings  and  Social  Intercourse.  —  The  Eleventh.  —  Recruiting. — 
Towns  represented.  —  The  Regiment  embarks  for  Annapolis. —  Port-Royal  Expedi 
tion. —  Landing  of  the  Sixth  and  Seventh.  —  First  Union  Troops  in  South'Carolina. — 
Tyler  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Fourth.  —  The  New  Discipline.  —  Exposure  and  Priva 
tions  of  the  Fifth 117 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Extra  Session  of  the  Legislature. —  Governor's  Message.  —  A.  Carte  Blanche.  —  More  Regi 
ments  authorized.  —  Gen.  Butler  and  the  Twelfth.  —  A  Light  Battery  and  a  Battalion 
of  Cavalry.  —  At  Meriden.  —  Off  for  the  War.  — -  The  Ninth  badly  equipped.  —  Twelfth 
in  Camp  at  Hartford.  —  Thirteenth  in  Barracks  at -New  Haven.  —  Ninth  and  Twelfth  • 
at  Ship  Island.  —  Blockading.  —  The  "Stone  Fleet."  —  Effect  on  the  Harbors  of  the 
South 135 

CHAPTER    X; 

Patriotic  Benevolence.  —  The  Regiments  in  the  Field  supplied.  —  Sewing  and  Knitting. — 
Thar.ksgiviug  Day.  —  Soldiers'-aid  Societies.  —  Systematic  Effort.  —  Alfred  Walker. 

—  Thirteenth  at  New  Haven.  —  A  "  Dandy  Regiment." —  Off  for  Ship  Island.  —  The 
Ninth.  —  Dash  at  Biloxi  and  Pass  Christian.  —  Victory.  —  Trophies  and  Thanks  of 
Gen.  Butler. —  Capture  of  New  Orleans 148 

CHAPTER    XI. 

The  Eighth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh  leave  Annapolis.  —  Storm  off  Hatteras. —  Suffering  and 
Depression.  —  Battle  and  Capture  of  Roanoke  Island.  —  Death  of  C  A.  Charles  L.  Rus 
sell. —  Another  Movement. —  Battle  of  Newberne.  —  Death  of  Col.  A.  W.  Drake. — 
Incidents.  —  Siege  of  Fort  Macon 162 

CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Connecticut  Chaplains'-aid  Commission.  —  Chapel  Tents  and  Regimental  Libraries 
furnished.  —  Medical  Examining  Board.  —  Spring  Election  of  1862.  —  The  War  Spirit 
predominant.  —  Governor's  Message.  —  Legislative  Action.  —  Special  December  Ses 
sion. —  Party  Spirit  Rising.—  Cornelius  S.  Bushnell  builds  the  Monitor  .  .  .  182 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Sixth  embarks  for  Florida.  —  Return  to  Hilton  Head.  —  The  Seventh  goes  to  Tibee 
Island  to  besiege  Fort  Pulaski.  —  Labor  of  getting  the  Heavy  Mortars  in  Position.  — 
A  Case  of  Insanity.  —  Sixth  goes  to  Dawfuskie  Island  to  cut  off  the  Approaches 
from  Savannah.  —  Seventh  mans  the  Mortar  Batteries.  —  A  Connecticut  Affair. —  The 
Battle.  —  Surrender  of  the  Fort.  —  The  Sixth  and  Seventh  and  the  First  Connecticut 
Battery  at  James  Island.  —  Assault  on  Lamar's  Battery.  —  Severe  Fighting. — Re 
pulse  and  Withdrawal. —  Bad  Management  by  Gen.  Benham.  —  Casualties.  .  .  191 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

The  Fourth  becomes  the  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery.  —  Recruits.  —  Goes  with 
McClellan  to  the  Peninsula. —  "Siege"  of  Yorkiown.  —  The  Heavy  Batteries. — 
/'Ready."  —  Magruder  falls  back.  —  Detached  as  Infantry.  —  The  Seven-days'  Bat 
tles. — "Malvern  Hill.  —  Back  to  Arlington  Heights.  —  The  Connecticut  Battalion  of 
Cavalry.  —  Among  the  Mountains  of  West  Virginia.  —  After  Bushwhackers. —  Raids 
and  Incidents.  —  Battle  of  McDowell.  —  Charge  through  Wordensville.  —  Dash  into 
New  Market.  —  Ambush  at  Harrisonburg.  —  Cross  Keys.  —  Jackson  Ubiquitous. — 
The  Fifth  at  Winchester.  —  Battle  and  Repulse.  —  In  Maryland  again.  —  Slaughter  at 
Cedar  Mountain.  —  Bravery  and  Severe  Losses  of  the  Fifth.  —  Stone,  Blake,  Dutton, 
Smith 203 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

PAOB 

The  Summer  of  1862.  — The  Fourteenth  Regiment  called  for.  — The  Military  Situation.— 
Appeal  of  the  Executive. —  Enthusiastic  Response  by  the  People.  —  War-Meetings 
and  Local  Effort.  —  Recruiting  Committees.  —  The  Fourteenth  full. —  New  Haven 
raises  the  Fifteenth.  —  Hartford  recruits  the  Sixteenth.  —  Seventeenth  from  Fail-field 
County. —  Eighteenth  from  New- London  County. —  Nineteenth  from  Litchfield 
County.  —  Twentieth  and  Twenty-first  organi/ed. —  The  Second  Battery  goes  from 
Bridgeport.  —  All  assigned  to  the  "  Army  of  the  Potomac  " 222 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  Call  for  Seven  Regiments  of  Nine-months'  Men.  —  The  second  Great  Uprising. — Re 
cruiting  Active.  —  Meetings  and  Bounties.  —  A  Draft  announced.  —  The  Camps. — 
Exemption  sought.  —  Skulks  and  Cowards. —  The  Surgeons  besieged.  —  The  White- 
liver  Complaint. —  Incidents.  —  How  New  Haven  filled  her  Quota.  —  The  Day  of  the 
Draft.  —  The  Mountain  brings  forth.  —  All  the  Regiments  Full.  —  The  Twenty  second 
from  Hartford  and  Tolland  Counties.  —  Twenty-third  from  Fairfield  and  New  Haven. 
Twenty-fourth  from  Middlesex.  —  Twenty-fifth  from  Hartford.  —  Twenty-sixth  from 
New  London  and  Windham.  —  Twenty-seventh,  from  New  Haven. — Twenty-eighth 
from  Fail-field  and  Litchfield.  —  The  Rendezvous  on  Long  Island 240 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  Eighth  and  Eleventh  near  Newberne.  —  To  Newport  News.  —  Re-organization  of  the 
Eleventh. —  To  Fredericksburg. —  Pope,  defeated,  retreats  on  Washington. —  Col. 
Kingsbury  in  command  of  the  Brigade.  —  Arrival  in  Washington. —  Movement  into 
Maryland.  —  The  Fourteenth  and  Sixteenth  join  the  Column.  —  South  Mountain. — 
The  Affair  of  Turner's  Gap.  —  Choice  Rebel  Literature 255 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Battle  of  Antietam.  — Charge  of  the  Eleventh. —  Exploit  of  Capt.  Gibbons.  — The  Contest 
for  the  Stone.  Bridge.  —  Inexplicable  Conduct  of  ITurnside. —  Coolness  and  Efficiency 
of  the  Fourteenth^ —  Charge  of  Harland's  Brigade.  —  Capt.  Charles  L.  Upham's  Com- 
pany  capture  a  Battery.  —  Great  Bravery  of  the  Eighth. —  Gallant  Conduct  of  Col. 
Appelman.  —  Fatality  of  the  Color-Guard.  —  Harland  assumes  Command  of  Rodman's 
Division.  —  Severe  Losses.  —  Sufferings  of  the  Wounded. —  Corporal  Henry  A.  East 
man  of  the  Eleventh. —  Death  of  Col.  Kingsbury  and  others.  —  Total  Casualties  of 
the  Battle.  —  Death  of  Major-Gen.  Joseph  K.  F.  Mansfield. —  Biography  of  Mansfield. 

—  Retreat  of  Lee's  Army • 264 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Tardy  Pursuit  of  Lee.  — The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and 
Twenty-first  Connecticut  Volunteers. —  Gen.  Burnside  in  Command.  —  March  to  Fal- 
moutli.  —  The  Battle  of  Frederieksburg. —  Gallantry  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Twenty- 
seventh. —  Gen.  Harland's  Official  Report.  —  The  Disastrous  Repulse.  —  Whereabouts 
of  the  Fifth,  Seventeenth,  Twentieth,  and  Twenty-second. —  Private  Elias  Howe,  Jr. 

—  The  Army  Ration.  —  Camp  at  Stafford  Court  House 288 

CHAPTER    XX. 

The  First  Connecticut  Battery  and  Seventh  Regiment  in  Florida. —  Capture  of  St.  John's 
Bluff.  —  Sixth  and  Seventh  in  South  Carolina. —  Battle  of  Pocotaligo.  —  The  Twelfth 
at  Camp  Parapet.  —  Yankee  Enterprise.  —  Anecdotes  of  the  Thirteenth.  —  Services 
and  Sufferings  of  the  Ninth  at  Vicksburg.  —  The  Battle  of  Baton  Rouge.  —  The  La 
Fourche  Campaign. —  Battle  of  Georgia  Landing.  —  Thanksgiving.  —  The  Nine- 
months'  Regiments  leave  Long  Island.  —  The  Twenty-eighth  at  Pensacola. —  Destruc 
tion  of  a  Rebel  Gunboat 303 

CHAPTER    XXI. 


The  Vote. —  Eaton's  Resolutions  in  the  Assembly.  —  After  Fredericksburg.  — The 
Eighth,  Eleventh,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Twenty-first  at  Newport  News. —  Siege 
of  Suffolk.— Skirmishes  and  Reconnois.*ances.  —  Capture  of  Fort  Huger.  —  Raising 
of  the  Siege.  —  Evacuation.  —  "The  Blackberry  Raid." 


g  CONTENTS.  « 

*  * 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

PAGE 

The  Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers  at  Newberne.  —  Expedition  to  the  Interior.  —  The 
Tarborough  Scout.  —  Forage  and  Rations. —  An  Incident  of  Slavery.  —  The  Battle  of 
Kinston.  —  The  Tenth  at  the  Front.  —  The  Contest  for  .the  Bridge. — Complimented 
by  Gen.  Foster.  —  Heavy  Losses.  —  The  Railroad  destroyed  at  Goldsborough. —  Gal 
lantry. —To  St.  Helena  Island.  —  Camp  and  Surroundi'ngs. —  The  Eighteenth  Con 
necticut  Volunteers  still  at  Baltimore. — Joins  Milroy  at  Winchester.  —  The  Situation. 

—  Battle  of  the  First  Day.  —  The  Second  Day  at  the  Intrenchments.     The  Evacua 
tion. —  The  Charge  into  the  Woods.  —  Surrender  of  the  Eighteenth. —  Casualties. — 
Colors  saved 341 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Battle  of  Chancellorsville.  —  Advance  upon  the  Flank.  —  The  Fifth,  Fourteenth,  Seven 
teenth,  Twentieth,  and  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  Regiments  engaged.  —  The  llth 
Corps  overwhelmed  by  Stonewall  Jackson.  —  Terrible  Battle  of  May  3.  —  Heavy 
Losses  of  the  Twentieth  Connecticut  Volunteers.  —  The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment 
captured.  — r  A  New  Line  of  Battle.  —  Withdrawal  of  the  Army,  and  Failure  of  the 
Movement.  —  Losses  of  the  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  Prisoners  of  War  .  .  .358 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Race  of  the  Hostile  Armies  Northward.  —  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  —  The  Fifth,  Fourteenth, 
Seventeenth,  Twentieth,  and  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  Regiments  engaged. — 
Second  Light  Battery.  —  The  Afi'air  of  July  1.  —  The  Assault  of  July  2.  —  Attack  on 
the  Left  Flank.  —  Terrible  Fighting  of  July  3.  —  C  Minecticut  Correspondents.  —  The 
Losses  in  our  Regiments.  —  Scenes  on  tlie  Battle-Field.  —  The  "Fourth  of  July."  — 
Tardy  Pursuit  of  Lee.  —  Our  Troops  again  in  Virginia 378 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Admiral  Foote.  —  His  Adventures,  Battles,  and  Death.  —  Banks's 
Expedition. —  Feint  towards  Port 'Hudson.  —  March  Southward.  —  Battle  of  Irish 
Bend.  — The  Cotton-Raid  up  the  Atchafalaya.  —  Investment  of  Port  Hudson.  —  The 
Fight  of  May  27. —  The  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty- 
sixth,  and  Twenty-eighth  Connecticut.  —  The  Charge  of  June"  14. —  Failure  and 
Heavy  Losses.  —  The  Twenty-fourth  in  the  Cotton-Fort.  —  The  Forlorn  Hope.  —  Our 
Roll  of  Honor.  —  Surrender  of  Port  Hudson 397 

.CHAPTER    XXVI. 

After  the  Capture  of  Port  Hudson.  —  The  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty- 
fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  and  Twenty-eighth  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  Casualties. — 
Incidents  of  the  Battle.  —  The  Twenty-third  in  Southern  Loa'siana,  —  Guarding  the 
Railroad.  —  At  Brashear  City.  —  Battle  and  Capture.  —  Casualties.  —  Imprisonment 
in  Texas.  —  Return  Home  of  the  Nine-mouths'  Regiments 420 

CHAPTER    XXVH. 

Sixth  and  Seventh  in  Florida.  —  The  Advance  on  Charleston.  —  The  Situation  at  Folly 
and  Morris  Islands.  —  Gen.  Terry  and  the  Tenth  on  James  Island. —  A  Detachment 
of  the  Seventh  the  First  to  land"  on  Morris  Island.  —  Capture  of  the  Batteries.  —  The 
Battalion  of  the  Seventh  in  the  First  Charge  on  Wagner.  —  Fight  on  .lames  Island. — 
The  First  Connecticut  Battery.  —  Daring  Charge  of  the  Sixth  on  Wagner.  —  Three 
Hours  in  the  Fort. —  Heavy  Casualties.  —  Important  Service  of  the  Seventeenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers.  —  Approaches  to  the  Fort. —  The  Seventh  in  Charge  of 
Heavy  Itatteries. —  Bombardment  of  Sumter.  —  Capture  of  Wagner  and  Gregg. — 
The  Hollof  Honor.  —  TlieSixthat  Hilton  Head.  —  The  Seventh  at  St.  Helena  Island. — 
The  Seventeenth  on  Folly  Island.  —  The  Tenth  in  Florida-  —  Death  of  Col.  Chutfield,  436 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

More  Troops  wanted.  —  A  Draft.  —  The  Result.  —  Call  for  Seven  Hundred  Thousand  Men. 

—  Seven  Hundred  Dollars'  Bounty.  —  Work  of  Recruiting.  —  The  Twenty-ninth  Regi 
ment. —  Enlistment  and  Departure.  —  R'3-enli<tinent  of  Veterans. —  Recruiting  Rapid. 

—  The  Quota  of  the  State  full,  with  a  Surplus.  —  Soldiers'-aid  Societies.  —  Har  ford, 
Bridgeport,  New    Haven,  Norwich,  Danbury,  Derby.  —  The  Work  at  Home  and  in 
the  Field. —A  Thanksgiving  Dinner 456 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Harland's  Brigade  near  Portsmouth.  —  More  Digging.  —  A  Handsome  Camp.  —  The 
Twenty-first  on  Provost-Duty  in  Portsmouth  and  Norfolk. —  Raid  through  Dismal 
Swamp.  —  The  Eleventh  at  Gloucester  Point.  —  Twenty-first  at  Newport  News. — 
An  Expedition  up  the  James.  —  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  go  to  North  Carolina. — 
"  Accidental  "  Fire.  —  Twenty-first  at  Newport  Barracks  and  Newberne.  —  The  Six 
teenth  at  Plymouth.  —  Battle  and  Capture  by  the  Rebels.  —  Gen.  Peck's  Order .  .  457 

CHAPTER    XXX. 

The  First  Cavalry  Battalion.  —  Demoralization.  —  Increased  to  a  Regiment.  —  Fight  in 
Virginia.  —  At  Baltimore.  —  To  the  Field.  —  The  Eighteenth  Connecticut.  —  At  Mar- 
tinsburg.  —  Gen.  Milrov  on  Winchester. —  Prison-Life.  —  Officers  at  Libby.  —  Diver 
sions.  —  To  Macon.  —  Escapes.  —  Aa  Interesting  Adventure 489 

CHAPTER    XXXI. 

The  First  and  Second  Artillery,  Sixth,  Tenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Seventeenth,  during  the 
Winter  of  1863-64.  — The 'Second  Light  Battery.— The  Seventh  in  Florida.  — Battle 
of  Olustee.  —  Xinth  in  New  Orleans.  —  The  Twelfth  at  New  Iberia.  —  The  Thirteenth 
in  the  Red-River  Expedition.  —  Battle  of  Cane  River.  —  Connecticut  Regiments  Home 
on  Veteran  Furlough.  —  Speeches  and  Banquets 504 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

The  Sixteenth  in  Rebel  Prisons.  —  The  Enlisted  Men  at  Andersonville.  —  Rations.  —  Ter 
rible  Suffering  in  the  Stockade. —  The  "Dead  Line."  —  Starvation.  —  Insanity.  —  The 
Patriot's  Burial. —  The  Hospital. —  Officers  at  Macon.  —  Chivalry  and  Bloodhounds. 

—  The  "  Glorious  Fourth."  —  In  Charleston.  —  Efforts  to  escape.  —  Exchange     .        .  526 

CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

Up  the  James  River.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first  at 
Bermuda  Hundred.  —  A  Reconnoissance. —  The  Railroad  destroyed. —  Battle  of  Dru- 
ry's  Bluff.  —  Repulse  and  Heavy  Losses.  —  "Bottled  up"  within  the  Intrenchments. 

—  Fight  of  the  Twenty-first.  —  Death  of  Col.  Arthur  H.  Dutton. —  Losses  of  the 
Seventh.  —  The  First  Connecticut  Artillery  ordered  to  Bermuda  Hundred.  —  The  Non- 
Veterans  mustered  out 536 

^  CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

The  Fourteenth  at  Stevensburg. —  The  Affair  at  Mine  Run.  —  How  to  build  Winter-Quar 
ters,  and  how  to  enjoy  them.  —  Fight  at  Morton's  Ford. —  First  Connecticut  Cavalry- 
joins  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  —  Grant  crosses  the  Rapidan.  —  Struggle  of  the  Wil 
derness. —  Flank  March  to  Spottsylvania.  —  Terrible  Fighting.  —  The  Second  Connec 
ticut  Artillery  (Nineteenth)  comes  up. —  Gen.  Robert  O.  Tyler  commands  a  Division. 

—  Spirited   Contest.  —  The   First   Cavalry  in   Front  of  Richmond.  —  To  the   North 
Anna.  —  Another  Flank  Movement.  —  Death  of  Gen.  John  Sedgwick. —  His  Character 
and  Public  Services 560 

CHAPTER    XXXV. 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry.  —  Severe  Service.  —  Battle  of  Ashland.  —  Brilliant  Per 
sonal  Encounter. —  Bravery  and  Losses.  —  Battle  of  Cold  Harbor. —  Charge  of  the 
Second  Connecticut  Artillery.  —  Terrible  Losses.  —  Death  of  Col.  E.  S.  Kellogg. — 
Casualties  of  the  Fourteenth.  —  The  Charge  of  June  3.  —  Losses  of  the  Eighth,  Elev 
enth,  and  Twenty-first  Connecticut. —  Death  of  Col.  Burpee  and  Major  Converse. — 
Organization  of  the  Thirtieth  Connecticut •  581 

CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

After  Cold  Hnrbor.  —  The  First  Cavalry.  — To  Petersburg.  —  Exploit  of  the  Eighth.— 
Charge  of  the  Eleventh.  —  The  Second,  Fourteenth,  and  Twenty-first.  —  The  Sixth, 
Seventh,  Ninth,  and  Tenth  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  — Wilson's  Ra'id.  — The  First  Cav 
alry.— Bold  Ride  of  Capt.  Whitnker.—  Incidents.  —  First  Connect;cut  Artillery.— 
Siege-Work  of  fhe  Summer.  — Battle  of  Strawberry  Plains.  — The  Thirtieth  Connec 
ticut  at  the  Mine.  — Death  of  Col.  Stedman  and  Lieut-Col.  Moegling  .  .  •  -60S 


10  *  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

General  Assembly.  —  Adjourned  Session  in  January,  1864.  —  Spring  Session.  —  Governor's 
Message.  —  The  Ballot  given  to  Soldiers  in  the  Field.  —  Calls  for  Troops.  —  Recruit 
ing. —  The  Quotas  filled. —  How  it  was  done.  —  Presidential  Election. —  The  Twenty- 
ninth  (colored)  in  South  Carolina.  —  The  Eighteenth  Regiment.  —  Home  on  Furlough. 

—  Advance  with  Sigel.  —  Defeat  at    Newmarket.  —  Victory  at  Piedmont.  —  Loss  of 
Brave  Men.  —  Pushing  South.  —  Across  the  James.  —  Advance  on  Lynchburg.  —  Re 
pulse  and  Retreat.  —  Early  Attacks  Washington.  —  Affair  at  Snicker's  Ferry       .        .  629 

CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

The  Dead  Lock  at  Petersburg.  —  Flank  Movement  on  the  Right.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh, 
Tenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Twenty-ninth  Connecticut,  and  the  First  Battery,  engaged. — 
Four-mile  Run. —  Battle  of  Deep  Run. —  Charge  by  Terry's  Division.'— Strawberry 
Plains.  — JV  ithdrawal.  —  Casualties.  —  The  Fourteenth  at*  Reams's  Station.  —  Casu 
alties. —  Incidents  along  the  Line 648 

CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

Still  in  Front  of  Petersburg.  —  Demonstration  on  the  Left.  —  The  Fourteenth.  —  Advance 
of  Butler. —  Chaffin's  Bluff.  —  Capture  of  Fort  Harrison. — The  Eighth  and  Twenty- 
first. —  The  Sixth,  Seventh,  Tenth,  and  Twenty-ninth  on  the  Right.  —  Rebel  Repulse. 

—  Casualties. —  Attack   on   Terry's    Line.  —  Repulse.  —  Counter- Attack.  —  Death   of 
Major  H.  VV.  Camp.  —  Hawley's  Brigade  on  the  Darbytown  Road.  —  The  Twenty- 
ninth  as  Skirmishers.  —  The  Second  and  Fourteenth  on  Hatcher's  Run. —  Hawley's 
Division  at  New  York.  —  The  First  Artillery.  —  Butler  fails  to  capture  Fort  Fisher.  — 
Terry  takes  it  by  Storm • 664 

CHAPTER    XL. 

The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  in  Tennessee. —  Guarding  the  Railroad.  —  Fight  with  Guerrillas. 

—  Retaliation.  —  Advance  of  the  Spring.  —  The  Twentieth  at  Boyd's  Trail.  —  Battle 
of  Resaca.  —  Amusing  Incidents. —  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  at  Peach-tree  Creek.  — 
Sherman's   Flank   Movement. —  Atlanta  occupied.  —  Casualties  in  the  Connecticut 
Regiments.  —  A  Rest.  —  The  March  to  the  Sea.  —  At  Savannah.  —  Second  Connecti 
cut  Battery.  —  in  Louisiana  and  at  Mobile.  —  "  The  Bay  Fight  " 692 

CHAPTER    XLI. 

Sheridan  takes  Command  in  the  Shenandoah.  —  The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry,  Secortfl 
Artillery,  and  Ninth,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  and  Eighteenth  Infantry.  —  At  Winchester. 

—  Kearneysvilie. —  Skirmishes.  —  Battle  of  Opequan  Creek.  —  Casualties.  —  Spring 
Hill.  —  Cedar  Creek.  —  Defeat  and  Victory.  —  Heavy  Losses.  —  The  Pursuit.  —  Roll 
of  Honor  of  Yale  College  and  Wesleyan  University.  —  The  Seventeenth  in  Florida. — 
Battles  and  Raids.  —  Successes  and  Disasters.  —  Incidents.  —  Casualties     .         .        .  714 

CHAPTER    XLII. 

Prison  Experience  of  our  Soldiers.  —  Testimony  of  a  Confederate  Surgeon.  —  Experience 
of  Weston  Ferris  on  Belle  Isle.  —  Great  Privation  and  Suffering.  —  Condition  of  Pris-  rf 
oners  at  Camp  Ford,  Tex.  —  Gen.  E.  M.  Lee  in  Libby.  —  Capture  of  Major  Sanford 
and  Men  of  the  Seventh.  —  Adventures  of  Three  Officers  of  the  Sixteenth.  —  Fidelity 
of  Surgeon  Nickerson. —  Thrilling  Narrative  of  Lieut.  Bailey.  —  Deaths  at  Anderson- 
ville.  —  Incidents  of  Martyrdom I  .....  737 

CHAPTER    XLIII. 

Affairs  before  Richmond.  —  Grant  and  Sherman  of  Connecticut  Stock.  —  Genealogy. — 
Location  and  Organization  of  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  The  First  Cavalry  returns 
to  Petersburg.  —  Whitaker  captures  Major  Gil'mor.  —  Twelfth  and  Eighteenth  Regi 
ments. —  First  Artillery. —  Death  of  Lieut. -Col.  Trumbull.  —  Second  Artillery. — 
First,  Second,  and  Third  Batteries.  —  Sixth  and  Seventh.  —  Death  of  Chaplain  Eaton. 

—  Eighrh,    Eleventh,  Twenty-first,  and   Twenty-ninth.  —  Ninth  and   Thirteenth. — 
Tenth  and  Fourteenth.  —  Sherman's  Great  March  Northward.  —  The  Fifth  and  Twen 
tieth.  —  Incidents  of  the  Campaign.  —  Battles  and  Victories.  —  Casualties.  —  Disaster 

of  the  Fifteenth  Connecticut.  —  The  Sixteenth 755 


CONTENTS.  11 


CHAPTER    XLIV. - 

Spring  of  1865. —The  Beginning  of  the  End.  —  Petersburg.  —  Rebel  Assault  on  Fort 
Stedman.  —  Repulse.  —  Service  of  the   First  Connecticut  Artillery.  —  The   Second 
Artillery  and  the  Fourteenth  on  the  Left.j— The  Tenth  and  Thirtieth.— The  First 
Cavalry  at  Five  Forks 
Advance 
Retreat 
Surrender.  —  In  North  Carolina. —  The  Capitulation  of  Johnston's  Army    .        .        .776 


y  iuiu  iue  ruuneumii  on  uie  L,HII. —  me  i enia  anu  iiiiruein. —  me  r irst 
•  at  Five  Forks.  —  The  Tenth  at  Fort  Gregg.  —  Unsurpassed  Gallantry.  — 
e  of  the  Whole  Line.  —  Lee  evacuates  Petersburg  and  Richmond. —  The 
and  Pursuit. —  First  Cavalry  at  Sailor's  Creek.  —  Lee  surrounded.  —  The 


CHAPTER    XLV. 

Matters  at  Home.  —  General  Assembly  of  1865.  —  The  Governor's  Message.  —  Legislation. 

—  Number  of  Soldiers  sent  from  the  State.  —  Our  Regiments  after  the  Close  of  the 
War.  —  Two  Pictures  from  Richmond.  —  Terry  and  Hawley  in  Virginia.  —  Presenta 
tions. —  Muster-out  of  Connecticut   Regiments.  —  The  Fourteenth.  —  Twentieth. — 
First,  Second,  and  Third  Light  Batteries. —  Twenty-first. —  Eighteenth.  —  Sixteenth. 

—  Fifteenth.  —  Fifth.  —  Seventeenth.  —  First  Cavalry.  —  Sixth.  —  Seventh. — Twelfth. 

—  Second  Artillery.  —  Ninth.  —  Tenth.  —  First  Artillery.  —  Twenty-ninth  and  Thir 
tieth.  —  Eighth  and  Eleventh.  —  Thirteenth.  —  Thanks  of  the  Legislature  .        .        .  798 

APPENDIX. 

The  Sons  of  Connecticut  residing  in  New  York.  —  The  Connecticut  Agency  in  New  York. 
The  Agency  in  Washington.  —  Gen.  Aiken's  Visit  to  Washington.  —  Connecticut  in 
the  Navy.  —  The  Expenses  for  War  Purposes.  —  The  Generals  of  Connecticut.  — 
Organizations  and  Casualties.  —  Roll  of  Honor. —  Our  Martyrs  at  Andersonville  .  833 


CONNECTICUT. -COLONIAL  RECOED. 


CHAPTER    I. 


Early  History  of  Connecticut.  —  The  Pequot  War. — First  American  Constitution. — 
Heavy  Taxation.  —  Courage  of  the  New- Haven  Colony.  —  Character  of  the  Civil 
Government.  —  The  King's  Officers  resisted.  —  The  Charter  preserved.  —  Connecticut 
Declaration  of  Independence.  —  Putnam  at  Boston.  —  The  Statue  at  Litchfield.  — 
Brother  Jonathan.  —  Connecticut  Men  capture  the  first  British  Flags  in  1812.  —  The 
Blue-Laws.  —  Comparison  with  other  Colonies.  —  Pre-eminence  in  Mechanics. — 
First  Steamboat,  Railroad,  and  Telegraph.  —  Influence  on  other  States. 

HE  colonists  of  Connecticut  organized  the  first 
republic  on  the  Western  continent.  While  all 
the  other  inhabitants  of  the  coast  —  the  Pil 
grims  of  Plymouth,  the  English  traders  of  Bos 
ton,  the  Dutch  at  New  Amsterdam,  and  the 
Cavaliers  and  Huguenots  on  the  distant  shore  of  Virginia  — 
were  living  wholly  under  royal  charters,  and  endeavoring  to 
maintain  public  order  by  irregular  and  capricious  penalties, 
the  planters  of  the  Connecticut *  Colony  assembled  at  Hart 
ford  in  January,  1639,  and  solemnly  framed  and  adopted 
the  first  American  Constitution.  The  promptness  of  her 
citizens  in  dictating  statute  law  was  equaled  by  their  zeal 
in  enforcing  it  to  secure  justice  and  promote  tranquillity. 

Alike  in  domestic  and  foreign  wars,  Connecticut  has  al 
ways  displayed  great  vigor  and  courage.  In  the  spring  of 
1637,  two  and  a  half  years  after  the  erection  of  the  first 

1  Named  after  the  River  Quonektacut,  —  Long  River,  —  so  called  by  the  savages. 

13 


14  '    CONNECTICUT/ —  COLONIAL  KECOKD. 

house,  she  was  a  little  confederacy  of  three  plantations,  con 
taining  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  families.  But  the 
forests  enveloping  her  embryo  towns  had  already  become 
the  lurking-place  of  the  jealous  and  vengeful  Pequot ;  and 
no  traveler  or  loiterer  was  safe  for  a  moment  from  his  cruel 
tomahawk,  and  no  dwelling  secure  for  a  night  against  his 
fire-brand.  Numerous  murders  had  already  been  committed, 
with  every  variety  of  torture. 

The  first  recorded  act  of  the  General  Court 2  of  that  year 
"  Ordered,  That  there  shall  be  an  offensive  war  against  the 
Pequots ;  and  there  shall  be  ninety  men  levied  out  of  the 
plantations  of  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor."  This 
was  more  than  half  of  the  adult  males  of  the  colony ;  and, 
after  they  went,  those  remaining  at  home  were  placed  on 
short  allowance  of  food,  —  not  the  first  time,  nor  the  last,  — 
and  there  were  not  enough  men  left  for  the  detail  of  sentries 
kept  up  night  and  day.  "  What  we  plant,"  wrote  one  of 
them,  "  is  before  our  own  doors  ;  little  anywhere  else." 

Foreseeing  all  this,  the  little  army  in  one  week  set  sail, 
under  command  of  the  sturdy  Capt.  John  Mason,  and, 
evincing  both  strategy  and  courage,  surprised  the  Indian 
fort  at  Mystic,  killed  five  or  six  hundred3  of  the  hostile 
tribe,  ruined  its  proud  chief,  Sassacus,  and  returned  home  in 
time  to  plant  corn  for  that  year.4 

The  activity  and  stern  valor  in  war  thus  early  exhibited 
by  the  planters  in  no  wise  surpassed  their  wisdom  in  civil 
affairs.  Two  years  later,  in  general  convention  assembled, 
they  declared,  "  We  do  therefore  associate  and  conjoin  our 
selves  together  to  be  as  one  public  State  or  Commonwealth." 
They  thereupon  proceeded  to  frame  an  elaborate  code  of 

2  Fifteen  members,  —  six  magistrates  and  nine  committee-men. 

8  Trumbull's  Colonial  Records. 

*  Capt.  Mason  was  subsequently  offered  a  commission  as  major-general  in  Cromwell's 
army,  but  refused  it.  Major  John  Desborough  of  New  Haven  actually  returned  to  Eng 
land,  and  held  that  position  ;  while  his  brother  Samuel  also  went  back  to  fight  against 
Charles,  and  became  Lord-Chancellor  of  Scotland  under  Cromwell.  At  the  same  time, 
Gov.  Hopkins  of  New  Haven  was  appointed  to  the  high  office  of  commissioner  of 
the  English  navy ;  and  Gov.  Eaton,  also  of  New  Haven,  was  shortly  thereafter  made 
the  king's  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Denmark. 


FIRST   CONSTITUTION. — INDIAN   WARS.  *15 

> 

government,  "the  first  written  constitution  of  the  New 
World,  —  one  that  was  the  type  of  all  that  came  after  it, 
even  that  of  the  Republic  itself."  5  Of  this  constitution,  Mr. 
Bancroft  has  written,  — 

"  Nearly  two  centuries  have  elapsed  ;  the  world  has  been  made  wiser  by 
various  experience  ;  political  institutions  have  become  the  theme  on  which 
the  most  powerful  and  cultivated  minds  have  been  employed  ;  dynasties  of 
kings  have  been  dethroned,  recalled,  dethroned  again  ;  and  so  many  con 
stitutions  have  been  framed  or  re-formed,  stifled  or  subverted,  that  memorv 
may  despair  of  a  complete  catalogue  :  but  the  people  of  Connecticut  have 
found  no  reason  to  deviate  essentially  from  the  government  established  by 
their  fathers.  .  .  .  They  who  judge  of  men  by  their  influence  on  public 
happiness,  and  by  the  services  they  render  to  the  human  race,  will  never 
cease  to  honor  the  memory  of  Hooker  and  Haynes."  6 

Of  such  prowess  and  intellectual  force  were  the  founders 
of  our  commonwealth.  Sternly  self-defended,  and  wisely 
self-governed,  they  and  their  children  grew  to  a  wholesome 
relish  of  public  order,  and  an  invincible  love  of  freedom. 
They  were  quick  to  see  the  practical  advantage  of  co-opera 
tion  for  mutual  defense  against  Indians,  Dutch,  and  French  ; 
and  earnestly  urged  the  alliance  o£  the  New-England  colo 
nies,  formed  in  1643,  to  that  end. 

Then  followed  years  of  anxiety,  vigilance,  and  war,, —  the 
latter  waged  mostly  in  behalf  of  sister  colonies.  In  1675, 
Major  Treat  led  a  hundred  Connecticut  men  into  Western 
Massachusetts,  and  rescued  the  garrison  at  Northfield  be 
leaguered  by  King  Philip's  warriors,  saved  the  day  at  Bloody 
Brook,  and  averted  a  massacre  at  Springfield.  Later,  the 
same  officer,  with  three  hundred  men,  marched  into  Eastern 
Massachusetts  against  the  great  fort  of  the  Narnigansetts; 
and,  after  the  troops  of  that  colony  had  made  a  brave  but 
unsuccessful  attack,  forced  an  entrance  by  a  persistent  and 
bloody  assault.  Four  out  of  five  captains,  and  more  than 
eighty  men,  fell  in  the  victorious  onset.  • 

5  Rev.  Horace  Bushnell's  Historic  Estimate. 

6  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  the  eloquent  pastor  of  the  Hartford  Church,  and  John  Haynes, 
first  governor  elected  in  the  colony. 


16*          CONNECTICUT.  —  COLONIAL  RECORD. 

Major  Treat  was  the  acknowledged  hero  of  King  Philip's 
War,  and  the  next  spring  was  elected  governor.7 

During  three  years  of  this  Indian  war,  the  colonists  un 
complainingly  paid  an  annual  tax  o£  eleven  pence  on  a 
pound  ;  and  for  two  years  thereafter,  in  order  the  more  speed 
ily  to  free  themselves  from  a  heavy  debt,  they  increased  it 
to  nineteen  pence  on  a  pound.  This  amounted,  in  the  five 
years,  to  about  thirty  cents  on  each  dollar  of  taxable  property. 

Meanwhile  the  Protector  had  died,  and  a  Stuart  had  re 
turned  to  the  throne  of  England.  The  New-Haven  colonists 
were  anxious  to  conciliate  the  new  king;  but,  at  the  very 
beginning  of  his  reign,  it  became  apparent  that  they  loved 
justice  more  than  they  feared  Charles  Stuart".  Though  fully 
aware  that  the  king's  personal  vengeance  svas  roused  against 
the  regicides  who  had  been  the  judges  of  his  royal  father, 
yet,  when  the  pursuers  came  to  New  Haven  to  search  for 
and  seize  the  fugitives,  Gov.  Leete  interposed  every  obstacle 
except  violence ;  brave  old  Davenport  preached  to  his  peo 
ple  with  impressive  eloquence  from  the  text,  "  Make  thy 
shadow  as  the  night  in  the  midst  of  noonday,  hide  the  out 
casts,  bewray  not  him  that  wandereth ;"  while  the  uneasy 
agents  of  the  king  were  watched  by  eyes  so  reproachful  and 
menacing,  that  they  hurried  off  without  their  prey.  The 
fugitives  were  at  that  moment  hidden  within  the  limits  of 
the  town.  Ever  thereafter,  Connecticut  was  a  safe  refuge 
for  the  oppressed  of  every  clime,  —  a  sure  "covert  to  them 
that  flee  from  the  face  of  the  spoiler." 

The  Hartford  colonists  more  shrewdly  improved  the  early 
and  pliant  days  of  the  second  Charles  to  fortify  their  pre 
cious  liberties,  by  the  guaranty  of  his  own  signature,  against 
any  future  usurpation  or  exaction.  Through  Gov.  Win- 
throp,  the  most  gifted  New-Englander  of  his  time,  they  ob 
tained  a  charter  more  liberal  than  was  ever  before  granted  to 

7  Dr.  Bushnell,  in  Work  and  Play,  says  of  the  early  colony,  "  There  never  was  a 
sp;\rk  of  chivalry  in  her  leaders;  and  yet  there  was  never  a  coward •  among  them.  .  .  . 
They  knew  nothing  of  fighting  without  an  object;  and,  when  they  had  one,  they  went  to 
work  bravely,  simply  because  it  was  sound  economy  to  tight  well." 


RESISTANCE  TO   TYRANNY.  17 

any  colony  by  an  English  king ;  and  under  it  they  were  able 
to  re-enact,  with  royal  sanction,  their  constitution  and  laws. 

The  colonists  of  New  Haven  were,  much  to  their  sur 
prise,  and  against  their  inclination,  included,  by  this  charter, 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut.  In  the  Hartford 
Colony,  none  but  church-members  were  eligible  to  the  office 
of  governor  ;  but  all  orderly  freemen,  on  receiving  a  majority 
vote  of  the  town,  were  electors.  In  the  New-Haven  Colony, 
no  person  could  be  a  voter  unless  he  was  a  member  of  the 
church  in  full  communion.8  Under  their  devout  leader, 
Rev.  John  Davenport,  the  people  had  vested  civil  govern 
ment  in  the  Church,  and  apprehended  that  religious  and 
moral  laxity  might  follow  the  proposed  compromise.  After 
serious  discussion,  obvious  geographical  reasons  and  the 
necessity  of  a  closer  defensive  league  prevailed  over  these 
fears  ;  and,  in  1665,  the  two  colonies  became  one,  with  John 
Winthrop  for  governor. 

The  sagacity  of  the  colonists,  in  anticipating  that  a  Stuart 
once  in  power  might  become  whimsical  and  tyrannical,  was 
proved  in  1674,  when  Charles  gave  a  new  patent  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  transferring  Connecticut  to  him. 
to  be  re-organized  with  the  New  Netherlands  under  the 
name  of  New  York.  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  sent  to  lay 
claim  to  "  all  of  Connecticut  west  of  the  river,"  and  set  out 
for  Saybrook  Fort  to  enforce  his  authority.  Landing  there, 
he  was  confronted  by  the  militia  drawn  up  in  good  order. 
Andros,  a  little  disturbed,  directed  his  clerk  to  read  his 
commission  as  governor.  The  officer  in  command,  having 
specific  instructions  from  Gov.  Winthrop,  commanded  him, 
with  stern  bluntness,  to  "  forbear !  "  —  "  Go  on  ! "  said  Andros. 
"  Forbear,  sir ! "  shouted  the  captain,  with  an  uplifting  of 
the  sword  so  ominous  as  to  check  the  frightened  clerk  with 
ludicrous  suddenness.  Sir  Edmund  was  intimidated  and 
perplexed,  but,  after  a  moment's  pause,  asked  the  captain 

8  This  was  also  the  rule  in  the  Plymouth  and  other  colonies  ;  and  it  was  the  estab 
lished  law  of  England,  even  down  to  the  present  generation. 
3 


18  CONNECTICUT.  —  COLONIAL  RECOKD. 

his  name.  "  My  name  is  Bull,  sir,"  was  the  reply.  "Bull!" 
repeated  Andros :  "  it  is  a  pity  your  horns  are  not  tipped 
with  silver;"  and,  covering  his  chagrin  with  this  bit  of 
unmeaning  pleasantry,  he  re-embarked. 

Every  schoolboy  knows  how,  twelve  years  later,  another 
treacherous  attempt  was  made  to  extinguish  the  sturdy 
colony ;  how  this  same  petty  tyrant  appeared  at  Hartford, 
and,  in  the  name  of  the  king,  demanded  the  cherished 
charter;  how,  in  the  chamber  of  deliberation,  the  candles 
suddenly  went  out,  and  the  charter  mysteriously  vanished ; 
how  the  colony  maintained  its  rights  ;  how  the  precious 
parchment  was  ultimately  found  in  a  hollow  oak ;  how  the 
venerable  tree,  after  being  visited  by  pilgrims  for  two  cen 
turies,  still  lives  in  a  thousand  keepsakes  and  mementoes, 
while  loving  hands  cherish  the  charter  which  no  longer 
needs  a  defender. 

Once  more,  in  a  colonial  capacity,  Connecticut  obstinately 
asserted  the  chartered  rights  of  the  colony  against  "  the 
inherent  rights  of  the  king,"  when,  in  1693,  he  conferred 
the  command  of  the  Connecticut  militia  on  Gov.  Fletcher 
of  New  York ;  and  that  functionary,  coining  to  Hartford  to 
assume  command,  was  silenced  by  Capt.  Wadsworth's  drums 
and  muskets,  and  returned,  baffled  and  sullen,  to  his  home. 
The  king,  humoring  this  willful  people,  never  again  sought 
to  muster  Connecticut  militia  under  royal  officers ;  but, 
whenever  he  wanted  men  or  money,  made  formal  requisitions 
on  their  governor,  which  were  responded  to  with  cheerful 
alacrity.  Well  did  the  stubborn  colony  earn  her  reputation 
as  the  land 

"  Where  none  kneel,  save  when  to  Heaven  they  pray ; 
Nor  even  then,  unless  in  their  own  way." 

Connecticut  had  already  shed  the  first  blood  of  the  French 
and  Indian  War  in  the  gallant  but  unavailing  defense  of 
Schenectady ;  and  thenceforward,  to  the  close  of  the  last 
French  and  Indian  War  in  1763,  her  citizens  were  almost 
constantly  engaged  in  campaigns  or  preparations.  A  care- 


PEEPAE1NG  FOE  EE VOLUTION.  19 

ful  investigation  shows  that  the  colony  furnished  propor 
tionately  a  far  greater  number  of  soldiers  than  any  other,9 
though  the  frontiers  of  New  York  and  Massachusetts  were 
much  more  exposed. 

In  these  wars,  Connecticut  expended  from  her  scanty 
treasury  more  than  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  above 
the  trifling  sum  repaid  by  the  Home  Government.  England 
made  many  fair  promises,  but,  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
reimbursed  not  a  farthing  of  this  enormous  outlay.  The 
colonists  were  losing  respect  for  the  mother-country,  and 
feeling  daily  their  growing  independence. 

The  Connecticut  General  Assembly,  as  early  as  May, 
1764,  entered  a  calm  but  vigorous  and  searching  protest 
against  the  threatened  Stamp  Act.  In  the  spirit  of  those 
who  sent  him,  Mr.  Jared  Ingersoll,  the  special  envoy  of  the 
colony  to  England,  assured  the  secretary  of  the  king's 
treasury  that  "  p,ny  supposable  scheme "  of  taxation  by 
parliament  "  would  go  down  with  the  people  like  chopped 
hay ; "  and  that  any  plan  for  enforcing  such  acts  would  in 
volve  an  expense  bearing  a  ratio  to  the  profits,  not  unlike 
"  burning  a  barn  to  roast  an  egg."  The  remonstrance 
secured  a  brief  delay  ;  but  the  law  was  passed. 

The  governor  and  his  council,  the  envoy  and  many  of 
the  leading  men,  with  sad  but  loyal  hearts,  advised  submis 
sion  to  the  la\v  of  the  realm.  Not  so  Trumbull,  Putnam, 
Durkee,  the  veteran  soldiers  and  sturdy  yeomen.  In  town- 
meetings  assembled,  they  repeatedly  resolved  that  "  busi 
ness  shall  proceed  as  usual"  without  stamped  paper;  and 
the  Sons  of  Liberty,  vigilant  and  resolute,  rode  in  armed 
bands,  destroying  stamped  material,  and  compelling  the 
stamp-officer  to  resign. 

The  substitute  Revenue  Act  and  the  Boston  Port  Bill 
evoked  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  a  refurnishing  of 
munitions  and  supplies,  the  formation  of  an  artillery  com 
pany,  and  a  thorough  re-organization  of  the  militia. 

9  Hollister's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  118. 


20  CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL  RECORD. 

Thus  the  colonists  of  Connecticut  were  unconsciously  but 
fully  prepared  for  revolution. 

In  September,  1774,  a  premature  alarm  was  sounded 
throughout  the  colony ;  and,  in  sixty  hours,  more  than  ten 
thousand  armed  men  started  to  the  relief  of  Boston.  This 
promptness  but  foreshadowed  the  alacrity  with  which  they 
afterwards  responded  to  the  actual  call. 

Eighteen  hours  after  tidings  of  the  engagement  at  Lex 
ington  reached  him,  fiery  Putnam,  gray-haired,  and  verging 
on  sixty,  had  visited  and  received  orders  from  Gov.  Trum- 
bull ;  and,  riding  all  night,  he  dashed  into  Concord  at  sunrise. 
Troops  pushed  on  after  him  by  squads  and  companies,  until 
more  than  three  thousand  Connecticut  soldiers  confronted 
the  enemy  at  Boston.  These  were  pronounced  the  best 
equipped,  drilled,  and  officered  of  the  troops  there  collected. 

The  retaliatory  expedition  against  Ticonderoga  was 
planned  immediately  after,  by  Connecticut  men,  during  the 
session  of  the  General  Assembly  at  Hartford.  It  was  led 
by  residents  or  natives  of  Connecticut,  was  achieved  in 
part  by  her  soldiers,  and  paid  for  in  full  from  her  treasury. 
The  capture  of  this  fort  was  the  first  victory,  and  the  first 
aggressive  stroke,  of  the  war;  and  the  armament  and  muni 
tions  thus  obtained  were  essential  to  the  success  of  the 
patriot  army  before  Boston. 

By  the  end  of  April,  Connecticut  had  issued  bills  of  credit 
to  the  amount  of  a  hundred  thousand  pounds ;  and,  by  early 
summer,  had  twenty-two  regiments  organized  and  equipped 
for  the  field. 

Putnam  was  the  most  ardent  and  belligerent  member  of 
the  council  of  war  near  Boston.  The  Massachusetts  Com 
mittee  of  Safety  and  the  officers  in  command  were  hesi 
tating  and  irresolute.  Putnam  insisted  on  the  immediate 
occupation  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  made  a  bold  statement  of 
the  situation,  ending  with  words  which  embodied  his  own 
stern  purpose :  "  At  the  worst,  suppose  us  surrounded,  and 
no  retreat,  we  will  set  our  country  an  example  of  which  it 
shall  not  be  ashamed,  and  teach  mercenaries  what  men  can 


PUTNAM  AT  BUNKER  HILL.  —  INDEPENDENCE.  21 

do  determined  to  live  or  die  free."  This  impetuous  out 
burst  overbore  all  opposition ;  and  Putnam  was*directed  to 
make  the  intrenchment  In  the  battle  which  resulted,  Put 
nam  had  command  of  the  American  forces.  The  terse 
orders  of  the  day  were  his :  "  Aim  at  their  waistbands !  Pick 
off  the  officers!  Reserve  your  fire  till  you  see  the  whites  of 
their  eyes;  then  fire  low!"  Re-enforcements  or  powder, 
both  of  which  were  denied  to  Putnam  by  his  misjudging 
commander  Gen.  Ward,  might  have  made  the  conflict,  in 
stead  of  a  glorious  defeat,  the  bloodiest  victory  of  the  Revo 
lution. 

The  high  estimate  placed  upon  Putnam  by  Washington 
is  indicated  by  the  fact,  that,  bringing  with  him  from  the 
Congress  at  Philadelphia  the  commissions  of  four  major- 
generals  in  the  Continental  army,  he  handed  to  Putnam  his 
commission  several  days  before  delivering  the  others,  in 
order  thus  to  rank  him  as  second  in  command. 

On  the  14th  of  June,  1776,  in  advance  of  any  tidings  of 
congressional  action,  Connecticut  pronounced  for  independ 
ence  in  these  words :  — 

"  Resolved  unanimously  by  this  Assembly,  That  the  delegates  of  this 
colony,  in  General  Congress,  be,  and  they  are,  hereby  instructed  to  propose 
to  that  respectable  body  to  declare  the  United  American  Colonies  free  and 
independent  States,  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  to  give  the  assent  of  this  colony  to  such  declarations." 

Connecticut,  with  her  practical  turn  of  mind,  made  the 
equestrian  statue  of  King  George,  in  New  York,  useful  to 
rebels  against  his  authority.  On  the  llth  of  July,  seven 
days  after  the  declaration  of  the  Continental  Congress,  this 
statue  of  gilded  lead  was  visited  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty, 
rudely  toppled  over,  and  hurried  away  the  wondering  Tories 
knew  not  whither.  But  any  well-known  patriot  who  visited 
the  shed  half  hidden  in  the  apple-orchard  of  Gen.  Wolcott, 
in  Litchfield,  would  have  found  his  son  Frederick  chopping 
up  the  royal  image  with  a  hatchet  into  suitable  lumps ;  and 
before  the  glowing  coals  in  the  huge  kitchen  fire-place,  wife 


22  CONNECTICUT.  —  COLONIAL  RECORD. 

and  daughter,  with  neighboring  matrons  and  maids,  fusing 
the  lumps  into  bullets  with  many  a  shrug  and  jest.  It  was 
so  fitting  that  the  hirelings  of  the  king  should  have  "  melted 
majesty  fired  at  them." 

Immediately  after  the  British  were  forced  from  Boston, 
Putnam  was  ordered  by  Washington  to  the  command  at  New 
York ;  and  the  militia  of  Connecticut  west  of  the  river  rallied 
there  in  obedience  to  his  summons,  while  those  east  hurried 
to  the  defense  of  New  London.  Upon  sending  forward  to 
New  York  additional  volunteers  to  join  the  five  Connecticut 
regiments  already  there,  Trumbull  thus  exhorted  the  young 
men  :  "  Be  roused  and  alarmed  to  stand  forth  in  our  just 
and  glorious  cause.  Join  yourselves  to  some  one  or  other 
of  the  companies  of  the  militia  now  ordered  to  New  York ; 
or  form  yourselves  into  distinct  companies,  and  choose  cap 
tains  forthwith.  March  on.  This  shall  be  our  warrant :  Play 
the  man  for  God,  and  for  the  cities  of  our  God.  May  the 
Lord  of  hosts',  the  God  of  the  armies  of  Israel,  be  your 
leader ! "  The  young  farmers  rose  up  from  their  half-gathered 
harvests,  and  forming  themselves  in  nine  regiments,  self- 
equipped,  marched  to  New  York  just  in  time  to  meet  the 
advance  of  the  British.  Not  less  than  twenty  thousand  of 
our  citizens  were  then  in  actual  service  ;  and,  up  to  this  time, 
"  Connecticut  had  furnished  and  kept  in  the  field  full  one- 
half  the  American  army  commanded  by  Washington."  10 

Putnam  selected  West  Point ;  and  Gen.  Parsons,  with  a 
Connecticut  brigade  camped  there  in  1778,  without  tents, 
and  in  snow  two  feet  deep  erected  the  fort,  then  and 
now  impregnable,  over  which  no  flag  but  the  stars  and 
stripes  has  ever  waved. 

At  no  time  during  the  Revolution  could  Connecticut  num 
ber  more  than  forty  thousand  fighting  men;  but  she  put  31,959 
in  the  field.  Her  population  was  but  eight  per  cent  of  the 
entire  population  of  the  colonies  ;  but  she  furnished  fourteen 
per  cent  of  the  Continental  troops,  —  a  larger  ratio  than  any 

10  Hollister's  History  of  Connecticut,  vol.  ii.  p.  273. 


CONNECTICUT  IN   1776.  23 

other  colony.11  Massachusetts  alone  surpassed  her  in  actual 
numbers;  though  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Vir 
ginia,  and  the  two  Carol  in  as,  were  also  larger  in  population. 
Moreover,  many  Massachusetts  troops  enlisted  for  nine 
months,  and  were  recounted  at  each  re-enlistment ;  so  that  it 
is  asserted  12  that"  Connecticut  furnished  for  the  Continental 
ranks,  and  kept  in  actual  service,  more  men  than  any  other 
State  in  the  Confederacy." 

Of  the  quality  of  these  men,  their  conduct  bore  witness  ; 
but  Gen.  Root  declared,  that,  in  his  brigade  alone,  there 
were  seven  ministers  who  had  taken  the  field  as  captains  of 
their  own  congregations. 

Upon  no  man  in  civil  life  in  America  did  Washington  so 
much  depend  for  wise  counsel  and  prompt  aid  in  every 
emergency  as  upon  Jonathan  Trumbull,  the  bold  but  prudent 
Governor  of  Connecticut,  —  the  only  governor  on  the  conti 
nent,  when  the  war  began,  who  was  not  appointed  by  the 
king.  His  co-operation  was  so  constant  and  so  valuable,  that 
the  most  intimate  relations  sprang  up  between  him  and 
Washington ;  and  the  latter,  in  seasons  of  unusual  perplexity, 
was  wont  to  remark  playfully,  yet  with  serious  purpose,  "  We 
must  consult  Brother  Jonathan."  And  it  is  now  well  known 13 
that  this  affectionate  sobriquet  for  Trumbull,  passing  from 
officer  to  soldier  and  from  soldier  to  citizen,  was  made  a 
popular  catch-word,  first  applied  to  the  State  he  represented, 
and  finally  becoming  a  synonym  for  the  colossal  young 
Republic. 

Before  the  Revolution,  a  tract  of  country  seven  hundred 
miles  long  and  seventy  broad,  extending  from  the  Delaware 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  embracing  fifty  thousand  square  miles, 
was  a  part  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut.  In  1774,  it  was  at 
tached,  for  judicial  purposes,  to  Litchficld  County,  under  the 
name  of  Westmoreland;  and  in  1776  was  erected  into  asepa- 

11  According  to  the  first  census  (1790),  the  total  population  of  the  States  was  3,929,827; 
the  population  of  Connecticut,  238,141.     The  total  of  the  Continental  army  was  231,701, 
of  which  Connecticut  furnished  31,959. 

12  Hollister's  History  of  Connecticut. 

13  Stuart,  697  ;  Hollister,  426. 


24  CONNECTICUT.  —  COLONIAL  RECORD. 

rate  county  by  that  name.  Throughout  the  struggle  that  fol 
lowed,  this  vast  area  was  deemed  a  part  of  Connecticut ;  but 
in  1782,  by  the  unjust  decree  at  Trenton,  it  was  wrenched 
from  our  jurisdiction,  and  subjected  to  Pennsylvania.  Thus 
the  State  which  had  been  the  very  keystone  of  the  Union 
during  the  conflict,  which  had  met  every  crisis  with  the 
utmost  vigor  and  made  every  sacrifice  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Republic,  now  suffered  the  mortification  of  seeing  her 
laws  nullified,  her  territory  violated,  and  her  rank  in  the 
Union  reduced. 

During  the  conflict,  Washington  personally  applauded  the 
valor  of  Connecticut's  soldiers  :  and  the  nation  gratefully  re 
members  the  services  of  her  heroes,  —  Putnam,  Ethan  Allen, 
Warner,  Silliman,  Waterbury,  Wolcott;  and  the  devotion  of 
her  martyrs,  —  Wooster,  Knowlton,  Ledyard,  and  Nathan 
Hale. 

In  the  war  of  1812,  she  was  one  of  the  first  to  defy  and 
assail  the  hereditary  foe;  and  in  the  first  month  of  the  con 
flict,  both  on  land  and  sea,  the  first  two  British  flags  struck 
were  surrendered  to  sons  of  Connecticut,  as  was  the  first 
British  flag  and  the  first  British  guns  captured  in  the  Revo 
lution. 

It  is  a  fact  equally  noticeable,  that  Connecticut  has  al 
ways  defended  herself  against  her  foes  single-handed ;  and 
that,  notwithstanding  her  expose;!  position,  no  soldiers  from 
any  other  colony  or  state  ever  fought  upon  the  soil  of  Con 
necticut  in  her  defense,  though  thousands  of  her  own  troops 
went  to  the  aid  of  New  York  and  Boston. 

There  is  no  State  in  the  world  whose  early  statutes  were 
more  liberal  and  enlightened  than  those  of  Connecticut.  To 
the  epithet  of  "  blue-laws,"  now  used  only  by  the  ignorant, 
or  by  others  in  playful  derision,  our  citizens  are  no  longer 
sensitive;  for  well-informed  people  have  learned  that  no  such 
laws  were  ever  on  our  statute-books.  The  absurd  "  code  " 
which  has  been  attributed  to  our  infant  colony  was  the  in 
vention  of  "  the  Tory  renegade,  Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  who, 
while  better  men  were  fighting  the  battles  of  their  country, 


"BLUE-LAWS."  25 

was  skulking  in  London,  and  getting  his  bread  there  by  the 
stories  he  could  fabricate  about  Connecticut."  How  this 
ridiculous  forgery  could  have  obtained  currency  and  cre 
dence,  it  is  difficult  to  understand.14 

It  is  true  that  some  of  the  early  statutes  are  severe  against 
the  Baptists  and  Quakers,  as  in  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
and  Virginia ;  but  there  were  no  Quakers  in  the  colony,  and 
it  does  not  appear  that  the  penalties  against  the  Baptists 
were  ever  enforced.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  persecu 
tions  for  witchcraft  were  so  frequent  or  so  severe  as  in  other 
colonies  or  beyond  the  sea.  The  English  statute  against 
witchcraft  stood  unrepealed  down  to  1736;  and  women  have 
been  hanged  in  Europe  within  a  hundred  years  for  "  selling 
their  souls  to  the  Devil." 

The  Episcopal  Church  was  tolerated  here  by  public  act, 
when  there  were  not  in  the  State  seventy  families  of  that 
denomination,  and  at  the  very  time  when  two  Presbyterian 
clergymen  were  imprisoned  for  months  at  New  York,  and 
fined  five  hundred  pounds  sterling,  for  the  offense  of  preach 
ing  a  sermon  and  baptizing  a  child. 

It  is  true,  that,  for  a  short  time,  church-going  was  com 
manded  by  law  in  Connecticut ;  but  Virginia  passed  a  law  in 
1718  requiring  every  person  to  attend  church  on  Sundays, 
on  penalty  of  imprisonment  for  one  night,  and  service  of  the 
colony  as  a  slave  for  one  week.  And  it  was  in  force  during 
this  century.  It  cannot  be  denied,  that,  about  1644,  Con 
necticut  passed  a  law,  ordering  "  that  no  man  within  this 
colonye  shall  take  any  tobacko  publiquely  in  the  streett, 
highwayes,  or  any  barne  yardes,  or  uppon  training  dayes,  in 
any  open  places,  under  penaltye,"  &c.  Those  who  deem 
this  an  unwarrantable  infringement  of  personal  liberty 

]4  Guthrie's  Grammar,  published  in  London  about  1775,  had  this  paragraph:  — 

"  CONNECTICUT.  —  The  men  of  this  country,  in  general,  are  robust,  stout,  and  tall.  The  great 
est  care  is  taken  with  the  limbs  and  bodies  of  infants,  which  are  kept  straight  by  means  of  a  board, 
—  a  practice  learnt  of  the  Indian  women,  who  abhor  all  crooked  people,  — so  that  deformity  is 
a  rarity.  The  women  are  fair,  handsome,  and  genteel,  and  modest  and  reserved  in  their  manner 
and  behavior.  They  are  not  permitted  to  read  plays ;  nor  can  they  converse  about  whist,  qua 
drilles,  or  operas  :  but  it  is  said  they  will  talk  freely  upon  other  subjects,  of  history,  geography, 
and  other  literary  topics." 
4 


26  CONNECTICUT.  —  COLONIAL  EECOED. 

may  remember  that  Boston  has  a  kindred  prohibition  to 
day. 

These  comparisons  are  cited  only  to  show  that  Connecti 
cut,  sometimes  sneered  at  for  "blue-laws"  never  enacted, 
was,  in  fact,  ahead  of  the  fashions  of  her  time.  "  Her  only 
reproach  in  the  whole  matter  is,"  says  Dr.  Bushnell,  "  that 
she  was  not  farther  in  advance  of  the  civilized  world  by  an 
other  half-century." 

But  a  complete  vindication  is  the  Colonial  Constitution 
itself,  which  gave  a  tangible  and  original  shape  to  the  repub 
lican  instinct  of  New  England.  It  organized  an  annually 
elective  government;  required  deputies  to  be  inhabitants 
of  communities  represented ;  gave  the  elective  franchise  to 
any  man  admitted  by  a  majority  vote  of  his  town.  All 
these  were  novel  and  radical  changes,  —  a  bold  advance  be 
yond  the  outposts  of  any  existing  government.  At  this 
very  time,  they  were  endeavoring  in  Massachusetts  to  com 
fort  the  "hereditary  gentlemen"  by  erecting  them  into  a 
kind  of  American  House  of  Lords  called  the  "  Standing 
Council  for  Life."  Their  officers  stood  upon  the  theocratic 
basis ;  and  many  of  the  principal  men  insisted,  that,  the 
governor  once  elected,  his  office  became  a  vested  right,  of 
which  he  could  never  properly  be  deprived.15 

Citizens  of  Connecticut  may  well  be  proud  of  the  remark 
able  fact,  that  in  the  constitution  of  the  little  republic  of 
"Hartford,  Wethersfield,  and  Windsor,"  no  mention  what 
ever  is  made  of  either  king  or  parliament,  or  of  allegiance 
owed  to  either;  but  it  is  expressly  declared, with  an  impulse 
which  could  have  sprung  only  from  a  consciousness  of  the 
divine  right  of  the  people,  that  in  the  General  Court,  under 
God,  "  shall  exist  the  SUPREME  POWER  of  the  Commonwealth." 
Under  this  free-written  constitution,  Connecticut  learned  her 
lessons  of  liberty  ;  and  she  was  the  only  one  of  all  the 
thirteen  colonies  whose  people  never  submitted  to  be  ruled 
by  a  royal  governor,  and  whose  capital  was  never  infested 
by  a  royal  court. 

15  Vide  Bushnell's  Historic  Estimate. 


REPUBLICAN   GOVERNMENT. —INVENTIONS.  27 

The  first  law-school  of  the  nation  was  the  celebrated 
school  of  Judge  Reeve  at  Litchfield,  and  Kirby's  Connecti 
cut  Reports  were  the  first  American  reports  published. 
Chief  Justice  Ellsworth,  Judges  Smith,  Gould,  Kent,  Wai- 
worth,  and  many  of  the  most  distinguished  jurists  of  the 
country,  were  sons  of  Connecticut.  "Judge  Ellsworth  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  Congress  that  prepared  the 
Judiciary  Act,  by  which  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  nation 
was  organized ;  and  it  will  be  found  that  some  of  the  pro 
visions  of  that  act  that  are  most  peculiar  are  copied,  verba 
tim,  from  the  statutes  of  Connecticut.  The  practice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  is  often  said  to  resemble  the  practice  of  Con 
necticut  more  than  that  of  any  other  State." 1G 

In  this  brief  rehearsal  of  the  former  heroism  of  our  State, 
as  a  background  for  recent  achievements,  it  is  hardly  neces 
sary  to  refer  to  her  established  pre-eminence  in  manufactures 
and  mechanical  skill. 

In  our  State,  John  Fitch  made  the  first  steamboat;  Eli 
Whitney  invented  the  cotton-gin  that  doubled  the  cotton- 
crop  of  the  South  ;  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  devised  and  con 
structed  the  first  electric  telegraph  ;  and  Dr.  Kinsley  invent 
ed  and  exhibited,  in  the  streets  of  Hartford,  the  first  steam- 
locomotive  ever  built. 

Religion  and  popular  education  were  inseparably  blended 
in  the  minds  of  the  colonists.  Laws  were  to  be  enacted 
"  according  to  the  word  of  God."  As  early  as  1650,  the 
General  Court  directed  the  selectmen  to  "  see  to  it "  that  "  no 
family  in  the  colony  should  permit  such  barbarism  "  as  not 
to  send  their  children  and  apprentices  to  school.  But  to 
those  who  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  God,  and  who 
believe  that  intelligence  is  an  efficient  handmaid  of 
righteousness  and  good  order,  a  tendency  to  such  enactments 
should  scarcely  seem  a  legitimate  mark  for  derision. 

The  result  of  the  early  school-discipline  of  the  State  is, 
that,  in  the  legislative  bodies  of  the  West,  the  sons  of 
Connecticut  are  in  a  large  majority,  compared  with  the 
emigrants  from  any  other  State.  In  the  Constitutional  Con- 

16  Bushnell's  Historic  Estimate. 


28  CONNECTICUT. — COLONIAL  RECOKD. 

vention  of  New  York  in  1821,  out  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  members,  thirty-two  were  natives  of  Connecti 
cut,  while  only  nine  were  natives  of  Massachusetts.  In  the 
Ohio  Legislature  of  1838-39,  in  the  lower  house  of  seventy- 
four  members,  twelve  were  from  Connecticut,  two  from 
Massachusetts,  two  from  Vermont.  Hon.  James  Hillhouse, 
when  in  Congress,  found  that  forty-seven  of  the  members, 
or  about  one-fifth  of  the  whole  number  in  both  houses,  were 
native-born  sons  of  Connecticut.  Of  the  New- York  repre 
sentatives,  sixteen,  or  nearly  one-half,  were  sons,  or  descend 
ants  in  the  male  line,  of  Connecticut.  Mr.  Calhoun  once 
said  that  he  had  seen  the  time  when  the  natives  of  Con 
necticut  in  Congress,  together  with  all  the  graduates  of  Yale 
College  there  sitting,  lacked  only  five  of  being  a  majority. 
This  result  is  constantly  repeating  itself  throughout  the 
Western  States. 

"  How  beautiful  is  the  attitude  of  our  little  State,"  says 
Dr.  Bushnell,  "  when  seen  through  the  medium  of  facts  like 
these  !  Unable  to  carry  weight  by  numbers,  she  is  seen 
marching  out  her  sons,  empowered  in  capacity  and  fortified 
by  virtue,  to  take  their  posts  of  honor  and  influence  in  other 
States ;  in  her  behalf  to  be  their  physicians  and  ministers  of 
religion,  their  professors  and  lawyers,  their  wise  senators, 
their  great  lawyers  and  incorruptible  judges,  bulwarks  of 
virtue,  truth,  and  order  to  the  Republic  in  all  coming  time. 
And  then,  when  the  vast  area  of  our  country  between  the 
two  oceans  is  filled  with  a  teeming  population,  when  the 
delegates  of  sixty  or  a  hundred  States,  from  the  granite 
shores  of  the  East,  and  the  alluvial  plains  of  the  South,  and 
the  golden  mountains  of  the  West,  are  assembled  in  the  halls 
of  our  Congress,  and  little  Connecticut  is  there  represented 
in  her  own  behalf  by  her  one  delegate,  it  will  still  and  always 
be  found  that  she  is  numerously  represented  also  by  her 
sons  from  other  States ;  and  her  one  delegate  shall  be  him 
self  regarded,  in  his  person,  as  the  symbol  of  that  true 
Brother  Jonathan  whose  name  still  designates  the  great 
Republic  of  the  world." 


CHAPTER    H. 


The  War  begun  at  the  Ballot-box.  —  Elections  in  Connecticut  in  1860.  —  Attitude  of 
Parties.  —  Secession  becomes  Formidable.  —  Discussion  and  Recrimination.  —  Our 
Representatives  in  Congress.  —  Their  Action  on  Peace  Propositions.  —  Foresight  of 
Gov.  Buckingham.  —  The  Peace  Conference.  —  Hon.  Isaac  Toucey.  —  Spring  Elec 
tion  of  1861.  —  Connecticut  declares  for  Coercion. 


HE  citizens  of  Connecticut  retain  their  ancestral 
independence  of  thought,  and  tenacity  of  opinion. 
Though  conservative  in  tendency,  they  accept, 
without  flinching,  the  logical  consequences  of 
their  principles.  This  characteristic  was  strik 
ingly  exemplified  in  the  elections  during  the  year  1860. 
The  spring  election,  instead  of  the  presidential,  decided  the 
position  of  Connecticut  upon  national  questions.  The 
issues  being  already  sharply  defined,  the  campaign  was 
intensely  animated  and  vigorous,  and  brought  out  almost 
every  elector.  In  the  extraordinary  poll  of  88,375  votes, 
the  Republican  candidate  received  44,458  votes ;  a  majority 
of  only  541. 

A  close  and  hotly-contested  presidential  campaign  was  at 
first  expected ;  but  the  rupture  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
the  result  of  the  October  gubernatorial  elections  in  Penn 
sylvania  and  other  States,  so  clearly  foreshadowed  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  that  excitement  and  effort  subsided. 
The  people  of  Connecticut  quietly  assembled  on  the  6th 
of  November,  and  polled  a  total  vote  of  77,292,  distributed 
as  follows :  Lincoln,  43,792  ;  Douglas,  15,522 ;  Breckenridge, 
14,641;  Bell,  1,485 ;  Fusion,  1,852.  Total  opposition,  33,500. 
Majority  for  Lincoln,  10,292. 


29 


30  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  generally  believe 
the  explicit  and  reiterated  declarations  of  the  Southern 
leaders,  that  his  election  would  be  the  signal  of  an  imme 
diate  attempt  at  disunion.  Those  who  did,  decided  to  vote 
for  their  candidate,  and  abide  the  issue. 

The  leading  men  and  journals  of  this  State  opposed  to 
Mr.  Lincoln  predicted,  in  case  of  his  election,  a  determined 
effort  at  separation  by  the  slave  States ;  but  their  fears  of 
disunion,  or  objections  to  it,  were  not  so  serious  as  to  heal 
their  party  dissensions,  and  cause  them  to  unite  to  defeat 
the  Republican  candidate  at  the  polls. 

After  the  election,  they  at  once  avowed  for  themselves 
entire  acquiescence  in  the  decision  of  the  people  constitu 
tionally  expressed.1 

Our  people  were  turning  with  renewed  energy  to  their 
usual  business  ;  but  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina, 
convened  for  the  purpose  on  the  day  after  the  election, 
voted  at  once  to  call  a  convention  for  secession.  Other 
States  prepared  precipitately  to  follow. 

Action  so  abrupt  and  apparently  resolute  startled  our 
people.  They  did  not  yet  fear  disruption  by  open  rebel 
lion  ;  but  they  were  alarmed,  lest,  by  the  unfamiliar  process 
of  secession,  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union  might,  in 
spite  of  protesting  millions,  be  adroitly  compassed. 

They  began  at  once  to  examine  the  theory  of  secession 
and  the  legal  and  practical  effect  of  the  actual  ordinance, 
neither  of  which  had  been  much  discussed  at  the  North. 
Prominent  supporters  of  Mr.  Lincoln  asserted  that  "secession 
is  treason,  and  must  be  treated  by  the  government  as 
treason,"  and  that  "  the  government  has  the  right  and  the 
power  to  compel  obedience."  A  considerable  number  of 
Republicans,  while  they  emphatically  denied  the  right  of 
secession,  questioned  the  policy  of  forcibly  preventing  it. 
They  held,  that,  if  an  undoubted  majority  of  the  adult 

1  "  It  is  right  that  he  (Lincoln)  should  be  inaugurated,  and  that  he  should  be  sustained 
in  the  legitimate  discharge  of  the  executive  duties  of  the  government.  Certain  it  is  that 
he  will  not  be  permitted  to  encroach  on  the  rights  of  any  State.  —  Hartford  Times,  Nov.  7. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   SECESSION.  31 

population  of  any  State  deliberately  pronounced  for  separa 
tion,  the  rest  of  the  States,  though  they  might  legally  compel 
that  State  to  remain,  would  do  better  to  assemble  in  national 
convention,  and  acquiesce  in  her  departure  from  the  Union. 
Withdrawal  under  these  sanctions  is  the  only  secession  ever 
deemed  valid  or  permissible  by  any  number  of  the  supporters 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Many  who  had  voted  against  him  also 
concurred  in  this  view. 

Some  of  the  opponents  of  the  President  elect  denied  the 
right  of  secession,  but  claimed  that  there  was  no  constitu 
tional  remedy  against  it.  The  greater  part  held  that  the 
recusant  States  were  theoretically  if  not  practically  right ; 
that  the  United  States  was  simply  a  confederation  of  sove 
reign  States,  any  one  of  which  possessed  a  constitutional 
right  to  withdraw  whenever  it  should  consider  the  arrange 
ment  'no  longer  profitable.  They  deemed  an  attempt  to 
coerce  a  State,  in  order  to  vindicate  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Federal  Government  and  to  preserve  the  territorial 
integrity  of  the  Union,  to  be  both  illegal  and  useless.2 

Though  the  doctrine  of  secession  found  defenders,  the 
champions  of  the  overt  act  were  few.  The  mass  of  our 
citizens  deeply  deprecated  disunion,  as  portending  only  grave 
and  measureless  calamity.  To  avert  this  calamity,  they  pro 
fessed  to  be  eager  to  act  with  "  such  moderation  and  forbear 
ance  as  will  draw  out,  strengthen,  and  combine  the  Union 
sentiment  of  the  whole  country."  But  the  attempt  to 
reduce  this  general  expression  to  a  more  specific  statement 
revealed  a  wide  difference  of  opinion.  The  opponents  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  accused  his  friends  of  the  ulterior  purpose  of 
interfering  with  slavery  in  the  States,  and  asserted  that  the 
Southern  people  had  abundant  provocation  for  their  treason 
able  conduct.  They  demanded  of  the  Republicans  a  repu- 

2  The  Hartford  Times  of  Nov.  7,  after  referring  to  the  danger  that  the  slave  States 
would  "  form  a  separate  confederacy,  and  retire  peaceably  from  the  Union,"  proceeds  to 
say,  "  If  they  do  so  decide  and  act,  it  will  he  useless  to  attempt  any  coercive  measures  to 
keep  them  within  the  voluntary  copartnership  of  States.  ...  We  can  never  force. 
sovereign  States  to  remain  in  the  Union  when  they  desire  to  go  out,  without  bringing 
upon  our  country  the  shocking  evils  of  civil  war,  under  which  the  Republic  could  not, 
of  course,  long  exist." 


32  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

diation  of  the  distinctive  principle  on  which  the  political 
campaign  had  been  fought  and  won,  and  declared  that  the 
conservatives  of  the  North  would  never  consent  to  coercion  ; 
adding  the  not  unfrequent  menace,  that,  "  if  war  is  to  be 
waged,  that  war  will  be  fought  in  the  North." 

The  Republicans  replied,  that  no  misstatement  of  their 
principles  and  purposes,  and  no  threat,  empty  or  significant, 
would  move  them  a  hair's-breadth  ;  and  that  the  intemper 
ate  language  of  their  opponents  tended  rather  to  mislead 
than  to  undeceive  the  Southern  people.  At  the  same  time, 
they  avowed  a  sincere  desire  to  make  their  real  opinions 
and  designs  understood  by  the  South,  and  a  readiness  to 
join  in  a  convention  of  all  the  States  and  parties  for  mutual 
consultation  and  reconciliation ;  and  repeatedly  pledged 
"  any  sacrifice  of  mere  feeling  or  interest "  for  harmony  and 
union.  A  majority  of  our  people,  though  uneasy  at  the 
portentous  and  expanding  proportions  of  secession,  were 
confident  that  excitement  would  subside,  reason  displace 
passion,  and  a  peaceful  solution  of  our  difficulties  be  at 
length  safely  reached.  So  believing,  they  anxiously  awaited 
the  assembling  of  Congress. 

Connecticut  was  represented  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress 
by  Senators  Lafayette  S.  Foster  and  James  Dixon,  and 
Representatives  Dwight  Looinis,  John  Woodruff,  Alfred  A. 
Burnham,  and  Orris  S.  Ferry. 

They,  like  their  constituents,  hoped  much  from  personal 
intercourse  and  consultation  with  the  representatives  of  the 
South;  and  were  resolved  to  omit  no  honorable  effort  to 
avert  disunion  and  civil  strife. 

The  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  second  day  of  the 
session,  raised  a  committee  of  thirty-three  —  one  from  each 
State  —  upon  "  the  state  of  the  Union."  Messrs.  Ferry  and 
Woodruff  voted  for  the  resolution ;  Messrs.  Burnham  and 
Loomis,  against  it.  Mr.  Ferry  was  designated  as  the  Con 
necticut  member  of  that  important  committee.  The  mes 
sage  of  the  President,  and  the  thirty  or  more  sets  of  reso 
lutions  submitted,  comprised  every  conceivable  plan  of 
adjustment. 


FIEING  UPON  THE   STAR   OF  THE  WEST.  33 

On  the  10th  of  December,  a  resolution,  raising  a  similar 
committee  of  thirteen  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  was  intro 
duced  in  the  Senate.  Senator  Foster  favored  the  resolution, 
"as  a  step  which  may  allay  public  excitement.  It  looks 
toward  bringing  back  harmony  and  fraternal  feeling  to  the 
country."  3 

Senator  Dixon  also,  in  advocating  the  resolution,  said  that 
he  felt  no  desire  "  to  threaten  war  in  any  event.  .  .  .  The 
slavery  question  must  now  have  a  final  and  rightful  adjust 
ment,  consented  to  by  the  people  of  both  sections.  .  .  . 
The  first  thing  should  be  to  restore  fraternal  spirit  by  cheer 
fully  and  honestly  assuring  to  every  section  of  the  country 
its  constitutional  rights."  He  added,  "  My  constituents  are 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  which  a  reasonable  man  can  ask 
or  an  honorable  man  can  grant." 

In  reply,  Senator  Brown  of  Mississippi  declared,  "  There 
is  but  one  way.  The  Northern  people  must  review  and 
reverse  their  whole  policy  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  There 
is  no  such  purpose,  and  therefore  no  hope  of  reconciliation."  * 
Mr.  Brown  and  his  coadjutors  in  the  Senate  and  House  per 
sisted.  The  Republicans  refused  to  yield.  Discussion  now 
became  obviously  useless. 

Major  Anderson's  removal  from  Moultrie  to  Sumter 
stirred  the  heart  of  the  North ;  while  the  firing  upon  the 
Star  of  the  West  (Jan.  9)  roused  indignant  resentment. 
The  war-spirit  began  to  kindle  and  glow. 

Gov.  Buckingham,  watching  every  movement  intently,  felt 
that  war  was  imminent,  and  that  Connecticut  should  be  ready. 
On  the  17th  of  January,  he  issued  a  proclamation,  in 
which  he  recited  the  traitorous  and  hostile  acts  of  the  South, 
and  reminded  our  people,  that  "  when  reason  gives  way  to 
passion,  and  order  yields  to  anarchy,  the  civil  power  must 
fall  back  upon  the  military  for  support,  and  rest  upon  that 
arm  of  national  defense."  With  clear  vision  and  resolute 
purpose,  he  said  that  "  the  active  services  of  the  militia  may 

8  Congressional  Globe,  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  second  session. 

4  The  committee  was  ordered ;  but  neither  senator  from  Connecticut  was  placed  on  it. 
6 


34  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

soon  be  required ; "  and  urged  companies  to  fill  their  ranks, 
inspect  their  arms  and  equipments,  perfect  themselves  in 
drill,  and  "  be  ready  to  render  such  service  as  any  exigency 
may  demand."  Then,  as  if  foreseeing  that  the  struggle  was 
to  be  no  easy  one,  he,  on  his  own  responsibility,  quietly 
ordered  his  quartermaster  to  purchase  equipments  for  five 
thousand  men. 

The  opponents  of  the  incoming  administration  clamored  at 
the  delay  of  Congress  to  adopt  pacificatory  measures.  The 
border  State  men  now  submitted  propositions  which  they 
hoped  would,  if  adopted,  satisfy  the  border  slave  States,  and 
keep  them  from  secession.  Petitions  numerously  signed, 
praying  for  the  adoption  of  these  propositions,  were  for 
warded  from  New  Haven,  Bridgeport,  Fairfield,  Derby, 
Hartford,  Bethany,  Westport,  Seymour,  New  London,  North 
Haven,  Wallingford,  Milford,  and  other  towns.5  Petitions 
from  Hartford  and  some  other  towns,  for  the  adoption  of  the 
Crittenden  propositions,  were  transmitted  to  Congress.  More 
were  circulated,  but  were  never  sent  on. 

The  last-named  petitions  were  viewed  by  some  in  a 
partisan  light,  because  the  Democratic  State  Convention 
had,  on  the  6th  of  February,  recommended  in  its  platform 
the  Crittenden  or  similar  propositions. 

Citizens  of  Mystic  and  neighboring  towns  united  in  a 
protest  against  any  compromise  involving  the  extension  of 
slavery ;  and  those  of  Derby  and  vicinity  sent  a  petition 
praying  Congress  to  stand  firmly  by  "  the  Constitution  as  it 
is,  the  Union  of  the  States,  and  the  enforcement  of  the 
laws  ; "  and  pledging  themselves,  "  separately  and  unitedly," 
to  maintain  "  public  liberty  and  national  safety  "  against  all 
enemies,  abroad  or  at  home. 

Meanwhile  the  Peace  Conference  had  been  in  session. 
Connecticut  was  represented  by  Ex-Gov.  Roger  S.  Baldwin, 
Ex-Gov.  Chauncey  F.  Cleveland,  Hon.  Charles  J.  McCurdy, 
Hon.  James  T.  Pratt,  Hon.  Robbins  Battell,  and  Amos  Treat, 

6  Congressional  Globe,  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  second  session,  Feb.  2-27. 


AMENDMENT  TO   THE   CONSTITUTION.  35 

Esq.  Ex-Gov.  Baldwin,6  eminent  alike  for  learning  and  pa 
triotism,  strenuously  advocated  a  national  convention,  to  pro 
pose  amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
This  proposition  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  eight  yeas  to  thir 
teen  nays,  each  State  casting  one  vote.  The  Connecticut 
delegation  thereafter  voted  against  most  of  the  propositions 
submitted  by  the  select  committee.  Neither  the  Peace 
Conference  nor  the  petitions  of  citizens  availed  any  thing. 

Our  representatives  in  Washington  became  convinced 
that  no  compromise  could  check  secession;  that  honor  and 
safety  alike  called  for  decided  action.  On  the  llth  of  Feb 
ruary,  Mr.  Ferry  offered  in  the  House  a  resolution  looking 
to  such  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  as  "  expressly  to 
forbid  the  withdrawal  of  any  State  from  the  Union  without 
the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  the 
approval  of  the  President,  and  the  consent  of  all  the  States." 
Mr.  Burnett  of  Kentucky  proposing  to  debate  the  resolution, 
it  was  laid  over,  and  never  voted  on. 

Mr.  Burnham,  on  the  14th  of  February,  addressed  the 
House.  He  emphatically  urged  every  citizen  of  every  State 
to  enforce  all  laws,  and  pointedly  called  on  the  South  to 
guarantee  protection  to  citizens  of  free  States  while  traveling 
in  slave  States.  He  entered  a  vigorous  protest  against  the 
amendment  of  the  Constitution,  or  the  adoption  of  any  com 
promise  "  under  coercion  of  fear."  He  declared  that  the 
government  must  be  maintained  and  the  will  of  the  people 
obeyed. 

On  the  24th,  Mr.  Ferry  made  an  earnest  speech,  affirming 
that  the  Southern  leaders  demanded  that  the  Constitution  be 
so  amended  as  to  give  protection  to  slave-property  every- 

0  "  As  early  as  Feb.  4,  Gov.  Buckingham  addressed  the  delegation  in  a  letter,  in  which, 
after  counseling  a  conciliatory  spirit,  he  said,  "  I  would  suggest  as  of  primary  impor 
tance  that  you  have  special  regard  to  measures  which  tend  to  maintain  the  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  government;  so  that  every  citizen  shall  feel  that  it  is,  and  is  to  be,  a 
shield  to  protect  him  in  every  proper  and  lawful  pursuit,  as  well  as  in  his  property  and 
his  person. 

"  Also  that  no  sanction  be  given  to  measures  which  shall  bind  the  government  to  new 
guaranties  for  the  protection  of  property  in  man,  —  a  principle  subversive  of  the  founda 
tions  of  a  free  government." 


36  CONNECTICUT  DUUING  THE   EEBELLION. 

where  in  the  United  States,  while  they  refused  to  pledge 
that  even  such  an  amendment,  with  the  repeal  of  the  Per 
sonal-liberty  Bills,  should  constitute  a  final  and  satisfactory 
adjustment.  "To  buy  transient  peace,  even  if  possible,  at 
the  price  of  this  amendment,  is  to  enact  a  dangerous  prece 
dent.  Any  new  demand  will  be  enforced  by  repeated  seces 
sion.  ...  A  compromise  now  is  but  the  establishment  of 
sedition  as  an  elementary  principle  in  our  system.  .  .  .  There 
is  no  course  left  but  for  the  government  to  vindicate  its 
dignity  by  an  exhibition  of  its  strength." 

In  the  same  spirit  our  entire  delegation  had  voted  in  the 
Senate  on  the  llth  of  February,  and  in  the  House  on  the  20th, 
for  a  proposition  to  build  at  once  seven  war-steamers. 

The  only  pacificatory  measure  adopted  by  Congress  was 
a  resolution  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
providing  that  the  Constitution  shall  never  be  so  amended  as 
to  give  Congress  the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere  with  the 
domestic  institutions  of  any  State.  In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Dixon 
voted  for  the  resolution.  Mr.  Foster  did  not  vote.  In  the 
House,  our  entire  delegation  voted  against  it.7 

On  the  2d  of  March,  the  House  of  Representatives  passed 
a  resolution  censuring  Hon.  Isaac  Toucey  for  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  administered  affairs  as  Secretary  of  the  Navy.8 

During  the  special  session,  Mr.  Foster,  on  the  8th  of 
March,  moved  the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Wigfall  of  Texas,  because 
he  had  declared  himself  "  a  foreigner,  and  owing  allegiance 
to  the  foreign  State  of  Texas."  He  held  that  the  secession 
of  Texas  in  no  way  invalidated  the  right  of  the  senator  to 
sit  in  the  Senate  during  the  time  for  which  he  had  been 
constitutionally  elected ;  but  the  contemptuous  language 
and  traito'rous  spirit  of  the  senator  rendered  his  presence 
dangerous  and  insulting.  The  motion  passed  by  a  party 
vote. 

Seceded   States  were    now  organized,  defiant,  and   belli- 

7  All   of  our  representatives  had,  however,  voted,  on  the  llth  of  February,  for  a 
declaratory  resolution  <Jf  the  same  purport. 

8  For  a  detailed  statement,  see  Appendix. 


CONNECTICUT  VOTES  FOR  COERCION.  37 

gerent.  "  Coercion  "  was  the  issue  in  the  State  election ;  and 
each  party  met  it  squarely.  The  Democrats  regarded  dis 
union  as  an  accomplished  fact,  and  advocated  a  peace  policy 
as  a  means  of  retaining  the  border  States,  and  ultimately 
winning  back  those  which  had  already  seceded.  In  their 
State  Convention  (Feb.  6),  they  resolved  that  "the  perni 
cious  doctrine  of  coercion "  is  "  utterly  at  war  with  the 
exercise  of  right,  mature  judgment,  and  the  principles  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  should  be  strongly 
resisted  by  every  lover  of  our  common  country." 

The  Republicans  of  Connecticut  had  kept  pace  with  their 
representatives  in  Congress,  and,  on  the  26th  of  February, 
had  pronounced  explicitly  for  the  maintenance,  by  force,  of 
"the  supreme  and  perpetual  authority  of  the  National 
Government." 

The  canvass  was  spirited,  and  the  vote  large,  exhibiting  a 
total  of  84,015  ;  of  which  William  A.  Buckingham  received 
43,012,  —  a  majority  over  James  C.  Loomis  of  2,009.9 

Thus  the  freemen  of  Connecticut  by  a  majority  vote 
decided  for  coercion.  The  stern  meaning  of  that  decision 
they  were  soon  to  know.  Within  fourteen  days,  the  flag,  — 
not  in  half  a  century  struck  to  any  foe,  —  to  them  the  sacred 
emblem  of  resistless  and  protecting  nationality,  was  hauled 
down  in  defeat,  to  be  raised  again  in  triumph  on  that  spot 
by  the  hand  that  lowered  it ;  but  not  until  four  years  had 
passed  in  civil  war,  matchless  in  cost,  in  magnitude,  and  in 
valor. 

9  This  vote  is  but  little  lighter  than  that  of  the  spring  of  1860,  justly  the  test  election ; 
the  Republican  vote  being  less  by  1,446,  the  Democratic  by  2,931.  The  majority, 
compared  with  that  of  1860,  shows  for  the  Republicans  an  apparent  gain  in  available 
strength  of  1,485  votes. 


•  CHAPTER   m. 

The  Fall  of  Sumtcr.  —  Enthusiasm  in  Connecticut.  —  "Coercion  "  accepted  as  a  Duty. — 
A  Battle-Sunday.  —  Winsted  and  New  Britain.  —  Sympathy  for  the  South. — The 
Call  for  the  First  Regiment.  —  Condition  of  our  Militia.  —  The  Massachusetts  Sixth.  — 
The  Towns  moving.  —  The  Hartford  Companies. — Meriden,  New  Haven,  Danbury, 
Middlctown,  Norwich,  Derby,  Willimantic,  Mystic,  Putnam,  Danielsonville,  Bridge 
port,  Waterbury,  New  London,  Litchfield,  Wallingford,  Farmington,  Salisbury.  —  The 
Old  Flag. 

HE  traitors  are  firing  on  Sumter ! "  read  the 
dispatch  :  "  Anderson  answers  gun  for  gun  ! " 
Men  stood  startled  a  moment,  and  half  dis 
mayed  ;  then,  with  electric  response  to  the 
echoing  summons,  they  spoke  out  with  indig 
nation  and  courage  :  "  Parley  is  ended  ;  now  re-enforce  Sum 
ter  ;  avenge  the  insult ;  vindicate  the  nation's  honor !  " 

For  six  months,  the  impatient  arms  of  the  loyal  people  had 
been  bound,  and  their  patriotic  resentments  suppressed  ;  while 
traitors  had  gone  on  from  arrogance  to  menace,  and  from  as 
sault  to  assault,  everywhere  unresisted.  They  had  captured 
and  occupied  nineteen  national  forts ;  had  taken  possession 
of  scores  of  Federal  revenue-cutters  and  war-vessels  ;  had 
appropriated  our  arsenals  and  mints;  had  stolen  twelve 
hundred  cannon  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  muskets 
from  the  national  armories ;  had  caused  the  destruction  of 
fifteen  million  dollars'  worth  of  ships  and  ordnance-stores  at 
Pensacola ;  had  waged  war  on  the  government  by  firing  upon 
and  driving  back  a  vessel  sent  to  relieve  a  starving  garrison  ; 
had  assumed  to  wrest  State  after  State  out  of  the  Union ;  and 
had  made  prisoners,  through  the  treachery  of  commanders,  of 
more  than  half  of  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States, — 

38 


A  BATTLE-SUNDAY.  39 

all  this  without  eliciting  a  single  shot  in  defense  of  the 
nation.  The  patience  of  the  Northern  people  was  well-nigh 
exhausted.  A  majority  of  the  supporters  of  President  Lin 
coln  believed  that  his  policy  was  too  timid  and  forbearing. 
They  felt  that  the  nation  was  weaker  in  April  than  in  March  ; 
and  that  the  president  still  debated  what  he  should  have 
decided,  and  paused  when  he  ought  to  act.  The  demand  that 
the  assaulted  government  should  defend  itself  had  been 
hitherto  answered  only  by  new  efforts  at  conciliation,  and 
followed  by  still  grosser  insults  and  outrages. 

From  the  bitterness  of  these  humiliations,  and  from  painful 
suspense  and  helpless  inactivity,  the  first  gun  brought  relief. 
All  day  Saturday  the  city  streets  were  crowded,  and  from 
the  country  towns  came  riding  anxious  men  asking  for 
the  news.  The  bombardment  was  going  on ;  Anderson  was 
making  a  brave  resistance  :  little  else  was  known  with  certain 
ty.  But  this  short  message  thrilled  the  State  with  a  sort  of 
angry  exultation.  The  loyal  people  were  of  one  mind:  "Let  us 
settle  this  trouble  now,  and  not  bequeath  it  to  our  children." 
The  excitement  swept  across  the  State,  kindling  battle-fires 
in  which  the  mortification  of  years  was  consumed.  Doubt 
was  succeeded  by  enthusiasm.  The  despairing  felt  that  the 
Republic  was  saved.  Conservatives  who  had  grappled  to 
the  Crittenden  Compromise,  as  the  hope  of  the  hour,  were 
stunned  by  the  sudden  blow.  Men  who,  by  force  of  party 
habit,  had  justified  treason  in  its  preliminary  offenses,  were 
awed  into  silence  now  by  the  audacity  of  this  act  of  war : 
while  patriots  thanked  God,  that,  if  war  must  come,  it  had 
been  no  longer  delayed  ;  and  forthwith  fell  into  line  for  the 
front.  Business  was  suspended,  and  men  prepared  to  meet 
the  crisis. 

The  next  day  was  a  battle-Sunday  all  over  the  State.  The 
news  of  the  surrender  of  Sumter  was  announced  in  the  large 
towns;  and  the  event  was  alluded  to  in  sermons, and  responded 
to  by  congregations,  in  a  manner  worthy  of  Revolutionary 
times.  Ministers  prayed  that  the  foes  of  the  nation  might 
be  smitten  down,  and  law  maintained,  and  liberty  given  to 


40  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

the  captive ;  and  urged  their  hearers  to  trust  in  God,  and  do 
their  duty.  The  Hartford  Daily  Post,  a  Douglas  Demo 
cratic  organ,  which  had  already  pronounced  heartily  against 
treason,  issued  extras,  and  freely  sold  them  within  church- 
doors  without  rebuke.  The  New-Haven  Palladium,  an  able 
supporter  of  the  administration,  sold  that  day  eight  thou 
sand  extras.  In  the  evening,  people  throughout  the  State 
assembled  in  unusual  numbers  at  their  conference-meetings, 
and  expressed  their  solemn  purpose  in  address  and  prayer. 

A  war-meeting  for  the  evening  was  announced  from 
some  of  the  pulpits  of  New  Britain,  and  a  great  gathering 
was  the  result.  Resolutions  to  sustain  the  government  were 
passed ;  and  a  volunteer  roll,  headed  by  Frank  Stanley,  was 
opened  as  a  nucleus  of  the  first  company.  "  A  handsome 
photograph  of  Major  Anderson,  encircled  with  a  laurel 
wreath,  prepared  by  a  lady  of  New  Britain,  was  presented 
in  a  thrilling  speech  by  V.  B.  Chamberlin,  Esq. ;  the  whole 
audience  rising  to  their  feet  with  the  wildest  demonstrations 
of  enthusiasm." 

A  similar  meeting  was  called  in  West  Winsted  ;  and  Camp's 
Hall  was  filled  with  an  enthusiastic  crowd.  In  the  midst  of 
the  excitement,  Roland  Hitchcock,  a  lawyer,  offered  a  resolu 
tion  declaring  that  the  president  ought  to  withdraw  the 
United-States  troops  from  the  forts  within  the  seceded  States, 
stop  the  shedding  of  blood,  settle  the  difficulties  honorably 
by  further  concessions,  and  "  revive  the  drooping  business 
interests."  He  was  fiercely  hissed  down  ;  and  the  proposition 
was  indignantly  and  almost  unanimously  rejected.  The 
meeting  adopted  a  patriotic  address ;  and  one  hundred 
young  men  signed  an  agreement  to  go  to  the  war.  A  sub 
scription-paper  was  also  opened,  and  seven  hundred  dollars 
subscribed  for  the  volunteers. 

Preparations  for  volunteering  were  made  in  all  the  large 
towns.  Excited  crowds  filled  the  streets,  and  thronged 
telegraph  and  newspaper  offices. 

The  Hartford  Times  displayed  a  good  deal  of  boldness  in 
attempting  to  stay  the  rising  tide.  On  Saturday,  when 


TREASONABLE   SENTIMENTS.  41 

Sumter  was  on  fire,  and  Anderson  and  his  intrepid  little  band 
were  tearing  up  their  garments  to  make  cartridges,  in  the 
midst  of  smoke  and  flames,  the  Times  reasoned  thus :  — 

"  '  But,'  say  the  yield-not-an-inch  Republicans,  '  the  Southerners  fired 
the  first  gun.'  Under  what  circumstances?  As  our  fathers  in  the  Revo 
lution  declared  their  independence  of  Great  Britain,  so  have  seven  States 
at  the  South  declared  their  independence  of  the  Federal  Government  of  the 
United  States.  .  .  .  Could  that  people  wait  until  they  were  taken  by  the 
throat  and  held  in  subjection?  Their  position  had  been  taken.  That 
position  was  invaded  by  a  powerful  force,  and  to  save  themselves  they 
acted.  ...  In  the  end,  this  controversy  must  be  settled  by  treaty.  The 
paper  settlement  alone  will  bring  peace.  Every  battle,  and  every  gun  that 
is  fired,  complicates  it.  We  cannot  hold  the  South  in  subjection." 

Great  indignation  was  expressed  against  the  Times,  and 
also  against  the  Bridgeport  Farmer  arid  New-Haven  Regis 
ter  ;  the  latter  somewhat  less  emphatic  in  defense  of  "  the 
rights  of  the  South."  There  were  angry  controversies,  and 
here  and  there  personal  collisions,  growing  out  of  expressions 
of  disloyal  sentiment.  On  Monday,  the  Times  said,  — 

"  The  greater  power  lies  in  the  States :  they  are  sovereign.  The 
Federal  Government  is  subordinate  to  the  States.  South  Carolina  has 
repealed  her  ordinance  by  which  she  became  a  part  of  the  Federal  Union. 
Had  she,  a  sovereign  State,  a  right  to  do  so?  We  claim  she  had  ;  for  the 
State  had  reserved  that  right,  and  the  reservation  is  written  in  the  Consti 
tution.  We  have  opposed  the  policy  of  fighting  State  against  State, 
brother  against  brother ;  we  shall  oppose  it :  for  it  is  that  policy  which 
will  impoverish  the  North,  and  break  up  the  Union."  .  .  . 

The  Register  had  just  said,  "Henceforth  these  States 
pass  into  two  republics  instead  of  one  ; "  and,  while  declar 
ing  that  "  the  flag  must  not  be  dishonored,"  it  pledged  itself 
to  "  discountenance  the  war-spirit." 

"With  these  politicians  sympathized  a  considerable  number 
of  Democrats,  who  quietly  but  sullenly  refused  to  aid  in  the 
preparations  for  battle.  Some  declaimed  against  "an  aboli 
tion  war,"  and,  whenever  they  could  get  breath  during  the 
tumult  of  these  days,  feebly  demanded  that  "  those  who  had 
made  the  trouble"  should  constitute  the  army.  Other 


42  CONNECTICUT   DUKING  THE   EEBELLION. 

Democrats,  like  Henry  C.  Deming,  Mayor  of  Hartford,  sturdi 
ly  opposed  the  use  of  force,  even  after  Fort  Sumter  was  taken, 
while  the  cry  was,  "  On  to  Charleston  ! "  and  pronounced  for 
war  only  when  secession  had  become  a  gigantic  revolution, 
threatening  immediate  advance  on  the  capital,  and  aiming 
no  longer  at  independence,  but  supremacy.1 

Daring  Monday,  the  people  of  the  State  had  received  the 
president's  first  proclamation,2  calling  out,  for  three  months, 
seventy-five  thousand  of  the  militia  of  the  several  States  to 
"  repossess  the  forts,  places,  and  property  "  which  had  been 
seized  ;  "  to  maintain  the  perpetuity  of  popular  government ; 
and  to  redress  wrongs  long  enough  endured."  This  call  was 
received  with  earnest  satisfaction.  The  crisis  which  had 
come  was  not  unlocked  for,  and  yet  it  was  startling  in  its 
suddenness  and  importance.  Until  within  two  days,  many 
had  cherished  a  belief  that  the  disloyal  communities  would 
not  proceed  to  the  ultimate  act  of  war.  No  people  had  ever 
been  so  rudely  awakened  from  a  long  dream  of  peace.  For 
more  than  eighty  years,  we  had  been  devoted  to  a  develop 
ment  of  the  industrial  resources  of  the  State.  We  believed 
that  a  standing  army  was  a  standing  menace,  an  invitation 
to  war.  The  forts  on  the  Sound  were  dismantled,  and  falling 
to  ruin.  We  had  hardly  cannon  enough  to  usher  in  the 
Fourth  of  July.  Not  half  the  young  men  of  the  State  knew 

1  Mr.  Deraing  was  invited -to  preside  at  the  war-meeting  to  be  held  April  19.  He 
declined  in  a  letter,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  "  I  am  in  favor  of  maintaining 
the  government  in  Washington.  I  am  willing  to  furnish  it  with  the  requisite  force  to 
defend  it  in  the  possession  and  occupancy  of  the  Federal  capital.  I  will  support  it  in 
repelling  invasion  of  the  territory  of  any  State  which  still  adheres  to  the  Federal  Union. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  am  not  willing  to  sustain  it  in  a  war  of  aggression  or  invasion  of  the 
seceded  States.  Such  a  war,  to  accomplish  its  avowed  purpose  of  recapturing  Fort  Sum 
ter  and  of  continuing  the  occupancy  of  Fort  Pickens,  must  he  a  war  for  conquering,  and 
holding  in  subjugation,  more  than  three  millions  of  an  indomitable  race  of  men." 

A  week  later  he  presented  a  flag  to  one  of  the  regiments,  and,  within  six  months,  was 
colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Regiment.  The  Times  and  Register  also  declared  for  the  de 
fense  of  the  capital,  but  against  the  invasion  of  any  seceded  State. 

'2  By  the  law  of  1795,  the  president  had  power  to  call  out  the  militia  of  the  different 
States  to  suppress  insurrection  or  rebellion,  provided  that  no  man  should  be  obliged  to 
serve  more  than  three  months,  or  more  than  thirty  days  after  the  next  meeting  of  Con 
gress.  So  President  Lincoln  was  constrained  to  issue  the  three-months'  call,  and  to  post 
pone  the  assembling  of  Congress  to  July  4. 


CONNECTICUT  MOVING.  43 

how  to  handle  a  musket.  The  venerable  institution  once 
honored  in  Connecticut  as  "  Training  Day  "  had  been  lauglied 
out  of  existence. 

Moreover,  we  had  been  for  a  whole  generation  virtually 
teaching  our  youths  the  wickedness  of  physical  combat  by 
forbidding  them  to  defend  themselves  when  assaulted,  and 
instructing  them  that  good  boys  ought  always  to  run  away, 
rather  than  stand  and  maintain  their  rights.  We  had  now 
to  prove  to  the  world  and  to  ourselves  that  our  dogmas  of 
non-resistance,  added  to  a  lifetime  of  tranquillity  and  money- 
getting,  had  not  rusted  out  our  manhood. 

Connecticut  had  on  her  militia  rolls  fifty-one  thousand  able- 
bodied  men,  with  two  or  three  nominal  regimental  organiza 
tions.  Moreover,  on  examination,  it  was  found  that  "  the  mili 
tary  laws  of  the  State  were  very  defective,  and  of  such  a 
nature  that  the  Commander-in-chief  had  no  legal  authority  to 
answer  a  requisition  from  the  president  for  the  single  regiment 
of  militia  called  for  " 3  as  our  quota.  In  this  dilemma,  the  gov 
ernor  promptly  issued4  a  call  for  a  regiment  of  volunteers, 
relying  upon  the  legislature  to  indemnify  him  for  assuming 
the  authority ; 5  and  the  patriotism  of  the  people  instantly 
responded  to  the  appeal.  Enlistments  began  at  once.  All 
other  employment  gave  way  to  volunteering  and  equipping. 
Within  four  days,  the  companies  of  the  First  Regiment  were 
at  the  rendezvous  at  New  Haven  ;  within  six  days,  those  also 
which  were  mustered  in  as  the  Second  Regiment ;  in  two 
weeks,  the  Third  went  into  camp  at  Hartford ;  and,  within 
three  weeks,  fifty-four  companies  had  tendered  their  services 
to  the  governor.  This  was  five  times  our  quota  under  the 
call. 

But  patriotism  and  zeal  could  not  supply. the  place  of  or 
ganization  ;  and,  to  our  chagrin,  Massachusetts  was  able  to  send 
forward  her  militia  regiments  that  had  volunteered,  in  a  body ; 


8  Adjutant-General's  Report,  April,  1862. 
*  April  16,  Tuesday. 

6  A  law  for  the  organization  and  equipment  of  volunteer  railiiia  was  passed  at  the 
succeeding  May  session. 


44  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

while  ours,  equally  ardent,  were  assembling,  but  unorganized 
and  undisciplined.  On  Wednesday,  while  our  companies  were 
concentrating  at  New  Haven,  her  Sixth  Regiment  passed 
through  the  State  for  Washington,  via  Baltimore.  Along  the 
line  of  the  road,  the  excited  people  had  remained  all  night  to 
greet  them.  They  were  delayed,  but  arrived  at  Hartford  at 
two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Thursday  the  18th.  Not  less 
than  twenty-five  hundred  still  waited  at  the  depot  as  the  train 
of  nineteen  crowded  cars  came  thundering  along  out  of  the 
darkness.  Lieut.  Hawley  briefly  welcomed  them  in  the  name 
of  the  citizens,  assuring  them  of  constant  sympathy  and  speedy 
support.  Cheer  after  cheer  emphasized  the  welcome.  Men 
and  women  shook  hands  earnestly  with  the  travelers  they 
never  saw  before,  and  prayed  for  victory  on  their  flag.  Young 
ladies  exchanged  handkerchiefs  with  the  soldiers ;  and  old 
ladies,  less  sentimental,  brought  them  lunches :  and  the  train 
moved  on. with  shouts  of,  "Burn  Charleston,  and  sow  it  with 
salt ! "  mingled  with,  "  God  bless  you ! "  and  ending  with  a 
prolonged  cheer,  that  was  at  once  a  farewell  and  a  benediction. 
At  Meriden  and  New  Haven,  similar  receptions  awaited 
them ;  though  the  crowds,  standing  since  ten  o'clock,  began 
to  thin  out  towards  morning.  At  New  Haven,  where  three 
thousand  were  still  congregated,  sandwiches  and  coffee  were 
served  to  the  soldiers ;  and  the  throng  cheered  the  regiment, 
Plymouth  Rock,  Col.  Jones,  Gen.  Butler,  and  every  thing 
relating  to  the  gallant  Bay  State. 

Our  people  resolved  to  make  up  in  dispatch  what  they 
lacked  in  organization.  Party  prejudices  were  renounced, 
personal  animosities  laid  aside :  men  forgot  interest,  sac 
rificed  preferences,  forfeited  the  profits  of  business,  and, 
with  an  earnestness  and  abandon  witnessed  but  once  in  a 
century,  devoted  time  and  money  to  the  salvation  of  the 
Republic.  Thousands  came  forward,  without  looking  for 
office  or  promotion,  and  hoping  only  to  vindicate  the  author 
ity  of  law,  and  save  the  imperiled  country.  The  known 
horrors  of  battle,  the  unknown  hardships  of  camp  and  field, 
and  the  terrors  of  prison,  could  not  intimidate  them.  They 


THREE   COMPANIES   RAISED.  45 

knew  that  war  meant  wounds  and  death :  but  the  stars  and 
stripes  had  been  struck  down,  and  the  national  honor  trailed 
in  the  dust ;  and  they  sprang  forward  to  the  rescue. 

From  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  all  ranks  of  society,  they 
came,  —  young  lawyers,  farmers,  merchants,  gentlemen  of 
education  and  leisure,  mechanics;  men  worth  their  tens 
of  thousands,  and  men  worth  nothing;  boys  from  the  rifle- 
factories  ;  waiters  from  the  hotels ;  under-grad nates  from 
Yale,  Wesleyan,  arid  Trinity  Colleges,  in  the  same  ranks, 
shoulder  to  shoulder. 

Upon  the  reception  of  the  governor's  proclamation,  Joseph 
R.  Hawley,  Albert  W.  Drake  (a  Democrat),  and  Joseph  Per 
kins,  met  in  the  office  of  the  Hartford  Press,  of  which  Haw- 
ley  was  editor,  and,  after  discussion  of  the  situation,  signed  an 
informal  enlistment  paper6  as  volunteers  in  the  First,  and  is 
sued  a-call  in  the  morning  paper  for  men  to  join  them  in  a  rifle- 
company.  Before  sundown,  nearly  the  minimum  had  enlisted ; 
and  at  a  great  meeting  in  the  evening,  presided  over  by 
Lieut-Gov.  Catlin,  the  company  was  filled  up.  In  this  com 
pany  was  only  one  man  who  had  ever  seen  service  on  any 
field,  and  only  two  who  had  even  been  in  the  militia.  The 
command  of  the  company  was  offered  to  and  accepted  by 
George  H.  Burnham,  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  First  Connec 
ticut  Militia.  Hawley  became  first  lieutenant,  and  Drake 
second  lieutenant;  Perkins  going  into  the  ranks  as  a  private.7 

The  Hartford  Light  Guard,  Capt.  J.  C.  Comstock,  had 
already  promptly  volunteered  as  a  company,  and  were  not 
long  in  filling  up  vacancies  of  those  who  could  not  go ; 
and  such  was  the  rush  of  volunteers  from  the  city  and  adja 
cent  towns,  that  a  third  company,  Capt.  Ira  Wright,  was  im 
mediately  begun,  and  filled  to  the  minimum  before  the  first 
week  ended.  On  Saturday  evening,  April  20,  the  latter  was 

6  Drake  had  taken  the  initiative,  and  drawn  up  this  paper  in  his  own  office  early  in  the 
morning. 

7  Capt.  Burnham  soon  became  colonel  of  the  First,  and  afterwards  of  the  Twenty-second ; 
Lieut.  Ilawley  ultimately  brigadier  and  brevet  major-general,  and  afterwards  governor  of 
the  State;  Lieut.  Drake,  colonel  of  the   Tenth  (died  in  service) ;  and  private  Perkins, 
colonel  of  a  United-States  colored  regiment. 


46  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

escorted  to  a  position  in  front  of  the  State  House ;  and  Mayor 
Deming  presented  to  them,  in  an  eloquent  speech,  a  hand 
some  banner,  inscribed  "  Right  and  Victory,"  and  furnished 
by  Messrs.  Case,  Lock  wood,  &  Co.,  book-publishers. 

Meantime  all  the  towns  in  the  State  were  moving.  New 
Britain  speedily  raised  her  militia  company  to  a  minimum, 
and  divides  with  Danbury  the  honor  of  being  the  first  com 
pany  to  offer  its  services  to  the  State.  The  West  Meriden 
company,  also  constructed  on  the  basis  of  a  militia  company, 
was  the  first  accepted  by  the  governor;  while  Capt.  Burn- 
ham's  company  was  the  first  accepted  composed  wholly  of 
volunteers.  This  priority  was  trivial,  however,  a  matter  of 
mere  circumstance,  and  not  of  particular  merit,  as  between 
the  companies  of  the  First  Regiment.  Lieut.  Hawley  went  to 
Sharpe's  rifle-factory  on  Wednesday,  and  engaged  rifles  for 
the  company  on  his  own  personal  credit.  Some  thirty  com 
panies  were  begun  during  this  first  week,  almost  simulta 
neously,  at  New  Haven,  Bridgeport,  Norwich,  New  London, 
Ansonia,  Norwalk,  Danbury,  Birmingham,  Waterbury,  Rox- 
bury,  Collinsville,  Litchfield,  Windham,  Windsor,  Middletown, 
—  in  almost  every  village. 

The  great  Winsted  meeting  of  Sunday  resulted  in  a  com 
pany  filled  and  officered  during  the  week.  The  first  man 
who  enlisted  was  Samuel  B.  Home,  as  a  private,  only  seven 
teen  years  old.8  At  this  meeting,  the  town  voted  a  bounty 
of  five  dollars  to  each  man,  —  the  first  indication  we  find 
of  the  bounty  system. 

An  immense  war-meeting  was  held  in  Meriden,  at  which 
Charles  Parker  (Democrat)  presided;  and  speeches  exhort 
ing  to  action  were  made  by  0.  H.  Platt,  Dexter  R.  Wright, 
(Democrat),  Rev.  D.  Henry  Miller,  and  G.  W.  Wilson,  after 
wards  captain.  A  company  was  immediately  raised,  and  a 

8  Young  Home,  who  was  probably  the  first  volunteer  in  Connecticut,  was  quite  small 
of  his  age;  and  would  have  been  rejected,  had  it  not  been  for  his  importunity.  He  served 
faithfully  during  the  three-months'  service;  re-enlisted,  and  bore  a  musket  as  private  for 
eighteen  months;  and  was  then  promoted  to  a  captaincy.  He  was  in  twenty-five  battles, 
was  wounded  three  times,  and  served  at  the  close  of  the  war  as  provost-marshal  of 
the  eighteenth  army  corps.  Two  of  his  uncles  were  officers  in  the  English  army,  one  of 
them  on  Welliu<itou's  staff  at  Waterloo. 


THE  FLAG   SALUTED.  47 

Colt's  revolver  presented   to  each  man  by  Charles  Parker.9 
The  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  was  raised  for  equipments. 

In  Danbury,  the  citizens  assembled  at  the  Court  House  in 
large  numbers  in  the  daytime,  and  -resolved  that  the  ad 
ministration  must  be  supported  in  suppressing  the  Rebellion. 
Here,  perhaps,  was  the  first  town  provision  made  for  families, 
in  a  vote  to  pay  the  wife  of  each  volunteer  three  dollars  per 
week,  and  each  child  one  dollar  per  week,  during  his  ab 
sence.10  On  Monday,  the  Wooster  Guards,  Capt.  Wildmab, 
an  excellent  company,  offered  its  services  to  the  governor 
two  days  in  advance  of  his  call,  and  was  the  first  company 
to  arrive  at  the  rendezvous.  Nelson  L.  White,  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  Danbury,  gallantly  entered  the  ranks  as  a  private ; 
but  Gov.  Buckingham  soon  promoted  him  to  be  major  of  the 
Third,  and  thence  to  be  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Fourth. 

Birmingham  held  a  large  meeting  in  Nathan's  Hall  on  the 
19th  :  Edward  N.  Shelton  presided  ;  William  B.  Wooster  made 
a  bold  and  powerful  speech,  and  was  followed  by  Thomas 
Burlock,  Robert  N.  Bassett,  Charles  L.  Russell,  Dr.  Ambrose 
Beardsley,  and  other  citizens.  Three  thousand  dollars  were 
raised  at  the  meeting,  and  the  sum  was  increased  next  day 
to  five  thousand  dollars.  Nearly  an  entire  company  volun- 
*  teered  on  the  spot,  and  passed  under  the  command  of  Capt. 
George  D.  Russell. 

At  New  London,  the  city  flag  was  raised,  followed  by  a 
display  of  flags  all  over  the  city  and  on  the  shipping.  At 
the  Wilson  Manufacturing  Company's  Works,  all  hands 
were  summoned,  and  the  flag  saluted  with  repeated  cheers. 
On  the  19th,  Mayor  J.  N.  Harris  received  a  dispatch  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  requesting  him  to  furnish  a  company  to 
garrison  Fort  Trumbull.  The  suggestion  was  immediately 
complied  with;  and  the  City  Guards,  Capt.  Frankau,  were 
put  on  duty  there.  On  the  same  evening,  "  the  largest  and 

9  Mr.  Parker  remained  faithful,  —  one  of  the  most  patriotic  and  liberal  supporters  of 
the  war. 

10  This  liberal  provision  was  applied  to  two  companies  of  three-months'  men  sent,  and 
continued  to  them  during  the  war  in  case  of  their  re-enlistment.  Edgar  S.  Tweedy  and 
John  W.  Bacon  were  a  committee  to  dispense  the  appropriation. 


48  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

most  enthusiastic  meeting  ever  convened  in  the  city  was 
held  inside  and  outside  the  Court  House."  Hon.  Nathan  Bel 
cher  was  chairman ;  and  Hon.  Augustus  Branclegee  offered 
a  resolution,  declaring  that  political  differences  must  be 
buried,  and  all  unite  to  save  the  Republic.  "Passed  with  a 
unanimous  and  thundering  ay."  Speeches  were  made  by 
Messrs.  A.  C.  Lippitt,  Thomas  Fitch,  Augustus  Brandegee,  and 
others.  An  enlistment-roll  was  opened.  A  subscription-list 
to  equip  and  arm  the  soldiers  was  headed  by  Mr.  Brandegee 
with  five  hundred  dollars,  and  followed  by  J.  N.  Harris  and 
Williams  &  Barnes,  each  for  the  same  amount.  Ten  thousand 
dollars  was  raised  on  the  spot.  Capt.  N.  Frankau  issued  a 
call  for  volunteers  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  his  company,  the 
City  Guards,  "to  be  ready  to  inarch  at  a  moment's  notice." 

In  Ansonia  there  was  a  great  out-door  meeting  at  Brad- 
ley's  Hotel,  presided  over  by  D.  W.  Plumb,  for  many  years  an 
earnest  antislavery  leader  in  that  section  of  the  State. 
Speeches  were  made  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Colburn  and  Major  E.  S. 
Kellogg  (State  militia).  A  subscription  and  a  volunteer- 
roll  -were  opened,  resulting  in  the  formation  of  a  company, 
which,  within  three  we.eks,  joined  the  Fourth  Regiment,  with 
Major  Kellogg  as  their  captain. 

On  Saturday,  the  State  was  thrilled  and  enraged  by  the 
news  that  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  had  been  assaulted,  and 
some  of  its  members  murdered,  in  Baltimore ;  and  a  fierce 
demand  went  up  that  the  next  regiments  should  be  hurled 
on  that  city. 

At  Mystic,  a  great  Union  meeting  was  held  in  Floral  Hall ; 
and  war-speeches  were  made  by  Col.  Amos  Clift,  Hiram 
Appelman,  Lucius  M.  Slade,  Rev.  S.  S.  Griswold,  and  others. 
Chauncey  D.  Rice  of  the  Pioneer  was  secretary.  A  sub 
scription  was  opened  ;  and  Isaac  Randall,  George  Greenman 
&  Co.,  Silas  B.  Randall,  and  Charles  Mallory  &  Sons,  gave  a 
thousand  dollars  each  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
Others  subscribed  largely.  Twenty-four  young  men  volun 
teered,  and  became  the  nucleus  of  a  company,  that,  three 
weeks  later,  joined  the  Fourth  Regiment.  The  Mallory  boys 


WAR-MEETINGS   HELD.  49 

offered  their  yacht,  of  a  hundred  tons'  burden,  to  the  govern 
ment,  free  of  expense  during  the  war  ;  and  she  was  accepted. 
A  flag  was  raised  from  the  ramparts  of  Fort  Rachael  by  the 
hands  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Wheeler,  a  veteran  of  fourscore, 
who  commanded  the  guard  on  duty  at  the  fort  in  1812 ;  and 
its  appearance  was  hailed  with  cheers  and  music,  and  saluted 
with  cannon. 

In  Windham  County,  the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter  created 
a  profound  sensation.  This  county  led  all  other  counties  of 
the  State,  in  her  prompt  response  with  Putnam  and  his  men, 
when  the  Revolutionary  War  n  began  at  Lexington  ;  and  she 
was  not  behind  when  the  Republic  was  assailed  by  internal 
foes.  Willimantic  held  a  large  meeting,  began  a  company, 
and  voted  five  thousand  dollars  to  equip  her  volunteers.  On 
the  22d,  a  county  mass-meeting  was  held  at  Brooklyn, 
Ex.-Gov.  Chauncey  S.  Cleveland  presiding.  Earnest  war- 
speeches  were  made  by  the  president,  Col.  D.  P.  Tyler,  Col. 
Reach,  J.  J.  Penrose,  and  others.  The  sum  of  five  thousand 
six  hundred  dollars  was  subscribed  on  the  spot,  Hon.  W.  H. 
Chandler  heading  the  paper  with  five  hundred  dollars  ;  and  a 
volunteer  company  of  sixty  men  was  raised  in  thirty  minutes. 
Resolutions  were  adopted,  declaring  that  the  citizens  of  the 
county  "  would  expend  their  last  dollar,  and  exhaust  the  last 
drop  of  their  blood,"  rather  than  consent  to  a  disruption  of 
the  nation. 

There  was  also,  this  first  week,  a  meeting  at  Putnam, 
worthy  of  its  name  and  the  crisis.  E.  Wilkinson  presided ; 
and  speeches  were  made  by  Rev.  W.  C.  Walker,  Dr  Plymp- 
ton,  G.  W.  Phillips,  and  others.  Patriotic  resolutions  were 
adopted,  and  thirty  young  men  instantly  volunteered.  A 
war-meeting  was  held  at  Danielsonville  (Killingly)  with 
good  effect ;  and  Mr.  Wilkinson  of  the  Windham-county 
Transcript,  and  twelve  others,  joined  the  Buckingham  Rifles 

11  Windham  and  New-London  Counties  seem  also  to  have  made  the  first  active 
resistance  to  the  British  Stamp  Act  of  1765.  In  September  of  that  year,  two  hundred 
of  their  sturdy  yeomanry  proceeded  on  horseback  to  Hartford,  and  thence  to  Wethersfield, 
Tvlierc  they  found  Jared  Ingersoll,  and  compelled  him  to  resign  the  office  of  stamp-master 
for  the  colony. 


50  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

at  Norwich ;  and  many  others  soon  followed.  There  was 
also  a  large  meeting  at  Dayville,  where,  in  less  than  forty 
minutes,  fifty-six  men  enrolled  themselves ;  the  venerable 
Capt.  John  Day  at  their  head.  Windham  had  a  similar 
meeting  on  the  18th,  and  raised  two  thousand  dollars  to 
equip  a  company;  and  voted  to  pay  to  all  volunteers  twelve 
dollars  a  month  "  extra,"  and  one  dollar  a  week  for  each 
child  under  the  age  of  twelve.  Canterbury  made  a  similar 
liberal  offer.  Pomfret  was  even  more  generous,  voting  twenty 
dollars  a  month  to  each  volunteer  for  the  three-months' 
service,  and  six  dollars  a  month  to  the  wife,  and  two  dollars 
a  month  to  each  child  under  fourteen. 

In  Bridgeport,  the  feeling  was  intense.  On  Saturday 
evening,  a  war-meeting  was  held,  presided  over  by  Mayor 
D.  H.  Sterling,  at  which  stirring  speeches  were  made  ;  and 
resolutions  offered  by  W.  H.  Noble  were  adopted,  pledging 
the  city  to  stand  by  the  government  in  punishing  treason, 
and  requesting  the  city  council  to  make  instant  and  ample 
appropriations  for  the  equipment  of  volunteers  and  the  sup 
port  of  their  families.  Seven  thousand  dollars  was  raised  on 
the  spot.  On  Sunday,  April  21,  a  Massachusetts  regiment 
and  battery  passed  through ;  and  the  people  rushed  out  of 
church,  and  the  bells  rang  welcome  and  good  speed.  While 
firing  a  salute,  a  citizen  was  killed. 

The  war-news  created  the  utmost  excitement  in  Norwich. 
On  the  18th,  at  ten  .o'clock  in  the  morning,  was  held  a  war 
mass-meeting,  at  which  H.  H.  Starkweather  presided  :  J.  L. 
Spaulding  was  chosen  secretary.  A  subscription-committee 
of  seven  was  authorized,  consisting  of  Amos  W.  Prentice, 
Frary  M.  Hale,  John  F.  Slater,  Henry  Bill,  John  W.  Sted- 
man,  David  Smith,  and  James  A.  Hovey.  Gov.  Buckingham 
made  a  patriotic  speech,  and  headed  the  paper  with  a 
thousand  dollars ;  and  William  P.  Green  added  a  thousand 
dollars  more.  Fervid  speeches  and  contributions  followed : 
a  subscription  of  five  hundred  dollars  each  was  made  by 
James  M.  and  W.  H.  Huntington,  D.  Smith,  J.  L.  Greene, 
John  F.  Slater,  John  W.  Allen,  Norton  Brothers,  and  A. 


RAISING   OF  A  FLAG.  51 

Hnbbard.  Other  contributions  swelled  the  amount  to  twen 
ty-three  thousand  dollars.  Among  individual  donors,  Louis 
Mitchell  sent  his  check,  "  payable  to  stars  and  stripes,  or 
bearer,"  and  "  as  part  payment  of  an  old  debt  due  to  the  good 
cause."  A  venerable  lady,  who  had  neither  cash  nor  coupons, 
sent  an  old-fashioned  silver  cup,  with  this  note :  "  I  have  no 
money  to  give  ;  but  this  old  cup  has  been  in  my  family 
through  five  generations.  It  is  small,  but  true.  May  it  not 
have  passed  through  one  revolution  to  help  our  brave  boys 
now  ?  I  have  given  my  younger  son  to  his  country,  with 
regret  that  his  elder  brother  cannot  be  with  him."  On 
April  19,  Frank  S.  Chester,  book-keeper  in  the  Thames 
Bank,  commenced  a  company,  and  enlisted  sixty-five  men 
before  night.  They  took  the  name  of  the  "Buckingham 
Rifles."  Jared  S.  Dennis  gave  five  able-bodied  sons  to  the 
government. 

John  L.  Chatfield,  of  Waterbury,  promptly  recruited  his 
company,  the  City  Guard,  to  the  maximum,  and  offered  it 
to  the  governor  on  April  19.  On  the  20th,  it  left  for  New 
Haven,  being  escorted  to  the  depot  by  an  immense  crowd 
of  citizens  and  civil  societies,  and  a 'speech  of  farewell  being 
made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hendricken  of  the  Catholic  Church.  After 
their  departure,  an  enthusiastic  inpromptu  war-meeting  was 
held  at  Hotchkiss  Hall.  Mayor  Bradley  presided ;  and 
speeches  were  made  by  E.  B.  Cooke,  the  venerable  editor  of 
the  American,  Lyman  W.  Coe,  Dr.  P.  G.  Rockwell,  Hon.  S. 
W.  Kellogg,  C.  H.  Carter,  Esq.,  and  others ;  and  a  subscrip 
tion  of  nineteen  hundred  dollars  was  immediately  raised.  The 
special  town-meeting  of  the  22d  appropriated  ten  thousand 
dollars  to  the  families  of  volunteers.  A  beautiful  American 
flao-  was  raised  over  the  old  Catholic  Church :  the  three  him- 

o  * 

dred  Catholic  pupils,  under  direction  of  the  Misses  Slater, 
participating  in  the  patriotic  ceremonies.  The  Irish  Catho 
lics  assembled,  and  fifty  voted  to  volunteer.  At  this  time, 
Waterbury  held  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  govern 
ment  securities,  and  her  banks  had  loaned  money  to  the 
State. 


52  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

-  Middletown  moved  early  and  vigorously.  On  the  even 
ing  of  the  19th  of  April,  that  night  of  national  indignation, 
a  war-meeting  was  held  in  McDonough  Hall,  and  addressed 
by  Mayor  Samuel  Warner,  Lieut.-Gov.  Benjamin  Douglas, 
President  Cummings  of  Wesleyan  University,  and  other 
prominent  gentlemen.  While  the  meeting  was  proceeding, 
the  members  of  the  Mansfield  Guard,  militia,  summoned  to 
the  armory  by  their  resolute  captain,  David  Dickerson,  voted 
to  go  to  the  war ;  and,  before  morning,  the  company  was 

readv,  with  full  ranks. 

«/ ~ 

The  citizens  of  New  Haven  rallied  in  great  numbers  at 
Music  Hall.  Mayor  Welch  presided,  and  all  parties  partici 
pated.  Speeches  or  remarks  were  made  by  Rev.  Dr.  Leon 
ard  Bacon,  Rev.  Dr.  Cleveland,  James  F.  Babcock,  James 
Gallagher,  Thomas  H.  Bond,  W.  S.  Charnley,  Thomas  Lawton, 
Charles  Ives,  C.  S.  Bushnell,  Ira  Merwin,  and  Rev.  W.  T. 
Eustis ;  and  every  patriotic  sentiment  was  cheered  to  the 
echo.  Resolutions  were  passed  recommending  the  common 
council  to  appropriate  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  families 
of  volunteers.  The  city  government  conformed  to  the  rec 
ommendation,  but  doubled  the  amount. 

At  a  similar  meeting  in  Branford,  Col.  L.  S.  Parsons  pre 
sided  ;  and  the  people  were  addressed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Miller,  Dr. 
H.  V.  C.  Holcombe,  and  others.  Recruiting  began  at  the 


meeting. 


Moses  Y.  Beach,  former  proprietor  of  the  New- York  Sun, 
sent  a  patriotic  letter  to  Wallingford,  his  native  town,  offer 
ing  to  loan  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the  government, 
and  providing  for  a  liberty-pole  and  flag  and  the  equipment 
of  Wallingford  volunteers.  Fifty  young  men  enrolled  at 
once  at  a  war-meeting,  presided  over  by  Roderick  Curtis,  and 
addressed  by  Israel  Harrison,  Dr.  B.  F.  Harrison,  and  others. 

Woodbury  held  a  large  meeting,  and  began  a  company. 
A  subscription  for  the  families  of  volunteers  was  headed  by 
William  Cothren  and  Daniel  Carter,  —  five  hundred  dollars 
each.  In  Madison,  E.  C.  and  S.  H.  Scranton  offered  five 
hundred  dollars  each  to  equip  the  company  raising  in  the 


THE  TOWNS   VIE  WITH  EACH   OTHER.  53 

town.  East  Haddam  sent  twenty-five  men.  Torrington 
voted  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  equipments  and 
soldiers'  families.  Canterbury  voted  to  raise  a  company,  and 
equip  it.  Norwalk  raised  a  volunteer  aid-fund,  from  which 
every  man  was  paid  ten  dollars  on  enlistment,  and  five  dol 
lars  a  month  during  service.  In  Hartford,  the  fund  reached 
thirty  thousand  dollars  by  voluntary  subscription  before  the 
city  assumed  the  responsibility. 

In  many  towns,  as  in  Hartford,  even  after  a  liberal  sub 
scription  had  been  commenced,  it  was  deemed  best  to  do  the 
work  by  a  regular  appropriation  from  the  town  treasury. 
Waterbury  voted  ten  thousand  dollars;  Bridgeport, ten  thou 
sand  ;  Meriden,  five  thousand ;  Torrington,  four  thousand 
five  hundred ;  and  many  other  towns  in  a  ratio  equally  lib 
eral.  Thus,  by  contribution  or  town  vote,  generous  provis 
ion  was  everywhere  made  for  volunteers  and  all  dependent 
on  them. 

In  Salisbury,  George  Coffin  offered  one  hundred  tons  of 
iron  to  the  government,  to  be  made  into  cannon-balls ;  and. 
other  citizens  manifested  equal  zeal  and  liberality.  A  large 
meeting  was  held  in  Litchfield  on  the  22d,  and  measures 
taken  to  assist  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  In  this  work, 
Hon.  John  H.  Hubbard  took  an  active  part.  The  Rockville 
Guard  voted  to  go  to  the  war,  and  offered  themselves  to  the 
governor.  Sixteen  hundred  dollars  was  raised  to  equip 
them ;  and  the  citizens  went  earnestly  at  the  work.  Mil- 
ford,  at  a  special  town-meeting,  voted  a  bounty  of  ten  dollars 
to  every  unmarried,  and  fifteen  dollars  to  every  married  vol 
unteer  ;  and  agreed  to  insure  the  life  of  each  to  the  amount 
of  one  thousand  dollars.  At  Farmington,  a  meeting  was 
held  on  the  23d,  at  which  W.  M.  Wadsworth  presided ;  and 
a  full  company  of  men  enlisted  for  the  war.  East  Hartford 
voted  to  pay  a  bounty  of  ten  dollars,  and  ten  dollars  a 
month  to  each  man  while  in  service.  Woodbridge  raised 
forty  men  under  Capt.  Farren  Perkins.  From  Unionville, 
one-tenth  of  the  legal  voters  volunteered.  Canterbury 
voted  to  raise  a  company,  and  subscribed  two  thousand  dol- 


54  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

lars  to  equip  it.  In  North  Branford,  the  people  raised  a 
noble  hickory,  the  gift  of  an  old  Jackson  man,  Capt.  Jona 
than  Rose ;  and  unfurled  a  handsome  flag  on  the  identical 
spot,  where,  in  1776,  after  the  Sabbath  service,  Parson  Ells 
called  the  young  men  of  his  congregation  together,  and  led 
them  to  the  war.  These  uprisings  all  over  the  State  but 
illustrate  the  spirited  resolves  and  earnest  action  of  every 
community. 

The  sons  of  Connecticut  out  of  the  State  were  also  promi 
nent  and  active  in  similar  patriotic  demonstrations. 

The  great  mass-meeting  in  Union  Square,  of  New  York, 
had  its  initial  movement  in  a  preliminary  meeting  at  the 
residence  of  that  true  man  and  patriot,  Robert  H.  McCurdy, 
formerly  of  Lyme,  but  long  a  merchant  in  New  York,  a 
brother  of  the  well-known  Judge  McCurdy  of  our  State. 
This  gentleman  sallied  forth  in  the  rain,  rallying  his  neigh 
bors,  who  assembled  at  his  hotise  the  same  evening,  and 
there  organized.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  issue  a  call 
-to  the  citizens  of  New  York.  The  following  day,  this  was 
done ;  and,  on  the  last  of  that  week,  that  immense  uprising 
of  tens  of  thousands  in  Union  Square  was  a  fact  accom 
plished  and  memorable.  Nowhere  on  this  continent,  before 
or  since,  has  there  been  seen  such  a  mighty  host  swayed 
with  but  one  earnest  purpose.  We  find  prominently  asso 
ciated  with  Mr.  McCurdy  the  names  of  other  true  sons  of 
our  State,  —  Gen.  Prosper  M.  Wetmore,  William  C.  Gilman, 
S.  B.  Chittenden,  and  others  to  whom  reference  is  made  as 
we  proceed  in  the  narrative.  It  will  be  shown  how  they 
permanently  organized ;  also  the  efficiency  of  their  labors, 
and  their  great  liberality  and  personal  sacrifices  and  constant 
sympathy  with  the  soldiers  of  our  State. 

In  nearly  all  the  cities  of  the  West,  we  were  represented 
in  these  uprisings.  Soon  after  the  attack  on  Sumter,  the 
organization  of  the  first  Loyal  League  Club  was  formed, 
so  far  as  known,  at  the  city  of  Louisville,  Ky. ;  and  chief 
among  those  who  organized  this  society,  which  afterwards 
spread  over  the  entire  North,  and  was  not  unknown  in 


UNION  LEAGUE. — THE   STARS   AND   STEIPES.  55 

many  portions  of  the  South,  was  Ledyard  Bill,  a  citizen  of 
Connecticut,  at  that  time  a  resident  of  Kentucky.12 

Already  the  national  flag  had  come  to  have  a  new  and 
strange  significance.  When  the  stars  and  stripes  went 
clown  at  Smnter,  they  went  up  in  every  county  of  our 
State.  Every  town,  from  Thompson  to  Greenwich,  suddenly 
blossomed  with  banners.  On  forts  and  ships,  from  church- 
spires  and  flag-staffs,  from  hotels,  store-fronts,  and  private 
balconies,  "  the  old  flag  "  was  flung  out ;  and  everywhere  it 
was  hailed  with  enthusiasm;  for  its  prose  became  poetry, 
and  there  were  seen  in  it  a  beauty  and  a  sacred  value  which 
it  never  before  possessed.  Loyal  women  wore  miniature 
banners  on  their  bonnets,  and,  with  untiring  ingenuity, 
blended  the  colors  with  almost  every  article  of  dress  ;  and 
men  carried  the  emblem  in  pins  and  countless  other  devices. 
The  patchwork  of  white,  blue,  and  red,  which  had  flaunted 
in  our  face*  for  generations,  without  exciting  much  emotion, 
in  a  single  day  stirred  our  pulses  with  an  imperative  call  to 
battle,  and  became  the  inspiration  of  national  effort.  All  at 
once,  it  meant  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  it  meant 
Lexington ;  it  meant  Bunker  Hill  and  Saratoga  ;  it  meant 
freedom  ;  it  meant  the  right  of  a  majority  to  elect  their 
president ;  it  meant  the  honor  and  the  life  of  the  Republic. 
So  a  great  crop  of  splendid  banners  came  with  the  spring 
roses ;  and  hundreds  of  youths  donned  the  blue  uniform,  and 
advanced  to  the  line  of  battle,  impelled  not  more  by  a  con 
scious  hatred  of  treason  than  by  the  wonderful  glory  that 
had  been  kindled  in  the  flag. 

12  See  Abbott's  Civil  War,  vol.  i.  p.  144. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Volunteers  uniformed  and  equipped.  —  Response  of  Wealthy  Men  and  Institutions. 

—  Patriotic  Work  of  the  Women.  —  Another  Revolutionary  Sunday.  —  Call  for  Second 
and  Third  Regiments.  —  The  Troops  at  Rendezvous.  —  Outfit  completed.  —  In  Camp. 

—  Rations  and  Beds.  —  Contributions  flow  in.  —  Drill  and  Discipline.  —  Sage  Advice. 

—  Departure  of  the  Three  Regiments. 

HE  volunteers  who,  in  these  first  memorable 
days,  rallied  with  patriotic  impulse  around  the 
national  standard,  were  simply  men  in  citizen's 
dress.  Few  had  either  uniforms  or  arms. 

Gov.  Buckingham,  as  early  as  Jan.  17,  had 
wisely  ordered  the  purchase,  on  his  own  responsibility,  of 
knapsacks,  cartridge-boxes,  bayonets,  and  every  thing  be 
longing  to  the  full  equipment  of  five  thousand  men.  The 
State  owned  one  thousand  and  twenty  United-States  muskets 
of  the  latest  pattern,  and  more  than  two  thousand  percus 
sion-muskets  not  very  serviceable.  It  was  thought  that 
these  would  be  sufficient  for  any  temporary  service,  and  that 
the  rifle  factories  of  the  State  could  speedily  furnish  other 
weapons  for  five  thousand  men  if  required.  For  this  reason, 
and  apprehending  that  the  purchase  of  muskets  might  cre 
ate  premature  excitement,  Gov.  Buckingham  did  not  then 
increase  the  supply  of  arms. 

But  when  the  actual  call  came,  on  Sunday  night,  April 
15,  he  at  once  resolved  to  discard  all  smooth-bore  weapons, 
and  arm  the  troops  of  Connecticut  with  the  best  rifles.  With 
this  intent,  he  decided  to  go  on  Monday  morning  to  the 
Thames  Bank,  and  ask  a  loan  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and 
pledge  his  private  fortune  for  payment. 

56 


PRIVATE   BENEFACTOBS.  57 

But  others  were  also  thinking  of  the  money  needed. 
E.  C.  Scranton,  president  of  the  Elm-city  Bank  in  New 
Haven,  was  early  at  his  post.  Thomas  B.  Osborne,  vice- 
president,  came  in.  There  was  a  brief  consultation.  Be 
fore  Gov.  Buckingham  left  his  house  to  go  to  the  Thames 
Bank,  he  received  a  telegram,  tendering  a  loan  of  fifty  thou 
sand  dollars,  from  the  Elm-city  Bank,  for  the  emergency. 
The  Thames  Bank  immediately  offered  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  Almost  simultaneously,  the  Pahquioque  Bank,  of 
Danbury,  tendered  fifty  thousand  dollars ;  Mechanics'  Bank, 
of  New  Haven, twenty-five  thousand  dollars;  Fairfield-county 
Bank,  of  Norwalk,  thirty  thousand  dollars ;  Danbury  Bank, 
fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  banks  of  Hartford  united  to  offer 
the  State  a  loan  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  —  one- 
tenth  of  their  capital ;  and  the  New-Haven  banks  soon  after 
voted  the  same  proportion, —  a  total  of  more  than  a  million 
dollars. 

Of  private  benefactors,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
thoughtful  was  Thomas  R.  Trowb  ridge  of  New  Haven,  who, 
before  a  company  was  yet  formed,  offered  five  hundred  dol 
lars  for  the  support  of  the  families  of  volunteers  ;  thus  begin 
ning  a  course  of  unstinted  liberality,  which  he  continued 
throughout  the  struggle,  and  initiating  that  great  patriotic 
charity,  which,  continued  by  private  individuals,  and  finally 
adopted  by  towns  and  the  State,  extended  a  hand  to  all  the 
families  of  absent  soldiers.  David  Clark  of  Hartford  rose  in 
the  first  war-meeting,  and  pledged  himself  to  give  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  every  company  which  the  city 
should  send  ;  and  Hawley's  company  received  his  check  on 
the  spot.  The  next  day,  he  offered  to  support  one  hundred 
families  of  volunteers  during  the  war.  This  work  was  virtu 
ally  taken  off  his  hands  by  a  vote  of  the  town  soon  after; 
but  the  impulse  continued  active  in  that  and  similar  chan 
nels,  until,  directly  and  indirectly,  he  had  given  the  sum  of 
sixty  thousand  dollars  to  the  work  of  prosecuting  the  war. 

With  still  greater  ardor,  the  women  rose  up  to  do  their 
share  in  the  great  work  of  preparation.  By  Friday,  April 


58  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

19,  "  within  three  days  of  the  date  of  the  governor's  call/' 
the  companies  for  the  First  Regiment  had  been  ordered  to 
move  to  the  regimental  rendezvous  at  New  Haven.  Com 
plete  uniforms  for  nearly  all  were  to  be  made.  Wives, 
mothers,  and  sisters  had  no  time  for  grief.  With  one  heart, 
young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  ransacked  the  wardrobes  of 
their  household,  and  the  shops  of  the  city  and  town,  and  plied 
shears  and  needles  with  unwearied  diligence.  April  21 
was  a  second  Revolutionary  Sabbath.  Ministers  expounded 
the  right  and  duty  of  defending  the  government,  and  dwelt 
with  fervor  on  the  days  and  the  men  of"  '76  "  and  the  glory 
of  our.  great  Republic.  Among  favorite  texts  were,  "  In 
the  name  of  God  we  will  set  up  our  banners ; "  "  He  that 
hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  garment,  and  buy  one  ; " 
"  Blessed  be  the  Lord  my  strength,  which  teacheth  my  hands 
to  war,  and  my  fingers  to  fight ; "  "  Lift  up  a  standard  to  the 
people ; "  "  I  come  not  to  bring  peace  on  earth,  but  a 
sword." 

The  sacredness  of  the  day  seemed  but  to  hallow  labors 
of  love  and  patriotism.  The  Bulletin  of  April  22  informs 
us  that  — 

"  The  ladies  of  Norwich,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred,  assembled 
early  at  Breed  Hall,  where  they  were  engaged  all  day  in  making  up  uni 
forms  for  the  company  which  starts  to-morrow.  Flags  were  flying,  drums 
beating,  and  troops  drilling  in  the  streets  ;  clergymen  preached  war-ser 
mons  in  all  the  churches,  and  left  the  pulpits  to  encourage  the  women  in 
their  sewing,  or  the  volunteers  in  their  drilling." 

The  Hartford  Courant  said, — 

"  A  great  many  ladies  served  God  yesterday  by  serving  their  country, 
in  making  uniforms  for  its  gallant  defenders.  Some  of  them  were  at  work 
at  Schulye's,  and  some  at  Fisher  &  Co.'s.  One  hundred  and  fifty  were 
also  busy  on  haversacks  at  Griswold  &  Co.'s.  George  H.  Hawk,  of  the 
Allger-house  Saloon,  furnished  coffee  and  refreshments.  Unknown  friends 
dent  in  seven  pails  of  lemonade." 

Henry  Schutze  and  other  tailors  of  Hartford  cut  for 
nothing  all  uniforms  brought.  A.  M.  Cosgrove  of  Middle- 


V 


THE  LADIES   OF  KILLINGLY.  59 

town  offered  his  entire  stock  of  under-clothing  to  equip  the 
Mansfield  Guards.  All  day  Saturday  and  Sunday,  the  la 
dies  of  Middletown  worked  upon  the  uniforms  of  this  com 
pany.  "Places  of  public  worship  were  deserted,  and  the 
entire  population  seemed  engaged  in  the  great  work  of  the 
hour.  In  those  churches  where  service  was  attempted,  it 
was  only  a  passing  prayer,  that  the  Great  Ruler  of  nations 
would  shield  from  harm  those  who  were  about  going  down 
to  the  valley  of  battle.  Banners  were  flying  from  church- 
spires,  bands  of  music  were  on  the  street,  and  processions  of 
citizens  marching,  cheering,  and  encouraging  the  volunteers. 
At  many  of  our  prominent  residences,  blue  flannel  was  dis 
played  by  the  ladies  at  the  windows,  to  show  that  they  were 
engaged  in  the  same  patriotic  work."  1 

Of  the  work  in  Killingly  the  Windham-county  Transcript 
said,  — 

"  Hundreds  of  fair  hands  and  nimble  fingers  are  at  work  in  furnishing  an 
outfit  for  the  Union  Guards,  Capt.  Granger.  The  ladies  of  Brooklyn, 
Woodstock,  Pomfret,  and  other  towns  in  this  vicinity,  have  urged  their 
claims  for  an  opportunity  to  perform  a  share  of  the  labor.  In  less  than 
six  days,  three  hundred  and  fifty  shirts,  eighty  pairs  of  pants,  and  eighty 
coats,  have  been  begun  and  finished.  The  misses  have  prepared  for  each 
soldier  a  very  neat  and  convenient  arrangement  to  carry  pins,  needles,  scis 
sors,  thread,  &c.,  —  little  matters  which  will  be  greatly  appreciated  by  the 
boys  when  far  away  from  home.  The  energy,  patriotism,  and  enthu 
siasm  displayed  by  the  ladies  is  the  theme  of  great  praise.  .  .  .  The 
Guards  yesterday  marched  into  the  hall  where  the  ladies  were  preparing 
the  outfit.  One  of  the  ladies  addressed  the  soldiers  with  great  eloquence  ; 
urging  them  to  fight  manfully  for  their  country,  and  to  enroll  themselves 
also  under  the  banner  of  King  Emauuel.  The  scene  was  very  impressive, 
and  there  were  few  dry  eyes  in  the  hall  during  the  delivery  of  the  affecting 
appeal." 

Such  incidents,  with  only  the  modification  of  name  and 
local  circumstance,  occurred  in  every  town  and  neighbor 
hood  where  a  company  had  been  enlisted.  From  every  clus 
ter  of  houses,  too,  some  boys  were  going ;  and  there  was  a 
never-ending  repetition  of  the  quieter  but  no  less  earnest 

1  Manuscript  Record  of  Middletown  during  the  War,  by  John  M.  Douglas. 


60  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

village  sewing-circle,  turning  out  the  ready  uniforms,  the 
tricolor  rosettes,  the  needle-books,  and  the  thousand  little 
tokens  of  patriotism  and  affection. 

Then  followed  hasty  farewells,  tears  of  loved  ones,  and 
hearty  cheers  of"  good  speed  ;"  and  the  companies  hastened 
to  the  rendezvous. 

The  work  in  the  towns  continued :  cloth  for  uniforms  was 
purchased  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  generally  paid  for  by 
subscription  in  the  towns  represented,  and  the  garments 
made  up  by  the  ladies  at  voluntary  bees.  In  some  towns, 
the  work  went  on,  by  relays,  night  and  day.  In  many  towns 
and  communities,  it  was,  for  weeks,  the  absorbing  effort  of  the 
State,  overshadowing  all  other  interests. 

On  their  arrival  at  New  Haven,  the  first  companies  were 
quartered  at  the  various  public  and  private  buildings  until 
the  quartermaster  could  provide  camp  equipage.  Company 
and  regimental  officers  supplied  from  their  private  resources 
many  pressing  wants  which  the  State  found  itself  unable  so 
suddenly  to  meet.  The  companies  were  still  besieged  by 
men  begging  the  privilege  of  entering  ranks  already  full. 
A  score  stood  ready  to  take  the  place  of  every  man  rejected, 
while  the  rejected  volunteer  entreated  to  be  retained.  A 
member  of  the  Meriden  company  was  offered  fifty  dollars  for 
his  place,  and  rejected  the  offer  with  disdain. 

Among  the  companies  formed,  there  was  the  utmost  rivalry 
as  to  which  should  be  so  fortunate  as  to  be  accepted  as  mem 
bers  of  the  regiment ;  for  many  regarded  it  as  inconceiva 
ble  that  the  government  could  require  more  than  the  levy 
of  seventy-five  thousand  men.  This  was  deemed  the  last 
chance ;  and  in  every  part  of  the  State  alarmed  volunteers 
deserted  their  half-formed  companies,  and  precipitated  them 
selves  into  New  Haven,  Hartford,  and  Bridgeport,  that  they 
might  not  be  too  late  to  join  some  company  that  was  sure 
to  go.  Ten  full  companies  were  immediately  assigned  to 
the  First  Regiment. 

Despite  the  utmost  efforts  of  all,  many  volunteers  were 
still  in  citizen's  dress;  and  the  new  uniforms,  mingling  with 


THE  FIEST  REGIMENT  IN  CAMP.  61 

every  other  variety  of  costume,  gave  a  curiously  grotesque 
effect  to  the  early  company  evolutions.  The  ladies  of  New 
Haven  resolved  to  supply  all  deficiencies  in  uniforms,  and 
worked  by  scores  so  diligently,  that,  within  ten  days,  they 
had  finished  and  distributed  more  than  five  hundred  fall  sets. 
They  also  provided  a  large  number  of  caps,  shoes,  and  socks. 
In  this  work,  Benjamin  Noyes  and  John  G.  North  rendered 
efficient  aid. 

Beds  were  now  called  for.  To  sleep  on  a  dry  floor  and 
clean  straw  was  a  luxury  to  which  at  Falmouth,  or  in  front 
of  Petersburg,  a  brigadier-general  hardly  dared  to  aspire ; 
but  to  these  unseasoned  volunteers,  and  to  the  citizens,  it 
seemed  intolerable  hardship.  Material  was  quickly  pur 
chased  by  voluntary  contributions.  Winchester  &  Davies 
save  the  use  of  their  sewing-machines :  and  several  hundred 

o  *•—' 

ticks  were  prepared  in  two  days  by  men  and  women  who 
volunteered  for  the  work.  The  ladies  then  carried  the  fin 
ished  ticks  to  the  soldiers'  quarters,  and  filled  them  with 
straw.  The  first  evening,  they  gathered  at  the  State  House. 
It  did  not  once  occur  to  them,  in  the  plenitude  of  their  pa 
triotism,  that  a  hundred  ladies  was  a  force  rather  stronger 
than  necessary  to  put  straw  in  the  same  number  of  beds,  or 
that  the  soldiers  might  do  so  simple  a  thing  for  themselves. 
No  straw  had  arrived.  A  patriotic  meeting  was  at  once  or-' 
ganized  by  Chaplain  Herbert  Lancey  ;  and  songs  and  speeches 
followed  in  rapid  succession  till  a  late  hour.  With  equal 
spontaneity,  the  patriotic  fervor  of  the  people  broke  forth  in 
speeches  and  songs,  at  all  times  and  in  every  place. 

On  Monday,  April  22,  the  First  Regiment  went  into  camp 
at  Brewster's  Park.  The  Hartford  Rifle  Company  (Hawley 
captain,  vice  Burnham,  promoted)  was  assigned  to  the  right 
of  the  line  ;  the  Bridgeport  Rifles,  Capt.  John  Speidal,  to  the 
extreme  left.  This  latter  company  was  composed  wholly  of 
Germans;  while  every  company  contained  soldiers  of  foreign 
birth.  The  first  three  companies  in  the  regiment  were  from 
Hartford.  Company  C,  Capt.  Levi  N.  Hillman,  received  its 
officers  and  fourteen  men  from  Windsor  Locks,  sixteen  from 


62  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

En  field,  nineteen  from  Stafford,  and  nine  from  Simsbury; 
D,  Capt.  Marcus  Coon,  was  from  Waterbury ;  E,  Capt.  E.  E. 
Wildman,  from  Danbury;  F,  Capt.  Theodore  Byxbee,  from 
Meriden  ;  G,  Capt.  F.  W.  Hart,  from  New  Britain,  with  a 
squad  of  eleven  from  Farmington ;  H,  Capt,  R  Fitzgib- 
bons,  from  Bridgeport.  Two  companies  were  begun  in  New 
Haven  for  the  regiment;  but  they  waited  to  join  the  Second, 
together,  under  Col.  Terry.  Thirty  impatient  men  from  that 
city,  however,  obtained  admission  to  Capt.  Wright's  Hartford 
company.  Several  from  Manchester  dropped  into  the  first 
two  companies. 

When  the  boys  received  the  plain  but  plentiful  govern 
ment  rations  of  pork,  fresh  beef,  soft  bread,  potatoes,  coffee, 
and  sugar,  they  knew  neither  how  to  cook,  nor  how  to 
economize  them.  They  declared  them  scanty,  and  "  unfit  to 
eat."  They  murmured,  and  almost  mutinied.  On  the  30th 
of  April,  a  number  actually  broke  guard  to  "get  their  break 
fasts."  They  were  court-martialed  before  Major  Chatfield 
and  Capt.  Hawley,  and  the  non-commissioned  officers  reduced 
to  the  ranks,  and  some  of  the  privates  expelled  from  the 
regiment,  begging  hard  to  stay. 

The  citizens  sympathized  heartily  with  the  soldiers.  The 
daily  papers  defended  them,  and  declared  that  it  would  be 
quite  soon  enough  to  starve  the  boys  when  they  got  into  a 
hard  campaign.  •  The  common  council  voted  ten  thousand 
dollars  to  supply  bedding,  food,  and  other  necessaries.  A 
soldier  who  could  get  clown  town  on  a  pass  was  sure  to  eat 
dinner  at  the  private  table  of  some  pitying  lady,  or  at  a 
hotel,  at  the  expense  of  some  commiserating  patriot.  Roast 
meat  and  fowls,  pies,  cake,  and  delicacies  of  every  sort, 
found  their  way  from  city  and  country  to  the  "  suffering  " 
volunteers.  The  sauntering  boy  in  blue  whose  hunger  was 
appeased  was  sure  of  some  other  favor.  Did  he  need  a  pair 
of  boots  ?  They  were  his  for  the  asking.  Knives,  razors, 
pistols,  handkerchiefs,  under-clothing,  —  all  things  which 
promised  to  be  of  service,  —  were  urged  upon  the  proud 
citizen  soldiers. 


THE  LADIES  AT  WORK.  G3 

All  ages  and  classes  now  vied  with  each  other  in  efforts  to 
do  something  for  the  volunteers. 

While  the  ladies  of  Hartford  were  busy  making  uniforms, 
the  deaf  and  dumb  pupils  offered  free  use  of  their  tailor-shop 
and  their  shoe-shop.  Physicians  throughout  the  State  pledged 
their  services  gratuitously  to  the  families  of  volunteers  dur 
ing  their  absence,  and  in  most  cases  faithfully  redeemed 
their  pledges.  One  hundred  little  girls  visited  the  company 
of  Capt.  Ira  Wright  in  camp,  and  presented  to  his  men  one 
hundred  red-white-and-blue  rosettes  made  by  themselves. 

Mrs.  Jansen  of  New  Haven  presented  a  red-white-and- 
blue  work-bag  to  each  member  of  Company  B,  Second  Regi 
ment.  Four  New-Haven  ladies  went  into  camp,  and  worked 
all  day  in  lining  the  blankets  of  Capt.  Hawley's  company. 
Mrs.  Sophia  Butler,  seventy-six  years  of  age,  who  did  ser 
vice  in  the  hospital  in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  offered 
to  go  again  to  take  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 

Hundreds  of  employers  continued  the  salaries  of  their  em 
ployes,  and  retained  their  places  for  them  till  their  return. 
The  working-men,  in  many  cases,  combined  to  do  the  work 
of  one  of  their  number  who  had  enlisted,  so  as  to  continue 
the  wages  to  his  family. 

Many  proprietors  retained  the  places  vacated  by  their  work 
men  until  their  return.  Mechanics  clubbed  together,  and 
performed  the  work  of  comrades  who  enlisted.  The  Congre 
gational  clergymen  in  the  vicinity  of  Winsted  in  turn  gra 
tuitously  supplied  the  pulpit  of  Rev.  Hiram  Eddy  during  his 
absence  as  chaplain  of  the  Second  Regiment;  and  his  con 
gregation  gladly  paid  the  salary  to  his  family. 

Nor  were  preparations  of  a  serious  nature  overlooked. 
The  ladies  of  East  Hartford  had,  by  April  25,  made  and 
rolled  up,  at  the  house  of  Dr.  C.  M.  Brownell,  six  thousand 
yards  of  bandages,  and  one  thousand  five  hundred  compress 
es.  Ladies  of  other  towns  swelled  the  quantity  of  such  arti 
cles  to  tons. 

In  the  mean  time,  Gov.  Buckingham  went  to  Washington ; 
and,  after  an  earnest  appeal,  the  Secretary  of  War  was  in- 


64  CONNECTICUT   DUEING   THE   KEBELLION. 

duced  to  accept  two  additional  regiments  from  Connecticut. 
The  clamor  of  repressed  patriotism  on  the  part  of  the  multi 
tude  who  could  not  find  place  in  the  First  Regiment  was 
immediately  relieved  by  another  proclamation,  directing  the 
acceptance  of  all  full  companies  offering.  The  Second  Regi 
ment  was  ordered  to  rendezvous  with  the  First  at  New 
Haven ;  the  Third,  to  go  into  camp  at  Hartford. 

On  Monday,  May  6,  the  Second  Regiment  joined  the  First 
at  Brewster's  Park  in  a  rain  that  did  not  cease  for  twenty- 
four  hours.  Next  day,  it  was  mustered  into  the  service  ;  its 
colonel  being  Alfred  H.  Terry,  the  popular  colonel  of  the 
Second  Regiment  of  State  militia.  He  soon  won  the 
love  and  respect  of  the  men  by  his  constant  attention  to 
their  comfort,  and  his  ability  as  an  officer.  Several  of  these 
companies,  like  some  of  those  in  the  First,  were  the  result 
of  the  patriotic  co-operation  of  various  contiguous  towns. 
Capt.  F.  S.  Chester's  company,  of  Norwich,  contained  six  vol 
unteers  from  Griswold,  and  twenty  more  from  Putnam,  Pom- 
fret,  Killingly,  Woodstock,  and  elsewhere.  Capt.  Henry 
Peale's  company,  of  the  same  city,  had  eight  from  Preston, 
and  twelve  or  fifteen  from  Lisbon,  Sprague,  and  Thompson. 
Capt.  E.  C.  Chapman's  New-London  company  contained  a  few 
volunteers  from  Stonington.  Capt.  Abram  G.  Kellogg's  New- 
Hartford  company  contained  sixteen  from  New  Hartford, 
twenty -four  from  Winsted  (Winchester),  twenty-one  from 
Canton,  and  six  from  Norfolk.  Capt.  James  W.  Gore's  Hart 
ford  company  included  men  from  Rocky  Hill,  New  Britain, 
and  other  towns  in  the  vicinity.  This  company  was  under 
the  special  patronage  of  Mr.  David  Clark  of  Hartford.  Be 
fore  leaving  Hartford,  it  had  received  from  his  hands  a  beau 
tiful  banner,  with  a  charge  to  bear  it  in  the  face  of  the  enemy 
as  gallant  soldiers  should ;  and  each  officer  had  been  pre 
sented  by  him  with  an  expensive  sword  and  complete  equip 
ments,  and  each  private  soldier  with  a  revolver.  Company 
A,  Capt.  David  Dickerson,  was  from  Middletown ;  C,  Capt. 
E.  Walter  Osborn,  from  New  Haven ;  D,  Capt.  George  D. 
Russell,  from  Derby ;  E,  Capt.  S.  T.  Cooke,  from  Winsted ; 
and  F,  Capt.  A.  B.  Downs,  from  New  Haven. 


NECESSARIES   FOR  THE   SOLDIERS.  65 

As  soon  as  the  regiments  were  in  camp  (Camp  Bucking 
ham),  the  rules  of  military  life,  slightly  relaxed  to  suit  the 
character  of  volunteers,  were  adopted  and  cheerfully  ob 
served.  The  officers  applied  themselves  persistently,  first  to 
learning,  and  then  to  teaching,  the  rudiments  of  military 
science ;  and  there  was  soon  a  marked  improvement  in  drill 
and  discipline. 

This  was  due  largely  to  the  pupils  of  the  military  school 
of  Gen.  Russell.  Almost  every  company  in  the  first  regi 
ments  was  instructed  in  evolutions  and  the  manual  of  arms 
by  these  efficient  drill-masters,  ranging  from  twelve  to  eigh 
teen  years  of  age.  Officers  and  men  alike  submitted  with 
grateful  attention  to  the  dictation  of  these  skillful  striplings. 

Feeling  that  they  would  soon  be  face  to  face  with  a  foe 
familiar  with  the  use  of  arms,  all  kept  closely  to  the  work 
of  preparing  themselves  for  efficiency  in  service.  Several 
hours  of  each  dav  were  devoted  to  the  facings  and  march- 

v  O 

ing,  and  a  study  of  Hardee's  "  Tactics ; "  each  man  vying  with 
his  neighbor  to  acquire  the  elements  of  a  soldier's  education. 
The  results  of  this  discipline  were  apparent  when  they  came 
into  the  field. 

The  camps,  both  at  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  were  con 
stantly  thronged  by  visitors  and  friends  bringing  all  manner  of 
gifts,  useful  and  useless,  —  all  varieties  of  pastry  and  delicacies, 
towels  and  soap,  blankets  and  hammocks,  handkerchiefs  and 
needle-books,  tobacco,  pipes,  and  pills.  One  officer  was  fa 
vored  with  a  gallon  jug  of  molasses. 

The  simple  suggestion  that  the  soldiers  should  be  supplied 
with  reading  evoked  an  avalanche  of  illustrated  papers  and 
magazines,  with  hundreds  of  books,  both  religious  and  general. 
The  "  Havelock  "  fever  also  raged.  An  English  journal  hav 
ing  stated,  that  in  1857,  during  the  suppression  of  the  re 
bellion  in  India,  the  soldiers  used  with  advantage  the  "  Have- 
lock,"  —  a  white  cloth-covering  for  the  head  and  neck,  —  as  a 
protection  from  sunstroke,  our  people  went  earnestly  into 
the  manufacture  of  these  articles.  Every  soldier  was  pro 
vided  with  two  or  more  ;  and  one  company  received  six 


06  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

sets  all  around.  Portable  writing-desks,  water-filterers,  pat 
ent  knives,  and  a  score  of  other  contrivances,  had  been  in 
vented,  declared  to  be  absolutely  indispensable  to  health 
and  comfort;  and  were  provided  in  great  numbers. 

Volunteers  were  entreated  to  line  their  blankets  with 
brown  drilling,  to  carry  a  rubber  blanket,  extra  shirts,  an 
extra  pair  of  shoes  and  stockings,  and  a  variety  of  cooking 
utensils.  These,  with  the  paper  and  envelopes,  the  pocket- 
album,  the  Bible,  and  other  good  books,  made  with  the 
musket  and  equipments,  a  load  of  from  a  hundred  and  twen 
ty-five  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  Most  volunteers 
undertook  to  carry  this  burden.  The  veteran,  content  with 
blanket,  canteen,  haversack,  tin  cup,  and  jack-knife,  smiles  at 
the  pack  under  which  he  perspired  in  those  days ;  and  he 
laughs  outright  at  the  advice  then  solemnly  spoken  and  re 
peated  in  the  ears  of  the  men.  A  writer  who  called  himself 
"  an  old  soldier  "  told  the  beginners,  "  Let  your  beard  grow. 
March  always  in  cotton  stockings,  but  have  a  pair  of  woollen 
ones  to  put  on  when  you  stop.  Wash  your  whole  body 
every  day."  How  easy  to  do  this  on  a  march  in  Virginia  or 
Georgia  !  and  how  invigorating  in  open  air,  after  creeping 
out  of  a  "  dog-tent,"  on  a  December  morning  at  Falmouth ! 
"A  veteran"  urged  the  soldiers  to  '-avoid  oily  meat"  as  if  it 
were  possible  to  forego  pork  in  Uncle  Sam's  family.  He 
also  warned  the  soldiers  against  "strong  coffee,"  the  wel 
come  beverage  which  afterwards  sustained  them  in  privation 
and  wearisome  marches,  and  often  seemed  temporarily  to 
take  the  place  of  food  and  sleep. 

Another  thought  "  the  soles  of  army-boots  should  be  at  least 
one-half,  and,  better,  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  thickness ;  " 
and  bade  his  soldier-friends  to  "  be  sure  never  to  sit  down 
while  heated,  but  to  stand  until  cool ;  and  be  very  careful 
always  to  have  your  food  well  cooked!"  The  old  soldier  can 
find  no  more  amusing  reading  than  the  newspaper  files  of 
those  days  ;  and  yet,  as  exhibiting  the  profuse  liberality  and 
the  absorbing  affection  of  a  people  who  could  not  devise  or 
do  enough  for  their  citizen-soldiers,  it  is  a  record  to  be  con 
templated  with  gratification  and  pride. 


DEPAETUBE   OF  FIEST  AND   SECOND  EEGIMENTS.  67 

The  First  Regiment  had  received  Sharpe's  rifles.  On 
Wednesday,  May  17,  Hon.  Julius  Catlin,  formerly  lieutenant- 
governor,  presented  the  colors ; 2  and  the  next  day  the 
regiment  broke  camp  for  the  seat  of  war.  The  city  assem 
bled  to  greet  them  ;  and,  in  their  march  down  Chapel  Street, 
they  were  hailed  with  uninterrupted  cheers.  Flags  bloomed 
upon  them  from  every  portico,  roof,  and  window.  At  last 
they  embarked  on  the  steamer  Bienville,  and,  turning  their 
faces  from  friends  and  home,  disappeared  down  the  harbor, 
bound  for  the  still  besieged  capital  of  the  nation. 

Sharpe's  rifles  also  were  distributed  to  eight  companies, 
and  Enfield  rifles 3  to  two,  of  the  Second  Regiment,  on  the 
morning  of  the  10th ;  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
they  broke  camp,  under  orders  for  Washington.  Just  before 
departure,  the  regimental  colors,  elaborately  embroidered, 
were  presented,  in  a  speech  of  characteristic  eloquence,  by 
Hon.  E.  K.  Foster,  in  behalf  of  the  ladies  of  New  Haven.  A 
fine  horse  was  also  presented  to  Col.  Terry  by  Arthur  D. 
Osborne.  Again  the  streets  were  filled  with  an  enthusias 
tic  multitude,  hailing  the  volunteers  with  approving  cheers 
and  cordial  farewells ;  and  the  scene  was  one  of  solemn  and 
triumphant  joy.  In  the  evening,  the  regiment  embarked ; 
and,  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  the  Cahawba  steamed  into 
the  darkness,  along  the  track  where  the  First  Regiment 
had  waved  its  good-bys  only  the  day  before. 

The  same  high-souled,  uncalculating  patriotism  that  had 
created  these  two  regiments  had  also  filled  the  ranks  of  the 
Third.  It  rendezvoused  at  Hartford,  April  30 ;  and  was 
sheltered  by  the  city  and  people,  and  hospitably  cared  for, 
until  its  camp  was  ready. 

2  His  presentation-speech  closed  as  follows  :  "  Take  the  flag ;  and,  when  it  presses 
closest  on  the  foe  in  some  hard-set  contest,  will  some  brave  boy  among  you  strike  one 
true  blow  for  freedom  for  an  old  man  at  home,  whose  heart  and  prayers  go  with  these 
colors  to  the  field  ?  "  Mr.  Catlin  became  one  of  the  most  generous  supporters  of  the  war. 

8  The  Enfield  rifles  were  purchased  by  Gov.  B.  for  seventeen  dollars  and  thirty-five 
cents  ;  and  were  worth,  when  delivered,  twenty-eight  dollars.  The  Colt  rifles,  nearly  all 
purchased  at  twenty  dollars,  immediately  commanded  forty  and  fifty  dollars.  The  Sharpe's 
rifles,  used  by  the  three-months'  troops,  were  afterwards  issued  to  the  flank  companies 
of  the  several  regiments. 


68  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION.  . 

On  the  day  of  the  departure  of  the  First,  the  Third  went 
into  camp  on  the  Fair  Grounds,  Albany  Avenue,  two  miles 
from  the  State  House,  Hartford  ;  and  it  was  mustered  into  the 
service  May  14.  This  regiment,  like  the  others,  was  hetero 
geneous  in  character,  and  furnished  from  every  part  of  the 
State.  Capt.  S.  J.  Root's  New-Haven  company  was  uni 
formed  and  equipped  throughout  by  James  Brewster,  whose 
name  they  adopted.  Company  A.  Capt.  Douglass  Fowler, 
was  from  Norwalk;  Company  B,  Capt.  Daniel  Klein,  Ger 
mans,  from  New  Haven ;  Company  C,  Capt.  J.  E.  Moore, 
from  Danbury ;  Company  D,  Capt.  Frederick  Frye,  was  one 
half  from  Bridgeport,  and  the  other  half  distributed  among 
the  towns  of  Fairfield  County.  Capt.  G.  N.  Lewis's  Hartford 
company  contained  squads  from  Wethersfield,  Glastenbury, 
East  and  West  Hartford,  and  East  Windsor.  Capt.  Edward 
Harland's  Norwich  company  represented  also  Sprague,  Boz- 
rah,  Franklin,  and  Lebanon.  Capt.  J.  R.  Cook's  company 
was  from  Meriden  ;  Capt.  Nelson's  company,  from  Hartford. 
Capt.  Albert  Stevens's  Stamford  company  had  twenty  vol 
unteers  from  Darien,  and  fourteen  from  New  Canaan.  Com 
pany  E,  Capt.  John  A.  Nelson,  was  mainly  from  Hartford. 

The  regiment  was  organized,  at  first,  with  Levi  Woodhouse 
of  Hartford  as  colonel;  but,  subsequently,  Col.  Woodhouse 
was  transferred  to  the  command  of  the  Fourth,  and  was 
succeeded  by  John  Arnold  of  New  Haven. 

During  the  three  weeks  following  the  rendezvous  at  camp, 
the  officers  and  men  were  vigorously  engaged  in  mastering 
the  theory  and  practice  of  military  science  and  the  various 
duties  of  camp  and  field.  They  had  a  better  opportunity 
to  acquire  this  discipline  than  either  of  the  former  regiments, 
because  they  were  farther  removed  from  the  distractions  of 
the  city,  and  had  longer  time  in  which  to  familiarize  them 
selves  with  their  new  life.  About  a  week  before  they  went 
away,  they  received  Springfield  smooth-bore  muskets,  flint 
locks  altered  to  percussion,  and  were  thus  enabled  to  devote 
themselves  for  a  few  days  to  the  manual  of  arms.  On  May 
19,  they  were  ordered  to  Washington ;  and  next  day  struck 


THREE   REGIMENTS   SENT.  69 

tents,  and  marched  into  Hartford.  The  colors  were  presented 
in  front  of  the  State  House  by  Gov.  Buckingham ; 4  after 
which,  through  a  surging  and  enthusiastic  crowd  of  friends 
and  neighbors,  the  regiment  inarched  to  the  depot,  and  took 
cars  for  New  Haven.  There  they  embarked  upon  the  steam 
er  Cahawba,  and  sailed  forth  cheerfully  upon  their  strange 
mission. 

A  month  had  passed  since  the  nation  was  aroused  to  arms, 
and  since  one  regiment  was  called  for  from  Connecticut. 
Three  regiments  had  gone  forward,  so  completely  equipped 
as  to  become  a  model  for  general  imitation,  so  well  dis 
ciplined  as  to  reflect  honor  upon  the  State  in  the  excitement 
and  confusion  of  battle. 


4  The  governor  made  a  brief  speech,  in  which  he  said,  "  No  father  could  welcome 
more  cordially  the  presence  of  his  sons  than  I  welcome  you  to-day.  Let  these  banners  be 
your  rallying-point ;  and,  if  the  hands  that  bear  them  be  smitten,  let  your  voices  be  heard 
inspiriting  your  fellows  to  their  defense  ;  and,  if  you  fall,  others  shall  take  your  places  to 
bear  them  on,  and  they  shall  be  the  signal  and  emblem  of  your  liberties  vindicated  and 
preserved." 


CHAPTER    V. 

Gen.  Dan  Tyler.  —  Henry  B.  Norton.  —  Cassias  M.  Clay  Guard.  —  The  Fourth  Regi 
ment. —  Towns  represented. — Departure.  —  Colt's  Revolving  Rifles.  —  It  becomes 
the  Fifth  Connecticut.  —  Towns  represented.  —  Home  Guard.  —  Yale  College.  —  The 
General  Assembly.  —  Message  of  the  Governor.  —  War  Legislation.  —  The  Constitu 
tional  Amendment.  —  Great  Unanimity  of  Feeling.  —  Independence  Day. 

IN  these  early  movements,  Gov.  Buckingham  re 
lied  greatly  upon  Capt.  Daniel  Tyler  of  Norwich, 
who  was  burning  with  zeal,  chivalric,  high-spirit 
ed,  honorable,  indefatigable  in  his  labors,  and 
familiar  with  the  details  of  organization.  He 
was  the  only  professional  soldier  in  the  first  three  regiments. 
He  impressed  upon  all,  both  officers  and  men,  correct  views 
of  the  character  of  the  true  soldier,  and  taught  them  that  it 
was  as  honorable  to  obey  as  to  command.  His  discipline 
was  exact ;  and  to  those  who  forgot  that  an  army  can  not  be 
a  democracy,  and  that  a  regiment  is  not  a  town-meeting,  it 
seemed  severe.  Yet  is  it  just  to  say  that  much  of  the  sys 
tematic,  well-disciplined  character  of  Connecticut  troops, 
which  made  so  many  of  her  regiments  favorites  in  various 
corps  and  departments,  was  due  to  the  soldierly  spirit  infused 
into  the  three-months'  troops  by  Col.  Tyler  of  the  First. 
The  position  of  brigadier  of  the  State  militia  was  early 
offered  to  him  by  Gov.  Buckingham,  and  accepted  by  him 
on  condition  that  all  duties  should  be  "  performed  without 
remuneration  for  services  rendered  or  expenses  incurred."  J 
Soon  after  reaching  Washington  with  his  regiment,  he  was 
made  brigadier-general  of  volunteers  at  the  earnest  request 
of  Gen.  Scott. 

1  Gov.  Buckingham's  Message,  1862. 
70 


THE   PRESIDENT'S   PROCLAMATION.  71 

Henry  B.  Norton  of  Norwich  also  rendered  substantial 
service  in  chartering  vessels,  superintending  the  transporta 
tion  of  troops,  and  purchasing  supplies  at  that  early  period. 
An  upright,  able,  and  influential  business-man,  he  left  his 
own  affairs,  and  gave  personal  attention  to  the  wants  of  the 
State  in  this  emergency.  He  cheerfully  spent  months  of 
time,  refusing  even  the  re-imbursement  of  his  expenses. 

In  the  Cassius  M.  Clay  Guard,  which  patrolled  Washing 
ton  in  the  days  of  alarm  and  peril,  before  the  arrival  of 
troops,  Connecticut  was  represented  by  Orris  S.  Ferry,  John 
Woodruff,  Cornelius  S.  Bushnell,  A.  H.  Byington,  and  William 
S.  Chalker  (captain  of  the  first  company  of  Wide-Awakes). 
The  danger  being  passed,  they  were  mustered  out  of  service 
on  May  18  by  an  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  expressing 
thanks  for  their  faithful  service  day  and  night. 

Deeming  the  three  regiments  sufficient  for  the  emergency, 
the  president  declined  the  services  of  the  twenty-four  addi 
tional  companies  still  industriously  drilling  in  squads  all  over 
the  State  ;  and,  on  the  8th  of  May,  Gov.  Buckingham  ordered 
them  to  be  disbanded.  The  decision  was  received  by  the 
men  with  every  expression  of  disappointment. 

The  president  had,  however,  on  the  3d  of  May,  issued  a 
proclamation  for  forty-two  thousand  volunteers,  an  increase 
of  the  regular  army  of  twenty-two  thousand  and  sixty-eight, 
and  for  the  enlistment  of  eighteen  thousand  seamen ;  and 
the  disappointment  was  quickly  forgotten  in  the  zeal  to 
embrace  one  of  these  opportunities.  The  State-call  was  de 
layed  until  May  11 ;  and  it  is  estimated  that  "not  less  than 
two  thousand  men2  from  Connecticut  enlisted  in  other 
States,  or  the  regular  army  or  navy." 

Our  quota  was  considerably  less  than  one  regiment ;  but 
the  War  Department  had  accepted  the  second  and  third  three- 
months'  regiments  from  Connecticut,  on  condition  that 
the  State  should  immediately  raise  two  other  regiments 
for  three  years.  Gov.  Buckingham  had  gladly  promised 
-this,  because  fully  convinced  that  the  government  would 

2  Adjutant-General's  Report  for  1861. 


72  CONNECTICUT   DUKING   THE   REBELLION. 

need  them ;  and  now  issued  orders  for  two  regiments  from 

'  O 

Connecticut.  Men  eagerly  responded  ;  though  they  greatly 
feared,  that,  before  they  could  get  to  the  front,  the  three- 
months'  regiments  would  inconsiderately  go  ahead,  and  finish 
the  war. 

The    first  full  companies  were   accepted  for  the  Fourth 
Regiment,  and  ordered  into  camp  at  Hartford.     Lev!  Wood- 
house,  who  had  served  with  credit  in  Mexico,  accepted  the 
command.    Company  A,  Capt.  L.  G.  Hemingway,  was  mainly 
from  Hartford  ;  though  twenty  or  thirty  men  were  from  Man 
chester,  Farmi  ngton,  and  East  and  West  Hartford.    Company 
B,  Capt.  Elisha  S.  Kellogg,  was  from  Derby;  a  few  of  the  mem 
bers  hailing  from  Seymour,  Canton,  and  other  towns.     Com 
pany  C,  Capt.  R  S.  Burbank,  was  officered  by  Suffield,  which 
furnished  about  half  the  men ;  the  rest  going  from  Granby, 
Enfield,  the  Windsors,  and  neighboring  towns.     Company  D, 
Capt.  J.  C.  Dunford,  was  mainly  from  New  London  ;  a  number 
of  members,  however,  enlisting  from  Thompson  and  the  vari 
ous  Lymes.      Company  E,  Capt.  0.  A.  Dennis,  was  mainly  from 
New  Haven ;  also  Company  F,  Capt.  N.  S.  Hallenbeck ;  both 
receiving  a  sprinkling   of  volunteers  from  adjacent  towns. 
Middletown  contributed  the  officers  and  fourteen  privates  of 
Company  G,  Capt.  R.  G.  Williams;  Killingly  furnished  twenty- 
two  ;  Berlin,  eleven ;  and  Plainfield,  Putnam,  and  other  east 
ern  towns,   the  rest.     Middletown   also   officered   Company 
H,  Capt.  C.  C.  Clark,  and  sent  most  of  the  privates ;  Berlin  fur 
nished  sixteen ;   and  twenty  more  were  chiefly  from  Crom 
well  and  East  Haddam.     Torrington  contributed  the  officers 
and  sixteen  men  to  Company  I,  Capt.  S.  H.  Perkins ;  while 
twenty-seven  were  from  Plymouth,  ten  from  Thompson,  and 
twenty-five  more  from  Litchfield,  Waterbury,  and  Goshen. 
Company  K,  Capt.  D.  W.  Siprell,  was  from  Hartford;  surround 
ing  towns  supplying  twenty-five,  and  Meriden  ten.    Company 
G  was  known  as  the  Wesleyan  Guard,  most  of  its   mem 
bers  being  students  in  Wesleyan  University.     It  was  more 
than  an  ordinary  sacrifice  for  them  to  cease  their  studies, 
discard  their  hopes  of  distinction,  and  offer  their  young  lives 
to  their  country. 


COL.    SAMUEL   COLT.  73 

The  regiment  received  careful  and  constant  drill,  and  left 
Hartford  for  the  front  on  Monday,  June  10,  seventeen 
days  after  the  Third.  At  State-house  Square,  the  regimen 
tal  colors  were  presented  by  Lieut-Go v.  Benjamin  Douglass'"' 
in  an  earnest  speech,  concluding  thus  :  "  Remember  Sumter ! 
Remember  that  there,  for  the  first  time  in  our  history,  this 
blood-bought  flag  of  our  fathers  was  lowered  to  Americans. 
Let  this  thought  fire  your  patriotism,  nerve  your  arm,  and 
give  strength  to  your  determination  to  wipe  out  this  gross 
insult  from  the  records  of  our  national  history."  The  men 
then  sought  refuge  from  the  broiling  sun  on  board  the  boats. 
Fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  people  were  assembled  to  witness 
their  departure;  and  in  the  midst  of  cannon-firing,  martial 
music,  and  resounding  cheers,  they  steamed  down  the  pleas 
ant  river,  not  to  Washington,  but  to  do  picket-duty  along 
the  Upper  Potomac. 


On  the  25th  of  April,  Col.  Sam.  Colt  offered  to  raise  a 
regiment,  and  arm  it  with  revolving  breach  rifles  of  his  own 
manufacture.  His  purpose  was  to  have  every  man  over  six 
feet  high,  and  a  good  shot,  —  a  regiment  of  accomplished 
grenadiers;  and,  on  May  16,  he  was  commissioned  colonel 
of  the  First  Connecticut  Revolving  Rifles.  Parts  of  compa 
nies  rendezvoused  on  South  Meadows,  at  Hartford,  in  accord 
ance  with  this  plan,  under  Major  George  D.  Chapman.  There 
was  soon  disagreement  concerning  arms,  the  appointment 
of  subalterns,  and  other  important  matters ;  and  Col.  Colt's 
commission  was  revoked  June  20,  and  the  regiment,  then 
numbering  nearly  seven  hundred  men,  was  disbanded.4 

3  Gov.  Douglass,  who  had  hitherto  been  known  as  an  .uncompromising  foe  of  slavery, 
was  henceforth  distinguished,  also,  as  being  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  supporters  of  the 
war ;  giving  freely  of  his  time,  labors,  and  money,  first  to  put  men  in  the  field,  and  then  to 
make  them  and  their  families  comfortable. 

*  A  fine  company  of  Irishmen  from  Norwich  was  raised  for  the  Fifth  Regiment ;  but  it 
10 


74  CONNECTICUT  DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 

More  than  half  the  men  returned  to  their  homes ;  but  those 
remaining  were  organized  into  skeleton  companies,  and  des 
ignated  as  the  Fifth  Connecticut.  Orris  S.  Ferry  was  im 
mediately  commissioned  as  colonel,  and  abandoned  a  lucra- 
rative  law-practice  for  the  field.  The  camp  was  transferred 
to  a  lot  on  the  New-Haven  turnpike,  a  short  distance  out  of 
Hartford. 

Company  A,  Capt.  H.  B.  Stone,  was  from  Danbury;  which 
town  furnished  its  stalwart  officers,  and  twenty  of  its  men : 
fifteen  were  from  Bethel,  Redding,  and  Ridgefield ;  and  the 
rest  from  other  towns  in  the  vicinity  of  Danbury.  Hartford 
officered  Company  B,  Capt.  Justin  H.  Chapman,  and  furnished 
a  dozen  of  the  men:  the  rest  came  from  Bristol  (twenty), 
Windham  (fourteen),  Griswold,  Southington,  and  Farmington. 
Company  C,  Capt.  George  W.  Corliss,  was  raised  in  New  Ha 
ven  ;  a  few  of  the  men  being  from  adjacent  towns,  and  ten 
from  Norwalk.  Hartford  and  Waterbury  furnished  the  offi 
cers  of  Company  D,  Capt.  D.  F.  Lane,  and  most  of  the  pri 
vates.  Company  E,  Capt.  Wilson  Wyant,  was  the  result  of 
consolidating  two  incomplete  companies  from  Norwalk  and 
Seymour ;  some  thirty  of  the  men,  however,  hailing  from 
Westport,  Weston,  Woodbury,  and  Naugatuck.  Company 
F,  Capt.  Edward  P.  Allen,  was  from  Tolland  County ;  Vernon 
furnishing  the  officers  and  a  majority  of  the  men.  others 
flocking  in  from  surrounding  towns.  Groton  contributed  the 
captain  (Warren  W.  Packer),  first  lieutenant,  and  ten  men, 
of  Company  G;  Hartford  the  second  lieutenant,  and  five 
men ;  and,  of  the  remainder  of  the  company,  fourteen  were 
from  Norwalk,  and  twelve  from  Stonington.  Company  H. 
Capt.  Albert  S.  Granger,  was  officered  from  Putnam ;  which 
also  furnished  thirteen  of  the  men  :  Killingly  sent  fourteen, 
Plainfield  thirteen,  Woodstock  twelve  ;  and  Thompson,  East- 
ford,  and  Griswold,  the  rest.  Hartford  furnished  the  officers 
of  Company  I,  Capt.  Griffin  A.  Stedman,  and  two  of  the 

finally  joined  the  First  New-York  Artillery.  Capt.  Thomas  Maguire  became  major  of  the 
regiment,  and  was  succeeded  by  Capt.  William  A.  Berry,  killed  in  front  of  Petersburg. 
He,  in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  Capt.  Thomas  Scott  of  Norwich.  —  Vide  Miss  F.  M  Canl- 
kins's  History  of  Norwich. 


THE  FIFTH   REGIMENT.  75 

men :  twenty-five  were  from  Cornwall,  thirteen  from  Salis 
bury,  and  fifteen  from  Sharon  and  Norfolk.  The  captain 
(James  Sutton)  of  Company  K,  and  sixteen  men,  were  from 
New  London ;  the  lieutenants,  and  first  two  sergeants,  from 
Waterbury :  of  the  privates,  twenty-one  were  from  Wind- 
ham,  and  most  of  the  others  from  Norwich,  Sprague,  and 
Stonington. 

Systematic  "recruiting"  was  not  yet  resorted  to:  the 
companies  were  chiefly  the  result  of  spontaneous  enlist 
ment.  It  is  noticeable  thus  early  that  the  cities  or  large 
towns  monopolized  most  of  the  officers;  the  commissions 
being  frequently  secured  by  those  familiar  with  the  ways  of 
the  world,  and  with  managing,  even  where  country  towns 
supplied  a  majority  of  the  men.  There  were  men  from 
Norwalk  in  almost  every  company  of  the  Fifth,  attracted  at 
the  last  moment,  even  after  companies  were  organized,  by 
the  call  of  their  popular  neighbor  to  the  command.  The 
regiment  was  soon  full  to  the  maximum,  having  1,102  men. 
Physically,  they  averaged  the  best  material  ever  enlisted  in 
Connecticut ;  and,  feeling  that  they  needed  only  proper  dis 
cipline  to  make  them  the  foremost  regiment  of  the  service, 
officers  and  men  gave  themselves  assiduously  to  the  drill. 

Many  who  did  not  join  these  early  regiments  felt  that  there 
might  be  another  call,  or  even  service  in  the  State,  and 
began  to  organize  home-guards.  In  the  larger  towns,  com 
panies  were  formed,  and  instructed  in  marching  and  in  the 
manual  of  arms.  The  lessons  were  generally  rude  and 
unscientific ;  yet  many  volunteers  for  the  three-years'  regi 
ments  went  out  from  these  early  companies,  more  efficient 
for  the  discipline  there  obtained. 

The  recruiting,  the  constant  drills,  the  martial  music,  and 
the  bustle  of  camp-life,  greatly  quickened  the  military  spirit 
in  New  Haven.  In  her  home-guard  were  enrolled  more 
than  four  hundred  members.  Besides  these,  there  were  no 
less  than  five  companies  organized  and  regularly  drilled  at 
Yale  College. 


76  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE    REBELLION. 

The  call  for  troops  occurred  during  vacation  at  Yale ;  and, 
when  the  students  came  back,  they  found  themselves  in 
camp.  Many  graduates  promptly  joined  the  ranks ;  and 
students  left  their  classes  for  a  life  in  the  barracks  and  on 
the  field.  Among  the  first  of  the  volunteers  came  "  march 
ing  from  Winchester  down  "  white-haired  John  Boyd,  of  the 
class  of  1821,  —  a  man  of  social  and  political  influence,  and 
conspicuous  hostility  to  slavery.  The  venerable  volunteer 
was  importunate,  but  could  induce  no  one  to  pronounce  him 
young  enough  for  military  duty,  and  went  reluctantly 
home.  Rev.  John  Pierpont,5  a  graduate  of  the  class  of 
1804,  also  caught  the  war- impulse;  and,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-six,  marched  into  Virginia  as  chaplain  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Twenty-second. 

Daily  contact  with  soldiers,  and  the  daily  sight  of  the 
vacant  places  of  undergraduates,  tended  to  make  the  Yale 
students  restless  and  uneasy.  "  We  must  be  ready  fbr  the 
next  call,"  they  said.  Each  class  became  a  military  com 
pany,  with  frequent  drills  and  creditable  discipline.  The 
same  feeling  prompted  the  organization  of  the  Graduates' 
Guard.  Students  of  theology,  law,  medicine,  and  philoso 
phy,  with  the  learned  professors  of  the  college,  became,  all 
at  once,  obedient  and  patient  students  in  the  school  of  the 
soldier.  Very  laugh-provoking  to  this  day  is  the  recurring 
vision  of  the  graduates'  company-drill,  on  those  bright,  sum 
mer  afternoons,  in  the  field  adjoining  Tutor  Lane.  Some  of 
the  illustrious  privates  of  "  the  Guard  "  were  by  no  means  so 
youthful  or  agile  as  to  enjoy  rapid  marching;  but  one  day 
a  light-footed  member  maliciously  informed  the  drill-master 

5  John  Pierpont  was  born  in  Litchficld,  April  6,  1785.  He  graduated  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  studied  law  at  Litchfield,  practiced  a  short  time,  and  had  a  brief  mercantile 
career.  In  1816,  he  published  at  Baltimore  the  Airs  of  Palestine,  a  poem  in  heroic 
measure,  which  attracted  much  attention.  He  then  studied  theology,  and  was  ordained 
in  Boston,  in  1819,  as  a  Unitarian  pastor.  His  activity  and  zeal  for  the  temperance, 
antislavery,  and  other  reforms,  brought  him  into  a  sharp  and  prolonged  controversy  with 
some  of  his  parishioners,  in  which  he  was  completely  triumphant.  For  fifty  years,  freedom 
and  temperance  were  the  burden  of  his  song.  In  1861,  he  went  with  Massachusetts 
troops  to  the  field,  but  was  rescued  by  Senator  Wilson  from  fatal  exposure,  and  served  in 
the  treasury  department  until  1864,  when  he  resigned,  and  went  home  to  a  peaceful 
death. 


THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  ^7 

that  there  was  a  general  desire  to  try  company  movements 
in  quicker  time.  The  wicked  suggestion  was  accepted. 
Along  the  slope,  up  and  down  the  declivity,  by  the  right 
flank  and  the  left,  with  an  occasional  bewildering  "  about- 
face,"  they  lumbered  along  at  a  straggling  double-quick. 
"  Close  up,  close  up !  "  was  an  order  shouted  and  repeated  in 
vain.  Onward  struggled  the  heavy  end  of  the  line,  with 
visible  perspiration  and  audible  puffings;  while  utter  exhaus 
tion  heaved  in  almost  bursting  chests,  and  glowed  in  fiery 
cheeks.  Meantime,  the  lighter  end  of  the  line  grew  weak 
in  the  knees,  and  thick  in  the  throat  with  irrepressible 
laughter  at  the  droll  display.  The  agony  of  that  hour 
nearly  proved  fatal ;  but,  after  a  few  days,  nearly  all  the 
disabled  veterans  returned,  and  the  drills  were  cautiously 
continued. 

These  drills,  though  at  first  almost  ludicrous,  were  far 
from  fruitless.  The  older  members,  one  by  one,  dropped 
out ;  but  the  rest  drilled  regularly,  and  with  good  progress. 
"  The  next  call  was  made,  and  we  sent  to  the  front  our  full 
quota.  Another  call  came,  and  a  third.  We  gave  our  stur 
diest  and  best,  until  nearly  one-half  the  Graduates'  Guard 
were  soldiers  of  the  Republic."  6 

The  annual  session  of  the  General  Assembly  convened  at 
Hartford  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1861. 

Fortunately,  many  of  the  first  men  in  the  State  had  been 
chosen,  and  entered  on  their  serious  duties  with  a  determi 
nation  to  do  all  that  was  possible  to  put  down  the  Rebellion 
at  once. 

The  House  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Hon.  Augustus 
Brandagee  as  speaker;  and  Cyrus  Northrop,  clerk.  The  Sen 
ate  elected  Hon.  A.  B.  Mygatt  president  pro  tern.;  and  W.  W. 
Stone,  clerk. 

The  governor,  in  a  short  message,  informed  the  Assembly 
that  the  services  of  forty  companies  had  been  accepted  and 
mostly  uniformed,  but  none  had  yet  departed  from  the  State. 

6  The  Patriotic  Record  of  Yale  College,  by  John  M.  Morris  in  Hours  at  Home,  vol. 
iii.  No.  2. 


78  CONNECTICUT   DUEING  THE   KEBELLION. 

As  if  foreseeing  the  magnitude  of  the  war,  the  governor,  at 
that  early  period,  recommended  that  a  force  of  eight  or  ten 
thousand  men  be  organized,  armed,  and  equipped  by  the 
State,  and  drilled  and  disciplined,  ready,  when  needed,  to  be 
called  into  active  service.  He  discussed  the  critical  condition 
of  national  affairs  with  clearness  and  manly  courage.  He 
suggested  a  modification  of  the  Personal-liberty  Bill  in 
regard  to  the  evidence  necessary  to  prove  a  false  declara 
tion  of  the  claimant  of  a  negro  alleged  to  be  a  slave,  but 
recommended  that  the  bill  thus  amended  be  retained. 
He  said,  "  We  are  in  the  rnidst  of  a  revolution  on  which 
all  that  we  hold  dear  as  a  free  people  is  staked.  Never 
have  the  liberties  achieved  for  us  by  our  fathers  through  the 
fire  and  blood  of  a  seven-years'  war  been  in  such  imminent 
peril  as  now.  The  sceptre  of  authority  must  be  upheld,  and 
allegiance  secured.  It  is  no  time  to  make  concessions  to 
rebels,  or  parley  with  men  in  arms ; "  and,  as  if  speaking  for 
the  people,  declared,  that  "  we  will  make  the  battle-fields  of 
the  second  war  of  independence,  if  need  be,  altars  of  patri 
otic  sacrifice  and  watchwords  of  liberty  forever." 

Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  House,  the 
speaker  appointed  the  following  gentlemen  the  Committee 
upon  Military  Affairs :  Messrs.  Carpenter  of  Killingly  (now 
a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court) ;  Deming  of  Hartford  (after 
wards  colonel  of  the  Twelfth  Connecticut  Volunteers),  in 
place  of  Thomas  H.  Seymour,  who  declined  to  serve  ;  Wooster 
of  Derby  (afterwards  colonel  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Connec 
ticut  Volunteers) ;  Geer  of  Lyme  ;  Cunningham  of  Norwalk 
(afterwards  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eighth  Connecticut 
Volunteers);  Burrall  of  Salisbury;  Scoville  of  Haddam; 
and  Pease  of  Somers.  The  Hon.  Charles  Briscoe  of  the 
second  district  was  appointed  senate-chairman  of  this 
committee. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  session,  a  bill  reported  by  this 
committee  passed  both  Houses  without  opposition,  which 

NOTE.  —  The  State  debt  on  the  1st  of  April,  1861,  was  $7,709.50  ;  a  reduction  during 
the  previous  year  from  $26,432.54.  The  debt  in  1858  was  $81,161.06. 


THREE-YEARS'   REGIMENTS.  79 

authorized  the  governor  to  accept  the  services  of  ten  thou 
sand  men  for  such  time  as  he  might  deem  expedient,  they 
being  liable  at  all  times  to  be  turned  over  to  the  service 
of  the  United  States.  All  acts  of  the  governor  in  raising- 
volunteer  regiments  were  ratified  and  confirmed,  and  all 
expenses  incurred  by  him  for  the  same  purpose  were  ordered 
paid  from  the  State  treasury.  The  sum  of  ten  dollars  per 
month,  as  additional  compensation,  was  appropriated  to  every 
non-commissioned  officer  and  private  who  was  mustered  into 
the  service  under  the  act. 

Towns  and  cities  were  authorized  to  vote  money  to  aid 
volunteers  or  their  families,  and  previous  votes  of  this 
character  were  validated.  The  sum  of  two  million  dollars 
was  appropriated  to  defray  military  expenses ;  and  the  treas 
urer  was  authorized  to  issue  six  per  cent  coupon  bonds  to 
that  amount,  payable  in  twenty  years.  The  act  was  approved 
by  the  governor  immediately,  and  became  the  basis  of  much 
of  the  subsequent  legislation  upon  war-matters. 

Mr.  Sedgwick  of  Cornwall  gave  early  notice  of  a  bill  to 
raise  five  regiments  of  negroes ;  but  the  project,  repeatedly 
broached  by  him,  met  with  little  favor. 

At  this  time,  the  patriotism  of  the  people  was  glowing  at 
a  white-heat;  partisan  feeling  was  subdued;7  and,  writh  few 
exceptions,  the  Democratic  members  of  the  Assembly  vied 
with  those  of  the  majority  party  in  expressions  of  loyalty 
and  devotion  to  the  Federal  Union. 

Resolutions  of  inquiry  or  instruction  upon  the  all-absorb 
ing  subject  were  introduced  nearly  every  day,  many  of 
them  illustrative  of  the  crude  ideas  that  then  prevailed  con 
cerning  the  requirements  of  actual  warfare. 

Before  the  close  of  the  session,  three-years'  regiments  were 
begun ;  and  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  reduce  the  extra  pay 
of  ten  dollars  per  month,  except  in  the  case  of  those  who  en 
listed  for  three  months,  to  thirty  dollars  per  year,  to  be  paid 
in  installments  of  ten  dollars  every  four  months.  This  was 

7  At  the  city  elections  of  New  Haven  and  Norwich  in  June,  a  Union  ticket  was  nomi 
nated  by  mutual  agreement  of  parties,  and  elected  without  opposition. 


80  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

continued  until  the  close  of  the  war.  By  an  act  approved 
June  27,  provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  a  bounty 
for  the  support  of  the  family  of  each  enlisted  man. 

This  bounty  was  six  dollars  per  month  for  the  wife,  and 
two  dollars  per  month  for  each  child,  not  exceeding  two,  under 
fourteen  years  of  age.  It  was  paid  quarterly  until  the  final 
muster-out ;  and,  whenever  a  soldier  died  in  the  service,  it 
was  continued  until  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment ; 
so  that,  in  many  cases,  it  operated  as  a  pension  for  two  or 
more  years.8 

The  Corwin  Constitutional  Amendment  wras  reported  from 
the  Committee  on  Federal  Relations  on  the  3d  of  July  with 
out  recommendation,  and  continued  to  the  next  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  by  nearly  a  strict  party  vote.  Senator 
E.  Johnson  (Dem.)  was  for  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the 
difficulties,  and  in  favor  of  guaranteeing  the  constitutional 
rights  of  the  South.  He  should  consider  a  vote  for  con 
tinuing  the  amendment  as  a  vote  against  it.  Senator  0.  H. 
Platt  replied,  "  I  wish  the  vote  I  shall  give  for  continuance 
to  be  considered  as  a  declaration  that  I  will  not  compromise 
with  traitors.  I  wish  first  to  know  whether  we  have  a  Con 
stitution  to  be  amended,  or  whether  it  is  to  be  subverted.  I 
believe  that  those  who  talk  of  peace  now  mean  sympathy 
with  traitors,  and  a  peaceable  dissolution  of  the  Union." 
The  amendment  was  not  heard  of  again. 

An  act  to  repeal  the  Personal -liberty  Bill  was  also  con 
tinued  to  the  next  session  by  a  similar  vote. 

The  resolutions  upon  Federal  affairs,  which  were  presented 
according  to  custom  just  before  the  close  of  the  session, 
were  very  conservative  in  their  character,  declaring  it  to  be 
the  duty  of  the  government  to  resist  rebellion  with  all  its 
force,  and  against  interference  with  slavery  in  the  States. 
They  were  passed  by  the  votes  of  Republicans  and  Demo 
crats,  and  were  opposed  only  by  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Seymour 
and  a  few  others,  who,  in  those  early  days  of  the  war,  were 

8  The  bounty,  in  this  beneficent  form,  was  secured  chiefly  by  the  persistent  efforts  of 
William  B.  Wooster  of  Derby. 


DEMONSTRATIONS  AT  WALLINGFORD.  81 

known  as  "  peace  men."  A  large  proportion  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party  in  the  Assembly  seemed,  however,  at  this  time, 
to  be  as  earnest  and  hearty  in  their  support  of  the  war- 
measures  as  the  Republicans.  Several  of  them,  like  Dem- 
ing  of  Hartford,  Atwater  of  New  Haven,  and  Dibble  of 
Branford,  continued  to  act  with  the  Republican  Union  party 
through  the  war.  Much  credit  is  due  to  the  Military  Com 
mittee  of  this  Assembly  for  their  arduous  work  and  judicious 
recommendations.  The  principal  bills  relating  to  the  con 
duct  of  the  war  were  never  repealed,  and  were  only  altered 
for  the  purpose  of  extending  their  provisions  as  circum 
stances  required.  The  Assembly  adjourned,  sine  die,  on  the 
evening  of  July  3. 

Independence  Day  was  celebrated  with  earnestness  and 
enthusiasm.  Communities  which  had  no  suitable  flag-staff 
commemorated  the  day  by  raising  the  tallest  and  hand 
somest  the  region  afforded.  Others  gathered  around  the 
massive  and  shapely  poles  already  erected,  to  renew  with 
solemn  emphasis  their  pledges  of  devotion  to  the  starry, 
emblem,  and  the  Republic  whose  majesty  and  power  it 
typified. 

Among  the  unique  demonstrations  was  that  at  Walling- 
ford,  where  the  citizens  unfurled  the  flag  that  had  been  pre 
sented  by  Moses  Y.  Beach.  Samuel  Simpson  presided,  and 
the  flag  was  received  by  E.  S.  Ives.  After  a  bountiful  colla 
tion,  a  miniature  model  of  the  flag  and  staff,  surmounting  a 
colossal  loaf  of  cake,  adorned  with  flowers,  was  presented 
to  Mr.  Beach  by  six  daughters  of  M.  W.  Munson,  who  accom 
panied  the  gift  with  a  patriotic  note  expressing  thanks  to 
him,  and  signed  themselves  "  six  sisters  for  the  Union." 

Gov.  Buckingham  spent  'the  day  at  New  Haven.  In  the 
forenoon,  there  was  a  review  of  the  volunteer  and  militia 
companies ;  in  the  afternoon,  a  mass-meeting  to  listen  to  ad 
dresses  and  the  singing  of  the  Children's  Brigade. 

Some  weeks  before,  Benjamin  Jepson  had  issued  a  circular, 
in  which  he  urged  that  all  our  children  might  and  should  be 

imbued  with  ineradicable  love  of  country  by  early  instruc- 
11 


82  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

tion  in  our  national  songs,  and  calling  them  together  to  re 
hearse  a  programme  for  the  Fourth  of  July.  In  response  to 
this  call,  a  thousand  children  assembled,  from  time  to  time, 
for  practice,  and,  at  two  o'clock  on  the  Fourth,  gathered  at 
"  The  Wigwam  "  in  Olive  Street,  and  formed  in  procession  in 
the  following  order:  Division  of  boys,  —  Indians,  represent 
ing  the  Boston  Tea-Party;  Washington  Zouaves,  Wide 
awake  Fire-engine  Company  with  a  miniature  engine, 
Marine  Guard,  Infant  Rifles.  Division  of  girls,  —  Daughters 
of  Columbia,  Goddess  of  Liberty  in  a  floral  car,  Young 
America  with  continental  guard,  Brother  Jonathan  in  full 
costume,  Union  of  States  represented  by  thirty-four  young 
ladies. 

The  costume  of  the  children  accorded  with  the  parts  as 
signed  them  :  each  carried  a  flag,  and  the  entire  procession 
was  interspersed  with  banners  representing  the  battles  of 
the  Revolution  and  various  appropriate  devices.  The  pro 
cession  passed  through  the  principal  streets  to  the  north 
portico  of  the  State  House,  and  were  seated  on  the  broad 
steps  in  a  prescribed  order,  making  a  most  picturesque  and 
impressive  tableau.  Mayor  Welch  presided :  speeches  were 
made  by  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  Ex-Go v.  Dutton, 
Prof.  D.  C.  Gilman,  Deacon  George  F.  Smith,  John  G.  North, 
and  others.  The  speakers  were  warmly  applauded ;  but  the 
spirit  and  power  of  the  singing,  intensified  by  the  effect  of 
the  decorations,  elicited  much  enthusiasm. 

The  vast  audience,  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand, 
stood  in  compact,  swaying  mass,  without  sign  of  weariness, 
for  four  hours,  and  dispersed  with  hearts  vibrating  to  this 
stanza,  sung  by  the  children  with  thrilling  effect :  — 

"  Still  undaunted,  still  united 
By  the  fires  our  fathers  lighted, 

We  will  stand,  we  will  stand, 
As  a  noble  band  of  brothers, 
Freer,  prouder,  than  all  others 

In  the  land,  in  the  land ; 
While  onward,  with  resistless  tread, 

Unconqucrcd,  unconquered, 
The  Union's  mighty  hosts  are  led, 
Our  standard  waving  at  its  head, 

Unconquered,  unconquered, 
Against  the  lines  of  Treason." 


CHAPTER    VI. 

The  First  and  Second  Regiments  in  Washington.  —  Welcome  Reception.  —  Camp  at 
Glenwood. — Joined  by  the  Third.  — Death  of  Col.  Ellsworth.  — Ellsworth  of  Connecti 
cut  Stock.  —  "  Invasion  "  of  Virginia.  —  Ambush  at  Vienna.  —  Holding  the  Advanced 
post.  —  Death  of  Theodore  Winthrop.  —  Sketch  of  his  Life  and  Character.  —  Death  of 
Capt.  James  H.  Ward. —  An  Advance.  —  Blackburn's  Ford.  —  Bull  Run. —  Gen. 
Tyler  begins  the  Battle.  —  The  Army  betrayed. — Behavior  of  Connecticut  Troops. 
—  The  Last  on  the  Field.  —  They  act  as  Rear-Guard  in  the  Retreat.  —  Good  Order 
maintained.  —  They  bring  off  Public  Property.  —  Home,  and  Muster-out. 

pHE  destination  of  the  First  was  kept  a  secret, 
even  from  its  line  officers,  until  the  Bienville 
was  outside  New-Haven  Harbor,  to  avoid  the 
necessity  of  a  hostile  reception  by  the  rebels 
along  the  Potomac.  The  transport  made  straight 
for  the  Chesapeake,  and  steamed  along  without  opposition. 
It  was  the  first  regiment  up  the  river ;  and  rebel  camps 
were  seen  here  and  there  in  the  distance,  while  the  strange 
flag  of  treason  was  flaunted  at  Alexandria.  The  regiment 
arrived  not  a  day  too  soon ;  for  the  capital  was  still  at  the 
mercy  of  the  foe,  had  he  been  resolute  and  dashing. 

They  were  met  on  the  Potomac,  and  cordially  welcomed, 
by  President  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet.  While  marching 
through  the  streets  of  Washington,  they  received  much  praise 
for  their  soldierly  bearing  and  discipline,  and  for  the  perfec 
tion  of  their  personal  and  carnp  equipage.  It  was  the  first 
regiment  from  any  State  thoroughly  equipped ;  being  fur 
nished  not  only  with  tents,  but  with  a  complete  baggage- 
train.  Gen.  Scott  reviewed  them,  and  exclaimed,  "  Thank 
God  !  we  have  one  regiment  ready  to  take  the  field."  The 
day  of  their  arrival,  May  13,  they  pitched  their  camp  about 
two  miles  north  of  the  capital,  on  the  pleasant  grounds  of 
the  wealthy  banker  Corcoran,  called  Glenwood. 


84  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  First  Connecticut  Regiment  was  taken  as  a  model  for 
equipment  by  other  States.  Before  its  departure,  agents 
from  New  York,  Massachusetts,  Maine,  and  Vermont,  were 
in  New  Haven  to  examine  it ;  and,  when  it  arrived  in  Wash 
ington,  it  had  more  transportation  than  all  the  other  regiments 
combined ;  and  the  government  sent  next  day  to  borrow  the 
teams  to  distribute  rations  to  the  other  troops.  Moreover, 
the  First  had  provided  itself  with  fifty  thousand  rounds  of 
ammunition,  and  rations  and  forage  for  twenty  days.  Col. 
Tyler  was  prepared  not  merely  for  a  battle,  but  for  a  cam 
paign. 

The  steamer  Cahawba,  with  the  Second,  leaving  New 
Haven  the  day  after  the  First,  came  to  anchor  under  the 
guns  of  Fortress  Monroe  on  Sunday  morning ;  and  the 
sturdy  old  Cumberland  sloop -of- war,  thereafter  famous, 
manned  her  yards,  and  gave  the  regiment  three  cheers. 
The  sail  was  soon  continued  up  the  Potomac ;  and,  as  the 
shores  were  occupied  by  the  enemy,  ball-cartridges  were 
dealt  out  after  divine  service,  and  the  companies  were  as 
signed  positions  for  defense.  Rebel  sentries  were  visible  on 
the  Alexandria  wharves,  and  armed  traitors  were  grouped 
in  the  streets.  The  regiment  reached  Washington,  and 
pitched  its  tents  at  Glenwood  by  the  side  of  the  First.  The 
situation  was  a  westward  slope,  covered  with  oaks  and  cecjars ; 
the  ground  thick  with  underbrush  and  decaying  leaves.  In 
a  few  days,  the  leaves  had  been  swept  up  and  burned,  the 
stumps  removed,  and  the  inequalities  of  surface  leveled 
down.  The  regiments  built,  of  the  evergreens,  arches  and 
arbors  in  front  of  the  officers'  tents,  and  floored  them  with 
fragrant  twigs,  and  festooned  them  with  running  vines,  until 
the  camp  looked  like  a  pleasant  picnic-scene.  They  gave 
nine  hours  a  day  to  drill,  evolutions,  and  the  manual  of  arms ; 
and,  under  diligent  officers,  their  progress  was  rapid.  Social 
religious  meetings  were  held  every  evening,  conducted  by 
Rev.  S.  Herbert  Lancey,  a  private  in  the  Second,  afterwards 
appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  be  chaplain.  Feeling  a 
strong  desire  for  music,  the  members  assessed  themselves  to 
pay  the  expenses  of  the  Union  City  (Naugatuck)  Brass  Band, 
which  reached  the  camp  early  in  June. 


CONNECTICUT  TROOPS'  EXPRESS.  85 

On  May  23,  the  Third  Regiment  arrived,  and  joined  the 
First  and  Second,  by  whom  they  were  warmly  welcomed. 
So  far  as  was  compatible  with  military  discipline  and  the 
rules  of  camp-life,  the  members  of  the  three  regiments  im 
proved  the  opportunity  for  social  intercourse.  The  Third, 
like  the  First  and  Second,  applied  itself  diligently  to  the 
drill.  Col.  Arnold,  not  having  proved  very  efficient,  resigned 
soon  after  arriving  at  Washington ;  and  his  resignation  was 
instantly  accepted.  Lieut.-Col.  Chatfield  of  the  First  was 
appointed  to  the  command  ;  but  Lieut.-Col.  Brady  refused  to 
recognize  his  authority,  and  exhibited  gross  insubordination 
in  asserting  his  own  right  to  the  succession  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  militia.  He  was  placed  under  arrest  for  muti 
ny,  and  so  held,  without  trial,  until  the  final  muster-out. 
This  folly  was  afterwards  atoned  for  by  patriotic  service.  Col. 
Chatfield  took  the  place  assigned  him,  and  devoted  himself 
with  ardor  to  the  work  of  transforming  the  raw  volunteers 
into  soldiers.  A  militia-officer,  he  was  an  admirable  disci 
plinarian,  —  one  of  the  very  best  drill-officers  in  the  whole 
United-States  service.  A  distinguished  graduate  of  West 
Point  said,  "  Worth,  in  his  palmy  days,  could  not  handle  a 
regiment  better." 

The  hearts  of  the  people  went  to  the  field  with  their 
brave  boys.  The  daily  papers  were  in  unprecedented  de 
mand.  The  telegrams  and  letters  from  the  front  were 
read  and  re-read  with  the  greatest  avidity.  Scenes  and 
events  in  camp  were  the  absorbing  topic  of  conversation 
in  the  streets  and  at  many  firesides.  The  mails  were 
loaded  with  newspapers,  packages,  .and  plethoric  letters. 
Men  were  dispatched  from  all  parts  of  the  State  to  see  "  the 
boys,"  and  carry  them  provisions  and  money ;  and  were  in 
structed  to  provide,  at  any  cost,  whatever  they  might  need. 
Craw  and  Martin,  two  young  men  of  New  Haven,  started  a 
"  Connecticut  Troops'  Express,"  leaving  for  Washington 
every  Monday  night,  and  taking  parcels  of  every  sort ;  guar 
anteeing  their  safe  delivery  to  the  individuals  for  whom 
they  were  intended.  They  did  a  thriving  business.1 

1  The  Connecticut  Troops'  Express  was  continued  by  J.  M.  Crofut  as  long  as  any  of 
the  Connecticut  regiments  were  encamped  near  Washington.  When  the  troops  moved 
farther  into  the  field,  it  was  necessarily  discontinued.  It  was  for  seven  or  eight  months 
both  convenient  and  profitable. 


86  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

On  Sunday,  June  16,  an  accident  occurred  in  camp,  which 
cast  a  gloom  over  all.  A  member  of  the  Third,  Richard 
Howard  of  Madison,  sat  in  his  tent  reading  his  Bible,  when 
a  companion,  playing  with  a  pistol  which  he  supposed  not  to 
be  loaded,  snapped  the  cap  at  a  fly  on  Howard's  breast,  and 
shot  him  through  the  heart.  The  body  was  sent  home,  and 
buried  with  a  public  demonstration  of  respect  and  sorrow. 

On  the  afternoon  of  May  24  came  the  news  of  the  death  of 
Col.  Elmer  E.  Ellsworth  at  Alexandria,  Brave,  enthusiastic, 
and  rash,  he  had  ascended  to  the  roof  of  the  Marshall  House 
to  tear  down  a  rebel  flag,  and  had  been  shot  dead  by  the  pro 
prietor  Jackson  while  descending  the  stairs  with  the  trophy. 
The  patriotic  act  and  its  result  roused  and  enraged  the  North  ; 
and  thousands  of  young  men  sprang  forward  to  avenge  the 
murder,  while  the  name  of  the  dead  hero  became  the  inspi 
ration  of  battle  and  the  assurance  of  victory. 

Young  Ellsworth  was  of  Connecticut  stock.  His  grand 
father,  John  Ellsworth,  was  sexton  of  Center  Church  in 
Hartford  for  a  quarter  of  a  century;  and  had  two  sons, 
John  and  William.  The  former,  developing  considerable 
genius  as  an  artist,  became  the  protSgS  of  Daniel  Wadsworth, 
and  -painted  for  him  the  copy  of  Stuart's  Washington  which 
now  hangs  in  the  gallery  at  the  Athenaeum.  William  mar 
ried,  and  emigrated  at  an  early  day  to  Michigan;  and  there 
Elmer  was  born.  In  the  winter  of  1860-61,  he  showed  great 
skill  in  drilling  Zouaves,  and,  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  request,  accom 
panied  him  to  Washington. 

Col.  Ellsworth  was  succeeded,  as  commander  of  the  Zouaves, 
by  Col.  Noah  L.  Farnham,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  born  at 
Haddam,  June  6,  1829.  In  1861,  he  went  to  Washington 
as  a  lieutenant  in  the  New- York  7th.  He  soon  became 
lieutenant-colonel  of  Ellsworth's  Zouaves ;  and,  at  the  fall  of 
Ellsworth,  he  was  made  colonel.  He  rose  from  a  sick-bed  to 
command  his  regiment  at  Bull  Run,  where,  after  gallant  con 
duct,  he  received  a  severe  wound  in  the  head,  which  shortly 
proved  fatal.  He  was  buried  at  New  Haven  with  military 
and  civic  honors. 

There  were  various  alarms  of  the  comfortable  camp  at 
Glenwood.  On  the  day  of  Ellsworth's  sacrifice,  the  First  was 


PEIVATE   BUGBEE  WOUNDED.  87 

summoned  by  an  excited  orderly,  and  aroused  by  the  long-roll 
to  the  defense  of  the  threatened  city.  The  men  seized  their 
arms,  and  rushed  down  to  Long  Bridge ;  but  it  was  a  false 
alarm,  and  they  turned  back  disappointed.  Another  week 
passed  ;  and  at  twelve  o'clock,  midnight,  of  June  1,  they  broke 
camp  in  earnest,  and  marched  to  re-inforce  the  half-dozen 
regiments  maintaining  a  precarious  hold  on  the  "sacred  soil," 
—  as  Virginia  was  now  derisively  termed.  Followed  by  a 
long  train  of  baggage  and  commissary  wagons,  through  the 
deep  woods  the  regiment  wound  its  way  into  the  broad 
streets  of  the  capital,  and  silently  and  stealthily  across  Long 
Bridge,  and  over  the  crooked  roads  of  Virginia  clay,  to 
Roach's  Mills,  on  the  Alexandria  and  Leesburg  Railroad, 
where,  at  dawn,  it  relieved  the  12th  New- York,  Col.  Butter- 
field.  Here  a  camp  was  established,  and  the  routine  of 
drill,  resumed. 

Gen.  McDowell,  visiting  the  camp,  inquired  how  many 
times  the  pickets  had  needlessly  alarmed  the  regiment. 
"  Never,"  was  the  reply, "  except  when  there  was  a  legitimate 
occasion."  "  I  am  glad,"  he  rejoined,  "  that  there  is  one  regi 
ment  this  side  the  Potomac  that  does  not  unnecesarily  alarm 
itself."  A  prisoner  was  brought  in  within  a  few  minutes. 
He  was  found  to  be  a  brother  of  the  rebel  general  at  Fair 
fax  Court  House ;  but,  as  was  the  rule  in  those  easy-going 
days  in  the  Union  army,  he  was  sworn,  and  set  at  liberty. 
On  June  16,  a  detail  of  four  hundred  men,  under  Gen.  Tyler 
and  Col.  Burnham,  started  to  explore  the  country  by  railroad. 
They  went  three  or  four  miles  beyond  Vienna ;  and,  while 
returning,  the  crack  of  a  rifle  was  heard,  and  George  H.  Bug- 
bee  of  Hartford,  a  private  in  Company  A,  fell,  shot  through 
the  shoulder  from  an  ambush.  The  shot  was  probably  in 
tended  for  Gen.  Tyler,  near  whom  Bugbee  was  standing.2 
The  men  jumped  from  the  cars,  scoured  the  woods  madly  in 
all  directions,  and  returned  with  a  number  of  prisoners ;  but 
the  assassin  remained  undiscovered  ;  and  the  prisoners,  after 
the  administration  of  the  government's  favorite  panacea, 
—  the  oath  of  allegiance,  —  were  discharged. 

During  the  succeeding  night,  the  Second  had  orders  to 

2  Young  Bugbee  suffered  severely;  and  his  wound  was  the  first  one  received  by  a  son 
of  Connecticut  during  the  war.  Since  the  war,  a  man  named  Frank  Williams  has 
acknowledged  the  shooting  of  Bugbee :  he  served  afterwards  in  Mosby's  bold  riders. 


88  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

join  the  First ;  and  they  broke  camp  in  great  glee,  for  they 
had  heard  exaggerated  rumors  about  battles  already  fought, 
and  believed  that  their  "invasion"  of  Virginia  would  be 
stoutly  contested. 

A  description 3  of  this  weird  midnight  scene  says,  "  About 
thirty  wagons,  drawn  by  four  mules  each,  were  provided  for 
the  transportation  of  tents  and  camp  material.  A  Washington 
guide  was  to  lead  the  column.  The  night  was  cloudy,  with 
occasional  showers.  To  give  light  for  the  necessary  work 
of  moving,  the  men  set  fire  to  the  dried  cedars,  which  had 
served  as  shades  and  ornaments.  The  effect  was  splendid. 
There  was  little  noise,  for  silence  had  been  enjoined  ;  and  the 
figures  of  the  men  tugging  away  at  bundles,  packing  and 
repacking,  hurrying  hither  and  thither,  and  leaping  over  ob 
structions,  with  the  images  of  the  long-eared  mules  reflected 
on  the  white-covered  wagons,  which  were  alternately  brilliant 
in  the  glare,  or  darkened  in  the  shadow,  as  the  flames  flashed 
up  in  wreathing  spires,  or  the  smoke  rolled  in  clouds  of 
pitchy  blackness,  made  altogether  a  scene  of  wildness  fit  for 
the  pencil  of  Salvator  Rosa."  How  many  times  was  this 
goblin  picture,  with  every  conceivable  variation,  repeated 
during  the  war ! 

After  a  weary  night-march,  they  arrived  at  Roach's  Mills 
at  sunrise,  and  camped  again  at  the  side  of  the  First.  Next 
day,  both  regiments  marched  to  the  relief  of  the  Ohio  volun 
teers  surprised  at  Vienna ;  after  which  they  occupied  Falls 
Church,  the  advance  post  in  the  loyal  line.  That  very  even 
ing,4  two  men5  were  captured  while  incautiously  supping 
beyond  our  lines.  Two  days  afterwards,  Capt.  A.  G.  Kellogg 
of  the  Second,  while  out  in  command  of  the  picket-guard,  was 
taken  prisoner.  He  left  his  command  to  escort  two  ladies, 
the  Misses  Scott,  to  their  homes  near  by,  and  was  seized  by 
the  enemy  lurking  near  the  road.  The  captors  were  pursued, 
but  not  overtaken.  A  few  days  afterwards,  the  young 
women,  who  were  believed  to  have  betrayed  him,  were 
brought  into  camp ;  but,  after  a  short  detention,  they  were 
sent  home  again,  after  the  fashion  of  that  day.6 

3  By  Jesse  H.  Lord,  in  Connecticut  War  Record.  4  Wednesday,  June  17. 

5  Sergeant  Austin  G.  Monroe  and  Corporal  C.  E.  Hawkes. 

6  It  was  the  aim  of  the  Federal  authorities  to  do  nothing  to  "  exasperate  "  the  enemy  ; 
and  it  was  some  weeks  before  any  captives  were  retained  as  prisoners  of  war.     The  oath 


DEATH   OF  THEODORE  WINTHROP.  89 

The  location  of  the  regiments  at  this  time  was  a  perilous 
one,  —  in  the  extreme  front  of  the  Union  centre  ;  and,  night 
after  night,  the  men  expected  to  be  awakened  by  the  long- 
roll  and  the  enemy's  advance.  They  were  'menaced,  but  not 
attacked  ;  and  the  Third  Regiment  immediately  joined  them.7 
Col.  Terry,  who  had  been  left  in  Washington  ill,  rejoined  his 
command  at  this  time,  and  was  received  "  by  the  cheers  of  the 
entire  regiment."  Private  property  was  sacredly  respected, 
and  the  men  lived  in  the  midst  of  luxuries  they  were  forbid 
den  to  share.  The  keeper  of  the  Oak-hill  Tavern  was  a 
rebel,  and  refused  to  sell  a  single  pig,  fowl,  or  vegetable  to 
"  the  Yanks ; "  yet  he  never  complained  of  the  loss  of  a 
cent's  worth  of  property.8  On  April  27,  Brig.-Gen.  J.  K.  F. 
Mansfield,  a  Connecticut  soldier,  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  troops  in  Washington.9 

While  our  three  regiments  were  holding  the  picket-line 
in  Longstreet's  front,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  sons  of  Con 
necticut,  Major  Theodore  Winthrop,  fell  in  the  skirmish  at 
Big  Bethel,  in  Lower  Virginia.10  This  fiasco  was  called  a 
battle  in  those  early  days,  and  it  excited  a  degree  of  inter 
est  far  beyond  its  actual  importance ;  and  Winthrop's  name 
became  a  watchword  as  Ellsworth's  had  been,  and  his  hero 
ism  an  example. 

Theodore  Winthrop,  son  of  Francis  R.  Winthrop,  was  born 
in  New  Haven  in  1828;  and  was  a  thoughtful,  delicate,  se 
rious  child.  He  entered  Yale  at  sixteen,  and  was  graduated 
at  twenty,  taking  the  Clark  scholarship,  and  dividing  with 
another  the  honor  of  the  Berkeleian.  He  traveled  much, 
making  a  tour  of  Europe,  which  was  not  the  conventional 
one,  going  much  of  the  way  on  foot ;  also  to  South  America, 
California,  and  Oregon,  Puget's  Sound,  and  the  Saskatchawan 
districts  of  British  America.  In  1855,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar;  but  his  roving  habits,  and  an  experience  full  of 
picturesque  episodes,  unfitted  him  for  a  sedentary  life,  and 
he  was  restive  in  the  profession  he  had  chosen. 

of  allegiance  was  administered  even  to  rebels  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands.      The  first 
prisoners  retained  were  committed  for  contumacy,  they  refusing  to  take  the  oath. 
?  On  June  24. 

8  This  circumspection  and  rigid  regard  for  meum  and  tuum  was  considerably  relaxed 
before  the  war  was  over,  even  among  Connecticut  troops. 

9  On  June  26,  he  reported  27,846  men  present  for  duty. 

12 


QO  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE    REBELLION. 

He  had  strong  administrative  talent ;  for  he  sprang  straight 
from  John  Winthrop,  who  was  the  first  governor  of  Con 
necticut.  He  would  have  made  an  enterprising  and  daunt 
less  explorer.  He  wrote  short  tales  and  magazine  articles 
with  great  success ;  and  the  sketches  which  he  contributed 
to  the  Atlantic  Monthly  had  a  certain  dash  and  briskness 
of  style  that  won  instant  favor.  He  wrote  several  books, 
but  never  published  them,  being  deterred  by  a  morbid  sensi 
tiveness,  which  shrank  from  the  criticism  of  his  own  maturer 
self.  Most  of  these  have  been  published  posthumously. 

Winthrop  was  buried  at  New  Haven,  to  which  place  large 
numbers  of  his  old  comrades  followed  his  remains.  In  the 
funeral-procession"  were  more  than  a  thousand  persons,  in 
cluding  the  veteran  Grays,  Governor's  Foot-Guards,  Emmet 
Guards,  Russell's  School  Battalion,  National  Blues,  officers 
of  the  Horse  Guard,  City  Government,  and  the  faculty  and 
students  of  Yale. 

George  William  Curtis,  under  whose  auspices  his  books 
have  been  brought  out,  says  of  his  friend,  — 

"  A  wide  readerj  he  retained  knowledge  with  little  effort,  and  often  sur 
prised  his  friends  by  the  variety  of  his  information.  Yet  it  was  not  strange  ; 
for  he  was  born  a  scholar.  His  mother  was  the  great-grand-daughter 
of  old  President  Edwards  ;  and,  among  his  relations  on  the  maternal  side, 
Winthrop  counted  six  presidents  of  colleges.  .  .  .  The  womanly  grace  of 
his  temperament  merely  enhanced  the  unusual  manliness  of  his  character. 
In  walking  and  riding,  in  skating  and  running,  in  games  out  of  doors  and 
in,  no  one  of  us  all  in  the  neighborhood  was  so  expert,  so  agile,  as  he. 
Often,  after  writing  a  few  hours  in  the  morning,  he  stepped  out  of  doors, 
and,  from  pure  love  of  the  fun,  leaped  and  turned  summersaults  on  the 
grass  before  going  up  to  town.  .  .  . 

"  There  is  an  impression  somewhat  prevalent  that  Winthrop  planned 
the  expedition  to  Great  Bethel.  It  is  incorrect.  As  military  secretary  of 
the  commanding  general,  he  probably  made  suggestions,  some  of  which 
were  adopted.  The  expedition  was  the  first  move  from  Fort  Monroe,  to 
which  the  country  had  been  long  looking  in  expectation.  These  were  the 
reasons  why  he  felt  so  peculiar  a  responsibility  for  its  success ;  and,  after 
the  melancholy  events  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  day,  he  saw  that  its  for 
tunes  could  be  retrieved  only  by  a  dash  of  heroic  enthusiasm.  Fired  him 
self,  he  sought  to  kindle  others.  For  one  moment,  that  brave,  inspiring 
form  is  plainly  visible  to  his  whole  country,  rapt  and  calm,  standing  upon 
the  log  nearest  the  enemy's  battery,  the  mark  of  their  sharpshooters, 
the  admiration  of  their  leaders  ;  waving  his  sword,  cheering  his  fellow- 
soldiers  with  his  bugle  voice  of  victory,  —  young,  brave,  beautiful :  for  one 


DEATH   OF    CAPT.   WAKD.  91 

moment  erect  and  glowing  in  the  wild  whirl  of  battle  ;  the  next,  falling  for 
ward  toward  the  foe,  dead,  but  triumphant. 

"On  the  19th  of  April,  1861,  he  left  the  armory-door  of  the  Seventh, 
with  his  hand  upon  a  howitzer;  on  the  21st  of  June,  his  body  lay  upon 
the  same  howitzer,  at  the  same  door,  wrapped  in  the  flag  for  which  he 
gladly  died  as  the  symbol  of  human  freedom.  And  so,  drawn  by  the  hands 
of  young  men  lately  strangers  to  him,  but  of  whose  bravery  and  loyalty 
lie  had  been  the  laureate,  and  who  fitly  mourned  him  who  had  honored 
them,  with  long,  pealing  dirges  and  muffled  drums,  he  moved  forward. 

"Yet  such  was  the  electric  vitality  of  this  friend  of  ours,  that  those 
of  us  Avho  followed  him  could  only  think  of  him  as  approving  the  funeral 
pageant,  not  the  object  of  it,  but  still  the  spectator  and  critic  of  every 
scene  in  which  he  was  a  part.  We  did  not  think  of  him  as  dead.  We 
never  shall.  In  the  moist,  warm,  midsummer  morning,  he  was  alert,  alive,- 
immortal." 

Two  weeks  later,  a  spirited  engagement  took  place  between 
the  defiant  rebels  on  the  right  bank  of  the"  Potomac  and 
the  United-States  gunboats  Pawnee  and  Freeborn,  stationed 
in  the  river.  Among  the  losses,  the  Union  forces  had  to 
deplore  the  death  of  Capt.  Ward,  the  gallant  commander  of 
the  Freeborn. 

James  Harmon  Ward  was  the  eldest  son  of  Col.  James 
Ward,  commissary-general  of  our  army  in  the  war  of  1812  ; 
and  was  born  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  1806.  He  studied  for 
two  years  at  a  military  academy  in  Vermont,  and  entered 
the  navy  as  a  midshipman  on  the  old  frigate  Constitution 
in  1823.  He  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant  in  1831,  and 
sent  to  the  Mediterranean,  where,  he  compiled  his  Manual 
of  Naval  Tactics.  In  1842,  he  delivered  a  course  of  popular 
lectures  in  Philadelphia  on  Gunnery,  in  which  he  urged  the 
establishment  of  an  American  naval  school.  When  the 
school  was  founded  at  Annapolis,  he  became  one  of  its  pro 
fessors,  and  shortly  after  published  a  book  on  Naval  Ordnance 
and  Gunnery,  —  a  work  highly  esteemed.  At  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Rebellion,  he  was  summoned  to  Washington  to 
aid  the  government  by  his  counsel ;  and  he  soon  showed  his 
efficiency  by  organizing  the  Potomac  flotilla,  of  which  he 
was  placed  in  command  May  16,  1861.  This  was  our  first 
war-fleet,  and  was  a^  terror  to  rebels  while  he  directed  it. 
On  the  31st,  he  attacked  the  rebel  batteries  at  Acquia  Creek, 
silencing  three  of  them ;  and,  on  June  1,  resumed  the  cannon- 


92  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

ading,  burning  the  depot  and  all  the  stores.  On  June  27, 
with  the  Freeborn  and  Pawnee,  he  attacked  the  batte 
ries  at  Mathias  Point,  and  landed  a  party  of  men  to  burn 
the  rebel  ambush.  The  Freeborn  kept  up  a  constant  lire 
to  cover  the  landing,  hotly  replied  to  by  musketry  from  the 
woods.  One  of  the  gunners  was  wounded  ;  and  Capt.  Ward, 
taking  his  place,  was  shot  in  the  breast  by  a  musket-ball, 
and  killed,  while  in  the  act  of  sighting  the  gun.  One  of  his 
acquaintances  wrote,  '•'  His  death  is  a  shock ;  but  we  have 
expected  it.  He  was  always  at  the  post  of  danger."  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  thorough  education,  and  in  religion  a 
devout  Catholic.  He  was  buried  from  St.  Patrick's  in  Hart 
ford  with  all  the  honors  of  the  Church,  the  State,  and  the 
Army.  A  eulogy  was  delivered  by  his  personal  friend  Father 
O'Reilly,  and  the  burial-service  was  read  by  Bishop  McFar- 
land.  The  governor,  State  officers,  and  legislature,  the  Fifth 
Regiment,  and  the  Hartford  military  companies,  joined  in 
the  last  tribute  of  respect  for  the  brave  and  patriotic  man. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  three  Connecticut  regiments  held 
the  aggressive  point,  eight  miles  farther  into  ftabeldom  tthan 
any  Union  troops  had  before  been  stationed.  By  either 
Ball's  or  Bailey's  cross-roads,  the  rebels  could  throw  a  force 
in  their  rear,  so  that  officers  and  men  lay  down  in  the  nightly 
expectation  of  being  aroused  by  an  attempt  to  cut  them  off. 
Their  situation  was  too  critical  to  be  entirely  pleasant ;  and 
the  question  of  withdrawing  them  was  discussed  earnestly 
in  the  War  Department.  Gen.  Scott  telegraphed  to  Tyler, 
"  You  are  too  far  in  advance.  Better  draw  back.  You  will 
be  gobbled  up."  Gen.  Tyler  replied,  that  Falls  Church  was 
the  place  that  ought  to  be  held ;  that  there  was  no  other 
point  so  naturally  defensible ;  that  the  rebels  would  seize  it 
if  he  should  abandon  it ;  and  that  he  would  take  the  respon 
sibility  of  holding  it.  Every  evening,  he  consulted  with  his 
officers  as  to  the  preparations  for  a  night-attack. 

During  all  this  time,  the  loyal  States  were  impatiently  de 
manding  a  forward  movement  against  the  enemy.  About  the 
4th  of  July,  an  advance  on  Richmond  via  Manassas  Junction 
was  anticipated ;  and  from  day  to  day  thereafter  the  rumor 
assumed  more  defined  and  exact  proportions,  until,  at  dress- 


BATTLE   OF   BULL  RUN.  93 

parade  on  the  afternoon  of  the  15th,  the  fact  was  made  cer 
tain  by  an  order  for  a  movement  the  next  day.  The  three 
Connecticut  regiments  were  now  brigaded  with  the  2d 
Maine,  under  command  of  Col.  E.  D.  Keyes  of  the  llth 
regulars.  The  estimation  in  which  Gen.  Tyler  and  the  Con 
necticut  troops  were  held  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  to  him 
was  assigned  the  command  of  the  first  and  largest  division, 
consisting  of  twelve  thousand  men ;  while  they  were  made 
the  first  brigade  of  that  division,  and  were  thus,  in  regular 
formation,  the  advance  of  the  entire  force.  On  the  after 
noon  of  the  16th,  the  division  left  Falls  Church,  the  Connecti 
cut  brigade  ahead,  and  led  the  way  past  Vienna  towards  Cen- 
treville.  He  halted  his  division  on  the  heights,  and  with 
Richardson's  brigade  pushed  forward,  and  encountered  Long- 
street's  division  at  Blackburn's  Ford  of  Bull  Run.  He  felt 
out  with  a  battery  to  test  the  opposing  strength  ;  and  the 
rebels  showed  fight  with  a  spirit  that  proved  an  intention  to 
contest  the  run.  In  the  slight  conflict  that  resulted,  the 
Union  losses  were  nineteen  (official),  the  rebel  loss  sixty- 
eight  ;  the  former  having  largely  the  advantage  of  ground. 
The  'object  of  the  reconnoissance  was  gained,  and  the  ford 
was  held  during  the  two  successive  days  of  the  tardy  advance. 

If  this  success  had  been  immediately  followed  up  by  the 
attack  along  the  whole  line,  which  did  not  come  until  three 
days  afterwards,  it  seems  almost  certain  that  the  result  would 
have  been  a  victory ;  for  Johnston's  army  of  eighteen 
thousand  had  not  yet  stolen  away,  from  Patterson's  front, 
and  the  systematic  treachery  at  Washington,  which  so  soon 
betrayed  us,  had  not  yet  done  its  work. 

Gen.  Tyler  advised  the  continuation  of  the  battle  next 
day.  During  the  afternoon  of  the  18th,  and  the  19th  and 
20th,  McDowell's  whole  army  was  grouped  in  the  rear 
of  Centreville,  and  might  have  been  hurled  on  the  enemy  in 
two  hours  at  any  time  ;  and  Bull  Run  was  fordable  at  all 
points.  Tyler  insisted  that  he  could  whip  the  rebels  with 
his  own  division :  and  such  a  result  was  more  than  possible ; 
for  he  had  sixteen  regiments  and  two  batteries,  while  Beau- 
regard  had  not  more  than  ten  thousand  effective  men  during 
Thursday  and  Friday.  Col.  Chrisholm,  aide-de-camp  to  Gen. 


94  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   EEBELLION. 

Beauregard  on  that  day,  and  afterwards  his  chief  of  staff, 
said  in  a  recent  conversation,  "  Beauregard's  whole  forces 
did  not  exceed  twelve  thousand  men,  stationed  at  Lewis's, 
Blackburn's,  and  Mitchell's  Fords,  and  at  the  Stone  Bridge, 
including  Holmes's  brigade  at  the  Occoquan,  out  of  reach." 
And  he  adds,  "Had  the  affair  of  the  18th  been  vigorously 
pushed,  Beauregard  looked  for  certain  defeat ;  for  not  a  man 
of  Johnston's  army  had  at  that  ^time  come  up."  The  first  of 
them  arrived  on  Saturday  morning,  and  McDowell  waited  for 
his  Grouchy  in  vain.  This  was  the  hour  and  this  the  place 
to  strike  ;  but  McDowell  halted  for  "  five  days'  rations,"  and 
the  men  threw  away  their  rations  as  the  general  had  already 
thrown  away  his  opportunit}-. 

When,  on  the  memorable  Sunday,  July  21,11  the  main 
column,  instead  of  crossing  at  the  Stone  Bridge,  as  first  threat 
ened,  made  a  wide  detour  to  the  northward,  and  crossed  at 
Sudley's  Church,  expecting  to  flank  and  surprise  the  enemy, 
its  commander  was  astonished,  instead,  to  find  himself  con 
fronted  there  by  an  enormous  force  of  the  rebels,  with 
preparations  to  receive  him.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  traitors  walked  the  streets  of  Washington  unmolested ; 
that  spies,  when  captured  within  our  army-lines,  were  dis 
charged  on  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  ;  that  secessionists 
remained  in  office,  even  in  the  War  Department,12  appointees 
of  Jefferson  Davis  and  Floyd,  —  it  is  not  strange  that  the  ene 
my  had  the  fullest  information  of  our  position  and  strength, 
and  that  the  plans  of  McDowell,  a  secret  to  the  few  who 
were  to  execute  them,  were  perfectly  familiar  to  Beauregard. 
The  latter  had  even  obtained  possession  of  a  copy  of  Mc 
Dowell's  map  of  the  county,  made  on  Friday. 

The  possession  of  this  complete  and  minute  information 
enabled  Beauregard  himself  to  have  a  plan  of  the  pending 
battle.  A  Confederate  officer  present  at  the  council  of  war 
the  previous  day  is  authority  for  the  statement,  that  it  was 
the  intention  of  Beauregard  and  Johnston  to  make  a  flank 

11  By  this  time,  Beauregard  had  something  like  thirty  thousand  men  (Pollard,  in  his 
Southern  History,  says  "  less  than  thirty  thousand  "),  and  McDowell  had  about  thirty-five 
thousand;  a  slight  disparity,  considering  the  relative  positions. 

w  "  Gen.  Beauregard  received  the  very  earliest  information  from  a  friend  of  his  in  Wash 
ington,  and  had  plenty  of  time  to  make  all  his  preparations."  —  Col.  Estvan's  War  Pic 
tures  from  the  South. 


BATTLE   OF  BULL  BUN.  95 

movement  to  the  south  on  Centreville  simultaneous  with 
McDowell's  flank  movement  to  the  north  on  Manassas. 
Agreeably  to  this  plan,  the  Sudley-church  Road  was  left 
unobstructed,  and  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  was  massed, 
under  Beauregard,  near  Stone  Bridge.  His  original  design 
was  to  make  a  show  of  fight  here  in  the  morning  against 
our  left,  and  when  the  columns  of  Hunter  and  Heintzelman 
should  be  met  by  Johnston's  reserves,  now  mostly  on  the 
plains,  to  wheel  the  whole  main  army  to  the  left,  make 
Mitchell's  Ford  a  pivot,  and  strike  the  Union  army  in  the 
rear  at  Centreville.13  The  scheme  miscarried,  the  rebels 
say,  because  the  Mitchell's-ford  Road  was  blocked  up. 

On  Sunday,  Gen.  Tyler  began  the  battle.  At  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  he  fired  the  first  gun  near  the  Stone  Bridge, 
having  been  ordered  to  make  a  feint  by  threatening  the 
passage  of  the  run  in  force  at  this  point. 

The  Connecticut  brigade,  being  detached  to  guard  the 
Warrenton  Turnpike,  did  not  reach  the  stream  until  ten 
o'clock,  A.M.,  just  as  Col.  Tecumseh  Sherman's  brigade  of 
Tyler's  division  had  crossed  to  attack.  Here  the  enemy 
opened  on  the  Connecticut  men  with  twenty  or  thirty 
rounds  of  shot  and  shell  from  a  battery  across  the  run,  from 
which  several  were  wounded.  The  brigade  rapidly  ap 
proached  at  double-quick,  dropping  flat  on  the  ground  at 
each  discharge  to  allow  the  missiles  to  pass  over  their  heads. 
They  crossed  the  stream  on  a  run,  and  fell  into  line  of  battle 
beyond  Young's  Brook,  farther  west.  Col.  Keyes  says,  — 

"  The  order  to  advance  was  given  at  about  ten  o'clock,  A.M.  ;  and 
from  that  hour  to  four,  P.M.,  my  brigade  was  in  constant  activity  on  the 
field  of  battle.  »  The  Firs.t  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers  was  met  by  a 
body  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  which  it  repelled  ;  and,  at  several  other 
encounters  at  different  parts  of  the  line,  the  enemy  constantly  retired  before 
us.  At  about  two  o'clock,  P.M.,  Gen.  Tyler  ordered  me  to  take  a  battery 
on  a  height  in  front.  The  battery  was  strongly  posted,  and  supported  by 
infantry  and  riflemen,  sheltered  by  a  building,  a  fence,  and  a  hedge.  My 
order  to  charge  was  obeyed  with  the  utmost  promptness.  Col.  Jameson 
of  the  2d  Maine,  aud  Col.  Chatfield  of  the  Third  Connecticut  Volun 
teers,  pressed  forward  their  regiments  up  the  base  slope  about  one  hundred 
yards  ;  when  I  ordered  them  to  lie  down,  at  a  point  offering  a  small  protec- 

13  The  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  was  fought  by  the  rebels  on  precisely  this  plan. 


96  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

tion,  and  load.  I  then  ordered  them  to  advance  again,  which  they  did,  iu 
the  face  of  a  movable  battery  of  eight  pieces  and  a  large  body  of  infantry, 
toward  the  top  of  the  hill.  As  we  moved  forward,  we  came  under  the 
fire  of  other  large  bodies  of  the  enemy,  posted  behind  breastworks ;  and, 
on  reaching  the  summit  of  the  hill,  the  firing  became  so  hot,  that  an  expo 
sure  to  it  of  five  minutes  would  have  annihilated  my  whole  line." 

The  battery  was  nothing  like  so  terrible  as  this ;  and,  if 
the  order  of  Gen.  Tyler  had  been  given  to  Gen.  Keyes 
during  the  last  year  of  the  war,  it  probably  would  have 
been  executed.  But,  as  the  enemy  had  retired  to  a  height 
beyond,  a  movement  by  the  left  flank  was  ordered ;  and  the 
brigade  passed  to  a  piece  of  woods,  whence  they  were  again 
put  in  motion.  Our  further  advance  caused  the  rebels  to 
retire  from  abatis,  enabling  the  engineers  to  clear  it  away, 
and  bring  up  the  guns.  The  brigade,  attempting  to  turn  the 
battery,  had  now  reached  a  point  below  the  Warrenton  Road, 
having  succeeded  in  pressing  the  enemy  back,  and  behaving 
with  perfect  coolness  and  intrepidity.  Nothing  like  defeat 
was  dreamed  of. 

At  this  juncture,  Gen.  Tyler,  perceiving  a  lull  in  the 
artillery-firing,  sent  Lieut.  Upton  to  inquire  the  cause ; H 
and  was  astounded  to  receive  an  order  to  retreat.  Even 
then,  there  was  no  panic.  Col.  Keyes  says,  — 

"  Before  recrossing  Bull  Run,  and  until  my  brigade  mingled  with  the 
retreating  mass,  it  maintained  perfect  freedom  from  panic ;  and  at  the 
moment  I  received  the  order  to  retreat,  and  for  some  time  afterward,  it 
was  in  as  good  order  as  in  the  morning  on  the  road.  Half  an  hour  earlier, 
I  supposed  the  victory  to  be  ours." 

In  his  official  report,  Col.  Burnham  says, — 

"  While  halting  for  orders,  a  mounted  aide  rides  up,  and  directs  the  two 
regiments  to  march  by  the  right  flank.  The  Second  files  by  the  First ;  and 
the  latter  regiment  falls  in,  supposing  they  are  to  be  placed  in  a  more 
effective  position.  But  those  infernal  guns  of  the  rebels  approach  nearer 
and  nearer  ;  and,  as  the  two  regiments  near  the  open  plain,  every  tiling 
is  seen  and  understood.  Our  noble  army  is  routed  ;  and  the  whole  plain 
is  covered  with  fugitives,  nothing  apparently  left  in  an  organized  state  but 
the  Connecticut  regiments.  Marching  across  the  level,  they  reach  the 
woods,  when  the  enemy's  cavalry  come  down.  Facing  by  the  rear-rank, 

14  "  The  tide  of  battle  was  turned  in  our  favor  by  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Kirby  Smith  from 
Winchester  with  four  thousand  men  of  Gen.  Johnston's  division."  —  Richmond  Despatch 
of  Aug.  1,  1861. 

Gen.  E.  Kirby  Smith  was  a  Connecticut  man,  turned  traitor. 


THE  FIRST  AND  LAST   SHOT.  97 

the  regiments  repulse  them  by  well-directed  volleys.  Resuming  the  march, 
the  Connecticut  troops  approach  Cub  Run,  the  bridge  across  which  is 
crowded  with  the  hurrying  masses,  of  disorganized  troops.  Without 
mingling  with  them,  they  ford  the  stream,  and,  forming  in  line,  protect  the 
rear  from  the  rebel  cavalry,  which  here  prudently  withdraw." 

As  Col.  Keyes  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  he  will  be 
accepted  as  an  impartial  witness  to  the  efficiency  of  Con 
necticut  troops.  We  quote  further  from  his  report :  — 

"  The  gallantry  with  which  the  2d  Regiment  of  Maine,  and  the 
Third  Regiment  of  Connecticut  Volunteers,  charged  up  the  hill  upon  the 
enemy's  artillery  and  infantry,  was  never,  in  my  opinion,  surpassed.  I 
was  with  the  advancing  line,  and  closely  observed  the  conduct  of  Cols. 
Jameson  and  Chatfield,  which  merits  in  this  instance,  and  throughout  the 
day,  the  highest  commendation. 

"  I  also  observed  throughout  the  day  the  gallantry  and  excellent  con 
duct  of  Col.  Terry's  Second  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers,  from  whom 
I  received  most  zealous  assistance.  At  one  time,  a  portion  of  his  regi 
ment  did  great  execution  with  their  rifles  from  a  point  of  our  line  which 
was  thin,  and  where  a  few  of  our  men  were  a  little  tardy  in  moving 
forward. 

"  Col.  Terry,  in  his  report,  calls  attention  to  the  coolness,  activity,  and 
discretion  of  Lieut. -Col.  D.  Young  and  Major  L.  Colburn.  The  latter,  with 
the  adjutant  of  the  regiment,  Lieut.  Charles  L.  Russell,  showed  conspicuous 
gallantry  in  defending  their  regimental  colors,  during  the  retreat  this  side 
of  Bull  Run,  against  a  charge  of  cavalry.  Col.  Terry  also  commends  the 
devotion  of  Drs.  Douglas  and  Bacon  to  the  wounded  while  under  the 
hottest  fire  of  artillery.  Private  Arnold  Leach  is  also  highly  praised  for 
having  spiked  three  abandoned  guns  with  a  ramrod,  and  then  bringing 
away  two  abandoned  muskets." 

Col.  Keyes  also  mentioned  for  gallant  conduct  Lieut.-Col. 
John  Speidal,  Capts.  J.  R.  Hawley  and  J.  H.  Chapman,  Adju 
tant  Theodore  C.  Bacon,  and  Lieuts.  Albert  W.  Drake, 
Charles  Walter,  and  Alexander  Ely.  Gen.  Tyler  specially 
commended  Col.  Chatfield  and  Col.  Terry;  and  Col.  Chatfield 
gave  especial  credit  to  Major  Warner  and  Adjutant  Redfield 
Duryee. 

As  the  Connecticut  troops  fired  the  first  shot  in  the  morn 
ing  of  that  memorable  day,  so  they  fired  the  last  shot  in  the 
evening ;  and  as  they  had  been  first  in  the  advance,  so  they 
were  last  in  the  retreat,  covering  the  stampede  with  solid 
columns.  The  rebel  cavalry,  after  having  broken  through 
our  retreating  lines,  and  killed  and  captured  many  towards 
Centreville,  turned  back  upon  the  Connecticut  troops.  Col. 

18 


98  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Radford,  in  a  report  giving  a  bombastic  account  of  his  achieve 
ments,  says  of  this,  — 

"  Having  dispersed  the  enemy  in  our  front  in  the  direction  of  Cub-run 
Bridge,  I  charged  upon  them  between  Cub  Run  and  Bull  Run,  and  soon 
came  upon  a  column  of  infantry,  about  five  thousand,  strongly  posted,  and 
supported  by  a  battery  of  three  pieces.  They  immediately  opened  upon 
my  command,  throwing  them  into  some  confusion." 

He  then  proceeds  to  report  his  killed  and  wounded.  A 
less  interested  rebel  officer  says,  "  The  fact  is,  no  three  of  the 
cavalry  could  be  found  together  after  that." 

We  do  not  claim  for  Connecticut  troops  in  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run  a  degree  of  courage  and  manly  bearing  superior  to 
their  loyal  brothers  from  other  States ;  but  it  is  known,  that, 
in  retiring  from  the  field,  they  maintained  a  degree  of  per 
sistent  good  order  and  soldierly  discipline  not  generally  ex 
hibited  by  the  men  of  any  other  regiments.  This  was  due, 
perhaps,  partly  to  the  fact  that  they  were  near  the  flank,  and 
so  were  not  enveloped  in  the  first  bewilderment  of  defeat. 
To  whatever  it  may  be  attributed,  it  is  a  fact,  that  they  left 
the  field  without  confusion,  facing  about,  and  firing  a  well- 
directed  volley,  whenever  the  foe  pressed  too  eagerly ;  and, 
during  that  unparalleled  stampede,  they  covered  the  rear  of 
the  army,  a  service  which  was  recognized  by  the  regiments 
and  the  press  of  other  States.15  They  occupied  their  old 
camping-grounds  the  day  after  the  battle,  and,  being  ordered 
to  Fort  Corcoran,  made  their  appearance  there  with  six  pris 
oners  (many  more  had  escaped),  two  pieces  of  abandoned 
artillery,  one  caisson,  the  implements  of  the  sappers  and 
miners,  twenty  horses,  all  their  own  baggage  and  camp 
equipage,  and  the  tents  and  equipage  of  two  Ohio  regiments, 
the  2d  New- York,  and  a  company  of  cavalry,  with  their 
baggage-wagons  and  property,  which  had  been  deserted. 
"And,"  says  Gen.  Tyler  with  some  pride,  in  concluding  his 
report,  "  at  seven  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  I  saw  the 
three  Connecticut  regiments,  with  two  thousand  bayonets, 
march  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Corcoran  in  good  order,  after 

15  "  The  Connecticut  brigade  was  the  last  to  leave  the  field  of  Bull  Run,  and,  by  hard 
fighting,  had  to  defend  itself  and  to  protect  our  scattered  thousands  for  several  miles  of 
the  retreat."  —  Stedman  in  New -York  World,  July  23,  1861. 


THREE  REGIMENTS  MUSTERED  OUT.  99 

having  saved  us  not  only  a  large  amount  of  public  property,16 
but  the  mortification  of  having  our  standing  camps  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy."17 

The  casualties  at  the  battle  were  as  follows  :  — 

KILLED.  WOUNDED.  PRISONERS.  TOTAL. 

First  Regiment  Connecticut  Vols.,                           8                 9  17 

Second      "               "               "               2              5                9  16 

Third        "               "               "               4             13               18  35 

68 

Those  knoWn  to  have  been  killed  are  Joseph  Stokes  of 
Norwich,  James  Fritz  of  New  Haven,  Sergeant  John  R.  Marsh 
of  Danbury,  David  C.  Case  of  Norwich,  and  Jeremiah  0. 
Leroy  of  Hartford.  Rev.  Hiram  Eddy,  the  devoted  chaplain 
of  the  Second,  remained  with  the  wounded  on  the  field,  a 
prisoner. 

The  missing  were  mostly  prisoners,  and  were  retained  for 
four  to  twelve  months  in  the  rebel  prisons  at  Richmond, 
Salisbury,  N.  C.,  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  and  other  places.  Two 
members  of  the  New-Haven  Grays,  captured  while  aiding  a 
wounded  rebel,  were  released  on  arriving  at  Richmond  by 
order  of  Jeff.  Davis,  and  supported  at  a  hotel  until  there  was 
an  opportunity  for  their  return. 

Col.  Chatfield  was  presented  with  a  new  dress-uniform  by 
Hon.  James  E.  English,  then  representative  in  Congress, 
afterwards  governor  of  the  State. 

After  the  return  from  Bull  Run,  the  regiments  remained 
at  Washington  a  short  time,  and  soon  returned  home.  The 
First  and  Second  were  mustered  out  at  New  Haven,  and  the 
Third  at  Hartford.  As  the  people  had  gathered  to  bid  them 
good-by,  they  now  re-assembled  to  welcome  them.  The 
enthusiastic  regimental  receptions  were  followed  by  eager 
and  hearty  local  receptions  in  all  communities  to  which 
companies  returned.  They  were  praised,  petted,  and  feasted ; 
and  grateful  citizens  and  proud  relatives  listened  to  the 
story  of  their  exposures  and  services.  These  gatherings 
greatly  augmented  the  martial  spirit  throughout  the  State. 

When  the  Second  Regiment  was  mustered  out,  Col.  Terry 

16  In  value,  upwards  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

17  "This  service  was  performed   in  thirty-six  hours;  during  which  time   they  were 
entirely  without  food,  and  drenched  in  the  tremendous  rain  that  raged  without  inter 
mission." —  N.  Y.  Times. 


100  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

presented  gold  medals,  for  bravery  on  the  field,  to  Color- 
Sergeant  Austin  P.  Kirkham  of  Derby,  and  Sergeant  Robert 
Leggett  of  New  London. 

The  men  of  these  regiments  re-enlisted  almost  without  an 
exception,  and  Jive  hundred  of  them  afterwards  held  com 
missions  in  the  army.  Of  these,  about  one  hundred  and 
eighty  were  from  the  First  Regiment,  two  hundred  from  the 
Second,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  from  the  Third.  Three 
became  major-generals,  four  brigadier-generals,  and  more 
than  eighty  field  and  staff  officers. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

The  Effect  of  the  Defeat  at  Bull  Run.  —  Second  Uprising.  —The  Fifth  Regiment  goes  to 
Harper's  Ferry.  —  Six  Regiments  begun. — A  Squadron  of  Cavalry. — Peace-Flags 
and  Peace-Meetings.  —  Seymcfur's  Resolutions.  —  Concurrent  Action.  —  Goshen, 
Bloomficld,  Darien,  Easton,  Cornwall,  Sharon,  Prospect,  North  Guilford,  Stoning- 
ton. —  A  New  Saybrook  Platform. — New  Fail-field.  —  The  Bridgeport  Farmer. — 
How  Stepney  stopped  the  War.  —  The  Farmer  Office  sacked.  —  Gov.  Bucking 
ham's  Proclamation. — Life  and  Character  of  Gen.  Lyon.  —  His  Bravery  and  De 
cision.  —  His  Heroic  Death. 

UR  defeat  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  corrected,  as 
nothing  else  could  have  done,  an  extravagant 
estimate  of  our  own  strength.  It  taught  us 
that  the  rebels  had  no  respect  for  the  national 
authority,  except  just  so*  much  as  could  be  en 
forced  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet :  it  swept  away  our  "  ninety- 
days'  "  optimism,  and  showed  us  that  what  we  had  mistaken 
for  an  April  shower  was  to  be  a  long  storm,  and  a  hard  one.1 

The  wonderful  uprising  which  followed  the  fall  of  Sumter 
was  repeated  after  our  bewildered  volunteers  surged  back 
upon  Washington.  If  the  second  rally  was  less  ardent  than 
the  first,  it  was  more  deliberate  and  determined.  Instead 
of  a  brief  military  recreation,  men  felt  it  to  be  a  struggle  for 
life;  and  every  town  in  the  State  renewed  its  patriotic  reso 
lution,  and  every  neighborhood  responded  to  the  recruiting 
drum.2  The  Fifth  Regiment,  now  a  splendid  body  of  men, 
and  ably  officered,  left  for  the  seat  of  war  a  week  after  the 
repulse ;  and,  within  two  weeks  thereafter,  companies  were 
started  in  more  than  half  the  towns  in  the  State.  War- 
meetings  were  held,  and  the  enthusiasm  rose  to  the  level  of 

1  The  Lost  Cause  says,  "  The  victory  of  Manassas  was  the  greatest  misfortune  that 
could  have  befallen  the  Confederacy." 

2  Congress,  the  day  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  authorized  the  president  to  call  out 
five  hundred  thousand  men  for  three  years. 

101 


.102  .• 


CONNECTICUT   DUIIING   THE    REBELLION. 


the  emergency.  Within  a  month,  volunteers  had  poured 
into  the  recruiting  centres  so  rapidly,  that  six  additional  regi 
ments  were  begun,  from  the  Sixth  to  the  Eleventh  inclusive. 

About  this  time  it  was  proposed  to  organize  a  regiment  of 
cavalry  for  the  regular  service,  to  be  formed  of  six  squadrons 
from  as  many  States.  William  H.  Mallory  of  Bridgeport,  who 
had  served  during  the  three-months'  service  in  Duryea's  Zou 
aves,  received  authority  to  recruit  a  squadron  in  Connecticut. 
He  was  aided  by  Thomas  B.  Thornett  and  L.  H.  Southard  of 
Hartford,  and  Marcus  Coon  of  Waterbury,  the  latter  a  captain 
in  the  First  Regiment;  and  the  squadron  was  recruited  in  thir 
teen  days.  Edward  W.  Whittaker  of  Ashford  went  out  in  this 
squadron  as  sergeant,  and  was  soon  lieutenant.  Hartford  fur 
nished  thirty  men ;  Canton,  New  Britain,  and  Berlin  had  ten 
men  each ;  and  half  the  towns  in  the  State  had  one  or  two. 
The  squadrons  rendezvoused  in  New  York ;  and,  that  State 
furnishing  six  companies,  the  regiment  was  assigned  to  New 
York  as  a  State  regiment,  and  became  the  2d  New-York  or 
"  Harris  Light  Cavalry." 

During  the  passage  t9  Washington,  Sept.  8,  the  rebel  engi 
neer  tried  to  throw  the  rear  cars  from  the  track  by  a  high 
rate  of  speed.  Sergeant  E.  L.  Lyon,  a  nephew  of  Gen.  Lyon, 
assisted  by  others,  manned  the  brake,  and,  in  attempting  to 
stop  the  train,  was  thrown  off  and  killed.  William  A.  Ger 
man  of  Collins ville  met  the  same  fate.  Lyon  was  buried 
with  all  honors  by  the  side  of  Gen.  Lyon  on  Sept.  13. 
His  brother-in-law,  Harvey  Copeland,  took  his  place  in  the 
ranks  immediately,  though  leaving  a  wife  and  five  children. 

The  regiment  went  into  camp  on  Arlington  Heights,  re 
maining  for  several  months.  Corporal  Cornelius  H.  Bailey 
of  Waterbury  was  killed  by  accident  at  Washington  in 
October,  and  was  buried  at  home  with  military  honors. 
Capt.  Thornett  said  of  him,  "  I  never  saw  a  better  soldier,  or 
a  more  active  and  faithful  man.  The  influence  of  his  splen 
did  conduct  on  his  comrades  was  most  beneficial." 


The  men  who  opposed  resistance  to  the  South  when  the 
war  began  had  been  awed  into  apparent  acquiescence  by 


THE   CKITTENDEN  COMPROMISE.  103 

the  first  angry  response ;  but  as  soon  as  the  patriotic  out 
break  had  lost  its  novelty,  and  our  soldiers  had  met  with 
slight  reverses,  this  faction  gathered  courage  again,  and 
came  forth  in  a  series  of  "  peace  "  demonstrations,  in  which 
white  flags  were  unfurled,  and  speeches  made  demand 
ing  a  withdrawal  of  the  loyal  armies  from  the  field.  Some 
times  they  went  so  far  as  to  charge  the  absent  soldiers  with 
cowardice,  and  ridicule  their  officers  for  incapacity,  while 
eulogizing  rebel  officers  and  exaggerating  rebel  success. 
Even  the  insignificant  affair  of  Big  Bethel  was  the  occasion 
of  exhibitions  of  this  sort. 

As  early  as  June  22,  one  Andrew  Palmer  had  raised  a 
peace-flag  at  his  house  in  Goshen.  A  large  crowd  assembled  ; 
and  after  considerable  parleying  and  a  slight  contest,  in 
which  one  peace-man  was  wounded,  the  obnoxious  emblem 
was  captured,  and  the  star-spangled  banner  displayed  upon 
the  pole.  Palmer  swore  allegiance  to  it,  and  some  of  his 
confederates  were  taken  to  jail.  This  was  the  first  of  a  series 
of  similar  demonstrations. 

The  "peace"  movement  in  Connecticut  seems  to  have 
originated  in  the  May  session  of  the  legislature  at  Hartford. 
Ex-Gov.  Thomas  H.  Seymour  had  there  offered  a  resolution 
urging  the  Crittenden  Compromise,  the  preamble  of  which 
assumed  that  disunion  was  a  fixed  fact.  He  prefaced  this 
with  a  speech,  of  which  the  following  extract  indicates  the 
tone :  "  There  seems  to  be  a  radical  mistake  on  the  part  of 
many  people.  They  appear  to  think  the  South  can  be  con 
quered.  Sir,  this  is  impossible  !  You  may  destroy  their 
habitations,  devastate  their  fields,  and  shed  the  blood  of  their 
people  ;  but  you  can  not  conquer  them."  The  resolution  re 
ceived  eighteen  ayes,  a  hundred  and  seventy-three  noes. 
This  was  the  first  platform  of  the  "  peace-party ; "  and  these 
eighteen  represented  its  political  strength.  It  soon  became 
obvious  that  this  was  part  of  a  concerted  movement.  It 
was  expected  that  the  "  Breckinridge  party  "  of  the  previous 
fall  would  form  the  nucleus  of  the  forces.  The  utterances 
of  Breckinridge  and  Vallandigham  in  Congress  supplied  am 
munition.  Mr.  Breckinridge  in  person  opened  the  campaign 
which  was  to  "revolutionize  the  North"  in  a  speech  at  Balti- 


104  CONNECTICUT  DU11ING  THE   REBELLION. 

more,  Aug.  9.  He  was  received  by  such  a  tumultuous  out 
break  of  indignant  patriotism,  that  he  was  deterred  from  a 
further  advance,  and  turned  across  the  rebel  lines ;  but  the 
movement  had  already  acquired  a  momentum  in  Connecticut 
that  carried  it  through  the  month. 

The  name  most  prominently  connected  with  the  "  peace- 
meetings  "  of  this  period  is  that  of  William  W.  Eaton,  a  suc 
cessful  lawyer,  able  debater,  and  prominent  politician,  of 
Hartford.  A  meeting  was  held  at  Bloomfield,  whereat  reso 
lutions  were  passed  "  in  favor  of  establishing  a  suspension  of 
hostilities,"  after  an  argument  by  Mr.  Eaton,  and  harangues 
by  others,  intended  to  show  that  the  insurgents  could  never 
be  conquered. 

The  stampede  at  Bull  Run  made  the  peace-party  bolder 
and  more  demonstrative ;  but  the  Republicans  and  war 
Democrats  were  constantly  alert,  tearing  down  their  flags, 
and  gathering  thousands  of  young  men  in  war-meetings. 
One  Stephen  Raymond  of  Darien  actually  fired  a  cannon  in 
rejoicing  over  the  rebel  victory  at  Bull  Run  ;  but  his  cannon 
was  promptly  captured,  and  tumbled  into  the  river.  At  Ridge- 
field,  a  man  who  expressed  his  joy  at  the  defeat  was  drenched 
at  the  town-pump,  and  compelled  to  take  the  oath  of  allegi 
ance  under  the  stars  and  stripes.  At  Easton,  Cornwall, 
Prospect,  Podunk,  New  Britain,  North  Guilford,  East  New 
London,  Madison,  and  some  other  places,  peace  or  Confede 
rate  flags  were  raised,  but  were  hauled  down  and  destroyed 
almost  as  soon  as  discovered.  The  General  Assembly,  at  its 
recent  session,  had  forbidden  the  raising  of  the  hostile  flag, 
on  penalty  of  imprisonment  for  thirty  days  and  a  fine  of  a 
hundred  dollars ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  law  was 
ever  enforced.3  Peace  meetings  and  displays  seemed  to  be 
preconcerted  throughout  the  State. 

Aug.  8,  there  was  a  peace-meeting  at  Cornwall  Bridge,  at 
which  resolutions  were  passed  looking  to  "  peaceful  separa 
tion,"  declaring  that  "  the  American  Union  is  forever  de- 

3  This  law  also  provided,  —  SECT.  3.  —  Such  flag  or  device  so  exhibited,  with  the 
apparatus  connected  therewith,  shall  be  deemed  a  nuisance;  and  any  constable,  or  justice 
of  the  peace,  of  the  town  in  which  the  same  shall  be  so  exhibited,  or  the  sheriff  or  a 
deputy-sheriff  of  the  county  in  which  the  same  shall  be  so  exhibited,  taking  sufficient 
assistance  therefor,  may  seize  and  destroy  the  same. 


THE   STARS  AND   STEIPES.  105 

stroyed,"  and  calling  on  other  towns  to  take  ground  "  against 
a  further  continuance  of  this  bloody  spectacle." 

At  Sharon,  a  meeting  (E.  P.  Whitney,  secretary)  Resolved, 
"  That  the  cost  of  this  unnatural  war  will  entail  upon  the 
people  a  system  of  taxation  too  intolerable  to  be  borne." 
Aug.  16,  similar  meetings  were  held  at  Canaan,  William  S. 
Marsh  in  the  chair ;  and  at  Danbury,  A.  A.  Heath  presiding. 
On  the  same  day,  the  Hartford  Times  said,  "  We  are  op 
posed  to  this  war.  It  has  already  driven  the  border  States 
out  of  the  Union :  it  can  never  bring  them  back.  It  is 
crushing  out  the  life-blood  of  New  England." 

There  was  a  peace-meeting  at  Stonington,  Aug.  9,  Luther 
Ripley  in  the  chair.  Resolutions  against  the  war  were  of 
fered,  and,  to  the  astonishment  and  dismay  of  the  signers 
of  the  call,  were  voted  down.  Finding  themselves  in  a  minor 
ity,  they  seized  the  lights.,  and  retreated  amid  some  confu 
sion  and  violence.  A  Union  meeting  was  immediately  or 
ganized,  George  E.  Palmer  in  the  chair;  and  war-resolutions 
offered  by  John  F.  Trumbull,  jr.,  and  supported  by  him  in 
an  eloquent  speech,  were  adopted. 

On  Aug.  16,  several  hundred  peace-men  assembled  at  Say- 
brook  to  hoist  "a  Federal  flag,  with  nineteen  stars  on  it,"  in 
dicating  that  fourteen  slave  States  were  out  of  the  Union. 
W.  W.  Eaton  was  announced  as  the  orator  of  the  day.  A 
pole  was  raised  in  front  of  Gilbert  Pratt's  house,  and  on  it 
was  tacked  a  handbill,  headed  by  the  device,  "  War  is  dis 
union."  Hundreds  of  war-men  gathered  spontaneously  from 
Saybrook  and  surrounding  towns.  They  called  for  "  the 
flag,"  and  a  speech  from  the  orator  of  the  day ;  but,  neither 
appearing,  the  familiar  flag  of  stars  and  stripes  was  produced, 
and  run  up.  Two  or  three  peace-men  were  roughly  handled 
while  defending  the  pole.  Capt.  J.  R.  Hawley  was  called 
out.  He  deprecated  violence  at  the  meeting,  but  made  a 
war-speech,  contending,  that,  in  the  emergency,  war  was  the 
most  efficient  handmaid  of  peace ;  and  that  the  thousands  in 
loyal  blue,  who  loved  quiet  and  order  so  well  that  they 
would  take  the  field  for  it,  were  the  truest  peacemakers. 
Capt.  Morgan  and  John  J.  Doane  also  made  stirring  speech 
es.  So  the  Unionists  had  a  jubilee,  and  dispersed  with  cheers 

14 


106  CONNECTICUT  DTJEING  THE  EEBELLIOK 

for  the  flag ;  while  many  young  men  quietly  resolved  to  join 
the  next  regiment,  and  fight  for  it. 

A  white  flag  had  been  put  up  in  New  Fairfield  ;  and  thirty 
or  forty  war-men  from  Danbury,  attempting  to  take  it  down 
were  attacked  by  a  much  larger  number  of  "  peace  "  men 
with  spades  and  axes,  and  Andrew  Knox,4  John  Allen, 
and  Thomas  Kinney,  badly  injured.  Two  of  the  peace-men 
were  also  dangerously  wounded ;  but  they  held  their  ground, 
and  the  flag  remained.  The  Danbury  men  re-organized  for 
another  assault  the  next  day ;  but  the  flag  was  taken  down 
and  hidden  by  its  friends. 

The  Bridgeport  Farmer  was  the  most  outspoken  and 
ultra  champion  of  the  anti-war  doctrines ;  and  most  of  the 
kindred  demonstrations  were  within  the  range  of  its  circula 
tion. 

It  fearlessly  declared  that  the  rebels  were  true  patriots,  and 
openly  wished  them  success.  A  quotation  or  two  will  illus 
trate  its  position.  On  the  5th  of  August,  referring  to  Bull 
Run,  the  Farmer  said,  with  a  manifest  feeling  of  exulta 
tion.  — 

"The  'grand  army'  marched  on  the  17th,  as  the  Standard  man  has 
informed  us.  It  also  ran  back  on  the  21st,  as  the  Standard  man  did  not 
inform  us.  On  the  17th,  the  heart  of  the  Abolition  party  leaped  for  joy  at 
the  hope  of  a  speedy  crushing-out  of  the  life  of  the  Southern  whites  and  the 
early  freedom  of  their  negroes.  On  the  21st,  the  heart  of  the  Abolitionists 
heaved  with  sorrow  at  the  blasted  prospects  of  their  fanaticism,  and  the 
diminished  hope  of  a  speedy  gratification  of  their  bloody  will." 

This  was  followed  up  by  the  definite  declaration,  — 

"  The  rebel  soldiery,  as  you  term  them,  are  not  fighting  for  money. 
Like  our  Revolutionary  fathers,  they  are  fighting  for  their  just  rights.  In 
the  Revolution  of.  1776,  the  forces  of  King  George  were  the  ones  who 
fought  for  money  :  in  the  Revolution  of  1861,  the  forces  of  the  despot  Lin 
coln  are  the  ones  who  are  fighting  for  money.  Men  who  fought  for  their 
constitutional  rights  in  1776  did  not  want  to  be  hired  to  do  it ;  neither  do 
the  men  who  are  fighting  for  their  constitutional  rights  in  1861." 

Emboldened  by  this  disloyal  attitude  in  a  journal  which 
they  had  long  accepted  as  their  political  gospel,  its  readers 
of  Fairfield  and  Litchfield  Counties  showed  the  white  feather 
extensively,  rallying  in  peace-meetings  under  their  blanched 

4  Knox  afterward  became  a  captain  in  the  First  Artillery. 


STAMPEDE  OF   "PEACE"   MEN.  107 

banner.  In  Hattertown  (Redding),  a  handsome  and  expen 
sive  white  flag  was  suspended  across  the  street ;  but,  being 
menaced,  it  was  taken  down,  and  buried  by  its  proprietor  to 
preserve  it. 

In  Monroe  they  were  bolder  in  the  display  of  their  banner, 
even  if  the  sequence  shows  they  were  not  braver  in  its 
defense.  A  peace  mass-meeting  was  called  at  Stepney,  in 
that  town,  for  Aug.  24,  to  declare  against  the  war.  The  three- 
months'  soldiers,  just  mustered  out  of  service,  were  in  no 
mood  to  tolerate  what  they  regarded  as  incipient  treason,  and 
resolved  to  disperse  this  assemblage.  On  the  morning  of  the 
appointed  day,  two  or  three  omnibus-loads  of  Capt.  Frye's 
company,  Third  Regiment,  armed  with  revolvers,  made  their 
way  out  of  Bridgeport,  accompanied  by  a  long  procession  of 
citizens.  There  was  an  immense  gathering  of  peace-men  at 
Stepney.  Families  had  come  from  all  the  towns  around  to 
"stop  the  unrighteous  war."  A  very  tall  hickory  pole  was 
raised  at  the  head  of  the  green ;  and  to  its  top  were  run  up 
two  flags,  —  one  an  ancient  Jackson  Avar-flag,  with  thirty 
stripes ;  and  the  other  the  pale  emblem  of  their  patriotism, 
bearing  the  word  "  PEACE  "  in  large  letters.  The  flags  were 
vigorously  cheered  ;  and  a  multitude  of  armed  peace-men 
rallied  around  the  strange  bunting,  and  swore  to  defend  it 
against  all  comers  and  to  the  last  dire  extremity.  The  plat 
form  under  the  flags  was  then  occupied  by  Ellis  B.  Schnable, 
already  notorious  as  an  opponent  of  the  war ;  E.  B.  Good- 
sell,  late  postmaster  at  Bridgeport ;  Gen.  Judson  Curtis, 
a  neighborhood  celebrity ;  and  D.  H.  Belden,  a  Newtown 
lawyer,  who  were  to  expound  the  doctrines ;  and  Mr.  Charles 
Smith,  an  intermittent  preacher  of  the  vicinity,  who  proceeded 
to  ask  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  on  the  movement.  He  had  not, 
however,  progressed  so  far  as  this  in  his  supplication,. when  he 
slightly  opened  his  eyes,  and  beheld,  to  his  horror,  the  Bridge 
port  omnibuses  coming  over  the  hill,  garnished  with  Union 
banners,  and  vocal  with  loyal  cheers.  This  was  the  signal  for 
a  panic  :  Bull  Rim,  on  a  small  scale,  was  re-enacted.  The  de 
vout  Smith,  and  the  undelivered  orators,  it  is  alleged,  took 
refuge  in  a  field  of  corn.  The  procession  drove  straight  to 
the  pole,  unresisted,  the  hostile  crowd  parting  to  let  them 


108  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

pass ;  and  a  tall  man,  John  Platt,  amid  some  mutterings, 
climbed  the  pole,  reached  the  halyards,  and  the  mongrel 
banners  were  on  the  ground.  Some  of  the  peace-men,  rally 
ing,  drew  weapons  on  "  the  invaders ; "  and  a  musket  and  a 
revolver  were  taken  from  them  by  soldiers  at  the  very 
instant  of  firing.  Another  of  the  defenders  fired  a  revolver, 
and  was  chased  into  the  fields.  Still  others,  waxing  bellige 
rent,  were  disarmed  ;  and  a  number  of  loaded  muskets,  found 
stored  in  an  adjacent  shed,  were  seized.  The  stars  and  stripes 
were  hoisted  upon  the  pole,  and  wildly  cheered.  P.  T.  Bar- 
num  was  then  taken  on  the  shoulders  of  the  boys  in  blue, 
and  put  on  the  platform,  where  he  made  a  speech  full  of 
patriotism,  spiced  with  the  humor  of  the  occasion.  Capt. 
James  E.  Dunham  also  said  a  few  words  to  the  point.  Schna- 
ble,  emerging  from  the  cornfield,  gave  the  speaker  the  lie ; 
when  he  was  set  upon  by  the  crowd,  and,  says  a  newspaper  of 
the  day,  "  he  was  somewhat  severely  kicked."  The  Star- 
spangled  Banner  was  then  sung  in  chorus,  and  a  series  of 
resolutions  passed,  declaring  that  "loyal  men  are  the  rightful 
custodians  of  the  peace  of  Connecticut."  Elias  Howe,  jr., 
chairman,  made  his  speech  when  the  crowd  threatened  to 
shoot  the  speakers  :  "  If  they  fire  a  gun,  boys,  burn  the 
whole  town,  and  I'll  pay  for  it ! "  After  giving  the  citizens 
wholesome  advice  concerning  the  substituted  flag,  and  their 
duty  to  the  government,  the  procession  returned  to  Bridge 
port,  with  the  white  flag  trailing  in  the  mud  behind  an  om 
nibus.  The  soldiers  threatened  a  descent  on  the  Farmer 
office ;  but,  being  appealed  to  by  the  leaders  in  the  raid  on 
Stepney,  they  promised  to  desist.  They  were  received  at 
Bridgeport  by  approving  crowds,  and  were  greeted  with  con 
tinuous  cheers  as  they  passed  along. 

As  evening  fell,  the  crowd  increased,  swarming  through 
the  streets ;  so  that  the  vicinity  of  Main  and  Wall  was  com 
pletely  blocked  up.  Five  to  eight  thousand  were  out.  A 
glee-club,  on  the  balcony  of  the  Sterling  House,  sang  patriotic 
songs.  The  Stepney  affair  was  eagerly  commented  on.5 

5  At  a  meeting  in  the  evening,  a  prudential  committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of 
Hanford  Lyon,  Gideon  Thompson,  Frederick  Wood,  P.  T.  Barnum,  S.  B.  Ferguson, 
Horace  Nichols,  A.  P.  Houston,  B.  K.  Mills,  Monson  Hawley,  Russell  Tomlinson,  George 
S.  Sanford,  E.  P.  Abernethy,  William  H.  Noble,  and  Stephen  Lounsbury. 


GOV.   BUCKINGHAM'S  PEOCLAMATION.  1Q9 

The  Union,  the  songs,  and  the  soldiers  were  cheered  ;  and 
the  contiguous  Farmer  newspaper  received  hearty  de 
nunciation.  At  length,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  citizens  and 
the  rage  of  the  soldiers  culminated  in  a  descent  by  the  latter 
on  the  establishment.  Down  Wall  Street  they  rushed  with 
the  cry,  "  To  the  Farmer  office  ! "  A  warm  reception  was 
anticipated  ;  for  it  was  believed  that  Messrs.  Pomeroy  and 
Morse  had  a  large  number  of  friends  on  guard  :  but  the 
"  watchmen  "  were  away,  and  the  assailants,  after  forcing  an 
entrance,  met  no  opposition.  They  threw  every  thing  portable 
—  paper,  types,  and  machinery  —  out  of  the  window ;  and  the 
angry  crowd  below  scattered  them  through  the  street.  The 
newspaper  and  job  presses  were  broken  and  destroyed.  "  A 
number  of  recently-occupied  bunks,  and  two  hundred  turned 
clubs  for  defense,  were  found  in  an  adjoining  room."  When 
the  soldiers  entered,  Mr.  Morse  fled  to  the  roof,  whence,  by 
neighboring  buildings,  he  escaped.  He  was  sheltered  by 
political  sympathizers  ;  but  after  remaining  in  the  State  a 
few  days,  hooted,  groaned,  and  insulted  wherever  he  ap 
peared  in  public,  he  "  fled  from  persecution,"  and,  via  Canada, 
joined  his  fortunes  to  those  of  his  rebel  friends  and  co- 
laborers  in  Augusta,  Ga,G 

A  peace-flag  having  been  unfurled  in  Morris,  Litchfield 
County,  a  meeting  was  called  for  Aug.  28,  duly  to  dedicate 
the  emblem  with  appropriate  oratory.  Mr.  Eaton  was  ex 
pected,  also  the  redoubtable  Schnable.  The  former  failed  to 
arrive.  Schnable  made  an  inflammatory  speech  to  his  friends, 
armed  to  defend  him.  After  the  meeting  adjourned,  the 
orator  was  arrested  by  Deputy-Sheriff  Edward  0.  Peck  of 
Litchfield,  delivered  to  United-States  Marshal  Carr,  and  by 
him  consigned  to  Fort  Lafayette. 

In  order  to  put  an  end  to  these  collisions,  Gov.  Buck 
ingham,  about  the  1st  of  September,  issued  the  following 
proclamation :  — 

"  Eleven  States  of  the  Union  are  now  armed  and  in  open  rebellion 
against  Federal  authority.  They  have  paralyzed  the  business  of  the  nation, 
have  involved  us  in  civil  war,  and  are  exerting  their  combined  energies 

6  There  he  edited  a  paper,  until  the  insatiate  Sherman  thrust  his  sword-blade  through 
the  vitals  of  the  Confederacy,  when  he  again  became  a  martyr  for  his  principles. 


110  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

to  rob  us  of  the  blessings  of  a  free  government.  The  greatness  of  their 
crime  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  free  governments. 

"  At  this  critical  juncture,  our  liberties  are  still  further  imperiled  by 
the  utterance  of  seditious  language ;  by  a  traitorous  press,  which  excuses 
or  justifies  the  Rebellion ;  by  secret  organizations,  which  propose  to  resist 
the  execution  of  the  laws  by  force  ;  by  the  public  exhibition  of  peace-flays, 
falsely  so  called  ;  and  by  an  effort  to  redress  grievances,  regardless  of  the 
forms  aud  officers  of  the  land. 

"  The  very  existence  of  our  government,  the  future  prosperity  of  this 
entire  nation,  and  the  hopes  of  universal  freedom,  demand  that  these  out 
rages  be  suppressed. 

"  The  Constitution  guarantees  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  but 
holds  the  person  and  the  press  responsible  for  the  evils  which  result  from 
this  liberty ;  it  guarantees  the  protection  of  property,  but  regards  no  prop 
erty  as  sacred  which  is  used  to  subvert  governmental  authority  ;  it  guaran 
tees  the  person  from  unreasonable  seizure,  but  it  protects  no  individual  from 
arrest  and  punishment  who  gives  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  our 
country ;  it  provides  by  law  for  the  punishment  of  offenders,  but  allows 
no  grievance  to  be  redressed  by  violence. 

"  I  therefore  call  upon  the  citizens  of  this  State  to  support  and  uphold 
the  government,  and  to  abstain  from  every  act  that  can  tend  to  encourage 
and  strengthen  this  conspiracy ;  and  I  call  upon  the  officers  of  the  law  to 
be  active,  diligent,  aud  fearless  in  arresting,  and  instituting  legal  pro 
ceedings  for  the  punishment  of,  those  who  disturb  the  public  peace,  of 
those  who  are  guilty  of  sedition  and  treason,  and  of  those  who  are  em 
braced  in  combinations  to  obstruct  the  execution  of  the  laws  ;  so  that  peace 
may  again  be  restored  to  our  distracted  country,  aud  the  liberties  of  the 
people  be  preserved." 

This  prompt  manifesto,  and  the  overwhelming  popular 
sentiment,  immediately  put  an  end  to  public  demonstrations 
against  the  war.  A  few  irrepressible  "  peace "  men  for  a 
while  expended  their  surplus  energy  in  visiting  camps, 
and  advising  volunteers  to  desert :  but  even  this  was  made 
perilous  by  a  public  notice  from  United-States  Marshal  Carr, 
that  all  persons  detected  in  such  attempts  would  "  be  sum 
marily  dealt  with ; "  and  the  "  peace "  agitation  entirely 
subsided. 

These  eruptions  were  thought,  at  the  time,  to  discour 
age  enlistments :  but  it  now  seems  rather,  that,  acting  as 
a  counter-irritant,  the  movement  stimulated  volunteering ; 
patriotic  ardor  being  increased  by  the  very  means  used  to 
allay  it.  Certain  it  is,  that  at  no  other  period  of  the  war 
was  recruiting  so  rapid  as  while  Messrs.  Schnable,  Eaton,  and 
Morse  were  appealing  to  the  young  men  not  to  participate 
in  "  the  wicked  war  of  subjugation." 


DEATH  OF    GEN.   LYON.  111 

Connecticut  had  now  two  regiments  in  the  field,  both  for 
three  years.  On  Aug.  15,  the  governor  called  for  four 
more  regiments ;  and  with  such  alacrity  did  volunteering  go 
forward,  that,  within  two  weeks,  the  Sixth  and  Seventh 
Regiments  were  full ;  and,  before  another  call  was  out,  twenty- 
four  companies  offered  themselves  for  the  Eighth  Regiment, 
and  eleven  for  the  Ninth  (Irish)'. 

On  Aug.  14,  the  nation  was  thrilled  and  saddened  to 
hear  of  the  death  of  the  heroic  Brig.-Gen.  Lyon,  slain  four 
days  before  in  the  battle  of  Wilson's  Creek,  Missouri.  He 
was  the  first  Union  general  killed  in  the  war ; 7  and  the  loyal 
people  already  looked  upon  him  with  hope  and  enthusiasm, 
as  one  of  the  stanchest  of  their  defenders.  Had  he  lived, 
he  would  have  attained  a  high  command ;  for  he  had  the 
modesty  and  the  obstinate  persistence  of  Grant,  and  the  dash 
and  boldness  of  Sheridan. 

Nathaniel  Lyon  was  born  in  that  part  of  Ashford  which 
is  now  Eastford,  Conn.,  July  14,  1818.  It  is  not  surpris 
ing  that  he  early  showed  a  bent  for  military  life;  for  he 
was  a  grandson  of  Lieut.  Daniel  Knowlton  of  the  Revolution, 

o 

of  whom  Putnam  said,  "  Such  is  his  courage,  that  I  could 
order  him  into  the  mouth  of  a  loaded  cannon."  He  pre 
pared  himself  in  the  district  schools  for  West  Point,  where 
he  graduated  in  1841.  As  lieutenant,  he  fought  through 
the  Seminole  War;  and  subsequently  through  the  Mexican 
War,  where  he  was  brevetted  captain  for  gallant  conduct. 
For  four  years  he  was  stationed  on  the  Californian  frontier, 
an  experience  full  of  hardship  and  perilous  adventure. 

The  year  1861  found  Capt.  Lyon  in  command  of  the 
arsenal  in  St.  Louis.  When  it  seemed  possible  that  Fort 
Sumter  was  to  be  surrendered  without  a  struggle,  he 
wrote,  — 

"  I  would  rather  see  the  country  lighted  up  with  the  flames  of  war,  from 
the  center  to  its  remotest  border,  than  that  the  great  rights  and  hopes  of 
the  human  race  expire  before  the  arrogance  of  secessionists.  Of  this,  how 
ever,  there  i»  no  danger.  They  are  at  war  with  nature  and  the  human 
heart,  and  cannot  succeed." 

7  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  that  Connecticut  furnished  the  first  four  martyrs  of  the  war 
of  the  rank  of  general,  colonel,  major,  and  captain,  —  Lyon,  Ellsworth,  Wmthrop,  and 
Ward ;  the  first  four  men,  also,  whose  heroic  deaths  gave  a  marked  impulse  and  momen 
tum  to  the  war-spirit  of  the  North. 


112  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  EEBELLION. 

Though  assigned  bj  order  to  the  arsenal,  Capt.  LyonV; 
vigilance  included  the  whole  State  of  Missouri  •  and  outwit 
ting  the  traitorous  Gov.  Jackson  in  council,  and  outgeneral 
ing  him  in  the  field,  the  Union  cause  grew  strong  through  the 
overmastering  strength  of  its  champion.  A  secession  mob 
gathered  around  the  arsenal  to  appropriate  the  large  amount 
of  arms  and  ammunition  there  stored :  Lyon  decoyed  the 
mob  away,  and,  placing  all  that  was  valuable  on  board  a 
steamer  in  the  night,  transported  it  to  Illinois.  The  rebel 
governor,  Jackson,  demanded  a  withdrawal  of  United-States 
troops  from  all  territory  outside  of  the  arsenal :  Lyon  refused 
compliance.  A  rebel  camp  of  instruction  named  after  the 
governor,  and  its  streets  named  in  honor  of  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Beauregard,  was  .established  outside  the  city;  and  there 
several  thousand  young  traitors  were  assembled  under 
command  of  Gen.  Frost,  and  armed  with  muskets  stolen  from 
Baton  Rouge.  Instead  of  waiting  to  be  attacked,  Capt. 
Lyon,  on  May  10,  surrounded  the  camp  with  several  thou 
sand  raw  volunteers,  and  compelled  it  to  surrender  in  thirty 
minutes.  St.  Louis,  thereupon,  became  a  furnace  of  rage  and 
riotous  tumult.  Lyon  quelled  it  by  promptness  and  sternness, 
under  which  a  few  of  the  traitors  lost  their  lives.  The  timid 
Secretary  of  War,  thinking  him  too  precipitate,  superseded 
him  by  Gen.  Harney ;  but  one  week  of  the  one-sided 
"  neutrality  "  of  Harney  was  enough  even  for  Cameron,  and 
Lyon  was  reinstated  as  brigadier-general. 

On  June  11,  Gov.  Jackson  and  Gen.  Price  sought  an  in 
terview  with  Gen.  Lyon ;  but  their  attempt  to  inveigle  him 
into  the  Harney  neutrality  trap  was  a  total  failure.  They 
were  crafty ;  but  he  was  wise  :  and  he  not  only  firmly  re 
jected  their  proposal  that  the  home-guard  should  be  dis 
persed,  but  demanded  the  nullification  of  all  the  recent 
State  laws  which  impeded  the  free  action  of  the  United- 
States  forces,  or  in  any  way  qualified  the  loyalty  of  Missouri. 
Gov.  Jackson,  failing  in  his  diplomatic  treachery,  now  had 
resort  to  open  war  ;  and  next  day  he  issued  his  proclamation 
from  the  capital,  exhorting  "  the  brave-hearted  Missourians," 
to  the  number  of  fifty  thousand,  to  "  rally  to  the  flag  of 
their  State,"  and  "  drive  out  the  invaders  who  had  dared  to 


GEN.   LYON  IN  MISSOURI.  113 

desecrate  the  soil."  Lyon  was  the  first  man  to  respond ;  for 
the  very  next  day  he  started  for  Jefferson  City  with  two 
steamers  arid  fifteen  hundred  men.  The  valiant  governor 
fled  at  his  approach,  and  retreated  forty  miles  to  Booneville. 
Lyon  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  people,  full  of  kindness 
and  dignity,  but  breathing  his  own  resolute  purpose. 
Re-inforced  by  five  hundred  men,  he  followed  next  day  to 
Booneville,  and,  with  two  thousand  men,  attacked  the  rebel 
camp  of  not  less  than  thirty  thousand  ill-armed  adherents 
of  Jackson.8  The  assault  was  so  determined  and  rapid, 
that  the  rebels  broke  in  twenty  minutes,  and  threw  away 
their  muskets  in  a  panic,  which  ended  in  a  rout.  The 
camp-equipage,  provisions,  ammunition,  horses,  and  guns 
fell  into  Lyon's  hands ;  and  the  enemy  was  completely 
dispersed. 

The  vigor  of  Lyon  had  restored  the  authority  of  the 
Union  in  Missouri ;  the  rebels  only  appearing  in  the  south 
western  corner  of  the  State,  where  Price  and  McCulloch 
industriously  rallied  the  defeated  armies.  As  soon  as  he 
could  form  his  trains,  he  marched  rapidly  on  Springfield. 
The  whole  distance  of  two  hundred  miles,  including  the 
crossing  of  two  swollen  rivers,  was  accomplished  in  eleven 
days ;  and  the  last  fifty  miles  was  made  in  twenty-four 
hours, —  a  celerity  of  movement  almost  without  parallel. 
Here  he  was  re-inforced  by  three  thousand  men ;  but  these 
were  the  last :  and  henceforth  his  little  command  grew 
weaker  day  by  day.  Meantime,  the  foe  were  gathering. 
Lvon  resolved  to  defeat  them  in  detail ;  and,  during  the 
next  week,  fell  upon  and  dispersed  large  bodies  of  rebel 
troops,  under  Gen.  Rains,  at  Dug  Springs  and  at  McCulloch 
Springs,  twenty  miles  from  Springfield.  He  retired  again  to 
that  city,  and  called  earnestly  for  re-inforcements ;  for  the 
four  rebel  armies,  under  Price,  McCulloch,  Pierce,  and 
McBride,  were  already  united  at  Wilson's  Creek,  only  ten 
miles  distant,  the  combined  forces  numbering  not  less  than 
twenty-three  thousand  men.9  His  calls  were  unheeded. 
Promises  came  to  Lyon,  but  no  soldiers;  and  he  felt  that 

8  Vide  Life  of  Gen.  Lyon. 

9  Pollard,  in  the  Lost  Cause,  acknowledges  only  thirteen  thousand. 

15 


114  CONNECTICUT  DTJKING  THE   REBELLION. 

he  was  left  to  defeat.10  As  a  last  desperate  resort,  he  con 
ceived  the  bold  design  of  marching  forth  by  night  with  his 
little  army  of  five  thousand,  and  surprising  the  rebel  camp. 
"  By  striking  a  sudden  blow,  he  hoped  to  inflict  so  deep  a 
wound  as  to  paralyze  the  enemy  till  he  could  be  relieved  by 
re-inforcements,  or  retreat  in  safety."  n  He  left  Springfield 
Aug.  9 ;  and  at  night  came  in  sight  of  the  hostile  fires, 
and  rushed  upon  the  camp  at  dawn,  leading  one  column 
against  the  north  side,  while  Sigel  led  another  against  the 
south.  Nothing  prevented  the  surprise  from  being  complete 
and  overwhelming,  except  the  singular  circumstance  that 
McCulloch  had  simultaneously  planned  a  night-attack  on 
Springfield ;  and  the  men,  with  no  pickets  out,  were  sleeping 
on  their  arms.  Lyon's  little  army  was  within  musket-shot 
before  it  was  discovered;  then  it  plunged  through  the  camp; 
and  McCulloch  fled  from  the  breakfast-table,  and  led  the 
bewildered  rebels  to  the  adjacent  hills.  But  they  took  their 
arms.  The  ensuing  conflict  was  one  of  the  most  skilfully- 
managed  and  resolutely-contested,  not  only  of  this  war,  but 
of  any  war. 

The  battle  raged  for  six  hours ;  and  how  terrible  were  the 
onsets  may  be  learned  from  the  fact  that  the  rebels  acknowl 
edged  a  loss  of  over  five  hundred  killed,  while  Lyon's  loss 
was  two  hundred  and  fifty  killed  and  a  thousand  wounded 
and  missing.12  Early  in  the  engagement,  Gen.  Lyon's  horse 
was  shot  under  him,  and  he  was  three  times  badly  wounded. 
The  closing  scene  of  his  gallant  life  is  graphically  described 
by  his  biographer,  Dr.  A.  Woodward  :  — 

"  Mounting  another  horse,  he  rode  back  to  the  front  in  order  to  rally 
the  thinned  and  bleeding  but  not  disheartened  lines  for  a  fresh  attack.  He 
now  directed  the  fragments  of  one  or  two  regiments  to  charge  the  enemy 
with  the  bayonet.  Many  of  their  officers  were  disabled,  and  they  called 
for  a  leader.  "With  countenance  blanched  from  the  loss  of  blood,  and  hag 
gard  from  anxiety,  Gen.  Lyon  threw  himself  to  the  head  of  the  column, 
and,  with  hat  waving,  cheered  it  onward.  Inspired  with  almost  superhu- 

10  Gen.  Fremont,  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  North-west,  was  widely 
censured  for  failing  to  give  Lyon  proper  support. 

"  Woodward's  Life  of  Gen.  Lyon,  p.  307. 

12  Major  Sturgis,  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle,  said  of  Surgeon  Sprague  (of  Dan- 
iclsonville,  Conn.),  that  "  he  attended  the  wounded  with  as  much  self-possession  as  if  no 
battle  were  raging  around  him,  and  not  only  took  charge  of  the  wounded  brought  to  him, 
but  found  time  to  use  a  musket  with  good  effect  against  the  enemy." 


FUNEKAL  OF  GEN.   LYOK 

man  energy  by  the  heroism  of  their  chief,  the  men  rushed  forward,  scat 
tering  the  enemy  like  chaff.  But  in  that  charge  the  brave  Lyon  fell.  Our 
country,  in  the  crisis  of  her  darkest  peril,  lost  that  hour  one  of  her  clearest 
heads  and  stoutest  hearts.  He  placed  no  value  upon  repose,  comfort,  or 
even  life,  when  the  land  that  he  loved  with  all  the  devotion  of  his  gener 
ous  soul  demanded  their  sacrifice." 

When  he  fell,  the  battle  ended :  no  other  leader  could  so 
inspire  the  soldiers.  Sigel  took  up  a  reluctant  retreat  to 
Rolla ;  but  the  enemy  were  so  badly  crippled,  that  they  could 
not  pursue. 

In  the  confusion  of  the  retreat,  the  remains  of  Lyon 
were  left  behind.  Mrs.  Phelps,  wife  of  Col.  John  S.  Phelps, 
member  of  Congress  for  the  district,  and  an  unqualified 
Unionist,  caused  the  body  to  be  incased  in  a  coffin  hermeti 
cally  closed,  then  concealed  it  in  an  old  cellar  under  some 
straw.  Finally,  fearing  it  would  be  disturbed  by  the  rebel 
soldiers,  she  had  it  taken  out  and  buried  in  the  night.  When 
Danford  Knowlton  of  New  York,  and  John  B.  Hasler,  rela 
tives  of  Lyon,  arrived,  she  assisted  them  to  recover  the 
body.  To  this  lady  the  thanks  and  honors  of  the  nation 
are  due;  for  she  gave  her  time  and  expended  her  fortune 
in  the  relief  of  sick  and  wounded  Union  soldiers. 

Gen.  Lyon's  remains  were  brought  to  Connecticut,  to  be 
buried  at  Eastford,  tenderly  greeted  all  the  way  by  tearful 
multitudes  strewing  the  choicest  flowers  on  the  brave  man's 
coffin.  At  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and 
Hartford,  the  body  lay  in  state.  It  was  estimated  that  ten 
thousand  attended  the  funeral  at  Eastford.  From  all  Wind- 
ham  and  the  adjoining  counties  they  came ;  for  he  repre 
sented  the  soul  of  the  loyal  North ;  and  it  was  felt,  that,  in  a 
season  of  timidity  and  inefficiency,  he  had  borne  aloft  in  his 
own  hands  the  flag  and  the  hope  of  the  nation.  The  services 
were  held  in  the  Congregational  church  at  Eastford,  Ex-Go v. 
Chauncey  F.  Cleveland  presiding.  Judge  Elisha  Carpenter 
delivered  an  historical  address,  and  Hon.  Galusha  A.  Grow  of 
Pennsylvania  (both  natives  of  Eastford)  an  oration,  which  elo 
quently  enforced  the  lessons  of  the  hour.  Remarks  were 
also  made  by  Gov.  Buckingham,  Gov.  Sprague,  Senator  Fos 
ter,  Major-Gen.  Casey,  Mayor  Deming  of  Hartford,  and 
others ;  and  the  remains  of  the  hero  were  affectionately  con 
signed  to  earth  with  military  honors. 


116  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

In  a  marked  and  peculiar  sense,  Lyon  was  the  Leonidas  of 
the  war;  so  able  in  council,  and  so  brilliant  in  battle,  as  to 
extort  reluctant  praise  even  from  his  enemies; 13  so  patriotic, 
that  he  bequeathed  all  his  property,  as  has  been  currently  re 
ported,  to  the  United-States  Government;  so  daring,  that  he 
inspired  raw  farmer-boys  to  fight  like  veterans.  He  was  not 
constitutionally  courageous,  but  timid,  yet  he  w;is  as" brave  a 
soldier  as  ever  drew  a  sword,  and  gave  his  life  joj^ously  to  his 
country  like  a  gallant  knight ;  he  was  not  religious,  yet  his 
honesty  of  purpose  was  proverbial,  and  he  had  a  high  up 
rightness  of  soul  which  even  religion  sometimes  fails  to  con 
fer  ;  he  was  not  a  statesman,  yet  the  schemes  of  wily  trai 
tors,  outnumbering  him  ten  to  one,  dissolved  at  his  touch. 

In  Congress,  Senator  Pomeroy  eulogized  Lyon's  heroism, 
and  commended  it  as  an  example  for  emulation ;  and  resolu 
tions  were  passed,  declaring  that  "  the  country  to  whose  ser 
vice  he  devoted  his  life  will  guard  and  preserve  his  fame  as 
a  part  of  its  owri  glory." 

At  the  dedication  of  a  handsome  monument  to  Gen.  Lyon, 
by  the  State  of  Missouri,  at  Jefferson  City,  Senator  Brown 
delivered  a  biographical  address,  and  Lieut.-Gen.  Sherman 
recalled  some  interesting  reminiscences.  He  said  of  Lyon, — 

"  He  did  not  wait  till  the  meshes  and  trammels  which  were  being  plot 
ted  for  him  were  perfected.  He  was  the  first  man  in  this  country  that 
seized  the  whole  question,  and  took  the  initiative,  and  determined  to  strike 
a  blow,  and  not  wait  for  the  blow  to  be  struck.  That  he  did  not  succeed  at 
Wilson's  Creek  was  no  fault  of  his,  but  the  result  of  causes  which  he  could 
not  control.  The  act  itself  was  as  pure  and  god-like  as  any  that  ever  char 
acterized  a  soldier  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  wish  he  could  have  lived  ;  for 
he  possessed  many  of  those  qualities  which  were  needed  in  the  first  two  or 
three  years  of  the  war,  and  his  death  imposed  on  the  nation  a  penalty 
numbered  by  thousands  on  thousands  of  lives,  and  millions  on  millions  of 
dollars."  . 

13  Pollard,  in  the  Lost  Cause  and  his  Southern  History,  says,  "Lyon  was  an 
undisguised  and  fanatical  abolitionist.*  He  was,  undoubtedly,  an  able  and  dangerous 
man,  —  a  man  of  the  times,  who  appreciated  the  force  of  audacity  and  the  value  of  quick 
decision.  No  doubts  or  scruples  unsettled  his  mind.  A  Connecticut  Yankee,  without  a 
trace  of  chivalrie  feeling  ;t  small  in  stature,  wiry,  active,  of  dark  complexion,  and  brave 
to  a  fault.  The  fall  of  such  a  man  was  a  serious  loss  to  the  Federals  in  Missouri." 

*  Yet  he  voted  for  Franklin  Pierce. 

t  The  rebels  insisted  that  no  man  would  fight  against  treason  who  was  "  chivalrie." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  Fourth  in  Maryland.  —  Dissatisfaction  and  Insubordination.  —  The  Fifth  on  the 
Potomac.  —  Recruiting  active.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh,  and  Eighth.  — Towns  repre 
sented. —  Departure.  —  Sixth  and  Seventh  at  Washington  and  Annapolis.  —  Eighth 
on  Long  Island.  —  "The  Sons  of  Connecticut."  —  Ninth  Regiment  organized. — 
"  All  Full  Companies  "  accepted.  —  The  Tenth.  —  Towns  represented.  —  Eighth  and 
Tentli  at  Annapolis.  —  Meetings  and  Social  Intercourse.  —  The  Eleventh.  —  Recruit 
ing.  —  Towns  represented.  —  The  Regiment  embarks  for  Annapolis.  —  Port-Royal 
Expedition.  —  Landing  of  the  Sixth  and  Seventh.  —  First  Union  Troops  in  South 
Carolina.  —  T  vler  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Fourth.  —  The  New  Discipline.  —  Expo 
sure  and  Privations  of  the  Fifth. 

N  the  mean  time,  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Regiments 
were  at  the  front.  All  the  next  day  after  its 
departure  (June  10,  1861),  the  Fourth  waited 
at  Jersey  City  for  transportation ;  then  made  a 
night-trip  to  Philadelphia,  eating  the  oranges 
Mrs.  Sigourney  had  thoughtfully  provided  ;  and  took  a  pleas 
ant  morning-ride  along  the  Valley  of  the  Susquehanna. 
Next  evening  they  arrived  at  Chambersburg,  where,  after 
their  novel  and  fatiguing  experience,  they  wrapped  them 
selves  in  their  blankets,  and  tumbled  down  in  the  clover  to 
sleep,  —  their  first  bivouac.  Here  they  pitched  their  camp, 
and  tarried  four  days,  brigaded  with  the  llth  Pennsyl 
vania  and  the  1st  Wisconsin;  the  latter  commanded  by  Col. 
John  C.  Starkweather,  formerly  of  Norwich,  and  a  native  of 
Preston,  Conn.  The  next  week  they  made  a  camp  at  Ha- 
gerstown,  Md.,  where  they  staid  until  July  6,  behaving  so 
well,  that  the  citizens  petitioned  to  have  them  remain. 

At  midnight,  June  17,  the  long-roll  was  beaten;  and  the 
excited  men  were  hurried  off  on  the  double-quick  for  Wil- 
liamsport,  "  to  meet  the  rebels,  only  six  miles  off"  There 
were  wild  rumors  that  they  had  crossed  the  Potomac  for  an 
invasion  of  Pennsylvania.  Forty  rounds  of  ammunition  had 

117 


118  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

been  dealt  out ;  and  the  men  were  eager  to  test  their  valor. 
"Now  or  never,"  they  thought,  "for  the  triumph  of  republi 
can  institutions ! "  On  arriving,  it  appeared  that  the  enemy 
had  been  seen  across  the  river,  but  had  drawn  off  on  the 
approach  of  our  troops.  They  then  returned  to  the  camp 
at  Hagerstown ;  but,  on  the  4th  of  July,  advanced  again 
to  Williamsport,  relieving  other  regiments  in  holding  this 
frontier.  Here,  while  the  antagonists  were  measuring  each 
other's  strength  in  Central  Virginia,  the  Fourth  had  a  quiet 
time,  occupying  a  charming  and  comfortable  camp  until 
Aug.  16.  Officers  and  men  seem  to  have  been  great  favorites 
with  citizens  wherever  they  were  stationed. 

The  regiment  was  next  encamped  near  Frederick  City,  at 
the  White-oak  Springs.  Here  the  dissatisfaction  which  had 
been  silently  gathering  came  to  a  crisis.  They  had  not  been 
paid;  their  clothes  were  so  worn  in -three  months  of  service, 
that  "  scarce  two  men  had  hats  or  shirts  alike  ;  coats  had  long 
been  discarded ;  and  many  were  obliged  to  appear,  even  on 
dress-parade,  lightly  and  airily  attired  in  simple  under-clo- 
thino:." l  So  bitter  was  the  discontent,  that,  on  Aus;.  23, 

C3  O 

about  two  hundred  men,  including  Company  K,  marched  out 
with  their  arms,  and  formed  in  line,  facing  the  camp,  an- 
'nouncing  that  they  were  going  home.  The  colonel  directed 
Capt.  Kellogg  to  arrest  them.  "  Shall  I  fire  on  them  if  neces 
sary  ?  "  asked  the  captain.  "  Take  your  own  course,"  was  the 
reply.  Capt.  Kellogg  ordered  his  men  to  load,  marched 
them  out,  and  formed  line,  facing  Company  K,  within  two 
rods.  He  bluntly  ordered  Company  K  to  "  shoulder  arms." 
They  sullenly  refused.  "  You'll  shoulder  arms,  or  be  shot ! " 
growled  he.  "  Company  B,  ready  ! "  The  muskets  came  to 
the  shoulder  before  the  order  to  fire  was  given ;  and  the 
men  were  marched  into  camp,  and  the  ringleaders  taken  to 
Banks's  headquarters  as  prisoners.  Active  resistance  was 
quelled  ;  but  discontent  continued.  Within  a  week,  there 
were  eighteen  desertions,  ten  of  them  from  Company  K.  A 
week  later  came  pay-daj^. 

About  this  time,  a  temperance  meeting  was  organized, 
of  which  Lieut.-Col.  White  was  chairman,  and  Sergeant 

1  Anniversary  Address  by  Chaplain  E.  A.  Walker. 


THE   FIFTH   REGIMENT.  119 

Twining  secretary.  Remarks  were  made  by  Major  H.  W. 
Birge,  Chaplain  Walker,  Capt.  D.  W.  Siprell,  Lieuts.  E.  H. 
Mix,  J.  A.  Turner,  D.  R.  Hubbard,  and  George  Harmon,  and 
Sergeant  H.  J.  Hubbard  ;  and  a  pledge  was  numerously 
signed  by  officers  and  men. 

Sept.  6,  the  regiment  was  turned  over  to  Gen.  Banks,  and 
started  to  report  to  him  at  Darnestown,  where  they  met  the 
Fifth  Connecticut.  Three  days  later,  Col.  Woodhouse  re 
signed  his  commission,  his  continued  ill  health  having  long 
prevented  him.  from  taking  a  vigorous  part  in  the  drill  and 
discipline  of  the  regiment.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it  was, 
at  this  time,  an  inefficient  body  of  men,  poorly  instructed 
both  in  evolutions  and  the  manual  of  arms ;  and  this  became 
more  apparent  by  contrast  when  they  found  themselves  in 
camp  with  twenty-five  thousand  soldiers. 

The  Fifth  left  Hartford  on  the  cars,  July  29,  escorted  to 
the  depot  by  a  vast  concourse  of  citizens.  At  New  Haven, 
they  embarked  upon  the  Elm  City  for  Elizabeth,  N.J. ; 
where  they  arrived  next  morning,  and  took  the  cars  to  Balti 
more.  Here  they  were  transferred  to  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad,  for  the  Upper  Potomac.  Going  westward  from 
the  monumental  city,  the  soldiers  spent  a  dismal,  gloomy, 
uncomfortable  night  in  the  freight-cars.  A  terrible  storm 
broke  upon  them ;  and  the  darkness  was  relieved  only  by  the 
lurid  lightning,  that  occasionally  cast  a  momentary  pallor 
over  their  faces,  and  showed  through  the  apertures  that  they 
were  being  whirled  across  a  densely-wooded  country.  Most 
of  the  men  were  weary  with  two  nights  of  travel,  and  dis 
pirited  with  scant  quantities  of  dry  rations,  and  the  rest  so 
inspirited  by  frequent  potions  of  Baltimore  lager  as  to  be  in 
no  very  amiable  mood. 

At  last,  after  much  discomfort,  they  came  to  a  stop  about 
a  mile  east  of  Harper's  Fe^ry,  where  they  left  the  cars, 
inarched  two  miles  north,  and  made  their  camp  on  a  stubble- 
field.  They  were  first  included  in  the  brigade  of  Col.  George 
H.  Thomas,  afterwards  renowned  in  Tennessee  ;  and  around 
them  were  twenty  regiments  of  Banks's  division.  The  Fifth 
was  soon  sent  out  on  picket,  in  detachments ;  and  in  this  ser 
vice  it  was  kept  employed,  marching  and  counter-marching 


120  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

in  cold  and  rain,  between  Edwards'  Ferry  and  Hancock.  It 
had  no  established  camp,  and  the  men  suffered  greatly  from 
the  constant  exposure  and  privations.  They  were  frequently 
alarmed  to  meet  an  attack,  and  several  men  were  captured 
while  on  picket.  Aug.  19,  Lieut.  Putnam  Day,  of  Putnam, 
died.  He  was  a  manly  soldier,  respected  and  esteemed  by 
all  his  associates. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  the  Fifth  marched  to  Jeffer 
son,  crossed  the  mountains,  and  encamped  for  a  few  days  at 
Point  of  Rocks,  Mel.,  on  the  Carroll  Manor,  a  fine  estate  of 
thirteen  thousand  acres,  formerly  owned  by  Charles  Carroll 
of  Carrollton. 


Aug.  15,  the  governor  issued  general  orders,  directing  that 
volunteers  be  accepted  for  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  and 
Ninth,  three-years'  regiments,  a  part  of  the  quota  of  Connec 
ticut  under  the  recent  call.  Cols.  Chatfield  and  Terry,  effi 
cient  commanders  of  three-months'  troops,  were  appointed 
colonels  respectively  of  the  Sixth  and  Seventh ;  and  those 
regiments  were  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  New  Haven.  The 
camp  was  located  in  commodious  barracks  on  Oyster  Point ; 
and  there  squads  and  half-formed  companies  already  raised 
in  different  parts  of  the  State  immediately  reported.  Many 
who  had  been  in  the  three-months'  service  joined  these  regi 
ments  either  as  officers  or  privates.  By  the  same  order,  the 
Eighth  Regiment  was  directed  to  rendezvous  at  Hartford. 

The  romance  of  soldiering  had  passed  away,  the  fervor 
which  followed  the  first  call  to  arms  had  somewhat  abated, 
the  dream  of  taking  Richmond  without  a  struggle  was  suc 
ceeded  by  bloody  realities,  the  day  of  large  bounties  had 
not  come ;  yet  the  patriotic  purpose  of  the  people  was  still 
so  earnest,  that  the  four  regiments  were  quickly  raised.  Meet 
ings  were  held  in  the  different  towns,  at  which  the  citizens 
flocked  to  listen,  to  applaud,  to  encourage  enlistments,  and 
to  contribute  to  the  volunteer  fund.  Immense  mass-meet 
ings  were  held  in  the  cities,  —  the  largest  and  most  excited 
gatherings  ever  seen  in  the  State. 

During  the  last  days  of  August,  most  of  the  companies  for 


THE   SIXTH  ItEGIMENT.  121 

the  Sixth  and  Seventh  had  arrived  at  the  barracks.  Sept.  3, 
a  Windham-county  company  was  mustered  into  the  Sixth, 
followed  next  day  by  the  Waterbury  and  New  Britain 
companies.  On  the  5th,  three  more  were  mustered ;  also 
the  Hartford,  Danbury,  and  Norwich  companies  of  the  Sev 
enth.  The  rest  were  added  in  a  day  or  two.  About  this 
time,  the  first  fractional  companies  of  the  Eighth  began  to 
move  to  their  camp,  —  the  grounds  the  Fifth  had  vacated, — 
just  outside  of  Hartford.  Drilling,  which  had  generally  begun 
at  the  places  of  original  enlistment,  was  continued  vigorously 
in  the  camps.  Nearly  all  the  officers,  and  some  of  the  pri 
vates,  had  seen  service ;  yet  at  least  three-fourths  were  raw 
volunteers,  who  knew  no  difference  between  "  reverse  arms  " 
and  "  right-shoulder-shift."  The  three-months'  veterans  put 
their  awkward  comrades  sternly  through  the  manual,  and 
exercised  them  in  company  and  battalion  drill,  morning, 
afternoon,  and  evening.  Every  squad  made  the  most  of  the 
few  days  remaining,  and  instruction  proceeded  rapidly.  The 
three  regiments  received  Enfield  rifles,  the  two  flank  com 
panies  of  each  being  armed  with  Sharpe's ;  and  succeeding 
regiments  were  generally  furnished  with  the  same  admirable 
weapons,  and  the  same  proportion  of  each. 

The  field  and  staff  officers  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  Col. 
John  L.  Chatfield,  Lieut.-Col.  William  G.  Ely,  and  Major  John 
Speidal,  were  from  New  Haven,  New  London,  and  Fairfield 
Counties ;  and  the  regiment  chiefly  enlisted  from  the  south 
ern  part  of  the  State,  Company  A,  Capt.  Thomas  K.  Bates, 
was  from  the  north-eastern  towns  of  Windham  County; 
Putnam  furnishing  thirty-one,  Killingly  twenty-three,  and 
Thompson,  Woodstock,  and  Plainfi eld  the  rest.  Company  B, 
Capt.  Benjamin  F.  Prouty,  was  officered  by  Hartford ;  and 
the  privates  were  from  twenty  towns.  Company  C,  Capt. 
Daniel  Klein,  was  mainly  from  the  Germans  of  New  Haven; 
twelve  being  from  Norwich,  and  six  from  Waterbury.  Com 
pany  D,  Capt.  Lorenzo  Meeker,  was  from  Stamford ;  thirteen 
being  from  Greenwich.  Company  E,  Capt.  Edward  P.  Hud 
son,  was  mainly  from  Waterbury  and  Prospect;  neighbor 
ing  towns  contributing  a  few.  Company  F,  Capt.  Lewis  C. 
Allen,  was  recruited  in  New  Haven.  Company  G,  Capt.  John 

16 


122  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

M.  Tracy,  was  mainly  from  New  Britain ;  New  Haven  fur 
nishing  a  first  lieutenant  and  four  men,  and  twelve  being 
from  Farmington.  Company  H,  Capt.  Henry  Biebel,  another 
German  company,  received  its  officers,  and  fourteen  men, 
from  Bridgeport :  Meriden  furnished  twenty-four,  and  New 
Haven  twenty-three.  Company  I,  Capt.  Thomas  Boudren, 
was  mainly  from  Bridgeport :  ten  were  from  Trumbull,  and 
a  squad  from  adjoining  towns.  New  Haven  furnished  the 
officers,  and  most  of  the  men,  of  Company  K,  Capt.  Henry 
G.  Gerrish :  eight  were  from  Hamdeu. 

The  Seventh  Regiment  represented  every  county  of  the 
State.  Of  Company  A,  Capt.  Daniel  G.  Francis,  the  first  two 
officers,  and  ten  men,  were  from  Hartford  ;  twenty-five  men 
from  Southington ;  the  second  lieutenant,  and  seven  men, 
from  New  Britain ;  and  twenty  more  from  contiguous  towns. 
The  first  two  officers,  and  eight  men,  of  Company  B,  Capt. 
Daniel  C.  Rodman,  were  from  Hartford ;  the  second  lieuten 
ant,  and  seven  men,  from  Vernon ;  and  the  rest  of  the  com 
pany  hailed  from  Farmington,  Middletown,  Portland,  Som- 
ers,  Wethersfield,  and  Bolton.  Wallingford  had  eight  men 
in  the  Meriden  company  (C),  Capt.  Oliver  S.  Sanford.  Com 
pany  D,  Capt.  Benjamin  F.  Skinner,  was  from  Danbury, 
Bethel,  and  Norwalk.  Company  E,  Capt.  Charles  E.  Palmer, 
was  from  Winsted  (Winchester)  and  New  Haven;  a  few 
men  being  furnished  by  Goshen,  Norfolk,  Orange,  Colebrook, 
and  Canton.  Company  F,  Capt.  Theodore  Bacon,  was  officered 
in  New  Haven ;  that  city  also  furnishing  a  third  of  the  pri 
vates  :  the  rest  were  from  Derby,  Waterbury,  Woodbridge, 
and  other  towns  of  the  county,  with  a  little  squad  from 
North  Canaan.  The  officers  and  half  the  men  of  Com 
pany  G,  Capt.  Edwin  S.  Hitchcock,  were  from  New  Haven ; 
and  Salisbury  and  Canaan  sent  sixteen.  In  Company  H, 
Capt.  John  B.  Dennis,  Norwich  furnished  the  officers  and 
twenty-three  men  ;  Windham  had  thirteen ;  Sprague,  elev 
en  ;  and  Montville,  Bozrah,  Eastford,  and  Griswold,  twenty 
more.  The  captain  (Gray)  and  second  lieutenant  of  Com 
pany  I,  and  eighteen  men,  were  from  Bridgeport :  Middle- 
town  was  represented  by  a  first  lieutenant  and  eleven 
men ;  Canaan,  by  nine  men ;  East  Haddam,  eleven ;  and 


DEPARTURE   OF  THE   SIXTH  REGIMENT.  123 

Colchester,  six.  In  Company  K,  Capt.  Tourtellotte,  the 
captain  and  twenty-four  men  were  from  Killingly,  the  first 
lieutenant  and  nine  men  from  Putnam,  the  second  lieuten 
ant  and  twenty-eight  men  from  Woodstock,  and  eight  from 
Thompson. 

Col.  Alfred  H.  Terry,  colonel  of  the  Second,  was  made 
colonel  of  the  Sixth,  Joseph  R.  Hawley  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  George  F.  Gardiner  major; 

Sept.  17,  amid  the  usual  patriotic  demonstrations  by  the 
assembled  citizens,  the  Sixth  took  steamer  for  Jersey  City, 
where  it  was  transferred  to  cars  for  Washington.  It  arrived 
without  unusual  incident,  and  pitched  its  tents  on  the  salu 
brious  grounds  at  Glenwood,  formerly  occupied  by  the  three- 
months'  troops.  Next  day  it  was  joined  by  the  Seventh ; 
and  both  were  brigaded  under  Gen.  H.  G.  Wright,  a  native 
of  Clinton,  New-Haven  County,  afterwards  distinguished  as 
the  able  commander  of  the  Sixth  army  corps.  It  was  under 
stood  that  they  were  to  be  assigned  to  Gen.  Thomas  W. 
Sherman's  division,  soon  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  South- 
Carolina  coast;  and  the  officers  vied  with  each  other  in  a 
thorough  discipline  of  their  commands.  They  went  to  An 
napolis,  Oct.  5,  there  to  await  the  assembling  of  troops  and 
the  mustering  of  the  great  squadron. 

By  Sept.  15,  the  Eighth  was  full ;  and,  on  the  21st,  the 
Danbury,  Norwich,  and  Stonington  companies  were  mustered 
into  the  service,  the  rest  being  soon  added.  Edward  Harland 
of  Norwich,  a  popular  captain  in  the  Third  Regiment,  was 
made  colonel,  and  was  presented  with  an  expensive  sword  by 
the  New-London  County  bar.  Capt:  Glasson's  New-Hartford 
company  had  been  presented  with  a  good  library  by  Lucius 
Barbour. 

Company  A,  Capt.  Henry  M.  Hoyt,  received  two  officers 
and  nine  men  from  Hartford,  a  lieutenant  and  eight  men  from 
Bridgeport,  and  the  rest  from  East  Windsor,  Manchester,  Nau- 
gatuck,  and  other  towns.  Company  B,  Capt.  Patrick  K.  Ruth, 
took  its  officers  and  seventy-eight  privates  from  Enfield,  and 
a  few  from  Suffield,  Simsbury,  and  East  Windsor.  Company 
C,  Capt.  Charles  W.  Nash,  was  mainly  from  New  Hartford ; 
about  twenty-five  coming  from  Granby,  Colebrook,  Enfield, 


CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Torrino-ton,  and  Canton.     Norwich  furnished  the  officers  and 

O  7 

thirty-three  men  of  Company  D,  Capt.  John  E.  Ward  ;  Leba 
non,  twenty-two;  and  Windham, fourteen.  The  officers  and 
twenty-six  men  of  Company  E,  Capt.  Martin  B.  Smith,  were 
from  Waterbury ;  twenty  from  Litchfield  ;  and  the  rest  from 
Rocky  Hill,  Woodbury,  and  Cornwall.  Plainfield  furnished 
half  of  Company  F,  Capt.  E.  Y.  Smith  ;  the  other  half  repre 
senting  Canterbury,  Griswold,  Brooklyn,  and  Sterling.  In 
Company  G,  Capt.  Hiram  Appelman,  were  seventy-seven 
from  Stonington,  and  fifteen  from  Groton.  Company  H, 
Capt.  Douglass  Fowler,  was  mainly  from  Norwalk ;  though 
Danbury,  Ridgefield,  Wilton,  and  Redding  furnished  a  few. 
New  Milford  furnished  twenty-nine  men  in  Company  I,  Capt. 
F.  W.  Jackson ;  and  Brookfield,  seventeen ;  Newtown,  Wash 
ington,  and  Danbury,  twenty  more.  Company  K,  Capt. 
Charles  L.  Upham,  was  mainly  from  Meriden. 

The  Eighth  was  well  equipped,  and  an  excellent  regiment. 
It  was  assigned  to  Gen.  Burnside's  force,  soon  to  depart  for 
North  Carolina;  and,  on  Oct.  17,  it  left  Camp  Bucking 
ham  for  Annapolis.  As  it  passed  towards  the  river,  the  de 
parting  soldiers  were  greeted  with  waving  flags  and  resound 
ing  cheers  from  proud  relatives  and  friends,  and  grateful 
strangers,  wlio  only  knew  them  as  a  part  of  the  grand  Union 
army  going  eagerly  forth  to  offer  vicarious  atonement  for 
the  sins  of  the  nation.  The  regiment  proceeded  by  boat  to 
Jamaica.  L.I.,  where  it  made  a  temporary  camp.  The  tents 
were  not  at  hand ;  and  they  were  obliged  to  sleep  on  the 
ground,  covered  only  by  their  blankets  and  the  autumnal 
sky.  Many  favors  were  received  from  the  hospitable  citizens, 
among  whom  Ex-Gov.  John  A.  King  and  Dr.  Shelton  are 
prominently  named.  The  regiment  attended  church  in  a 
body.  Soldiers  and  citizens  also  turned  out  to  a  lecture  by 
Chaplain  J.  J.  Woolly,  at  which  a  collection  of  forty  dollars 
was  made  for  a  regimental  library. 

On  Sept.  25,  1861,  the  citizens  of  Connecticut  resident  in 
New  York  met  at  the  Fifth-avenue  Hotel  to  organize  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  and  entertaining  our  regiments  pass 
ing  through  the  city.  Organization  was  effected  by  the 
choice  of  Robert  H.  McCurdy,  president ;  W.  H.  Gilman, 


THE  NINTH   REGIMENT.  125 

r 

treasurer ;  Charles  Gould,  secretary  One  of  their  first  acts 
was  to  visit  the  Eighth  Connecticut  in  a  body,  and  present 
a  very  handsome  regimental  flag.  Gen.  Prosper  M.  Wetmore 
made  the  presentation  speech,  briefly  responded  to  by  Col. 
Harland.  From  this  time  forward,  during  the  entire  war,  the 
"  Sons  of  Connecticut "  were  unremitting  in  vigilance  and 
effort  in  extending  a  cordial  hospitality  to  every  soldier  of 
this  State  in  the  city. 

The  Ninth  Regiment,  recruited  at  Camp  English,  New 
Haven,  was  composed  of  men  of  Irish  birth  or  parentage. 
Col.  Thomas  W.  Cahill  had  been  long  connected  with  our 
State  militia  as  captain  of  the  Emmett  Guards,  and  was  a 
capable  officer.  His  immediate  assistants  were  Lieut.-Col. 
Richard  F.  Gibbons  and  Major  Frederick  Frye,  both  of 
Bridgeport.  During  the  last  week  of  September,  seven 
companies  were  mustered  in.  From  this  until  November,  the 
time  was  .employed  in  obtaining  recruits,  and  acquiring  the 
discipline  of  the  service.  The  State  and  regimental  colors 
wrere  presented,  Oct.  30,  in  an  impressive  speech  by  Hon.  E. 
K.  Foster.  One  flag  was  the  gift  of  C.  D.  De  Forest ;  the 
other,  of  the  patriotic  ladies  of  the  city. 

The  regiment  was  recruited  chiefly  in  the  cities  and  large 
towns  in  the  lower  part  of  the  State.  Company  A,  Capt. 
John  Duffy,  contained  sixty-seven  from  New  Haven;  while 
Hartford  sent  eight,  and  Danbury  four.  Company  B,  Capt. 
Patrick  Garvey,  received  thirty-five  from  Meriden,  nineteen 
from  New  Haven,  and  twelve  from  Cheshire  and  Middletown. 
Company  C,  Capt.  Michael  McCartin,  had  sixty-eight  from 
New  Haven,  and  eight  from  Norwich.  Company  D,  Capt. 
Thomas  C.  Coats,  received  forty-nine  from  Bridgeport,  and  six 
from  New  Haven.  Company  E,  Capt.  James  P.  Hennessey, 
was  wholly  from  New  Haven  and  Derby.  Company  F,  Capt. 
John  Foley,  represented  Waterbury  alone.  Company  G, 
Capt.  William  Wright,  had  thirty  from  Hartford  and  vicinity. 
Company  II,  Capt.  Silas  W.  Sawyer,  contained  eighteen  from 
Norwich.  Company  I,  Capt.  Elliott  M.  Curtiss,  was  made 
up  in  Fairfield  County ;  and  Company  K,  Capt.  John  A. 
Nelson,  in  Hartford. 

The  four  regiments  called   for  were   organized.     Enlist- 


126  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

ments  continued,  apparently  without  abatement ;  and,  ac 
cordingly,  Gov.  Buckingham  issued  orders  to  accept  all  full 
companies  offering.  By  Sept.  18,  the  members  of  the  Tenth 
had  begun  to  arrive  at  Camp  Buckingham,  Hartford  ;  and,  on 
the  21st  and  22d,  two  New-Haven  companies  were  mustered 
in.  Within  another  week,  the  first  companies  for-  the 
Eleventh  had  reported  at  Camp  Lincoln,  near  the  arsenal, 
Hartford.  Enlistments  and  drilling  continued  through  Oc 
tober.  Capt.  Charles  L.  Russell  of  Derby,  who,  with  Pardee 
and  Jepson  of  New  Haven,  had  recruited  a  company  for  the 
Eighth,  was  offered  the  lieutenant-colonelcy  of  the  Tenth, 
but  declined  it,  except  on  the  condition  that  his  company 
could  be  transferred  with  him.  His  proposition  was  soon 
accepted  by  the  governor;  and  his  company  exchanged 
places  with  Capt.  Ruth's  En  field  company  of  the  Tenth. 
Gov.  Buckingham  sought  for  the  colonelcy  a  regular  army- 
officer;  but,  the  position  being  declined  by  Capt.  Frederick 
Myers,  Lieut.-Col.  Russell  was,  before  the  regiment  left,  pro 
moted  to  be  colonel.  Col.  Russell  and  Lieut.-Col.  Albert  W. 
Drake  were  both  thorough  soldiers,  good  disciplinarians,  and 
enthusiastic  in  their  military  spirit.  They  had  choice  mate 
rial  to  deal  with,  and  they  infused  their  own  zeal  into  the 
entire  mass.  Before  the  retriment  left  Hartford,  its  members 

C--  ' 

had  attracted  much  attention  for  their  soldierly  behavior. 

Of  Company  A,  Capt.  Benjamin  S.  Pardee,  twenty-six 
were  from  New  Haven,  fourteen  from  Derby,  and  the  rest 
from  most  of  the  other  towns  in  the  county.  Company  B, 
Capt.  Philip  W.  Hudson,  was  from  Manchester,  Marlborough, 
Coventry,  Glastenbury,  and  other  towns  in  Hartford  County. 
Company  C,  Capt.  E.  D.  S.  Goodyear,  was  a  consolidation  of 
squads  from  the  two  counties ;  New  Haven,  Branford,  and 
Bristol  furnishing  a  majority.  Company  D,  Capt.  Lewis 
Judd,  was  mainly  from  the  north-western  corner  of  the  State. 
Company  E,  Capt  Henry  A.  Wells,  hailed  from  Hartford 
County.  Company  F,  Capt.  Joseph  W.  Branch,  was  mostly 
raised  in  the  town  of  Spragne.  Company  G,  Capt.  Isaac  L. 
Hoyt,  was  a  union  of  a  company  of  fifty  from  New  Canaan, 
and  one  of  thirty  from  Darien  and  Stamford.  Company  H, 
Capt.  Robert  Leggett,  was  from  New-London  County.  Com- 


THE  TENTH  IN  MOTION.  127 

pany  I,  Capt.  Thomas  R.  Mead,  was  raised  entirely  in  the 
town  of  Greenwich  Company  K,  Capt.  Edwin  B.  Munson, 
represented  most  of  the  towns  of  New-Haven  County ;  New 
Haven,  East  Haven,  and  Bethany  leading  off. 

This  regiment  also  was  assigned  to  Gen.  Burnside's  expe 
dition.  The  Eighth  had  already  arrived  at  Annapolis,  after 
a  tedious  passage  of  four  days;  and,  Oct.  31,  the  Tenth 
broke  camp,  with  orders  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  rendezvous. 
Before  the  departure,  a  beautiful  State  flag  was  presented 
by  Thomas  R.  Trowbridge  of  New  Haven,  made  for  the  regi 
ment  by  his  wife  and  daughter.  Then  taking  the  steamers 
Granite  State  and  Mary  Burton,  and  hailed  by  the  cheers 
of  thousands,  the  Tenth  was  fairly  off  for  the  war. 

They  were  received  at  New  York  next  morning  by  the 
Sons  of  Connecticut,  and  breakfasted  at  the  Park  Barracks. 
The  national  colors  were  presented  by  S.  B.  Chittenden, 
Arriving  at  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love  next  morning, 
they  were  again  cared  for  with  great  hospitality.  In 
due  time,  the  regiment  found  itself  at  Annapolis,  snugly  in 
camp,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  town.  The  Sixth 
and  Seventh  had  left ;  but  the  Eighth  was  located  near :  and 
the  two  regiments  cultivated  each  other's  acquaintance,  and 
prepared  themselves,  by  constant  drill  on  the  same  field,  for 
that  severe  service  they  were  destined  to  share  together. 
Among  the  uncertain  conveniences  of  the  camps  was  the 
"  stove,"  consisting  of  a  hole  in  the  ground,  with  the  earthy 
sides  pounded  hard,  or  lined  with  stone,  and  a  subterranean 
passage  leading  from  the  bottom  of  it  to  a  pipe  or  rude 
chimney  outside.  These  contrivances  were  expected  to 
work  on  the  plan  of  a  tobacco-pipe,  but,  in  some  cases,  per 
sisted  in  drawing  at  the  wrong  end,  changing  the  tents  into 
smoke-houses. 

There  was  heartiness  and  unity  in  the  work  of  prepara 
tion  for  battle.  Strict  discipline  was  enforced.  A  school  of 
instruction  and  a  board  of  rigid  examination  were  organized. 
Drills  were  almost  constant,  and  the  regiments  steadily 
gained  in  compactness  and  soldierly  bearing.  Some  officers 
left  on  account  of  ill  health ;  a  few  were  dismissed ;  "  others," 
wrote  an  officer,  "  strong  men  physically,  found  themselves 


128  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION.  _ 

entirely  unfitted  for  the  profession  of  arms,  and  bore  the 
mortification  of  resigning  that  others  might  take  their 
places.  This  was  real  patriotism  and  true  courage." 

The  morale  of  the  regiments  was  correspondingly  raised. 
Gambling  and  liquor-selling  were  suppressed ;  offenders 
being  severely  punished,  and  their  stakes  and  stock  confis 
cated  for  the  regimental  fund.  Profanity  was  rebuked. 
Unnecessary  Sunday  labor  was  avoided.  Religious  meetings 
were  frequent ;  and,  in  the  Tenth,  an  officers'  special  prayer- 
meeting  was  held  at  the  tent  of  Col.  Russell.  Each  regi- 
girnent  also  organized  and  supported  a  Sunday  school,  that 
of  the  Tenth  attaining  two  hundred  and  fifty  members. 
Companies  had  weekly  prayer-meeting.  The  Eighth  held 
a  regimental  prayer-meeting  every  Sunday  night  at  their 
chapel,  —  "  an  enclosure  of  trees  and  earth,  with  walls  six  feet 
high,  and  no  roof."  Just  before  sailing,  about  fifty  partook  of 
the  communion  here.  The  Sunday-evening  meeting  of  the 
Tenth  was  held  in  a  clearing.  Of  these  exercises,  Capt. 
B.  S.  Pardee  gave  a  vivid  picture  in  a  letter :  — 

"There,  at  the  sound  of  the  bugle,  the  men  assemble,  and  engage  with 
marked  interest  and  solemnity  in  the  services.  The  sight  is  picturesque,  and 
to  the  Christian  mind  impressive,  especially  at  night.  Then  the  bright  camp- 
fire  throws  out  in  strong  relief  the  figures  o£  chaplain  and  men,  and  writes  in 
grotesque  characters  upon  the  dense  surrounding  thickets.  Occasionally,  a 
fresh  log  thrown  on  causes  showers  of  sparks  to  mount  in  glistening  eddies 
skywards,  and  fall  in  fading  glory  among  the  worshipers.  The  men  are 
grouped  about  in  easy  postures,  and  their  mobile  features  express  clearly  the 
emotions  of  the  hour.  Close  on  one  side  rushes  by  the  heavily-laden  train, 
jarring  the  earth  in  its  passage  ;  on  the  other  comes  from  a  camp  the 
steady,  monotonous  drum-bear.  The  bayonets  of  our  sentries  glitter  coldly 
in  the  moonlight ;  and  white  and  frosty,  as  if  snow-clad,  shine  the  long 
lines  of  the  encampment.  Solemn  prayer  goes  up  to  heaven  for  strength 
in  the  hour  of  trial,  and  earnest  prayer  for  protection  from  temptation's 
power  ;  comrades  press  home  vipon  their  fellows  the  necessity  of  safety  in 
Christ ;  tearful  eyes  and  softened  hearts  attest  the  fervor  with  which  all 
unite  in  the  petition  for  dear  ones  left  at  home-  And  so  the  hour  passes 
almost  unnoted,  and  men  are  surprised  when  the  chaplain  pronounces  the 
benediction." 

The  Tenth  was  brigaded  with  Massachusetts  troops,  under 
Gen.  Foster.  The  Eighth  was  brigaded  with  some  New- 
York  and  Pennsylvania  regiments,  and  Col.  Harland  com 
manded  the  brigade  much  of  the  time.  Details  were  made 


THE  ELEVENTH  EEGIMENT.  129 

to  assist  in  patrolling  the  city,  now  under  martial  law.  All 
the  Connecticut  regiments  occasionally  held  patriotic  meet 
ings  around  the  camp-fire,  at  which  songs  were  sung  and 
speeches  made,  graced  with  reminiscences  of  the  pleasant 
•home-life,  and  foreshadowing  the  battles  and  victories  to 
come. 

Henry  W.  Kingsbury  of  Lyme  was  commissioned  to  be 
colonel  of  the  Eleventh;  but  he  declined  the  position  to  ac 
cept  a  command  in  the  14th  regulars,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Lieut-Col.  T.  H.  C.  Kingsbury  of  the  Fifth.  All  through 
October  and  November,  recruiting  for  the  regiment  continued 
active.  In  every  county  of  the  State  engaged  in  enlisting 
volunteers  were  embryo  officers,  their  shoulder-straps  de 
pending  on  their  success.  Sometimes  the  officer  made  his 
headquarters  at  a  tent,  sometimes  in  his  office  or  at  a  hall; 
while,  not  unfrequently,  he  rode  in  a  buggy  from  town  to 
town,  holding  impromptu  war-meetings  at  schoolhouses  or  in 
other  convenient  rooms,  and  summoning  the  young  farmers' 
from  the  harvest  to  the  tented  field.  The  growth  of  each 
company  was  rapid  or  slow,  according  to  the  influence  of 
friends,  the  efforts  made  by  advertising,  and  the  activity 
and  popularity  of  the  proposed  officers.  At  last  the  regiment 
was  declared  full,  and  the  activity  of  drill  was  redoubled. 
Charles  Mathewson  of  Pomfret  was  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
Capt.  Griffin  A.  Stedrnan  was  transferred  from  the  Fifth  to  be 
major. 

Capt.  George  M.  Southmayd's  company  (A)  was  from 
D anbury,  New  Fairfield  furnishing  sixteen.  Capt.  Timothy 
D.  Johnson's  company  was  mainly  from  Stafford  ;  Ashford 
sending  sixteen,  and  Ellington  and  the  Windsors  a  dozen 
more.  C,  Capt.  William  Moegling,  was  recruited  from  the 
Germans  of  New-Haven  and  Fairfield  Counties.  D,  Capt. 
Edwin  R.  Lee,  contained  nineteen  from  Hartford,  nineteen 
more  from  Canterbury  and  Winsted,  and  the  rest  from  the 
northern  range  of  towns.  E,  Capt.  John  H.  Dewell,  received 
thirty-five  men  from  Norfolk ;  Winsted,  twelve ;  Salisbury, 
eight ;  Canaan,  six.  F,  Capt.  William  Clapp,  was  made  up 
from  Killingly,  Pomfret,  Eastford,  Brooklyn,  and  neighboring 
towns.  In  G,  Capt.  William  I.  Hyde,  were  represented  Plain- 

17 


130  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

field,  twenty-three ;  Newtown,  thirteen ;  Thompson,  eight. 
H,  Capt.  Albert  E.  Daniels,  was  raised  mainly  in  Windham 
County.  I,  Capt.  John  Griswold,  was  contributed  by  North 
Canaan  and  adjoining  towns  in  Litchfield  County.  K,  Capt. 
Charles  S.  Denison,  was  raised  mainly  in  the  towns  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Connecticut;  Danbury  furnishing  ten. 

The  regiment  left  Hartford  for  Annapolis,  Dec.  16  ;  having 
also  been  assigned  to  the  Burnside  Expedition.  They  arrived 
at  New  York  next  morning,  and  partook  of  a  substantial 
breakfast,  provided  by  the  liberal  sons  and  daughters  of 
Connecticut,  residents  of  the  city,  whose  organization  has 
been  mentioned.  Speeches  of  encouragement  and  approba 
tion  were  made  by  Gov.  Buckingham,  Gen.  Wetmore,  Col. 
John  H.  Almy,  and  others.  A  handsome  set  of  regimental 
colors  was  presented  in  the  Park  during  the  day  ;  and  the 
regiment  embarked  on  a  steamer  for  Annapolis.  While  going 
down  the  bay  in  the  evening,  a  revenue-cutter  fired  a  blank 
shot  across  the  bows  of  the  crowded  transport  to  bring  her 
to.  The  captain,  feeling  that  he  was  on  patriotic  service, 
failed  to  round  to ;  when  Fort  Hamilton  fired  a  solid  shot, 
striking  the  vessel,  and  obliging  the  captain  to  stop  and  ex 
plain  himself.  The  boys  of  the  Eleventh  were  somewhat 
startled  to  find  themselves  attacked  so  soon. 

On  the  second  day  they  arrived  at  their  destination,  and 
pitched  their  tents.  The  Eighth  and  Tenth  were  still  there, 
and  had  established  a  very  picturesque  camp,  its  streets  orna 
mented  with  young  pines.  The  soldiers  shaded  their  tents, 
and  constructed  arches  over  the  company-streets,  in  which 
the  company-letter,  shields,  stars,  and  other  devices,  were 
neatly  worked  in  evergreen,  with  red  berries  set  among  the 
wreaths.  The  Eleventh  showed  a  spirit  of  emulation  ;  and, 
though  they  had  but  three  weeks  to  remain,  they  laid  out  a 
camp,  and  went  vigorously  at  work  to  build  a  log-village  after 
the  model  of  the  24th  Massachusetts,  lying  near.  The 
Massachusetts  boys  also  took  hold,  and  rendered  brotherly 
assistance.  One  more  flag  was  unfurled  over  the  soil  of  Mary 
land,  borne  to  the  breeze  upon  a  tall,  straight  pine  pole  ;  and 
the  Eleventh  began  to  make  itself  at  home.  Here,  drilling, 
visiting,  and  trying  to  keep  comfortable,  the  three  regiments, 


BRILLIANT  NAVAL  BATTLE.  131 

with  fifty  others,  waited  while  Burnside  mustered  his  fleet 
of  war. 

On  Oct.  20,  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  Connecticut,  and  fifteen 
regiments  from  other  States,  assembled  at  Annapolis,  and 
embarked  on  thirty-three  transports  for  the  long-talked-of 
expedition  to  South  Carolina  under  Sherman.  There  were 
tedious  delays,  and  the  squadron  finally  left  Fortress  Monroe 
Oct.  29.  Two  days  out  from  Hampton  Roads,  there  was  a 
terrible  south-east  storm,  in  which  the  fleet  was  thoroughly 
scattered,  and  two  of  the  vessels  sunk.  The  ships  which  car 
ried  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  came  only  within  speaking-dis 
tance,  so  that  the  men  could  hail  each  other  during  the  storm. 
The  squadron  re-assembled  off  Port  Royal  Bar  on  Nov.  4. 
On  the  7th  was  the  brilliant  naval  battle  by  the  ships  under 
Com.  Dupont,  resulting  in  the  capture  of  Forts  Walker 
and  Beauregard  ;  while  the  troops  lay  two  miles  off  watching 
the  splendid  bombardment.2  The  Connecticut  troops  were 
selected  to  land  first.  It  was  thought  that  the  rebels  might 
rally,  and  contest  the  possession.  The  Sixth,  under  Lieut-Col. 
W.  G.  Ely,  was  on  board  the  steamer  Winfield  Scott ;  the 
Seventh,  under  Col.  Terry,  on  boats  in  tow.  Standing  in  near 
Fort  Walker,  the  steamer  ran  aground  :  the  crews  of  the  boats 
rowed  past ;  and  the  companies  of  the  Seventh  jumped  into 
the  water,  and  formed  on  the  beach.  The  Sixth  immedi 
ately  debarked,  and  joined  them.  Lieut.-Col.  Hawley,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Press,  said,  — 

"  Our  Seventh  Regiment  landed  first,  and  had  the  honor  of  taking  charge 
of  Fort  Walker  over  night.  The  companies  of  Capts.  Francis  and  Rodman 
did  the  advanced  picket-duty  for  the  night.  Friday  the  regiment  was  sent 
about  five  miles  in  a  westerly  direction,  on  an  armed  recounoissance  to 
Seabrook's  Landing.  We  caught  no  rebels,  but  found  a  large  quantity  of 
provisions  and  other  property.  The  rebels  ran  in  the  extremest  fright, 
abandoning  almost  every  thing  but  the  clothing  on  them.  It  is  as  warm  as 
June.  I  have  oranges  in  my  pocket  picked  at  Seabrook's.  The  palmetto 
is  plenty  about  us  ;  the  leaves  are  green  on  all  the  trees  ;  the  cotton-fields  are 
white,  waiting  for  the  second  picking  ;  and  sweet-potatoes  are  plenty.  There 
is  scarcely  a  white  man  left  on  the  island.  The  negroes  greet  us  with  great 
pleasure,  and  are  wonderfully  hearty  in  crying,  '  God  bress  you,  mass'r.'  " 

Gov.   Buckingham   immediately   issued   a   proclamation, 

2  Lieut.  William  S.  Cogswell,  of  the  Fifth  Connecticut,  commanded  a  detachment 
of  the  signal  cor^s  at  Port  Koyal ;  and  the  success  was  so  marked,  that  Col.  Meyer  men 
tioned  it  in  the  general  orders. 


132  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

congratulating  the  State  and  her  soldiers  that  "  the  two  regi 
ments  from  Connecticut  were  the  first  to  land  on  the  hostile 
shore ;  and,  after  the  stars  and  stripes,  the  flag  of  Connecti 
cut  was  the  first  to  wave  above  the  traitorous  soil  of  South 
Carolina." 

The  Connecticut  troops  also  made  the  first  advance  from 
Hilton  Head.  The  Sixth,  under  Lieut-Col.  Ely,  was  sent 
out  to  Graham's  plantation,  where  it  found  and  sent  in  large 
quantities  of  corn  and  other  supplies.  The  Seventh  made 
a  reconnoissance  to  the  lower  end  of  the  island,  some  fifteen 
miles  off,  and  took  possession  of  the  rebel  batteries  there. 
These  they  held,  unspiking  the  guns,  and  blazing  away  at 
Fort  Pulaski  in  the  distance.  On  the  20th,  they  reconnoi 
tred  to  Dawfuskie  Island,  in  the  direction  of  Savannah. 
Capt.  Rodman  made  his  headquarters  at  a  deserted  planta 
tion,  while  Capts.  Palmer  and  Gray  occupied  the  residence 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Lawton.  A  letter  of  that  date  says,  "  Oysters 
and  fish  are  abundant,  wild  hogs  run  in  the  jungles,  the  men 
sleep  under  shelter ;  and,  on  the  whole,  it  is  quite  a  jolly 
soldier  life  down  there  at  Braddock's  Point  Contrabands 
come  over  as  rapidly  as  they  can  ;  their  masters  watching 
the  coast,  breaking  up  boats,  and  shooting  the  fugitives 
The  negroes  glorify  us  into  saints.  Let  men  in  high  places 
or  low  do  what  they  please,  and  be  as  cowardly  as  they 
please,  this  army  will  not  fight  for  slavery ;  and  the  war  is 
a  war  for  liberty." 

Lieut-Col.  Ely  of  the  Sixth,  with  three  companies,  had  a 
skirmish  with  rebels  on  the  west  side  of  the  island.  The 
detachment  brought  in  two  fine  brass  howitzers,  with  a  val 
uable  pair  of  horses,  seventy  other  horses,  six  mules,  six 
wagons,  two  yoke  of  oxen,  and  other  property,  of  a  total 
value  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  "For  this,"  says  one  of  the 
company  officers,  "we  never  received  a  particle  of  credit, 
—  not  even  a  quartermaster's  receipt"  In  December,  the 
men  were  detailed  to  construct  the  new  fortifications,  and 
in  three  weeks  moved  their  camps  to  the  rear  of  them,  and 
took  turns  at  working  the  guns. 


CAMP-LIFE  IN   VIRGINIA.  133 

At  Darnestown,  during  September,  the  Fourth  received 
a  competent  commander  in  Col.  Robert  0.  Tyler  of  the  regu 
lar  army,  formerly  from  Hartford,  and  a  nephew  of  Gen. 
Daniel  Tyler.  With  him  their  true  "army  life"  began. 
Of  this  undisciplined  crowd  of  Connecticut  boys  he  was  to 
make  soldiers.  The  vigor  with  which  he  went  to  the  task 
indicated  how  thoroughly  he  meant  to  do  it.  He  assisted 
at  guard-mounting,  and  inspected  every  musket  and  every 
man.  "  There  were  no  uniform  coats,  and  few  presentable 
pants,  in  the  regiment ;  but,  whenever  an  effort  at  neatness 
was  made,  the  colonel's  eye  perceived  it,  and  a  compliment 
was  sure  to  follow.  Even  the  man  who  put  a  coat  of  black 
ing  on  his  bare  feet  was  thus  rewarded  for  his  pains,  and, 
though  destitute  of  pantaloons,  marched  off  with  the  air  of 
a  major-general." 3  Within  a  week,  new  uniforms  were  re 
ceived,  and  the  old  ones  thrown  away ;  and  the  regiment  was 
marched  to  Washington.  Oct.  9,  it  crossed  Long  Bridge,  and 
took  formal  possession  of  Fort  Richardson,  pitching  its  tents 
temporarily  on  the  slope  below,  near  the  river-bank. 

Company  A  was  detailed  for  the  fort :  the  rest  imme 
diately  began  "  stump-grubbing  "  about  the  fort,  Col.  White 
superintending  with  untiring  -energy ;  and  this  recreation 
was  continued  until  ten  acres  was  reclaimed  from  the  wilder 
ness  of  a  Virginia  forest,  and  made  smooth  as  a  parlor  floor. 
Here  a  matchless  camp  was  set,  overlooking  Washington  and 
the  Potomac.  The  rest  of  the  winter  was  spent  in  constant 
ly  rigid  discipline ;  but  the  days  were  without  any  exciting 
incident  beyond  an  occasional  review.  Chaplain  Walker, 
writing  of  this  time,  said,  — 

"  Looking  back  over  the  five  months  spent  at  Fort  Richardson,  the 
mind  is  confused  with  details  that  struggle  for  expression.  Time  has  not 
yet  toned  down  these  memories  into  their  relative  light  and  shade.  We 
see  them  as  in  kaleidoscopic  vision,  —  long  lines  of  snow-white  gloves,  of 
glistening  bayonets,  of  polished  brass,  and  spotless  uniforms,  mixed  up 
with  carriage-loads  of  ladies,  officers  on  horseback,  flags,  and  cannon- 
smoke  ;  and,  with  these,  soberer  bits  of  glass  in  the  shape  of  sling-carts, 
statuary,  and  spread  eagles ;  and  again,  stumps,  picks,  shovels,  and  the 
like,  set  off  by  mud  and  cold  and  wind  ;  and  these  again  relieved  b'y  gor 
geous  sunrises  and  sunsets,  lovely  days  and  nights,  and  the  ever-changing, 

8  Anniversary  Address,  Chaplain  Walker,  p.  49. 


134  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

ever-charming  views  from  the  summit  of  the  hill.  Turn  the  glass,  and 
again  we  have  the  same  things  in  different  combinations.  But  in  every 
scene  may  be  detected  the  vigilant  eye  of  our  commander,  scrutinizing 
every  thing,  approving  every  soldierly  act  or  trait,  and  punishing  with 
rigor  each  minute  offense  against  perfect  military  discipline." 

A  correspondent  of  the  Philadelphia  Press  said,  "  It  is 
a  picturesque  camp,  a  model  of  military  neatness.  Com 
fort,  economy,  and  discipline  are  marked.  These  Yankees 
are  a  great  people.  They  carry  their  good  order  and  steady 
habits  everywhere.  In  every  thing,  there  is  the  precision  of 
the  regular  army.  I  have  seldom  seen  a  finer  body  of  men." 

During  these  last  months  of  1861,  the  Fifth  was  still 
engaged  in  the  most  arduous  and  disagreeable  duty  known 
to  a  soldier's  life,  —  holding  a  long  picket-line  in  the  face 
of  an  alert  enemy,  exposed  to  snow  and  sleet,  without  any 
winter-quarters,  and  without  comfortable  tents.  In  October, 
it  moved  from  Darnestown  to  re-inforce  Gen.  Stone.  March 
ing  all  night,  it  reached  Edwards'  Ferry  the  morning  after 
the  disastrous  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff;  and  was  ordered  to 
cross  the  river,  and  renew  the  attack.  The  order  was 
countermanded,  and  the  regiment  went  into  temporary 
camp  at  Muddy  Branch.  Dec.  19,  a  company  crossed  the 
Potomac,  and  burnt  the  mill  being  used  by  the  rebels  at 
Dam  Number  Five.  The  regiment  came  near  losing  Col. 
Ferry,  prostrated  in  Washington  with  fever;  but  he  re 
turned  in  three  weeks,  and  was  warmly  welcomed.  During 
the  winter,  we  find  the  Fifth  successively  at  Darnestown, 
Rockville,  Frederick,  Monocacy,  Edwards'  Ferry,  Williams- 
port,  Harper's  Ferry,  Jefferson,  Hagerstown,  Hancock,  and 
in  detachments  at  all  the  fords  intervening.  The  first  of 
December,  their  discomfort  was  materially  modified  by  the 
receipt  of  a  full  set  of  Sibley  tents.  The  winter  was  spent 
in  ceaseless  movements  along  the  river,  in  which  a  degree  of 
celerity  was  exhibited,  which  won  for  the  Fifth  the  sobri 
quet  of  "  the  foot  cavalry." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Extra  Session  of  the  Legislature.  —  Governor's  Message.  —  A  Carte  Blanche.  —  More 
Regiments  authorized.  —  Gen.  Butler  and  the  Twelfth. — A  Light  Battery  and  a 
Battalion  of  Cavalry. — At  Meriden. —  Off  for  the  War.  —  The  Ninth  badly 
equipped.  —  Twelfth  in  Camp  at  Hartford.  —  Thirteenth  in  Barracks  at  New  Haven. 
—  Ninth  and  Twelfth  at  Ship  Island.  — Blockading.  —  The  "  Stone  Fleet."  —Effect 
on  the  Harhors  of  the  South. 

HEN  Gov.  Buckingham  issued  orders  in  Septem 
ber,  1861,  for  the  formation  of  the  Tenth  Regi 
ment,  he  had  reached  the  limit  set  by  the 
General  Assembly  at  its  May  session.  He 
therefore  issued  his  proclamation  on  the  25th, 
convening  the  Assembly  to  consider  what  more  the  grow 
ing  power  of  the  Rebellion  demanded  from  Connecticut,  and 
to  provide  for  the  payment,  by  the  State,  of  its  proportion 
($308,214)  of  the  direct  tax  imposed  by  Congress  at  its 
July  session. 

The  legislature  met  on  the  9th  of  October  following. 
Mr.  Brandagee  being  disabled  by  illness,  Hon.  Henry  C. 
Doming  of  Hartford  was  elected  speaker  pro  tern,  by  accla 
mation  ;  the  Republican  majority  thus  testifying  their  respect 
for  a  gentleman,  who,  elected  as  a  Democrat,  forgot  all 
partisan  feelings  when  he  deemed  his  country  in  danger. 

The  message  of  the  governor  was  terse  and  earnest.  In 
referring  to  the  war,  he  said,  — 

"  Instead  of  inquiring  how  much  we  have  done,  shall  we  not  inquire 
what  more  we  can  do  ?  It  is  a  privilege  to  live  in  a  day  like  this  ;  to  take 
a  bold  and  energetic  part  in  the  conflict  which  is  now  raging  between  law 
and  anarchy,  and  during  this  revolution,  which,  in  the  onward  progress 
of  events,  is  to  accomplish  the  wise  designs  of  an  overruling  Providence, 
to  exert  an  influence  which  shall  aid  in  advancing  this  nation  to  such  a 
position  of  strength  and  moral  power,  that  every  citizen  may  safely,  fully, 

135 


136  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

and  speedily  enjoy  the  blessings  of  freedom.  This  is  a  high  honor  within 
our  reach,  a  rich  privilege  which  we  may  enjoy,  and  a  solemn  duty  which 
God  calls  on  us  now  to  perform." 

A  law  was  passed  authorizing  the  governor  to  enlist,  or 
ganize,  and  equip,  according  to  his  discretion,  an  unlimited 
number  of  volunteers ;  and  directing  the  treasurer  to  issue 
additional  bonds  of  the  State,  to  the  amount  of  two  million 
dollars,  to  meet  whatever  expenses  might  be  incurred. 
This  liberal  action,  in  appropriating  four  million  dollars  in 
a  single  year,  and  intrusting  its  disbursement  to  a  single 
man,  evinced  an  uncalculating  patriotism,  and  a  confidence 
in  the  judgment  and  fidelity  of  the  Executive  almost  with 
out  parallel. 

Appropriations  were  made  for  the  assistance  of  the  fami 
lies  of  those  three-months'  men  who  had  been  retained  as 
prisoners;  and  the  governor  was  authorized  to  pay  the  di 
rect  tax  due  the  General  Government  by  crediting  the  amount 
on  the  claims  of  the  State. 

A  resolution  was  passed  (the  Republicans  and  one  Demo 
crat  voting  for  it)  instructing  the  comptroller  to  remove  the 
portraits  of  Ex-Go  vs.  Toucey  and  Seyniour  from  their  places 
on  the  walls  of  the  senate-chamber.1 

The  assembly  adjourned  Oct.  16,  after  a  session  of  only 
one  week. 

In  September,  it  was  announced  that  Gen.  Butler  had  re 
ceived  authority  to  recruit  one  regiment  from  each  New- 
England  State  for  a  secret  expedition  of  great  importance. 
He  visited  Hartford  during  the  special  session  of  the  General 
Assembly,  was  presented  to  both  houses,  and  received  with 
great  enthusiasm. 

He  counseled  with  the  governor  and  prominent  citizens, 
among  them  his  old  Democratic  friend  Hon.  Henry  C. 
Deming,  then  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
(elected  by  acclamation  in  a  house  largely  Republican). 
Mr.  Deming  accepted  a  commission  as  colonel  of  a  regiment 
to  be  raised  for  this  service,  and  to  be  called  "  The  Charter- 
oak  Regiment,"  The  other  regiments  were  to  take  State 

1  The  resolution  provided  that  the  comptroller  mi^ht  restore  the  portraits  to  their 
frames  when  he  was  satisfied  of  their  loyalty.  They  were  replaced  before  the  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  1867. 


BATTERY  AND  BATTALION.  137 

appellations  ;  as  "  The  Pine-tree  State,"  "  The  Granite  State," 
"  The  Bay  State,"  and  "  The  Green-mountain  Boys." 5 

The  regiment  thus  decided  on  became,  in  the  order  of  re 
cruiting,  the  Twelfth.  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  was  gen 
erally  so  designated. 

About  the  middle  of  September,  the  Secretary  of  War  sig 
nified  to  Gov.  Buckingham  his  readiness  to  accept  a  battery 
of  artillery  and  a  battalion  of  cavalry  from  Connecticut.  -The 
governor  immediately  gave  authority  to  proper  persons  to 
recruit  for  one  company  of  cavalry  in  each  congressional 
district,  and  to  several  persons  in  different  parts  of  the  State 
to  enlist  men  for  the  battery.  Both  organizations  were  pop 
ular  from  the  first,  and  volunteers  were  ra.pidly  enrolled. 

Oct.  22,  the  battery  went  into  camp  in  West  Meriden 
(Hanover  District)  with  about  a  hundred  men.  On  the 
26th,  the  men  were  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  for  three  years.  The  same  day,  they  elected  Selden 
T.  Porter  of  Andover,  and  John  S.  Cannon  of  New  Haven, 
first  lieutenants ;  and  William  T.  Seward  of  Guilford,  and 
Georse  T.  Metcalf  of  Hartford,  second  lieutenants.  Guns 

o 

and  horses  were  soon  furnished  them  for  temporary  use,  and 
artillery  practice  at  once  began. 

Recruiting-officers  for  the  cavalry  battalion  were  appointed, 
with  the  intention  of  raising  one  company  in  each  congres 
sional  district ;  but  the  district-lines  were  not  at  all  observed. 

Oct.  23,  the  battalion,  numbering  about  three  hundred 
men,  encamped  beside  the  battery.  The  men  were  soon 
equipped  and  mounted,  and  spent  the  bright  days  of  autumn 
in  learning  camp  and  guard  duty  and  cavalry  tactics.  They 
were  at  once  the  kings  and  pets  of  the  town:  The  people 
opened  their  doors  and  their  hearts,  visited  the  camp  with 
admiring  curiosity,  and  rarely  failed  to  leave  some  "  creature 
comfort"  as  a  token  of  cordial  interest. 

Religious  meetings  were  frequent,  and  well  attended.  A 
sentence  from  a  discourse  to  them  by  Rev.  E.  Warriner,  after 
wards  their  esteemed  chaplain,  recalls  a  conception  of  battle 

2  In  making  up  the  force  of  Gen.  Butler,  the  original  plan  was  departed  from,  and  he 
received  several  regiments  from  each  State;  from  Connecticut,  the  Ninth,  Twelfth,  and 
Thirteenth.  The  Ninth  and  Thirteenth  were  not  recruited  with  a  view  to  this  special 
service. 

18 


138  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Jt 

then  shared  by  both,  but  which  both  would  now  smile  at. 
It  is  this :  "  When  you  swing  your  saber  over  the  head  of  a 
rebel,  pray, '  God  have  mercy  on  your  soul !'  and  then  strike  ; 
and  don't  you  pray  too  long  either,  for  fear  you  may  not 
hit  him."  The  prayerful  Cromwellian  style  of  fighting  was 
more  popular  in  early  theory  than  common  in  later  practice. 

The  army-regulations  make  no  provision  for  a  chaplain  to 
any. organization  smaller  than  a  regiment;  but  the  Legisla 
ture  of  Connecticut  passed  a  special  act  for  the  commission 
and  pay,  by  the  State,  of  a  chaplain  to  this  battalion.  Rev. 
Mr.  Warriner  was  appointed ;  and  he  proceeded  to  organize 
a  church  on  a  simple  basis  of  Christian  brotherhood.  Sects 
and  creeds  vanished.  Christian  faith,  and  a  renunciation  of 
sin,  became  the  test  of  a  hearty  fellowship,  which  survived 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  camp  and  field,  increased  with  the 
growth  of  the  battalion  to  a  regiment,  and  continued  fresh 
and  earnest  to  the  final  muster-out.  It  is,  perhaps,  worthy 
of  record,  that  of  the  fourteen  who  originally  united  in  the 
declaration  of  faith,  though  they  were  among  the  most  de 
voted  and  daring  men,  all  save  two  were  preserved  through 
countless  perils  to  the  end  of  the  conflict.  Capt.  Elbridge 
Colburn  and  Sergeant  William  P.  Traganza  died  in  the  faith 
they  professed. 

Similar  church-organizations  were  formed  in  nearly  all  the 
regiments  of  our  State,  and  kept  up  with  more  or  less  ear 
nestness  ;  flourishing  or  decaying  with  the  presence  or  ab 
sence  of  a  chaplain,  the  nature  of  the  service,  and  the  char 
acter  of  officers  and  men. 

The  members  of  the  battalion,  as  a  rule,  were  men  of  su 
perior  intelligence  and  character.  Still  the  chaplain  is  sorely 
exercised  to  find  very  soon  one  of  those  anomalous  and 
versatile  characters,  occasionally  met  with,  who  "makes 
flaming  speeches ;  and  the  next  we  hear  of  him,  he  is  playing 
cards,  swearing,  shearing  horses'  tails,  and  then  living  on 
bread  and  water  in  the  guard-tent." 

Drill  was  industriously  continued  in  both  the  battalion  and 
battery;  and  recruiting  went  on  through  October  and  Novem 
ber,  when  the  men  were  mustered  into  the  service.  The 
cavalry  battalion  had  three  hundred  and  forty-six  men,  some 


THE  BATTEKY  BREAK  CAMP.  139 

from  almost  every  town  in  the  State.  Company  A,  Capt.  An 
drew  Bowen,  had  eleven  from  Woodstock,  and  eleven  from 
Hartford :  the  rest  were  mostly  from  towns  in  Tolland  and 
Windham  Counties.  Company  B,  Capt.  Charles  Farnsworth, 
was  recruited  in  New  Haven,  Derby,  and  adjoining  towns. 
Company  C,  Capt.  William  S.  Fish,  received  seventeen  men 
from  Stonington,  the  rest  from  New-London  and  Middlesex 
Counties.  Company  D,  Capt.  L.  A.  Middlebrook,  was  recruited 
in  Bridgeport,  which  furnished  thirty ;  many  towns  in  Fair- 
field  and  Litchfield  Counties  being  represented.  Major  Henry 
Boardman,  whose  reputation  as  commander  of  the  govern 
or's  Horse  Guards  had  greatly  accelerated  the  recruiting,  was 
appointed  major  of  the  battalion.  He  resigned  Nov.  18  ; 
and  Judson  M.  Lyon  was  appointed  to  succeed  him,  on  peti 
tion  of  the  citizens  of  Woodstock  and  neighboring  towns. 

The  battery  was  raised  to  a  hundred  and  fifty-six  men; 
Hebron  having  twenty-nine,  and  Guilford  twenty-seven. 
Early  in  December,  they  received  four  bronze  six-pounder 
James  rifled  guns.  With  these  they  learned  artillery  drill 
practically  during  the  ample  leisure  of  midwinter.  In  fact, 
both  cavalry  and  artillery  men  found  it  necessary  to  exercise 
to  keep  warm.  They  were  not  inured  to  exposure,  and  had 
not  yet  learned  how  to  make  the  best  of  their  accommoda 
tions  ;  so  that  it  is  not  surprising,  that,  living  in  a  village  of 
tents  in  this  high  latitude,  the  soldiers  suffered  as  much  from 
cold  as  at  any  subsequent  time. 

They  were  impatient  for  active  service ;  and  at  last  the 
welcome  order  came.  Jan.  13,  1862,  the  battery,  with  full 
ranks  and  equipments,  complete  in  every  particular,  broke 
camp  for  the  seat  of  war.  The  destination  was  not  definitely 
announced  until  they  had  turned  their  backs  upon  a  dis 
mantled  camp,  and  looked  upon  the  receding  shores  of 
Connecticut ;  when  they  learned  that  they  were  to  follow  the 
Sixth  and  Seventh  to  the  original  Secessia,  —  the  island-shore 
of  South  Carolina. 

Feb.  20,  the  mounted  men  of  the  battalion  also  spoke  their 
reluctant  good-bys,  and,  full  of  spirit  and  hope,  set  out  for 
Wheeling,  Va. 


140  CONNECTICUT   DUKING   THE   EEBELLION. 

Meanwhile,  the  Ninth  Regiment,  at  New  Haven,  had  been 
filling  slowly.  Recruiting  for  it,  though  carried  on  with  the 
same  auxiliaries,  seemed  to  be  less  successful  than  for  some 
other  organizations.  At  no  time  did  it  attain  the  minimum 
number  required. 

The  men  were  in  camp  for  two  months  in  New  Haven ;  yet 
they  received  no  muskets  nor  any  general  outfit.  One  suit 
of  blue,  of  poor  material,  constituted  their  entire  equipment. 
The  regiment  having  been  turned  over  to  Gen.  Butler,  Gov. 
Buckingham  considered  that  all  further  responsibility  was  as 
sumed  by  the  Federal  Government.  The  officers  prosecuted 
their  drills,  and  enforced  discipline,  under  every  disadvantage  ; 
and  neither  officers  nor  men  felt  much  of  that  military  pride 
which  accompanies  the  possession  of  the  burnished  arms 
and  handsome  uniforms  that  make  a  display  possible.  Feel 
ing  sorely  the  apparent  indifference  of  the  government, 
quite  a  number  were  induced  by  their  friends  to  desert, 
leaving  the  regiment  with  little  more  than  six  hundred  men. 
In  this  condition,  and  with  these  feelings,  they  departed 
for  Lowell,  Mass.,  on  Nov.  4 ;  signalizing  their  progress 
through  the  State  with  conduct  unusually  boisterous  and 
reckless.  They  went  into  camp  by  the  side  of  the  26th 
Massachusetts,  which  was  splendidly  equipped  in  every 
particular.  Here  they  resumed  drill ;  but  few  of  the  expected 
recruits  were  added.  No  arms  or  uniforms  were  received. 
Their  pantaloons  were  beginning  to  assume  various  degrees 
of  dilapidation. 

On  Thanksgiving  Day,  the  Ninth  embarked,  numbering 
about  six  hundred  men,  ragged,  unarmed,  and  dispirited, 
accompanied  by  the  26th  Massachusetts  and  a  battery,  on 
board  the  steam-transport  Constitution,  to  do  battle  for  the 
Union  in  the  extreme  South.  At  Fortress  Monroe,  Gen. 
Phelps  was  taken  onboard.  After  an  uncomfortable  voyage, 
they  neared  the  long,  low,  white  level  of  Ship  Island,  off  the 
coast  of  Mississippi.  Here  they  landed,  Dec.  3,  —  the  first  of 
Butler's  expedition,  designed  for  the  capture  of  New  Orleans. 
Muskets  and  tents  for  the  Ninth  had  been  brought  down,  and 
were  now  distributed.  The  men  were  still  wretchedly  clad, 
and  it  was  midwinter.  Nearly  half  of  them  were  without 


THE  TWELFTH    KEGIMENT. 

shoes,  and  as  many  more  without  shirts.  Several  had  no  coats 
or  blankets.  Some  drilled  in  a  primitive  attire  of  blouse  and 
cotton  drawers.  The  tents  were  hardly  capacious  enough  to 
cover  them.  There  was  no  straw  to  sleep  on.  They  were 
without  transportation,  and  were  obliged  to  bring  the  wood 
for  their  fires  four  miles.  This  was  made  into  rafts ;  and  men 
almost  naked,  in  water  up  to  their  arms,  floated  it  down  to 
camp.  Chips  were  precious  during  the  winter ;  and  not  a 
shaving  was  burned,  except  for  necessary  cooking.  The  26th 
was  equipped  with  warm  blankets,  ample  tents,  and  two  uni 
form  suits  of  clothing  per  man;  and  to  them  the  members 
of  the  Ninth  furnished  a  contrast,  which  would  have  been 
amusing,  if  it  were  not  humiliating.  With  the  -buoyancy  of 
the  Irish  character,  the  men  were  hopeful,  and,  during  these 
severe  months,  sent  to  their  families  not  less  than  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  —  almost  their  entire  pay. 

The  Ninth  were  daily  detailed  to  the  performance  of 
fatigue-duty,  including  the  unloading  of  vessels,  &c.  One 
day.  they  came  upon  a  stock  of  canvas  shoes  consigned  to 
the  post-sutler.  These  Col.  Cahill  immediately  appropriated, 
receipting  for  them  on  his  own  account,  and  distributing 
them  among  his  barefoot  command.  Gen.  Phelps  could  find 
nothing  in  the  regulations  authorizing  such  an  act ;  but  the 
colonel  found  sufficient  justification  in  the  paramount  law 
of  necessity.  In  this  service,  and  in  this  state  of  discomfort, 
the  Ninth  awaited  the  approach  of  spring. 

Enlistments  had  continued  for  the  Twelfth,  and  recruiting 
now  assumed  a  thorough  and  systematic  form.  The  bounty, 
National  and  State,  was  yet  only  a  hundred  and  thirty 
dollars ;  and  patriotism  was  still  the  main  reliance.  Individ 
uals  offered  inducements  to  volunteers.  Some  towns  voted 
small  bounties.  Many  young  men  rode  from  house  to  house, 
in  localities  where  they  were  known  and  esteemed,  and  made 
personal  application  to  the  young  men  at  their  homes,  first 
rousing  their  martial  ardor  (generally  an  easy  task),  and  then 
appealing  to  fathers  and  mothers  to  send  forth  their  sons, 
with  their  parental  blessing,  to  fight  for  freedom  and  the 
Union.  These  were  the  most  successful  recruiting-officers, 
and  they  gathered  in  the  noblest  and  sturdiest  volunteers. 


142  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  Twelfth  was  rather  a  favorite  regiment  from  the  first, 
and  especially  popular  with  the  young  war-Democrats,  who 
rose  up  in  every  county  to  affirm,  on  the  battle-field,  that  our 
country  is  not  a  confederacy,  hut  a  nation.  Yet  ten  thou 
sand  men  had  already  gone  from  the  State  within  six  months, 
and  enlistments  were  slower.  It  was  Nov.  18,  when  Com 
pany  A  pitched  its  tents  about  two  miles  east  of  Hartford, 
on  a  smooth  field  owned  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  sloping  to  the 
south-west,  and  affording  abundant  room  for  evolutions. 
Eight  companies  were  on  the  ground,  and  mustered  in  by 
the  20th;  though  several  were  not  full.  By  Dec.  2,  the  other 
two  had  taken  their  places.  The  camp  was  named  Camp 
Lyon. 

Company  A,  Capt.  George  N.  Lewis,  was  designated  as  the 
Colt  Guards;  Company  B,  Capt.  Samuel  H.  Granniss,  the 
Peck  Rifles ;  Company  C,  Capt.  L.  A.  Dickinson,  the  Deming 
Guards;  Company  F,  Capt.  Sidney  E.  Clark,  the  Buslmell 
Rifles ;  Company  G,  Capt.  Lester  E.  Braley,  the  Lyon  Rifles ; 
Company  H,  Capt.  Foy,  the  Colburn  Guards ;  Company  I, 
Capt.  John  W.  De  Forest,  the  Putnam  Guards.  These  high- 
sounding  titles  soon  fell  into  disuse. 

The  fancy  of  naming  each  company  after  some  martyr  of 
the  war,  or,  oftener,  after  some  philanthropic  benefactor,  pre 
vailed  in  all  the  regiments ;  but,  in  all  cases,  these  were  soon 
displaced  by  the  company-letter. 

The  towns  which  furnished  the  most  men  for  Company  A 
were  as  follows  :  Hartford,  thirty-six ;  South  Windsor,  six ; 
Glastenbury,  six  ;  Middletown,  five.  Company  B,  New  Ha 
ven,  forty-five  ;  Branford,  seven  ;  Ashford  and  Madison,  four 
each.  Company  C,  Hartford,  eleven  ;  New  Haven,  twenty- 
four  ;  Windsor  Locks,  eleven  ;  Brooklyn,  six.  Company  D, 
Capt.  N.  Frankau,  New  London,  thirty-five ;  Waterford,  thir 
teen  ;  the  Lymes,  ten.  Company  E,  Capt.  Byxbee,  Norwalk, 
thirty-eight;  Danbury,  ten;  New  Canaan  and  Brookfield, 
six  each.  Company  F,  New  Haven,  sixteen  ;  Westbrook  and 
East  Haddam,  twelve  each ;  Chatham  and  Saybrook,  six 
each.  Company  G,  Windham,  twenty-two  ;  Voluntown, 
Sprague,  and  Canterbury,  nine  each.  Company  II,  Canton, 
twenty-six ;  Hartford,  eighteen ;  Simsbury  and  Avon,  seven 


THE  THIRTEENTH   REGIMENT.  143 

each.  Company  I,  Bridgeport,  thirty-two  ;  Southington, 
twenty-three  ;  New  Haven,  thirteen.  Company  K,  Capt.  E. 
K.  Abbott,  Stonington,  twenty-four;  Ledyard,  ten;  Canter 
bury  and  Norwich,  ten. 

It  was  late  in  the  fall  before  the  organization  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Regiment  was  begun;  and,  on  Nov.  2,  Major  Birge 
was  transferred  from  the  Fourth  to  its  command.  Within  a 
month,  at  least  the  nucleus  of  every  company  was  at  the 
barracks  (Durham  &  Booth's  carriage-factory),  corner  of 
Chapel  and  Hamilton  Streets,  New  Haven.  The  regiment 
was  the  last  to  be  raised  under  the  call  for  five  hundred 
thousand  men.  The  State  had  been  closely  canvassed  by 
a  hundred  recruiting-agents,  and  the  companies  filled  up 
slowly. 

Company  A,  Capt.  Henry  L.  Bidwell,  entered  the  barracks 
as  the  Buckingham  Guards ;  and  it  was  raised  mainly  in  New 
Britain,  Farmington  furnishing  fourteen.  Company  B,  Capt. 
Apollos  Comstock,  was  recruited  by  officers  from  New  Ca 
naan  ;  and  its  ranks  represented  almost  every  town  in  Fair- 
field  County.  Company  C,  Capt.  C.  D.  Blinn,  was  known  as 
the  Lyon  Guards;  and  ten  of  the  men  were  from  Cornwall, 
thirty-six  from  Kent,  seventeen  from  Sharon,  eight  from 
Goshen  ;  and  Canaan,  Salisbury,  and  New  Milford  made 
up  the  rest.  Company  D,  Capt.  C.  E.  Prindle,  the  Litchfield- 
county  Rifles,  had  twenty-one  from  New  Hartford ;  and  the 
rest  were  picked  up  through  the  central  part  of  the  State. 
Company  E,  Capt.  E.  Tisdale,  was  called  the  New-England 
Guards,  and  was  raised  in  Thompson,  Killingly,  and  adjacent 
towns  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  Company  F,  Capt,  J. 
J.  McCord,  known  as  the  Catlin  Rifles,  was  a  consolidation 
of  fractional  companies  from  Norwich  and  Hartford.  Com 
pany  G,  the  Hebron  Rifles,  Capt.  S.  G.  Gilbert,  contained 
eight  men  from  Hebron,  fourteen  from  Marlborougb,  and 
seventeen  from  East  Haddam.  Company  H,  Capt.  H.  B. 
Sprague,  was  raised  as  the  Welch  Rifles,  mainly  in  New 
Haven.  Company  I,  Capt.  H.  L.  Schleiter,  was  a  consolida 
tion  of  companies  from  New  London  and  Litchfield.  Com 
pany  K,  Capt.  A.  Mitchell,  the  Knowlton  Rifles,  was  raised 
in  New  Haven  and  vicinity. 


144  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Gov.  Buckingham  made  it  a  matter  of  duty  to  visit  every 
regiment  organized  in  the  State,  and  address  to  its  officers 
words  of  affectionate  counsel  respecting  their  duties,  rights, 
and  responsibilities.  "  I  remember  their  substance  well," 
says  an  officer.  "  After  telling  us  what  a  noble  band  of  men 
we  had  the  honor  to  command,  and  of  the  high  motives 
which  had  actuated  them  to  leave  their  homes  for  scenes  so 
full  of  hazard  and  suffering,  he  told  us  that  we  could  do 
much  both  to  promote  their  usefulness  and  to  relieve  their  pri 
vations.  '  Remember,'  said  he, '  that  the  government,  though 
sorely  pressed,  makes  ample  provision  for  its  defenders. 
Study  well  the  Regulations :  in  them  you  will  find  your 
duties  and  your  privileges  clearly  denned.  Whatever  the 
government  provides,  that  your  men  are  entitled  to  receive. 
See  that  they  are  thus  provided.  If,  through  the  carelessness 
of  officers  on  the  higher  staffs,  such  provision  is  not  made,  do 
not  hesitate  to  make  your  complaints  until  the  grievance  is 
remedied.  If  you  cannot  get  redress  otherwise,  then  write 
me  the  facts  fully,  and  I  will  apply  to  the  highest  power  in 
the  land  for  you.'  Then,  after  an  earnest  appeal  to  us  to 
seek  divine  guidance  and  protection,  he  bade  us  farewell. 
I  saw,  during  my  connection  with  the  regiment,  frequent 
evidences  that  the  words  of  his  Excellency  were  warmly 
remembered  by  many  of  the  officers." 

The  Twelfth  was  rapidly  taking  shape  as  a  first-class  regi 
ment.  Its  ranks  were  full.  Officers  and  men  were  diligently 
exercised  in  drill :  nothing  but  a  severe  storm  was  allowed  to 
interfere.  Snow  was  cleared  away  or  trodden  down.  "  Lieut- 
Col.  Colburn  was  enthusiastic  in  his  drill.  His  experience 
in  the  State  militia,  and  us  major  of  the  Second  Connecticut 
(three-months'  troops),  fitted  him  well  for  his  post.  Some 
times  he  was  so  engaged  as  not  to.  hear  the  recall.  The  pri 
vates  usually  did."3 

The  tents  were  of  the  James  patent,  like  the  Sibley  in 
shape,  having  a  vertical  shaft  of  hollow  iron  in  the  centre, 
which  served  as  a  chimney  :  into  this  was  fitted  the  pipe  of 
a  small  sheet-iron  stove,  by  which  the  tent  was  readily 
warmed.  A  board  floor,  rude  tables  and  chairs,  and  beds 

3  Chaplain  J.  H.  Bradford,  Connecticut  War  Kecord,  p.  134. 


DEPARTURE   OF  TWELFTH  REGIMENT.  145 

of  straw,  made  the  tents  quite  comfortable  on  pleasant 
days ;  and,  though  the  men  thought  them  hardly  habi 
table,  they  lived  to  long  for  them  again,  and  wonder  that 
they  had  ever  had  such  luxurious  accommodations. 

The  winter  was  unusually  cold  and  stormy,  and  the  men 
were  sometimes  pinched  and  uncomfortable ;  but  they  were 
much  healthier  than  the  Thirteenth  in  the  barracks  at  New 
Haven,  and  the  hardier  for  their  exposure.  The  measles  had 
quite  a  run,  and  in  two  cases  proved  fatal. 

The  camp  was  much  frequented  by  friends  and  citizens, 
and  was  complimented  by  military  visitors  for  its  neatness 
and  good  order.  The  regiment  was  thoroughly  equipped 
by  the  United  States,  through  Gen.  Butler. 

The  privations  in  Camp  Lyon  were  few  compared  with  a 
soldier's  experience  in  the  field.  The  winter  months  came 
and  passed,  with  little  to  disturb  the  ordinary  routine  except 
an  occasional  presentation  of  some  equipments  to  an  officer 
by  friends  at  home.  A  few  will  recall  the  occasion  of  the 
presentation  of  an  elegant  sword  and  attachments  to  Lieut. 
Stanton  Allyn  by  his  fellow-townsmen  of  Ledyard.  The 
company  were  drawn  up  in  line,  and  the  gifts  presented  by 
Ledyard  Bill  with  an  appropriate  speech,  which  was  fittingly 
responded  to  by  the  young  officer.  Similar  scenes  occurred 
at  every  camp  throughout  the  State. 

Feb.  24,  the  order  for  departure  was  promulgated;  and, 
on  the  following  morning,  they  turned  from  their  disrobed 
camp  to  say  good-by  to  their  assembled  friends.  It  was  a 
clear  morning,  after  a  hard  snow ;  and  the  men,  in  marching 
to  the  depot  and  loading  their  baggage,  were  chilled  by  the 
searching  wind.  At  New  Haven,  they  took  the  steamer 
Elm  City  ;  whence,  on  arrival  at  New  York,  they  were  trans 
ferred,  still  shivering,  to.  the  steam-transport  Fulton,  in 
whose  capacious  hold  they  found  warmth  and  rest.  Am 
munition  was  the  next  day  dealt  out  to  the  troops;  and, 
about  noon  of  March  1,  the  Fulton  steamed  down  the  harbor. 

A  quiet  passage  of  eight  days,  with  little  sea-sickness, 
brought  them  to  the  low  sand-beach  of  Ship  Island.  Four 
regiments  had  already  arrived.  There  was  nothing  to  eat 
except  army-rations.  An  expedition  to  Horn  Island  prom- 

19 


146  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

ised  fresh  beef;  but  the  cattle  captured  were  so  poor  that  they 
were  not  eaten  with  any  relish,  even  by  hungry  men.  Early 
in  April,  sixteen  regiments  were  reviewed,  and  the  Twelfth 
was  especially  complimented.  It  was  unusually  well  drilled, 
and  made  a  fine  appearance. 


The  Confederate  leaders  were,  at  this  time,  obtaining  their 
main  army-supplies  from  their  English  friends  by  blockade- 
runners.  In  October,  the  government  resolved  on  a  novel 
plan  of  closing,  temporarily  at  least,  the  ports  of  Charleston 
and  Savannah,  from  which  then  chiefly  the  long,  low,  swift 
craft  plied  their  trade. 

The  Navy  Department,  after  consultation  with  many  gen 
tlemen  familiar  with  shipping,  committed  the  whole  business 
of  purchasing,  loading,  and  sending  out  the  vessels,  to  Richard 
H.  Chappell  of  New  London,  giving  him  general  instructions, 
and  leaving  all  matters  of  detail  to  his  discretion. 

The  first  order  was  for  twenty-five  vessels,  of  from  two 
hundred  to  four  hundred  tons  each.  Before  these  were 
loaded,  twenty  more  were  ordered ;  making  a  fleet  of  forty- 
five  sail,  to  be  dispatched  at  once.  The  entire  coast  of  New 
England  was  traversed  to  find  forty-five  suitable  vessels  at 
prices  within  the  limits  named  by  the  government.  Mr. 
Chappell  availed  himself  of  the  services  of  J.  H.  Bartlett  & 
Sons  of  New  Bedford,  and  Vernon  H.  Brown  of  Boston. 
Ships,  barks,  and  brigs  were  purchased  in  New  York,  Fair- 
haven,  New  London,  Mystic,  Sag  Harbor,  New  Bedford,  Nan- 
tucket,  Boston,  Gloucester,  and  Portland.  A  large  part  of 
them  were  old  whale-ships. 

Great  dispatch  was  required  :  the  vessels  were  concen 
trated  for  needed  repairs,  and  for  the  better  facility  of 
loading  and  clearing,  at  New  London,  New  Bedford,  and 
Boston.  Large  numbers  of  workmen  were  employed  at 
these  ports  in  stripping,  loading,  and  rigging ;  and  numerous 
teams  engaged  in  hauling  stone  to  the  docks.  The  founda 
tion-rocks  of  several  New-England  farms  were  speedily 
shipped  to  a  Southern  market.  Masters,  mates,  and  seamen 
eagerly  accepted  a  chance  to  go  down  and  see  the  edge  of 


THE   STONE   FLEET.  147 

the  Rebellion.  For  a  time,  all  was  activity  and  bustle  :  even 
the  teamsters  caught  the  spirit  of  the  enterprise,  carried  the 
American  flag  at  the  head  of  a  line  of  teams,  and  sang  patri 
otic  songs  in  chorus.  The  arrangements  for  prompt  sink 
ing  of  the  vessels  when  in  the  right  position  consisted  of 
a  large  hole  under  the  stern,  made  before  loading,  stopped 
by  an  outer  and  an  inner  plug  secured  by  an  inside  screw. 
This  screw  could  be  instantly  withdrawn,  and  the  vessel 
would  fill  with  water  in  a  few  minutes. 

The  first  fleet  of  twenty-five  sailed  from  their  respective 
ports  Nov.  21,  1861;  while  the  second  fleet  of  twenty  fol 
lowed  on  the  llth  of  December.  Thirteen  of  these  went 
from  New  London ;  the  commodore  for  the  cruise  being  the 
veteran  Capt.  John  P.  Rice,  well  known  as  a  competent 
shipmaster.  One  or  two  of  the  fleet  put  back  from  accident ; 
but  nearly  all  were  delivered  to  the  naval  commanders  off 
Charleston  and  Savannah.  A  majority  were  used  as  at  first 
designed,  and,  with  their  masts  cut  away,  were,  for  a  time, 
ugly  customers  for  the  keel  of  a  blockade-runner  to  en 
counter  as  she  tried  to  dodge  in  or  out  on  a  dark  night. 
Some  were  used  by  the  Navy  Department  as  store-vessels  in 
various  places ;  others  constituted  the  foundation  for  tem 
porary  wharves  at  Port  Royal,  or  in  the  inlets  where  our 
navy  was  employed  :  not  one,  it  is  believed,  "  lived "  to 
return. 

Foreign  sympathizers  with  the  Rebellion  denounced  this  as 
an  act  of  vandalism  more  atrocious  than  the  bombardment 
of  a  city.  In  the  results,  the  moral  effect  was  evidently  greater 
than  the  physical :  the  rebels  and  their  friends  were  badly 
frightened,  and  this  "  feeling  of  the  enemy  "  drew  their  fire. 
In  a  few  months,  the  obstructed  channels  were  replaced  by 
new  courses  for  the  water ;  and  probably,  at  the  present  day, 
hardly  a  trace  of  the  stone  fleet  remains.  Blockade-running 
was  checked,  driven  to  Wilmington  and  other  ports,  and 
rendered  less  safe  and  profitable.  Mr.  Chappell's  account 
of  disbursements  was  accepted  by  the  government,  and  set 
tled  at  once ;  and  he  was  thanked  for  the  promptness,  integ 
rity,  and  efficiency  he  had  displayed. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Patriotic  Benevolence.  —  The  Regiments  in  the  Field  supplied. —  Sewing  and  Knitting. 

-  Thanksgiving    Day.  —  Soldiers'-aid     Societies.  —  Systematic     Effort.  —  Alfred 

Walker.  —  Thirteenth   at  New   Haven.  —  A  " Dandy   Regiment."— Off    for    Ship 

Island.  —  The  Ninth.  —  Dash  at  Biloxi  and  Pass  Christian.  — Victory.  —  Trophies, 

and  Thanks  of  Gen.  Butler.  —  Capture  of  New  Orleans. 

HE  generous  beneficence  of  our  people  had  now 
subsided  from  the  sudden  flash  to  the  steady 
glow.  Our  women,  with  eyes  ever  towards  the 
front,  were  quick  to  discern  wherein  their  first 
spasmodic  exertions  had  been  well  and  wherein 
ill  directed,  and  went  forward  more  thoughtfully  to  wiser 
efforts. 

For  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Regiments,  the  proper  authorities, 
having  time  to  act,  provided  uniforms,  with  tolerable  quar 
ters  and  rations,  and  left  little  for  citizens  to  do  in  these  re 
spects.  That  which  was  done  in  other  respects  for  the  first 
three  regiments  was  done  for  them,  less  profusely,  but  more 
judiciously. 

With  these  regiments,  the  making  of  havelocks  ended; 
the  soldiers  having  found  that  green  leaves  in  the  hat  were 
more  convenient,  and  quite  as  serviceable. 

The  friends  of  the  Fourth  promptly  supplied  the  regi 
mental  hospital  with  every  thing  which  affection  suggested 
and  good  judgment  approved ;  sent  many  boxes  to  the 
"  boys"  in  the  various  companies ;  and  in  the  autumn  supplied, 
for  a  time,  nearly  all  the  clothing  and  shoes  which  the  regi 
ment  had.  The  Fifth  reached  Harper's  Ferry  on  Aug.  4 ; 
and  by  the  10th  a  large  consignment  of  miscellaneous 
supplies  had  been  sent  by  the  people  of  Southbury  and 
Woodbury  to  the  Woodbury  company,  —  enough,  in  fact, 

148 


KNITTING-CIRCLES   THROUGHOUT    THE   STATE.  149 

distributed  with  a  soldier's  generosity,  to  scatter  some 
comfort  through  the  entire  regiment,  as  is  indicated  by  a 
grateful  acknowledgment  from  Col.  Ferry. 

This  was  but  the  first  of  many  welcome  boxes  and  barrels 
from  these  and  other  towns. 

The  hospital  of  the  regiment  was  provided  with  bedding 
of  every  sort;  with  medicines,  fruits,  jellies,  wines,  for  the 
sick  and  the  convalescent.  The  hospitals  of  the  regiments 
in  camp  in  the  State  were  similarly  provided,  so  far  as  was 
necessary.  Those  who  fell  sick  were  generally  sent  to 
their  homes  to  recover,  except  in  cases  of  contagious  mala 
dies  ;  and  the  ladies  promptly  provided  every  thing  they 
could  to  alleviate  these  cases.  As  soon  as  cold  weather 
came  on,  knitting-circles  were  formed.  Among  the  earliest 
were  those  at  Norwalk,  which  met  on  Tuesday  and  Friday 
evenings  of  each  week,  at  different  houses  conveniently  situ 
ated.  On  Dec.  20,  one  hundred  and  eight  were  present,  all 
busily  rattling  the  nimble  needles.  A  box  of  mittens  and 
stocking-s  to  the  Fifth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  another 

o  ' 

to  the  Eighth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  were  early  fruits  of 
their  diligent  labors.  Many  boxes  followed. 

Soon,  in  circles,  or  at  their  houses,  women  all  over  the 
Sta.te  were  knitting.  This  method  of  manifesting  practical 
patriotism  was  particularly  popular  among  the  old  ladies. 
Mrs.  Abiah  Cady  of  Plainfield,  the  widow  of  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  then  ninety-four  years  of  age,  finished,  in  six  weeks, 
ten  pairs  of  stockings  for  the  boys  from  that  town.  Mrs. 
Prudence  Stoddard  of  Norwich,  then  almost  a  century  old, 
was  almost  constantly  busied  in  the  same  way.  She  had 
knitted  stockings  for  soldiers  in  three  wars. 

Hon.  Henry  S.  Sanford  of  Derby,  our  minister  at  the 
court  of  Holland,  and  one  of  the  most  accomplished  repre 
sentatives  of  America  abroad,  sent  home,  as  a  present  to  the 
State,  two  handsome  steel  cannon.  His  patriotism  was 
shown  in  similar  gifts  to  some  other  States. 

When  Thanksgiving  approached,  a  goodly  quantity  of 
poultry  and  pumpkin-pies  were  dispatched  from  various 
towns  to  the  men  in  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  in  the  field,  and  to 
the  Eighth  and  Tenth  at  Annapolis.  The  happy  recipients 


150  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

did  their  best  to  enjoy  the  day  in  New-England  style ;  and 
the  remembrance  made  their  hearts  warm  and  grateful,  in 
spite  of  the  fact,  that,  in  many  cases,  the  uneasy  chickens 
and  pumpkin-pies  had  performed  a  good  many  revolutions. 

The  ladies  of  Meriden  bountifully  supplied  the  First  Cav 
alry  and  First  Battery  in  Camp  Tyler  (at  Hanover) ;  the 
citizens  of  other  places  sent  in  a  considerable  quantity  of 
provisions  suitable  to  the  day  for  troops  encamped  in  their 
vicinity;  while  Mr.  B.  F.  Mansfield  of  New  Haven,  then 
United-States  commissary l  for  this  State  and  Rhode  Island, 
supplied  deficiencies  in  all  the  camps  at  his  own  personal 
expense.  The  Thirteenth  Regiment,  in  barracks  at  New 
Haven,  passed,  as  a  regiment,  enthusiastic  resolutions  of 
thanks  to  Mr.  Mansfield  :  and  other  regiments,  through  their 

•*  O  O 

officers,  handsomely  acknowledged  his  welcome  donations. 

The  Sixth  and  Seventh  Regiments  had  received,  before 
their  departure  for  Hilton  Head,  hospital-supplies,  packages 
of  books  and  papers,  and  a  large  number  of  boxes  sent  by 
friends  to  individual  soldiers. 

The  Eighth  and  Tenth  Regiments,  which  remained  longer 
at  Annapolis,  received  large  donations  of  books,  papers,  cloth 
ing,  and  delicacies,  both  for  the  hospital  and  for  general  dis 
tribution,  from  Norwich,  Mystic,  Bridgeport,  New  Haven, 
Norwalk,  Washington,  and  other  towns. 

The  ladies  of  Bridgeport  organized  a  soldiers'-aid  societj* 
on  the  15th  day  of  April,  and  those  of  Middletown  on  the 
20th,  and  those  of  a  very  few  other  towns  about  the  same 
time. 

But  during  the  summer  the  work  for  soldiers  was  chiefly 
in  disconnected  efforts,  by  families  or  groups  of  families,  for 
a  soldier  or  squad  from  their  own  neighborhood,  or  in  re- 

1  Mr.  Mansfield,  as  a  militia-officer,  was  somewhat  acquainted  with  military  methods. 
Col.  Loomis,  the  United-States  mustering-officcr,  who  was  a  total  stranger  in  .New  Haven, 
finding  him  thoroughly  competent,  immediately  requested  him  to  prepare  the  camps  of 
the  three-months'  regiments,  and  then  to  provide  rations  and  all  kinds  of  supplies.  This 
he  performed  faithfully,  without  compensation,  until  the  three  regiments  left  for  the  field. 
Col.  Loomis  recommended  him  to  his  successor,  and  also  to  Col.  Tomkins  and  others  in 
New  York,  who  secured  his  permanent  services  as  deputy  commissary  for  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island.  In  this  capacity,  he  supplied,  besides  many  other  troops,  all  the  regi 
ments  raised  in  our  State,  until  a  regular  United-.- tates  post  was  established  at  Grape-vine 
Point  in  the  latter  part  of  18G3. 

He  made  numerous  journeys  to  the  army  on  business  of  the  supply  department,  carry 
ing  and  bringing  always  messages  and  packages  by  the  hundred,  and  distributing  often, 
at  either  end  of  his  journey,  much  more  than  had  been  put  into  his  hands. 


SUPPLIES  FOR  THE  SOLDIERS.  151 

sponse  to  some  general  appeal.  In  the  latter  case,  the  efforts 
of  ^a  large  number  of  communities  were  sometimes  directed 
to  a  single  point ;  and  superabundance  and  waste  ensued, 
while  suffering  at  other  points  was  unrelieved.  But  our 
women,  as  they  had  learned  what  to  send,  soon  began  to 
learn  how  to  send  ;  and  system  was  gradually  evolved. 

On  the  9th  of  June,  the  Sanitary  Commission  was  organ 
ized,  and  issued  its  first  circular  from  Washington  on  the  3d 
of  July.  The  response  to  the  call  was  not  very  general  or 
liberal. 

The  Commission  had  not  yet  a  sure  foothold  in  the  army 
hospitals ;  and  was,  in  face  of  English  experience  in  the  Cri 
mean  War,  scouted  and  opposed  by  the  medical  department 
at  Washington.  Besides,  the  attention  of  the  people  was 
fixed  on  the  camps  and  regimental  hospitals.  The  general 
hospitals  had  yet  comparatively  few  patients. 

We  find,  however,  that  the  ladies  of  New  Haven  sent,  on 
the  5th  of  August,  several  large  boxes  of  supplies  to  Miss 
Dix  for  the  hospitals  at  Washington.  There  were  other 
small  contributions  from  individuals,  and  occasionally  from 
sewing-circles.  The  circular  issued  on  the  5th  of  October. 
"  To  the  Loyal  Women  of  America,"  produced  a  much  greater 
impression.  Supplies  of  value  were  forwarded  during  the 
month  of  November  from  Hartford,  Mystic,  Stonington,  and 
other  towns.  Women  now  resolved  to  accumulate  supplies 
for  coming  exigencies.  Societies  were  everywhere  formed 
for  regular  continued  labor.  The  larger  number  of  these 
ultimately  became  auxiliaries  of  the  Sanitary  Commission. 

About  the  10th  of  October,  Alfred  Walker  of  New  Haven 
gave  public  notice  that  he  would  receive  at  his  furniture 
store,  and  pack  and  forward,  whatever  the  people  saw  fit  to 
contribute  for  the  Sanitary  Commission.2  Many  smiled  at 
the  idea ;  and  some  sterling  patriots  told  him  that  he  would 
not  get  five  boxes.  His  own  estimate,  though  higher  than 
that,  is  yet  revealed  by  the  fact  that  he  set  out  to  keep  his 
records  on  the  last  leaves  of  an  old  ledger ;  devoting  the  last 

2  The  effort  grew  out  of  the  appointment,  at  an  informal  meeting  in  October,  1861,  of 
A.  C.  Twining,  Alfred  Walker,  Charles  Carlisle,  S.  D.  Pardee,  Thomas  R.  Trowbridgc,  and 
Moses  C.  White,  as  a  committee  to  aid  in  furnishing  supplies  for  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers.  The  other  members  of  the  committee  assisted  from  time  to  time  ;  but  the  burden 
of  care  and  labor  was  borne  from  the  first  by  Mr.  Walker. 


152  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

two  pages  to  the  cash  account,  and  the  preceding  four  to  the 
record  of  articles  received  and  forwarded. 

On  the  17th,  he  collected  twenty  dollars  from  E.  Salisbury, 
ten  each  from  James  Brewster,  James  M.  Hoppin,  and  N.  B. 
Ives,  to  pay  for  freight. 

On  the  19th,  he  sent  the  first  box ;  on  the  23d,  the  seventh  ; 
by  Nov.  6,  he  had  filled  the  four  blank  pages,  ending  with 
box  No.  28,  —  twenty-seven  bottles  of  wine  ;  and,  wisely  writ 
ing  backwards  from  that  time,  he  notes,  early  in  February, 
the  hundredth  box ;  and  in  November,  1862,  his  record  shows 
that  he  had  forwarded  from  eighty-six  localities,  including 
New  Haven,  three  hundred  and  seventy -one  boxes  and  bar 
rels  to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  forty-four  boxes  to 
Connecticut  regiments  ;  the  whole  bearing  a  value,  at  mode 
rate  estimate,  of  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

Seeing  the  rising  tide, 'Mr.  Walker,  in  November,  1861, 
secured  free  transportation  by  boat  to  New  York,  and  thence, 
with  government  freight,  to  Baltimore  and  Washington.  The 
records  and  accounts  were  kept  gratuitously  by  himself  and 
others  in  his  store.  His  employes,  assisted  by  ladies  who 
volunteered,  packed  the  goods  free  of  charge.  By  these  means, 
the  entire  cash  expenditure  for  assorting,  packing  boxes, 
and  freight,  for  the  entire  year,  was  but  $1,242.01,  of  which 
he  collected  $1,232.03.  The  entire  task  was  conducted  by 
Mr.  Walker  with  the  exactness  and  system  of  his  own  private 
business. 

The  name  of  every  article  was  four  times  written  out,  — 
once  when  received  (and  this  time  with  the  name  of  the 
town,  and  often  of  the  individual  donor),  a  second  time  for 
publication  in  the  daily  paper,  again  when  packed,  and  a 
fourth  time  in  an  invoice  forwarded  with  the  box.  Of  the 
labor  thus  incurred,  we  may  form  some  idea  from  the  fact, 
that  at  the  time  of  a  partial  report  in  April,  when  about  one- 
third  was  done,  16,098  separate  articles  had  been  received.3 
These  minute  statements  indicate  the  nature  and  value  of 
materials  sent :  Box  No.  3  contained  twenty-nine  woolen 
blankets,  thirty-three  bed-quilts,  thirty-three  cotton  sheets, 
thirty-eight  pillows,  thirty-eight  pairs  of  pillow-cases.  Box 

3  Accompanying  this  report  of  five  months'  work  is  the  tabular  statement  on  p.  153. 


ARTICLES  YOU  THE   SICK   AND  WOUNDED. 


153 


No.  34  had  thirty-five  pairs  sheets,  fifty-seven  pairs  pillow 
cases,  thirty-one  papers  corn-starch,  eight  pounds  crushed 
sugar,  seven  wrappers,  seven  bowls  of  jelly,  nine  bottles 
of  wine,  one  bottle  sherbet,  one  bottle  brandy,  one  bottle 
peppermint,  one  bottle  catchup,  nineteen  towels,  sixteen 
pairs  pillows,  twenty-four  pairs  socks,  six  pairs  cotton  socks, 

TABULAR  VIEW  OF  ARTICLES  FOR  THE  SICK  AND  WOUNDED  SOLDIERS  ;  SENT 
THROUGH  THE  AGENCY  AT  NEW  HAVEN,  FROM  DIFFERENT  TOWNS. 


NAMES  OF  TOWNS. 

M 

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^ 

- 

1 

£ 

<§J 

JrH 
c 

<2 

I 

Sheets. 

Pillows  and  Cushions. 

z: 

-2 
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Wrappers. 

Drawers. 

Stockings  and 
Mittens. 

Bedgowns. 

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i| 

f| 

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tq 

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HI 
«* 

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i 

a 

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Lot  of  Magazines  and 
Number  of  Books. 

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Miscellanies. 

* 

New  Haven   

236 

18 
19 
3 
6 
5 
12 
22 
5 
I'*'* 
5 
13 
6 
10 
3 
12 
15 
45 
3 

12 

18 

17 
6 
7 

~2 
12 
18 
5 

:; 

ii 

3 

574 

328 
22 
32 

17 
15 
9 

31 
2 
47 
7 
35 
11 
13 

6 
39 
8 
21 

26 

ii 

41 
22 

25 
26 

ii 

26 
30 
36 
47 
4 
7 
25 
13 

1024 

223 

19 
42 
2 
32 
15 
6 
37 
5 
58 
32 
23 
15 
40 

1-3 

63 
90 
11 
1 

70 

27 
47 
16 
33 
13 
11 
11 
20 
52 
23 
55 
10 
2 
23 
7 

1177 

450 

73 
62 

288 
15 
33 

105 

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186 

7 

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762 
45 
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8 

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386 
13 

10 
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$242.75 
2.00 
3.00 
5.00 

East  Haven    

West  Haven  

Fair  Haven       

16 
8 
13 
27 
1 
101 
42 
27 
27 
49 
2 
16 
16 
59 
41 
65 
24 

21 
53 
19 
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31 
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110 

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2 
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160 
16 

Woodbridfe  .  .         .  • 

Westville  

8 
8 

6 

6 

1 

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3 
6 
12 

23 
44 
26 

20 

2.35 
14.20 

2 

2 
12 

'e 

50 

8 
'2 

'4 

17 

Wallinfford             .  .   . 

90 

2 
46 
15 
15 

80 

17 

i 

1 
11 

4 

1 

48 

27 
27 

2 

ii 
43 

61 
5 
41 
45 
21 
4 
8 
68 
41 
34 
1 

18 
2 

4 

89 
19 
6 
36 

t 

14 
19 
5 

io 

2 

io 

Prospect  

Southbury            .... 

Meriden                   .   •  • 

Orange  

Oxford                  .... 

12 
5 

4 
197 

1:2 
13 

28 

35 

io 

36 
150 

20 

5 
L86 
6 

13 
125 
5 
1 

Cheshire               .... 

Milford.  .            .  .  .  . 

North  Branford    .... 
North  Guilford 

Nau^atuck              .   .  . 

20 
5 
3 
1 
12 
12 
29 

io 
io 

14 
16 
6 

12 
2 

78-2 

7 

1-2 
2 

2 

'8 

12 
1 

'9 
10 

11 

6 

*5 

15 
12 
1 
2 
17 
6 
1 
9 
1-2 
6 
23 
16 
5 
25 

26 
4 
53 
21 
6 
18 
38 
23 
29 
73 
28 
13 
125 
41 
11 
26 
80 

21 

Q 

3 
8 

's 

1 
1 

9 
8 

10 
18 

51 

16 
L8 
33 

82 

's 

1 

24 
45 
2 

15 

i 

14 

'4 

3 
8 

'e 

11 

6 
25 

's 

6 

-6 

i 

8 

4 
17 

12 

12 
420 
30 
1 
14 

'3 
36 
4 
30 
29 
6 
18 
68 
12 

41 
1 

12 

7 
5 
4 

ii 

21 
4 
4 
12 
16 

17 

19 
14 
11 
63 
30 
101 
43 
8 
14 
34 
38 
31 
8 
2 
33 
23 

2.50 

12.00 
1.75 

102.00 

Guilford  .                ... 

Durham  

Seymour  

Wolcott    

Bethany  

Mt.  Carmel    

South  Britain          .   .  . 

Rockville  

Woodbury  .  .         ... 

Huntino'ton           .... 

Plymouth  Hollow  .  .  . 
Farmin°rton    

Northfield    

Unionville  

;52o 

9 
8 

919 

1 

Jewett  Citv  

210 

689 

1890 

:J4-1 

2tili 

2275 

552 

1312 

$387.55 

TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  ARTICLES 


13,098. 


Since  this  table  was  made  up,  a  large  and  valuable  donation  of  articles  has  come  from 
Essex  and  North  Woodbury ;  and  it  is  proper  to  add,  that  we  are  still  sending  an  average 
of  six  boxes  each  week. 


20 


154  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

six  skeins  of  yarn,  two  rolls  linen,  six  rolls  cotton,  five  bags 
of  fruit,  one  pair  of  slippers,  three  cans  sweetmeats,  two 
backgammon-boards,  one  checker-board,  needles,  thread,  but 
tons,  books,  cups,  pans,  soap,  tallow,  beeswax,  &c.  No.  232 
was  packed  with  forty-one  jars  of  jelly ;  237,  with  seventeen 
kegs  of  pickles;  239,  with  fifteen  jars  of  currant-jelly ;  295, 
with  eighteen  gallons  of  pickles  and  a  box  of  jellies ;  while 
314  was  a  half-barrel  of  barberry-jam.  These  examples  are 
selected  with  a  view  to  variety,  not  superiority ;  and  arc 
little,  if  at  all,  above  the  average  value. 

These  records  show,  too,  how  this  vast  quantity  came,  un 
asked,  by  items,  from  the  homes  of  soldiers'  friends.  The  list 
of  contributors  from  out-of-the-way  towns  with  sterile  soil 
and  scanty  wealth  is  particularly  impressive.  From  hilly 
Prospect,  containing  hardly  sixty  families,  are  donations  from 
fifty-five  persons,  nearly  all  ladies ;  from  Wolcott,  not  much 
larger  or  richer,  came  offerings  from  sixty-seven  inhabitants. 
From  these  towns  came  pillows,  pillow-cases,  blankets,  feath 
ers,  old  linen,  bandages,  sheets,  towels,  handkerchiefs,  dried 
blackberries,  raspberries,  currants,  and  apples,  jellies,  pickles, 
loose  gowns,  woolen  blankets,  books,  papers,  music-books, 
quilts,  stockings,  cushions,  grape-wine,  currant-wine,  flannel 
sheets,  corn-starch,  thread,  needles,  buttons,  cotton-cloth, 
and  yarn,  with  small  amounts  of  cash ;  the  variety  showing 
that  the  houses  had  been  searched  from  garret  to  cellar  to 
find  all  that  could  be  spared,  and  the  quality  proving  that 
nothing  was  deemed  too  good  for  the  soldier.  And  the  sol 
dier  acquainted  with  the  families  in  such  towns  reads  with 
moistening  eye  the  familiar  names,  in  these  dull  lists,  of 
patient  wives,  of  well-remembered  comrades  killed  in  battle, 
and  other  names  of  those,  who,  out  of  deep  penury,  have 
given  that  which  cost  them  great  self-denial,  perhaps  actual 
suffering.  These  records,  kept  then  as  a  matter  of  business- 
habit,  will  be  hereafter  garnered  as  an  historic  treasure. 


The  barracks  occupied  by  the  Thirteenth  at  New  Haven, 
during  the  winter  of  1861-2,  were  poorly  warmed  and  ven 
tilated.  Small-pox  made  its  appearance ;  but  a  knowledge 


THE   BRAVE  THIRTEENTH.  155 

of  it  was  kept  from  soldiers  and  citizens.  The  infected 
were  quietly  removed  to  a  pest-house.  It  was  rumored  that 
the  patients  absent  and  unaccounted  for  had  deserted ;  and 
so  generally  was  this  believed,  that  the  afflicted  wife  of  one' 
of  the  nurses  left  her  home  in  Norwich,  and  returned  to  her 
native  Scotland  !  Before  the  regiment  left  to  join  Butler's 
expedition,  ten  or  twelve  had  died  of  diseases  engendered 
within  the  unwholesome  walls.  But  the  barracks  were  not 
always  gloomy.  They  were  in  the  city,  and  patriotic  men 
and  women  constantly  brought  the  soldiers  comforts  and 
luxuries.  Quartets  came  and  sang  to  them,  and  orators 
lectured  in  their  chapel.  Prayer-meetings  were  numerously 
attended.  A  temperance  society  was  formed,  and  large  num 
bers  signed  the  pledge.  In  "this  connection,  the  soldiers 
mention  Rev.  Mr.  Dudley  with  gratitude. 

Col.  Birge  was  a  strict  if  not  severe  disciplinarian,  an 
accurate  drill-master,  proud  of  his  men,  and  possessed  of  a 
quick  military  mind.  He  especially  enjoined  neatness,  clean 
liness,  and  martial  bearing.  Every  belt,  shoe,  and  box  must 
be  neatly  polished  ;  every  gun-barrel  and  bayonet  must  shine 
like  a  mirror ;  every  hand  must  wear  a  glove  of  spotless  white ; 
every  form  must  be  erect  and  manly.  So  much  attention  was 
given  to  appearance,  that  it  is  related,  that,  while  marching 
through  New  Orleans,  they  were  amused  by  the  frequent 
comment  of  spectators,  "  This  regiment  is  composed  only  of 
rich  men's  sons ! "  And  Parton,  in  his  Butler  in  New 
Orleans,  styles  the  Thirteenth  "  a  dandy  regiment."  Col. 
H.  B.  Sprague,  in  his  excellent  history  of  the  regiment, 
says,  "Many  prophesied  that  our  soldiers  would  prove 
parlor-soldiers,  fit  only  to 

'  Caper  nimbly  in  a  lady's  chamber 
To  the  lascivious  pleasing  of  a  lute ; 

and  that  those  fine  clothes  would  never  tarry  to  be  riddled 
by  bullets.  A  year  or  two  afterwards,  at  the  close  of  a  hot 
battle,  Capt.  Sprague  reminded  Col.  Birge  of  these  predic 
tions.  'Well;  he  replied,  'I  notice  they  didn't  run  away 
like  some  of  those  dirty  regiments ! ' '  Drill  was  very  con 
stant  through"  the  winter.  The  men  were  mustered  in  by 


156  CONNECTICUT  DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 

squads,  at  irregular  intervals,  from  Dec.  17  to  the  date  of 
departure,  and  the  officers  on  Feb.  18.  England  was  just  be 
ginning  to  take  sides  with  the  Confederates  :  so  the  muster- 
ing-officer, 'in  addition  to  the  usual  oath,  bound  the  men  to 
serve  "  against  England  or  any  foreign  power  that  may  wage 
war  against  us." 

Orders  soon  came  to  leave  for  Ship  Island  in  the  Gulf; 
and,  on  March  17,  the  life  at  the  barracks  ended.  Mothers, 
brothers,  wives,  sisters,  and  "  another  not  a  sister,"  hastily 
assembled  to  give  a  farewell  word  of  cheer  and  blessing;  and 
see  their  loved  ones  march  away  upon  a  proud  mission. 
There  was  a  rush  and  a  shout  of  eager  citizens,  a  streaming 
of  bright,  new  banners,  a  roll  of  jubilant  drums,  a  moment 
ary  vision  of  blue  uniforms ;  and  the  Granite  State  steamed 
down  the  harbor,  and  was  gone. 

While  in  New  York,  the  Sons  of  Connecticut  paid  the  regi 
ment  many  attentions ;  and  Col.  Birge  was  presented  with  an 
expensive  pair  of  pistols  by  Robert  H.  McCurdy,  the  con 
stant  friend  of  our  troops. 

On  March  18,  the  regiment  was  transferred,  in  New- York 
Harbor,  to  the  ship  City  of  New  York,  which,  after  five 
days'  waiting,  weighed  anchor  to  join  Farragut  and  Butler 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  voyage  was  meager  of 
notable  incident.  They  had  evening  theatricals,  participated 
in  by  Sergeants  Gardner  of  H,  and  Gardner  of  K,  Corporal 
Devereaux  Jones,  and  Private  Charles  Raffile,  —  all  expe 
rienced  actors ;  and  songs  by  Jeremiah  Keefe,  James  McAl 
lister,  William  B.  Bragg,  and  Company  A's  accomplished 
Glee  Club.  The  ship  encountered  a  storm  off  Hatteras ; 
touched,  with  some  peril,  at  Florida  Keys ;  sighted  a  rakish- 
looking  steamer,  and  showed  fight,  with  Sergeant  Merrill  and 
Private  Thomas  Harrison  at  the  single  cannon ;  and,  on 
April  13,  disembarked  on  Ship  Island,  which  had  just  been 
swept  by  a  terrible  storm. 

Assistant  Surgeon  John  B.  Welch  of  the  Twelfth,  from 
Winsted,  died  while  the  regiment  remained  at  Ship  Island, 
after  brief  but  faithful  service. 


A  NAVAL  CATTLE.  157 

During  the  latter  part  of  March,  the  Ninth  was  relieved 
from  the  monotony  of  its  discomfort  by  a  raid  upon  the 
enemy.  A  boat  with  a  little  girl  in  it  being  found  adrift,  and 
brought  to  Ship  Island,  Gen.  Butler  sent  it  to  the  nearest 
town,  Biloxi,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  in  charge  of  Major 
Strong,  his  chief  of  staff  While  returning  to  the  island. 
Major  Strong  was  fired  upon  from  the  shore,  —  an  act  of  bar 
barism  which  so  incensed  Gen.  Butler,  that  he  ordered  the 
Ninth  to  cross  the  sound,  and  burn  the  town  if  the  outrage 
was  not  promptly  apologized  for.  The  force  went  ashore  in 
a  steam-transport,  convoyed  by  the  gunboat  New  London4 
and  another :  and  the  landing  was  the  signal  for  the  flight 

'  O  O  o 

of  rebel  soldiers  and  citizens  in  great  terror.  Skirmishers 
were  sent  into  the  country,  and  brought  back  the  fugitive 
mayor,  who  made  atonement  by  declaring  that  the  treachery 
of  the  morning  was  the  act  of  straggling  ruffians  over  whom 
he  had  no  control. 

Col.  Cahill  took  possession  of  the  town.  Next  day  it  was 
rumored  that  there  were  eighteen  hundred  rebels  at  Pass 
Christian,  twenty  miles  farther  west,  and  that  they  were 
about  to  move  on  Biloxi.  Col.  Cahill  and  Major  Strong  con 
sidered  the  situation,  concluded  that  the  rebels  would  proba 
bly  leave  half  their  force  at  Pass  Christian,  and  resolved 
immediately  to  sail  down  and  attack  the  place,  relying  on 
success  to  justify  them  before  their  commander  for  exceed 
ing  instructions. 

They  went  quietly  aboard  at  dark,  and  started  rapidly 
down  the  coast.  The  transport  Lewis  was  a  small,  old, 
rickety  craft,  with  a  wheezy  engine ;  but  she  carried  two 
smart  three-inch  Sawyer  guns  in  the  bow.  Col.  Cahill  had 
gone  on  board  a  gunboat  to  arrange  the  plan;  when  just  at 
daylight,  off  Mississippi  City,  three  rebel  gunboats  attacked 
them  furiously.  The  two  gunboats  replied  sharply.  A 
naval  officer  advised  Col.  Cahill  to  hurry  to  the  transport, 
and  run  her  into  shoal  water,  so  that,  when  she  sunk,  the 
men  could  get  ashore.  He  started  at  once,  and  returned  in 
an  open  boat  through  the  midst  of  the  fire.  A  gunboat 

4  The  New  London  was  formerly  a  propeller  running  between  New  London,  Conn., 
and  New  York,  now  altered  to  a  screw  punbout  with  five  guns.  She  was  commanded  by 
Lieut.  Abner  Reed,  and  captured  many  blockade-runners. 


158  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

was  plying  savagely,  with  shot  and  shell,  the  crowded 
transport.  Several  shots  took  effect.  One  passed  through 
the  wheelhouse  ;  one  crashed  through  the  cabin,  turning 
Father  Mullen,  the  chaplain,  suddenly  out  of  his  berth.  The 
greatest  excitement  and  confusion  prevailed. 

As  soon  as  the  colonel  was  within  hailing  distance,  he 
shouted  to  his  men  to  fire  ;  and  the  saucy  little  pieces  in 
stantly  replied  to  the  enemy's  guns.  The  rebel  was  now 
near,  and  broadside  to.  The  officers  of  the  Ninth  super 
intended  the  firing.  One  lucky  shot  shattered  the  rebel 
pilot-house ;  another  cut  the  tiller-rope.  The  Lewis  had  all 
steam  on,  and  was  backing  towards  shore.  Soon  the  over 
matched  rebel  gunboats  made  off,  rapidly  pursued  by  our 
own. 

The  Ninth  effected  a  landing  at  Pass  Christian,  and 
passed  quickly  through  the  town.  Two  miles  beyond,  the 
4th  Mississippi  was  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle.  It  kept 
up  a  constant  fusilade  as  the  Ninth  advanced ;  but  the  lat 
ter  fired  one  volley,  and  charged  with  an  Irish  "  Ya-a-a-a-ah  ! " 
when  the  defenders  of  the  soil  broke,  and  ran  to  the  woods. 

The  victors  scattered  through  the  comfortable  camp,  and 
made  themselves  at  home.  Capt.  Lawrence  O'Brien 5  found 
in'  the  commander's  tent  a  dispatch  to  Gen.  Lovell  at  New 
Orleans:  "The  Federals  are  landing  in  force.  I  shall 
defend  the  place.  Have  eight  hundred  infantry,  two  com 
panies  cavalry,  and  two  batteries."  The  ink  was  not  dry 
when  he  was  retreating,  demoralized,  in  the  direction  of  the 
force  that  had  gone  to  recapture  Biloxi. 

The  camp  was  well  provided  and  amply  furnished ;  the 
officers'  quarters  even  possessing  a  piano.  They  abandoned 
tents  and  equipage,  arms  and  ammunition,  food,  and  every 
thing  else ;  and  the  Ninth  loaded  the  transport  with  as  much 
as  they  could  carry  back  to  the  island.  Next  morning,  they 
again  embarked ;  and,  before  leaving,  a  committee  came 
down,  and  expressed  the  thanks  of  the  citizens  for  the  good 
conduct  of  the  soldiers  during  the  night.  The  regiment 

5  Under  the  name  of  Osborne,  Capt.  O'Brien  appeared,  in  1867,  as  a  Fenian  officer  in 
Ireland.  He  was  captured  and  confined  in  Clonmel  jail,  one  of  the  strongest  in  the 
island,  but,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  English,  escaped  the  first  night.  He  was  a  brave 
and  efficient  officer,  and  fertile  in  expedients. 


THE  NINTH  AND  TWELFTH  REGIMENTS.  159 

returned  to  the  island  in  high  spirits,  bearing  among  their 
trophies  sundry  wrought-iron  bowie-knives  (one  of  them 
marked  "  Yankee  exterminator")  and  a  beautiful  silk  flag 
(the  colors  of  the  4th  Mississippi),  carried  off  in  spite  of  the 
tearful  protestations  of  the  fair  rebels  who  made  it. 

It  was  not  difficult  to  obtain  the  forgiveness  of  Gen.  But 
ler  for  acting  without  authority.  He  issued,  before  going  to 
New  Orleans,  the  following  order  :  — 

HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF,  April  12. 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  10.  —  The  major-general  commanding  desires 
publicly  to  testify  his  appreciation  of  the  gallant  courage  and  good  conduct 
of  the  Ninth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  Col.  Cahill  commanding,  and  a  sec 
tion  of  the  6th  Massachusetts  Battery,  on  a  recent  expedition  to  Biloxi 
and  Pass  Christian. 

Of  their  bravery  in  the  field  he  felt  assured ;  but  another  quality,  more 
trying  to  the  soldier,  claims  his  admiration.  After  having  been,  for 
months,  subjected  to  the  privations  necessarily  incident  to  camp-life  upon 
this  island,  these  well-disciplined  soldiers,  although  for  many  hours  in  full 
possession  of  two  rebel  villages  filled  with  what,  to  them,  were  most 
desirable  luxuries,  abstained  from  the  least  unauthorized  interference  with 
private  property,  and  all  molestation  of  peaceful  citizens.  This  behavior 
is  worthy  of  all  praise. 

The  general  commanding  commends  the  action  of  the  men  of  this  expe 
dition  to  every  soldier  in  this  department.  Let  it  be  imitated  by  all  in  the 
towns  and  cities  we  shall  occupy,  a  living  witness  that  the  United-States 
soldier  fights  only  for  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the  inforcement  of 
the  laws. 

By  command  of  Major-Gen.  Butler. 

GEORGE  C.  STRONG,  Adjutant- General. 

Farragut  being  ready  to  attack  the  forts  on  the  Missis 
sippi,  Butler  embarked  his  forces,  and  moved  up  to  the 
passes.  There  was  difficulty  in  getting  on  board  the  trans 
ports;  and  the  Twelfth  went  to  work  at  the -old  sunken 
hulk  of  a  vessel,  got  it  afloat,  and  used  it  as  a  lighter.  Then, 
taking  the  ship  E.  W.  Farley,  it  started  in  advance  of  the 
troops.  The  Ninth  took  the  steam-transport  Matanzas. 
The  vessels  proceeded  up  the  river  near  the  gunboats,  and 
witnessed  the  first  day's  bombardment  and  the  burning  of 
the  wood-work  of  Fort  Jackson.  They  were  ordered  down 
the  river,  and  lay  at  the  head  of  the  passes  for  two  weeks, 
where  they  ran  a  gantlet  of  rebel  fire-ships  and  other 
perils.  One  night,  about  midnight,  the  men  of  the  Twelfth 
were  startled  by  a  terrible  crash ;  and  the  ship  careened  so 


1(30  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

as  to  throw  the  men  out  of  their  berths.  When  order  was 
restored,  it  was  found  that  the  vessel  had  been  struck  by  a 
sunken  gunboat.  After  the  forts  surrendered,  the  Twelfth 
was  ordered  to  garrison  Fort  Jackson,  with  Col.  Deming  in 
command :  but  the  order  was  changed ;  and  the  regiment 
was  the  first  to  ascend  the  river,  arriving  off  New  Orleans  on 
the  evening  of  April  30,  a  day  before  any  other  troops. 
The  31st  Massachusetts  Regiment,  with  Gen.  Butler  and 
staff,  coming  up  next  day,  heartily  cheered  the  Twelfth 
Connecticut  upon  the  Farley,  that  lay  at  anchor  before  the 
city.  The  first  night,  they  bivouacked  on  a  wharf;  there 
after,  in  Lafayette  Square.  Col.  Deming  immediately  went 
to  Washington  with  dispatches  from  Gen.  Butler. 

The  Ninth  were  huddled  upon  a  single  transport,  with  a 
company  of  pioneers  and  a  battery,  —  in  all,  some  eight 
hundred  men.  There  was  accommodation  for  only  two 
hundred  and  sixty  below  decks.  The  men  were  so  crowded, 
that  they  could  only  sleep  by  reliefs,  —  a  part  at  a  time. 
The  Matanzas  took  in  tow  the  ship  Great  Republic,  drifting, 
without  a  rudder,  with  three  thousand  men  on  board,  and 
towed  her  about  for  several  days  before  going  up  the  river. 
On  arriving  at  New  Orleans,  the  Ninth  was  ordered  to 
Camp  Parapet,  an  abandoned  rebel  camp  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  river,  twelve  miles  above  the  city,  where  it  was 
joined  by  the  Twelfth  and  other  regiments.  The  guns 
had  been  spiked,  and  the  gun-carriages  burned,  by  the  women 
of  the  neighborhood.  The  Ninth  soon  proceeded  to  Baton 
Rouge.  The  Twelfth  remained  at  Camp  Parapet,  attracting 
much  notice  for  its  high  state  of  discipline.  Lieut.-Col. 
Colburn  was  in  command  of  the  regiment.  He  mounted 
guns  along  the  parapet,  and  thoroughly  policed  the  old 
rebel  camp,  cleansing  and  renewing  it  throughout.  He 
insisted  upon  company-drills  every  morning,  and  brigade- 
drills  every  afternoon,  with  frequent  exercise  with  the  light 
and  heavy  artillery. 

The  Thirteenth  remained  for  three  weeks  on  Ship  Island, 
making  itself  familiar  with  its  simple  topography  and  geolo 
gy,  drinking  its  sulphur-water,  and  going  through  battalion 
movements  upon  its  snowy  expanse  of  sand.  They  heard 


THE  THIRTEENTH  AT  NEW  OELEANS.  161 

the  cannonading  and  bombardment  at  Farragut's  passage  of 
the  forts,  and  learned  of  the  tame  surrender  of  the  city.  May 
4,  they  re-embarked  for  New  Orleans. 

All  the  way  up  the  river,  the  whites  glowered  savagely  at 
them,  and  the  blacks  capered  with  excess  of  joy,  and  shouted 
;'  Welcome  !  glory  to  God  ! "  Arriving  at  the  city,  the  sec 
ond  mate  threw  ashore  the  looped  end  of  a  cable.  "  Boy," 
said  he  to  a  youth  of  a  dozen  years,  who  wore  a  Confederate 
artillery  cap,  —  "  boy,  won't  you  just  put  that  'ere  rope  over 
that  post  ?  "  —  "  No,  I'll  be  damned  if  I  will ! "  was  the  instant 
reply.  The  regiment  got  ashore,  however,  and  went  into 
temporary  quarters  in  a  cotton-yard  near  by ;  but,  as  CoL 
Sprague  says,  "  Gen.  Butler's  eye  soon  rested  on  it,"  and 
he  assigned  it  the  post  of  honor  at  the  Custom  House,  —  the 
army  headquarters.  It  was  undoubtedly  a  handsome  regi 
ment  ;  and  it  was  much  admired  as  it  passed  through  the 
streets,  even  when  it  sang  "  John  Brown  "  in  concert.  It 
was  declared  to  be  "  the  finest-looking  regiment  that  ever 
entered  New  Orleans." 6  Soon  its  ranks  were  filled  with  new 
recruits,  loyal  men  of  Louisiana ;  and  a  band  of  seventeen 
professional  musicians  was  organized.  About  the  middle  of 
June,  a  gang  of  burglars  was  discovered,  including  a  member 
of  Company  F  of  the  Thirteenth.  They  went  about  the 
city  robbing  the  people,  under  pretense  of  military  authority. 
They  were  caught,  and  four  of  them  tried  by  Gen.  Butler, 
and  hanged  at  the  parish  prison. 

Col.  Sprague  says  that  "  Butler,  at  first,  tried  hard  to  pacify 
the  people.  For  about  three  weeks,  he  used  his  influence, 
and,  in  one  instance  at  least,  his  authority,  to  cause  fugitives 
to  be  restored  to  their  masters."  In  this  purpose  he  was 
constantly  thwarted  by  the  New-England  soldiers  gathered 
about  him.  The  Thirteenth  early  won  the  reputation  of  "  an 
abolition  regiment ; "  its  officers  and  men  persistently  favor 
ing;  the  efforts  of  the  negroes  to  leave  their  masters. 

O  CJ 

6  Col.  Sprague's  History. 
21 


CHAPTER    XL 

The  Eighth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh  leave  Annapolis.  —  Storm  off  Hatteras.  —  Suffering 
and  Depression.  —  Battle  and  Capture  of  Roanoke  Island.  —  Death  of  Col.  Charles 
L.  Russell.  —  Another  Movement.  —  Battle  of  Newberne.  —  Death  of  Col.  A.  W. 
Drake.  —  Incidents.  —  Siege  of  Fort  Macon. 

[HE  Eighth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh  at  Annapolis 
waited  patiently  the  great  expedition  under 
Burnside,  in  which  they  were  to  take  a  part; 
and  the  cold  morning-air  of  Nov.  6,  1861,  re 
sounded  with  the  last  reveille  at  that  venerable 
capital.  Three  days'  meat-rations  had  been  cooked,  and  am 
munition  distributed ;  and  now  tents  were  struck  and  rolled, 
and  the  last  article  of  private  baggage  compactly  stowed 
away. 

Then  the  men  stood  in  melting  snow  around  their  fires 
again,  and  waited  marching-orders.  At  evening,  orders  came 
to  embark  ;  and  wearily  and  tediously  the  companies  plodded 
through  slush  and  mire,  huddling  here  and  there  in  groups 
waiting  their  turn.  The  Eighth  was  divided  ;  six  companies 
taking  the  bark  J.  P.  Brookman,  and  four  the  steam-trans 
port  Chasseur.  Eight  companies  of  the  Tenth  embarked 
on  the  steamer  New  Brunswick.  The  Eleventh  was  stowed 
away  in  the  propeller  Sentinel  and  bark  Voltigeur.  Before 
morning,  most  of  the  regiments  were  on  board.  Each  vessel 
was  expected  to  carry  from  two  hundred  to  a  thousand  men. 
The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  Lieut-Col.  Pardee 
of  the  Tenth  shows  the  accommodations  of  soldiers  in 
transports :  — 

"  In  the  lower  cabin  were  six  hundred  men.     To  accommodate  all  these 
soldiers,  bunks  had  been  built  of  unplaned  boards,  and  ran  in  tiers,  both 
against  the  sides  and  through  the  center,  leaving  narrow  passages  between. 
162 


A  STORM  OFF  HATTERAS  BAR.  163 

Into  one  of  these  spaces,  six  feet  long,  thirteen  inches  wide,  and  eighteen 
inches  high,  a  soldier  is  expected  to  stow  himself,  his  knapsack,  gun,  and 
accouterments." 

Companies  B  and  I,  of  the  Tenth,  were  crowded  into  the 
filthy  hold  of  a  small  schooner  where  coal  had  recently  been 
freighted,  and  had  neither  bunks  nor  straw. 

The  Eighth  was  no  better  off.  There  were  no  berths  on 
the  Brookman.  The  men  slept  in  their  blankets,  on  deck 
or  in  the  hold,  where  the  air  was  stifling  with  the  odor  of 
bilge-water.  The  Eleventh  were  huddled  together  in  the 
same  way.  No  adequate  ventilation  was  possible,  even  with 
a  windsail  rigged  down  the  forward  cabin.  It  was  supposed 
by  the  projectors  of  the  expedition  that  the  troops  would 
certainly  be  less  than  a  week  upon  these  transports ;  and 
that,  for  so  short  a  time,  they  might  be  able  to  endure,  with 
out  material  injury,  the  discomforts  of  the  close  crowding. 

Nov.  9,  the  signal  rocket  gave  notice  for  the  departure  of 
the  fleet.  Next  day,  most  of  the  vessels  rendezvoused  at 
Fortress  Monroe.  Here  the  soldier-passengers  bought  fifty 
thousand  postage-stamps,  indicating  that  they  expected  to 
have  something  to  write  about.  . 

Nov.  11  and  12  they  put  to  sea,  to  assemble  again  off 
Hatteras.  The  evening  showed  "a  golden  sunset,  along, 
peaceful  twilight,  a  calm  sea,  from  which  the  glories  faded 
only  to  give  place  to  the  mirrored  stars.  These  bright  smiles 
of  Nature  were  looked  upon  as  harbingers  of  a  speedy  voy 
age  and  brilliant  triumph."  But  next  morning,  with  little 
premonition,  a  fearful  storm  broke  upon  the  fleet,  increasing 
in  violence  from  day  to  clay.  Many  of  the  frailer  craft  were 
lost.  For  three  weeks,  the  helpless  fleet  lay  tossing  in  the 
storm  on  either  side  of  Hatteras  Bar ;  and  the  effect  of  the 
detention  on  both  the  health  and  spirits  of  officers  and  men 
was  injurious  in  the  extreme. 

"  The  history  of  this  expedition  so  far,"  wrote  the  same 
officer,  after  a  week  or  more  of  this  inaction,  "may  be 
stated  in  brief  thus:  'Delay,  misfortune.'  We  have  been 
drifted,  tossed,  bumped,  blown,  sea-sicked,  and  so  on, 
through  all  the  varied  exigencies  of  sea-service.  We  have 
long  waited  for  the  moment  that  should  take  us  towards  the 


164         CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

foe :  but  the  bar  between  the  inlet  and  Pamlico  Sound  has 
proved  an  insuperable  object  to  most  of  the  fleet;  and  so  we 
still  wait." ]  "  Vessels  are  being  lost  every  day,"  wrote  Col. 
Russell  of  the  Tenth,  a  little  later  in  his  diary ;  "  and 
things  begin  to  look  gloomy  and  unsatisfactory.  Little  prog 
ress  has  been  made  that  is  visible,  and  all  are  getting' low- 
spirited  and  dejected."  A  member  of  the  Eleventh  wrote  to 
the  Palladium,  Jan.  14,  "  The  boys  feel  gloomy  enough, 
boxed  up  in  this  tub  with  the  sick.  The  stench  is  almost 
suffocating." 

Many  in  every  regiment  were  on  the  sick-list ;  some  died  ; 
and  others  became  permanently  invalids,  contracting  disease 
which  only  ended  with  death.  Capt.  Pardee,  writing  of  those 
long  weeks  on  the  swash,  said,  "  How  can  I  describe  them  ? 
Days  of  weariness  and  danger ;  no  news  to  cheer  us ;  disas 
ters  all  around  us ;  the  skies  black  and  unpromising ;  the 
surf  beating  sullenly  the  solemn  requiem  of  the  lost ;  sick 
ness  on  all  the  vessels ;  epidemics  rapidly  extending  ;  deaths 
frequent ;  no  comforts  for  the  sick  ;  scanty  food  for  the  well ; 
water,  tainted  with  kerosene,  served  out  in  limited  quanti 
ties  ;  our  expedition  a  seeming  failure !  Oh !  the  darkness 
of  those  days,  and  the  gentle,  uncomplaining  faithfulness 
of  those  men,  none  can  describe.  I  heard  no  murmur  or 
regret.  All  looked  for  bright  signs,  and  talked  more  hope 
than  they  felt.  The  noted  grumblers  were  for  the  time  the 
stanchest  in  their  words  of  cheer."  The  days  were  passed 
with  charades,  concerts  by  Jepson's  glee-club,  theatricals, 
eucher-playing,  reading,  writing,  songs,  and  frequent  prayer- 
meetings. 

Daring  the  last  days  of  January,  1862,  the  vessels  all 
passed  over,  seventy-two  remaining  afloat  there  out  of  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty  that  had  left  Fortress  Monroe. 
Bearing  five  hundred  of  the  Eleventh,  with  Col.  Kingsbury, 
the  Voltigeur  was  beached  near  Hatteras,  and  no  tug 
came  to  the  rescue.  They  lay  there  twenty-three  days  in 
great  distress,  and  finally  got  ashore,  and  the  vessel  went  to 
pieces.  Here  the  regiment  lay,  to  its  own  great  dissatisfac 
tion,  while  its  comrades  pressed  on  up  the  sound. 

1  Capt.  B.  S.  Pardee's  Letter. 


THE  EIGHTH  AND  TENTH  AT  ROANOKE   ISLAND.  165 

The  fleet  now  cautiously  approached  Roanoke  Island,  held 
by  three  thousand  rebels  under  Gen.  Wise.  On  the  7th  our 
gunboats  attacked  the  rebel  gunboats,  and  bombarded  the 
fort.  In  the  night,  a  landing  was  effected ;  Connecticut's 
motto  of  faith  and  fortitude,  "  Qui  Trans.  Sust.,"  following 
the  flag  of  Massachusetts  ashore.  The  point  of  debarkation 
was  a  kind  of  marsh,  described  by  Lieut.  H.  W.  Camp  as  "  soft, 
slimy  mud,  several  inches  deep,  with  pools  and  ditches  thickly 
sprinkled  in."  Having  struggled  through  this,  the  rebels 
falling  back  before  them,  the  men  spent  the  remainder  of 
the  night  around  camp-fires  in  the  woods  or  the  adjacent 
cornfield,  shivering  with  cold,  drenched  with  rain,  and  with 
out  blankets ;  those  in  the  cornfield  adroitly  balancing  them 
selves  on  the  rows,  to  keep  out  of  the  water  which  filled  the 
furrows. 

Half  an  hour  before  sunrise  next  morning  came  the  order 
to  "fall  in;"  and,  shivering  from  their  comfortless  vigils  of 
the  night,  the  men  sprang  with  alacrity  to  their  places.  It 
still  rained  ;  but  the  men  were  full  of  spirit  for  the  fight,  and 
heartily  cheered  Gens.  Burnside  and  Foster  as  they  rode 
past. 

The  Eighth  was  posted  on  an  old  road  leading  towards 
the  right  flank  of  the  main  battery,  by  which  the  enemy 
might  turn  the  left  of  our  advancing  forces.  The  position 
was  one  of  considerable  responsibility,  and  Gen.  Burnside 
ordered  them  to  hold  it  at  all  hazards ;  but  no  attack  was 
made. 

The  Tenth  took  its  place  in  the  1st  Brigade  as  it  moved 
down  the  beach,  and,  by  a  wide  detour,  into  the  swampy 
road  that  bisected  the  island  and  led  to  the  rebel  position. 
Before  going  a  mile,  the  enemy's  skirmishers  were  met,  and 
pushed  slowly  back. 

A  letter  of  Capt.  Pardee,  written  at  the  time,  says,  — 

"  A  second  mile  was  passed  ;  heavy  guns  boomed  ;  rifle-shots  shrieked. 
We  heard  cheering.  By  and  by,  the  woods  showed  more  light.  We  heard 
balls  among  the  leaves  ;  we  saw  men  hurry  by  with  medical  stores  towards 
the  front ;  we  met  men  exhausted  by  the  roadside.  An  aide  came  to  us 
with  the  order,  '  Advance  the  Tenth  ! '  Col.  Russell  pressed  his  lips  firmly 
together,  and  said,  '  We  are  going  under  fire,  captain.  Forward,  solidly, 
quickly ! '  Men  came  by  with  stretchers,  carrying  the  brave  Massachu- 


166  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

setts  boys,  frightful  with  bleeding  wounds.  We  saw  the  dead  lying  beneath 
the  trees  on  either  side.  Surgeons  were  busy  at  their  vocation.  We  halted 
on  the  edge  of  a  great  clearing,  and  deployed  to  the  right  by  companies. 
We  sa^the  smoke  and  flashes  from  the  redoubt.  At  last,  we  were  under 
fire. 

"  We  had  been  pursuing  an  embowered  path  through  the  woods  :  sud 
denly  it  entered  a  broad  clearing,  where  thick  bushes  (like  the  whortle 
berry)  and  tangled  vines  netted  the  marshes.  Evergreen  trees,  principally 
pines,  were  on  either  side  ;  and  three  hundred  yards  iu  front  of  us  was  the 
famous  redoubt  of  which  we  had  been  told  weeks  before  in  Hatteras  Inlet. 
When  we  debouched  from  the  road  into  the  cleared  way,  it  brought  us 
right  in  front  of  the  rebel  guns,  and  in  perfect  range.  They  had  three 
pieces  of  artillery  fronting  and  commanding  this  clearing  ;  and  large  num 
bers  of  riflemen  perched  in  trees,  behind  the  turfed  walls,  and  under  all 
possible  covers." 

The  Tenth,  being  ordered  forward  to  relieve  the  25th 
Massachusetts,  advanced,  and  formed  its  first  battle -line 
with  precision  and  coolness,  under  a  terrible  fire.  The  left 
wins;  was  held  in  reserve.  The  riu;ht  commenced  firing;  with 

o  o  o 

a  will ;  and  it  was  immediately  opposite  this  point  that  the 
rebels  met  their  heaviest  loss.  "  The  firing  on  both  sides 
was  now  terrific.  The  right  wing  stood  up  and  fought 
nobly.  They  suffered  severely."2  "  For  an  hour  we  fought 
on,  not  a  man  shrinking  from  his  post.  Other  regiments 
were  marched  into  the  woods  on  our  right  and  left ;  but  we 
kept  our  position.  Balls  came  thicker  and  faster.  We  were 
ordered  to  lie  down  under  the  bushes,  and  stop  firing.  Down 
the  boys  piled  themselves,  and  sought  cover  of  logs,  stumps, 
and  whatever  else  furnished  protection.  Col.  Russell  for  a 
long  time  refused  to  lie  down.  A  ball  whizzed  close  to  him. 
Capt.  G.  M.  Coit  called  out/  Colonel,  that  was  meant  for  you  : 
lie  down  ;  do  lie  down  !'  The  colonel  stood  quietly  watching 
for  the  appearance  of  troops  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy. 
Again  CToit  entreated  him  to  lie  down,  and  this  time  success 
fully.  We  had  been  thus  covered  for  a  few  minutes,  when 
a  shot  came  lower  than  usual :  it  entered  his  shoulder,  and 
pierced  him  to  the  heart.  It  was  to  him  an  instantaneous 
death.  His  body  was  carried  to  the  rear,  and  we  lay  still !  " 3 
"  Bullets  and  grape-shot  flew  thick  over  the  men  as  they  lay. 
There  was  a  constant '  Hst,  hst ! '  as  the  musket-bullets  whis- 

2  Lieut.-Col.  Drake's  Diary.  3  Capt.  Pardee's  Diary. 


THE  GALLANT  TENTH.  167 

tied  past,  cutting  twigs  from  the  bushes  not  two  feet  above 
their  heads,  or  striking  the  trees  behind  which  they  were 
sheltered."  4 

By  direction  of  Gen.  Foster,  Lieut.  I.  0.  Close  of  Company  I 
was  sent  forward  to  reconnoiter,  accompanied  by  Private 
Alexander  Henderson  of  Greenwich,  whom  Lieut.  Camp 
mentioned  as  "  one  of  the  bravest  fellows  and  best  shots  in 
the  company."  They  went  out  to  the  front  of  the  battery  on 
their  dangerous  errand,  came  back  and  reported  ;  and  the 
general  ordered  an  advance  by  the  regiments  in  front  and 
on  both  flanks.  The  movement  was  executed  so  rapidly  and 
resolutely,  that  the  rebels  left  their  battery,  and  fled  ;  while 
our  men  stormed  into  it  with  a  cheer,  and  planted  their 
colors  on  the  works.  There  was  little  more  fighting,  though 
the  Confederates  fired  a  few  Parthian  shots  into  Foster's 
pursuing  columns  before  the  final  halt  and  surrender. 

The  Tenth  had  borne  itself  nobly,  and  henceforth  officers 
and  men  knew  that  they  could  fight.  The  regiment  was 
ordered  immediately  forward  to  gain  possession  of  the  Pork- 
point  Battery  ;  but  it  was  found  to  be  abandoned. 

Gen.  Foster,  in  his  general  orders  next  day,  after  commend 
ing  the  "  coolness  and  steadiness  "  of  all  the  troops  under 
fire,  said,  "The  manner  in  which  the  Tenth  Connecticut 
formed  in  line  of  battle  under  fire  of  the  enemy,  particularly 
deserves  mention."  "  The  gallant  Connecticut  Tenth,"  wrote 
a  member  of  the  Eighth  Connecticut,5  u  was  in  the  advance, 
and  evinced  a  determination  and  heroism  worthy  of  their 
cause  and  State."  A  correspondent  of  "  The  New- York 
Commercial "  wrote,  "  The  Connecticut  men  maintained  their 
position  with  the  fortitude  of  veteran  troops."  The  Tenth 
was  supposed  by  the  rebels  to  belong  to  the  regular  army, 
on  account  of  its  superior  steadiness ;  and  this  impression 
was  strengthened  by  the  exhibition  of  gray  satinet  over 
coats,  which,  at  that  time,  distinguished  Connecticut  regi 
ments  from  those  of  other  States. 

Charles  Lambert  Russell  was  born  in  the  year  1828,  in  the 
parish  of  Northfield,  town  of  Litchfield.  At  the  age  of  ten, 
he  removed  with  his  parents  to  Derby,  and,  at  the  proper 

4  Lieut.  H.  W.  Camp's  Diary. .  5  Rev.  Jacob  Eaton. 


168  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   KEBELLION. 

time,  was  apprenticed  in  a  tack-factory,  where  he  toiled  faith 
fully  until  the  breaking-out  of  the  war.  He  sought  every 
opportunity  for  moral  and  mental  improvement ;  was  a 
constant  and  active  member  of  the  village  lyceum,  and 
placed  himself  in  reach  of  intellectual  influences.  He  was 
first  a  private,  and  then  captain  of  the  Derby  Blues,  and 
afterwards  an  efficient  commander  of  the  Wide-Awakes. 
He  was  earnestly  opposed  to  slavery,  and  early  saw  that  it 
was  menacing  the  nation's  life.  At  the  first  cannon-roar, 
Russell  promptly  volunteered,  and  was  selected  by  Col. 
Terry  as  adjutant  of  the  Second;  and  he  was  mentioned  b}7 
that  officer  for  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  The 
writer  of  this  found  Russell  in  Derby  during  the  summer  of 
'62,  raising  his  company  for  the  Eighth.  His  step  was  quick, 
and  his  face  flushed  with  the  work  before  him.  "  Yes,  I'm 
going  to  see  this  thing  through,"  he  said  with  a  serious  man 
ner.  "  We  must  defend  the  principles  we  have  professed. 
Every  young  Republican  ought  to  go  to  the  front."  Russell 
was  moved  by  the  same  deep  purpose  that  impelled  Ellsworth  : 
indeed,  he  called  his  company  "  The  Ellsworth  Guard." 
When  promoted  to  the  colonelcy  for  merit  and  military 
genius,  he  devoted  himself  conscientiously  to  the  welfare  of 
his  men  and  the  equipment  of  his  regiment.  The  circum 
stances  of  his  death,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  the  first 
regimental  commander  from  Connecticut  who  fell,  gave  un 
usual  prominence  to  his  personal  career,  and  secured  marked 
honors  to  his  memory.  His  remains  were  received  at  New 
Haven  with  public  honors.  His  funeral,  at  Derby,  was 
largely  attended  by  public  officials  and  military  and  civic 
organizations.  In  general  orders,  his  death  was  lamented  by 
his  brigade  and  department  commanders ;  and  Fort  Defiance, 
one  of  the  captured  redoubts,  was  rechristened  Battery  Rus 
sell  in  his  honor.  The  presentation  of  his  sword  to  the 
State,  by  his  widow,  called  out  a  special  message  from  the 
governor  to  the  legislature,  which  was  the  occasion  of  elo 
quent  eulogies  in  both  Senate  and  House,  subsequently  pub 
lished  by  the  legislature  in  a  pamphlet.  At  the  time  of 
Col.  Russell's  death,  his  father,  Samuel  S.  Russell,  then  sixty- 
two  years  of  age,  was  a  musician  in  the  Sixth.  One  of  his 


A  SUNDAY  AT  ROANOKE  ISLAND.  169 

brothers  was  in  the  Tenth,  and  another  had  been  a  captain 
in  the  Second.  The  following  lines*  were  read  at  the  re 
union  of  the  Tenth  in  1867  :  - 

O  brave  and  generous  Russell !  well  we  know 

Thou  sought  no  vulgar  fame  or  poor  applause : 
The  sword  leaped  to  thy  hand  to  strike  a  blow 

For  equal  justice  and  the  good  old  cause.  * 
And  now  thy  voice,  as  sweet  as  bugle-notes, 

Drops  clear  and  pleasant  through  the  liquid  skies, 
Till  thus  we  catch  the  message  as  it  floats  : 

"  The  cost  was  nothing ;  for  behold  the  prize ! 
Behold  free  nations  waking  into  birth  ! 

Behold  the  hope  of  tyrants  tottering  down  ! 
For,  lo  !  the  cynosure  of  all  the  earth, 

Our  loved  Republic,  wears  her  laurel  crown ; 
And,  from  the  clod  where  crimson  rivers  ran, 
The  unchained  helot  rises  up  a  man  !  " 

Lieut.  Henry  M.  Stillman  was  one  of  four  brothers  in  the 
Union  army.  He  had  been  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday  school 
of  the  St.  John-street  Methodist  Church,  New  Haven  ;  and 
was  a  modest,  quiet,  conscientious  man.  "  For  months  before 
the  battle,  he  had  a  strong  presentiment  of  death,  and  de 
clared  that  he  should  fall  in  his  first  battle.  So  decided  was 
this,  that  some  of  his  brother-officers  urged  him  not  to  go 
forward^  but- he  refused  to  shirk,  and  did  not  allow  his  pre 
monitions  to  affect  his  cheerfulness  or  efficiency." 

Company  A,  of  the  Tenth,  was  detailed  to  guard  the  cap 
tured  rebel  officers  —  one  hundred  and  forty  in  all  —  until 
they  were  sent  to  be  exchanged. 

The  next  day  after  the  battle  was  Sunday,  which  was  oc 
cupied  by  the  soldiers,  after  religious  services,  in  making 
themselves  comfortable.  An  inquiry  of  Gen.  Burnside,  as 
he  rode  past  them,  as  to  their  "  prospects  for  fresh  pork," 
was  construed  into  a  license  to  kill  any  of  the  hogs  running 
at  large  over  the  island ;  and  their  indiscriminate  slaughter 
was  at  once  commenced.  Popping  rifles  and  dying  squeals 
were  heard  on  every  side  ;  until  it  seemed  as  if  Pork  Point 
covered  all  of  Roanoke,  instead  of  being  one  of  its  projec 
tions. 

Next  day,  many  of  the  men  re-embarked ;  and  for  a  month 
the  fleet  of  transports  was  quiet,  occasionally  making  feints 
towards  Albemarle  Sound,  or  coasting  along  the  mainland. 

22  *  By  W.  A.  C. 


170  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

Week  after  week  the  Connecticut  regiments,  with  the  rest 
of  Burnside's  force,  waited  impatiently  upon  the  transports, 
drifting  lazily  up  and  down  Croatan  Sound,  along  the  shore 
of  Roanoke  Island.  All  sorts  of  rumors  prevailed,  and  the 
weary  days  dragged.  When  the  order  came,  March  11, 
for  an  advance  on  Newberne,  this  entry  pf  Col.  Drake  of 
the  Tenth,  in  his  diary,  doubtless  expressed  the  general  feel 
ing  :  "  Started  in  the  rain  down  the  sound,  away  from 
Roanoke  Island,  of  which  we  shall  ever  retain,  I  have  no 
doubt,  very  disagreeable  impressions.  Good-by,  dirty,  muddy, 
swampy,  brackish,  diseased,  and  deathful  Roanoke  ! "  On 
the  12th,  the  entire  fleet  stood  down  the  sound,  and  that 
night  anchored  in  the  Neuse  River,  off  the  mouth  of  Slo- 
cum's  Creek,  some  eighteen  miles  from  Newberne.  - 

"  This  morning,  early,"  wrote  Col.  Drake  on  the  13th, 
"  came  the  signal, '  Get  ready  to  land  ! '  then,  almost  immedi 
ately,  the  second  signal, '  Pull  for  the  land  ! '  .  .  .  Our  big  iron 
barge  and  the  remaining  boats  were  loaded  the  first  of  any 
in  the  brigade  or  the  fleet.  A  little  tug  came  and  took  us 
in  tow ;  and  away  we  started  for  the  shore,  the  shells  of  our 
gunboats  showering  the  woods  along;  the  bank."  Other  regi- 

O  *-)  O  O 

ments  were  similarly  arranged  in  boats  astern,  like  flocks 
of  ducks.  "From  the  transport-fleet  to  shore,  the  boats 
sailed  in  a  long,  graceful  sweep,  with  flags  flying,  bands  play 
ing,  and  live  thousand  bayonets  flashing  in  the  sunshine  that 
now  streamed  over  the  flotilla.  The  picture  was  really  beau 
tiful  ;  while  the  solemn  nature  of  the  business  before  us 
lent  to  the  pageant  an  air  of  grandeur  peculiar  to  itself."  ° 
Casting  off  from  the  tugs  when  near  the  shore,  "  each  little 
boat  and  launch  strove  first  to  reach  the  land.  Nearly  every 
boat  of  any  size  grounded  within  from  five  to  twenty  rods 
of  shore;  and  then  what  jumping  into  water,  in  some  places 
up  to  the  waist!  and  all,  enthusiastic,  pressing  for  the 
beach."7  Some  of  the  boats  of  the  Eighth  landed  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the  creek,  and  had  to  return. 

The  land  below  Newberne  is  a  level,  swampy  tract,  thickly 
wooded,  with  occasional  clearings,  and  small,  bankrupt  plan 
tations.  The  road  is  simply  a  path  cut  through  woods,  with 

6  New- York-Tribune  Narrative.  7  Col.  Drake's  Diary. 


HARDSHIPS  ENDURED.  171 

rarely  a  bridge,  or  a  rod  of  corduroy.  Along  this  road, 
soaked  with  spring  rains,  splashed  the  regiments.  The  gun 
boats  moved  up  the  river,  abreast  of  the  head  of  the  column, 
flinging  shot  and  shell  into  the  woods  in  front,  driving  back 
in  terror  the  rebel  vedettes  and  pickets.  These  gunboats, 
as  dreadful  to  the  rebels  as  Attila,  "  the  scourge  of  God,"  was 
to  the  Romans,  were  simply  light-draught,  stern-wheel  tow- 
boats,  or  common  ferry-boats,  with  a  heavy  gun  at  the  bows, 
and  sometimes  another  amidships. 

All  day  long  the  weary  men  toiled  on ;  and  at  eight  o'clock 
at  night,  twelve  miles  from  the  point  of  landing,  the  regi 
ments  filed  off  into  the  woods,  until  the  line  was  substantially 
parallel  to  the  rebel  work  in  front,  and  stretched  from  the 
river  to  the  Beaufort  Railroad.  A  picket-line  was  soon  estab 
lished,  and  the  force  was  in  bivouac  for  the  night.  The  rain 
fell  steadily :  but  fires  were  quickly  started,  and  the  woods 
were  brilliant  with  the' glaring  light,  and  weird  with  moving 
forms;  while  the  dense  smoke,  rising  slowly  into  the  thick 
pines,  formed  a  lurid  and  ever-shifting  canopy.'  Many  weary 
ones  sank  immediately  to  sleep  on  the  wet  ground ;  others 
cooked  a  little  pork  and  coffee,  and  dried  first  one  side,  then 
the  other,  at  the  fire,  stirring  at  intervals  the  waning  em 
bers,  and  watching  the  soaring  sparks ;  still  others,  wrapped 
in  their  blankets,  leaned  against  the  trees,  and  dozed  away 
the  dismal  night.  The  bivouac  was  within  range  of  the  rebel 
works ;  but  all  night  the  rebel  pickets  watched  the  illumi 
nated  woods,  and  were  silent. 

Next  morning,  our  troops  were  early  astir.  "  Men  rose 
from  the  ground,  where,  with  faces  turned  towards  the  tree- 
tops,  they  had  lain  all  night,  the  big,  pitiless  drops  pelting 
them,  the  icy  cold  ground  spread  like  a  frozen  sponge  under 
them,  and  they  sleeping  deeply,  heavily,  through  the  long 
hours,  till  daylight  roused  them.  1  believed  at  least  a 
hundred  men  would  grace  the  sick-list  that  morning;  on  the 
contrary,  not  one,  that  I  am  aware  of:  and  they  uttered  not 
a  murmur." 8 

Gen.  Burnside  promptly  ordered  an  advance  of  the  entire 
division.  A  massive  battery,  with  casemates  and  heavy  guns, 

8  Col.  Drake's  Diary. 


172  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

on  the  bank  of  the  river,  formed  the  left  of  the  rebel  works, 
which  stretched  across  the  high  land  southward,  in  breast 
works,  for  half  a  mile  to  the  railroad,  and  thence  in  rifle-pits 
'to  a  swamp  deemed  impenetrable.  In  front  was  an  irregu 
lar  abatis.  Behind  the  intrenchments  were  seven  thousand 
rebels. 

"  Gen.  Foster's  brigade  was  ordered  up  the  main  country 
road  to  attack  the  enemy's  left ;  Gen.  Reno  up  the  railroad 
to  attack  their  right ;  and  Gen.  Parke  to  follow  Gen.  Foster, 
and  attack  the  enemy  in  front,  with  instructions  to  support 
either  or  both  brigades." '  The  Eleventh  Connecticut  formed 
the  rear  of  the  column ;  and  the  regiment  was  soon  detailed 
to  bring  up  the  boat,  howitzers,  and  guns  which  had  arrived 
during  the  night.10  After  this  service,  it  acted  temporarily 
with  Gen.  Foster's  brigade.  "  It  had  been  quiet  as  the  morn 
ing  of  a  rainy  New-England  sabbath ;  and  the  only  sounds 
were  the  low  moan  of  the  woods,  the  dull  tramp  of  the  weary 
troops,  and  the  occasional  plash,  plash,  plash,  of  a  mounted 
aide ;  .  .  .  when  the  roar  of  a  great  gun  close  at  hand  startled 
us,  and  the  crash  of  a  huge  limb  which  a  rifled  ball  had  lopped 
off  told  us  that  a  hidden  enemy  was  near."  n  "  We  took  an 
oblique  direction,  and  hadn't  gone  a  hundred  rods,  when  a 
loud,  swift  whiz  went  through  the  air,  sounding  as  if  some 
one  had  torn  a  thousand  yards  of  canvas  from  one  end  to 
the  other  at  a  single  pull."  12 

The  Eighth  Connecticut  had  deployed  to  the  left,  near  the 
railroad ;  and  Capts.  Appelman's  and  Upham's  companies 
were  thrown  forward,  under  a  heavy  fire,  to  the  edge  of  the 
wood  as  skirmishers.  The  Tenth  and  Eleventh  were  farther 
to  the  right.  The  Tenth  had  been  ordered  to  the  left  of  the 
23d  Massachusetts ;  and  the  Eleventh,  to  the  right  of  the 
same  regiment,  deployed  upon  both  sides  of  the  road.  The 
line  advanced,  under  a  constant  fire,  up  the  slope,  in  plain 
sight  of  the  rebel  batteries,  with  their  flaunting  flags,  and 

O  O  O     / 

approached  to  within  three  hundred  yards  before  returning 
the  fire.  Then  a  long  line  of  unwavering  musketry,  broken 
here  and  there  by  howitzers,  flashed  and  roared  in  angry 

9  Gen.  Burnsidc's  Report.  10  Vide  Gen.  Parke's  Report. 

11  Capt.  Pardec's  Letter. 

12  Lieut.  Camp's  Letter  in  the  Knightly  Soldier. 


BRAVERY  OF  THE  EIGHTH  AND  ELEVENTH.       1J3 

response.  The  line  pressed  up  so  close,  and  the  fire  was  so 
well  sustained  and  deliberate,  that  the  rebel  gunners  were 
shot,  or  driven  from  their  work  at  the  field-pieces ;  and  the 
rebel  infantry  only  here  and  there  showed  a  head  above 
the  parapet.  Burnside  now  pressed  forward  the  troops  both 
on  the  right  and  left. 

Col.  Harland  had  moved  'the  Eighth,  by  the  flank,  along  the 
railroad,  and  quietly  through  the  bushes  to  the  open  ground; 
and  now,  with  a  clear,  shrill  voice,  and  the  emphasis  of  com 
ing  victory,  rang  the  orders,  "By  company  into  line!"  An 
advancing  front  of  forty  men  appeared  before  the  astonished 
rebels.  "  Fix  bayonets ! "  It  was  done  at  a  rapid  walk. 
"  Forward  into  line  ! "  Up  the  embankment,  and  across  the 
railroad,  dashed  the  rear  companies,  coming  into  line  within 
a  hundred  paces  of  the  works.  "  Steady,  guide  center,  for 
ward,  double  quick ! " 

The  Eleventh,  which  had  been  firing  rapidly,  some  of  the 
men  assisting  to  man  the  howitzers,  also  now  advanced. 
"  The  order  to  charge  was  given,  when  from  the  curtain  of 
the  woods  up  sprang  thousands  of  blue-coats,  —  a  glittering 
wave  of  steel  flashing  in  front,  —  and  rushed  forward  with 
loud  huzzas,  an  invincible  line."  13 

Only  two  other  regiments  mounted  the  ramparts  as  early 
as  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh.  "  The  4th  Rhode-Island  crossed 
first,"  says  Gen.  Foster  in  his  report,  "  where  the  enemy's 
fire  had  much  slackened  in  consequence  of  a  steady  and 
constant  fire  kept  up  by  the  23d  Massachusetts  and  Tenth 
Connecticut."  "  The  Eighth  Connecticut,  5th  Rhode-Island, 
and  Eleventh  Connecticut,  coming  up  to  their  support,  the 
rebels  fled  with  precipitation,  and  left  us  in  undisputed 
possession."  ] 

The  Eighth  contests  the  claim  of  the  4th  Rhode-Island 
to  having  first  entered  the  enemy's  works ;  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  flag  of  the  Eighth  was  first  displayed  therein. 

"  We  fired,"  wrote  Col.  Drake,  "  until  they  were  dead 
silenced,  —  not  a  gun  in  reply.  In  less  than  ten  minutes 
afterwards,  we  saw  the  American  flag  coming  along  the  left 

18  Lieut.  J.  H.  Converse's  Letter  in  Hartford  Press.- 
14  Kettell's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  p.  339. 


174  CONNECTICUT   DUBING  THE   REBELLION. 

into  their  battery.  It  went  in,  and  was  planted  there. 
Whipped,  poor  traitors  ! "  "  We  were  still  firing  rapidly," 
wrote  Lieut.  Camp,  "  when  cheering  rose  load  in  front ;  and, 
in  a  moment  more,  our  flag  appeared  waving  from  the  para 
pet.  They  cheered  on  the  right,  and  they  cheered  on  the 
left,  and  they  cheered  before  us,  and  we  cheered,  and  had 
hardly  finished  cheering  when  the  order  came  to  resume  our 
march."  Gen.  Foster,  in  his  report  of  the  battle,  said,  "I 
must  mention  in  my  brigade,  where  all  behaved  bravely,  with 
particular  praise,  the  24th  Massachusetts  and  the  Tenth 
Connecticut.  .  .  .  The  latter  advanced  close  under  the 
enemy's  fire  in  line  of  battle,  fired  with  the  most  remark 
able  steadiness,  and  stood  steadily  up,  giving  and  taking  the 
most  severe  fire." 

Our  forces  are  ordered  forward  at  once  in  pursuit  of  the 
routed  army.  The  boys  soon  come  upon  the  cosy  barracks 
where  servants  are  preparing  dinner  for  the  rebels,  expected 
to  return  victorious.  They  pick  up  the  hot  corn-dodger, 
snatch  the  half-broiled  steak,  seize  hats,  swords,  guns,  trophies 
of  every  kind,  and  rejoin  the  column  in  the  wild  race  for 
Newberne.  The  rebels  are  demoralized  by  shells  from  the 
pursuing  gunboats.  Many  are  captured.  Their  main  body, 
however,  impelled  by  fright,  won  the  race,  crossed  the  Trent, 
burned  the  bridges,  set  the  city  on  fire,  and  continued  their 
flight  to  the  interior.  By  this  victory,  we  captured  forty-six 
heavy  guns  and  eighteen  field-pieces,  a  large  number  of  small 
arms,  two  steamboats,  several  sailing  vessels,  the  rebels'  entire 
camp  equipage,  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  general 
stores,  and  a  city  of  considerable  military  importance. 

Finding  close  pursuit  impossible,  the  troops  stacked  arms, 
and  rested  ;  killed,  cooked,  and  ate  some  captured  beef-cattle 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Trent;  and  at  five,  P.M.,  the  Tenth 
Regiment  was  ferried  across  with  the  1st  Brigade,  and  occu 
pied  a  just-deserted  rebel  camp  beyond  the  city,  where  they 
prepared  to  make  themselves  comfortable. 

The  Eighth  and  Eleventh,  with  other  regiments,  fell  back 
to  the  snug  rebel  barracks,  and  took  possession  in  high  glee. 
"Here,"  says  the  correspondent  of  a  New-York  paper,  "  our 
privates  strutted  about  in  the  brass-mounted  uniforms  of  rebel 


DEATH  OF  COL.   DKAKE.  175 

officers."  They  were  terribly  punished  for  their  audacity. 
For  a  single  afternoon  they  strutted  in  the  official  attire,  for 
a  single  night  they  slept  in  the  warm  barracks  ;  but  that  was 
enough  of  both.  They  had  moved  in  under  a  misappre 
hension,  only  to  find  them  already  occupied  in  force  by  in 
sectivorous  "graybacks"  left  to  maintain  possession.  And 
these  insidious  tenants  renewed  the  attack  "  alons;  the  whole 

o 

line,"  driving  out  the  invaders  in  confusion.  The  members 
of  the  Eleventh,  in  much  perplexity,  after  scratching  their 
heads,  and  considering  what  it  was  best  to  do,  established  a 
camp  above  the  city,  on  a  promontory  that  juts  out  into  the 
Trent,  and  thrust  their  white  conical  tents  up  into  the  green 
pines  and  cypresses  that  cast  their  long  shadows  on  the  river. 

The  triumph  was  dimmed  by  the  loss  of  brave  men.  The 
Eighth  had  two  killed  and  four  wounded,  among  the  latter 
being  Capt.  Upharn. 

The  Tenth  lost  more  heavily,  having  seven  killed  and  six 
teen  wounded.  One  of  the  slain  was  Sergeant  Joseph  A. 
Lombard  of  Greenwich,  of  whom  Lieut.  Camp  said,  "  He  was 
a  man  of  excellent  Christian  character,  and  a  true  soldier." 
The  Eleventh  lost  six  killed  and  fourteen  wounded.  Among 
the  killed  was  Capt.  Edwin  R.  Lee.  He  enlisted  from  Hart 
ford,  but  was  born  in  Plymouth,  of  Revolutionary  stock.  He 
was  a  young  man  of  a  clear  head  and  earnest  convictions, 
and  made  speeches  for  the  election  of  Lincoln  in  1860.  He 
recruited  a  company,  and  led  it  to  the  war,  and  was  struck 
in  the  abdomen  by  a  shell  as  he  was  wheeling  his  company 
into  line,  and  was  killed  almost  instantly.  His  only  words 
were, "  Tell  my  brother  I  died  at  the  post  of  duty.  Good-by. 
Go  on  for  your  country!"  His  remains  were  buried  at  home 
with  military  honors. 

In  the  early  summer,  the  following  order  was  issued  by 
Gov.  Buckingham :  — 

General  Headquarters,  State  of  Connecticut. 

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  HARTFORD,  June  6,  1862. 
GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  35.  —  It  becomes  the  sorrowful  duty  of  the 
commander-in-chief  to  make  to  the  militia  and  the  volunteers  of  the  State  now 
in  the  field  the  official  announcement  of  the  death  of  Col.  Albert  W.  Drake, 
of  the  Tenth  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers. 

On  the  breaking-out  of  the  Rebellion,  Col.  Drake,  impelled  by  a  sense  of 


176  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

patriotic  duty,  abandoned  a  profession  upon  which  he  had  just  entered 
under  favorable  auspices,  left  his  home,  and  served  with  fidelity  as  a  lieu 
tenant  during  the  three-months'  campaign. 

At  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  he  exhibited  the  firmness  and  coolness  of  a 
veteran.  -On  his  discharge,  he  engaged  in  organizing  a  company  for  three 
years'  service,  was  promoted  to  a  field-officer,  and  went  again  to  the  scene 
of  conflict.  Upon  the  death  of  Col.  Russell  on  the  battle-field  of  Roanoke 
Island,  he  took  command  of  the  regiment,  and  for  his  bravery  and  soldier 
like  bearing  on  that  occasion,  as  well  as  in  the  battle  of  Newberne,  won  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  his  superior  officers,  and  the  affection  of  his  com 
mand. 

He  died  at  his  home  in  South  Windsor,  on  the  5th  inst.,  of  an  insidious 
disease,  the  violence  of  which  was  undoubtedly  increased  by  his  exertions 
in  the  field. 

Col.  Drake  leaves  behind  him  a  bright  record  of  unsullied  honor  and 
unselfish  patriotism  ;  and  the  State  mourns  the  loss  of  a  noble  officer. 

The  commander-in-chief  directs  that  these  orders  be  read  at  the  head  of 
every  Connecticut  regiment. 

By  order  of  the  commander-in-chief. 

JOSEPH  D.  WILLIAMS,  Adjutant-General. 

Albert  Waldo  Drake  was  born  in  that  part  of  East  Windsor 
which  is  now  South  Windsor,  in  1834.  His  father  was  a 
prominent  man,  and  had  often  represented  the  town,  as  a 
Whig,  in  the  General  Assembly.  No  efforts  were  spared  to 
obtain  a  good  education  for  young  Albert.  Early  intended 
for  a  literary  life,  he  was  sent  to  the  best  schools,  where  he 
made  rapid  progress,  especially  in  mathematics  and  the 
languages.  He  duly  presented  himself  at  the  door  of  Yale, 
and  passed  an  excellent  examination  for  the  freshman 
class.  Stimulated  to  new  exertions,  he  studied  constantly, 
and  in  three  weeks  presented  himself  for  entrance  as  a 
sophomore.  Being  "  conditioned  "  to  three  weeks'  additional 
study,  he  refused  it,  and  entered  Williams  as  a  sophomore ; 
returning  the  next  year,  and  entering  the  junior  class  of 
Yale.  He  graduated  with  honors,  chose  the  profession 
of  law,  and  entered  the  office  of  Richard  D.  Hubbard,  Esq., 
of  Hartford. 

Drake  was  a  Democrat,  and  in  1858  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  by  his  fellow-citizens  of  South  Windsor,  defeating 
his  father,  who  ran  as  a  Republican.  Upon  the  first  call  to 
arms,  Drake  was  the  first  man  to  volunteer.  He  drew  up  an 
enlistment-paper,  and  carried  it  to  the  Press,  where  he  and 
Hawley  started  the  first  volunteer  company  that  was  raised 
in  the  State.  He  had  a  natural  taste  for  a  military  life ;  and, 


DEATH  OF  MAJOR  MEADE  AND  DE.  LATHEOP.     177 

"  Even  when  a  child, 
His  heart  leapt  forth  to  hear  them  tell  of  struggles  fierce  and  wild ;  " 

and  he  besought  his  father  to  obtain  for  him.  a  cadetship  at 
West  Point,  He  was  highly  esteemed  and  beloved  by  his 
soldiers ;  they  would  follow  him  anywhere ;  and  he  never 
shrank  from  danger.  It  is  believed  that  the  seeds  of  con 
sumption  were  sown  during  his  college-life.  The  Courant, 
in  a  discriminating  sketch,  said,  "  He  had  all  the  elements 
of  popularity  to  make  himself  acceptable  to  the  people,  —  an 
easy  address,  an  intuitive  sense  of  propriety,  a  genial  tempera 
ment  and  ready  wit,  a  whole-souled  generosity  which  made 
him  everywhere  a  favorite.  He  was  an  apt  scholar ;  had  no 
visionary  schemes  or  ideas ;  no  circumstances  could  discon 
cert  or  confuse  him ;  he  possessed  extraordinary  practical 
sense ;  and  his  perceptive  faculties  were  so  quick,  that  he 
seemed  to  comprehend  every  thing  at  a  glance."  His  death 
deprived  the  Tenth  of  a  gallant  and  accomplished  com 
mander,  and  the  State  of  a  citizen  before  whom  opened  a 
brilliant  career. 

Major  Daniel  M.  Meade  of  Greenwich  died  on  Oct.  26,  of 
fever.  He  had  been  assigned,  a  month  before,  to  occupy  and 
hold,  with  two  companies  of  the  Tenth,  a  fort  at  Wash- 
ino-ton,  N.C.  :  and  there  death  found  him.  He  was  a  fine 

O  "  ' 

specimen  of  the  volunteer  soldier.  He  was  ever  ready  for 
duty,  and  was  one  of  the  best-disciplined  officers  in  the  regi 
ment.  Lieut.  B.  L.  Graves  said  of  him,  "He  was  dearly  loved 
by  us  all.  His  character  was  above  reproach,  and  we  shall 
never  forget  the  example  and  counsels  that  his  daily  life 
held  up  to  us  all." 

Dr.  De  Witt  C.  Lathrop,  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Eighth, 
died  April  18, 1862.  He  was  born  in  Bozrah,  and  had  prac 
ticed  medicine  ten  years,  —  the  last  two  in  Norwich.  He  was 
an  officer  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  that  city,  and 
a  man  of  great  moral  and  professional  worth.  Dr.  Page, 
United-States  sanitary  inspector  in  North  Carolina,  wrote, 
"  His  devotion  to  the  sick  and  wounded  was  untiring  day 
and  night.  His  humane  sympathies  were  too  strong  for  the 
heavy  responsibilities  which  fell  upon  him.  His  heart  was 
too  much  in  his  work,  and  led  him  to  sacrifice  to  the  preser- 

23 


178  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

vation  of  others  the  strength  which  was  necessary  to  his 
own."  The  men  of  the  Eighth  Regiment  built  a  handsome 
monument  to  his  memory  in  Windham. 

At  this  time,  Rev.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull  joined  the  Tenth 
as  chaplain,  most  fortunately  for  the  regiment.  The  New- 
Haven  Journal  said,  "  He  is  not  an  austere  religionist,  but 
a  cheerful,  social  Christian, —  a  man  to  be  loved  and  trusted." 
So  it  proved. 

As  soon  as  the  country  about  Newberne  was  firmly  occu 
pied,  attention  was  turned  to  Fort  Macon,  that  still  flaunted 
a  rebel  flag,  and  defended  blockade-runners  ;  and,  within  two 
days,  Gen.  Parke  had  faced  his  little  brigade  that  way.  On 
March  19,  the  Eighth  left  camp,  proceeded  down  the  Neuse 
on  transports,  landed  again  at  Slocum's  Creek,  and  marched 
across  the  country  towards  the  coast.  The  men  made  good 
time  to  "Carolina  City,"  thinking  of  theaters,  restaurants, 
and  other  city  facilities ;  and  were  somewhat  chagrined,  on 
arriving,  to  find  that  the  entire  municipality  was  contained 
in  a  dozen  one-story  houses  and  a  few  sheds. 

The  force  consisted  of  the  Eighth  Connecticut  and  the 
4th  and  5th  Rhode-Island.  The  trains  were  much  delayed : 
there  was  little  food,  and  no  tents  or  cooking  utensils.  The 
weather  became  stormy,  and  the  men  dug  holes  in  the 
ground,  and  sheltered  them  with  boards;  and  here  for  a 
dreary  week  they  lived,  catching  a  few  fish  and  oysters 
when  they  could.  Here  Col.  Harland  was  prostrated  with 
typhoid-fever.  Two  companies  of  the  Eighth  were  sent  over 
to  occupy  Beaufort,  and  others  to  Morehead  City.  Opposite 
was  Fort  Macon,  on  the  extreme  upper  point  of  Bogue  Banks, 
a  low,  sandy  island,  or  spit,  half  a  mile  wide,  stretching  twenty 
miles  south-west  along  the  coast.  Inside  this  island  was 
Bogue  Sound,  three  miles  wide,  with  shallow  water,  only 
three  or  four  feet  deep. 

The  Eighth  Connecticut  Volunteers  at  once  knocked  to 
gether  some  rafts,  got  some  flat-boats,  and  floated  over  to  the 
Banks  a  detail  of  men;  carrying  across  the  island  upon  their 
shoulders  some  boats  they  had  seized  at  Beaufort,  and 
communicating  with  the  fleet  outside  waiting  to  co-operate. 
Here  they  were  immediately  joined  by  the  4th  and  a  bat 
talion  of  the  5th  Rhode-Island. 


CAPT.    SHEFFIELD  WOUNDED.  179 

There  was  little  shrubbery  upon  the  Banks,  except  dwarf 
juniper  and  a  stunted  growth  of  the  yuba ;  the  leaves  of 
which,  resembling  the  box,  are"  used  for  tea  in  North  Caro 
lina.  The  sand  was  so  light  and  shifting,  that  it  had  formed 
countless  sand-hillocks,  some  of  which  were  six  feet  high. 
Between  these,  having  almost  perfect  protection,  the  men 
advanced,  pushing  the  rebel  pickets  into  the  fort.  This  was 
one  of  the  strongest  fortifications  on  the  Southern  coast, 
mounting  twenty  thirty-two-pounders,  thirty  twenty-four- 
pounders,  six  mortars,  and  thirty-two  smaller  pieces.  The 
heavy  guns  were  in  two  tiers ;  one  in  casemated  bomb- 
proofs,  and  the  other  en  barbette.  It  was  occupied  by  five 
hundred  troops. 

The  island  sloped  and  narrowed  towards  the  fort ;  being, 
in  places,  scarcely  wide  enough  for  a  small  regiment  to  march 
in  line  of  battle.  April  12,  Gen.  Parke  ordered  the  Eighth 
to  advance,  and  drive  in  the  rebel  pickets.  Major  Hiram 
Appelman,  now  in  command,  marched  his  regiment  by  the 
right  flank  up  the  beach,  and,  when  within  three  miles  of  the 
fort,  filed  across  the  island  in  line  of  battle.  Company  G, 
Capt.  James  L.  Russell,  was  thrown  out  as  skirmishers ; 
and  the  regiment  waded  forward  knee-deep  in  the  yielding 
sand.  The  rebel  skirmishers  contested  the  advance,  but  were 
driven  steadily  back ;  and,  while  they  retreated,  they  shouted, 

with   absurd  inaptuess,  "  Come   on,  you  d d  Yankees ! 

we  are  enough  for  you  ! "  Company  H,  Capt.  Sheffield,  was 
now  deployed  to  skirmish ;  and  the  captain  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  body.  The  exultant  rebels  continued  to  fall 
back  until  they  entered  the  fort ;  the  Eighth  having  passed 
through  a  cedar-jungle,  about  a  mile  from  the  fort.  The 
enemy  had  the  exact  range,  and  opened  a  heavy  cannon 
ading  ;  our  men  concealing  themselves,  as  well  as  they  could, 
behind  the  sand-hills.  On  the  14th,  the  fire  slackened,  and 
the  regiment  was  temporarily  relieved  by  the  4th  Rhode- 
Island. 

Now  the  work  of  the  siege  progressed  in  earnest.  Heavy 
guns  and  ammunition  were  floated  over  to  the  Banks  on  two- 
masted  scows,  and  pushed  up  the  island  in  the  night,  slowly 
into  position.  Bags  were  filled  with  sand,  and  raised  for  a 
breastwork. 


180  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  Eighth  Connecticut  Volunteers  and  4th  Rhode-Island 
were  alternately  on  duty;  when  off  duty,  occupying  an 
uncomfortable  camp  down  the  island.  Rifle-pits  were  dug 
at  night  within  two  thousand  feet  from  the  fort,  and  con 
stantly  occupied.  In  front  of  them,  in  storms,  the  sea  surged 
over  the  island.  The  sand  was  so  movable,  that  the  men 
were  sometimes  half  covered.  In  the  rear  of  these,  half  a 
mile  from  the  fort,  were  three  heavy  batteries,  built  by  the 
volunteers,  and  manned  by  a  company  of  regulars. 

On  the  evening  of  the  21st,  Gen  Parke  directed  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  rifle-pit  at  shorter  range,  so  that  the  sharp 
shooters  would  be  able  to  silence  the  rebel  guns.  Major 
Appelman  proceeded  in  the  darkness,  with  a  company  of  vol 
unteers  under  the  immediate  command  of  Lieut.  Henry  E. 
Morgan  of  Stonington,  much  nearer  the  fort,  and  began  to 
dig  near  a  naked  brick  chimney.  The  daring  attempt  was 
discovered  ;  and,  just  as  Sergeant  Amos  Clift  was  stationing 
the  pickets,  a  gun  opened  with  canister,  wounding  Major 
Appelman  severely  in  the  thigh,  and  Private  J.  H.  Alexander 
in  the  body.  The  enterprise  was  abandoned. 

This  severe  service  was  very  trying  to  the  men.  Of  the 
Eighth,  sixty  lay  sick  at  once  at  Morehead  City,  and 
nearly  forty  died  of  typhoid-fever.  There  were  only  two 
captains  present  for  duty,  April  21 ;  an'd  Surgeon  Melancthon 
Storrs  was  the  only  well  man  of  the  field  and  staff  officers : 
and  it  was  fortunate  that  he  was  an  exception;  for  his  skill 
and  tireless  devotion  to  the  regiment  rendered  him  of  in 
calculable  service. 

The  surrender  of  the  fort  was  now  demanded,  and  met  a 
defiant  refusal.  Our  riflemen  pushed  up  so  close  as  to  pick 
off  the  rebel  gunners.  The  most  arduous  service  fell  to  the 
Eighth  Connecticut ;  and  it  was  the  only  regiment  that  lost 
in  killed  or  wounded.  On  the  morning  of  the  25th,  fire 
was  opened,  on  the  fort  from  the  shore  batteries  and  the 
three  steamers  moving  in  a  circle.  The  latter  drew  off  after 
an  hour's  fighting;  and  the  siege  batteries  increased  in 
energy,  shaking  the  sandy  beach,  and  knocking  gun  after 
gun  from  the  fort's  parapet.  The  Eighth  was  alone  in  the 
rifle-pits,  between  the  thundering  cannon,  shooting  the  rebel 
gunners  and  infantry  whenever  a  head  was  visible. 


SURRENDER  OF  FORT  MAC  ON.  181 

At  four,  P.M.,  after  a  terrific  bombardment  of  eleven  hours, 
the  commandant  of  the  fort  asked  a  truce  to  arrange  terms 
of  capitulation.  Thirteen  guns  had  been  dismounted,  and 
the  shot  had  torn  up  the  glacis  and  ramparts  very  thor 
oughly.  Eight  men  had  been  killed,  and  twentj^  wounded. 
Firing  ceased  ;  and  the  Eighth,  tired,  hungry,  worn  out,  be 
grimed  with  powder,  was  now  relieved  by  the  5th  Rhode- 
Island  ;  and  to  this  fragment  of  a  regiment  the  rebel  flag 
was  given  as  a  trophy  next  morning,  when  the  formal  sur 
render  was  made,  and  the  regiment  took  possession  of  the 
fort.  The  Eighth  considered  itself  again  defrauded  of  its 
just  rights  ;  and  the  Tribune's  narrative  said,  "  But  for  the 
accident  that  the  5th  Rhode-Island  had  relieved  the  Eighth 
Connecticut  the  previous  evening,  the  captured  flag  would 
have  gone  to  grace  the  legislative  halls  at  Hartford."  Gen. 
Parke  justifies  giving  the  preference  to  the  Rhode-Island 
regiment  by  the  fact  that  the  Eighth  Connecticut  Volun 
teers  had  no  field-officer  present  to  receive  the  surrender. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


The  Connecticut  Chaplains'-aid  Commission.  —  Chapel  Tents  and  Regimental  Libraries 
furnished.  —  Medical  Examining  Board.  —  Spring  Election  of  1862.  —  The  War  Spirit 
predominant.  —  Governor's  Message.  —  Legislative  Action.  —  Special  December  Ses 
sion.  —  Party  Spirit  rising.  —  Cornelius  S.  Bushnell  builds  the  Monitor. 


HE  literary  and  religious  privileges  of  some  were 
sadly  missed  by  our  reading  and  thinking  vol 
unteers  in  their  early  camps,  and  the  people 
of  the  State  supplied  their  wants  as  best  they 
could.  As  soon  as  the  Fourth  was  fairly  in 
the  field,  its  energetic  chaplain,  Rev.  Edward  A.  Walker,  ex 
pressed  a  desire  to  have  a  large  tent  under  his  own  control 
for  meetings  of  every  sort.  Mr.  Alfred  Walker,  his  father, 
immediately  solicited  contributions.  Money  came  in  from 
day  to  day  in  sums  of  one  to  five  dollars,  with  one  or  two 
large  donations. 

The  tent,  strong,  neat,  and  commodious,  was  purchased  for 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars,  exhibited  a  day  or  two 
on  the  New-Haven  Green,  and  forwarded  to  the  regiment. 
Officers  and  men  united  to  set  up  and  prepare  the  canvas 
meeting-house ;  and  the  chaplain  shortly  after  wrote,  — 

"  The  Temple  of  Nature,  sufficient  in  summer,  is  too  chilly  in  Decem 
ber  ;  and  of  late  it  has  been  too  leaky  over  head,  and  too  wet  under  foot, 
to  be  very  inviting  ;  and  the  number  of  worshipers  has  been  sadly  out  of 
proportion  to  the  accommodation.  Now  we  have  a  church  and  divine  ser 
vice,  and  something  more  like  a  sabbath.  We  have  our  prayer-meetings 
and  Bible-class,  our  lectures,  temperance-meetings,  and  musical  society. 
We  have  also  a  melodeon  ;  for,  when  the  men  heard  that  the  tent  was  com 
ing,  they  started  at  once  a  subscription,  declaring  that  they  would  now 
have  service  in  style." 

Almost  every  night,  the  tent  was  in  use  for  social  or  reli 
gious  purposes. 

182 


THE   CHAPLAINS'-AID   COMMISSION.  183 

» 

About  the  first  of  January,  1862,  the  Rev.  Dr.  L.  W.  Ba 
con  undertook  the  task  of  organizing  an  association  to  sup 
ply  all  Connecticut  regiments  with  chapel-tents,  circulating 
libraries,  and  regular  newspapers,  and  .to  co-operate  with  the 
chaplains  in  the  mental  and  moral  welfare  of  the  men.  In 
response  to  his  circulars,  prominent  citizens  from  all  parts 
of  the  State  assembled,  and  formed  the  Chaplains'-aid  Com 
mission,  with  the  following  officers  and  members,  represent 
ing  all  denominations,  and  authorized  to  add  to  their  num 
bers  :  — 

President,  Gov.  William  A.  Buckingham ;  Vice-President, 
Lieut.-Gov.  Benjamin  Douglass ;  Corresponding  Secretaries, 
Rev.  L.  W.  Bacon,  Rev.  A.  R.  Thompson ;  Recording  Secre 
tary,  Francis  Wayland  ;  Treasurer,  Stephen  D.  Pardee  ;  Mem 
bers,  Pres.  Theodore  D.  Woolsey,  Right  Rev.  John  Wil 
liams,  Rev.  Robert  Turnbull,  Rev.  Leonard  Bacon,  Rev. 
G.  W.  Woodruff,  Rev.  P.  S.  Evans,  H.  M.  Welch,  H.  B.  Har 
rison,  William  H.  Russell,  William  B.  Johnson,  Edward  W. 
Hatch,  Richard  D.  Hubbard,  Henry  T.  Blake,  F.  J.  Kingsbury. 

Mr.  Bacon  was  soon  called  away ;  and  the  burden  of  labor 
fell  upon  Mr.  Wayland,  who  cheerfully  and  heartily  entered 
into  the  philanthropic  work.  His  office  became  the  head 
quarters  of  the  Commission. 

Finding  the  duties  more  than  he  could  alone  perform,  Mr. 
Wayland  secured  the  aid  of  John  M.  Morris,  who  also  gladly 
labored  without  compensation. 

Mr.  Morris  presented  the  subject  to  the  people  of  Water- 
bury,  Stonington,  Hartford,  Norwich,  Meriden,  Bridgeport, 
New  Britain,  and  Greenwich.  Chaplain  H.  L.  Hall,  of  the 
Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  also  spoke  for  the  Commis 
sion  at  Meriden,  Norwich,  Stonington,  and  Greenwich ;  and 
Chaplain  J.  J.  Woolley  of  the  Eighth  (who  had  just  resigned), 
in  Meriden,  Waterbury,  Farmington,  Danbury,  Norwalk, 
South  Norwalk,  Madison,  and  New  Milford.  The  people  re 
sponded  with  liberality,  —  with  funds  sufficient  for  the  need. 
They  also  sent  in  hundreds  of  excellent  books,  thousands  of 
magazines,  and  of  illustrated  papers  uncounted  numbers. 

Chapel-tents  were  now  purchased  for  the  Fifth,  Sixth,  Sev 
enth,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth,  and  Thirteenth  Regi- 


184  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION". 

ments.  Each  of  the  ten  regiments  then  in  the  field  was  fur 
nished  with  a  library  of  from  seventy-five  to  a  hundred  and 
twenty-five  bound  volumes.  For  these  libraries,  Mr.  Way- 
land  devised  a  strong  portable  case,  with  shelves,  lock,  and 
handles,  so  that  the  library  was  packed  by  simply  locking  it, 
and  prepared  for  use  by  setting  it  up  and  unlocking  it.  Mr. 
Samuel  Nichols,  carpenter,  made  these  cases  for  the  cost  of 
the  materials.  With  each  library  was  sent  a  written  cata 
logue,  with  numbers,  and  in  each  book  the  proper  regimen 
tal  label. 

By  July,  twelve  hundred  and  eighty-four  bound  volumes 
had  been  forwarded,  and  fifty-four  hundred  and  forty-eight 
magazines,  with  a  very  large  number  of  illustrated  and  reli 
gious  papers.  The  books  sent  were  not  worn  out  or  cast  off, 
but  of  high  character  and  great  variety.  In  order  to  be 
sure  of  the  newest  and  freshest,  Mr.  Wayland  purchased  two 
hundred  and  fifty  volumes  of  the  best  recent  publications. 

The  tents  and  libraries  were  received  with  grateful  delight 
by  the  officers  and  men.  Every  chaplain  testified  to  their 
value.  Chaplain  Hall  of  the  Tenth  wrote,  — 

"  It  is  the  most  convenient  thing  imaginable.  I  have  constructed  a 
long  writing-desk,  on  which  I  place  all  the  papers  which  you  so  kindly 
furnish  me  :  at  the  end  of  the  desk  is  my  library  of  books.  You  will  al 
ways  find  from  ten  to  fifty  men  in  the  tent,  reading  and  •vyriting.  The 
library  is  just  the  thing  needed.  The  books  are  well  assorted,  and  enter 
taining." 

Of  the  books  and  pamphlets  sent  to  the  Eighth  Con 
necticut  Volunteers,  Chaplain  Morris  wrote,  "  The  nicely- 
selected  stock  was  gone  in  two  hours  after  I  had  opened 
the  box.  Since  that  time,  the  delivery  and  return  of  books 
has  occupied  several  hours  a  day.  Dickens  has  a  great  run. 
The  tales  by  Miss  Edgeworth  and  T.  S.  Arthur  are  very  popu 
lar.  The  Army  and  Navy  Melodies  are  hailed  with  delight, 
and  'the  boys'  are  singing  right  merrily  almost  every  night. 
Day  before  yesterday,  I  received  a  box  of  pamphlets  from 
the  Commission.  There  were  half  a  dozen  men  ready  to 
open  the  box.  and  twenty  more  at  hand  to  superintend  the 
process  and  share  the  contents.  The  demand  for  reading  is 
four  times  the  supply."  Mr.  Morris  having  become  chaplain 


AN   EXAMINING   BOARD. 

of  the  Eighth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  Mr.  H.  0.  Ladd,  after 
wards  of  the  Congregational  church  in  Cromwell,  rendered 
efficient  assistance  to  Mr.  Wayland. 

•After  the  first  set  of  libraries  had  been  forwarded,  circu 
lars  were  sent  to  chaplains,  inquiring  what  else  they  needed, 
and  how  the  Commission  could  aid  them. 

The  Ninth  Regiment  was  supplied  with  Catholic  books 
and  papers.  A  large  number  of  local  and  religious  journals 
were  subscribed  for,  and  regularly  sent  to  each  regiment. 
Hundreds  of  singing-books  were  provided. 

No  more  chapel-tents  were  furnished,  however.  It  was 
found  that  they  could  not  be  transported  on  long  marches, 
and  were  liable  to  seizure  in  emergency  for  hospital-pur 
poses.  In  this  way,  nearly  every  one  disappeared  within  a 
year.  Those  of  the  Fifth,  Eighth,  and  Eleventh,  were  of 
substantial  service  in  sheltering  the  wounded  upon  the  san 
guinary  field  of  Antietam ;  but  they  were  seen  by  the  wistful 
chaplains  no  more. 

Books,  magazines,  and  papers  were  repeatedly  forwarded 
by  Mr.  Wayland  throughout  the  war.  By  July,  1862,  the 
tract  societies  were  able  to  distribute  all  the  religious  read 
ing  that  was  needed,  and  local  soldiers'-aid  societies  sent  on 
magazines  and  papers  with  other  supplies :  so  the  Chaplains'- 
uid  Commission  was  not  kept  up  as  an  organization.  But 
Chaplain  Hall  doubtless  said  truly,  "Connecticut  leads  every 
other  State,  even  the  old  Bay  State,  in  the  aid  she  is  furnish 
ing  her  chaplains." 

Early  in  the  war,  Gov.  Buckingham,  in  order  to  secure  effi 
cient  medical  officers,  appointed  Drs.  G.W.  Russell  of  Hartford, 
P.  A.  Jewett  of  New  Haven,  and  Ashbel  Woodward  of  Frank 
lin,  an  examining  board.  These  gentlemen,  at  great  personal 
inconvenience  and  sacrifice,  met  throughout  the  war,  and  con 
sidered  with  thoroughness  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for 
those  responsible  posts.  The  traditions  and  rules  of  the  army 
forbade  the  board  to  pass  any  applicants,  except  practitioners 
of  the  old  school ;  but  this  duty  was  performed  with  faithful 
discrimination,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  man  was  commis 
sioned  as  surgeon  in  any  Connecticut  regiment  who  was 
incompetent  for  the  position. 

24 


186  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

A  board  for  the  examination  of  line-officers  was  also  insti 
tuted,  and  was  productive  of  considerable  good. 


The  State  election  of  April,  1862,  was  very  quiet.  Party 
excitement  had  subsided ;  the  "  peace  "  feeling  and  the 
"  white-flag "  demonstrations  of  the  previous  autumn  had 
disappeared  ;  and  the  general  sentiment  of  the  people,  irre 
spective  of  party,  was,  that  the  war  must  now  be  pushed 
with  decision.  The  Democrats  insisted  that  nothing  could 
in  any  case  be  done  that  was  not  "  strictly  constitutional ; " 
while  Republicans  avoided  that  question,  or  maintained  that 
war  was  never  waged  "  according  to  law,"  and  that  all  stat 
utes  and  constitutions  must  be  held  subordinate  to  the  salva 
tion  of  the  nation's .  life.  In  their  platform,  however,  the 
Republicans  pledged  themselves  to  "  prosecute  the  war  in 
absolute  good  faith,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  saving  the 
Union."  The  Eaton-Seymour  branch  of  the  Democratic 
party  was  under  a  cloud,  and  there  seemed  to  be  general 
concurrence  in  the  work  of  the  hour. 

The  Democrats  affirmed  a  willingness  to  permit  the  Re 
publicans,  with  their  wise  and  noble  governor,  to  retain  the 
responsibility  for  all  acts  relating  to  the  war :  so  that  the 
election  went  almost  by  default.  Little  effort  was  made, 
and  only  70,416  votes  were  polled.  Gov.  Buckingham  was 
re-elected  by  a  majority  of  9,148. 

The  Senate  elected  was  unanimously  Republican ;  and,  in 
the  lower  House,  that  party  had  a  hundred  and  thirty 
majority.  More  than  thirteen  thousand  men  had  been 
mustered  into  the  service,  and  recruiting  had  ceased. 

The  Assembly  met  at  New  Haven  on  Wednesday,  May  7. 
The  Senate  organized  by  the  election  of  Hiram  Goodwin  as 
president  pro  tern.,  and  Cyrus  Northrop  as  clerk.  The  House 
chose  Josiah  M.  Carter  of  Norwalk  as  speaker ;  and  Cooke 
Lounsbury  and  H.  Lynde  Harrison,  clerks. 

The  message  of  the  governor  was  received  with  favor  by 
both  parties.  It  appeared  that  the  total  estimated  indebted 
ness  of  the  State  for  the  year  was  $3,163,384.  Of  this 
amount,  all  but  half  a  million  was  due  for  military  ex 
penses. 


MESSAGE   OF  GOV.   BUCKINGHAM.  187 

Federal  affairs  were  discussed  by  the  governor  in  a  digni 
fied,  humane,  and  patriotic  manner.  In  boldly  stating  his 
views  on  a  subject  concerning  which  many  were  still  pain 
fully  sensitive,  he  says,  "  Slavery  has  forced  us  to  a  civil 
war,  but  insists  that  we  have  no  right  to  use  the  war-power 
against  her  interests.  Slavery  has  repudiated  her  obliga 
tions  to  the  Constitution,  and  yet  claims  protection  by  virtue 
of  its  provisions.  Let  us  not  be  deceived  by  such  fallacy. 
.  .  .  Slavery,  by  denying  her  obligations  to  the  Constitution, 
has  opened  the  door  for  the  operation  of  the  principles  of 
righteousness  and  justice  which  dictated  that  instrument; 
and  if,  in  pressing  those  principles  to  their  legitimate  results, 
Slavery  shall  be  undermined  and  perish,  let  us  rejoice  that 
the  suicide  is  of  no  importance  to  enlarged  and  universal 
liberty." 

This  was  almost  the  first  declaration  in  the  State,  by  one 
of  her  public  men,  in  favor  of  re-establishing  the  Union 
upon  the  foundations  of  liberty,  justice,  and  equality  before 
the  law. 

With  a  view  of  testing  the  sentiments  of  the  Union  Re 
publicans  on  this  irritating  subject,  perhaps  with  the  hope 
of  producing  discord  in  their  ranks,  Charles  Chapman  of 
Hartford,  early  in  the  session,  introduced  a  resolution 
indorsing  the  proclamation  of  President  Lincoln  which 
annulled  the  order  of  Gen.  Hunter  declaring  the  slaves  of 
Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida,  to  be  free. 

It  was  simply  referred,  without  debate,  by  a  yea-and-nay 
vote  of  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  to  sixty-eight,  to  the 
Committee  on  Federal  Relations.  Messrs.  Chapman  of  Hart 
ford,  and  A.  P.  Hyde  of  Tolland,  were  the  Democratic  lead 
ers  ;  but  they  took  no  other  occasion  to  show  party-feeling, 
and  displayed  no  opposition  to  the  war.  The  session  was 
devoted  chiefly  to  local  matters.  No  new  legislation  con 
cerning  the  war  was  deemed  necessary. 

The  militia  law  of  1861  was  repealed,  and  a  new  law  en 
acted  in  its  stead.  James  T.  Pratt  of  Rocky  Hill,  a  recent 
convert  to  the  war-party,  had  been  temporarily  appointed 
major-general  of- the  State  militia;  but  his  administration 
was  a  failure.  His  command  consisted  only  of  himself;  and 


188  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

his  ideas  on  the  subject  of  the  militia  were  deemed  imprac 
ticable  and  antiquated.  He  was  promptly  removed,  and 
Prof.  William  H.  Russell  of  the  New-Haven  Military  School 
was  appointed  his  successor. 

The  new  law  provided  all  the  necessary  machinery  for  a 
good  militia ;  but  it  had  not  enough  vigor  to  become  effective, 
as  it  depended  on  the  voluntary  action  of  the  young  men, 
and  held  out  no  inducement  for  them  to  organize  under  it. 

The  Assembly  would  probably  have  adjourned  by  the  1st 
of  July,  had  not  tidings  of  the  disasters  to  Gen.  McClellan 
held  them  together  for  such  action  as  the  worst  contingency 
might  demand.  New  bounties  were  authorized ;  and  the  pay 
and  bounties  of  volunteers  were  exempted  from  attachment 
for  debt. 

Three  reports  came  from  the  Committee  on  Federal  Rela 
tions  at  the  close  of  the  session ;  but,  without  debate,  they 
were  all  indefinitely  postponed ;  and  the  following  resolution 
was  passed  unanimously  on  the  last  day  by  both  branches  of 
the  legislature :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  State  of  Connecticut  will  stand  by  the  old  flag,  and 
will  furnish  all  the  men  and  money  that  are  required  of  her  to  put  down 
this  infamous  Rebellion. 

This  emphatic  action,  in  the  face  of  almost  stunning 
defeat,  tersely  expressed  the  thought  and  temper  of  the 
people.  The  legislature  of  1862  contained  a  large  number 
of  men  of  ability :  among  them  were  Messrs.  0.  H.  Platt, 
H.  K.  W.  Welch,  A.  H.  Byington,  John  B.  Wright,  and 
Charles  Atwater,  jr.,  of  the  Senate ;  and  Erastus  Scranton, 
John  T.  Rice,  Amos  A.  Treat,  John  T.  Adams,  David  Gallup, 
Cornelius  S.  Buslmell,  Alfred  Coit,  Abner  L.  Train,  Abijah 
Catlin,  B.  Bent,  jr.,  Dr.  H.  A.  Grant,  John  E.  Law,  David 
J.  Peck,  and  Erastus  Day,  of  the  House. 

On  the  12th  Of  November,  1862,  Gov.  Buckingham  issued 
his  proclamation,  convening  the  General  Assembly  in 
special  session  at  New  Haven  for  the  sundry  purposes 
specified.  • 

In  accordance  with  this  call,  the  two  branches  met  in 
their  respective  halls  at  New  Haven  on  the  9th  of  Decem 
ber.  The  message  was  largely  devoted  to  the  action  of  the 


THE  MONITOR  AND  THE  MEKEIMACK.          189 

State  in  military  matters  since  the  adjournment  of  the  May 
session.  The  attention  of  the  legislature  was  again  called 
to  the  unorganized  condition  of  the  State  militia,  and  also 
to  the  justice  of  adopting  some  practical  method  of  allow 
ing  the  soldiers  in  the  field  to  vote. 

Laws  were  passed  authorizing  towns  to  fund  their  war 
indebtedness  in  bonds,  confirming  the  action  of  towns  in 
granting  bounties  to  volunteers  after  enlistment,  and 
authorizing  the  State  treasurer  to  issue  and  sell  bonds  of 
the  State  to  the  amount  of  two  million  of  dollars.  Some 
legislation  was  also  had  on  the  subject  of  banks. 

That  portion  of  the  militia  law  relating  to  the  enrollment 
of  the  inactive  rnilitia  and  drafting  for  active  service  was 
amended,  and  rendered  much  more  efficient.  There  was  no 
more  drafting  for  the  militia. 

The  judiciary  committee  reported  a  bill,  drawn  with  great 
care,  enabling  electors  of  the  State,  in  the  military  service 
of  the  United  States,  to  cast  their  votes  in  the  field  at  all 
State  and  Presidential  elections. 

The  bill  was  violently  opposed  in  the  House  by  the  Demo 
cratic  members ;  but  it  was  finally  passed  by  a  strict  party- 
vote.  The  Republicans  then  submitted  the  whole  matter  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  which  decided  that  the  clause  in  the 
State  Constitution  requiring  the  voters  to  "  meet  in  the 
several  towns "  rendered  the  law  unconstitutional.  The 
legislation  of  1863  and  1864  healed  this  defect  in  the 
organic  law ;  so  that,  before  the  close  of  the  war,  the  citizen- 
soldiers  of  the  State  were  enabled  to  vote. 

Amos  A.  Treat  of  Bridgeport  introduced  a  resolution 
pledging  the  support  of  the  State  to  the  president  in  all 
measures  he  might  adopt  for  the  suppression  of  the  Rebel 
lion.  It  passed  by  a  strict  party-vote. 

Already  the  national  arms  had  met  with  defeat  upon 
many  hard-fought  fields ;  and  the  opponents  of  the  war, 
silent  during  the  cheers  and  songs  of  victory,  were  again 
making  their  remonstrances  heard. 


On   March  9,  1862,  occurred  the  famous  naval  combat 
between  the  Monitor  and  Merrimack  in   Hampton  Roads, 


190  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

revolutionizing  in  an  hour  the  navies  of  the  world.  Connec 
ticut  had  an  important  part  in  the  construction  of  the 
Monitor. 

During  the  winter  of  1861-2,  Mr.  C.  S.  Bushnell,  an  enter 
prising  and  public-spirited  citizen  of  New  Haven,  contracted 
with  the  Navy  Department  for  the  construction  of  the 
Galena  (the  first  iron-clad  ordered  by  the  United-States 
Government) ;  and  he  called  upon  Capt.  John  Ericsson  of 
New  York  to  assure  himself  of  the  stability  and  buoyancy 
of  the  vessel  under  the  stipulated  weight  of  iron  armor. 

Capt.  Ericsson  exhibited  to  him  the  plan  of  the  original 
Monitor.  Mr.  Bushnell  was  satisfied  at  once  that  Ericsson's 
twenty-five  years  of  thoughtful  experiment  had  resulted  in 
the  perfection  of  a  plan  for  an  impregnable  war-ship.  Lack 
of  funds  had  prevented  the  construction  of  the  vessel ;  and 
Bushnell  instantly  expressed  a  willingness  to  risk  his  entire 
fortune  in  the  undertaking.  A  contract  was  signed,  and  the 
inventor  gave  him  a  carte  blanche  for  the  construction. 

In  just  one  hundred  days,  the  strange  vessel  was  launched 
from  the  yard  of  Thomas  F.  Rowland,  at  Greenpoint,  L.I. 
So  incredulous  were  the  Navy  Board  as  to  the  value  of  the 
novel  craft,  that  they  refused  to  accept  her  until  the  builders 
had  signed  a  guaranty  that  she  should  "  prove  a  success." 

Her  arrival  at  Fortress  Monroe  was  greeted  with  repeated 
cheers  from  fort,  ships,  and  shore  ;  for  several  of  our  best 
wrooden  frigates  had  the  day  before  been  burned,  sunk,  and 
blown  up,  and  the  rest  scattered.  As  the  Monitor  imme 
diately  ran  down  to  engage  the  Merrimack,  the  rebels  on 
board  the  uncouth  monster  derided  the  insignificant  "  cheese- 
box  on  a  raft ; "  but  it  was  Goliath  and  David  in  deadly 
grapple  again,  and  the  giant  was  defeated.  The  Merrimack 
was  soon  after  destroyed  ;  and  from  that  day  the  Confed 
erates  abandoned  their  pretense  of  a  navy.  The  next  mail 
carried  to  European  nations  news  of  a  wonderful  combat, 
involving  their  own  destinies ;  and  the  admirals  of  many 
victories  wrere  startled  to  think  how  helpless  would  be  their 
stoutest  sloops  of  war  before  the  iron  beak. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Sixth  embarks  for  Florida.  —  Return  to  Hilton  Head.  —  The  Seventh  goes  to  Tibee 
Island  to  besiege  Fort  Pulaski.  —  Labor  of  getting  the  Heavy  Mortars  in  Position.  — 
A  Case  of  Insanity.  —  Sixth  goes  to  Dawfuskie  Island  to  cut  off  the  Approaches  from 
Savannah.  —  Seventh  mans  the  Mortar  Batteries.  —  A  Connecticut  Affair.  —  The  Bat 
tle.  —  Surrender  of  the  Fort.  —  The  Sixth  and  Seventh  and  the  First  Connecticut 
Battery  at  James  Island.  —  Assault  on  Lamar's  Battery.  —  Severe  Fighting.  —  Re 
pulse  and  Withdrawal.  —  Bad  Management  by  Gen.  Benham.  —  Casualties. 

HE  Sixth  and  Seventh  Regiments  remained  on 
the  island,  at  Hilton  Head,  during  the  early 
months  of  the  winter  of  1861-2,  perfecting 
themselves  in  drill,  and  awaiting  orders.  About 
Jan.  20,  the  Sixth  was  called  to  take  part  in  a 
secret  expedition  by  Gen.  Wright's  brigade,  and  embarked 
with  that  intent.  A  storm  kept  the  vessels  in  the  harbor  a 
week ;  when  they  dropped  down  to  Warsaw  Sound,  with  the 
idea  of  avoiding  Fort  Pulaski,  and  capturing  Savannah  by 
way  of  an  inlet.  A  long  experiment  *was  made  by  the  gun 
boats,  while  the  transports  lay  in  Warsaw  Sound  till  Feb.  27. 
The  soldiers  of  the  Sixth  were  fed  for  sixteen  days  on 
salt  food  only ;  and  "  their  drinking-water  was  from  camphene 
casks,  where  it  had  been  put  some  three  months  before.  It 
was  so  foul,  that  the  strongest  tea  could  not  conceal  the 
nauseating  flavor  and  smell,  and,  when  poured  into  the  sea- 
water,  discolored  it." J  Severe  sickness,  in  the  form  of  spotted 
fever,  broke  out  among  the  men  in  consequence,  and  became 
so  aggravated,  that  there  was  an  average  of  four  or  five 
deaths  a  day  on  board.  The  vessel  was  ordered  back  to 
Hilton  Head,  while  the  rest  proceeded  to  take  possession  of 
the  coast  of  Florida.  The  Sixth  rapidly  recovered  health ; 

1  Letter  of  an  officer. 

191 


192  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

and  Col.  Hawley  said  in  a  letter,  "  Its  appearance  is  a  matter 
of  just  pride." 

On  Dec.  16,  the  Seventh  was  removed  from  Fort  Welles, 
Hilton  Head,  to  the  heavy  earthwork  built  just  below, 
expecting  to  remain  there ;  but,  two  days  later,  the  men 
were  summoned  from  their  quarters  to  embark  on  the  Ma 
rion  for  Tybee  Island,  below  Savannah,  to  participate  in  the 
siege  of  Pulaski,  under  Gen.  Gilmore  and  Gen.  H.  W.  Ben- 
ham.  On  Tybee,  the  regiment  made  itself  another  camp, 
and  then  went  vigorously  at  work  intrenching  the  batteries 
along  the  side  of  the  island,  approaching  obliquely  nearest 
to  the  fort.  The  work  of  posting  the  batteries  was  mostly 
done  in  the  night ;  the  men  of  the  Seventh  and  two  com 
panies  of  the  3d  Rhode-Island  making  "  burrows "  and 
splinter-proofs  near  the  guns  for  the  protection  of  the  gun 
ners.  The  46th  New-York  shared  these  labors  as  far  as 
their  scanty  numbers  and  imperfect  discipline  enabled 
them.  Not  only  must  all  the  ordinary  camp,  fatigue,  and 
picket  duty  be  done,  but  ordnance  of  the  heaviest  descrip 
tion  then  known,  and  ordnance-stores,  must  be  unloaded  into 
boats,  and  landed  (without  a  wharf),  then  dragged  by  hand 
(with  no  draught  beasts)  for  from  one  to  two  and  a  half  miles, 
part  of  the  way  through  sand,  and  part  over  a  marsh  whose 
muddy  depths  were  first  coated  with  a  layer  of  earth.  Lieut. 
Horace  Porter  of  the  United-States  Ordnance  Corps,  ord 
nance-officer  of  the  post,  after  alluding  in  his  official  report 
to  the  enormous  labor  involved  in  moving  the  thirteen-inch 
mortars  (twelve  in  number)  weighing  seventeen  thousand 
pounds,  and  the  other  ordnance  and  ordnance-stores,  adds, 
"I  can  pay  no  greater  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  the 
Seventh  Connecticut  Volunteers,  the  troops  generally  fur 
nished  me  for  this  duty,  than  to  say,  that  when  the  sling 
carts  frequently  sank  to  their  hubs  in  the  marshes,  and  had  to 
be  extricated  by  unloading  the  mortar  and  then  reloading  it, 
they  toiled  night  after  night,  often  in  a  drenching  rain,  under 
the  guns  of  the  fort,  speaking  only  in  whispers,  and  directed 
entirely  by  the  sound  of  a  whistle,  without  uttering  a  mur 
mur.  When  drilling  the  same  men  in  the  mortar-batteries, 
they  exhibited  an  intelligence  equaled  only  by  their  former 
physical  endurance." 


A  POOK  INVALID.  193 

A  letter  of  that  time  says,  "  Pulaski  shoots  at  us  occa 
sionally  :  and  the  boys  rather  like  it ;  for  nobody  gets  hurt, 
and  relics  accumulate  ;  earthworks  slowly  rise ;  a  gun  gets 
mounted  frequently  ;  fleas  bite  continually  ;  once  in  a  while, 
a  mail  comes  in ;  somebody  shoots  an  otter  or  an  eagle ; 
teams  and  mule-carts  work  eighteen  hours  a  day,  drawing 
great  loads  of  shot  and  shell  two  miles ;  and  the  beach  is 
strewn  with  all  the  implements  of  war." 

Major  G.  F.  Gardiner  and  three  companies  (B,  E,  and  I) 
of  the  Seventh  were  for  a  short  time  over  on  Dawfuskie 
Island,  north  of  the  fort,  doing  effective  service.  With  the 
48th  New-York,  they  had  cut  ten  thousand  long  poles  for 
a  causeway  across  the  marsh  on  Jones  Island  to  wheel  a 
battery  up  to  command  the  river.  They  carried  these  on 
their  shoulders  a  mile ;  others  being  engaged  in  carrying 
sand  in  bags  four  miles  in  rowboats  to  make  a  base  for  Bat 
tery  Venus. 

During  this  arduous  work  of  preparation  passed  January, 
February,  March ;  and  the  warmth  of  a  Southern  spring  came 
with  April.  The  health  of  the  Seventh  had  not  been  seri 
ously  impaired.  There  was  one  invalid  whose  case  was 
peculiarly  touching,  set  forth  by  Col.  Hawley  in  a  private 
letter : — 

"PoorD !   Do  you  know  the  D s,  who  live  near  you?  Well,  their 

son,  who  belongs  to  Company  D,  got  news  that  his  wife,  two  children,  and 
sister  had  all  died  of  diphtheria.  How  he  cried,  poor  fellow  !  We  com 
forted  him  all  we  could.  I  spoke  pleasantly  to  him  when  we  met,  and 
hoped  he  was  getting  along  well.  We  heard  the  other  day  that  his  mother 
was  sick  too.  Somebody  came  to  the  supper-table  last  night,  and  called 

for  the  doctor  to  see  a  crazy  man  ;  and,  soon  after,  the  man  said  that  D 

wanted  to  see  me.  I  went  to  his  tent.  Half  a  dozen  of  his  comrades  were 
there.  One  dim  candle,  stuck  in  a  bottle,  showed  me  the  rifles  stacked 
around  the  center  pole,  the  cartridge-boxes,  bayonets,  and  knapsacks.  The 
ground  was  covered  with  the  splendid  long  moss  they  had  pulled  from  the 

live-oaks.     D sat  squat  on  the  ground,  his  face  and   hands  very  dirty, 

his  fingers  constantly  picking  something,  his  body  moving,  his-  head  turning 
wildly  from  one  side  to  the  other,  his  eyes  dreadfully  swelled  with  weep 
ing.  '  Halloo,  D !  how  are  you  ?  '  And  he  peered  up  toward  my  face. 

'  Col.  Hawley,'  said  somebody.  '  Yes,'  said  he,  '  that's  Col.  Hawley  ; ' 
and  he  took  my  hand  with  a  tight  grip.  '  Col.  Hawley,  look  at  my  baby,  — 
my  poor,  sick  baby  ! '  He  had  a  little  pile  of  white  moss,  and  in  it  his 
cartridge-box,  carefully  covered,  all  but  one  edge  of  it,  with  his  blanket. 
25 


194  CONNECTICUT  DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 

That  was  his  baby.  And  he  turned  the  blanket  down  as  tenderly  as  if  the 
cartridge-box  were  a  delicate  little  baby.  He  spoke  brokenly,  and  at  inter 
vals,  with  a  quick  but  mournful  voice,  —  '  Poor  baby  !  babies  both  sick  ; 
sister  sick  (and  he  pointed  to  where  he  supposed  they  lay).  Poor  baby ! 
very  sick.  Give  baby  some  water.'  And  he  leaned  on  one  elbow,  and 
affectionately  held  a  leaf  up  to  the  cartridge-box  as  if  baby  would  drink. 
He  seemed  to  consider  himself  in  his  own  home  ;  but  then  he  would  say, 
'Won't  let  me  go  home, —  no,  no,  no  (waiting  a  few  seconds),  —  no, 
won't  let  me  go  home  ;  '  his  hands  constantly  fidgeting.  Then  he  considered 
them  all  dead,  and  he  by  their  graves.  '  Sister,'  —  and  he  laid  his  hand  on 
one  side,  and  then  marked  each  grave,  —  '  baby,  wife,  mother  ! '  I  kept 
his  hand  ten  minutes,  and  sat  down  by  him,  and  put  my  hand  on  his  shoul 
der,  and  tried  to  compel  him  to  listen.  I  told  him  his  babies  were  happy, 
and  his  mother  was  not  dead  ;  (is  she  ?)  and  that  if  he  would  be  a  good  boy, 
and  sleep,  he  should  go  home.  '  I've  built  six  forts,  and  mounted  six  can 
nons  ;  and  I'm  going  to  take  down  that  one  to-morrow,  —  Pulaski  over  there. 
Well,  poor  baby  !  '  and  he  put  trees  over  the  graves.  Tears  came  into  all  our 
eyes  sometimes,  I  think.  He  sent  for  me  again  to-day  ;  but  he  cannot  con 
fine  his  attention  to  any  thing.  '  Poor  baby '  is  the  burden  of  his  talk,  and 
still  he  tends  his  cartridge-box." 

On  March  20,  the  Sixth  Connecticut  was  transferred  from 
Hilton  Head  to  Dawfuskie  Island  to  take  part  in  the  reduc 
tion  of  Pulaski.  The  men  assisted  the  48th  New-York  to  build 
the  batteries  on  Mud,  Jones,  and  Bird  Islands,  commanding 
the  river,  Wall's  Cut,  and  other  approaches,  and  complet 
ing  the  investment.  The  material  for  these  was  all  brought 
from  the  mainland.  The  Sixth  was  also  engaged  in  making 
reconnoissances  towards  Savannah,  up  New  River,  and 
watching  the  enemy  in  that  direction. 

The  batteries  on  Tybee  were  now  all  placed  and  in 
trenched  (the  mortars  out  of  sight  of  the  fort),  and  every 
thing  was  ready.  To  the  Seventh  Connecticut  was  assigned 
the  delicate  and  important  duty  of  serving  the  mortars.  The 
officers  and  men  had  been  drilled  only  fitfully  in  the  intervals 
of  other  severe  labor ;  yet  they  went  to  the  novel  work  with 
that  quick  ingenuity  which  is  a  Yankee  instinct.  Five  of 
the  batteries,  containing  fifteen  heavy  mortars,  were  manned 
by  the  Seventh. 

Battery  Totten  on  Goat's  Point  (nearest  to  the  fort)  was 
commanded  by  Capts.  D.  C.  Rodman  and  S.  H.  Gray,  with 
their  companies  ;  Battery  Halleck,  by  Capts.  0.  S.  Sanford 
and  E.  S.  Hitchcock;  Battery  Sherman,  by  Capts.  D.  G.  Fran- 


FORT  PULASKI.  195 

cis  and  J.  B.  Dennis ;  Battery  Lincoln,  by  Capts.  C.  S.  Pal 
mer  and  Jerome  Tourtelotte ;  Battery  Stanton,  by  Capts.  B. 
F.  Skinner  and  Theodore  Bacon. 

Surgeon  Francis  Bacon  and  Capt.  Rodman,  and  a  lieuten 
ant  in  the  regular  army,  accompanied  by  a  boat's  crew,  went 
over  to  the  fort,  under  flag  of  truce,  on  April  10,  and  de 
manded  a  surrender.  The  officer  in  command  replied  that 
he  was  placed  there,  not  to  surrender  the  fort,  but  to  defend 
it.  The  visitors  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
"  defending  stolen  property,"  and  returned. 

Pulaski  was  a  huge  five-sided  fortress,  as  strong  as  Fort 
Pickens.  Its  walls,  seven  feet  thick,  mounted  one  tier  of 
guns  in  embrasures,  and  one  en  barbette.  Twenty  guns  bore 
upon  the  Tybee  batteries,  including  ten  10-inch  columbiads. 
It  was  built  by  a  Connecticut  man. 

In  fact,  the  whole  affair  now  began  to  assume  a  Connecti 
cut  character.  The  general  commanding  the  district,  and 
present  on  Tybee  (H.  W.  Benham),  was  from  Connecticut ;  a 
majority  of  the  investing  forces  were  from  Connecticut ;  Col. 
Perry,  of  the  48th  New- York,  was  from  Ridgefield,  Conn. ; 
and  one  of  the  officers  of  the  3d  Rhode-Island  was  Capt. 
Thomas  R.  Briggs,  of  Danielsonville,  Conn.  The  gunboat 
Norwich,  from  Connecticut,  completed  the  blockading  west 
of  the  fort.  The  fort  itself  was  constructed  twenty  years 
before  by  Lieut,  (afterwards  Major-Gen.)  Mansfield  of  Con 
necticut,  assisted  by  Lieut.  Benham,  assistant  engineer,  from 
Connecticut.  Moreover,  it  was  now  commanded  by  Col. 
Charles  H.  Olmstead,  a  rebel,  to  whom  Ridgefield,  Conn., 
gave  birth. 

Surrender  being  refused,  the  fight  began  on  April  10,  about 
.eight  o'clock,  at  a  signal-gun  from  Battery  Halleck.  Simul 
taneously,  all  the  guns  and  mortars  blazed  and  roared  with 
an  explosion  that  shook  the  island  in  its  marshy  anchor 
age.  The  response  was  sturdy  and  determined.  From  that 
hour  onward,  the  artillery  fire  continued;  the  rebels  hurling 
British  projectiles  at  the  island,  while  rifled  shot  and  plun 
ging  shell  rained  in  fury  upon  the  garrison.  Great  clouds 
of  smoke  eclipsed  the  noonday  sun  ;  and  the  windows  rattled 
at  Port  Royal  and  Savannah,  twenty  miles  away.  The  dis- 


196  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

tance  between  the  combatants  was  at  least  a  mile ;  yet  it 
soon  became  evident  that  the  fire  from  Tybee  was  telling. 
As  the  solid  shot  struck,  great  piles  of  the  solid  masonry 
gave  way,  and  clouds  of  brick-dust  filled  the  air.  The  Sev 
enth  worked  the  mortars  steadily  and  manfully.  "  Sergeant 
Lucas  Sutliffe  (of  Southington)  made  every  shot  tell,  cut 
ting  away  the  staff,  and  bringing  down  the  flag."  Battery 
Sherman  fired  one  shot  every  fifteen  minutes  during  the 
night. 

The  shots  from  the  fort  plowed  up  the  sand  in  close  fur 
rows  ;  but  the  men  soon  observed  the  range  and  caliber  of 
the  various  guns  of  the  fort,  so  as  to  dodge  until  the  missile 
passed.  Col.  Hawley  wrote  in  a  letter,  — 

"  Sometimes  we  called  out,  '  Ten-incher  ! '  as  a  certain  big  columbiad  on 
the  south-west  angle  of  the  fort  let  off;  sometimes  '  Pocket  pistol ! '  or  '  Little 
rifle  ! '  as  a  small,  sharp,  accurate  Blakeley  gun  on  the  ramparts  fired.  We 
got  so  that  we  knew  where  each  gun  was  trained,  and  could  tell  by  the  sound 
where  the  shot  was  going.  Soon  after  noon  of  the  llth,  there  were  four  or 
five  holes  in  the  fort,  close  together,  one  of  them,  perhaps,  twelve  feet  in 
diameter.  Now  and  then  a  cartload  of  masonry  rolled  down  ;  then  every 
body  yelled  in  triumph.  The  ditch  was  nearly  full ;  and  a  huge  gun  on 
the  ramparts  apparently  tottered,  ready  to  fall  into  the  ruin.  Our  fire  grew 
furious.  Captains  of  guns  jumped  on  the  banks,  and  yelled,  '  No.  1,  fire  ! ' 
'  No.  2,  fire  ! '  '  No.  3,  fire  ! '  '  No.  4,  fire  ! '  and  the  black  and  sweaty 
cannoneers  jumped  to  the  muzzles  to  reload.  Oh,  it  was  a  maddening 
sight  and  sound  !  " 

During  the  forenoon  of  the  llth,  the  breach  in  the  south 
east  angle  of  the  fort  was  enlarged.  The  entire  casemate 
next  to  the  pancoupe  had  been  opened.  Half  the  rebel  guns 
had  been  dismounted.  At  two,  P.M.,  the  fort  hoisted  a  white 
flag;  and  its  appearance  was  greeted  with  the  craziest 
demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  on  Tybee. 

The  Seventh  Connecticut  had  fired  nine  hundred  and 
eighty -nine  (989)  13 -inch  shells,  and  five  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  (588)  10-inch  shells,  —  in  weight  more  than  half 
that  had  been  thrown  from  Union  guns.  These  did  not,  how 
ever,  prove  so  effective  as  the  solid  shots  from  the  columbiads 
and  the  James  and  Parrott  rifle-guns  with  which  the  Rhode- 
Island  companies  had  made  the  breach. 

The  Seventh  had  shown  superior  skill,  industry,  and  en- 


SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  SOLDIEES.  197 

durance ;  and  these  were  now  duly  recognized.  The  post 
of  honor  —  the  fort  itself —  was  assigned  to  the  regiment ; 
and  to  it  was  also  awarded  the  rebel  flag  that  came  whirling 
down  for  the  last  time  from  the  staff.  The  Tribune  corre 
spondent  said,  "  The  Seventh  Connecticut  were  immediately 
ordered  to  garrison  the  fort,  —  a  post  of  distinction  which 
their  faithful  services  in  the  erection  of  the  works,  and  gal 
lant  conduct  in  the  batteries  nearest  to  the  enemy's  fire,  had 
honorably  earned,  and  which  the  rest  of  the  troops  very 
heartily  envied  them." 

Gen.  Benham  wrote  to  Gov.  Buckingham,  "And  it  is  a 
great  pleasure  for  me  to  say  to  you  that  the  first  morning's 
sun  of  the  occupation  of  the  work  by  our  troops  gilded  the 
banner  of  that  State  whose  trust  is  still,  as  from  the  first, 'He 
who  brought  us  over  will  protect  us.' " 

After  the  fall  of  the  fort,  the  Sixth  Connecticut  was  or 
dered  to  dismantle  the  battery  erected  in  the  marsh  to  com 
mand  the  river.  By  some  misunderstanding,  the  gunboats 
were  drawn  off,  so  that  the  party  were  without  defense. 
Col.  Chatfield  dismounted  the  great  columbiad  in  the  night, 
mounted  in  its  place  a  black  log,  with  a  barrel  fixed  on  the 
breech,  and  floated  the  real  gun  and  equipments  over  to 
Pulaski  on  a  large  raft,  arriving  there  safely  next  day. 
Meantime,  the  alert  rebels  sallied  forth,  and  captured  the 
"  Quaker." 

During  the  last  week  in  May,  the  Sixth  moved  from  Daw- 
fuskie  Island ;  and  the  Seventh  left  the  fort  to  a  New- York 
regiment,  and  went  on  an  expedition,  under  Gen.  Benham, 
to  occupy  James  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  Charleston  Harbor. 
They  crossed  via  North  Edisto  and  John's  Island,  through 
mud  and  mire,  in  a  drenching  rain  that  lasted  three  days. 

The  expedition  seems  to  have  been  shockingly  managed. 
Ten  thousand  men  were  here  set  to  make  a  five-days'  march 
on  three  clays'  rations ;  and  the  sequel  was,  that  they  arrived 
without  food,  tents,  or  cooking  utensils.  The  only  "  cooking 
utensil "  the  field  and  staff  of  the  Sixth  had  was  a  gallon 
camphene  can,  with  nozzle  and  top  cut  off.  In  this  was 
cooked  potatoes,  pork,  beef,  coffee,  tea,  —  food  of  every  sort, 
—  for  three  weeks. 


198  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  KEBELLION. 

Col.  Chatfield  of  the  Sixth  commanded  a  brigade  including 
his  own  regiment ;  and,  on  the  night  of  June  8-9,  he  moved 
his  command  up  the  Stono  River  to  Grirnball's  plantation, 
about  four  and  a  half  miles  from  Charleston,  where  a  landing 
was  made  under  a  severe  fire.  On  the  evening  of  the  10th, 
the  enemy  attacked  in  front,  but  were  repulsed  after  a  brisk 
skirmish.  The  First  Connecticut  Battery  was  here  doing 
excellent  service.  A  correspondent  of  the  New- York  Her 
ald  said, "  Capt.  Alfred  P.  Rockwell,  with  his  Connecticut  bat 
tery,  responded  to  this  fire,  and  poured  percussion-shells  into 
the  rebels  with  great  effect,  and  much  more  accuracy  than 
they  had  shown.  At  the  end  of  an  hour  from  the  time  of 
attack,  the  rebels  fled  in  great  confusion,  leaving  knapsacks, 
muskets,  and  equipments  behind  in  their  haste.  They 
retreated  over  two  causeways,  in  the  direction  of  Secession- 
ville." 

The  Connecticut  regiments  met  with  no  loss  in  this  affair. 
After  two  or  three  days  more  of  skirmishing,  the  division 
was  pushed  forward  by  Gen.  Benham,  at  daylight  on  the 
16th,  to  attack  Lamar's  rebel  batteries,  intrenched  in  front 
of  Secessionville,  near  the  north  end  of  the  island.  This 
was  a  simple  earthwork,  heavily  constructed,  with  a  plain 
face,  an  obtuse  angle  on  each  side,  and  protected  by  rifle-pits 
and  abatis  in  front,  and  flanked  by  creeks  and  marshes. 
The  gunboats  might  have  given  effective  aid,  had  not  the 
assault  been  made  at  low  tide. 

A  soldier  writing  to  the  Palladium  said  of  the  attack,  — 

"  Marching  from  the  woods,  which  had  hitherto  concealed 
our  advancing  column,  the  order,  '  Forward  into  line ! '  was 
given,  and  instantly  obeyed.  Before  us  rose  a  large  fort, 
with  a  deep  moat,  and  heavy,  strong  abatis,  stoutly  pro 
tected  by  cannon  of  different  caliber.  Our  Connecticut  bat 
tery  fired  the  opening  shot,  and  immediately  the  action 
became  general.  The  rebels  were  concealed  by  their  in- 
trenchments ;  but  onward  we  pressed,  firing  at  their  heads 
that  fringed  the  ramparts." 

"  By  this  time  the  Seventh  had  come  into  the  field  and 
formed  in  battalion  line,  and  was  marching  at  double-quick 
across  the  ridges  of  the  cotton-fields.  The  line  was  formed 


BEAVEKY   OF  LIEUT.-COL.   GAEDNEE.  199 

with  the  center  opposite  to  the  right  angle  of  the  enemy's 
works,  with  the  design  of  taking  that  flank." 5  "  The  grape 
and  rifle  shots  came  in  showers.  When  within  two  or  three 
hundred  yards  of  the  earthwork,  the  left  wing  came  obliquely 
upon  an  unseen  ditch  and  morass ;  so  that,  in  advancing,  it 
must  crowd  by  its  right  flank  toward  the  center.  At  this 
moment,  a  terrible  fire  of  grape  and  musketry  opened  upon 
us.  The  line  was  inevitably  broken.  The  colors  stood  fast, 
protected  by  Capt.  Palmer's  company  (E) ;  Capt.  Hitchcock 
with  part  of  Company  G,  and  Lieut.  S.  S.  Atwell  with  part 
of  Company  C,  having  advanced  within  one  hundred  and 
thirty  yards  of  the  parapet.  These  and  a  portion  of  the 
rio-lit  wino;,  conceiving  that  the  time  had  come  when  the 

O  O'  fJ 

order  not  to  fire  might  be  waived,  opened  a  brisk  discharge 
upon  the  parapet.  The  men  stood  bravely ;  but  the  line 
could  not  be  formed  until  the  colors  were  brought  into  the 
open  field.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  the  regiment  moved 
by  the  right  flank  under  the  heaviest  fire,  the  wing  rapidly 
closing  up ;  and  under  your  order,  when  well  across  the 
field  toward  the  marsh,  filed  to  the  right,  and  advanced  upon 
the  enemy." 3 

Lieut.-Col.  Gardner  was  conspicuous  during  the  confusion 
spoken  of  in  re-forming  and  dressing  the  regimental  front. 
His  coolness  in  getting  the  stragglers  into  line  was  much 
admired. 

"  An  attempt  was  here  made  by  the  regiment  to  carry  the 
left  angle  of  the  fort.  The  regiment  marched  by  the  flank 
under  the  heaviest  fire ;  the  companies  keeping  nobly  to 
gether,  right  along  the  face  of  the  enemy's  works." 4  Soon 
after,  an  assault  at  another  point  failing,  Gen.  Stevens  with 
drew  the  regiment.  "  Faced  by  the  rear  rank,  the  battalion 
marched  to  the  hedge,  and  lay  behind  it  until  an  order  from 
Gen.  Stevens  brought  it  back  to  the  hedge  in  front  of  the 
hospital.  In  a  few  moments,  the  general  again  sent  us  for 
ward  to  the  hedge  across  the  first  field,  where  we  lay  while 
three  pieces — two  howitzers  and  a  rifle  of  the  First  Connec 
ticut  Light  Battery  —  came  up,  and  carried  on  a  rapid,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  a  very  well-directed  fire.  Several  times, 

2  Correspondent  of  the  Press.         3  Col.  Hawley's  Report.         4  Letter  in  Press. 


200  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  KEBELLION. 

my  men  assisted  with  the  utmost  eagerness  in  moving  the 
guns  and  giving  other  aid.  A  portion  of  the  best  marksmen 
were  permitted  to  fire  at  the  enemy's  parapets."  5 

"  Our  Connecticut  battery  worked  admirably,  and  we 
stood  by  them  to  the  last.  Using  four-second  fuses,  they 
loaded  and  fired  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning.  Our  New- 
Haven  Tom  Lord  was  down  on  his  knees,  right  under  the 
muzzle  of  his  gun,  ramming  home  the  cartridges  and  spon 
ging  out  his  piece  ;  never  once  changing  his  position.  I  saw 
a  shell  explode  inside  the  body  of  a  horse,  scattering  frag 
ments  of  flesh  and  bones  in  every  direction,  and  covering 
his  rider  with  gore  from  head  to  foot."  ° 

Soon  the  final  command  came  to  retire,  and  the  battery 
and  regiment  drew  off.  "  The  Seventh  was  the  only  regi 
ment  that  marched  off  the  field  in  order.  They  formed 
their  regimental  line  under  the  enemy's  guns,  and  marched 
away  with  the  precision  of  veterans." 7  "  I  saw  the  Seventh 
Connecticut  Volunteers  halt  and  dress  and  correct  its  align 
ment  within  perhaps  three  hundred  yards  of  the  batteries,  and 
retire  with  a  well-preserved  battalion-front  as  if  on  parade." 8 
The  conduct  of  the  battery  received  honorable  mention  in 
the  report  of  Gen.  Stevens ;  and  Col.  Chatfield,  cool-headed 
and  full  of  expedient,  was  complimented  by  Gen.  Wright 
for  the  manner  of  leading  his  brigade. 

Only  two  companies  of  the  Sixth  were  engaged  ;  the  body 
of  the  regiment  being  on  picket-dut}',  and  held  in  reserve. 
The  battle  seems  to  have  been  an  inexcusable  blunder  from 
beginning  to  end,  in  both  its  conception  and  execution. 

Of  the  casualties  and  conduct  of  the  Seventh,  the  official 
report  further  says,  — 

"  Capt.  Edwin  S.  Hitchcock  (of  New  Haven),  Company  G, 
among  the  foremost,  and  enthusiastically  cheering  on  his 
men,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh.  He  continued  to 
call  out  cheerfully,  and  to  fire  rifles  handed  him  by  his  men, 
until  he  received  a  rifle-ball  straight  from  the  front  through 
his  upper  lip.  Four  of  his  men  undertook  to  carry  him  to 
the  rear.  While  they  were  doing  this,  two  of  them  —  Ser- 

5  Col.  Hawley's  Report.  6  Letter  in  Palladium.  7  Chaplain  Wayland. 

8  Correspondent  of  the  N.  Y.  World. 


BURIAL  OF  CAPT.    HITCHCOCK.  201 

geant  W.  H.  Haynes  and  Private  J.  N.  Dexter  —  were 
wounded  by  rifle-balls ;  and  they  were  obliged  to  leave  the 
gallant  captain  dying  there. 

"  Lieut.  Thomas  Horton  (of  Norwalk),  Company  D,  was 
doing  his  whole  duty,  nobly  rallying  and  regulating  his  com 
pany,  when  a  heavy  grape-shot  passed  entirely  through  his 
right  thigh,  nearly  up  to  his  body.  He  was  carried  to  the 
rear,  praising  his  men  and  urging  them  on ;  and  lived  but  a 
short  time.  Sergeant  (acting  Second  Lieut.)  Henry  Upson, 
jr.  (of  Hartford),  Company  F,  was  heroically  at  work  when 
a  grape-shot  took  off  three  fingers,  and  dashed  through  his 
right  shoulder." 

The  staff-officers  are  mentioned  complimentarily ;  and  of, 
the  line-officers  the  report  says,  "  At  a  most  critical  moment, 
when  we  were  re-arranging  the  line  for  a  second  advance, 
nothing  could  have  been  better  than  the  conduct  of  Capts. 
Gray,  Palmer,  and  Skinner,  and  Lieuts.  Chamberlain,  Atwell, 
Thompson,  Townsend,  and  Burdick.  Surgeon  Bacon  and 
Assistant  Surgeon  Porter  and  their  assistants  were  very  in 
dustrious  in  bringing  off  the  wounded ;  to  which  I  attribute 
our  small  number  of  missing.  Chaplain  Wayland  was  also 
everywhere  present,  self-possessed  and  active."  The  regi 
ment  had  lost  in  this  brief  action  nineteen  killed  and  seventy- 
nine  wounded.  The  color-staff  was  shot  in  two  parts  in  the 
hands  of  Sergeant  H.  H.  Smith  of  Meriden. 

The  body  of  Capt.  Hitchcock  was  taken  home,  and  buried 
with  honors  at  New  Haven.  He  had  been  in  the  war  from 
the  beginning,  and  was  a  kind,  skillful,  and  fearless  soldier, 
as  he  was  a  patriotic  man.  A  former  employer  of  young 
Hitchcock  wrote,  "  His  impulses  were  always  towards 
truth,  justice,  and  liberty ;  his  thoughts  and  words  came 
quickly;  his  advocacy  of  the  right,  under  all  circumstances, — 
knowing  no  expediency,  no  policy,  —  might  be  safely  emu 
lated  by  many  older  men.  Seeing  in  him  these  qualities,  I 
loved  him,  and  could  not  forbear  adding  this  rude  tribute  to 
his  memory."  He  set  an  example,  in  the  army,  of  morality, 
purity,  courtesy,  and  bravery  ;  and  his  men  followed  him 
devotedly.  A  chaste  and  stately  monument  was  erected  to 
his  memory  by  the  members  of  his  company,  on  a  lot  donated 


202  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

by  James  M.  Townsend,  its  untiring  patron,  whose  patri 
otic  benevolence  seemed  to  increase  with  the  burdens  of  the 
war. 

Sergeant  Upson  died  of  his  wounds.  Col.  Hawley  recom 
mended  that  his  commission  as  second  lieutenant  be  made 
out,  and  said,  "  Though  he  will  not  live  to  receive  it,  I  should 
be  glad  to  have  the  commission  issued  as  recommended. 
The  noble  man  deserves  the  honor." 

Capt.  Charles  E.  Palmer,  of  Winsted,  shortly  after  died 
from  exposure  in  this  campaign.  Gen.  Terry  wrote  of  him, 
"  At  the  time  of  the  action  on  James  Island  he  was  so  ill, 
that,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  he  would  not  have  been 
in  command  of  his  company ;  but,  prompted  by  the  devotion 
to  duty  which  always  distinguished  him,  he  led  his  compan}^ 
to  the  field,  and  gave  to  it  and  to  the  regiment  a  splendid 
example  of  courage  and  firmness  under  the  most  trying  cir 
cumstances.  .  .  .  The  noble  purity  and  uprightness  of  his 
nature,  and  his  eminently  soldierly  qualities,  had  not  only 
endeared  him  to  us  all,  but  had  led  us  to  look  forward  to  a 
brilliant  future  for  him ;  and  we  mourn  his  loss  not  only  as 
ours  and  yours,  but  as  a  loss  to  the  country  which  he  served 
so  faithfully." 

When  Gen.  Hunter  returned,  he  ordered  an  evacuation  of 
the  island.  This  soon  took  the  Connecticut  battery  to  Beau 
fort.  The  Sixth  and  Seventh,  in  Gen.  Wright's  brigade, 
went  to  Edisto,  and  occupied  the  rude  camp  there ;  but,  after 
remaining  two  weeks,  they  returned  to  Hilton  Head,  and, 
in  the  familiar  quarters  of  the  previous  winter,  made  them 
selves  once  more  comfortable.  Plethoric  boxes  from  Con 
necticut  were  again  received,  and  all  the  tender  communica 
tions  with  home  were  re-established. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


The  Fourth  becomes  the  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery.  —  Eecruits.  —  Goes  with 
McClellan  to  the  Peninsula.  —  "  Siege  "  of  Yorktown.  —  The  Heavy  Batteries.  — 
"  Ready."  —  Magruder  falls  back.  —  Detached  as  Infantry.  —  The  Seven-days'  Bat 
tles. —  Malvern  Hill.  —  Back  to  Arlington  Heights.  —  The  Connecticut  Battalion 
of  Cavalry.  —  Among  the  Mountains  of  West  Virginia. — After  Bushwhackers. — 
Raids  and  Incidents.  —  Battle  of  McDowell.  —  Charge  through  Wordensville.  —  Dash 
into  New  Market.  —  Ambush  at  Harrisonburg.  —  Cross  Keys.  —  Jackson  Ubiquitous. 
—  The  Fifth  at  Winchester.  — Battle  and  Repulse,  —  In  Maryland  again.  —  Slaughter 
at  Cedar  Mountain.  —  Bravery  and  Severe  Losses  of  the  Fifth.  —  Stone,  Blake,  Dut- 
ton,  Smith. 

AN.  2,  1862,  the  Fourth  Regiment  was  changed, 
by  order  of  the  War  Department,  into  the  First 
Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery ;  and  before  spring, 
under  Col.  Robert  0.  Tyler,  it  had  attained  a 
remarkable  degree  of  efficiency,  and  was  soon 
after  "ranked  by  military  judges  as  the  best  volunteer  regi 
ment  of  heavy  artillery  in  the  field,  and  considered  equal  in 
all  respects  to  any  regiment  of  the  same  arm  in  the  regular 
service." 1  It  received  two  additional  companies,  and  was 
recruited  to  eighteen  .hundred  men.  Company  L  was  from 
Hartford  County;  Company  M  from  Bridgeport  and  New 
Haven  mainly.  Other  officers  and  men  added  at  this  time 
were  largely  from  Norwich,  Killingly,  New  London,  Water- 
bury,  New  Haven,  and  Watertown. 

Its  splendid  equipment  and  its  high  state  of  discipline 
were  soon  to  be  tested.  April  2,  the  regiment  marched  out 
of  its  comfortable  barracks  at  Fort  Richardson,  and  joined 
the  vast  army  under  McClellan2  that  moved  to  capture  Rich 
mond  through  the  Peninsula.  The  First  was  accompanied 

1  Adjutant-General's  Report,  1863,  p.  78. 

^   2  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan  was  a  son  of  Dr.  George  McClellan,  formerly  of  Wood 
stock.  Conn. 

203 


204  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  BEBELLION. 

by  a  siege-train  of  seventy-one  pieces  of  artillery.  After  a 
slow  and  tedious  passage,  it  disembarked  at  Cheeseman's 
Landing,  near  Yorktown,  April  12. 

McClellan  had  a  hundred  thousand  men.  Magruder,  the 
rebel  general,  in  his  front,  had  seven  thousand  and  five  hun 
dred,  which,  says  a  Confederate  authority,3  he  "adroitly 
extended  over  a  distance  of  several  miles ;  a  regiment  being 
posted  here  and  there,  in  every  gap  plainly  open  to  observa 
tion  ;  and,  on  other  portions  of  the  line,  the  men  being  posted 
at  long  intervals,  to  give  the  appearance  of  numbers."  With 
this  absurd  disparity  of  strength,  McClellan  announced  that 
Yorktown  and  the  line  across  the  Peninsula  were  impregna 
ble,  except  to  a  regular  siege. 

In  this  the  First  participated,  having  some  of  the  heaviest 
ordnance  in  the  service.  The  laborious  task  of  getting  bat 
teries  into  position  was  at  once  begun.  In  the  siege-train 
of  seventy-one  pieces  were  two.  200-pounder  Parrotts,  five 
100-pounder  Parrotts,  ten  13-inch  sea-service  mortars,  and 
sixteen  10 -inch  sea -service  mortars.  To  transport  and 
mount  these  properly  required  the  most  arduous  labor 
prolonged  night  and  day,  and  unflagging  energy.  For  two 
weeks,  the  work  went  on;  the  companies  vying  with  each 
other  in  the  severe  task. 

"The  heaviest  pieces  placed  in  position  in  the  trenches 
before  Sebastopol  by  the  English  were  the  68-pounder 
gun  of  10,640  pounds,  and  the  13-inch  sea-service  mortar 
of  11,300  pounds ;  and  by  the  French  the  cannon  de  fifty 
of  10,190  pounds,  and  the  mortier  de  32c  of  9,615  pounds. 
The  200-pounder  Parrott  weighs  16,470,  and  the  13-inch 
sea-service  mortar  (1861)  17,120  pounds.  The  guns  placed 
in  position  before  Yorktown,  therefore,  exceed  in  weight  by 
fifty  per  cent  any  guns  that  have  ever  before  been  placed 
in  siege  batteries." 4 

For  the  service  of  these  guns,  it  was  necessary  to  convey 
17,047  projectiles,  weighing,  in  the  aggregate,  four  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  tons.  All  this  carrying  was  done  by  the 
regiment ;  and,  during  the  twenty-two  days  before  the  evacu- 

3  Pollard's  Southern  History  of  the  War,  p.  287. 

*  Report  of  Major  A.  Doull,  2d  New- York  artillery,  ordnance-officer  to  siege-train 
First  Connecticut. 


THE   SIEGE  OF  YORKTOWN.  205 

ation,  they  carted  seven  hundred  and  twenty-six  loads  to  the 
de*pot. 

Only  the  battery  of  heavy  guns  was  engaged  during  the 
siege.  "  This  battery  opened  fire  on  the  1st  of  May,  and  at 
once  drove  all  the  rebel  shipping  from  the  wharves  at  York- 
town.  In  all,  a  hundred  and  thirty-seven  rounds  from  the 
100-pounders,  and  four  rounds  from  the  200-pounder,  were 
fired."  5  The  practice  was  very  accurate,  although  firing  at 
long  range,  —  two  to  three  miles. 

Major  Doull  of  the  2d  New- York,  ordnance-officer  to  the 
siege-train  of  the  First  Connecticut,  says  in  his  report  to 
Col.  Tyler,— 

"  In  the  three  weeks  during  which  these  siege-operations  have  been  con 
ducted,  your  regiment  has  worked  with  very  little  relief  night  and  day.  As 
soon  as  any  battery  has  been  completed,  the  companies  to  which  it  has  been 
assigned  have  moved  into  camp  near  it,  constructing  such  shelter  from  the 
enemy's  fire  as  they  could,  and  remaining  with  their  guns  ;  differing,  in  this 
respect,  from  all  other  troops  employed  in  the  trenches,  who  returned  to  camp 
out  of  fire  as  soon  as  their  duty  was  finished. 

"  During  the  seven  days  that  elapsed  from  the  26th  of  April  to  the 
evacuation  of  Yorktown,  all  the  batteries  have  been  fired  at  more  or  less 
continuously ;  and  though  the  regiment  has  never  before  been  under  fire, 
and  is,  like  the  rest  of  this  army,  composed  of  troops  who  have  not  been 
twelve  months  in  the  service,  and  who  would  therefore  be  considered  in  any 
regular  artillery  in  the  world  merely  as  recruits  ;  and  the  officers  have  not 
had  the  advantage  of  that  scientific  military  training  which  is  usually  con 
sidered  necessary  for  this  branch  of  military  service  ;  and  although  a  large 
part  of  the  material  employed  has  been  of  a  weight  hitherto  unknown  in 
sieges,  and  has  therefore  necessitated  the  employment  of  carriages  and 
platforms,  usually  confined  to  permanent  works,  on  account  of  the  labor, 
care,  and  accuracy  required  in  their  construction,  —  yet  the  condition  of  the 
batteries,  and  the  accuracy  with  which  all  the  platforms  have  been  laid 
and  the  magazines  arranged,  give  no  indication  whatever  of  these  disad 
vantages." 

Major  Doull  says  that  this  siege-train  was  placed  in  bat 
tery  before  Yorktown  as  quickly  as  the  first  siege-train  of 
smaller  guns  by  the  English  before  Sevastopol,  though  the 
latter  had  "  all  the  resources  of  a  powerful  navy  and  a  large 
regular  army,  skilled  by  constant  practice ;"  and  he  concludes 
that  "  it  is  evident  that  the  labors  of  the  First  Regiment 
Connecticut  artillery  will  compare  favorably  with  any  thing 
of  the  kind  that  has  been  done  before." 

8  Major  Doull's  Report. 


206  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

"  On  the  day  of  the  evacuation,  there  were  six  batteries 
of  forty-eight  mortars  and  guns  ready  to  throw  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  tons  of  metal  daily  into  Yorktown." 6  At 
the  end  of  all  this  tremendous  labor,  the  rebels  fell  back ; 
Magruder  having  by  this  time  been  re-inforced  so  as  to  be  able 
to  check  pursuit,  while  Lee  chose  his  battle-ground  nearer 
Richmond.  "  We  worked  night  and  day,"  says  a  young  vol 
unteer,  in  the  War  Record ;  "  and,  just  as  we  had  every  thing 
ready,  the  bird  had  flown."  Oh,  how  angry  the  men  were  !  — 
all  our  work  for  nothing.  Some  of  them  almost  cried  for  vex 
ation."  But  severe  service  still  awaited  them.  All  the  guns 
and  the  four  hundred  tons  of  projectiles  were  re-embarked, 
and  transported  to  White  House.  From  this  point,  the  men 
marched  to  Old  Church  in  a  terrible  thunder-storm,  with  the 
mud  knee-deep.  The  regiment  performed  valuable  service 
in  reconnoissances,  and  completely  destroyed  the  enemy's 
communications ;  so  that  he  could  not,  at  the  time,  cross  the 
Pamunkey  for  a  flank  attack.  Detached  as  infantry,  the  most 
of  the  regiment  was  at  Hanover  Court  House  in  line  of  battle, 
•but  was  not  actively  engaged.  Soon  after,  the  regiment 
formed  the  advance  of  the  infantry,  under  Gen.  McCook,  that 
followed  the  rebels  in  Stuart's  raid,  and  marched  forty-two 
miles  in  thirty-seven  hours.  June  21,  the  disembarkation 
of  guns  and  material  at  White  House  commenced  ;  and  some 
of  the  heavy  guns  were  got  in  position  in  three  clays,  in 
charge  of  Capts.  E.  C.  Dorr,  G.  B.  Cook,  and  A.  F.  Brooker. 
They  "  opened  with  good  effect  upon  the  rebel  batteries  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  doing,  as  reported 
by  the  signal-officer,  much  damage  ;  dismounting  the  ene 
my's  heaviest  gun,  and  compelling  them  to  remove  their 
camps." 7 

Next  day  they  were  moved  across  the  Chickahominy,  and 
the  batteries  placed  in  position  on  Golding's  Hill,  where  they 
were  fought  during  the  day  under  a  severe  fire.  When  the 
guns  could  be  no  longer  useful,  the  companies  were  formed  and 
led  into  the  line  of  infantry  defending  the  position,  —  service 
for  which  they  were  thanked  by  the  general  commanding. 
The  pieces  were  afterwards  brought  off  by  hand;  and  Lieut. 

6  Col.  Tyler's  Report  to  Gen.  Porter.  7  Ibid. 


COL.   TYLER'S  REPORT.  207 

R.  A.  Sedgwick  is  especially  commended  for  rapidly  remov 
ing  two  10-pounder  Whitworth's,  with  only  twenty  men,  a  dis 
tance  of  two  and  a  half  miles;  "the  second  gun  being  brought 
away  when  our  most  advanced  pickets  were  retiring  past  it." 
On  the  night  of  the  27th,  the  guns  under  command  of  Major 
Kellogg  were  successfully  retired  behind  White-oak  Swamp, 
where  they  joined  the  remainder  of  the  siege-train  of  the 
First,  which  had  been  in  position  in  front  of  Sumner's  corps, 
under  command  of  Major  Hemingway,  in  the  immediate 
charge  of  Capts.  T.  S.  Gilbert,  T.  H.  Rockwood,  D.  R.  Hub- 
bard,  and  George  Ager.  By  the  great  exertions  of  these 
officers,  the  guns  were  successfully  brought  off  after  the  re 
peated  attacks  upon  our  rear.  During  the  night  of  June  30, 
fourteen  guns  with  ammunition  were  dragged  up  the  steep 
ascent  of  Malvern  Hill  by  Companies  B,  D,  F,  K,  and  I, 
working  all  night  after  their  tedious  inarches  of  the  week. 
The  guns  occupied  the  highest  ground  on  Malvern  Hill;  were 
served  with  great  rapidity  and  accuracy;  and  caused  much 
destruction  to  the  enemy's  advancing  column.  Col.  Tyler 
says  in  his  report, — 

"  The  companies,  after  working  all  the  night  of  the  30th  to  place  these 
guns  in  position,  and  fighting  them  daring  the  whole  day  on  the  1st  of  July, 
spent  that  night  in  retiring  the  siege-train  to  the  present  depot  near  West- 
over  Lauding :  the  guns,  the  ammunition  of  which  had  been  expended, 
were  also  retired  to  Harrison's  Bar,  under  Lieut.-Col.  White.  I  would 
respectfully  call  your  attention  to  the  fact,  that  all  the  ammunition  used  at 
Malvern  Hill  had  been  transported,  by  way  of  Gaines's  Mill,  Savage's  Sta 
tion,  and  White-oak  Swamp,  to  that  place  ;  and  that  the  officers  and  men 
with  the  guns  had  been  almost  constantly  laboring  day  and  night  from  the 
22d  of  June  ;  and  to  the  fact,  that,  out  of  twenty-six  heavy  guns,  twenty- 
five  arrived  safely  at  their  destination.  This  was  accomplished  under  almost 
unheard-of  difficulties,  —  with  mule-teams  constantly  breaking  down, 
driven  by  frightened  citizen  teamsters,  who  deserted  whenever  the  fire 
became  heavy :  frequently  teams  had  to  be  pressed  into  the  service  to 
replace  those  which  had  been  exhausted  by  the  labor  of  drawing  the  guns  ; 
and  sometimes,  for  miles,  the  guns  were  drawn  by  hand  by  the  different 
companies  of  the  regiment." 

In  the  whole  Peninsular  campaign,  though  present  at  sev 
eral  of  the  battles,  and  on  duty  night  and  day,  the  regiment 
lost  only  three  killed  and  four  wounded.  Its  services,  how 
ever,  were  acknowledged  by  an  order  directing  the  names, 


208  CONNECTICUT  DTJKING  THE  EEBELLIOK 

"Siege  of  Yorktown,  Hanover  Court  House,  Chickahominy, 
Gaines's  Mill,  and  Malvern,"  to  be  emblazoned  on  its  colors. 

At  the  withdrawal  of  the  army,  the  regiment  resumed  its 
place  in  the  forts  opposite  Washington  ;  its  jurisdiction 
being  soon  enlarged,  so  that  it  garrisoned  Forts  Richardson, 
Scott,  Berry,  Barnard,  Reynolds,  Garesche,  and  Ward,  stretch 
ing  along  Arlington  Heights,  and  commanding  all  the  west 
ward  approaches  to  the  capital.  This  assignment  to  a 
position  of  supreme  importance  shows  in  what  estimation 
the  regiment  was  held. 

Gen.  McClellan,  in  fact,  just  before  the  battle  of  Antietam, 
had  such  confidence  in  the  First  Connecticut  artillery,  that  he 
insisted  that  "  the  troops  in  the  forts  "  would  be  sufficient  to 
check  any  probable  rebel  approach  on  Washington  from  the 
west  if  the  two  corps  supporting  them  should  be  withdrawn 
to  re-inforce  him.8 


As  early  as  Feb  24,  the  Connecticut  battalion  of  cav 
alry  encamped  on  an  island  in  the  Ohio  River,  opposite 
Wheeling,  Va. ;  while  Major  Lyon  reported  to  Gen.  Rose- 
crans  for  duty.  Here  a  camp  was  quickly  made,  and  a 
month  was  spent  in  sword-exercise  and  battalion-move 
ments  ;  and,  on  the  27th  of  March,  the  battalion  moved  to 
report  to  Gen.  Schenck  at  Moorfield. 

Moorfield,  the  court-town  of  Hardy  County,  is  on  the 
south  branch  of  the  Upper  Potomac,  here  running  parallel 
to  the  Shenandoah;  and  nestles  in  one  of  the  many  narrow, 
broken  valleys  formed  by  isolated  peaks  and  abrupt  spurs 
of  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Branch  Mountains.  The  wind 
ing  roads  and  countless  convenient  hiding-places  of  that  wild 
though  fertile  region  swarmed  with  guerrillas.  These  parti 
sans  of  slavery  and  rebellion  gathered  everywhere  in  small 
squads  to  persecute  Union  citizens,  annoy  our  soldiers,  capture 
our  scouts  and  carriers,  and  shoot  our  pickets;  and,  when  fol 
lowed  by  a  superior  force,  the  bands  dissolved  into  innocent- 
looking  farmers.  To  destroy  these  roving  rascals  was  to  be 
the  task  of  the  force  at  Moorfield,  consisting  of  the  55th 

8  See  dispatch  to  Gen.  Halleck,  Sept.  11,  1862. 


CAPT.   WILLIAM  S.   FISH.  209 

and  82d  Ohio  infantry,  a  section  of  Beck's  battery,  and  our 
cavalry  battalion. 

The  battalion  arrived  at  sundown  of  March  30,  and  began 
its  first  scouting-expedition  at  sunrise  of  the  31st.  Day 
and  night  thereafter,  in  detachments  of  ten,  thirty,  rarely 
a  hundred  men,  they  scoured  every  road  and  by-path  for 
many  miles,  capturing  these  unorganized  traitors  with  arms 
and  supplies.  Thus,  hunting  human  game  in  squads,  the 
mettle,  good  nature,  endurance,  tact,  and  energy  of  every 
man  was  tested.  Each  day  brought  fresh  scenes,  varied 
perils,  and  individual  achievements. 

On  April  3,  Capt.  Charles  Farnsworth  of  Norwich,  in  an 
attempt  to  open  communication  with  Romney  to  the  north, 
was  ambushed  in  a  rocky  ravine,  and  he  and  one  of  his  men 
severely  wounded.  Two  days  afterwards,  Capt.  Middlebrook 
went  out  with  a  larger  force,  and  cleared  the  road.  This  was 
the  first  blood  drawn,  and  it  roused  the  members  of  the  bat 
talion  to  more  determined  if  more  cautious  exertions.  Spring 
ing  upon  the  rebel  plunderers  at  unusual  hours  and  in  almost 
inaccessible  places,  they  killed,  captured,  or  scattered  them, 
and  made  themselves  seem  to  their  frightened  foes  a  full 
brigade. 

Chaplain  Warriner  wrote  of  this  time,  "  The  history  of  the 
dashing,  scouting,  bushwhacker-hunting  Connecticut  cavalry 
has  never  been  written.  No  one  has  a  correct  and  vivid  under 
standing  of  the  part  they  performed  in  the  campaign  of  the 
mountain  department,  except  the  boys  themselves,  or  those 
who  have  heard  them  relate  the  story  of  their  bold  exploits. 
Risks  were  run,  hardships  endured,  and  achievements  per 
formed,  which  have  never  been  widely  heralded,  because 
they  did  not  occur  in  connection  with  any  great  popular 
movement,  or  under  the  eye  of  any  professional  reporter." 

Capt.  William  S.  Fish,  a  tireless  rider  and  a  vigorous  com 
mander,  led  many  brilliant  and  successful  dashes  among  the 
mountains.  The  harassed  rebels  are  said  to  have  set  a  price 
on  his  head,  which  only  made  him  and  his  command  the 
more  active  and  relentless. 

Another  phase  of  cavalry  life  and  adventure  is  illustrated 
by  another  class  of  incidents.  Capt.  Middlebrook,  like  nearly 


•2.7 


210  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

all  officers,  had  his  favorite  tactical  movements  and  com 
mands.  At  all  irregularities  of  marching,  he  was  sure  to 
shout,  "  Guide  left !  "  It  happened,  that  on  the  loth  of  April, 
while  escorting  a  bearer  of  dispatches  to  Gen.  Milroy  at 
Monterey,  he  and  his  detachment  found  it  necessary  to  ford 
the  Potomac  at  Petersburg.  The  captain's  horse  was  carried 
from  his  feet  by  the  swollen  current.  The  rider  slipped  off, 
and  seizing  the  horse  by  the  tail,  and  swimming  behind, 
kept  the  animal  headed  toward  the  opposite  shore.  The 
boys,  by  this  time  nearly  all  safely  on  the  land,  viewing  the 
amusing  spectacle,  shouted,  "  Guide  left !  "  Coming  safe  to 
shore,  the  captain,  though  quaking  with  cold,  joined  in  the 
laugh,  and  doubtless  still  enjoys  the  joke.  While  the  bat 
talion  was  at  Moorfield,  Company  A,  Capt.  E.  Blakeslee,  was 
chosen  as  the  body-guard  of  Gen.  Schenck,  serving  to  his 
great  satisfaction. 

"  To  all  the  marches  and  sudden  expeditions  of  this  time," 
writes  Chaplain  Warriner,  "the  indescribable  grandeur  of 
the  scenery,  the  roughness  of  the  mountain-roads,  and  the 
terrific  depth  of  the  swollen  streams  through  which  we  often 
plunged,  lent  the  charm  of  romantic  adventure.  The  bush 
whackers'  bullets  whistled  through  the  pines  in  wild  harmony 
with  the  mountain-breeze,  and  the  big  guns  roared  like  the 
voice  of  a  mountain  tempest  as  they  echoed  from  hill-top  to 
hill-top  at  the  battle  of  McDowell." 

In  April,  the  rebels,  thoroughly  alarmed  for  the  safety  of 
Richmond,  resolved  on  a  diversion  up  the  valley,  "  to  prevent 
re-inforcements  for  McClellan,  or  perhaps  draw  off  divisions 
from  him  ; " 9  and  forthwith  strengthened  the  command  of  Gen. 
T.  J.  (u  Stonewall")  Jackson.  Jackson  immediately  sent  Gen. 
E.  Johnson,  with  a  strong  detachment,  against  Gen.  Milroy, 
near  Staunton.  Milroy  fell  back,  and  Gen.  Schenck  promptly 
started  (May  2)  to  his  relief.  Schenck  had  no  pontoon- 
trains,  and  the  streams  were  swift  and  deep.  The  cavalry 
and  battery  crossed  first;  then  the  wagons  were  dragged  into 
the  stream  to  make  a  bridge  for  the  infantry. 

Milroy  halted  at  McDowell  on  the  7th,  in  his  retreat.  The 
Connecticut  battalion,  marching  forty-three  miles  in  twenty- 

9  Letter  of  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston  to  Jackson,  May  27,  1862. 


"A  BRILLIANT  LITTLE  DASH."  211 

four  hours,  were  the  first  re-inforcements  to  reach  him  (May 
8).  There  was  a  prolonged  artillery  duel,  and  a  short,  sharp 
fight  with  infantry ;  when  Milroy,  finding  himself  outnum 
bered,  withdrew,  and  continued  his  retreat  to  Franklin.  The 
rebels  followed  closely,  and  bushwhackers  skulked  in  the  ra 
vines  and  woods  all  along  the  flanks.  The  cavalry  battalion 
covered  the  retreat  with  sleepless  energy  and  intrepidity, 
checking  the  rebels  at  every  point.  Fremont's  main  body 
had  arrived  at  Franklin  ;  and  now  the  rebels  retreated,  and 
the  Union  forces  pursued  across  the  Alleghanies  to  intercept 
Jackson  in  the  Shenandoah. 

Our  cavalry  battalion  was  in  the  advance,  and  at  noon  it 
arrived  on  the  summit  of  the  mountains.  Suspecting  that 
Jackson  was  advancing  on  Moorfield,  Fremont  sent  the  bat 
talion  twenty-one  miles  to  Wordensville  to  reconnoiter.  It 
was  sundown  when  they  started,  and  very  dark  as  they  felt 
their  way  silently  through  the  mountains.  On  their  return, 
four  miles  from  town,  they  were  met  with  orders  to  go  back 
to  Wordensville,  brought  by  a  detachment  which  swelled  their 
numbers  to  eighty,  under  Capts.  Middlebrook  and  Blakeslee. 

A  member  of  the  battalion  writes,  "Just  as  we  were 
re-entering  the  town,  the  adjutant  having  command  of  the 
advance-guard  was  startled  by  the  command  to  '  Halt ! '  and 
'  Who  comes  there  ? '  followed  quickly  by  the  crack  of  a  car 
bine.  He  guessed  in  a  moment  the  town  was  occupied  by 
rebel  cavalry,  and  the  order  was  given  to  charge.  Every 
man  slung  his  saber  to  his  waist  by  his  sword-knot,  drew 
pistol,  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  dashed  on.  The  ball  from 
the  gun  of  the  rebel  picket  passed  through  the  neck  of  the 
horse  of  the  man  next  to  the  adjutant. 

"  We  found  the  rebel  cavalry  drawn  up  in  line  to  receive 
us ;  but  we  came  upon  them  with  such  impetuosity,  that  they 
did  not  wait  for  a  hand-to-hand  conflict,  but,  after  one  dis 
charge  from  their  carbines,  broke,  and  fled  in  every  direction. 
A  more  complete  rout  I  never  expect  to  see.  Blankets, 
canteens,  and  the  trappings  of  horsemen,  strewed  the  street, 
from  one  end  of  the  village  to  the  other.  I  regret  to  say 
that  we  took  no  prisoners.  They  had  splendid  horses  for 
the  retreat.  We  contented  ourselves  with  clearing  the  town 


212  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   EEBELLIOK 

of  the  vermin.  We  learned  of  the  citizens  that  their  force 
was  seventy.  Ours  was  eighty,  —  not  so  great  a  disparity 
when  we  reflect  that  one  Southerner  can  whip  with  perfect 
ease  five  Yankees." 

Col.  Zagonyi  characterized  the  affair  as  "  a  brilliant  little 
dash."  The  battalion  occupied  the  town  until  the  main 
army  came  up. 

Fremont  pushed  on  his  column,  and,  finding  that  the  wary 
foe  had  eluded  him,  fell  on  his  rear  to  embarrass  his  retreat. 
By  this  time,  on  account  of  the  illness  of  ranking  officers, 
Capt.  L.  A.  Middlebrook  was  in  command  of  the  battalion. 
He  dashed  through  New  Market  on  June  5,  driving  out  the 
enemy's  pickets. 

Next  day  the  battalion  was  deployed  as  advance  skirmish 
ers,  and  about  noon  formed  a  part  of  a  force  ordered  to 
charge  through  the  village  of  Harrisonburg.  Rebel  cavalry 
and  infantry  were  posted  in  the  edge  of  the  village ;  and,  as 
the  battalion  approached,  it  rushed  into  a  deadly  ambush  of 
several  well-posted  regiments  of  infantry.  The  companies 
were  badly  cut  up,  and  made  their  way  rapidly  back  in  dis 
order,  obliquing  through  the  woods.  After  retiring  to  the 
rear,  the  men  rallied  and  re-formed. 

In  the  new  line  of  battle,  the  battalion's  standard  was  in 
the  advance.  After  a  spirited  fight,  in  which  the  noted  rebel 
Ashby  was  killed,  the  rebels  fled  precipitately,  leaving  their 
camp  and  stores. 

Pursuit  was  immediately  resumed  next  morning ;  and  the 
cavalry  overtook  the  vanguard  of  the  enemy  at  ten  o'clock 
at  Cross  Keys,  but  were  withdrawn,  and  held  in  reserve ; 
while  Fremont  pushed  on,  and  vigorously  assailed  Jackson 
in  his  strong  position.  The  enemy  held  his  ground,  and  the 
result  was  a  drawn  battle  ;  but  Jackson  slipped  away  in  the 
night,  and  in  the  morning  fell  upon  and  crushed  the  forces 
under  Gen.  Tyler  at  Port  Republic,  and  escaped  to  Char- 
lotteville,  and  thence,  by  a  rapid  march,  struck  McClellan  a 
fearful  blow  on  his  flank  at  Gaines's  Mills. 

During  the  last  night  at  Cross  Keys,  Sergeant  John  B. 
Morehouse  and  four  men,  sent  to  reconnoiter  close  to  the 
enemy's  lines,  were  captured.  Morehouse  (of  Fairfield)  was 


SUFFERINGS   OF  THE  FIFTH.  213 

a  sober,  solid  man,  near  middle  life,  and  possessed  of  consid 
erable  wealth.  He  returned  from  California  in  order  to  enter 
the  army,  and  enlisted  in  the  first  company  he  met,  which 
chanced  to  be  in  the  cavalry  battalion.  Attracting  attention 
at  once  for  his  promptness  and  enthusiasm,  he  was  offered  a 
commission,  but  refused  it,  conscientiously  regarding  himself 
as  unqualified.  He  studied  tactics  and  practiced  sword  exer 
cise  constantly.  Through  four  years  of  sturdy  service,  he 
rose  steadily  to  a  major's  commission  ;  never  better  earned 
by  living  soldier. 

The  Union  cavalry  now  fell  leisurely  back,  without  defi 
nite  object,  except  to  renew  their  supplies ;  and  we  find  the 
battalion  on  June  10  at  Harrisonburg,  11  at  New  Market, 
12  at  Mount  Jackson,  19  at  Woodstock,  20  at  Strasburg,  24 
at  Middletown,  July  7  at  Front  Royal,  8  at  Milford,  9  at 
Luray,  10  at  Sperryville. 

At  Milford,  Major  Lyon  remained  sick ;  and  Capt.  Middle- 
brook  again  commanded  the  battalion.  Major  Lyon,  finding 
that  his  ill  health  unfitted  him  for  active  service,  soon  after 
resigned.  The  battalion  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  on 
July  28  joined  Col.  Cluseret  at  Madison  Court  House ; 
scouting  in  that  vicinity  while  Banks's  corps  moved  up  to 
Culpeper. 

The  Fifth  Regiment  had  not  been  enervated  by  luxury 
during  the  winter.  It  had  probably  done  as  much  marching 
as  any  other  regiment  in  the  service  from  any  State.  In 
midwinter  it  made  a  forced  march  from  Darnestown,  and 
back  again ;  and  of  this,  Major  Henry  B.  Stone  wrote  to  a 
friend,  "  When  I  tell  you  that  the  snow  was  driving  all  day, 
and  ankle-deep  ;  that  the  men  had  just  marched  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty  miles  with  scarcely  two  days'  rest ;  that  their 
feet  were  sore  and  blistered,  many  of  them  without  shoes, 
and  using  handkerchiefs  and  old  rags  to  tie  up  their  feet 
and  keep  them  out  of  the  snow,  —  you  may  appreciate  the 
march,  and  the  indomitable  perseverance  of  our  men  to 
accomplish  it.  Some  of  the  boys  were  compelled  to  fall  out 
from  exhaustion ;  and  the  poor  fellows  wept  bitterly  because 
they  were  unable  to  stand  up  longer." 


214  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Before  the  keenness  of  the  winter  air  was  gone,  the  regi 
ment  received  orders  to  move  across  the  Potomac,  and  occupy 
the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Col.  Ferry  issued  the  following 
regimental  order :  — 

HEADQUARTERS,  FIFTH  REGIMENT  CONN.  VOLS., 
Camp  near  Hancock,  Md.,  Feb.  25,  1862. 

We  are  about  to  cross  the  Potomac.  We  go  to  liberate  the  loyal  people 
of  Virginia  from  the  despotism  of  a  wicked  rebellion.  Our  enemies  are 
those  who  are  in  arms  against  the  government.  The  persons  and  property 
of  citizens  not  in  arms  are  to  be  sacredly  respected.  They  have  been  told 
by  their  tyrants  that  we  come  to  pillage,  to  ravish,  and  to  destroy.  Let  us 
prove  by  our  conduct  that  we  come  to  establish  rights,  to  maintain  law, 
to  restore  order. 

To  this  end,  it  is  ordered,  — 

First,  All  injuries  to  private  property,  without  authority  of  the  regi 
mental  commander,  are  expressly  forbidden. 

Second,  Whoever  shall  maltreat  any  citizen  not  in  the  service  of  the 
enemy  shall  be  punished  by  drum-head  court-martial. 

Third,  Whoever  shall  maltreat  or  abuse  any  woman  shall  be  shot. 

Soldiers  of  the  Fifth,  —  I  rely  upon  you,  not  only  for  courage  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy,  but  for  good  order  in  the  enemy's  country. 

O.  S.  FERRY, 

Colonel  Fifth  Rcgt.  Conn.  Vols. 

On  March  1,  the  Fifth  crossed  the  Potomac  at  Williams- 
port  ;  advanced  into  Virginia ;  drove  the  enemy  from  Win 
chester,  and  occupied  the  place.  The  regiment  was  ordered 
to  Manassas  on  the  18th;  but,  when  one  day's  march  from 
Winchester,  it  was  recalled  to  participate  in  the  defense  of 
the  place  against  the  rebel  attack  of  the  22d  and  the  subse 
quent  pursuit  of  Jackson  beyond  Harrisonburg.  The  regi 
ment  took  possession  of  an  old  press  at  Winchester,  and 
printed  four  or  five  numbers  of  a  newspaper  under  the  title 
of  ''The  Connecticut  Fifth."  Curtis  B.  Wells  and  William 
Patch  were  the  chief  movers  in  this  enterprise. 

Col.  Ferry,  having  been  appointed  a  brigadier-general,  took 
command  of  the  brigade  under  Gen.  Shields,  whose  division 
was  now  ordered  to  join  McDowell.  On  the  1st  of  May, 
the  Fifth  was  living  quietly  in  camp  near  Strasburg.  "It 
seemed,"  wrote  an  officer,10  "  as  if  the  war  was  over.  We  put 
on  our  new  clothes,  donned  our  white  vests,  and  sat  in  the 
shade  discussing  the  chances  of  being  mustered  out  in  a 
month  or  two.  Soon  there  were  rumors  of  an  advance  by 

11  Adjutant  Edward  F.  Blake. 


THE  FIFTH  UNDER  FIRE.  215 

Jackson  ;  and  all  at  once  the  Union  regiments  faced  towards 
Winchester,  the  band  playing  '  Oh,  dear !  what  can  the  matter 
be  ? '  The  regiment  was  ordered  to  leave  knapsacks  in  a 
pile  by  the  roadside  ;  and,  the  rebels  soon  pressing  along  the 
road,  the  guard  was  obliged  to  heap  rails  upon  them,  and  fire 
the  pile.  These  contained,  among  other  things,  new  clothes, 
daguerreotypes,  portfolios,  diaries,  money,  and  some  watches ; 
all  burnt  up  grimly." 

Banks,  left  with  only  five  thousand  men,  was  obliged  to 
fallback  before.  Jackson's  superior  force;  and  on  May  25 
there  was  a  severe  and  well-fought  battle  at  Winchester  for 
the  possession  of  the  valley.  The  Fifth  was  under  fire  for 
the  first  time,  facing  the  28th  North-Carolina. 

Lieut.-Col.  George  D.  Chapman  was  in  command  of  the 
regiment,  and,  in  his  official  report,  says,  — 

M  About  five  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  as  the  men  were  rising  from  their 
sleep  and  heating  their  coffee  in  a  field  which  we  entered  late  the  night 
before,  a  shell  suddenly  fell  among  them.  This  was  followed  by  others 
in  rapid  succession.  The  men  quickly  seized  their  muskets,  and  fell  calmly 
into  line.  The  inquiry  was  sent  back,  whether  we  should  hold  the  spot,  or 
advance.  Before  receiving  a  reply,  I  ordered  the  regiment  to  a  hollow  in 
the  field  next  to  the  rear ;  which  was  done,  '  by  the  right  of  companies  to 
the  rear,'  in  good  order.  The  enemy's  infantry  soon  appeared  on  the  hill 
in  front,  charging  directly  upon  us.  Companies  A  and  F  immediately 
moved  forward,  and  delivered  their  fire  with  effect  upon  the  enemy,  now 
Avithin  a  few  rods.  The  whole  battalion  moved  up  to  their  line,  and, 
delivering  three  well-directed  volleys,  mowed  down  the  enemy  by  scores, 
shooting  away  their  flag  each  time.  At  the  third  volley,  Companies  I  and 
B,  by  half  wheeling  to  the  right,  delivered  a  cross-fire.  At  this  the  enemy 
broke,  and  ran  in  confusion.  The  order  then  came  from  the  colonel  for  the 
regiment  to  fall  back  to  a  line  of  stone  wall  in  the  rear  of  the  field  next 
behind.  During  this  movement,  Company  D  deployed  as  skirmishers  to 
hold  the  line  we  were  leaving.  A  fog  settled  down  ;  and,  for  half  an  hour, 
firing  ceased.  As  it  lifted,  I  saw  at  some  distance  a  large  force  of  the 
enemy  moving  by  the  right  flank  to  turn  our  left.  Our  skirmishers  fired 
upon  them  ;  but  the  movement  remained  unchecked  till  a  few  shells  from 
our  artillery  forced  them  back.  After  this,  their  infantry  paid  but  little 
attention  to  us  ;  but  their  artillery  on  the  right  and  left  poured  a  heavy 
shower  of  shells  about  us  as  we  lay  behind  the  wall." 

The  result  was,  that  Banks  was  largely  outnumbered,  and 
the  army  fell  back  to  the  Potomac.  The  Fifth  made  a 
forced  march  of  forty-three  miles  in  fourteen  hours,  cross- 


216  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

ing  at  Dennis  Ferry  at  midnight.  Major  E.  F.  Blake,  in  a 
letter,  thus  describes  the  retreat  of  the  regiment :  "  The  left 
wing  struck  off  across  lots,  at  first  for  Berryville,  but  after 
wards  changed  its  course  for  Martinsburg.  It  was  well  that 
we  took  a  new  direction;  for  we  afterwards  learned  of  a  force 
of  five  thousand  rebels  at  Berryville  to  cut  us  off  Our 
retreat  was  most  fatiguing.  The  enemy  having  gone  down 
the  pike  ahead  of  us  (in  pursuit  of  the  regiments  that  had 
fallen  back  first),  we  were  cut  off  in  that  direction.  Indeed, 
every  one  thought  we  were  gone  for  good ;  .and  Gen.  Banks, 
at  Williamsport,  ordered  some  of  our  men  who  went  with  the 
wagons  to  report  to  Col.  Knipe  of  the  Forty-sixth  Pennsylva 
nia,  '  as  the  Fifth  Connecticut  had  been  surrounded  and  cap 
tured.'  But,  providentially,  we  met  a  guide,  a  refugee,  when 
we  were  at  Muddy  Branch,  who  took  us  a  zigzag  through 
the  woods,  across  lots,  in  gullies,  thickets,  and  everywhere  out 
of  sight,  crossing  the  pike  behind  the  enemy,  and  then  strik 
ing  northward.  Late  in  the  afternoon,  we  again  crossed  the 
pike ;  and  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night  we  stood  on  the  shores 
of  the  Potomac,  having  marched  forty-three  miles  from  Win 
chester.  Most  of  the  men  had  nothing  to  eat  after  four,  A.M. 
Col.  Donnelly  grasped  my  hand  as  we  crossed  the  river,  and 
said, :  Blake,  thank  God  that  brigade  is  safe  !  It  is  the  hap 
piest  moment  of  my  life.'" 

Lieut.  David  B.  Hamilton  of  Waterbury,  detached  for 
duty  in  the  quartermaster's  department,  won  an  enviable 
reputation  by  his  skill  and  bravery  in  saving  the  baggage- 
train  of  the  Fifth  during  this  terrible  retreat.  He  remained 
at  Strasburg,  loading  the  wagons,  long  after  our  forces  had 
evacuated  the  place ;  and  finally  reached  Hancock  in  safety 
after  the  rebels  had  cut  him  off  from  the  main  column  at 
Winchester. 

Capt.  Edward  J.  Rice  was  detailed  for  duty  at  brigade 
headquarters  as  an  adjutant-general;  and,  during  the  pro 
tracted  illness  of  the  general  commanding,  much  of  the  re 
sponsibility  devolved  upon  him.  He  discharged  the  duties 
of  his  position  ably. 

During  the  fight  at  Winchester,  twelve  of  the  Fifth  were 
wounded,  and  seventy-five  taken  prisoners.  Capt.  James  A. 


THE  FIFTH  IN  THE  FIGHT.  217 

Betts,  wounded,  Capt.  D.  F.  Lane,  and  Lieut.  Henry  M. 
Button,  were  commended  for  gallant  conduct.  (It  was  re 
ported  at  home  that  the  regiment  was  captured.) 

Banks  being  shortly  re-inforced  by  Fremont,  the  Fifth, 
after  a  brief  rest,  recrossed  the  river  at  Williamsport  during 
the  first  week  in  June,  and  rapidly  advanced  again  to  Win 
chester,  Front  Royal,  and  the  Luray  Valley.  When  Fre'mont 
was  again  driven  back,  after  the  defeat  of  Shields,  the  Fifth 
moved  across  the  State,  through  Warrenton,  in  the  direction 
of  Gordonsville.  The  latter  part  of  July  it  reached  Culpeper 
Court  House,  being  now  in  Crawford's  brigade,  Williams's 
division  of  Banks's  corps. 

On  the  9th,  the  corps  was  drawn  up  within  a  mile  of  Cedar 
Mountain,  Jackson's  army  holding  the  wooded  fields  and 
cleared  slopes  in  front.  During  the  afternoon,  the  rebels  un 
masked  battery  after  battery  along  the  hills  in  front  and  on 
the  flank,  until  the  ground  between  the  forces  was  com 
manded  by  a  semicircle  of  batteries  more  than  two  miles  long. 
A  fierce  artillery-duel  was  the  prelude  to  the  bloodier  collis 
ion  of  infantry. 

At  five  o'clock,  orders  came  to  cease  firing,  and  to  charge 
an  enfilade  battery  on  the  right  front.  To  Crawford's  brigade 
was  assigned  the  duty  of  leading  the  assault ;  and  gallantly 
did  they  respond.  The  ground  occupied  by  the  Fifth  in  this 
charge  was  a  rough  wheat-stubble,  upon  which  the  sheafed 
grain  still  remained,  gathered  in  heaps  small,  and  far  be 
tween.  On  its  farther  side  was  the  battery,  with  a  sturdy 
growth  of  saplings  in  its  rear ;  and  upon  its  left  a  thicket  of 
scrub-oaks.  Down  this  declivity  sprang  the  Fifth,  at  the 
word  of  command,  into  the  midst  of  a  murderous  fire  from 
every  quarter.  The  battery  in  front  belched  grape  and  can 
ister,  mowing  their  ranks.  Guns  beyond  the  undergrowth, 
and  upon  the  hills  to  the  left  towards  the  mountain,  now 
hurled  herT;  their  storm  of  shot  and  shell.  Moreover,  as  the 
companies  passed  from  the  cover  of  the  projecting  wood  into 
the  open  stubble,  a  terrible  infantry-fire  broke  upon  them  in 
an  incessant  flash  from  the  low  thicket  encircling  the  field 
upon  the  right. 

Very  few  times  during  the  war  was  a  regiment  the  focus  of 

28 


218  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

such  a  fire.  This  narrow  field  was  swept  by  all  the  engines 
of  destruction.  Here  the  Fifth  Regiment  was  broken  in 
pieces.  It  pushed  bravely  across  the  slope  towards  the  un 
seen  foe,  and  maintained  something  like  order  until  reaching 
a  small  brook  that  flowed  through  the  field.  Here  it  wa 
vered,  and  became  scattered.  Several  of  its  best  men  were 
killed :  fifty  were  struck  down  within  two  minutes.  The 
wounded  crept  behind  the  rocks  and  wheat-stacks,  where 
some  of  them  were  shot  again  and  again.  Most  of  the  com 
panies  had  lost  their  leaders,  and  straggled  back  to  the  wood 
whose  protection  they  had  left.  A  large  number,  borne  for 
ward  by  the  impetuosity  of  the  charge,  rushed  into  the 
midst  of  the  enemy  concealed  among  the  saplings,  and  were 
there  slain  or  captured.  All  the  field-officers  were  killed  or 
made  prisoners ;  and  all  the  other  officers,  except  five,  were 
wounded. 

Other  regiments  plunged  into  this  deadly  breach ;  but  the 
battery  was  not  taken,  and  night  proclaimed  a  truce,  the 
darkness  illumined  here  and  there  by  bursting  shells.  Next 
day,  Jackson  retired  across  the  Rapidan ;  while  Pope,  Banks, 
and  Sigel  fell  to  debating  the  question,  who  was  responsible 
for  the  useless  slaughter. 

The  Fifth  counted  its  dead,  and  tenderly  gathered  up  its 
wounded.  Major  Blake,  Adjutant  Smith,  Lieut.  Button,  and 
eighteen  enlisted  men,  lay  dead  on  the  field.  The  brave 
Lieut-Col.  Henry  B.  Stone  was  a  prisoner,  and  soon  died 
of^his  wounds.  Col.  Chapman  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

Major  Edward  F.  Blake,  son  of  Eli  W.  Blake  of  New 
Haven,  was  born  in  1837.  In  boyhood  as  in  manhood, 
he  was  distinguished  for  energy,  fearlessness,  ingeftuity, 
enterprise,  and  strength  and  skill  in  all  muscular  exercises. 
He  possessed  that  rare  executive  faculty  which  makes  the 
possessor  a  leader  trusted  and  followed  by  common  consent. 
While  in  Yale,  he  pulled  in  the  boat-race  with  Harvard.  He 
also  had  excellent  literary  taste,  and  was  one  of  the  editors 
of  the  Yale  Magazine.  He  was  graduated  in  1858,  and  in 
I860  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  New  Haven.  He  did 
not  yield  to  the  first  impulse  when  the  war  broke  out ;  but 


DEATH  OF  MAJOR  BLAKE  AND  LIEUT.   DUTTON.  219 

asjearly  as  October,  18G1,  the  governor  had  accepted  his  ser- 

11  r  'i       TaftJi.  then__ 

iit'ui  Darno'own,  Md.     'Fni  •  E  tfpjjjfBuea 

ins  military  studies -so  earnestly,  '»»  .<•  *  t« 

vli^iarge  the  duties  of  his  new  po>i'.^: 
.1    -von    his.  jealous   •jon'ir.viw ;  and  be  i 
.  vorite  iii  Ib-Le  army,  ns  ho   ua     *"»*••:••  n  at   ! 
••dial,  hearty,  cheerful    Christian,   --?ifJ    *as   i»«- 
Doming  a  rcad\\  spirited,  accomplinh^i  •• 
;ie»cv  ^rocvi-r-vi   hin     •  ».nent  ->l'  'K-4v/.V;   a;-.?int*e^. 

,tlttj.c*ent-nilon  -:tafT-  aud  >ewas 

•imtlc   ujyor  or  OK>    r»^imv-^  ^«r.  liis 

r^^ii.rieat  »L  (Vdrr  Mountain  ;  iind,  when  the  little  band  w  ^ 
.-n*<  pt  ha.^k,  lio  ^va^  killed  iijMantly  by  a  rebel  bullet  as  1 
!••-.!  i'^i-p''''.!  thf  colors  r?«»wj    '  e  hands  of  dying  men  to  bear 
ti.     Col   Ferry  .-  iiiuni.  '  TIo  is  earnest,  brave  «\ 

the  b'.TiVcsf.  ah\         »••  and  by  his  happy  temperament 

.-.;  ilo-ht   i  v»,f  » .a:  is,  toils,  and  annoyances 


-oil*   .  •  -  n.  h<-  wr,  *      .^  of  the   -.  o.'.ng  Demo- 

^art-M.  Into  the  contest.    In<L,- 

went  u>  iU-ubrd  as  a  private  in 

'  received  a  i*t  ifenant';-  commis-. 

•i:     •-  .  iiitin^.  -  Once  in  di«  ticdtf,  he  w*is 

js  an     mi.1  ii-  ;   ;>c!ii'T  '  '  uw  for  sooi- 

nirita,   ;  Li       e    amid 

a;    .  iOv.  ,    in,   jfter   C  '•'•>'?-* 

T  '  rt*\  v  <  'ipr  i    nn 

ri, iicr  kilJcil  <.r  wounded.   "  Lieut.  Dutton  Ls  repor. <. 
s>  i"ol  jiiore  than  once  tho  colors*  from  some  fall* 
J.  to  l:,ive  home  it  along  to  the  hands  of  other-  * 
>ear  it  alofr.     During  this  heroic  and  hopeless  si *•«:£*• 
•ornmanding  ibrin  could  not  long  escape  unsciiU 


220  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

and  he  fell  pierced  by  a  volley  of  rebel  musketry."  He 
was  very  kind  to  his  men,  and  was  much  beloved. 

Adjutant  Heber  S.  Smith  of  Hartford  was  a  student  in 
Trinity  College  when  the  war  broke  out,  of  the  class  of  1862. 
He  was  apt  to  learn,  and  had  a  high  appointment  at  the 
junior  exhibition  of  that  year.  He  made  a  most  efficient 
adjutant.  Prompt  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  a  genial 
companion  and  a  true  friend,  he  was  sincerely  mourned. 

Lieut-Col.  Henry  B.  Stone  was  severely  wounded,  and  taken 
prisoner.  On  Sept.  16,  he  wrote  from  Charlotte ville,  Va., 
to  a  friend  in  Danbury,  "I  am  lying  here  on  my  back, 
suffering  continual  pain,  patiently  waiting  for  my  wounds  to 
heal.  I  suppose,  if  every  thing  goes  on  as  well  as  usual,  I  shall 
have  to  lie  in  this  position  four  weeks  longer,  when  they  will 
take  my  leg  out  of  the  splints,  and  allow  me  to  move  about 
more  in  bed.  How  anxious  I  am  to  hear  about  the  regi 
ment  ! "  The  wounded  man  was  destined  never  to  hear. 
Not  having  proper  care,  inflammation  ensued,  and  he  died, 
still  "  patiently  waiting."  Mr.  Stone  was  captain  of  the  Dan- 
bury  Wide- Awakes  in  1860,  and  showed  so  much  spirit  and 
skill,  that,  when  the  war  broke  oat,  he  was  recalled  from 
New  Jersey  to  command  the  first  three-years'  company.  He 
was  a  handsome,  frank,  generous,  brave  man,  and  beloved  by 
his  command.  Lieut.  Edwin  E.  Marvin  of  Rockville  wrote 
after  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  — • 

"  It  seemed  as  if  the  sacrifices  were  already  prepared  for  their  offering. 
Major  Blake  was  always,  at  home  or  in  camp,  an  earnest,  devout  Chris 
tian  ;  but  Lieut.-Col.  Stone  and  Adjutant  Smith  had  mingled  in  all  our  wild, 
ceaseless  hilarity  and  revelry  that  absorbed  many  a  rainy  day,  and  almost 
every  evening,  of  our  early  history,  with  great  zest ;  but  they,  too,  had 
changed.  Amid  and  contrary  to  the  whole  tenor  of  surrounding  influences, 
'we  well  recollect  that  these  three  had  long  ago  left  all  our  carousals  ;  had 
for  the  past  months  lived  such  lives,  —  lives  of  governed  appetites,  of  sober 
and  earnest  resolution  and  unwavering  duty,  —  that  we  could  well  say,  as 
we  remembered  so  much  and  more,  '  Who  of  all  of  us  was  so  well  pre 
pared  as  they  ? ' ' 

Here  fell  Color-Sergeant  Elijah  B.  Jones  of  Wilton,  a  tall, 
soldierly  man,  perfect  in  bravery ;  and  Color-Corporal  Daniel 
L.  Smith  of  Bethel,  a  conscientious,  prayerful,  resolute  sol 
dier  ;  both  slain  while  bearing  forward  the  flag.  Here  nobly 


SECOND  BATTLE  OF  BULL  WJN.  221 

fell,  also,  Corporal  Oliver  G.  Brady  of  Norwalk,  Blair  of 
North  Haven,  Bailey  of  Berlin,  Thompson  of  Windhara,  and 
others. 

After  the  battle,  Capt.  H.  W.  Daboll  of  Groton,  previously 
the  eighth  captain  in  rank,  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
regiment ;  all  his  superiors  being  either  killed,  captured,  or 
disabled.  He  was  in  hospital  on  sick-leave  before  the  battle. 

On  Aug.  18,  the  Fifth  fell  back  with  Pope's  army  to  the 
line  of  the  Rappahannock,  and,  as  Jackson's  movement 
around  the  right  flank  progressed,  receded  still  farther ;  re 
maining  to  protect  the  baggage-trains  near  Bristow  Station, 
while  the  rest  of  the  army  advanced  to  the  second  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  When  the  rebel  army,  supported  by  three  Fed 
eral  generals,  had  succeeded  in  defeating  Pope,  the  Fifth  was 
withdrawn  nearer  Washington,  thoroughly  exhausted  by  the 
campaign. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Summer  of  1862.  —  The  Fourteenth  Regiment  called  for.  —  The  Military  Situation. 
—  Appeal  of  the  Executive.  —  Enthusiastic  Response  by  the  People.  —  War-Meetings 
and  Local  Effort.  —  Recruiting  Committees.  —  The  Fourteenth  full. — New  Haven 
raises  the  Fifteenth.  —  Hartford  recruits  the  Sixteenth.  —  Seventeenth  from  Fairfiekl 
County.  —  Eighteenth  from  New  London  County. — Nineteenth  from  Litchfield 
County.  —  Twentieth  and  Twenty-first  organized.  —  The  Second  Battery  goes  from 
Bridgeport.  —  All  assigned  to  the  "  Army  of  the  Potomac." 

URING  the  winter  of  1861-2,  the  Union  forces 
made  constant  inroads  upon  the  Rebellion ; 
and  the  magnificent  prophecies  of  Mr.  Seward 
seemed  about  to  be  fulfilled.  The  War  De 
partment  issued  orders,  April  3,  discontinuing 
the  recruiting  service  in  every  State.  Men  about  to  enlist 
turned  gratefully  to  peaceful  pursuits,  assured  that  no  more 
soldiers  would  be  needed.  When,  May  16,  the  Secretary 
of  War  made  a  requisition  on  Gov.  Buckingham  for  six 
hundred  men  to  fill  up  the  Eighth,  Te-nth,  and  Eleventh 
Regiments,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  response  of  the  peo 
ple  was  feeble.  The  government  had  justified  the  impres 
sion  that  the  army  was  strong  enough  for  any  probable 
contingency.  Moreover,  there  was  a  demand  for  labor ;  and 
wages  were  high.  The  requisition  not  being  met,  it  was 
modified  to  a  call  for  another  regiment  to  join  the  fifty 
thousand  men  designed  for  the  "camp  of  instruction "  at 
Annapolis.  The  governor  summoned  volunteers  for  the 
Fourteenth:  D  wight  Morris  of  Bridgeport  was  commissioned 
to  be  its  colonel ;  Dexter  R.  Wright  of  Meriden,  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  and  S.  H.  Perkins  of  Torrington,  major.  Companies 
were  begun  in  Norwich,  Waterbury,  and  Bridgeport;  but 
the  recruiting-sergeants  met  with  little  success.  This  state 

222 


GOV.   BUCKINGHAM'S  PKOCLAMATIOX.  223 

of  apathy  continued,  while  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was 
experiencing  strange  vicissitudes. 

The  Federal  arms  had  been  everywhere  victorious  until 
this  midsummer  of  1862.  The  Union  troops  had  overrun 
and  occupied  Missouri,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee ;  the 
national  flag  was  again  unfurled  in  New  Orleans ;  while  the 
Atlantic  seacoast  was  being  brought  under  Federal  rule  in 
accordance  with  Scott's  "anaconda"  plan.  Suddenly  the 
tide  of  battle  seemed  to  turn.  The  repulse  of  the  gunboats 
in  their  attack  on  Fort  Darling  was  followed  by  the  failures 
of  McClellan ;  Hunter's  foothold  in  the  Carolinas  became 
precarious ;  and  again  the  enemy  advanced  in  the  West. 

This  loss  of  ground  caused  great  public  solicitude,  which 
resulted  in  a  letter  of  the  loyal  governors  to  President  Lin 
coln,  urging  him  "  to  call  upon  the  States  for  such  numbers 
of  men  as  might,  in  his  judgment,  be  necessary  to  garrison 
and  hold  all  the  numerous  cities  and  military  positions  that 
have  been  captured  by  our  armies,  and  to  speedily  crush  the 
Rebellion."  The  president  immediately,  July  1,  issued  a 
call  for  three  hundred  thousand  volunteers  for  three  years. 

The  quota  of  this  State,  under  this  call,  was  fixed  at  seven 
thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-five.  Gov.  Buckingham 
immediately  issued  the  following  appeal  for  volunteers :  — 

CITIZENS  OF  CONNECTICUT,  —  You  are  again  called  upon  to  rally  to 
the  support  of  the  government.  In  the  name  of  our  common  country,  I 
call  upon  you  to  enroll  your  names  for  the  immediate  formation  of  six  or 
more  regiments  of  infantry  to  be  used  in  suppressing  the  Rebellion.  Our 
troops  may  be  held  in  check,  and  our  sons  die  on  the  battle-field  ;  but  the 
cause  of  civil  liberty  must  be  advanced,  the  supremacy  of  the  govern 
ment  must  be  maintained.  Prompt  and  decisive  action  will  be  economy 
in  men  and  money.  By  our  delay,  the  safety  of  our  armies,  even  of  the 
nation,  may  be  imperiled.  The  Rebellion,  contending  with  the  despera 
tion  of  a  hopeless  and  wicked  cause,  must  be  met  with  equal  energy. 
Close  your  manufactories  and  workshops,  turn  aside  from  your  farms  and 
your  business,  leave  for  a  while  your  families  and  your  homes,  meet  face  to 
face  the  enemies  of  your  liberties  !  Haste,  and  you  will  rescue  many  noble 
men  now  struggling  against  superior  numbers,  and  speedily  secure  the 
blessings  of  peace  and  good  government. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  State,  at  New  Haven,  this 
third  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-two. 

WM.  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 
By  his  Excellency's  command  : 

J.  H.  TRUMBULL,  Secretary  of  State. 


224  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

A  bounty  was  now  offered  each  volunteer,  of  a  hundred 
dollars  from  the  Federal  Government,  and  ninety  dollars 
from  the  State ;  and  all  the  recruiting  machinery  was  put 
in  active  operation.  Authority  to  enlist  was  granted  to 
young  men  in  every  county,  accompanied  with  a  commis 
sion  as  second  lieutenant,  to  be  forfeited  in  case  of  failure. 
All  expenses  incurred  for  subsistence,  quarters,  transporta 
tion,  &c.,  prior  to  muster,  were  borne  by  the  United  States.  A 
stirring  circular  letter  was  written  by  Adjutant-Gen.  J.  D.  Wil 
liams  to  the  selectmen  of  towns,  appealing  to  them  to  hold 
local  war-meetings  "to  set  forth  to  the  people  the  exigen 
cies  of  the  present  hour,"  "  to  pledge  private  means  to  assist 
volunteers  or  their  families,"  and  to  encourage  enlistments 
in  every  way,  and  appoint  men  "of  energetic  habits  and 
patriotic  impulses  to  act  as  recruiting-officers." 

The  response  was  spontaneous  and  vigorous.  Again  party 
differences  seemed  laid  aside  or  forgotten,  and  the  predomi 
nant  love  of  country  asserted  itself.  Enlisting,  and  persuad 
ing  others  to  enlist,  became  once  more  the  business  of  the 
hour.  Every  county  was  thronged  with  recruiting-officers. 
Almost  every  town  held  a  war-meeting,  and  offered  an  addi 
tional  bounty  for  men.  In  most  cases,  this  was  made  fifty 
dollars  at  first,  and  increased  to  a  hundred  dollars,  for  each 
man.  Windsor  Locks  early  voted  a  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars,  and  increased  it  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
Bridgewater  also  voted  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Hart 
ford  and  New  Haven  gave  a  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars 
bounty.  Enfield  gave  two  hundred  dollars,  and  Bloomfield 
and  Watertown  even  as  high  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
This  generous  rivalry  was  an  effective  agent ;  but  it  created 
great  confusion  in  determining  the  proper  credits  and  quotas. 
Prominent  citizens  acted  as  committees  to  forward  enlist 
ments,  so  that  the  government  had  an  agent  in  every  neigh 
borhood.  Mass-meetings  were  held  in  the  cities  and  large 
villages,  and  the  newspapers  of  the  State  were  full  of  appeals 
and  local  military  news.  Hartford,  New  Haven,  Norwich, 
Bridgeport,  and  Litchfield  became  centers  of  enlistment ;  and 
the  mind  and  heart  of  the  State  were  given  supremely  to 
the  work.  The  result  was  seen  in  the  fact,  that,  within  forty- 


THE  FOURTEENTH  REGIMENT.  225 

five  days,  eight  thousand  and  thirty-six  men  had  volunteered, 
and  were  organized  into  eight  full  regiments  and  one  light 
battery.  Connecticut  was  the  first  State  to  fill  her  quota 
under  the  call,  and  a  surplus  of  nearly  one  thousand  had  vol 
unteered.  Gen.  Daniel  Tyler  came  home,  and  rendered  great 
service  in  equipping  these  regiments,  and  preparing  them  for 
the  field. 

The  lonely  squads  that  had  been  drilling  for  weeks  as 
the  nucleus  of  the  Fourteenth  were  now  immediately  re 
inforced.  Large  war-meetings  to  this  end  were  held  in 
Bridgeport,  Norwich,  Middletown,  Waterbury,  New  Haven, 
New  Britain,  Madison,  Say  brook,  New  London,  and  the  towns 
in  Tolland  County;  the  regiment  being  recruited  from  the 
State  at  large.  It  rendezvoused  at  Camp  Foote,  on  the  New- 
Haven  Turnpike,  near  Hartford,  —  grounds  which  the  Fifth 
formerly  occupied.  The  colors  of  the  regiment  were  fur 
nished  by  the  State. 

Towns  were  represented  in  the  regiment  as  follows: 
Company  A,  Capt.  James  D.  Merritt,  Bridgeport,  forty-six ; 
Putnam,  eight ;  Stratford,  six  ;  Norwalk,  five  ;  Trumbull,  four. 
Company  B,  Capt.  Elijah  W.  Gibbons,  Middletown,  eighty- 
seven  ;  Durham,  six.  Company  C,  Capt.  Samuel  W.  Carpen 
ter,  Waterbury,  ninety.  Company  D,  Capt.  Thomas  F.  Bur 
pee,  Yernon,  seventy-three  ;  Ellington,  eleven.  Company  E, 
Capt.  William  H.  Tubbs,  Norwich,  eighteen  ;  Middletown,  six 
teen;  Hartford,  fourteen;  and  twenty  from  Windham  County. 
Company  F,  Capt.  Jarvis  E.  Blinn,  New  Britain,  sixty-three ; 
Bloomfield,  fifteen  ;  Berlin,  thirteen.  Company  G,  Capt.  Sam 
uel  F.  Willard, Madison,  fifty-three;  OldSaybrook,  ten;  West- 
brook,  eight ;  Clinton,  twelve.  Company  H,  Capt.  Samuel  H. 
Davis,  New  London,  fifty-nine ;  Waterford, twenty ;  East  Lyrne, 
five.  Company  I,  Capt.  Isaac  R.  Bronson,  New  Haven,  twenty ; 
Hartford,  twelve  ;  Guilford,  twenty-five.  Company  K,  Capt. 
James  B.  Coit,  Hartford,  fifteen;  Norwich,  nineteen;  Chatham, 
twelve;  Somers,  Griswold;  and  Ledyarfl,  fifteen. 

On  Aiicr.  25,  with  a  numerical  strength  of  a  thousand  and 

O  O 

fifteen  officers  and  men,  it  left  Hartford  on  the  steamer  City 
of  Hartford  and  the  propeller  Dudley  Buck.  At  New  York, 
it  was  transferred  to  cars  for  Washington. 


29 


226  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

The  remaining  seven  regiments  were  recruited  by  coun 
ties.  A  large  and  spirited  meeting  was  held  at  Music  Hall, 
New  Haven,  as  early  as  the  8th  of  July.  Com.  Foote  pre 
sided;  and  speeches  were  made  by  Gov.  Buckingham,  Senator 
Dixon,  Rev.  Dr.  Bacon,  and  Charles  Chapman,  of  Hart 
ford.  It  was  resolved  to  put  a  regiment  (the  Fifteenth)  into 
the  field  immediately.  A  recruiting  committee  was  appointed, 
of  which  the  active  men  were  William  S.  Charnley,  H.  M. 
Welch,  H.  B.  Harrison,  S.  D.  Pardee,  William  H.  Russell, 
A.  D.  Osborne,  P.  A.  Pinkerman,  Francis  Wayland,  jr.,  J.  W. 
King,  E.  S.  Quintard,  D.  J.  Peck,  Lyman  Cowles,  Lucius  R. 
Finch,  Wyllis  Bristol,  C.  A.  Lindsley,  John  Woodruff,  Lucius 
Gilbert,  E.  J.  Sanford,  Eli  Whitney,  B.  S.  Bryan,  James  H.  Lan 
sing,  J.  C.  Hollister,  J.  D.  Candee,  D.  H.  Carr,  E.  Downes, 
C.  S.  Bushnell,  Charles  W.  Elliot,  D.  C.  Gilman,  Rev.  William 
T.  Eustis,  John  A.  Porter,  C.  B.  Rogers,  John  W.  Farren,  R.  S. 
Fellows,  L.  R.  Smith,  H.  E.  Pardee,  Alexander  McAllister, 
H.  D.  White,  N.  D.  Sperry. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  the  committee,  it  was  resolved  to 
"  postpone  absolutely,  for  the  present,  all  topics  of  dispute  ; " 
and  authority  was  received  from  the  governor  to  raise  a 
regiment,  and  nominate  its  field-officers.  Recruiting  began 
without  delay.  Sessions  of  the  committee  were  held  from 
day  to  day.  The  organization  was  called  "  the  Lyon  Regi 
ment  ; "  and  it  was  voted  to  distribute  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
as  an  extra  bounty  among  the  first  six  companies  raised 
within  four  weeks  to  the  maximum  number. 

A  vote  was  passed  instructing  the  committee  about  to 
visit  Washington  (Hollister,  Candee,  and  Sperry)  to  request 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  cause  the  arrest  and  confine 
ment  of  all  persons  discouraging  enlistments  in  New-Haven 
County. 

The  camp  was  located  at  Oyster  Point,  where  the  Seventh 
had  rendezvoused.  Oyster  Point  soon  became,  and  after 
wards  remained,  a  favorite  resort  of  the  citizens ;  for  fathers, 
mothers,  wives,  and  cousins ;  for  patriotic  and  tender-hearted 
young  women,  who  rode  down  to  distribute  needle-books, 
sweet  pickles,  bouquets,  and  smiles ;  for  patriotic  but  reluc 
tant  young  men,  who  rode  down  to  discharge  their  surplus 


THE  FIFTEENTH  AND   SIXTEENTH  EEGIMENTS.  227 

emotion  at  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  to  enjoy  the  delicious 
feeling  that  they  were  serving  the  country  by  proxy. 

On  July  21,  the  committee  nominated  Dexter  R.  Wright 
of  the  Fourteenth  to  be  colonel ;  and  he  was  accordingly 
commissioned.  They  also  named  Samuel  Tolles  of  New 
Haven  for  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Eli  W.  Osborne  of  New 
Haven  for  major ;  and  even  the  sutler  was  designated  in  the 
person  of  John  A.  Punderford,  which  proved  an  excellent 
appointment.  Sub-committees  visited  Derby,  Orange,  Meri- 
den,  Madison,  Guilford,  and  other  towns ;  and  the  regiment 
was  declared  full  to  the  maximum,  and  ready  to  leave  on 
Aug.  25. 

Company  A,  Capt.  Julius  Bassett,  was  from  Meriden. 
Companies  B,  Capt.  Theodore  R.  Davis ;  C,  Capt.  S.  S.  Smith ; 
D,  Capt.  Samuel  Hubbard;  E,  Capt.  George  M.  White; 
G,  Capt.  John  D.  Wheeler;  and  I,  Capt.  Frank  M.  Love- 
joy,  —  were  almost  wholly  from  New-Haven  City.  Company 
F,  Capt.  Allen  W.  Harvey,  was  from  Meriden.  Company  H, 
Capt.  Henry  B.  Peck,  was  a  consolidation  of  about  equal 
squads  from  Naugatuck  and  New  Haven.  Company  K,  Capt. 
Henry  H.  Stiles,  contained  fifty-two  from  Wallingford, 
thirty  from  North  Haven,  nine  from  North  Branford.  Orange 
had  also  thirty-three  in  this  regiment,  East  Haven  twenty- 
five,  Milford  twenty,  Guilford  ten,  and  Wallingford  seven. 

On  Aug.  28,  the  regiment  left  for  Washington,  under  a 
handsome  flag  made  by  the  ladies  of  Meriden,  and  presented 
in  an  appropriate  speech  by  0.  H.  Platt. 

Hartford  County  felt  that  the  call  was  imperative,  and  re 
sponded  instantly.  A  great  meeting  was  held  in  and  about 
Allyn  Hall  on  July  11.  Mayor  William  J.  Hamersley  pre 
sided  in  the  hall,  assisted  by  W.  W.  Ellsworth,  W.  D.  Ship- 
man,  T.  M.  Allyn,  Calvin  Day,  Henry  Keeny,  D.  W.  Pardee, 
Hawley  Kellogg,  Austin  Dunham,  Horace  Lord,  Julius  Cat- 
lin,  John  C.  Palmer,  Charles  T.  Howard,  Charles  H.  Northam, 
Jonathan  Goodwin,  Elisha  T.  Smith,  Warren  Griswold,  John 
L.  Bunce,  E.  A.  Bulkeley,  Roland  Mather,  James  P.  Powell, 
Erastus  Collins,  H.  A.  Perkins,  Daniel  Phillips,  Mark  Howard, 
A.  N.  Clark,  Henry  C.  Robinson.  The  meeting  was  addressed 


228  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

by  Senator  Dixon  and  others,  and  an  eloquent  letter  was 
read  from  Corn.  Foote.  At  least  five  thousand  people  were 
assembled,  and  there  was  an  immense  outside  meeting. 

Most  of  the  above-named  gentlemen  were  active  members 
of  the  citizens'  committee,  which  assisted  to  recruit  the  Six 
teenth  Regiment.  The  names  of  A.  E.  Burr  (of  the  Times) 
and  Thomas  H.  Seymour  having  been  read  in  the  list  of 
officers  of  the  meeting,  the  latter  published  a  letter  in  the 
Times,  in  which  he  said,  "  I  could  not  have  been  induced  to 
attend  it.  I  will  contribute  in  no  way  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  such  bloody  purposes.  The  monstrous  fallacy  of 
the  present  day,"  he  continues  for  the  benefit  of  the  volun 
teers,  "that  the  Union  can  be  re-established  by  destroying 
any  part  of  the  South,  is  one  which  will  burst  with  the  shells 
thrown  into  its  defenseless  cities,  and  leave  the  condition 
of  the  country,  after  its  treasures  are  exhausted,  and  its 
brave  men  on  both  sides  consigned  to  hospitals  and  graves, 
a  spectacle  for  the  reproach  and  commiseration  of  man 
kind." 

Towns  were  represented  in  the  Sixteenth  Regiment  about 
as  follows :  Company  A,  Capt.  Henry  L.  Pasco,  Hartford, 
,  forty-four ;  Wethersfield,  ten  ;  Somers,  eight ;  West  Hartr 
ford,  seven.  Company  B,  Capt.  Edward  H.  Mix,  Hartford, 
thirty-five  ;  Guilford,  thirteen  ;  East  Windsor,  eight ;  Wind 
sor,  seven.  Company  C,  Capt.  Edward  E.  Rankin,  Hartford, 
forty-seven ;  Farmington,  thirty-five ;  Rocky  Hill,  twenty. 
Company  D,  Capt.  Samuel  Brown,  Suffield,  sixty-two  ;  En- 
field,  thirty-four.  Company  E,  Capt.  Charles  Babcock,  Can 
ton,  thirty-three ;  Granby,  nineteen ;  Simsbury,  nineteen. 
Company  F,  Capt.  Heber  W.  Seaver,  Hartford,  eighty-two. 
Company  G,  Capt.  Nathaniel  Hayden,  Berlin,  twenty-five ; 
East  Windsor,  twenty ;  Farmington,  fifteen ;  Hartford,  thir 
teen.  Company  H,  Capt.  Frederick  M.  Barber,  Manchester, 
forty-three ;  Glastenbury,  seventeen  ;  Bolton,  twelve  ;  South 
Windsor,  eight.  Company  I,  Capt.  John  L.  Drake,  Stafford, 
sixty ;  Avon,  ten ;  Vernon,  eleven ;  Willington,  eight.  Com 
pany  H,  Capt.  Newton  S.  Manross,  mostly  from  Bristol ; 
Farmington,  fifteen  ;  Burlington,  eight. 

Francis  Beach  was  commissioned  colonel ;  Frank  W.  Che- 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  REGIMENT.  229 

ney,  lieutenant-colonel;   and   George  A.  Washburn,  major. 
The  regiment  rendezvoused  at  Camp  Williams. 

It  was  made  up  of  excellent  material,  —  some  of  the  old 
est  and  best  families  in  the  county  being  represented  in  its 
ranks,  and  cherishing  high  expectations  of  its  future.  On 
Aug.  24,  1862,  the  regiment  was  mustered  into  the  United- 
States  service  for  three  years  with  a  thousand  and  ten  offi 
cers  and  men;  and  on  Friday,  the  29th,  left  Hartford  for 
Washington.  As  they  marched  to  the  wharf  at  the  foot  of 
Morgan  Street,  they  were  cheered  by  friends,  from  whom 
many  were  parting  for  the  last  time.  They  left  at  three, 
P.M.,  on  the  City  of  Hartford  and  the  Collins,  and  had  a 
pleasant  trip  to  New  York,  where  they  were  transferred  to 
the  steamer  Kill  von  Kull,  and  received  a  breakfast  of  soup 
and  coffee.  At  Elizabeth,  N.J.,  the  regiment  took  the  cars 
for  Baltimore  via  Harrisburg. 

The  Seventeenth  was  a  Fairfield-county  regiment, —  not 
fifty  men  enlisted  from  outside  the  county.  It  was  begun 
as  soon  as  the  call  was  issued  in  July :  and  William  H.  Noble 
was  at  once  commissioned  its  colonel ;  Charles  Walter,  lieu 
tenant-colonel;  and  A.G.Brady,  major.  Headquarters  were 
at  Bridgeport.  Recruiting  was  active  throughout  July, — 
men  being  mustered  as  they  arrived;  and  by  the  middle 
of  August  the  regiment  was  full  to  the  maximum,  —  over  a 
thousand  men.  A  comfortable  camp  was  established  at  Sea 
side  Park,  known  as  "  Camp  Aiken."  Through  the  patriotic 
efforts  of  Rev.  Alexander  R.  Thompson,  the  regiment  was 
furnished  with  a  large  chapel-tent,  a  library  of  five  hundred 
volumes,  checker  and  chess  boards,  and  many  other  articles 
to  promote  the  comfort  or  pleasure  of  the  men.  Col.  Noble 
and  Lieut-Col.  Walter  were  presented  each  with  a  fine  horse 
and  equipments.  Bridgeport  claimed  to  be  "the  banner 
town  of  the  State,"  having  furnished  seventy  men  more 
than  her  quota,  —  a  total  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  out  of 
an  enrolled  militia  of  sixteen  hundred. 

Towns  were  represented  as  follows,  those  which  only 
furnished  three  or  four  to  a  company  being  omitted :  Com 
pany  A,  Capt.  Douglass  Fowler,  mainly  from  Norwalk ;  Wil- 


230  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

ton,  eighteen.  Company  B,  Capt.  Charles  A.  Hobbie,  mostly 
from  Stamford  and  Darien.  Company  C,  Capt.  James  E. 
Moore,  Danbury,  fifty-eight ;  Bethel,  sixteen ;  Ridgefield, 
twelve.  Company  D,  Capt.  William  H.  Lacey,  Bridgeport, 
forty-four ;  Monroe,  seventeen ;  Stratford,  nine  ;  Hunting- 
ton,  nine.  Company  E,  Capt.  Henry  P.  Burr,  Westport,  fifty- 
one  ;  Newtown,  twenty-five ;  Bridgeport,  fourteen  ;  Weston, 
ten.  Company  F,  Capt.  Enoch  Wood,  mostly  from  Norwalk ; 
Wilton,  fourteen.  Company  G,  Capt.  James  E.  Dunham, 
Ridgefield,  fifty-three ;  Bridgeport,  twenty-three  ;  Redding, 
twenty.  Company  H,  Capt.  Enos  Kellogg,  mostly  New  Ca 
naan.  Company  I,  Capt.  D.  0.  Benson,  mostly  Greenwich. 
Company  K,  Capt.  John  J.  McCarty,  Bridgeport,  thirty-five ; 
Fairfield,  thirty-five. 

Company  F,  the  Lockwood  Guards,  was  raised  in  three 
days,  stimulated  by  the  offer  of  a  thousand  dollars  by  Le 
Grand  Lockwood,  Esq.,  whose  donations  to  the  war-fund  in 
every  direction  were  large  and  constant. 

The  Seventeenth  left  for  the  front  Sept.  3,  being  greeted 
by  a  salute,  and  the  cheers  of  thousands  assembled  from  all 
parts  of  the  county  to  witness  its  departure.  Gov.  Bucking- 
,  ham  reviewed  the  regiment,  and  gave  it  his  parting  counsel. 
During  the  firing  of  a  salute  at  South  Norwalk,  the  prema 
ture  discharge  of  a  cannon  shattered  the  arm  of  Joseph  Haw 
kins  so  terribly,  that  he  died  from  the  effect  of  the  amputa 
tion.  In  New  York,  the  regiment  embarked  at  the  foot  of 
Twenty-third  Street  for  South  Amboy ;  whence  it  proceeded 
by  rail  to  Baltimore.  In  its  ranks,  as  a  private,  was  Elias 
Howe,  jr.,  the  inventor  of  the  sewing-machine,  in  receipt  of 
an  annual  income  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars,  his  long 
hair  cut  tight  to  his  head,  and  a  musket  on  his  shoulder.  In 
the  Westport  company  was  Mr.  E.  M.  Lees,  postmaster,  and 
two  brothers.  The  regiment,  tired  and  hungry,  arrived  at 
Baltimore  late  in  the  evening ;  and,  finding  no  transportation 
to  Washington,  lay  in  the  open  street  all  night,  and  got  a 
cold  collation  at  the  d^pot  at  daybreak.  Here  they  passed 
another  night  on  the  floor,  the  colonel  refusing  to  vacate 
until  quarters  were  furnished. 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  REGIMENT.  231 

New-London  and  Windham  Counties  took  hold  with  such 
earnestness,  that  the  Eighteenth  Regiment,  begun  after  sev 
eral  of  the  others,  was  the  first  to  start  for  Washington.  A 
county  mass-meeting  was  held  in  Franklin  Square,  Norwich. 
Hon.  John  T.  Wait  presided,  and  made  a  most  impressive 
speech,  declaring  that  the  question  was,  whether  Americans 
were  fit  for  a  republic ;  and  that  its  settlement  would  affect 
all  nations,  and  all  generations  of  men.  Mr.  Wait  was  fol 
lowed  by  Senator  Lafayette  S.  Foster,  Gen.  Daniel  Tyler, 
Richard  Busteed,  Hiram  Willey,  and  others.  A  war-commit 
tee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Amos  W.  Prentice,  David 
Smith,  John  F.  Slater,  Henry  Bill,  F.  M.  Hale,  James  A.  Ho- 
vey,  and  John  W.  Stedman,  who  went  vigorously  to  work. 
Companies  were  started  in  every  large  town  in  the  district. 
Isaac  H.  Bromley,  editor  of  the  Bulletin,  raised  a  company, 
and  went  as  its  captain.  The  camp  was  established  on  the 
Fair  Ground,  about  one  mile  west  of  Norwich,  on  the  old 
Salem  Turnpike ;  and  was,  like  that  of  the  Seventeenth,  des 
ignated  Camp  Aiken,  after  the  popular  quartermaster-general 
of  the  State,  William  A.  Aiken  of  Norwich.  Windham  County, 
determined  that  no  conscripts  should  piece  out  her  quota, 
sent  down  company  after  company ;  and  by  the  middle  of 
August  the  regiment  was  declared  full.  Lieut.-Col.  William 
G.  Ely  of  the  Sixth,  who  had  begun  as  a  private  in  the  three- 
months'  service,  was  called  to  the  command  of  the  Eigh 
teenth.  Monroe  Nichols  was  made  lieutenant-colonel ;  and 
Ephraim  Reach,  jr.,  major. 

Five  companies  were  from  New-London  County,  and  five 
from  Windham ;  and  towns  were  represented  as  follows : 
Company  A,  Capt.  Henry  C.  Davis,  Norwich  seventy-three, 
Canterbury  ten,  Bozrah  nine ;  Company  B,  Capt.  Thomas  K. 
Bates,  Killingly  fifty-two,  Putnam  fourteen,  Brooklyn  twelve, 
Woodstock  twelve ;  Company  C,  Capt.  Isaac  H.  Bromley, 
Norwich  forty-eight,  Lebanon  thirty-one ;  Company  D,  Capt. 
Joseph  Mathewson,  Thompson  sixty-two,  Pomfret  eighteen, 
Woodstock  ten,  Eastford  eight ;  Company  E,  Capt.  Isaac  W. 
Hakes,  jr.,  Norwich  twenty-eight,  Colchester  twenty,  Salem 
eleven,  Andover  five  ;  Company  F,  Capt.  Henry  Peale,  Nor 
wich  fifty-nine,  Preston  twelve,  Griswold  thirteen ;  Company 


232  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

G.,  Capt.  George  W.  Wanner,  Woodstock  forty-four,  Putnam 
twenty-four,  Windham  eight ; '  Company  H,  Capt.  Charles  D. 
Bowen,  Windham  fifty-five,  Coventry  thirteen,  Tolland  four 
teen,  Chaplin  ten ;  Company  I,  Capt.  Samuel  R.  Knapp,  Nor 
wich  twenty-nine,  Preston  eight,  Lyme  seventeen,  Plainfield 
fifteen,  Griswold  ten,  Sprague  eight ;  Company  K,  Capt.  Ezra 
J.  Mathewson,  Killingly  seventy-seven,  Plainfield  fourteen. 

The  friends  of  the  Windham-county  men  came  down  on  an 
excursion-train,  and  visited  the  camp  on  Aug.  20.  "During 
the  whole  afternoon,  the  vast  crowd  swaj^ed  hither  and 
thither  over  the  ground,  or  stood  gathered  in  little  groups, 
talking  earnestly  of  the  past  and  future.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  day,  the  regiment  was  formed,  and  marched  about  the 
camp,  a  compact  whole,  the  pride  of  the  district  whose  gal 
lant  sons  filled  its  ranks.  And,  as  the  setting  sun  threw  its 
rays  across  the  tented  field,  there  were  the  hurried  parting,  the 
last  fond  embrace,  the  affectionate  good-by,  perhaps  forever, 
tremulously  spoken  by  wives  and  sisters,  aged  fathers  and 
mothers ;  and  the  living  current  swept  back,  leaving  alone 
the  canvas  city  to  the  brave  men  who  shall  know  no  other 
habitation  until  the  flao;  of  their  fathers  shall  float  a<min  in 

O  O 

triumph  over  a  re-united  republic."  1 

Just  before  the  regiment  left,  Col.  Ely  found  a  swindler  in 
camp,  who  was  selling  to  the  soldiers  "  bullet-proof  vests." 
He  straightway  made  half  a  dozen  bullet-holes  in  the  tin 
armor,  required  the  fellow  to  return  the  money  to  the  dupes, 
and  then  sent  him  to  the  guard-house. 

At  four  o'clock,  P.M.,  of  the  22d,  Gov.  Buckingha'm  drove 
to  camp,  and  presented  the  regimental  colors  in  behalf  of 
the  ladies  of  Norwich.  Col.  Ely  received  the  standard  with 
a  few  appropriate  remarks.  Then  the  regiment  formed  in 
line,  and  marched  to  the  city.  Norwich  had  put  on  its  holi 
day  attire.  "  Finally,  at  seven  o'clock,  the  huge  engines 
started,  the  boat  moved  into  the  stream,  a  loud  cheer  from 
its  precious  freight,  an  answering  shout  from  the  crowd  that 
filled  the  wharves  and  lined  the  banks,  a  burst  of  music  and 
the  roar  of  cannon,  and'  the  Eighteenth  Regiment  had  gone." 

The  Nineteenth  Regiment  was  from  Litchfield  County.    A 

1  Norwich  Bulletin. 


THE  NINETEENTH   REGIMENT.  233 

county  mass-convention  was  held  at  Litchfield  on  July  22,  at 
which  every  town  was  represented.  Seth  P.  Beers  presided. 
The  convention  resolved  that  a  complete  regiment  should  be 
furnished  by  Litchfield  County,  and  unanimously  recom- 
mende.d  that  Sheriff  Leverett  W.  Wessells  be  commissioned 
as  its  colonel.  An  executive  committee  was  also  appointed, 
consisting  of  G.  H.  Hollister,  Joseph  Humphrey,  jr.,  E.  W. 
Seymour,  and  George  A.  Hickox.  There  was  now  a  united 
effort  to  fill  the  ranks,  and  recruiting  was  rapid.  Wessells 
was  made  colonel ;  Nathaniel  Smith  of  Woodbury,  major. 

The  camp  was  established  on  South  Chestnut  Hill,  a  mile 
east  of  Litchfield.  The  place  selected  was  a  beautiful  sloping 
field  on  the  farm  of  Cyrus  Catlin ;  and  it  was  named  Camp 
Button,  in  honor  of  Lieut.  Henry  Melzar  Button,  who  had 
fallen  nobly  at  Cedar  Mountain. 

Major  Elisha  S.  Kellogg,  of  the  First  Connecticut  Volunteer 
Artillery,  arrived  at  Litchfield,  Aug.  20,  with  a  commission  as 
lieutenant-colonel.  Lieut.  William  B.  Ells,  also  of  the  First, 
came  home  to  raise  a  company  for  the  new  regiment,  and  Pri 
vate  Charles  J.  Beming  to  go  out  as  its  adjutant.  This  excel 
lent  regiment  had  already  graduated  a  colonel  for  the  Thir 
teenth,  two  majors  for  the  Fourteenth,  a  surgeon  for  the  Fif 
teenth,  a  major  for  the  Sixteenth,  and  a  surgeon  for  the  Twen 
ty-first  ;  and  when  Major  Kellogg,  Lieut.  Ells,  and  Private 
Beming,  received  commissions  in  the  Nineteenth,  Col.  Tyler 
is  said  to  have  exclaimed  indignantly  that  the  government 
seemed  inclined  to  "  make  the  First  Artillery  a  d — d  yeast- 
pot  to  '  raise  '  officers  for  the  army." 

Towns  were  represented  in  the  Nineteenth  as  follows  : 
Company  A,  Capt.  William  Bissell,  Litchfield,  sixty-three; 
Harwinton,  ten ;  Morris,  seven.  Company  B,  Capt.  James 
Hubbard,  Salisbury,  forty-three  ;  Kent,  twenty-four.  Com 
pany  C,  Capt.  James  Q.  Rice,  Goshen,  forty-two  ;  Torrington, 
thirty-four.  Company  B,  Capt.  William  B.  Ells,  Plymouth, 
fifty-three  ;  Watertown,  eighteen  ;  Harwinton,  thirteen. 
Company  E,  Capt.  Jeffrey  Skinner,  Winchester,  sixty-two; 
Norfolk,  sixteen.  Company  F,  Capt.  Edward  W.  Jones, 
New  Hartford,  thirty ;  North  Canaan,  nineteen ;  Canaan, 
sixteen  ;  Colebrook,  fourteen.  Company  G,  Capt.  Edward 


234  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

F.  Gold,  Cornwall,  thirty-four ;  Sharon,  forty-one.  Com 
pany  H,  Capt.  George  S.  Williams,  New  Milford,  thirty- 
seven  ;  Kent,  twenty-one  ;  Washington,  twenty-one.  Com 
pany  I,  Capt.  Eli  Sperry,  Woodbury,  sixty-one.  Company  K, 
Capt.  Edward  0.  Peck,  was  made  up  by  taking  men  from  the 
other  companies ;  so  that  it  represented  every  town  in  the 
county,  except  Cromwell  and  Sharon,  and  three  towns  in 
other  counties. 

On  Sept.  10,  the  regiment  was  declared  full ;  and  an  im 
mense  meeting  was  held  at  Litchfield,  and  a  stand  of  colors 
eloquently  presented  by  William  Curtis  Noyes  on  behalf  of 
his  wife,  a  grand-daughter  of  Col.  Tallmadge,  the  bold  partisan 
leader  of  the  Revolution,  and  aide  to  Gen.  Washington.  Hon. 
Bobbins  Battell  of  Norfolk  presented  to  Col.  Wessells  a  fine 
blooded  horse,  and  Hon.  0.  S.  Seymour  gave  him  a  McClellan 
saddle.  On  the  15th,  the  regiment  left  Litchfield  on  a  train 
of  twenty-three  cars  for  "  the  front." 

On  the  27th  of  August,  the  companies  and  squads  that 
had  been  recruited  for  the  Twentieth  rendezvoused  at  Oyster 
Point,  New  Haven,  more  than  a  thousand  men.  Enough 
were  exempted  by  the  surgeons  to  bring  the  total  down  to 
nine  hundred  and  eiarhtv.  Uniforms  and  a  few  old  muskets 

o        */ 

for  camp-guard  were  furnished,  a  camp  was  laid  out,  and  a 
regular  military  life  begun.  Gov.  Buckingham  appointed 
Capt.  Samuel  Ross  of  the  Fourteenth  United-States  Infantry, 
mustering-officer  in  the  State,  to  be  colonel ;  William  B. 
Wooster,  Esq.,  of  Birmingham,  to  be  lieutenant-colonel ;  and 
Philo  B.  Buckingham  of  Seymour  to  be  major. 

The  regiment  now  made  its  first  awkward  attempts  at 
drilling  and  guard-duty.  "  Long  will  our  first  guard-mount 
ing  be  remembered  as  a  splendid  caricature.  .  .  .  Here  you 
would  see  a  sentinel  attempting  to  salute  an  officer.  Poking 
out  his  musket  perpendicularly  in  front  with  the  breech 
nearly  as  high  as  his  breast,  and  his  face  turned  over  his 
shoulder,  he  continues  his  march  on  his  beat  until  he  strikes 
the  toe  of  his  boot  against  some  unleveled  corn-hill,  and 
finishes  his  salute  with  a  headlong  sprawl.  Another  thrusts 
his  bayonet  into  the  ground,  and  leaves  his  musket,  because 


THE  TWENTIETH  AND  TWENTY-FIRST   KEGIMENTS.         235 

he  is  tired  of  carrying  the  i  darned  thing/  and  thinks  it  just 
as  well  to  walk  his  beat  without  it."2 

Towns  were  represented  in  the  regiment  as  follows  :  Com 
pany  A,  Capt.  Timothy  Guilford,  Cheshire,  sixty-five  ;  Pros 
pect,  eighteen.  Company  B,  Capt.  Sanford  E.  Chaffee,  mainly 
from  £)erby ;  Oxford,  twelve.  Company  C,  Capt.  Henry  C. 
Smith,  Hartford,  twenty-eight ;  East  Haddam,  twenty ;  Ches 
ter,  seven  ;  Windsor  Locks,  eight ;  Marlborough,  six.  Com 
pany  D,  Capt.  Frederick  A.  Parker,  Portland,  fifty-four;  Had 
dam,  eighteen ;  Cromwell,  eighteen.  Company  E,  Capt.  Sam 
uel  S.  Woodruff,  Southington,  seventy-three  ;  Farmington, 
ten.  Company  F,  Capt.  Henry  C.  Pardee,  New  Haven,  fifty- 
nine  ;  Newtown,  fourteen.  Company  G,  Capt.  William  W. 
Morse,  New  Haven,  fifty-seven  ;  Guilford,  six.  Company  H, 
Capt.  Charles  S.  Abbott,  Seymour,  twenty-three ;  Waterbury, 
twenty-one;  Oxford, fourteen ;  Derby,  fourteen ;  Southbury, 
ten.  Company  I,  Capt.  Ezra  D.  Dickerman,  Hamdem,  forty; 
Waterbury,  eighteen ;  New  Haven,  eight.  Company  K,  Capt. 
S.  S.  Stevens,  New  Britain,  forty-one ;  Hartford,  eighteen ; 
Waterbury,  fifteen  ;  Cromwell,  four. 

The  regiment  was  paid  off;  and*  at  ten,  A.M.,  of  Sept.  11, 
18G2,  the  cars  backed  down,  the  bands  played,  the  citizens 
cheered ;  and,  struggling  with  various  emotions,  the  men 
started  on  their  three-years'  campaign. 

The  Twenty-first  was  recruited  from  the  eastern  and  central 
part  of  the  State,  and  rendezvoused  at  Norwich,  being  raised 
by  the  same  impulse  that  had  filled  the  Eighteenth.  It  was 
a  very  promising  regiment.  Arthur  H.  Button,  formerly  of 
Wallingford,  but  then  a  lieutenant  in  the  regular  army,  was 
chosen  colonel ;  and  so  rapidly  was  the  regiment  raised  in 
view  of  a  threatened  draft,  that  it  was  mustered  into  the 
service,  Sept.  5,  with  nine  hundred  and  sixty-six  men. 
Thomas  F.  Burpee  of  Yernon  was  appointed  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  and  Hiram  B.  Crosby  of  Norwich,  major. 

Towns  were  represented  in  the  regiment  as  follows :  Com 
pany  A,  Capt.  Joseph  Jordan,  jr.,  East  Hartford,  thirty-nine; 
Hartford,  thirteen  ;  Glastenbury,  sixteen ;  Windsor,  twelve. 
Company  B,  Capt.  Charles  T.  Martin,  mostly  from  Hartford. 

2  Licut.-Col.  P.  B.  Buckingham's  MS.  History  of  the  Twentieth. 


236  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

Company  C,  Capt.  John  E.  Wood,  wholly  (ninety-two)  from 
Groton.  Company  D,  Capt.  Charles  G.  Southworth,  Mans 
field,,  thirty-eight ;  Ashford,  seventeen ;  Windham,  fifteen ; 
Wellington,  eight.  Company  E,  Capt.  Charles  T.  Stanton, 
jr.,  mostly  (sixty -eight)  from  Stonington.  Company  F, 
Capt.  William  Spittle,  Montville,  forty-three ;  New  London, 
thirty-two  ;  Waterford,  seven.  Company  G,  Capt.  James  F. 
Brown,  North  Stonington,  sixty ;  Voluntown,  twenty -two. 
Company  H,  Capt.  Ralph  C.  Foot,  jr.,  Colchester,  forty-seven ; 
Chatham,  twenty-eight;  Haddam,  ten.  Company  I,  Capt. 
David  Dickerson,  Middletown,  fifty-six ;  Norwich,  fifteen. 
Company  K,  Capt.  Jeremiah  M.  Shepard,  Plainfield,  forty- 
seven  ;  Pomfret,  fifteen ;  Brooklyn,  twelve ;  Sterling,  ten ; 
Killingly,  Sprague,  and  Lebanon,  twelve. 

Having  been  completely  equipped  and  furnished,  the  regi 
ment  was  ordered  on  board  the  cars  Sept.  11,  and,  bidding 
adieu  to  friends,  proceeded  to  the  seat  of  war. 

During  these  fall  months,  also,  the  Second  Connecticut 
Light  Battery  had  been  organized,  drilled,  armed,  and  hastily 
prepared  for  the  front.  "It  was  composed  of  portions  of  two 
batteries  of  State  militia  at  Bridgeport,  consolidated  under 
Capt.  John  W.  Sterling.  A  quiet,  unassuming  man,  attached 
to  his  home  by  family-ties  and  business-interests,  he  was 
filled  with  a  martial  spirit;  and  having,  as  an  amateur, 
already  made  himself  familiar  with  the  theory  of  military 
tactics,  he  brought  his  command  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency. 
He  was  greatly  assisted  by  his  lieutenants,  —  Walter  S. 
Hotchkiss,  Philip  B.  Segee,  George  Hunger,  and  Philo  B. 
Sherman.  The  men  were  mostly  (one  hundred  and  twelve) 
from  Bridgeport,  eight  from  Fairfield,  eight  from  Easton, 
and  thirteen  from  Stratford.  The  battery  was  composed  of 
the  best  materials,  and  was  unsurpassed  in  its  general  equip 
ments  by  any  battery  in  the  service.  It  was  armed  with  four 
6-pounder  James's  rifled  guns,  and  two  4-pounder  howitzers. 
The  battery  left  Bridgeport  on  Oct.  15,  1862,  with  one  hun 
dred  and  fifteen  men,  and  proceeded  to  Washington,  where 
it  remained  two  months  in  the  artillery  camp  of  instruction, 
—  Camp  Barry. 


DESTINATION  OF  TEOOPS.  237 

These  troops  left  the  State  thoroughly  equipped ;  but  drills 
had  been  irregular,  and  the  men  started  forth  with  little 
idea  of  the  actual  life  and  duties  of  a  soldier.  They  were 
received  with  bountiful  hospitality  by  "  the  Sons  of  Con 
necticut  "  in  New  York,  co-operating  with  Col.  John  H.  Almy, 
the  State's  agent,  and  sent  forward  with  words  of  patri 
otic  cheer.  The  eight  regiments  were  assigned  to  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  ;  and  most  of  them  reached  Washington 
over  the  usual  railroad  -  route,  and  with  about  the  same 
wretched  experience  of  travel  night  and  day. 

The  Fourteenth  was  immediately  sent  across  Long  Bridge 
to  occupy  Camp  Chase,  back  of  Arlington  Heights,  where 
it  remained  the  first  night.  Reveille  was  beaten  at  three 
o'clock  next  morning ;  and  the  men  were  started  off  for  Fort 
Ethan  Allen,  opposite  Chain  Bridge,  where  a  camp  was 
pitched,  and  drills  resumed.  Cyrus  C.  Clark  of  Middletown 
w.as  now  major,  vice  S.  H.  Perkins,  promoted. 

The  Fifteenth  was  kept  in  Washington,  near  the  east  end 
of  Long  Bridge,  for  a  time,  and  was  reviewed  by  Gen. 
Casey,  whose  headquarters  were  near.  Some  companies 
were  detailed  to  guard  the  bridge  on  the  Virginia  side ;  and 
the  men  rapidly  learned  the  trials  of  their  new  life  in 
encountering  the  wounded  and  invalids  from  the  disastrous 
second  battle  of  Bull  Run. 

The  Sixteenth  arrived  at  Washington  in  the  evening  of 
Aug.  31,  and  bivouacked  near  the  Capitol.  It  marched 
into  Virginia  next  morning,  and  received  a  startling  illustra 
tion  of  war,  —  meeting  a  line  of  ambulances  a  mile  long, 
brinirin";  dead  and  dying  from  the  battle-field.  The  men 

O        o  •/         c? 

proceeded  to  Fort  Ward,  about  five  miles  distant,  and 
sat  in  the  rain  all  night,  the  tents  not  having  come  up. 
Here  they  remained  for  several  days,  while  Lee  was  hasten- 
in<T  northward  across  the  State  to  invade  the  North. 

o 

The  Seventeenth  expected  to  join  Sigel's  corps,  then  held 
in  reserve  in  front  of  Washington  ;  but  Lee  had  just  crossed 
the  Potomac  into  Maryland,  and  the  regiment  was  detained 
for  the  defense  of  Baltimore,  where  Gen.  Wool  was  still  in 
command.  They  were  ordered  into  Fort  Marshall,  a  new 
earthwork  on  the  bights  across  the  harbor  from  Fort  Me- 


238  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Henry,  overlooking,  that  fortification  and  the  city.  This  is 
the  highest  point  of  land  in  the  city ;  and  the  sweep  of 
vision  covers  a  radius  of  five  or  six  miles  in  every  direction. 
The  view  was  fine :  but  no  quarters  or  food  had  been  pro 
vided  for  the  regiment;  so  the  men  lay  down  upon  the 
ground,  and  slept  like  veterans.  Next  day,  there  was  great 
excitement  caused  by  Lee's  approach ;  and  twenty  rounds 
of  cartridges  were  dealt  out ;  and  the  men,  for  a  few  nights, 
slept  on  their  arms.  Here  they  remained  for  more  than  a 
month,  the  post-quartermaster  seeming  to  delight  in  making 
them  uncomfortable. 

The  Eighteenth  also  stopped  in  Baltimore.  Col.  Ely  re 
ported  to  Gen.  Morris ;  and  the  regiment  was  at  once 
installed  in  Fort  McHenry,  just  being  vacated  by  a  New- 
York  three-months'  regiment.  Here  they  were  soon  com 
fortably  located  in  a  camp  on  a  cool  and  shady  slope 
running  off  to  the  waters  of  the  bay.  Behind  and  above, 
the  great  guns  of  the  fort  frowned  over  the  ramparts  on  the 
half-rebel  city ;  while  over  all  floated  the  stars  and  stripes 
as  proudly  as  when,  "  in  the  dawn's  early  light,"  Francis 
Rodman  Drake  gazed  anxiously  across  these  same  waters, 
and  that  grand  anthem,  "  The  Star-spangled  Banner,"  was 
born.  The  regiment  remained  here  a  month ;  four  compa 
nies,  Capts.  Peale's,  Warner's,  Knapp's,  and  Mathewson's, 
under  Major  Reach,  being  stationed  at  Havre  de  Grace, 
guarding  the  railroad. 

The  Nineteenth  arrived  at  Alexandria  on  Sept.  18,  and 
went  into  camp  a  mile  back  of  the  city,  in  the  brigade  of 
Gen.  Slough,  military  governor.  Here  the  regiment  did 
picket  and  patrol  duty  in  and  about  Alexandria  from  this 
time  until  January,  obtaining  the  good  will  of  the  citizens 
by  circumspect  behavior  and  soldierly  conduct.  These 
months  were  industriously  improved.  The  regiment  was 
daily  and  thoroughly  drilled  by  Lieut-Col.  Kellogg,  who 
was  the  beau-ideal  of  a  soldier,  and  one  of  the  best  drill- 
masters  Connecticut  produced.  Col.  Wessells'  health  soon 
gave  way,  and  he  was  but  a  few  weeks  with  the  regiment. 

The  Twentieth  reached  Washington  at  four  o'clock,  P.M., 
of  Sept.  13 ;  but,  having  reported  to  the  "  circumlocution 


THE  TWENTIETH  AND  TWENTY-FIRST  AT  CAMP  CHASE.    239 

office,"  it  was  five  hours  before  it  received  an  order  to  go 
into  camp.  The  men  stretched  themselves  upon  the  ground 
of  East  Capitol  Hill,  and  slept  without  tents.  Next  morning 
the  baggage  came  up,  and  a  camp  was  laid  out ;  but,  two 
days  thereafter,  they  removed  to  Camp  Chase,  at  Arlington 
Heights,  under  their  new  brigade-commander,  —  Gen.  Paul. 
Here  officers  and  men  studied  Casey's  tactics,  and  devoted 
four  hours  a  day  to  the  drill. 

The  Twenty -first  also  reached  Washington  on  the  13th, 
bivouacked  near  the  Twentieth,  and  went  with  it  to  Camp 
Chase  on  the  17th. 


CHAPTER     XVI. 

The  Call  for  Seven  Regiments  of  Nine-months'  Men.  —  The  second  Great  Uprising.  — 
Kecruiting  Active. • —  Meetings  and  Bounties.  —  A  Draft  announced.  —  The  Camps. 

—  Exemption    sought.  —  Skulks   and   Cowards.  —  The    Surgeons    besieged.  —  The 
White-liver  Complaint.  —  Incidents.  —  How  New  Haven  filled  her  Quota.  —  The  Day 
of  the  Draft.  —  The  Mountain  brings  forth.  —  All  the  Regiments  Full.  —  The  Twenty- 
second   from   Hartford   and   Tolland   Counties.  —  Twenty-third  from   Fairfield  and 
New   Haven.  —  Twenty-fourth    from    Middlesex.  —  Twenty-fifth   from    Hartford.  — 
Twenty-sixth  from  New  London  and  Windham.  — Twenty-seventh  from  New  Haven. 

—  Twenty-eighth  from  Fairfield  and  Litchfield.  —  The  Rendezvous  on  Long  Island. 

LMOST  simultaneously  with  the  call  for  three 
hundred  thousand  men  for  three  years  came 
(Aug.  4,  1862)  a  call  for  three  hundred  thou 
sand  for  nine  months,  under  which  the  quota  of 
the  State  was  again  7,145.  Including  the  last 
three-years'  quota,  still  incomplete.,  Connecticut  had  already 
raised  21,702  soldiers;  and  the  various  branches  of  industry 
showed  the  drain  that  was  being  suffered.  Yet  the  startling 
reverses  to  our  arms,  and  the  excitement  and  war-meetings 
resulting,  caused  a  very  general  response  to  this  summons. 
Moreover,  nearly  half  the  number  now  called  for  had  been 
furnished  in  the  surplus  volunteering  for  three  years ;  and 
there  were  many  remaining  whose  circumstances  prevented 
a  three-years'  absence,  who  cheerfully  volunteered  to  go  for 
nine  months,  believing  that  such  service  would  carry  the 
war  past  the  most  critical  point. 

Seven  additional  regiments  were  called  for,  from  the 
Twenty-second  to  the  Twenty-eighth  inclusive ;  and  volun 
teers  poured  in  to  the  recruiting-stations.  All  parties  par 
ticipated  in  the  new  uprising.  At  the  war-meetings  of  the 
time,  Charles  Chapman  and  Alvan  P.  Hyde,  the  acknowledged 
leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  House  of  Represen- 

240 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   DRAFTING.  241 

tatives,  spoke  on  the  same  platform  with  prominent  Repub 
licans,  urging  men  of  all  creeds  and  politics  to  enroll  them 
selves  at  once  for  the  national  defense. 

The  last  companies  filled  slowly ;  and  the  governor,  on 
Aug.  21,  in  obedience  to  orders  from  Washington,  announced 
a  draft  for  Sept.  3,  unless  the  requisition  should  previously  be 
filled.  The  number  required  of  different  towns  beino-  esti 
mated,  they  at  once  put  forth  prodigious  efforts  to  fill  the 
respective  quotas.  While  nearly  all  the  people  heartily 
seconded  recruiting,  a  large  majority  looked  upon  the  draft 
as  a  disagreeable,  if  necessary,  alternative :  many  objected 
to  it,  and  a  few  openly  opposed  it. 

Dr.  C.  H.  Atwood  of  Woodbury  objected  to  bounties,  and 
called  upon  the  educated  and  wealthy  to  enlist,  and  not 
require  it  of  the  laboring-men,  who  could  not  leave  their 
families.  As  the  tendency,  if  not  the  intent,  of  this  was 
obvious,  his  eloquence  was  received  with  hisses,  and  only 
served  to  augment  the  emphasis  with  which  the  town  voted 
the  bounty  of  one  hundred  dollars.  At  the  town-meeting  in 
Bethlehem,  an  old  citizen  named  Beecher,  who  had  presided 
a  year  before  at  a  Schnable  peace-meeting,  was  "  afeard  the 
town  would  be  ruined  by  paying  such  big  bounties."  His 
son  Marshall  Beecher  soon  took  refuge  in  Canada.  L.  L. 
Bloss  offered  a  resolution,  providing  that,  if  a  volunteer  from 
the  town  should  "  run  off  anybody's  nigger,"  he  should  for 
feit  all  his  bounty. 

Meanwhile  the  enrollment  for  a  draft  was  proceeding.  In 
preparation  for  it,  four  camps  were  established,  —  Camp  Hal- 
leek  at  Hartford,  commanded  by  Col.  George  S.  Burnham,  and, 
later,  by  Col.  George  P.  Bissell,  for  Hartford  and  Tolland  Coun 
ties  ;  Camp  Terry  at  New  Haven,  for  New-Haven,  Fairfield, 
and  Litchfield  Counties,  commanded  by  Col.  James  M.  Wood 
ward  ;  Camp  Russell  at  Norwich,  for  New-London  and  Wind- 
ham  Counties,  commanded  by  Col.  Thomas  G.  Kingsley,  and, 
later,  by  Col.  Thomas  H.  C.  Kingsbury  ;  and  Camp  Mansfield 
at  Middletown,  for  Middlesex  County,  commanded  by  Col.  E. 
W.  N.  Starr.  Several  of  the  last  three-years'  regiments,  and 
all  the  nine-months'  regiments,  rendezvoused  at  these  camps. 

General  orders  were  published,  giving  full  directions  as  to 


ol 


242  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

the  manner  of  conducting  the  draft,  with  the  classes  exempt, 
and  the  provision  for  substitutes.  It  appeared  that  Sprague, 
Chaplin,  Windham,  Maryborough,  New  Hartford,  Norfolk,  and 
Saybrook  had  already  filled  their  quotas.  As  the  day  ap 
proached,  it  became  clearly  impossible  to  prepare  the  cor 
rected  schedule  in  time ;  and  the  draft  was  postponed  until 
the  10th. 

During  this  week,  the  exertions  of  loyal  men  were  re 
doubled,  and  the  solicitude  of  semi-traitors  and  cowards 
increased.  Every  subterfuge  was  resorted  to  by  these  last 
to  escape  service.  Section  4  of  the  Militia  Law,  passed  at 
the  May  session,  provided  for  assistants  of  the  surgeon-gen 
eral  in  each  county,  authorized  to  examine  all  applicants  for 
exemption.  Old  certificates  of  disability  suddenly  became 
priceless.  The  halt,  the  blind,  the  diseased,  swelled  to  a 
fabulous  number. 

Some  surgeons  seemed,  from  excessive  good  nature,  or  for 
the  sake  of  popularity,  or  for  the  paltry  twenty-five  cents  re 
ceived  for  each  certificate,  inclined  to  grant  almost  every 
application.  Dr.  Beckwith  of  Litchfield  was  severely  cen 
sured,  as  caring  more  for  these  than  for  the  nation  others 
were  struggling  to  save  ;  but  he  asserted  that  he  did  what 
seemed  to  be  his  duty  with  impartial  honesty.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  his  fame  spread  through  all  surrounding  towns.  Men 
swarmed  into  Litchfield  with  haggard  and  ghastly  counte 
nances  ;  stout  young  fellows  bent  over  canes,  and  feigned 
excruciating  rheumatism,  or  moaned  agonizing  internal  and 
invisible  maladies.  Every  day  some  one  received  the  twenty- 
five  cents  exemption,  flung  away  his  staff,  and  walked  off 
with  a  firm  step. 

The  physicians  generally  were  rigid,  excusing  none  but 
those  obviously  unfit.  A  few  left  every  county,  and  fled  to 
Canada,  where  they  were  hailed  as  poltroons  and  skulks.  A 
few  who  sympathized  with  the  South  maimed  themselves  that 
they  might  be  exempt !  A  "  peace-man  "  in  New  Fairfield 
cut  off  his  right  fc-re-finger.  Another  extracted  his  full  set 
of  sound  teeth,  and  presented  himself  to  Dr.  Ezra  P.  Ben 
nett  to  be  examined,  but  subsided  into  a  speechless  rage 
when  the  doctor,  disgusted  with  the  spectacle,  "  passed  "  him, 


REPUGNANCE  TO   DRAFTING.  243 

informing  him  that  he  could  "go  as  well  as  not :  don't  have  to 
bite  cartridges  now."  A  cripple  from  Preston  presented  him 
self  to  Dr.  Farnsworth  at  Norwich  with  a  stiff  leg ;  but  the 
doctor,  perceiving  that  the  rigidity  was  voluntary,  horse 
whipped  the  creature,  and  then  kicked  him  out  of  his  office. 
The  lame  leg  was  restored  as  good  as  new.  Dr.  Welch  of 
Winsted  used  to  ask,  "  Can  you  work  ?  "  —  "  Y — es,  work  a 
lit-tle,"  was  a  common  reply.  "Then  you  can  fight  a  lit 
tle  ; "  and  the  case  was  closed. 

At  this  time,  Litchfield  County  was  all  astir  with  recruiting 
for  the  Nineteenth  and  Twenty-eighth  Regiments.  Every 
day,  Hon.  John  H.  Hubbard,  and  often  Edward  Seymour 
and  others,  would  go  out  to  the  Green,  where  the  candidates 
for  exemption  were  congregated,  and  depict  the  need  and 
peril  of  the  nation,  and  set  forth  the  meanness  of  shirking 
duty  due  to  the  flag  and  the  country.  Almost  every  day, 
a  number  thoroughly  ashamed  of  their  despicable  inten 
tions  banished  pretended  ills,  stood  erect  in  manhood,  and 
enlisted  for  three  years  or  the  war. 

In  Barkhamsted,  at  the  town-meeting  in  which  a  hundred 
dollars  bounty  was  voted  to  volunteers,  it  was  also  resolved 
unanimously,  that  "whereas  a  most  dangerous  and  alarming 
epidemic,  traceable  in  most  cases  to  the  pro  tern,  cause  of  an 
enormous  enlargement  of  the  white  liver.,  threatens  the  total 
extinction  of  our  able-bodied  white  male  population  be 
tween  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years;  therefore 
resolved,  that,  as  a  sanitary  regulation,  the  names  and 
alleged  reasons  of  all  citizens  of  this  town  who  apply  for 
exemption  be  published  in  the  county  newspapers." 

The  aggregate  of  those  who  dishonestly  sought  exemp 
tion  was,  of  course,  very  small,  when  compared  with  the 
whole  number  liable  to  military  duty.  The  people  gen 
erally  were  ready  to  stand  the  draft;  and  some  calmly 
awaited  the  result  as  th  i  decision  of  Providence  upon  their 
duty  to  go  or  stay.  Still  there  was  a  decided  repugnance  to 
a  draft,  however  equitable  ;  and  all,  with  Connecticut  ideas 
of  freedom,  wished  to  see  the  ranks  filled  by  volunteers. 

Many  towns  filled  their  quota  on  the  morning  of  the  day 
of  the  draft.  At  New  Haven,  an  immense  crowd,  estimated 


244  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE    REBELLION. 

at  from  three  to  five  thousand,  gathered  at  the  north  por 
tico  of  the  State  House.  A  citizens'  meeting  was  organized, 
with  Thomas  R.  Trowbridge  as"  chairman,  and  Edwin  A. 
Tucker  as  secretary.  Joseph  Sheldon  immediately  offered, 
on  behalf  of  Arthur  D.  Osborne,  fifteen  dollars  each  for 
two  volunteers,  in  addition  to  all  bounties.  James  Gallagher 
offered  fifteen  dollars  for  one  man.  I.  W.  Hine  and  William 
A.  Beckley  each  made  the  same  offer.  William  Franklin 
offered  fifteen  dollars  each  for  ten ;  N.  D.  Sperry,  fifteen 
dollars  each  for  ten  more ;  John  Woodruff,  fifteen  dollar? 
each  for  twenty;  Thomas  R.  Trowbridge,  fifteen  dollars 
each  for  thirty  more  ;  J.  A.  Bishop,  fifteen  dollars  each  for 
ten  men.  Each  announcement  was  greeted  by  loud  ap 
plause.  Others  followed.  S.  T.  Parmalee  offered  a  hun 
dred  dollars,  D.  J.  Peck  fifty  dollars,  Hiram  Camp  fifteen 
dollars,  each,  for  ten  men.  Rev.  William  Folsom  made  a 
short  and  very  spirited  address,  offering  at  its  close  fifteen 
dollars  each  for  five  men.  Men  now  enlisted  rapidly.  A 
call  was  made  for  a  general  contribution,  to  be  divided 
equally  among  volunteers.  Individuals  began  to  pass  up 
money  in  sums  from  one  dollar  to  twenty.  James  Galla 
gher,  in  a  patriotic  and  earnest  speech,  called  for  more  men 
and  money ;  and  they  were  forthcoming.  At  noon,  fifty-two 
men  had  volunteered,  fifteen  dollars  each  had  been  offered 
for  eighty-eight  more,  and  twelve  hundred  dollars  had  been 
contributed  for  equal  distribution.  The  crowd  and  enthusi 
asm  were  undiminished.  The  selectmen  stood  by  the  boxes, 
ready  to  commence  the  draft.  Enlistments  went  on.  At 
three  o'clock  and  forty-five  minutes,  P.M.,  twenty-five  men 
were  needed  to  fill  the  quota.  The  selectmen  gave  notice 
that  the  draft  would  begin  at  four  o'clock.  They  delayed 
half  an  hour  more ;  and,  at  half-past  four  o'clock,  N.  C.  Hall 
announced  that  the  quota  of  New  Haven  was  full,  and  that 
there  would  be  no  draft.  Nine  tremendous  cheers  broke 
forth,  and  all  went  home  happy.  More  than  one  hundred 
men  had  enlisted  since  nine  o'clock. 

Similar  scenes  were  enacted,  on  a  smaller  scale,  in  other 
towns :  and,  when  the  draft  was  made,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  towns  had  filled  their  quota ;  thirty-four  had 


THE  NUMBER  DRAFTED.  245 

not.  Windham  County  had  an  excess  of  men.  New-London 
County  needed  but  twenty-four.  Hartford  County  lacked 
the  largest  number,  —  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven;  and 
of  these  the  city  of  Hartford  drafted  for  four  hundred  and 
twenty-one. 

The  returns  from  the  draft  show  that  the  number  drafted 
was  thirteen  hundred  and  three  (1,303).  Of  these,  nine 
hundred  and  thirteen  (913)  were  exempted  by  selectmen 
or  on  surgeon's  certificate.  Seventy-nine  (79)  principals 
and  one  hundred  and  forty-two  (142)  substitutes  were  mus 
tered  into  the  service,  and  eighty-eight  (88)  were  detailed 
on  government  work ;  making  a  total  of  three  hundred 
and  nine  (309)  accepted.  Of  these,  again,  one  hundred 
and  eighty-four  (184)  never  reported,  and  eighty-one  (81) 
deserted  after  being  sent  to  camp ;  leaving  forty-four  (44) 
to  be  sent  to  the  front.  McClellan's  confidence  was  not 
restored  by  this  re-inforcement.  A  conditional  Border  for 
another  draft  was  soon  issued  ;  but,  within  three  weeks,  the 
entire  quota  was  furnished,  and  the  regiments  full;  and  the 
supplemental  draft  was  indefinitely  postponed. 

These  seven  being  technically  militia  regiments,  all  the 
officers,  both  field  and  line,  were  chosen  by  election ;  the 
enlisted  men  designating  the  company-officers,  and  these 
nominating  the  field-officers. 

Many  of  the  members  of  these  regiments  were  young 
farmers,  who  had  about  finished  their  haying,  and  "  calcu 
lated  "  they  should  return  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  hard 
work  of  the  next  summer.  Generally,  at  the  rendezvous, 
before  the  loth  of  September,  it  was  understood  that 
their  term  of  service  would  expire  so  that  they  would  be 
mustered  out  by  the  middle  of  the  next  June.  This  view 
was  confirmed  by  the  appearance,  during  the  last  of  Septem 
ber,  of  Lieut.  Webb,  who  mustered  them  into  the  United- 
States  service  as  individual  recruits.  There  were  a  few 
skulks  in  each  regiment,  who  desired  to  spend  as  much  of  the 
nine  months  as  possible  in  Connecticut ;  and  who  absented 
themselves,  without  leave,  whenever  the  mustering-officer 
came  for  the  purpose  of  accepting  the  regiment  and  send- 


246  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

ing  it  forward.  This  practice  left  each  regiment  without  the 
required  complement,  and  departure  was  postponed  from 
day  to  day.  About  the  middle  of  November,  Lieut.  Webb 
re-appeared,  and  re-mustered  them  as  regiments ;  informing 
them  that  their  service  only  now  commenced.  There  was 
some  dissatisfaction ;  for  the  better  men  felt  that  they  had 
been  trifled  with  :  but  they  were  in  a  mood  to  tolerate 
sharp  practice  from  a  nation  in  such  a  strait  as  ours,  and, 
without  much  murmuring,  gave  the  extra  two  months  of 
service. 

The  Twenty-second  Regiment  was  recruited  exclusively  in 
Hartford  and  Tolland  Counties,  and  four  companies  were 
raised  in  the  city  of  Hartford.  Recruiting  commenced  Aug. 
20 :  and  in  just  one  month,  Sept.  20,  the  regiment  was  mus 
tered  into  the  service  at  Camp  Halleck,  Hartford ;  having 
been  full  for  two  weeks.  Again  towns  offered  attractive 
bounties ;  and  there  were  also  striking  instances  of  individual 
liberality.  Charles  F.  Hillyer,  president  of  the  Charter-oak 
Bank,  gave  nearly  one  thousand  dollars  in  bounties  to  enlist 
men  for  the  company  of  Capt.  Luther  G.  Riggs,  which  took  the 
name  of  "The  Hillyer  Guards."  Col.  George  S.  Burnham, 
who  had  led  the  First  Regiment  in  the  field,  was  appointed 
to  command  the  Twenty-second.  Only  four  other  officers 
had  ever  seen  service ;  but  they  were  patriotic,  and  willing 
to  learn. 

Company  A,  Capt.  Albert  Armbraster,  was  raised  wholly 
in  Windsor  and  East  Windsor.  Company  B,  Capt.  John 
G.  Root,  was  from  Hartford  •  Wethersfield  furnishing  thirty. 
Company  C,  Capt.  Luther  G.  Riggs,  was  from  Hartford ; 
East  Hartford  and  East  Windsor  also  slightly  assisting. 
Company  D,  Capt.  E.  B.  Root,  represented  West  Hartford 
twenty-two,  Bloomfield  forty-two,  East  Windham  twelve. 
Company  E,  Capt.  Frank  Swan,  Hartford  fifty,  Mansfield 
eleven,  Wethersfield  six.  Company  F,  Capt.  George  Clark, 
was  wholly  from  Enfield.  Company  G,  Capt.  George  W. 
Johnson,  was  from  Suffield ;  Union  contributing  twenty-three. 
Company  H,  Capt.  Charles  C.  Shultas,  was  from  Hartford; 
Southington  sending  eleven,  Canton  eight.  Company  I, 
Capt.  Charles  Whittlesey,  was  from  Hartford ;  Canton  having 


THE   TWENTY-THIRD   REGIMENT.  247 

fifteen  of  the  number.     In  Company  K,  Capt.  Benjamin  T. 
Loomis,  Tolland  had  forty-two,  Somers  twenty-two. 

After  a  few  weeks  of  irregular  drill,  the  regiment  left 
Hartford  for  the  seat  of  war,  Oct.  2,  one  of  the  stormiest 
days  of  the  season,  with  nine  hundred  men,  on  the  Granite 
State.  They  arrived  in  New  York,  and  breakfasted  at  the 
Battery  Barracks ;  crossed  by  ferry-boat  to  Elizabeth  City, 
and  took  cars;  reaching  Washington,  via  Harrisburg,  on  Sun 
day  evening.  Their  first  bivouac  was  on  the  flats  near  the 
Capitol.  Next  morning,  the  regiment  became  a  part  of  the 
Second  Provisional  Brigade.  After  tarrying  two  days  in 
Washington,  they  marched  to  Georgetown ;  thence  up  to 
Chain  Bridge ;  when  they  crossed  the  Potomac,  and  came 
to  rest  under  the  barbette  guns  of  Fort  Ethan  Allen.  Next 
morning  they  advanced  half  a  mile,  and  encamped  in  a  beau 
tiful  peach-orchard  ;  Col.  Burnham,  as  senior  officer,  com 
manding  the  brigade  of  three  green  regiments. 

Tlie  Twenty-third  Regiment  was  raised  in  Fairfield  and 
New-Haven  Counties,  mostly  the  former.  Charles  E.  L. 
Holmes  of  Waterbury  was  early  commissioned  to  be  colonel. 
It  rendezvoused  at  Camp  Terry,  New  Haven.  All  the  field 
and  most  of  the  line  officers  were  connected  with  the  active 
State  militia,  and  several  brought  their  companies  bodily  into 
the  regiment. 

Company  A,  Capt.  Alfred  Wells,  was  recruited  about  equal 
proportions  in  Watertown  and  Waterbury.  Company  B. 
Capt.  James  H.  Jenkins,  represented  Danbury  alone  ;  and  not 
a  man.  deserted  during  the  service.  Company  C,  Capt. 
Julius  Sanford,  was  the  union  of  squads  from  Newtown  (forty) 
and  Sharon  (thirty-four).  Company D,  Capt.  Charles  W.  Hall, 
had  nineteen  from  Bridgeport,  nineteen  from  Trumbull,  and 
twenty-five  from  Huntington.  Company  E,  Capt.  George 
M.  Godfrey,  contained  twenty-five  from  Wilton,  nineteen 
from  Weston,  and  thirty-six  from  Redding.  Company  F, 
Capt.  David  F.  Johnson,  was  largely  from  Derby  ;  other  towns 
furnishing  half,  most  of  whom  (twenty-nine)  deserted  before 
leaving  camp.  Company  G,  Capt.  George  S.  Crofut,  had 
twenty  from  Bethel,  twelve  from  Danbury,  six  from  New- 


248  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   REBELLION. 

town,  five  from  Ridgefield,  and  eight  from  Fairfield.  Of 
Company  H,  Capt.  A.  Dwight  Hopkins,  Naugatuck  furnished 
forty-three,  Waterbury  twenty-one,  Watertown  five.  Com 
pany  I,  Capt.  William  H.  May,  had  twenty-four  from  Bridge 
port,  fifty-three  from  Fairfield,  and  seven  from  Easton ;  and 
of  these,  many  of  whom  were  drafted  men  or  substitutes, 
thirty-eight  deserted  before  the  company  left  the  State. 
Company  K,  Capt.  Samuel  G.  Bailej^,  was  mainly  from  Dan- 
bury  ;  New  Fairfield  contributing  seventeen,  and  Litchiield 
seven. 

The  regiment  was  composed  of  excellent  material.  It 
was  assigned  to  Gen.  Banks's  expedition,  of  the  destination 
of  which  nothing  was  yet  known;  and  on  Nov.  17,  with 
eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  men,  it  proceeded  to  the  camp 
at  Centreville  (East  New  York),  L.I. 

The  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  was  mostly  raised  in  Middle 
sex  County ;  and  Samuel  M.  Mansfield,  first  lieutenant  in  the 
regular  army  and  a  son  of  Major-Gen.  Mansfield,  was  called 
to  the  command.  Middletown  contributed  four  companies : 
A,  Capt.  Isaac  C.  Gleason ;  D,  Capt.  Timothy  R.  Parker ;  F, 
Capt.  William  J.  Addis ;  and  G,  Capt.  Charles  H.  Edwards ;  in 
which,  however,  were  twenty-two  from  Haddam,  twenty-one 
from  Cromwell,  twelve  from  Clinton,  and  ten  from  Durham. 
Company  B,  Capt.  H.  P.  Johnson,  was  mainly  from  Essex  ; 
Westbrook  furnishing  fourteen,  Old  Saybrook  five,  and  Kil- 
lingworth  ten.  Company  C,  Capt.  A.  G.  Fitch,  wras  from 
Colchester  and  Chatham ;  Montville  contributing  six,  and 
Lebanon  eight.  Company  E,  Capt,  G.  A.  Denslow,  was  from 
Hartford.  Company  H,  Capt.  John  J.  Kealey,  was  from 
New  Haven  ;  and,  of  fifty Tfonr  privates,  twenty-four  de 
serted  before  leaving  for  the  seat  of  war.  Company  I,  Capt. 
Alonzo  L.  Mobbett,  was  from  Hamden ;  and  it  set  sail  with 
sixteen  officers  and  fifteen  privates.  Company  K,  Capt. 
Patrick  Gilmore,  was  from  New  Haven  and  Bridgeport ;  and 
twenty-seven  of  the  privates  deserted  before  leaving  the 
State.  At  this  time,  men  were  sorely  needed  ;  and  they  were 
accepted,  and  paid  heavy  bounties,  without  much  regard  to 
their  character  or  purposes.  Stimulated  by  the  inducements 


THE  TWENTY-FOURTH  AND  TWENTY-FIFTH  REGIMENTS.    249 

offered,  bounty-jumping  was  practiced  as  a  science,  until  it 
became  the  bane  of  the  army  and  the  curse  of  every  com 
munity.  The  catalogue  of  the  volunteers  of , Connecticut 
clearly  shows  what  class  of  citizens  most  resorted  to  this 
method  of  profiting  by  the  misfortunes  of  the  nation. 

When  the  Twenty-fourth  became  purified  by  the  depart 
ure  of  those  who  joined  for  fraudulent  purposes,  there 
remained  a  brave  and  efficient,  body  of  men,  tolerably 
well  disciplined,  and  thoroughly  in  earnest.  The  regiment 
was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Middletown  on  Nov.  18, 
1862,  and  left  immediately,  assigned  to  Banks's  expedition; 
arriving  at  Centreville,  L.I.,  with  less  than  six  hundred  men. 

The  Twenty-fifth,  like  the  Twenty-second,  was  raised 
almost  wholly  in  Hartford  County,  with  some  •  assistance 
from  Tolland;  several  companies  forming  the  nucleus  re 
ported  at  Camp  Halleck,  Hartford,  the  last  week  in  August ; 
and  enlistments  continued  from  Aug.  20  to  Nov.  11,  at 
which  time  it  was  formally  mustered  into  the  service. 
George  P.  Bissell  of  Hartford  was  made  colonel ;  and  he 
exhibited  an  energy  in  drill  and  discipline  which  promised 
to  bring  his  men  up  to  a  high  standard  of  excellence.  The 
regiment  was  composed  almost  exclusively  of  young  men 
impelled  by  a  patriotic  motive  ;  so  that,  except  in  the  mixed 
company  from  Hartford  and  Ellington,  the  desertions  were 
few. 

Company  A,  Capt.  Mason  C.  Weld,  had  twenty-one  from 
Farmington,  twenty  from  Hartford,  fifteen  from  Canton, 
nine  from  Wethersfield,  seven  from  Berlin,  and  a  dozen 
more  from  intervening  towns.  In  Company  B,  Capt.  Arthur 
T.  Hinckley,  Hartford  furnished  thirty-four  ;  Vernon,  ten ; 
and  West  Hartford,  Wethersfield,  Rocky  Hill,  and  East 
Windsor,  the  rest.  In  Company  C,  Capt.  S.  S.  Hay  den,  were 
thirty-two  from  Windsor  Locks,  five  from  Windsor,  nine 
teen  from  East  Hartford,  and  sixteen  from  Hartford.  Com 
pany  D,  Capt.  George  H.  Foskit,  was  exclusively  from  Staf 
ford, —  a  fine  company.  Company  E,  Capt.  Newton  P. 
Johnson,  .consisted  of  twenty -nine  from  East  Granby, 
twenty-seven  from  Hartland,  and  nineteen  from  Simsbury. 


250  CONNECTICUT  DUUING  THE  REBELLION. 

Company  F,  Capt.  George  H.  Na'pheys,  was  from  Hartford 
and  Ellington.  Company  G,  Capt.  Charles  H.  Talcott,  was 
a  consolidation  of  fractional  companies  from  Glastenbury 
and  East  Windsor;  and  Company  H,  Capt.  William  II. 
Abbey,  of  large"  squads  from  Glastenbury,  Rocky  Hill,  and 
Coventry.  Company  I,  Capt.  Barrett  Darrow,  from  Bristol, 
contained  eleven  from  Burlington.  Company  K,  Capt.  Wil 
liam  F.  Silloway,  contained  thirty-three  inen  from  Hartford, 
twenty-six  from  Farmington,  fourteen  from  Avon,  and 
twelve  from  Canton. 

The  muster-roll  exhibited  eight  hundred  and  eleven  men. 
On  Nov.  14,  the  regiment  sailed  from  Hartford,  and,  the  fol 
lowing  day,  encamped  on  the  Centreville  Race-course,  Long- 
Island,  laying  out  camp  and  holding  dress-parade  the  same 
evening,  after  making  the  distance  from  Williamsburg  in 
heavy  marching  order. 

New-London  County  acted  immediately  and  unitedly  in 
response  to  the  nine-months'  call ;  and,  on  Sept.  5,  the 
Twenty-sixth  Regiment  was  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Nor 
wich.  Col.  Thomas  G.  Kingsley  of  Franklin,  who  had  served 
for  eight  years  as  colonel  of  the  Third  Regiment  of  militia, 
was  elected  to  be  colonel.  Some  of  the  companies  were  on 
hand  promptly  ;  and  by  the  15th  all  were  in  Camp  Russell. 
Drill  was  at  once  begun ;  and,  as  most  of  the  officers  and 
many  of  the  enlisted  men  had  seen  service,  the  work  of 
preparation  was  continued  intelligently. 

In  this  regiment,  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  was  thus 
represented :  Company  A,  Capt.  Jesse  C.  Mayriard,  Salem, 
eighteen ;  Montville,  twenty-two  ;  Waterford,  eight ;  Sprague, 
Chester,  and  Lebanon.  Company  B,  Capt.  Clark  Harring 
ton,  Norwich,  thirty ;  Preston,  twenty-five  ;  Franklin,  twenty. 
Company  C,  Capt.  Enoch  Noyes,  jr.,  Old  Lyrne,  East  Lyme, 
and  Lyme.  Company  D,  Capt.  Samuel  T.  Hun  toon,  Nor 
wich,  thirty- three  ;  Ledyard,  twenty  -  seven  ;  Voluntown, 
nine ;  Preston,  eight.  Company  E,  Capt.  Christian  Goflj 
New  London,  forty-five ;  Waterford,  six.  Company  F,  Capt. 
Loren  A.  Gallup,  Norwich,  twenty-five  ;  Lyme,  twenty-one ; 
Griswold,  fifteen ;  Lisbon,  six ;  East  Haddam,  six.  Company 


TWENTY-SIXTH  AND  TWENTY-SEVENTH  REGIMENTS.       251 

G,  Capt.  John  L.  Stanton,  Norwich,  twenty-one ;  Woodstock, 
eighteen  ;  Pomfret,  eight ;  Ashford,  five ;  Scotland,  seven ; 
Sterling,  ten.  Company  H,  Capt,  Daniel  Champlin,  Ston ing- 
ton,  sixty.  Company  I,  Capt.  William  H.  Bentley,  New  Lon 
don,  seventy.  Company  K,  Capt,  Jedediah  Randall,  Groton, 
eighty. 

On  Nov.  12  they  vacated  their  camp,  under  orders  to  join 
Banks's  expedition,  still  gathering  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York.  Main  and  Shetucket  Streets  were  thronged  with 
friends  and  neighbors,  who  gave  the  regiment  many  words 
of  good  cheer  as  it  inarched  to  the  wharf.  At  five,  P.M.,  the 
cables  were  slipped  ;  and  the  Commodore,  with  its  freight  of 
more  than  eight  hundred  men,  swung  out  into  the  stream ; 
while  the  band,  to  make  the  occasion  cheerful,  struck  up 
"The  Girl  I  left  Behind  Me."  The  afternoon  and  night 
were  pleasant.  At  seven  in  the  morning,  the  boat  arrived  at 
Williamsburg.  The  regiment  partook  of  an  inadequate 
breakfast  at  the  wharf;  but,  as  the  men  marched  through 
South  Sixth  Street,  the  ladies  and  citizens  poured  out,  and 
furnished  them  with  wholesome  refreshments.  The  camp  at 
the  Centreville  Race-course  was  reached  by  one,  P.M.  The 
Twenty-sixth  was  the  first  Connecticut  regiment  to  arrive; 
and  Col.  Kingsley  assumed  command  of  the  post,  naming 
it,  with  Gen.  Banks's  approval,  "Camp  Buckingham,"  —  a 
designation  which  had  by  this  time  ceased  to  be  original  or 
novel,  but  never  ceased  to  be  popular.  Every  regiment 
named  several  of  its  stopping-places  after  the .  favorite 
governor,  until  "  Camps  Buckingham  "  were  scattered  over 
Virginia,  and  extended  down  the  Atlantic  coast  and  up  the 
Mississippi. 

The  Twenty-seventh  was  recruited  in  New-Haven  County; 
a  large  majority  of  officers  and  men  being  furnished  by  the 
city  of  New  Haven.  Richard  S.  Bostwick  of  New  Haven 
was  elected  colonel ;  and  towards  the  end  of  August  the 
regiment  went  into  camp  at  Camp  Terry,  and  began  to  pre 
pare  itself  for  the  service  before  it.  By  the  last  of  Septem 
ber,  all  the  companies  were  full. 

Company  A,  Capt.  James  H.  Coburn,  was  from  the  city. 


252  CONNECTICUT   DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 

Company  B,  Capt,  Calvin  L.  Ely,  represented  Branford, 
thirty-six ;  Wallingford,  twenty-nine  ;  North  Haven,  seven  ; 
North  Branford,  six.  Company  C,  Capt.  A.  C.  Taylor,  New 
Haven,  twenty-five ;  Milford,  twenty-seven  ;  Norwalk,  nine 
teen  ;  Guilford,1  six.  Company  D,  Capt.  Cornelius  J.  Du 
Bois,  was  mostly  from  New  Haven  ;  Bethany  adding  ten. 
Company  E,  Capt.  George  F.  Hotchkiss,  was  also  mainly 
from  New  Haven ;  Woodbridge  having  six.  Company  F, 
Capt.  Joseph  R.  Bradley,  was  the  union  of  incomplete  com 
panies  from  New  Haven  and  East  Haven.  Company  G, 
Capt.  Samuel  T.  Birdsall,  was  about  equally  from  Meriden 
and  New  Haven ;  Orange  also  having  thirty  in  this  and 
other  companies.  Company  H,  Capt.  R.  P.  Cowles,  was  from 
New  Haven.  Company  I,  Capt.  Charles  M.  Wilcox,  was  re 
cruited  in  Madison.  Company  K,  Capt.  B.  E.  Schweizer, 
was  raised  among  the  Germans  of  New  Haven. 

All  the  field-officers  and  most  of  the  company-officers  had 
seen  service ;  and  the  regiment  was  made  up  of  a  superior 
class  of  men.  Several  weeks  were  spent  in  drilling  and 
equipping ;  and  on  Oct.  22  the  regiment  started  for  the 
field,  numbering  eight  hundred  and  twenty-nine  rank  and 
file.  The  journey  to  Washington  was  uneventful.  Again 
the  inexhaustible  hospitality  of  the  "  Quaker  City "  was 
tested ;  and  the  regiment  took  a  day's  rest  upon  the  pave 
ments  of  Baltimore,  and  arrived  at  its  destination  on  the 
25th  ;  when  the  men  pitched  their  tents  in  Lee's  peach- 
orchard  on  Arlington  Heights,  —  Camp  Seward. 

The  Twenty-eighth  Regiment  was  raised  in  Fairfield 
and  Litchfield  Counties,  and  also  rendezvoused  at  Camp 
Terry,  New  Haven.  It  was  composed  of  eight  companies 
only.  Samuel  P.  Ferris  of  the  regular  army  was  appointed 
colonel. 

Companies  A,  Capt.  Francis  R.  Leeds,  and  B,  Capt.  Cyrus 
D.  Jones,  were  entirely  from  Stamford.  Company  C,  Capt. 
Louis  R.  McD enough,  had  fifty-seven  from  Westport,  twenty- 
two  from  Darien,  seven  from  Stamford.  Company  D,  Capt. 
David  D.  Hoag,  contained  thirty-four  from  New  Milford,  fif 
teen  from  Bridgewater,  twenty  from  Sherman,  and  sixteen 


THE   TWENTY-EIGHTH   REGIMENT.  253 

from  Washington.  Company  E,  Capt.  Charles  B.  Landon, 
was  wholly  from  Salisbury.  Company  F,  Capt,  L.  B.  Whee- 
lock,  was  almost  entirely  from  Winchester ;  Colebrook  send 
ing  nine,  and  Torrington  and  Barkhamsted  ten  more.  Com 
pany  G,  Capt.  Theodore  L.  Beckwith,  was  from  Norwalk  ; 
and  Company  H,  Capt.  George  W.  Middleton,  from  Green 
wich. 

They  were  kept  at  New  Haven  two  months  ;  when,  weary 
with  the  monotony  of  camp-life,  they  gladly  received  the 
summons  to  proceed  (Nov.  17)  to  the  rendezvous  where 
Banks  was  assembling  his  expedition.  They  took  a  night- 
boat;  and  the  evening  of  the  next  day  found  them  hastily 
laying  out  a  camp  on  the  Centreville  Race-course,  Long 
Island,  where  Col.  George  P.  Bissell  was  in  command. 

There  were  now  at  Centreville  five  of  the  Connecticut 
nine-months'  regiments  —  the  Twenty-third,  Twenty-fourth, 
Twenty-fifth,  Twenty-sixth,  and  Twenty-eight  —  encamped 
together ;  a  village  of  more  than  three  thousand  men.  The 
arrangements  were  in  some  respects  seriously  defective,  or 
at  least  so  regarded  by  the  volunteers  just  from  warm  beds 
and  plentiful  tables.  One  of  them  wrote,  "  The  excessive 
dirt  in  the  food,  and  the  excessive  moisture  in  the  lodging, 
form  frequent  subjects  of  complaint.  All  experience  has 
shown  that  sleeping,  or  trying  to  sleep,  in  three  inches  of 
water,  in  the  midst  of  November,  is  not  conducive  to  good 
health,  temper,  or  morals." 

There  was  one  pleasant  incident,  however.  When  Thanks 
giving  came,  the  tables  were  spread  with  lavish  care  by  the 
"  Sons  of  Connecticut "  in  New  York ;  and  the  regiments  gath 
ered  about  them  to  express  their  patriotic  resolves,  and  re 
new  the  fragrant  memories  of  life  in  New  England.  All 
praise,  as  we  pass,  should  be  given  those  noble  arid  patriotic 
"  Sons  of  Connecticut,"  before  referred  to,  for  their  unweary 
ing  kindness  and  liberality  to  the  troops  from  their  State  as 
they  passed  or  halted  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York.  The 
activity  of  the  agent  of  the  State,  and  the  liberality  of  Mc- 
Curdy,  Wetmore,  Gould,  S.  B.  Chittenden,  Gilman,  arid  oth 
ers,  is  beyond  all  praise,  and  most  gratefully  remembered  by 
our  troops. 


254  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

Again  Connecticut  had  achieved  a  giant's  work.  In  two 
months,  from  a  condition  of  apathy  and  over-confidence,  she 
had  roused  to  an  enthusiastic  war-spirit,  and  had  raised, 
equipped,  and  sent  to  the  field,  fifteen  full  regiments,  or  an 
average  of  about  a  hundred  able-bodied  men  from  every 
town.  She  was  probably  not  the  first  to  fill  her  quota,  as  the 
Tribune  and  some  of  our  own  newspapers  at  the  time  an 
nounced  ;  for  the  response  of  Iowa  appears  to  have  preceded 
ours :  but  Connecticut  answered  the  requisition  before  any 
other  Eastern  State,  and  elicited  from  the  Boston  Traveller 
the  comment, "  Connecticut  has  behaved  splendidly  from  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  means  to  persevere  in  well-doing 
to  the  end.  She  does  not  brag  so  much  as  some  other  States ; 
but  she  does  much  useful  work.  She  worships  the  Union, 
and  believes  that  work  is  worship." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  Eighth  and  Eleventh  near  Newberne. —  To  Newport  News.  —  Re-organization  of 
the  Eleventh.  —  To  Fredericksburg. — Pope,  defeated,  retreats  on  Washington. — 
Col.  Kingsbury  in  command  of  the  Brigade. — Arrival  in  Washington. — Movement 
into  Maryland.  —  The  Fourteenth  and  Sixteenth  join  the  Column.  —  South  Moun 
tain.  —  The  Affair  of  Turner's  Gap.  —  Choice  Rebel  Literature. 

FTER  the  siege  of  Fort  Macon,  the  Eighth  re 
turned  to  Newberne,  and  encamped  about  a 
mile  below  the  city,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  lan 
guid  and  beautiful  Neuse.  The  Eleventh  still 
remained  in  its  pleasant  camp  on  the  Trent; 
and  the  Tenth  in  the  open  plain,  just  above  the  city.  Col. 
Harland  much  of  the  time  commanded  a  brigade  which  in 
cluded  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh,  and  at  battalion-drill  was 
not  surpassed  by  any  officer  of  the  division.  Life  at  this 
place  is  still  vividly  remembered.  Surgeon  Meyer  of  the 
Eleventh  wrote,  "  By  the  slow  and  solemn  Trent  stood  our 
hospital,  the  ancient  home  of  a  Revolutionary  general. 
Huge  old  mulberry-trees  embowered  it;  and,  opposite,  a 
reedy  peninsula  stretched  its  green  tongue  far  down  the 
river.  There  we  swung  in  hammocks  through  the  long 
summer  afternoons,  reading  hoary  magazines  that  had  come 
in  the  boxes  of  sanitary  or  soldiers'-aid  clubs,  or  dreamily 
discussing  authors  and  books." 

June  brought  much  bilious  fever,  particularly  to  the 
Eighth,  which  had  been  seriously  worn  down  by  the  labo 
rious  siege.  Here  many  men  of  defective  constitutions 
died,  worn  out  in  service.  Convalescents  obtained  fur 
loughs  to  recruit  in  the  bracing  air  and  kind  care  of  home. 
The  tents  were  often  chilly  and  very  damp.  Sometimes 
matches  would  not  kindle,  nor  postage-stamps  cling  to  let- 

255 


256  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

ters;  and  boots  gathered  mold.  Bathing  became  a  great 
luxury.  The  regiments  had,  after  dress-parade,  a  regular 
bathing-call;  and  hundreds  ran  to  plunge  into  the  cooling 
and  healthful  stream,  —  to  them  almost  a  Siloam.  This  was 
the  merriest  hour  of  the  day.  Many  bathed  at  morning 
also ;  but  none  were  allowed  to  go  into  the  water  under  the 
burning  sun  of  mid-day. 

Every  day  they  watched  for  the  steamer  that  brought  the 
Northern  mails,  cheering  it  as  it  moved  up  the  river,  and 
waiting  with  patient  hope,  sometimes  for  twelve  hours,  pend 
ing  the  distribution  of  a  huge  mail  for  ten  thousand  men. 

On  July  2,  the  Eighth  moved  to  Morehead  City,  and 
thence  on  the  transport  Admiral  to  Newport  News,  where  a 
camp  was  set  on  an  exposed  sandy  plain.  The  Eleventh  fol 
lowed  closely.  The  beach  of  Hampton  Roads,  near  at  hand. 
protracted  the  delight  of  bathing.  A  few  oysters  were  scat 
tered  along  the  clean  bottom ;  and  the  boys  felt  out  with 
their  bare  feet,  dived  down,  and  captured  enough  of  the 
toothsome  bivalves  to  break  the  monotony  of  salt  pork  and 
hard-tack. 

Here  died  Lieut.  Charles  A.  Breed,  of  Norwich,  of  typhoid 
fever.  He  had  been  in  the  war  from  the  first  summons, 
and  was  buried  at  home  with  public  honors.  He  was  much 
lamented ;  and  his  brother-officers  sent  their  condolence  to 
"his  widowed  mother,  who  had  given  two  sons  to  sustain 
the  cause  of  constitutional  liberty." 

The  field  and  line  of  the  Eleventh  were  here  re-organized. 
Its  lieutenant-colonel,  a  noble  and  patriotic  man,  but  not  of 
a  military  turn  of  mind,  had  resigned  at  Newberne  ;  and  its 
colonel,  who  had  never  much  loved  or  adorned  the  service, 
here  also  took  final  leave  of  the  regiment.  Lieut.  Henry 
W.  Kingsbury  of  the  regular  army,  who  declined  the  com 
mission  of  colonel  of  the  Eleventh  in  October  previous,  no\v 
accepted  it;  and  Capt,  Griffin  A.  Stedman  of  the  Fifth, 
who  had  been  transferred  to  be  major  of  the  Eleventh,  now 
became  lieutenant-colonel.  The  line-officers  were  immediately 
subjected  to  a  regular  drill  and  severe  study ;  and,  at  the 
end  of  two  weeks,  all  who  failed  to  pass  a  rigid  examination 
were  requested  to  resign,  and  complied.  Vacancies  were 
filled  by  deserved  promotions  from  the  ranks. 


THE. FRAIL  TRESTLE-BRIDGE.  257 

The  new  colonel  daily  drilled  the  battalion  in  the  strictest 
manner.  Severe  inspections  also  began.  A  spot  of  dirt 
secured  a  reprimand,  and  an  unclean  musket  was  a  sure 
passport  to  extra  duty  or  the  guard-house.  No  man  was 
allowed  to  step  out  of  his  company-street  unless  his  coat 
was  on,  and  every  button  buttoned.  There  was  fierce  com 
motion  for  a  time,  and  smothered  threats  of  mutiny ;  but 
the  colonel  was  master,  and,  within  the  three  weeks  of  sta\- 
at  Newport  News,  the  regiment  improved  beyond  descrip 
tion.  From  being  the  most  disorderly  and  slovenly  in  the 
division,  it  became,  perhaps,  the  cleanest  and  most  orderly. 

Officers  and  men  of  other  regiments  crowded  to  witness  its 

0 

battalion-drills ;  and  the  boys  began  to  be  proud  of  their 
colonel  and  themselves.  Thenceforward,  for  three  years, 
the  Eleventh  had  few  if  any  superiors. 

The  first  of  August,  the  men  got  ready  and  departed  for 
the  North.  McClellan  had  been  beaten,  and  the  rebels  were 
falling  upon  Pope.  On  the  5th,  the  two  regiments  found 
themselves  up  the  Potomac,  debarking  at  Acquia  Creek. 
Baggage  was  quickly  loaded  into  freight-cars,  and  many  of 
the  men  clambered  and  clustered  on  the  top.  The  track  was 
in  wrretched  order,  the  sun  fierce,  the  smoke  and  cinders 
sickening. 

The  men  on  "  the  upper  deck "  will  hardly  forget  the 
frail  trestle-bridge  crossed  at  Potomac  Creek.  The  stream 
rippled  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  the  track :  the  old 
bridge  had  been  burned,  and  a  new  one  was  built  up  from 
the  very  bed  of  the  stream  in  a  continued  trellis,  with  strips 
of  three  and  four  inch  pine-scantling.  At  a  little  distance, 
the  light  structure  seemed  like  a  delicate  web  with  which 
some  adventurous  spider  had  spanned  the  gorge ;  and,  as 
they  crept  slowly  and  softly  over  its  trembling  timbers  and 
creaking  joints,  those  who  peered  into  the  chasm  below 
shuddered,  and  shut  their  eyes.  Not  a  word  was  spoken 
till  the  train  reached  firm  ground,  and  then  even  the  loco 
motive  could  not  restrain  a  shrill  cry  of  relief. 

Fredericksburg  was  soon  reached.  Few  will  forget  the 
march  from  the  station  on  the  hottest  day  the  regiment  had 
seen  in  service.  The  surgeons  of  the  Eighth  were  all 


258  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

absent  or  sick,  and  Chaplain  Morris  alone  was  left  to  care 
for  the  sick  and  weary  men.  More  than  twenty  fell  sun- 
struck.  At  last,  the  exhausted  men  lay  down  upon  the 
ground,  and  slept. 

At  Fredericksburg  was  spent  a  pleasant  month  of  drill 
and  picket  duty.  Most  of  the  time,  the  Eleventh  was  on 
patrol  in  the  city  ;  and  never  was  that  duty  more  acceptably 
performed.  The  Eighth  was  every  second  day  on  picket  far 
down  the  road  towards  Richmond :  one  company  detailed 
for  Falmouth.  Of  Falmouth,  Lieut.  Joseph  H.  Converse  of 
the  Eleventh  graphically  wrote  :  — 

"  A  dirty  place,  with  but  a  few  streets,  and  these  snubbed  into  extrejne 
limits  by  fierce  hills.  We  were  much  impressed  on  our  first  visit  with  the 
peculiarities  of  this  town,  primarily  having  an  idea  that  it  was  au 
insane  village  on  a  maniacal  march  ;  but  were  led  to  consider  that  it  might 
be  a  fossilized  suburb  slightly  inebriated.  Every  thing  looks  wild  and 
dilapidated  :  crazy  stairs  run  up  to  outsides  of  as  crazy  old  barns  ;  chim 
neys  reel  as  if  with  sun-stroke  ;  fences  twist  themselves  into  exaggerated 
attitudes,  and  look  blindly  for  aid  from  decrepit  old  posts." 

While  stationed  here,  the  men  had  good  water  and  plenty 
of  wholesome  food  ;  and  the  health  of  the  troops  rapidly 
improved.  At  last,  there  was  booming  of  cannon  near 
Manassas.  Orders  came  to  cut  down  baggage  to  the  last 
notch.  With  a  sigh,  officers  closed  their  trunk-lids  on  the 
gorgeous  uniforms  in  which  they  had  been  wont  to  shine  at 
dress-parade,  and  sent  them  to  Washington.  The  chaplain 
of  the  Eighth  here  bade  good-by  to  his  personal  and  the 
regimental  library,  and  the  chapel-tent,  to  see  them  no  more. 

The  negroes,  loyal  first  and  last,  shuddered  at  the  pros 
pect  of  an  evacuation  that  would  leave  them  to  the  ven 
geance  of  their  masters ;  and,  being  entreated,  Gen.  Burn- 
side  allowed  them  to  go  to  Washington  with  the  govern 
ment  trains.  They  passed  along  in  a  continual  stream,  in 
groups,  families,  and  singly,  a  motley,  struggling  host ;  every 
one,  little  and  big,  carrying  something,  from  the  wee  picka 
ninny  with  a  broken  coffee-pot  to  the  huge  wench  bearing 
half  the  furniture  of  the  family  on  her  head,  —  all  moving 
towards  freedom,  and  many  beguiling  the  way  with  plain 
tive  songs. 


THE  EIGHTH  AND  ELEVENTH  AT  BROOKS'S   STATION.     259 

Battle  now  threatened  along  the  whole  line  of  the  Rap- 
pahannock.  The  greatest  vigilance  was  exercised.  The 
regiments  were  ready  to  march.'  These  were  felt  to  be  the 
most  critical  days  of  the  war.  Pope  had  fallen  back  on 
Washington  with  an  army  beaten  and  disheartened,  and  all 
available  troops  were  called  to  strengthen  him.  On  Aug.  31 
the  Eighth  was  withdrawn  from,  picket  beyond  Fredericks- 
burg,  and  retired  through  the  town  and  across  the  river, 
greeted  by  the  scowls  and  taunts  of  the  rebel  citizens,  who 
threatened  to  fire  upon  the  column  from  their  houses.  The 
bridges  were  fired ;  then  the  ddpot  at  Falmouth.  In  the 
blaze  of  these  expensive  fireworks,  the  9th  Corps  took  up 
its  line  of  march  for  the  menaced  capital. 

The  Eighth  and  Eleventh  reached  Brooks's  Station  at  one, 
P.M.,  next  day.  This  is  a  place  of  easy  defense,  the  road 
winding  along  between  high  hills.  Col.  Kingsbury  of  the 
Eleventh,  now  in  command  of  the  brigade,  disposed  his 
forces  along  the  slopes;  and  a  beautiful  stream  with  a 
dilapidated  dam  afforded  nearly  all  the  men,  by  turns,  a 
refreshing  bath.  Some  families  of  negroes  volunteered  to 
bake  hot  corn  dodgers  till  sundown  for  the  hungry  men, 
and  joined  the  column,  when,  in  the  cool  evening,  it  pro 
ceeded  to  Acquia  Creek. 

On  Sept.  3,  soon  after  mid-day,  the  regiments  embarked, 
and  reached  Washington  in  the  evening.  They  bivouacked 
on  the  public  grounds  south  of  the  White  House,  near  that 
patriotic  abortion,  the  Washington  Monument.  Next  morn 
ing,  they  marched  through  the  city  in  their  best  style  ;  and 
the  boys  of  the  Eighth  long  remembered,  and  repeated  with 
a  smile,  the  announcement  in  the  Star  next  evening,  that 
"  the  Eighth  Regiment  of  United-States  Regulars  marched  in 
splendid  order  to  join  the  forces  of  McClellan."  The  brigade 
halted  on  Capitol  Hill,  and  greedily  received  a  large  mail 
from  home. 

On  this  same  day,  Lee's  advance,  pressing  boldly  north 
ward,  crossed  the  Potomac  at  Edwards's  Ferry,  and  moved 
directly  upon  Frederick,  Md.,  which  was  occupied  by  Gen. 
D.  II.  Hill's  force.  On  Sept.  8,  McClellan  moved  his  army 
northward  from  Washington  with  intent  to  encounter  the 
enemy. 


260  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Here,  besides  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh,  the  Fourteenth  and 
Sixteenth,  new  Connecticut  regiments,  joined  the  army  in 
pursuit,  The  Fourteenth  had  been  mustered  in  just  two 
weeks,  and  had  been  sent  to  Camp  Chase,  on  Arlington 
Heights,  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  camp  of  instruction  un 
der  Gen.  Casey.  Its  men  knew  nothing  about  the  manual 
of  arms,  or  company  or  battalion  drill ;  yet  they  received 
marching-orders  to  follow  the  enemy  before  they  had  received 
their  muskets.  The  regiment  moved  along  the  hights ; 
halted  at  Fort  Ethan  Allen,  and  found  its  untried  arms 
awaiting  it  there.  On  Sept.  7,  it  went  across  Chain  Bridge 
to  report  to  Gen.  Sumner  at  Rockville. 

The  Sixteenth  left  Fort  Ward,  below  Arlington,  on  the 
same  day,  a  week  after  leaving  home.  Like  the  Fourteenth, 
it  had  received  no  drill,  no  discipline,  few  instructions  even 
in  marching.  It  was  little  more  than  a  crowd  of  earnest 
Connecticut  boys. 

The  Fourteenth  committed  the  common  mistake  of  leaving 
knapsacks  behind.  A  long  march  brought  the  regiment  to> 
Rockville,  where  it  made  its  first  bivouac  in  a  rye-field,  and 
next  clay  was  assigned  by  Gen.  Sumner  to  French's  division 
of  the  2d  Corps.  Col.  Dwight  Morris  of  the  Fourteenth, 
being  senior,  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  brigade ; 
the  command  of  the  regiment  devolving  upon  Lieut.-Col. 
S.  H.  Perkins.  Henceforth,  to  the  close  of  the  war,  the  for 
tunes  of  the  regiment  were  cast  with  the  2d  Corps,  Army 
of  the  Potomac. 

The  weather  was  hot  and  dry,  and  the  march  exhausting; 
but  the  men  pressed  on,  sleeping  as  they  could,  and  eating 
whenever  rations  were  to  be  had.  The  Sixteenth  received 
shelter-tents  at  Leesborough,  and  hurried  forward  to  join 
Harland's  brigade,  to  which  it  was  assigned. 

This  brigade,  with  the  9th  Corps,  was  still  far  ahead  ; 
and,  on  the  afternoon  of  Sept.  12,  the  column  filed  out  of  the 
road  along  a  fertile  ridge,  which  Whittier  described  as  being 

"  Fair  as  a  garden  of  the  Lord," 

and,  facing  into  battle-line,  saw  before  them 

"  The  clustered  spires  of  Frederick  stand 
Greeu-walled  by  the  hills  of  Maryland." 


THE  FIGHT  AT  TUKNER'S  GAP.  261 

The  entire  corps  advanced  in  a  long,  splendid  line ;  Har- 
land's  brigade  emerging  through  the  hospital-barracks  just 
in  time  to  see  the  last  of  the  rebel  cavalry  dash  out  of  the 
streets  pursued  by  our  own.  Women  blessed  God  and  the 
soldiers,  and  rushed  out  to  kiss  the  old  flag ;  gray-haired  men 
hobbled  forth  with  radiant  faces ;  and  the  young  shouted  their 
welcome ;  while  children  capered  in  holiday  glee. 

If  Dame  Barbara  Freitchie  alone  had  dared, 

"  When  Lee  marched  over  the  mountain-wall," 

to  set  the  starry  flag  defiantly  in  her  attic  window,  thousands 
had  kept  the  loved  emblem ;  and  the  line  had  not  been  five 
minutes  on  the  street  before  national  banners,  large  and  little, 
were  flung  from  the  windows,  and  draped  with  inspiring 
grace  almost  every  threshold. 

The  range  of  hills,  including  South  Mountain,  and  form 
ing  the  northern  spur  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  now  lay  directly 
ahead ;  and  Burnside  with  the  right  wing  was  sent  forward 
to  dislodge  Hill's  small  division  in  possession  of  Turner's  Gap. 
The  9th  Corps,  under  Reno,  was  still  in  the  advance ;  and  it 
pressed  on,  reaching  the  gap  before  sundown  of  the  13th. 

This  pass  is  a  deep  gorge  between  rough,  irregular  hills 
rising  a  thousand  feet.  Early  on  the  14th  the  9th  Corps 
moved  up  on  the  left  of  the  Hagerstown  Pike,  and  by  noon 
became  warmly  engaged ;  quickly  driving  the  enemy  half 
way  up  the  acclivity.  By  two  o'clock,  the  2d  Corps  ar 
rived  ;  but  the  9th  kept  the  lead.  The  Eighth  and  Eleventh 
Connecticut  Regiments  were  held  in  reserve,  and  were  under 
fire  without  being  engaged.  At  four  o'clock,  the  whole  line 
advanced,  after  a  fruitless  artillery  contest. 

It  was  emphatically  an  infantry  fight.  Our  column,  press 
ing  resolutely  forward,  met  with  strong  resistance.  Now 
the  rebel  line  would  be  driven  up  almost  to  the  summit ;  and, 
before  the  Union  cheers  died  away,  there  would  be  a  fresh 
crack  of  musketry,  and  our  forces  would  recoil,  while  rebel 
yells  echoed  along  the  rocky  hillside.  The  Union  reserve 
was  so  near,  that  bullets  chipped  the  branches  overhead. 
Often  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh  were  called  to  their  feet ;  but, 
when  the  wave  of  battle  receded,  they  lay  down  again. 


262  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

It  was  now  night,  and  the  combat  deepened  with  the  dark 
ness.  Up  and  down  surged  the  blazing  lines,  revealing  the 
hostile  hosts.  The  prolonged  roar  of  musketry,  undulating, 
tossed  back  from  the  cliffs,  and  crowding  the  whole  sky  with 
its  rattling  clangor ;  the  confused  rumble,  betokening  a  fresh 
advance ;  the  yells  and  answering  shouts,  drowned  again  by 
the  crash  of  twenty  thousand  rifles,  —  this  was  the  fight  for 
Turner's  Pass.  At  nine,  the  noise  of  battle  ceased ;  the 
rebels  fell  back  for  the  last  time  ;  the  Union  line  advanced 
near  the  summit,  within  a  stone's-throw  of  the  hostile  picket ; 
and  the  surgeons  on  both  sides  were  visible  passing  to  and 
fro  with  lanterns  among  the  wounded.  The  night  sped 
with  little  sleep ;  and  at  gray  of  dawn  the  rebel  pickets 
disappeared  over  the  hill,  the  main  body  having  noiselessly 
slipped  away  hours  before. 

The  fight  was  won  by  soldiers  of  other  States ;  the  Con 
necticut  regiments  being  in  reserve.  The  17th  Michigan 
especially  was  conspicuous  for  heroism.  For  the  numbers 
engaged,  it  was  one  of  the  sharpest  and  bloodiest  fights  of 
the  war.  Not  less  than  sixteen  hundred  ghastly  bodies 
of  fallen  rebels  lay  along  that  narrow  pass.  Ragged,  filthy, 
emaciated,  our  troops  looked  on  them  with  pity,  and  won 
dered  that  such  skeletons  could  fight  so  stubbornly. 

The  haversack  of  a  private  of  the  14th  North-Carolina, 
who  fell  here,  contained  a  soldier's  hymn-book,  printed  by 
the  South-Carolina  Tract  Society  (the  American  Tract  So 
ciety  of  New  York  having  at  last  refused  to  obey  longer  the 
dictation  of  slaveholders).  From  this  book  is  copied  a  stanza 
of  the  rebel  version  of  "  America :  "  — 

"  My  country,  'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee,  I  sing  ; 
Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  Southron's  pride : 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring  !  " 

In  the  hymn  beginning,  "  Sovereign  of  all  the  worlds 
above,"  appears  the  following  verse,  which  must  now  look 
to  the  enterprising  compiler  like  the  wreck  of  an  unanswered 
prayer : — 


SOUTHERN  LITERATURE.  263 

"  These  Southern  States  at  Thy  command 

Rose  from  dependence  and  distress  ; 
And,  stablished  by  Thy  mighty  hand, 
Millions  shall  join  Thy  name  to  bless." 

A  sheet  of  brown  Confederate  note-paper,  embellished  with 
a  coarse  cut  of  a  cannon,  and  bearing  dotted  lines  instead  of 
ruled,  had  a  wretched  travesty  of  the  Star-spangled  Banner, 
ending,  — 

"  For  the  flag  of  my  country  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  Southerner's  home  and  the  Southerner's  grave  !  " l 


1  Still  more 
books  which  lie 


e  precious  for  a  collection  of  literary  curiosities  are  two  Confederate  school- 
ie  before  us,  —  "  The  First  Dixie  Reader  "  and  the  "  Primary  Geography," 
both  by  Mrs.  M.  B.  Moore,  and  published  by  Branson  &  Farrar  of  Raleigh,  N.C.  They 
are  confessedly  the  result  of  an  attempt  to  "  render  the  Southern  youth  independent  of  the 
corrupt  Yankee  teachings,"  — a  sort  of  literary  rebellion  as  a  counterpart  of  the  political 
rebellion.  The  following  are  literal  quotations  from  the  Reader  :  — 

"  The  frog  hops.  He  can-not  run  like  you  can.  He  sleeps  in  the  day,  and  hops  at  night." 
"  It  is  not  bad  to  kill  the  owl ;  for  he  does  -us  harm.  His  wing  will  make  a  good  fan." 
"  If  I  were  a  boy  or  a  girl,  I  would  not  eat  like  a  pig.  I  would  eat  like  a  lamb,  and  then 
skip  and  play,  and  be  happy."  "  The  way  to  be  good  is  to  never  do  a  thing  which  you  would 
not  like  for  your  pa-rents  to  know."  "  Three  cheers  for  the  cane-mill !  It  is  a  fine  time  for 
boys  and  girls,  and  the  ser-vants  too  enjoy  it  fine-ly.  Some  of  them  will  have  four  or  five 
gal-Ions  by  the  time  the  sea-son  closes.  Well  done  for  the  dar-kies.  Ma-ny  poor  white 
peo-ple  would  be  glad  of  what  they  leave  for  the  hogs."  "  A  bad  wo-man  can-not  be  a 
good  grand-ma,  because  she  does  not  know  how.  God  is  good  to  give  us  such  grand-mas." 
"  They  said  '  if  the  dog  dies  we  will  trust  in  God  ; '  but  the  dog  got  well,  and  still  lives 
to  guard  his  master's  house." 

And  here  is  a  modest  venture  in  astronomy  :  — 

"  The  moon  has  a  dark  side  and  a  light  side,  and  when  she  turns  all  of  her  bright  side 
to  us,  we  have  a  full  moon.  When  her  dark  side  is  to  us  we  call  it  new  moon." 

There  is  an  affecting  story  of  a  deluded  colored  wretch,  who  was  seduced  by  "  the 
Yankee  army  "  to  try  the  horrors  of  freedom,  but  soon  returned,  glad  to  enjoy  once  more 
the  blessings  of  servitude.  This  is  given  twice;  and  the  little  book  of  eighty  pages  ends 
with  the  touching  salutation,  "  Adieu  —  at  present." 

In  the  geography  is  an  incredible  caricature  of  maps  of  the  Southern  States.  We 
quote  briefly:  "The  people  of  the  torrid  zone  arc  tall  and  dark  complected."  "The 
African  or  negro  race  is  found  in  Africa.  They  know  nothing  of  Jesus.  These  people- 
are  descendants  of  Ham,  the  son  of  Noah,  who  was  cursed  because  he  did  not  treat  his 
father  with  respect.  It  was  told  him  he  should  serve  his  brethren  forever.  This  would 
seem  a  hard  sentence,  but  it  was  probably  done  to  show  other  children  how  wicked 
it  was  to  treat  their  parents  so.  We  cannot  tell  how  they  came  to  be  black,  and  have 
wool  on  their  heads."  "  The  United  States.  —  This  was  once  the  most  prosperous  coun 
try  in  the  world.  The  people  are  ingenious  and  enterprising,  and  are  noted  for  their 
tact  in  'driving  a  bargain.'  They  are  refined  and  intelligent  on  all  subjects  but  negro 
slavery ;  on  this  they  they  are  mad."  ..."  South  Carolina.  —  The  people  of  this  State 
are  noted  for  their  chivalry.  You  do  not  understand  this  7  Well,  when  any  one  im 
poses  upon  them  their  motto  is  to  fight."  The  following  is  from  the  appended  cate 
chism  :  "  Q.  —  What  is  the  condition  of  the  United  States  "?  A.  —  It  is  tumbling  into  ruins. 
Q.  —  What  brought  about  this  great  calamity  ?  A.  —  The  injustice  and  avarice  of  the 
Yankee  nation."  "  Q.  —  What  is  the  present  draw-back  to  our  trade  1  A.  —  An  unlawful 
blockade  by  the  miserable  and  hellish  Yankee  nation."  Happy  Mr.  Moore !  Happy 
Southern  youth ! 

The  Episcopal  churches  throughout  the  South,  immediately  on  the  secession  of  the 
several  States,  conformed  their  church-service  to  the  altered  condition  of  things  ;  reading, 
in  place  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  frc. 
During  the  progress  of  the  war,  a  blockade-runner  was  captured,  having  ainong  other 
things  a  quantity  of  Episcopal  prayer-books  with  the  above  alteration  duly  printed  in  the 
text.  These  books  were  evidently  manufactured  in  England,  though  the  name  of  a  Rich 
mond  firm  appears  upon  the  titlcpage. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Battle  of  Antietam.  —  Charge  of  the  Eleventh.  —  Exploit  of  Capt.  Gibbons. — The  Con 
test  for  the  Stone  Bridge.  —  Inexplicable  Conduct  of  Burnside.  —  Coolness  and  Effi 
ciency  of  the  Fourteenth.  —  Charge  of  Harland's  Brigade.  —  Capt.  Charles  L.  Upham's 
Company  capture  a  Battery.  —  Great  Bravery  of  the  Eighth. — Gallant  Conduct,  of 
Col.  Appclman.  —  Fatality  of  the  Color-Guard.  —  Harland  assumes  Command  of  Rod 
man's  Division.  —  Severe  Losses.  —  Sufferings  of  the  Wounded.  —  Corporal  Henry  A. 
Eastman  of  the  Eleventh.  —  Deaths  of  Col.  Kingsbury,  Lieut.  Marvin  Wait,  Capts. 
John  Griswold,  James  E.  Blinn,  and  N.  S.  Manross.  —  Total  Casualties  of  the  Bat 
tle.  —  Death  of  Major-Gen.  Joseph  K.  Mansfield.  —  Biography  of  Mansfield.  —  Ketreat 
of  Lee's  Army. 

HE  2d  Corps  began  early  next  morning  to 
march  by  the  pike  over  the  mountain.  The 
9th  Corps  started  late,  and  marched  slowly  by 
the  county  road ;  and  by  night  most  of  the 
troops  were  in  advance.  About  sundown  it 
struck  the  pike,  and  began  passing  the  regiments  in  bivouac 
on  both  sides  of  the  road.  Fires  were  now  blazing ;  camps 
were  all  astir  with  men  setting  up  shelter-tents,  cooking  pork 
;md  coffee,  chatting,  washing,  singing,  talking.  For  miles, 
the  fields  on  both  sides  were  crowded  ;  the  waning  fires  at 
least  revealing  in  quaint  light  and  shadow  the  almost  count 
less  bivouacs  of  a  silent  and  sleeping  host.  A  little  past  mid 
night,  having  passed  through  the  entire  right  and  center 
to  the  front,  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh  turned  into  a  stubble 
lot  for  sleep ;  while  the  next  brigades  in  order  filed  by  in  the 
ever-moving  procession. 

Morning  found  Harland's  brigade  near  Antietam  Creek, 
within  easy  range  of  the  rebel  batteries  in  position  on  the 
hights  beyond  ;  and,  several  times  during  the  day,  shells  were 
dropped  near.  Lieut,  Samuel  Fiske, "Dunn  Browne,"  of  the 
Fourteenth,  wrote,  "I  had  no  disposition  to  run  away;  and, 
indeed,  I  didn't  see  any  very  favorable  place  to  escape  from. 

264 


THE   BATTLE   OF  ANT1ETAM.  265 

shot  which  fell  in  front,  on  both  sides,  and  as  much  as  a  mile 
in  our  rear.  You  can  calculate  the  probabilities  as  a  thou 
sand  to  one,  or  ten  thousand  to  one,  against  your  being 
struck ;  but,  somehow,  that  one  chance  looms  up  rather  dis 
proportionately  in  your  view." 

Here  the  Sixteenth  came  up  after  a  severe  inarch,  and 
joined  Harland's  brigade  at  dark.  The  wagons  had  not 
come  within  range,  and  rations  were  scanty.  The  hungry 
soldiers  fell  upon  adjacent  cornfields,  where  corn  was  in  its 
prime,  and  made  a  supper  of  roasted  ears.  Green  fruits 
added  to  the  relish.  Fences  became  little  piles  of  ashes.  By 
sundown,  the  land  for  miles  was  naked  of  every  edible.  No 
other  crop  thrives  in  the  vicinity  of  a  crop  of  soldiers.  This 
pillage  was  necessary ;  and  the  soldier-marauders  will  be  glad 
to  know  that  the  government  has  compensated  loyal  owners 
for  losses  incurred. 

Harland's  brigade  moved  up,  and  lay  in  line  of  battle  all 
night  behind  a  low  ridge  in  rear  of  the  Rohrbach  House,  and 
perhaps  fifty  rods  from  the  creek.  At  sunrise  of  the  17th,  the 
enemy  opened  on  the  position,  which  was  disclosed  by  a 
crowd  of  curious  greenhorns  running  to  the  hill  to  ascer 
tain  if  they  could  "  see  any  thing  of  the  rebels."  Having 
thus  perfect  range,  the  second  shot,  a  solid  12-pound  ball, 
crashed  diagonally  through  the  Eighth,  killing  three  men, 
and  frightfully  wounding  four,  in  Company  D.  Lieut.  Mar 
vin  Wait,  covered  with  blood  and  earth,  rallied  the  men 
gallantly,  and  held  them  to  their  place.  The  brigade  was 
soon  moved  to  the  left  and  rear,  to  a  less-exposed  position. 

Lieut.  J.  II.  Converse  of  the  Eleventh  wrote,  "  I  can  speak 
of  time  no  more.  The  battle  had  begun,  and  the  day  passed 
like  a  shrieking  shell.  The  sky  was  filled  with  unearthly 
sounds,  —  the  howl  of  fiendish  missiles,  the  crash  of  falling 
trees,  the  horrible  discharge  of  hundreds  of  cannon.  Along 
our  entire  front,  rebel  batteries  were  constantly  discovered, 
till  a  long  line  of  cannon  could  be  seen  through  the  murky 
canopy,  panting  with  deadly  heat."  The  brigade  of  Connec 
ticut  troops,  on  the  extreme  Union  left,  was  soon  advanced 
to  support  a  battery  near  the  creek,  and  came  again  under- 
a  sharp  fire. 


3-1 


266  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

"  Col.  Kingsbury  now  received  orders  from  Gen.  Burnside 
to  march  his  regiment  to  the  bridge,  after  the  batteries  had 
shelled  the  works  on  the  other  side,  and  hold  it  until  Gen. 
Rodman  could  march  his  column  over.  Col.  Kingsbury  ap 
proached  the  bridge  through  a  narrow  defile  in  the  woods, 
thence  through  a  cornfield,  and  over  a  plowed  field  adja 
cent  to  the  road.  Our  skirmishers,  advancing,  were  briskly 
engaged  with  the  enemy  on  the  opposite  side.  Col.  Kings- 
bury  gave  Lieut.-Col.  Stedman  command  of  the  right  wing, 
with  directions  to  advance,  and  occupy  a  hill  between  the 
road  and  the  river,  overlooking  the  bridge.  Having  accom 
plished  this  under  a  heavy  fire,  the  right  wing  immediately 
engaged  the  enemy,  and  lost  very  heavily  in  this  position ; 
the  sharpshooters  of  the  enemy  taking  off  our  men  very  fast ; 
while  the  enemy's  main  body  was  so  concealed,  that  we  had 
little  to  aim  at.  Col.  Kingsbury  at  the  same  time  brought 
up  the  left  wing,  where  he  was  exposed  to  the  most  intense 
fire  while  attempting,  as  at  that  time  supposed,  to  take  up  a 
position  very  near,  if  not  on,  the  bridge."  1 

All  the  rebel  batteries  were  now  roaring.  The  air  rang 
with  whistling  balls,  and  the  ground  quaked  with  the  hard 
breath  of  artillery.  "The  Eleventh  Connecticut  descended 
to  storm  Antietam  Bridge.  The  rebel  guns  were  pouring 
in  a  destructive  fire  of  grape  and  canister;  while  continuous 
volleys  from  an  unseen  enemy  in  the  woods  were  also  show 
ered  upon  them."  -  Down  the  road  leaped  the  Eleventh 
into  this  "  valley  of  death." 

Companies  A  and  B,  under  Capt.  John  Griswold,  were 
deployed  as  skirmishers  ;  and  they  plunged  into  the  swift 
stream,  here  some  fifty  feet  wide  and  four  deep,  their  daunt 
less  commander  taking  the  lead.  He  was  shot  through  the 
breast  while  in  mid-river,  but  struggled  forward,  and  fell 
upon  the  opposite  bank,  among  the  rebels. 

The  left  wing  of  the  regiment  was  now  near  the  bridge. 

Col.  Kingsbury    was    active,    inciting    his    soldiers    to    the 

charge  by  his  gallant  bearing  and   the   inspiration  of  his 

'  voice.     Many  men  fell.     The   colonel  was  a  special  mark ; 

and  he  was  soon  shot  in  the  foot,  and  immediately  there- 

1  Col.  Stedman's  Official  Report.  2  Narrative  in  New- York  Tribune. 


THE  ELEVENTH  AND  FOURTEENTH  AT  ANTIETAM.         267 

after  in  the  leg ;  when  he  was  at  last  prevailed  upon  to  leave 
the  field.  While  he  was  being  carried  off,  he  received  a  third 
ball  in  the  shoulder  and  a  fourth  in  the  abdomen,  inflicting 
a  mortal  wound. 

The  men  were  still  fighting  ;  now  falling  back,  and  again 
charging  on  the  bridge.  The  official  report  says,  "  When 
he  fell,  the  regiment  felt  their  last  hope  was  gone :  we  had 
lost  the  bravest  of  colonels  and  the  best  of  men."  Major 
Moegling  now  assumed  command  of  the  left  wing,  and  led 
it  gallantly ;  while  Col.  Stedman  held  the  right  wing  firmly 
to  the  support  of  the  battery.  Volleys  were  frequent  and 
effective. 

The  Eleventh  fought  stubbornly,  for  a  time  without  sup 
port  ;  but  at  last  other  regiments  got  up.  It  was  afternoon 
when  the  46th  New- York,  with  a  wild  cheer,  swept  down 
the  hill  and  charged  across  the  bridge,  driving  the  rebels 
back,  and  making  a  permanent  lodgment  on  the  opposite 
slope.  The  Eleventh  was  now  relieved ;  and  an  hour  was 
spent  in  gathering  up  the  dead  and  caring  for  the  wounded. 

On  the  morning  of  this  day,  the  Fourteenth,  under  Lieut.- 
Col.  S.  IL  Perkins,  had  roused  from  its  uneasy  bivouac  farther 
towards  the  right ;  at  three,  A.M.,  received  extra  ammunition ; 
and  at  seven  o'clock  moved  out  into  the  road.  French's  three 
brigades  were  formed  in  column  by  division  (Col.  D wight 
Morris's  brigade  in  the  center),  and,  marching  down  a  slope, 
forded  Antietam  Creek  ;  an  occasional  rebel  shell  whizzing 
overhead.  After  a  march  of  a  mile  along  the  south-west 
bank,  the  brigades  were  faced  to  the  left,  forming  three 
lines  of  battle ;  Morris's  being  still  in  the  center,  with  Max 
Weber  in  front,  and  Kimball  behind.  Hooker  was  now  hotly 
delivering  battle  on  the  right. 

The  order,  "  Double-quick ! "  was  given ;  and,  under  a 
heavy  fire,  Max  Weber  pushed  forward ;  while  Morris's  bri 
gade  obliqued  a  little  to  the  right,  and  charged  in  that  direc 
tion,  Kimball  diverging  to  the  left.  As  the  Fourteenth 
swept  on,  over  hedges  and  ditches,  and  through  plowed 
fields,  the  left  flank,  Company  B  of  Middletown,  became 
somewhat  separated  from  the  main  body ;  and,  in  order  to 
close  up  the  gap,  Capt.  Gibbons  led  the  company  by  the 


268  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

right  flank  between  the  house  and  barn  known  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  fray  as  "  Roulette's."  The  movement  was  exe 
cuted  with  such  rapidity  as  to  cut  off  the  escape  of  some 
forty  or  fifty  rebels  who  had  been  pouring  rapid  volleys  into 
the  regiment  from  this  cover. 

The  prisoners  were  sent  back  under  guard ;  and  the  re 
united  regiment  pressed  on,  and  soon  found  itself  in  a  corn 
field  on  the  right,  with  nothing  but  a  small  open  field 
between  it  and  Longstreet's  troops  posted  behind  hastily- 
formed  intrenchments.  The  firing  now  became  general  and 
constant.  The  Fourteenth  was  closely  supported  by  old 
regiments ;  and,  considering  its  lack  of  discipline,  it  fought 
remarkably  well. 

After  an  hour's  engagement  here,  the  Fourteenth  ad 
vanced.  Lieut.  Samuel  Fiske  of  Madison  ("Dunn  Browne" 
of  the  Springfield  Republican)  wrote,  "  The  enemy  held  a 
very  large  cornfield,  surrounded,  on  the  three  sides  where 
we  were  obliged  to  attack,  by  a  steep  and  difficult  ravine. 
On  the  north,  east,  and  south,  we  advanced  to  the  attack ; 
our  batteries  playing  over  our  heads.  Our  regiment  came 
in  from  the  north-east  to  attack  on  the  north,  being  the 
second  line  ;  the  first  line,  a  few  rods  before  us,  being  com 
posed  of  a  Delaware  and  one  other  regiment.  As  we  came 
along  even  with  the  east  line  of  rebels,  we  also  entered  a 
cornfield,  and  at  once  were  opened  upon  by  a  raking  fire  of 
musketry ;  and  a  good  many  of  our  men  fell.  The  north 
end  of  our  line  pressed  on  till  we  came  around  facing  the 
enemy  on  the  edge  of  the  ravine  ;  and  we  opened  fire  upon 
them  across  the  ravine,  firing  into  the  corn  which  concealed 
them  from  our  view.  After  a  few  minutes,  the  troops  who 
had  tried  to  cross  the  ravine  before  us  broke,  and  came  run 
ning  back  upon  us,  crying  out,  some  of  them,  (  Skedaddle, 
skedaddle ! '  Some  of  our  men  tried  to  stop  them ;  and  a  few 
of  them,  it  must  be  confessed,  joined  in  their  flight.  But  in 
the  main,  for  green  troops,  I  think  we  behaved  well ;  the 
•men  firing  with  precision  and  deliberation,  though  some  shut 
their  eyes,  and  fired  up  into  the  air." 

About  noon,  after  several  hours'  fighting,  advancing  and 
retreating,  carrying  off  the  wounded,  and  cheering  each 


THE  FOURTEENTH  THIRTY-SIX  HOURS   IN  BATTLE.        269 

other  on,  the  regiment,  under  orders,  reported  to  Col.  Brooks 
of  Richardson's  division,  and  was  placed  in  support  of  a  bat 
tery.  It  was  again  raked  by  a  terrible  fire  ;  while  the  battery 
lost  every  horse  and  half  of  its  men.  Here  "  Fighting  Dick 
Richardson  "  received  his  wound,  and  was  borne  from  the 
field  by  the  men  of  the  Fourteenth.  During  the  afternoon, 
the  regiment  was  marched 'to  and  fro  as  exigencies  seemed 
to  require ;  and  at  night  the  men  lay  on  their  arms  in  a 
plowed  field,  under  the  constant  buzz  of  sharpshooters' 
bullets. 

A  large  detail  of  sharpshooters  was  made  from  the  flank 
companies ;  and  here,  as  in  line,  the  men  did  their  duty 
nobly,  acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of  their  new  Sharpe's 
rifles  in  a  few  hours,  which  months  in  a  "  camp  of  instruction  " 
would  not  have  given  them.  "  Finally,  towards  evening," 
wrote  Lieut,  Fiske  from,  the  field,  "  a  stray  general  picked 
us  up,  and  ordered  us  to  hold  an  advanced  position  across  a 
plowed  field,  within  reach  of  the  enemy's  skirmishers,  who 
have  been  practicing  on  us  ever  since."  And  here,  under 
almost  constant  fire,  the  Fourteenth  remained  vigilant,  until 
it  had  been  thirty-six  hours  in  battle,  with  nothing  to  drink, 
and  nothing  to  eat  but  a  little  hard-tack.  Morris's  brigade 
had  captured  two  rebel  flags. 

On  the  left,  Burnside  still  waited  !  He  had  been  ordered  by 
McClellan,  as  early  as  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  take 
the  bridge,  move  on  the  Shepardstown  Road,  and  cut  off  the 
rebel  retreat.  Hour  after  hour  drifted  by,  while  the  battle 
was  raging  on  the  right,  and  Burnside  only  pushed  forward 
a  regiment  here  and  there  to  contend  alone  against  a  supe 
rior  force.  In  the  morning,  the  troops  of  Longstreet  in  his 
front  had  been  shifted  to  the  rebel  left ;  leaving  only  one 
division  under  Gen.  Jones,  numbering  twenty-five  hundred 
men,  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  creek  against  the  whole 
of  the  9th  Corps.  Still  the  commander  hesitated  and  de 
layed  ;  and  no  advantage  was  taken  of  the  amazing  dis 
parity  of  numbers.  When  at  last  the  order  to  move  at 
once  became  peremptory,  the  rebel  division  of  A.  P.  Hill 
came  hurrying  across  the  Potomac  from  Harper's  Ferry  to 
join  the  main  army  under  Lee. 


270  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

About  two  o'clock,  Rodman's  division  of  the  9th  Corps 
was  moved  down  the  stream,  to  cross,  by  wading,  a  mile  be 
low  the  bridge.  Two  companies  of  the  Eighth  went  ahead 
as  skirmishers,  and  found  a  ford ;  the  other  eight  companies 
supporting  a  battery  which  covered  the  ford  while  the  rest 
of  the  division  crossed.  The  regiment  soon  joined  Harland's 
brigade  under  a  hill  west  of  the  bridge,  near  the  extreme 
Union  left,  two  or  three  hundred  yards  from  the  creek. 
The  cannonading  had  become  furious.  Solid  shot  swept  the 
crest  of  the  hill  in  front,  and  tore  up  the  ground  behind. 
Shells  burst  overhead,  and  fragments  dropped  among  the 
men. 

A  battery  was  ordered  up  to  engage  the  enemy,  but  was 
whirled  back  in  three  minutes,  with  the  loss  of  every  officer, 
half  a  dozen  men,  and  five  horses.  The  hill  was  a  protection, 
and  few  were  wounded  at  this  point  in  the  Eighth  and  Six 
teenth.  The  Eleventh  had  been  misled  by  a  cowardly  or 
stupid  aide,  and  had  not  yet  come  up. 

It  was  now  four  o'clock.  On  the  right,  Hooker  was 
wounded  and  off  the  field  after  terrific  fighting; ;  Mansfield 

o  o  ' 

was  dead  ;  Sumner  was  leading  the  troops :  and  still  the 
ground  was  being  repeatedly  lost  and  won.  In  the  center, 
French's  division  stood  firm.  "  At  four  o'clock,  McClellan 
sent  orders  to  Burnside  to  advance,  and  carry  the  batteries 
in  his  front  at  all  hazards  and  at  any  cost." 3 

Some  officers  felt  that  all  was  not  right.  Major  Lyon, 
Harland's  aide,  brought  word  that  the  rebels  were  crossing 
the  Potomac,  and  filing  down  the  creek  on  the  Union  left. 
Gen.  Rodman,  commanding  the  division,  was  informed.  He 
said  Burnside  had  provided  for  that  by  facing  Cox's  division 
to  the  left.  The  advance  was  ordered. 

At  the  word  of  command  from  Col.  Harland,  the  Eighth, 
which  was  on  the  right  of  the  brigade-line,  started  promptly. 
"  But,"  says  Harland  in  his  official  report,  "  the  Sixteenth 
Connecticut  and  the  4th  Rhode-Island  apparently  did  not 
hear  the  order.  I  sent  an  aide  to  order  them  forward.  This 
delay  on  the  left  placed  the  Eighth  considerably  in  advance 
of  the  rest  of  the  brigade.  I  asked  Gen.  Rodman  if  I  should 

,3  Smalley's  Narrative  in  N.  Y.  Tribune. 


THE  EIGHTH  AND   SIXTEENTH  AT  ANTIETAM.  271 

halt  the  Eighth,  and  wait  for  the  rest  of  the  brigade.  He 
ordered  me  to  advance  the  Eighth,  and  he  would  hurry  up 
the  Sixteenth  Connecticut  and  4th  Rhode-Island." 

The  Sixteenth  had  moved  to  the  support  of  a  battery 
farther  south  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  line,  and  was  lying 
in  a  cornfield.  The  rebels  had  quietly  approached  in  force 
on  the  uncovered  left  flank,  and  were  nearer  than  even 
Major  Lyon  had  thought,  them.  "  While  we  were  lying 
here,"  says  the  diary  of  Lieut.  B.  F.  Blakeslee,  "  we  were 
suddenly  ordered  to  'Attention  ! '  when  a  terrible  volley  was 
fired  into  us  from  behind  a  stone  wall  about  five  rods  in 
front  of  us.  We  were  ordered  to  fix  bayonets  and  advance. 
In  a  moment  we  were  riddled  with  shot.  Many  necessary 
orders  were  given  which  were  not  understood.  Neither  the 
line-officers  nor  the  men  had  any  knowledge  of  regimental 
movements."  The  most  helpless  confusion  ensued.  Another 
regiment  rushed  panic-stricken  past  them  to  the  rear,  and 
vainly  did  they  endeavor  to  change  front  so  as  to  face  the 
enemy. 

The  rebels  discovered  the  disorder,  and  came  down  in  a 
heavy  column.  The  Sixteenth  stood  for  a  few  minutes  trying 
to  rally,  swept  by  a  destructive  cross-fire.  Lieut.-Col.  Frank 
Cheney  and  Major  George  A.  Washburn  were  severely 
wounded  ;  while  three  captains,  a  lieutenant,  and  forty  en 
listed  men,  were  already  dead.  Men  were  falling  on  every 
hand.  The  survivors  at  last  extricated  themselves  from  the 
.fatal  field,  and  fled,  broken  and  decimated,  back  to  cover 
near  the  bridge.  Col.  Beach  was  pbliged  to  report  to  Col. 
Harland  that  his  regiment  had  never  had  a  battalion-drill, 
and  only  one  dress-parade,  and  hardly  knew  how  to  form  in 
line  of  battle. 

When  Gen.  Rodman  ordered  an  advance  of  his  division, 
and  Harland  repeated  the  order  to  his  brigade,  Col.  Appel- 
man  led  the  Eighth  forward  in  steady  step  up  the  hill. 
Nearly  the  whole  corps  was  now  charging,  and  the  advan 
cing  line  stretched  far  away  to  the  right. 

As  they  reached  the  crest,  the  rebel  troops  were  but  a  few 
rods  in  front.  The  Union  line  halted,  and  poured  in  a  telling 
volley,  and  again  leaped  forward ;  and  the  enemy  broke  and 


272  CONNECTICUT  DURING    THE   REBELLION. 

fled,  halting  and  firing  as  they  could.  A  storm  of  shot,  shell, 
and  musketry ,  was  sweeping  through  the  ranks  of  the  Eighth, 
now  on  the  extreme  Union  left.  Still  farther  to  the  left,  a 
rebel  battery  rained  canister.  Capt.  Charles  L.  Upham  with 
Company  K  (Meriden)  dashed  up,  and  captured  the  battery ; 
rejoining  the  regiment  as  it  came  up. 

Steadily  forward  moves  the  line,  now  marking  every  yard 
of  advance  with  blood  of  fallen  men.  The  rebels  still  fall 
back.  The  1st  Brigade  wavers,  and  slowly  retires  in  dis 
order.  Wilcox's  division,  too,  is  giving  way  farther  to  the 
right.  Forward  presses  the  Eighth,  until  the  men  can  see 
the  road  whereby  Lee  must  retreat.  "  The  position  is  ours !  " 
they  shout ;  and  a  "  Hurrah  "  goes  down  the  line. 

But  already  many  have  observed  an  immense  force  mov 
ing  straight  up  on  the  left  flank.  "  Re-inforcements,"  say 
some  :  but  Gen.  TIarland  knows  better ;  and  he  rides  rapidly 
to  the  rear  to  hurry  forward  regiments  to  meet  this  new 
rebel  move.  The  4th  Rhode-Island  and  Sixteenth  Con 
necticut  Volunteers  are  already  in  helpless  disorder,  and 
he  dashes  back  again  to  meet  the  emergency  as  best  he  may. 
The  Eighth  is  now  alone  clinging  to  the  crest.  Three  bat 
teries  are  turned  on  them,  and  the  enemy's  infantry  close  in 
around. 

Col.  Appelman  tells  the  standard-bearer  never  to  leave  the 
colors.  He  responds  firmly.  One  of  the  color-guard  falls ; 
two ;  three ;  four ;  the  last,  and  the  standard  goes  to  the 
ground  with  him.  Private  Charles  H.  Walker  (of  Norwich)' 
springs  forward,  and  seizes  it  amid  the  storm  of  death; 
strikes  the  staff  firmly  in  the  ground;  and  shakes  out  the 
flag  defiantly  towards  the  advancing  foe. 

No  re-inforcements  come.  Twenty  men  are  falling  every 
minute.  Col.  Appelman  is  borne  to  the  rear.  John  McCall 
falls  bleeding.  Eaton  totters,  wounded,  down  the  hill.  Wait, 
bullet-riddled,  staggers  a  few  rods,  and  sinks.  Ripley  stands 
with  a  shattered  arm.  Russell  lies  white  and  still.  Morgan 
and  Maine  have  fallen.  Whitney  Wilcox  is  dead.  Men  grow 
frantic.  The  wounded  prop  themselves  behind  the  rude 
stone  fence,  and  hurl  leaden  vengeance  at  the  foe.  Even  the 
chaplain  snatches  the  rifle  and  cartridge-box  of  a  dead  man, 
and  fights  for  life. 


CORPORAL  EASTMAN.  273 

"  We  must  fall  back,"  says  Major  John  E.  Ward,  now  in 
command.  Some  protest  against  what  they  feel  is  inevitable ; 
and  the  hundred  men  still  unscathed  are  faced  to  the  rear, 
and  marched  back  in  unbroken  and  still  formidable  column 
down  the  hill.  No  regiment  of  the  9th  Corps  has  advanced 
£0  far,  or  held  out  so  long,  or  retired  in  formation  so  good. 
By  their  stubborn  fight  they  have  saved  many  others  from 
death  or  capture,  and  by  their  orderly  retreat  they  save 
themselves. 

Rodman  had  fallen ;  and  Col.  Harland  now  took  command 
of  the  division,  re-forming  the  disorganized  regiments,  and 
placing  the  whole  in  a  posture  of  defense.  A  new  line  of 
battle  was  soon  formed.  By  his  self-possession,  intrepidity, 
and  good  judgment,  the  lines  were  steadied,  and  the  unsup 
ported  fragment  rescued  from  capture. 

When  the  advance  of  the  afternoon  to  this  point  was  or 
dered,  an  aide  of  Gen.  Rodman,  sent  to  bring  up  the  Elev 
enth  Regiment,  misled  it  through  the  woods,  pretending  to 
be  in  search  of  the  ford.  After  a  tedious  march  of  four 
miles,  Col.  Stedman  brought  the  regiment  back  to  the  bridge, 
crossed,  and  advanced  rapidly  towards  the  cornfield  where 
the  brigade  was  fighting.  The  enemy  was  pressing  down 
hard  upon  the  left  and  front ;  and  he  now  charged  upon  a 
battery  that  had  been  advanced  upon  the  crest  in  front  of 
the  Eleventh.  Shot  and  shell  rained  plenteously.  Lieut 
Converse  wrote  in  a  letter  to  the  Hartford  Press,  "  Twice 
had  the  Eleventh  rallied  for  a  charge.  Col.  Kingsbury  was 
dead,  it  might  be ;  Lieut.-Col.  Stedman  was  wounded,  and 
weak  with  the  loss  of  blood ;  Major  Moegling  was  wounded, 
Capt  Griswold  dead.  Companies  were  squads  without  offi 
cers,  and  officers  with  broken  swords  and  battered  uniforms, 
but  without  commands.  Burnside  called  for  aid.  It  was  no 
time  to  falter ;  but  one  did  falter,  and  refused  to  advance 
with  the  colors.  There  is  a  man  for  all  emergencies ;  and  a 
man  was  now  ready  to  fill  that  black  chasm  of  cowardice 
with  the  impersonation  of  courage.  Corporal  Henry  A.  East 
man  of  Ashford  stepped  forth  with  flashing  eye,  and  said, 
1  Give  me  the  colors ! '  and,  with  a  burst  of  cheers,  the  Elev 
enth  followed  her  bold  color-bearer,  and  the  battery  was  safe." 

35 


274  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  Sixteenth  and  the  4th  Rhode-Island  now  broke,  and 
retired  towards  the  bridge  ;  and,  fearing  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  keep  his  men  together  in  the  face  of  the  stam 
pede,  Lieut.-Col.  Stedman,  able  only  from  excitement  to  stand 
longer  upon  a  wounded  leg,  faced  about,  and  led  his  regi 
ment  back.  He  was  then  borne  off  the  field,  and  his  men 
placed  temporarily  under  command  of  Col.  Beach  of  the  Six 
teenth  ;  but  none  of  the  Connecticut  regiments  were  again 
engaged. 

Capt.  William  J.  Roberts  of  the  Eighth,  from  New  Milford, 
had  been  ill  during  the  advance  to  the  field  and  through  the 
battle,  —  in  great  pain  and  frequent  vomiting ;  but  he  reso 
lutely  kept  on  with  his  company,  and  shared  the  fight  with 
great  fortitude. 

Fresh  troops  were  soon  brought  up ;  and  the  shattered 
third  division  recrossed  the  creek,  and  bivouacked  above 
the  position  of  the  morning.  The  hostile  picket-line  crowded 
forward  till  it  was  posted  along  the  ridge  west  of  the  creek. 
In  this  neutral  ground  were  many  wounded  and  dying. 
Within  the  rebel  lines  were  many  more.  The  terrible  yet 
merciful  work  of  the  surgeons  went  on.  Chaplains  with 
squads  of  detailed  men  scoured  the  woods  and  fields  to  bring 
in  the  wounded.  All  the  early  night,  at  risk  of  life,  those 
able  to  crawl  worked  their  way  into  our  lines ;  and  brave 
men  ventured  down  to  bring  off  the  helpless.  "Even  at 
midnight,"  wrote  Dr.  Mayer,  "  the  chaplain  of  the  Eighth, 
who  had  been  under  fire  all  day,  recovering  and  bearing  off 
the  wounded,  brought  another  squad  into  the  barn."  Yet 
thousands  lay  all  night  in  agonizing  pain  on  the  bare  ground, 
with  no  relief.  Drs.  Storrs,  Whitcomb,  Mayer,  and  other  Con 
necticut  surgeons,  toiled  till  daybreak,  and  then  rested  only 
for  an  hour.  Bandages  failed,  and  the  fresh  leaves  of  corn 
were  bound  on  many  wounds. 

The  next  morning,  Lee's  pickets  retired,  and  ours  advanced. 
Ambulances  moved  forward,  and  Connecticut  men  rushed 
with  pails  of  water  to  succor  their  wounded.  Scores  were 
quickly  found.  One  of  the  men  of  the  Eighth,  shot  through 
the  body,  still  lay  on  his  back,  just  as  he  had  fallen.  The 
fierce  sun  of  the  day  before  had  blistered  and  blackened 


THE  DYING  AND  DEAD.  275 

his  face.  His  tongue,  swollen  to  five  times  its  usual  size, 
protruded  from  his  open  mouth.  He  was  sightless  and 
speechless,  yet  breathing.  Water  was  dropped  on  his  parched 
tongue.  A  slight  shudder  convulsed  his  frame.  A  little 
more,  and  the  tongue  moved,  and  the  breast  heaved  pain 
fully.  At  last  the  man  revived,  and  was  borne  away  to  the 
hospital.  Another  lies  cold  and  stiff  in  the  cornfield,  with 
his  teeth  fastened  firmly  in  an  ear  of  soft  corn,  with  which 
he  has  vainly  tried  to  quench  his  raging  thirst.  Here  is 
a  mere  lad,  shot  through  the  thigh,  pale,  and  with  closed 
eyes.  He  has  bled  profusely,  and  is  very  weak,  but  alive. 
Not  a  drop  of  water  has  he  had  for  forty  hours.  The  cool 
water  touches  his  lips,  and  he  starts  up  as  if  from  stupor,  and 
eagerly  grasps  the  cup  with  both  hands.  Memories  of  home 
flit  through  his  weary  brain,  as,  opening  his  eyes,  he  says 
with  a  smile,  "And  from  a  teacup  too." 

The  wounded  cared  for,  they  turned  to  bury  the  dead. 
All  day  went  on  the  excavation  of  graves,  where  the  martyrs 
found  a  truce ;  and,  as  the  shadows  lengthened  and  faded  out, 
the  sad  work  was  ended.  The  dead  of  the  Eighth  and  the 
Sixteenth  were  laid  side  by  side  on  the  ridge  just  above  the 
point  where  the  gallant  charge  began,  and  those  of  the  Elev 
enth  near  the  edge  of  the  open  woods  above  the  bridge.  The 
graves  wrere  marked  with  pine  headboards,  to  tell  where  each 
patriot  rested. 

"  In  passing  over  the  hill,"  wrote  Chaplain  Morris,  "  we 
pause  amazed  when  we  reach  the  point  where  the  Eighth 
met  the  enemy,  and  delivered  their  first  tremendous  volley 
at  a  distance  of  five  or  six  rods.  In  a  short  lane  running 
down  to  a  little  house  near  the  road,  within  a  space  of  a 
dozen  rods,  I  counted  one  hundred  and  four  dead  rebels." 

Many  of  our  dead  were  stripped  and  plundered.  The 
swollen  fingers  of  some  had  been  cut  off  to  obtain  the  rings ; 
and  the  wounded  had  received  treatment  ranging  from  kind 
ness  to  cruelty  and  outrage. 

All  the  Connecticut  regiments  had  met  with  terrible  casu 
alties,  —  no  less  than  a  hundred  and  thirty-six  being  killed 
outright  upon  the  field,  and  four  hundred  and  sixty-six 
wounded.  Among  the  latter  were  the  lieutenant-colonels 


276  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

of  the  Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Sixteenth.  No  battle  of  the 
war  inflicted  such  losses  upon  the  troops  of  this  State. 

The  Eighth  lost  thirty-four  killed  and  a  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  wounded,  eleven  of  whom  were  commissioned 
officers.  This  was  nearly  fifty  per  cent  of  the  entire  number 
present  for  duty. 

Marvin  Wait,  son  of  John  T.  Wait  of  Norwich,  entered 
Union  College  in  the  fall  of  1860;  and  in  the  fall  of  1861, 
when  but  eighteen  years  old,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
Eighth.  He  was  soon  promoted  to  be  second  lieutenant, 
and,  being  detailed,  attracted  attention  for  his  skill  as  a  sig 
nal-officer  at  Roanoke  Island,  also  at  the  reduction  of  Fort 
Macon.  He  returned  to  his  regiment  in  July,  1862,  and 
was  promoted  to  be  first  lieutenant.  "  His  versatile  talents, 
well-stored  memory,  vivid  imagination,  ready  command  of 
language,  pleasing  manners,  and  frank,  generous  disposition, 
rendered  him  a  favorite  with  officers  and  men."4  Resolved 
to  excel  as  an  officer,  he  set  before  himself  an  exalted  stand 
ard,  and  pressed  upward  with  all  his  native  energy  and 
enthusiasm.  His  qualities  as  a  man  and  a  soldier  were  espe 
cially  displayed  during  the  march  of  our  hardy  regiment 
from  Fredericksburg  to  Antietam.  Hardly  a  halt  during  all 
the  weary  marches  in  the  choking  dust  and  intense  heat  of 
those  midsummer  days,  but  his  brave  or  mirth-provoking 
words  made  his  companions  for  a  moment  forget  their 
fatigue  and  discomfort.  When  the  battle  was  raging  hottest, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  17th,  and  when  the  rebel  regiments, 
massed  in  front  and  flank,  were  pressing  down  upon  the 
line,  Lieut.  Wait  fell.  "  Just  before  he  was  wounded,  he  was 
seen  closing  up  the  ranks  of  his  company,  and  deliberately 
dressing  them  in  line."5  "If  Lieut.  Wait  had  left  the  battle 
when  first  hit  in  the  arm,  all  would  have  been  well ;  but  he 
bravely  stood  to  encourage  his  men  by  his  example,  and  at 
last  nobly  fell,  pierced  by  bullet  after  bullet."0  Major  Ward 
wrote  to  his  father,  "  When  first  wounded,  he  was  advised 
to  leave,  but  would  not;  and,  before  consenting  to  do  so,  he 
received  three  shots.  I  think,  however,  that  his  mortal 
wound  was  received  while  being  taken  to  the  rear.  The 
death  of  your  son  is  a  great  loss  to  the  regiment.  No  offi- 

4  Lieut.  Jacob  Eaton.  5  Capt.  C.  M.  Coit.  6  Lieut.  Jacob  Eaton. 


CONNECTICUT'S  BKAVE  DEAD.  277 

cer  could  be  more  popular.  He  had  endeared  himself  to 
all." 7  His  last  words  to  Private  Lewis  D.  King  were,  "  Are 
we  whipping  them  ?  "  Said  Lieut.  Jacob  Eaton,  in  a  memo 
rial,  "  A  braver  man  than  Marvin  Wait  never  confronted  a 
foe ;  a  more  generous  heart  never  beat ;  a  more  unselfish 
patriot  never  fell.  Connecticut  may  well  cherish  and  honor 
the  memory  of  such  sons." 

Lieut.  Edwin  G.  Maine,  from  Brooklyn,  was  a  staid,  earnest 
man,  past  middle  life.  He  was  esteemed  for  his  paternal 
care  of  his  men,  and  his  unpretending  bravery  and  firmness. 
In  the  afternoon,  while  calmly  leading  his  men,  he  was  shot 
through  the  body.  For  a  month  he  lingered  in  hospital, 
with  all  that  the  loving  care  of  a  wife  could  do ;  but  he  died, 
praying  for  God's  blessing  on  the  country  he  had  so  faith 
fully  served. 

Sergeant  George  H.  Marsh  of  Hartford  was  killed  by 
the  first  cannon-shot  that  went  through  the  ranks,  at  sun 
rise.  He  was  ill,  but  determined  to  be  at  his  post;  and 
there  he  died,  a  trusty  soldier  with  a  spotless  reputation. 
Sergeant  Whiting  Wilcox  was  a  broad-shouldered  six-footer, 
—  a  model  soldier.  He  was  conspicuous  in  the  charge ;  but 
the  bravery  which  would  have  won  him  promotion  cost  him 
his  life.  Sergeant  Cyprian  H.  Rust  of  New  Hartford  was  a 
thoughtful,  serious,  almost  melancholy  Christian  man.  Ser 
vice  was  to  him  a  stern  duty  performed  with  rigid  exact 
ness  .and  courage.  He  died  as  he  had  lived.  John  H. 
Simonds  of  Hartford  was  a  bright,  willing,  genial  man,  and 
a  universal  favorite.  When  shot  through  the  body,  he  only 
said,  "  Good-by,  boys :  I'm  going."  John  A.  Dixon  of  Thorn- 
sonville  (Enfield)  was  lying  mortally  wounded,  when  a  rebel 
came  along,  picked  up  a  Sharpe's  rifle,  hid  it  behind  the  fence, 
and  passed  on  after  other  plunder.  Dixon  dragged  himself 
to  it,  and,  having  rendered  it  useless,  laid  down  to  die. 

Here  also  fell  Harvey  E.  Elmore,  Elijah  White,  George  F. 
Booth,  Charles  E.  Lewis,  Oscar  W.  Hewitt,  David  Lake,  Rob 
ert  Ferris,  William  G.  Lewis,  and  other  noble  young  men 
who  had  always  fought  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  Eighth. 

The  Eleventh  had  lost  thirty-eight  killed  and  ninety-seven 
wounded.  Among  the  killed  were  two  of  its  choicest  men,  — 

7  Lieut.  Jacob  Eaton,  in  Memorial,  p.  12. 


278  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Kingsbury  and  Griswold,  —  both  from  the  ancient  town  of 
Lyme. 

Col.  Henry  W.  Kingsbury  came  to  the  Eleventh  Regiment 
crowned  with  triumphs  at  West  Point,  and  fragrant  with  the 
smoke  of  all  the  Peninsular  battles.  Pie  came  when  he  was 
sorely  needed.  The  regiment  was  declining  in  appearance, 
in  spirit,  in  all  soldierly  qualities.  The  gallant  Major  Griffin 
A.  Stedman  was  about  to  resign  in  despair,  and  leave  the 
regiment  to  his  superiors ;  but  they  were  wise  enough  to 
resign  instead,  and  the  regiment  was  saved.  West  Point 
was  impressed  deeply  on  the  soul  of  Lieut.  Kingsbury,  even 
when  he  served  as  Tyler's  aide  at  Bull  Run.  Military 
art  possessed  for  him  something  high  and  ennobling ;  and 
he  regarded  it  with  the  same  enthusiasm  with  which  the 
devotees  of  art  and  music  look  upon  their  cherished  callings. 
He  loved  the  right  because  it  was  the  right ;  but  he  was 
virtuous  also  because  he  knew  that  vice  degrades  a  soldier, 
abstemious  because  intemperance  is  fatal  to  military  success, 
and  manly  and  gentlemanly  because  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  be  otherwise. 

His  knowledge  was  mainly  of  the  useful  and  practical 
order ;  yet  he  possessed  a  keen  appreciation  of  elegant  cul 
ture,  and  delighted  to  listen  to  and  join  in  conversations 
on  literary  or  philosophical  topics.  He  had  a  thoroughly 
military  idea  of  what  was  due  to  his  uniform,  and  insisted, 
to  the  smallest  detail,  on  observances  of  etiquette  and  salu 
tations,  because  he  "  owed  it  to  his  straps  to  see  them  hon 
ored."  It  was  a  feeling  akin  to  that  we  all  have  for  the  flag. 
He  also  insisted  on  the  boundaries  between  staff  and  line 
officers  and  between  line  officers  and  privates  being  strictly 
drawn.  On  the  whole,  there  was  in  this  man  the  old  light 
of  chivalry,  by  which  he  walked  in  his  profession,  and  which 
gave  life  and  meaning  to  actions,  which,  in  many  others, 
would  have  seemed  mere  martinetism. 

Assistant  Surgeon  Nathan  Mayer  wrote,  at  the  time  when 
the  Eleventh  was  provost-guard  of  Fredericksburg,  — 

"  How  pleasant  was  our  social  life  at  this  time  !  The  most 
brilliant  conversation  flashed  forth  at  each  meal.  There 
was  an  elegance  of  manner  and  a  refinement  of  expression 


DEATH  OF  COL.   KINGSBURY   AND   CAPT.   GKISWOLD.       279 

cultivated  that  might  have  graced  the  best  circles.  And  so 
congenial  were  the  tastes  of  all!  Imagine  the  field  and 
staff  of  a  regiment,  none  of  whom,  with  one  exception, 
drank  intoxicating  liquors  or  used  tobacco;  and  all  of  whom, 
with  one  exception  (Surgeon  J.  B.  Whitcomb),  were  under 
twenty-six  years  of  age. 

"  On  our  march  through  Maryland  to  Antietam,  it  was 
often  in  the  midst  of  some  charming  landscape  that  we  were 
encamped.  A  fire  in  the  center  of  a  circle  of  shelter-tents 
threw  its  fitful  light  on  the  occupants.  There  was  the 
young  colonel,  wrapped  in  his  blankets,  with  the  square, 
manly  face,  the  profusion  of  blonde  mustache  and  whisker, 
the  large,  earnest  blue  eye,  and  the  sweet,  womanly  mouth 
that  could  so  easily  assume  the  expression  of  firmness  and 
determination.  God  bless  him,  dear  Col.  Kingsbury  !  He 
made  us  all  better  and  nobler ;  and  when  soon  after  I  pressed 
my  lips  in  last  adieu  upon  that  forehead  cold  in  death,  I  felt, 
that,  when  I  should  next  behold  it,  it  would  be  crowned  with 
the  aureola  of  a  hero  and  saint. 

"  When  I  said  to  Lieut.-Col.  Stedman  after  the  battle,  *  The 
colonel  has  opened  his  eyes,  and  given  me  the  sweetest  smile, 
and  then  closed  them  forever,'  he  silently  pressed  my  hand, 
and  went  to  take  a  farewell  look  at  him  whom  we  all 
adored." 

Gen.  Burnside  issued  the  following:  — 

"  SPECIAL  OEDER,  No,  47. 

..."  By  this  sad  calamity,  the  army  mourns  one  of  the  most  accom 
plished  of  those  young  officers  who  in  a  few  months  have  become  veterans 
in  their  country's  service.  After  serving  with  distinction  through  the  cam 
paign  of  the  Peninsula,  Col.  Kingsbury  was  promoted  to  his  late  command  ; 
and  in  that  office,  occupying  positions  of  great  responsibility,  invariably 
proved  himself  equal  to  the  occasion,  displaying  always  a  gallantry  and 
.skill  that  gave  high  promise  for  the  future.  As  a  near  friend  of  Col. 
Kingsbury,  the  commanding-general  wishes  to  add  this  testimony  to  his 
private  worth,  to  the  purity  of  his  character,  and  to  the  possession  of  those 
high  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  that  form  the  sterling  man  as  well  as  the 
finished  soldier. 

"  By  command  of  MAJOR-GEN.  BURNSIDE." 

Capt.  John  Griswold  of  Lyme  was  a  graduate  of  Yale,  of 
the  class  of  1857,  and  a  soldier  of  perfect  bravery.  "  His 
noble  death  was  the  appropriate  solution  of  his  noble  life," 


280  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

wrote  Surgeon  Nathan  Mayer.  "  He  was  a  great-hearted 
gentleman,  well  born,  liberally  educated,  and  wonderfully 
retentive  of  all  the  studies  in  ancient  and  modern  literature 
to  which  he  had  given  so  much  of  his  time ;  but,  more  than 
this,  his  character  was  trained,  and  his  heart  disciplined." 
The  surgeon  was  much  of  the  time  near  the  young  captain 
on  the  inarch  to  Antietam.  He  says,  "  We  admired  the 
mountain-gorges  through  which  we  passed.  We  saw  green 
woods  fair  and  orchards  gay,  rich  fields,  and  well-to-do  farm 
houses.  We  quoted  Horace,  and  discussed  questions  of  moral 
philosophy,  and  skipped  over  literature,  from  St.  Augustine's 
De  Civitate  Dei  to  Hugo's  Les  Miserables ;  and  all  this 
time,  day  or  night,  rain  or  sunshine,  fatigued  or  fresh, 
hungry  or  satiated,  he  would  preserve  the  same  cheerfulness 
of  demeanor,  and  never  forget  the  least  of  those  courtesies 
which  make  life  in  refined  circles  run  in  such  an  even  course. 
It  was  as  if  he  were  never  out  of  the  drawing-room ;  just  as 
an  Englishman  is  said  never  to  leave  England,  no  matter 
where  he  travels.  He  carried  an  imaginary  '  salon '  with 
him ;  and  whoever  approached  him  felt  that  he  had  entered 
a  circle  of  refinement.  Nor  was  this  intended  for  equals 
alone.  He  was  particular  in  extending  the  same  courtesies 
to  the  soldiers  under  his  command."  After  Griswold  had 
received  his  mortal  wound,  Surgeon  Mayer  and  four  privates 
crossed  the  stream,  and  brought  him  back.  The  surgeon 
says,  "  We  took  him  into  a  low  shed  near  the  bank,  and 
laid  him  on  the  straw.  The  gallant  fellow,  sensitive  as  a  Ro 
man  to  the  exhibition  of  pain,  like  a  Roman  had  covered 
his  face.  When  I  removed  the  handkerchief,  he  was  ashy 
pale,  so  much  had  he  suffered. 

"'Doctor,'  he  said,  '  pardon  the  trouble  I  give  you;  but  I 
am  mortally  wounded,  I  believe.'  I  examined.  The  bullet 
had  passed  through  the  body  in  the  region  of  the  stomach. 
'  You  are,  captain,'  I  replied.  '  Then  let  me  die  quickly, 
and  without  pain,  if  you  can,'  he  rejoined.  '  I  am  perfectly 
happy,  doctor.  This  is  the  death  I  have  always  wished  to  die. 
Not  even  the  pains  of  this  body  can  make  me  unhappy.  But 
oh  ! '  —  Here  another  spasm  of  suffering  came  on.  I  gave 
him  some  morphine.  He  felt  easier.  Seeing  through  the 


DEATH  OF  CAPT.  BLINN  AND  OTHERS.         281 

door  of  the  shed  the  blue  water  flash  in  the  sunshine,  he 
repeated  the  first  lines  of  one  of  those  gems  of  Horace  we 
had  so  often  admired  :  — 

'  O  Tons  Bandusiae,  splendidior  vitro, 
Dulci  digno  mero,  non  sine  floribus.' 

"  He  then  turned,  and  gave  me  directions  regarding  his 
baggage  and  servant.  Having  arranged  his  worldly  affairs 
as  well  as  he  could,  he  added,  *  And  tell  them  at  home  that 
I  died  for  my  country.'  The  habits  of  refined  life  hung  to 
him  still.  He  thanked  me  for  my  services  in  elegant  phrase, 
and  attracted  my  attention  to  the  number  of  wounded  that 
now  filled  the  shed,  intimating  that  he  feared  that  he  had 
monopolized  too  much  of  the  time  of  so  good  a  surgeon  on 
the  day  of  battle." 

The  end  came  soon.  Gen.  Burnside  called.  The  suf- 
erer  told  him  he  had  insisted  on  being  relieved  from  de 
tached  duty  at  Newberne  when  he  heard  that  the  Eleventh 
was  going  into  active  service.  "  I  am  happy,  general,"  he 
added.  "  I  die  as  I  have  ever  wished  to  die, —  for  my  country." 
"  Tell  my  mother,"  he  said  to  a  comrade,  "  that  I  died  at  the 
head  of  my  company."  Tears  rolled  down  Burnside's  cheeks, 
as,  delicately  trying  to  suppress  all  symptoms  of  his  pain,  the 
philosophic  and  heroic  spirit  calmly  passed  away.  In  the 
ancient  family  cemetery  of  the  Griswolds,  at  Black  Hall  in 
Old  Lyme,  stands  a  new  monument  of  most  expressive  design 
and  elegant  finish,  telling  in  word  and  sculptured  symbol 
how  the  young  hero  lived  and  how  he  died. 

Here,  also,  fell  John  R.  Read,  Hiram  C.  Roberts,  Theodore 
S.  Bates,  Daniel  L.  Tarbox,  Oliver  P.  Ormsby,  George  E.  Bai 
ley,  and  a  score  of  others,  in  the  fatal  charge  on  the  bridge. 
Major  William  Moegling  of  Danbury  was  also  severely 
wounded. 

The  Fourteenth  had  lost  twenty-one  killed,  eighty-eight 
wounded,  and  twenty-eight  prisoners. 

Among  the  killed  were  Capts.  James  E.  Blinn  of  New 
Britain,  and  Samuel  F.  Willard  of  Madison.  Before  leaving 
the  vicinity  of  Sharpsburg,  the  officers  assembled  and  adopted 
resolutions,  of  which  the  following  is  one  :  — 

36 


282  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  their  fellow-officers  do  but  simple  justice  to  the 
memory  of  these  brave  and  devoted  officers  when  we  testify  iu  this  public 
manner  to  their  efficiency  in  every  public  and  private  duty,  to  their  watch 
ful  kindness  and  care  over  the  soldiers  of  their  respective  companies,  to  the 
fraternal  courtesy  ever  manifested  by  them  in  their  intercourse  with  others, 
and  to  their  earnestness  and  zeal  in  the  patriotic  cause  for  which  they  drew 
their  swords." 

Sergeant  Frederick  K.  Eno  of  Bloomfield  received  a  mortal 
wound  in  the  abdomen.  He  refused  assistance,  but  sent  back 
to  the  front  the  comrades  who  came  to  help  him.  He  walked 
nearly  two  miles  to  a  barn  used  as  a  hospital,  and  died  next 
morning.  His  last  words  were,  "  Tell  my  friends  that  I  did 
my  duty,  and  died  like  a  man."  He  was  universally  esteemed 
for  his  many  virtues. 

The  Sixteenth  had  lost  more  heavily  still ;  the  killed 
numbering  forty-three,  and  the  wounded  a  hundred  and 
forty-three.  Five  officers  were  among  the  dead,  —  Capts. 
Samuel  Brown  of  Enfield,  Frederick  M.  Barber  of  Manches 
ter,  John  L.  Drake  of  Hartford,  and  Newton  S.  Manross  and 
Lieut.  William  Horton  of  Stafford. 

"  Capt.  Drake  was  the  most  gentlemanly  man  in  the 
regiment,"  said  Surgeon  Mayer.  "  He  was  the  very  soul  of 
courtesy  and  unaffected  dignity  of  deportment."  He  always 
had  a  quiet  care  for  his  men  when  they  were  sick,  and  wra* 
a  marked  favorite  with  them,  as  well  as  with  comrades  in  the 
line. 

Capt.  N.  S.  Manross  of  Bristol  was  a  man  of  learning  and 
varied  accomplishments.  In  his  youth  an  ingenious  mechanic, 
he  showed  a  great  aptness  for  study,  and  graduated  at  Yale 
in  the  class  of  1850.  His  tastes  and  attainments  took  a 
scientific  direction.  He  went  to  Europe,  attended  German 
lectures,  and  made  very  rapid  progress  ;  taking  the  degree  of 
doctor  of  philosophy.  On  his  return,  he  devoted  himself  to 
mineralogy,  publishing  some  able  dissertations  ;  invented  a 
machine  for  the  cutting  of  crystals  from  calc-spar;  and  at 
last  became  connected  with  a  mining-company  in  New  York, 
and  prosecuted  elaborate  explorations  in  Central  America 
and  Mexico.  In  1861,  Dr.  Manross  accepted  the  position  of 
Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Botany  in  Amherst  College. 
where  he  became  very  popular  and  successful.  Returning 


DEATH  OF  CAPTS.  MANEOSS  AND  BAEBEE.       283 

to  Bristol  during  a  vacation,  he  made  a  patriotic  speech  to 
his  fellow-citizens,  who  thereupon  besought  him  to  lead  them 
to  the  field.  He  consented,  saying  to  his  wife,  "  You  can 
better  afford  to  have  a  country  without  a  husband  than  a 
husband  without  a  country."  He  refused  the  post  of  major 
in  a  Massachusetts  regiment,  preferring  service  with  his  own 
neighbors.  He  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  men.  His  suc 
cessor  in  command  of  the  company  after  his  death  once 
said  to  the  colonel,  "  Those  boys  care  more  for  Manross's  old 
shoes  than  for  the  best  man  in  the  regiment."  Capt.  Man- 
ross  was  struck  in  the  side  by  a  cannon-ball,  which  passed 
under  his  arm.  He  bled  inwardly.  A  powerful  anodyne 
was  administered,  and  he  soon  became  unconscious.  A  friend 
bending  over  him  heard  him  murmuring,  "  0  my  poor  wife, 
iny  poor  wife ! "  Prof.  James  A.  Dana  said  of  him,  "  His 
death  is  a  great  loss  to  the  scientific  world."  Prof.  B.  Silli- 
nian,  jr.,  says,  "As  an  explorer,  Dr.  Manross'  possessed  re 
markable  qualifications.  To  a  rugged  constitution  and  great 
powers  of  endurance  he  united  great  coolness,  a  quiet  but 
undaunted  demeanor,  the  courage  of  a  hero,  and  unyielding 
perseverance.  Had  he  lived  —  but  what  need  is  there  of 
conjecture  now  ?  The  world  will  never  know  its  loss  ;  but 
his  friends  will  never  forget  theirs." 

Capt.  Barber  was  especially  noticeable  for  his  religious 
character,  earnest  convictions,  and  high  regard  for  duty. 
His  patriotism  was  of  a  sterling  mould,  and  he  was  a  brave 
and  intelligent  officer. 

The  death  of  Major-Gen.  Joseph  K.  F.  Mansfield,  a  briga 
dier-general  in  the  regular  army,  added  to  the  terrible  losses 
of  Connecticut  at  Antietam.  He  was  born  in  New  Haven, 
Dec.  22, 1806  ;  but,  his  parents  removing  to  Middletown  while 
he  was  yet  an  infant,  he  was  trained  and  educated  there. 
He  early  showed  a  taste  for  military  life ;  and  his  uncle,  Col. 
Jared  Mansfield,  then  Surveyor-General  of  the  United  States, 
obtained  his  admission  as  a  cadet  at  West  Point  in  1820.  He 
at  once  took  a  high  position,  and  held  it ;  graduating  second 
in  his  class.  He  commenced  as  second  lieutenant  of  en 
gineers,  and  was  at  first  engaged  in  New- York  Harbor, 
and  then  in  the  construction  of  Fortress  Monroe  and  Fort 
Pulaski. 


284  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Mansfield  was  always  apt  to  administer  a  reproof  and  re 
sent  an  insult  promptly.  He  despised  duelling,  but  never 
failed  to  defend  his  honor  and  himself.  On  one  occasion, 
while  building  Fort  Pulaski,  he  was  invited  to  dine  with  a 
number  of  Southern  gentlemen ;  and,  while  engaged  in  con 
versation,  a  hot-blooded  Southern  officer  opposite  took  occa 
sion  to  remark,  in  a  tone  of  voice  audible  to  all,  "  The 
Northerners  are  cowards,  — -  men  without  any  nerve."  —  "  Do 
you  intend  that  for  me  ?  "  interrupted  Mansfield.  "  I  do,  sir," 
replied  the  other,  at  the  same  time  raising  a  glass  of  wine  as 
if  to  hurl  it  in  the  face  of  this  audacious  Northerner.  Mans 
field  seized  a  decanter,  when  the  other  returned  the  glass  to 
the  table.  But  Mansfield  was  now  roused.  "  Bring  in  my 
pistols ! "  he  ordered  the  servant.  Pistols  were  instantly 
brought ;  and  Mansfield  rose,  and  presented  one  to  his  inso 
lent  antagonist,  saying,  "  Now  we  prove  who  is  the  coward." 
The  other  diners'  interfered,  agreed  that  the  insult  was  gross, 
and  demanded  that  an  ample  retraction  and  apology  should 
be  made  to  Mansfield.  The  atonement  was  humbly  offered, 
and  amicable  relations  resumed. 

At  the  breaking-out  of  war  with  Mexico,  Capt.  Mansfield 
was  chief  engineer  on  Gen.  Taylor's  staff.  He  built  Fort 
Brown,  opposite  Matamoras ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  Gen. 
Taylor,  had  command  of  the  American  forces.  The  Mexi 
cans  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  fort.  Mansfield  promptly 
refused.  For  seven  days,  the  fort  was  besieged  and  under 
constant  fire  ;  but  it  was  held,  and  the  enemy  driven  away. 
This  gallant  defense  won  for  him  the  golden  leaf  of  major. 
Through  the  entire  war,  Taylor  depended  on  Mansfield  for 
his  principal  assistance  in  planning  battles.  On  the  eve  of 
the  battle  of  Monterey,  he  made  a  thorough  reconnoissance 
of  the  enemy's  works,  and  discovered  the  weak  points;  and, 
on  the  following  day,  led  the  first  division  in  the  grand 
assault.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  leg,  but  held  his 
place  on  the  field  until  the  final  capitulation.  The  battle 
field  of  Buena  Vista  was  chosen  by  him,  and  the  batteries 
stationed  under  his  direction. 

When  peace  was  declared,  Mansfield's  services  were  recog 
nized  by  a  promotion  to  be  colonel  in  the  regular  army ; 


CHARACTER  AND  DEATH  OF  GEN.  MANSFIELD.     285 

and  on  his  return  the  citizens  of  Middletown  went  to  Meri- 
den  en  masse,  and  escorted  him  home  with  every  demonstra 
tion  of  welcome. 

He  was  appointed  inspector-general  of  the  United-States 
army  by  President  Pierce  ;  and  the  Rebellion  of  1860  found 
him  inspecting  the  troops  of  the  traitor  Twiggs  in  Texas. 
Every  offer  was  made  Mansfield  to  support  the  Rebellion ; 
but  he  spurned  the  offers,  and  for  his  fidelity  was  subjected 
to  the  indignities  of  the  perfidious  "  chivalry  "  around  him. 
He  escaped  injury  only  by  the  greatest  vigilance.  He 
passed  incognito  through  New  Orleans  when  the  city  was 
illuminated  in  honor  of  secession,  and  at  last  reached  the 
loyal  lines. 

On  account  of  age  and  long  service,  his  friends  besought 
him  to  retire  from  the  army  :  but  his  prompt  reply  was,  "  I 
owe  my  country  every  hour  that  remains  of  my  life  ;  and, 
in  such  a  struggle  as  is  now  endangering  her  existence,  I 
can  not  and  shall  not  refuse  to  answer  her  call."  About  the 
15th  of  April,  1861,  Mansfield  was  summoned  to  Washing 
ton  :  the  city  being  blockaded,  he  reached  it  on  horseback 
by  a  circuitous  route.  He  was  at  once  assigned  to  the  com 
mand  of  the  defenses.  Scott  did  not  quite  agree  to  his 
suggestion  to  fortify  Arlington  Heights ;  but  he  went  ahead 
on  his  own  responsibility.  All  the  forts  around  Washington 
were  engineered  by  Mansfield,  and  built  under  his  superin 
tendence.8 

Mansfield  was  for  a  time  in  command  at  Newport  News, 
and  led  our  forces  in  the  capture  of  Norfolk.  He  was  here 
when  McClellan  demanded  that  he  be  put  in  command  of 
Bauks's  corps  in  his  army.  Mansfield  was  pleased  with  the 
transfer ;  and  rode  across  the  country,  reaching  the  army 
before  Sharpsburg  the  night  before  the  battle. 

After  Rickett's  division  was  repulsed  next  day,  Mansfield 
led  his  corps  gallantly  forward,  but  soon  fell  mortally 
wounded.  Internal  hemorrhage  ensued ;  and,  on  the  even 
ing  of  Sept.  17,  Major-Gen.  Mansfield  gave  his  life  a  willing 
sacrifice  to  his  country. 

8  Credit  for  the  defenses  of  Washington  has  sometimes  been  given  to  Gen.McClcllan  ; 
but  they  were  all  laid  out  and  plans  for  their  erection  made  by  Mansfield  while  McClel 
lan  was  still  in  West  Virginia. 


286  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Lieut.-Gov.  Benjamin  Douglass  went  to  the  front  for  the 
remains;  and  all  the  way  home  they  were  greeted  with 
demonstrations  of  patriotic  regard.  No  man  was  better 
known  or  loved  in  Middletown  than  Mansfield.  To  reli 
gion  he  was  early  committed  at  the  altar  of  his  ancestral 
church ;  to  law  he  always  paid  sincere  regard ;  to  education 
he  gave  liberally  of  his  fortune ;  to  liberty  he  gave  his  life. 

The  funeral  was  attended  from  the  North  Congregational 
Church  of  Middletown  on  Tuesday,  Sept.  23.  Brief  address 
es  were  made  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  and  by  his 
Excellency  Gov.  Buckingham,  Ebenezer  Jackson,  and  Sena 
tor  Dixon.  Military  companies  were  present  from  all  sections 
of  the  State,  and  the  common  councils  of  four  cities  ;  and  to 
earth,  with  honors,  were  committed  the  remains  of  a  sterling 
soldier,  to  whose  memory  generations  will  do  homage  as 
they  read  the  names  of  those  who  gave  their  lives  in  the 
cause  of  liberty  protected  by  law. 

THE  DEAD  AT  ANTIETAM.9 

Here  fell  our  best  and  bravest,  —  Kingsbury 
The  lion-hearted,  Mansfield,  Manross,  Blinn, 
Drake,  Horton,  Willard,  Wait,  (heroic  boy  !) 
Brown,  Barber,  Griswold  (dying  like  a  prince 
Whose  chivalry  had  charmed  the  Table  Round), 
And  all  that  speechless  group  of  gallant  men, 
The  modest  martyrs  of  the  rank  and  file. 

Oh,  rare  and  royal  was  the  sacrifice ! 
For  you  and  me  they  put  their  armor  on ; 
For  you  arid  me  they  stood  in  grim  array 
Where  death  came  hurtling ;  and  for  you  and  me 
They  joined  the  mortal  struggle,  and  went  down 
Amid  the  mad,  tumultuous  whirl  of  flame. 

And  then  the  gentle  goddess  Liberty  — 
Whose  unseen  ribbon  rippled  on  their  breasts, 
The  pledge  of  knightly  troth  —  bent  tenderly, 
Closed  the  dim  eyes,  and  cooled  the  fevered  hand, 
And  dropped  a  blessing  into  every  heart, 
And  helped  each  spirit  from  its  mould  of  clay; 
And,  as  they  rose  to  heaven,  they  sprinkled  wide 
Upon  the  upturned  foreheads  of  the  world 
The  purple  drops  of  their  vicarious  love. 

The  sequel  to  the  battle  of  this  day  need  not  be  rehearsed. 
The  soldiers  of  the  whole  army  expected  to  move  next 

9  By  w.  A.  c. 


ANTIETAM  A  DKAWN  BATTLE.  287 

morning,  —  to  swoop  down  upon  the  over-matched  enemy, 
and  give  him  the  coup  de  grace.  Instead  of  that,  a  truce 
was  proclaimed,  and  the  rebels  permitted  to  bury  their  dead. 
This  gracious  office  was  neglected,  and  the  time  was  occu 
pied  by  them  in  getting  the  trains  and  guns  to  the  rear ; 
and  the  sun  of  Sept.  19  found  Lee's  army  safely  across  the 
Potomac,  and,  with  some  plausibility,  claiming  Antietam  to 
have  been  a  drawn  battle. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

Tardy  Pursuit  of  Lee.  —  The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and 
Twenty-first  Connecticut  Volunteers.  —  Gen.  Burnside  in  Command.  — March  to  Fal- 
mouth.  —  The  Eighth  lay  the  Pontoon-Bridge.  —  The  Battle  of  Fredericksburg.  — 
Gallantry  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Twenty-seventh.  —  Gen.  Harland's  Official  Report.  — 
The  Disastrous  Repulse. — Whereabouts  of  the  Fifth,  Seventeenth,  Twentieth,  and 
Twenty-second.  —  Private  Elias  Howe,  Jr.  —  The  Army  Ration.  —  Camp  at  Stafford 
Court  House. 

IX  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Antietam,  McClel- 
lan's  army  began  tardily  to  pursue  Lee  ;  moving 
from  camp  in  Pleasant  Valley,  Mel.,  across 
the  river  at  Berlin,  just  below  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  passing  south-west  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Blue  Ridge.  The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Sixteenth  Connec 
ticut  Regiments  were  nearly  together,  and  the  Twenty-first 
now  joined  the  brigade.  Little  of  importance  occurred  to 
them  until  they  reached  Falmouth  on  Nov.  19,  having  made 
a  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  in  twelve  days. 

The  Fifteenth  Connecticut,  after  serving  in  Washington 
as  "  Casey's  pets  "  for  a  few  weeks,  moved  across  Long  Bridge 
on  Sept.  17,  and  re-occupied  their  former  camp  on  Arling 
ton  Heights.  Here  they  remained  six  weeks,  sending  a  guard 
daily  to  the  disagreeable  duty  of  guarding  Long  Bridge. 
On  Nov.  3  they  removed  to  Fairfax  Seminary,  two  miles 
back  of  Alexandria,  and  pitched  a  camp  of  Sibley  tents. 
Here  they  dug  some  rifle-pits,  industriously  prosecuted  drill, 
and  had  their  first  experience  in  picket-duty  five  or  six 
miles  beyond. 

Col.  Dexter  R.  Wright  of  the  Fifteenth  now  commanded 
a  brigade ;  and  on  Dec.  1  he  marched  it  back  through  the 

O  O 

city,  and  turned  down  the  Maryland  bank  of  the  river.    The 
regiments  marched  six  miles  below,  and  bivouacked  their  first 

o  J 

288 


ADJUTANT  ELLIS  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH.         280 

night  under  shelter-tents.  After  a  four-days'  march,  they 
recrossecl  at  Acquia  Creek,  and  slept  upon  the  snow,  which 
now  covered  Virginia  with  a  thin  coat.  Reaching  Freder-. 
icksburg,  the  regiment  was  put  into  Harland's  brigade. 

After  the  battle  of  Antietam,  the  Fourteenth  encamped  in  a 
lovely  grove  near  the  scene  of  Hooker's  fight,  where  a  few  days 
were  given  to  recuperation  and  an  honorable  burial  of  fallen 
comrades.  The  regiment  had  gone  through  the  baptism  of 
blood  without  flinching.  Gen.  French  in  his  official  report 
said  of  Morris's  brigade,  "  There  never  was  better  material 
in  any  array ;  and  in  a  month  these  splendid  men  will  not 
be  excelled."  It  is  proper  to  say  that  Adjutant  Theodore  G. 
Ellis  of  the  Fourteenth  showed  great  efficiency  in  the  battle. 
During  the  year  before  the  war,  he  had  been  a  member  of 
an  accomplished  military  company  of  young  men  in  Boston; 
and  he  now  brought  to  the  brigade  knowledge,  skill,  activity, 
and  bravery  that  were  of  marked  value. 

On  the  22d,  the  regiment  marched  with  the  2d  Corps 
to  Harper's  Ferry,  fording  the  Potomac,  waist-deep,  just 
above  the  often-destroyed  railroad-bridge.  It  was  a  most 
animated  scene ;  the  enthusiastic  thousands  filing  across, 
while  the  splendid  band  of  the  Fourteenth  poured  forth 
the  stirring  strains  of  "  John  Brown's  body  lies  moldering  in 
the 'grave."1  The  regiment  bivouacked  on  Bolivar  Heights, 
and  remained  there  nearly  six  weeks,  living  in  a  few  filthy 
old  tents  dug  up  from  the  spot  where  they  had  been  hastily 
buried  by  Miles's  men  when  the  place  surrendered.  Many 
attempts  were  made  to  get  the  baggage  of  officers  and  men 
left  at  Fort  Ethan  Allen ;  but,  although  Gov.  Buckingham 
sent  out  a  commissioner  on  purpose,  red  tape  was  too  mighty 
to  be  prevailed  against.  The  men  had  no  changes  of  cloth 
ing,  and  could  not  keep  clean.  Much  sickness  prevailed. 
Marching  orders  were  welcome  ;  and  on  Oct.  30  the  regi 
ment  crossed  the  Shenandoah,  and  pushed  south-west  through 
the  London  Valley.  Here  the  delinquent  knapsacks  were 
?ent  after  them,  but,  not  overtaking  them,  were  stored  in  a 
barn ;  and  shortly  afterwards  the  needy  rebels  appropriated 
the  whole  supply. 

1  This  band  became  one  of  the  very  best  in  the  army. 
87 


290  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

On  Nov.  9,  the  2d  Corps  reached  Warrenton ;  and 
Burnside,  now  assuming  command  of  the  army,  pushed  on, 
occupying  Falmouth  on  the  night  of  the  19th.  Morris's 
brigade  was  detailed  for  duty  at  Belle  Plain,  where  the 
men  soon  bivouacked  on  the  sandy  soil ;  and  the  drenching 
rain  added  discomfort  to  the  hunger  and  fatigue.  Here 
they  staid  two  weeks  on  guard.  The  Fourteenth  enjoyed  a 
good  Thanksgiving  dinner,  mostly  obtained  by  foraging ;  and 
ate  and  drank  to  the  "good  ship  Mayflower."  It  moved 
back  to  Falmouth  on  Dec.  6,  and  encamped  with  the  vast 
army  now  gathered  there. 

The  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  had  left  its  camp  at 
Langley's,  and  hurried  down  the  Potomac ;  and  now  joined 
the  2d  Corps  in  Hancock's  division. 

Burnside's  army  was  divided  into  three  grand  divis 
ions  of  two  corps  each ;  and  the  2d  Corps  (in  which  was 
the  Fourteenth)  and  the  9th  Corps  (in  which  was  the 
Connecticut  brigade)  formed  the  right  grand  division 
under  Gen.  Sumner.  The  Connecticut  regiments  did  not 
enjoy  this  period.  An  officer  of  the  Eighth  wrote,  "  We 
put  our  little  '  dog-tents '  upon  the  sticky  red  mud  of  Vir 
ginia  ;  made  smoky  fires  outside,  of  wet  wood ;  half  cooked 
our  scanty  food ;  warmed  and  dried  ourselves  as  we  could, 
standing  by  the  wretched  fires  in  the  rain :  then  we  spread 
our  blankets  on  the  soft  mud,  and  slept.  We  slept ; '  for  we 
were  tired  out:  but  we  awoke  stiff,  rheumatic,  and  cross. 
The  weather  was  damp  or  rainy  for  several  days,  and  few  of 
us  got  our  clothing  dry  under  four  days.  It  has  rained 
about  five  days  of  the  week." 

Burnside  had  marched  rapidly  to  Falmouth ;  but,  before 
he  was  ready  to  cross  the  river,  Lee,  whom  he  had  run  away 
from  at  Warrenton,  was  in  his  path  again,  occupying  in- 
trenchments  five  miles  long  in  the  rear  of  Fredericksburg. 
At  last,  every  thing  was  ready.  Sumner  and  Hooker  were 
to  cross  their  grand  divisions  at  Fredericksburg,  and  Frank 
lin  two  miles  down  the  river. 

Before  dawn  of  Dec.  11,  the  pontoon-boats  were  launched 
from  the  teams,  and  men  hastened  to  build  the  floating 
bridge.  As  soon  as  the  fog  lifted  slightly,  they  were  opened 


PLUNDERING  IN  FREDEIUCKSBUEG.          291 

upon  at  short  range  by  riflemen  concealed  in  houses  upon 
the  opposite  bank  ;  and  this  fire  became  so  vigorous,  that,  by 
eleven  o'clock,  the  57th  and  66th  New- York  were  driven  from 
the  work  with  a  loss  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Franklin 
had  crossed  the  river  below.  Simmer  became  impatient : 
something  effective  must  be  done. 

At  this  juncture,  one  hundred  men  of  the  Eighth  Connecti 
cut,  under  Capt.  W.  P.  Marsh  of  Hartford,  assisted  by  Lieuts. 
Henry  E.  Morgan  of  Stonington  and  Roger  M.  Ford  of  Men- 
den,  volunteered  to  lay  the  bridge,  and  dashed  down  the 
slope  to  the  work.  They  shouldered  boards,  and  pushed  out 
on  the  wooden  pathway ;. when,  as  they  reached  the  end,  the 
rebel  sharpshooters,  who  had  been  silenced  for  a  time,  re 
commenced  a  rapid  and  accurate  fire ;  and  the  men  were 
quickly  recalled.  After  a  time,  the  Union  artillerists  were 
able  to  depress  their  pieces  sufficiently  to  drive  the  rebels 
from  their  covert,  or  tumble  the  buildings  about  their  heads ; 
when,  at  three  o'clock,  the  7th  Michigan  made  a  splendid 
dash  across  the  river,  and  held  the  opposite  bank,  while  the 
bridge  was  laid  by  the  Eighth  Connecticut  Volunteers  and 
other  regiments.  By  five  o'clock,  our  forces  were  in  the 
city. 

The  night  was  spent  by  the  soldiers  in  the  city  in  pilla 
ging  and  skirmishing  by  turns.  Next  morning  (the  13th), 
many  more  crossed ;  and  by  noon  two-thirds  of  the  right 
grand  division  were  in  the  streets  of  Fredericksburg.  The 
chaplain  of  the  Eighth  wrote, — 

"  The  city  has  suffered  frightfully.  There  is  hardly  a  house  in  the  lower 
part  which  is  not  pierced  by  at  least  one  huge  shot.  Many  are  knocked 
to  pieces  almost  beyond  repair.  I  counted  twenty-seven  ragged  cuts  and 
perforations  in  the  walls  of  the  Baptist  church,  —  five  through  the  steeple. 
Some  thirty  or  forty  buildings  were  burned  to  the  ground  in  the  business 
part  of  the  city,  including  the  Bank  of  Virginia.  The  streets  are  full  of 
brick,  splintered  timbers,  and  rubbish  of  various  kinds  ;  and  the  soldiers 
have  made  the  desolation  complete.  The  houses  and  stores  have  been  pil 
laged  thoroughly.  Fifty  dollars'  worth  has  been  destroyed  where  one  has 
been  carried  away  for  use. 

"  I  saw  men  break  down  the  doors  to  rooms  of  fine  houses,  enter,  shat 
ter  the  looking-glasses  with  a  blow  of  the  ax,  knock  the  vases  and  lamps 
off  the  mantle-piece  with  a  careless  swing,  and  then  lay  down  the  ax  to 
rummage  for  plunder.  A  cavalry  man  sat  down  at  a  fine  rosewood  piano, 
and  drummed  away  till  laughed  at  for  his  bungling  performance  ;  when  up 
he  started  with  an  oath,  drove  his  saber  through  the  polished  keys,  theu 


292  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

knocked  off  the  top,  tore  out  the  strings,  and  carried  away  oue  or  two  as 
trophies.  One  man  entered  a  large  parlor  carpeted  with  a  Brussels  worth 
at  least  two  hundred  dollars.  He  cut  out  the  center-piece,  some  four  feet 
by  six,  for  a  saddle-blanket.  I  entered  the  iinest  jewelry  store  of  the  city. 
The  large  glass  of  the  windows  was  all  broken,  the  splendid  plate-glass  of 
the  cases  dashed  to  pieces,  the  regulating  clock  smashed,  drawers  emptied, 
and  the  contents  of  the  shelves  tumbled  upon  the  floor  and  trampled  to 
dirty  fragments  ;  and  so  throughout  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  I  never 
wish  to  see  the  like  again." 

There  is  no  need  to  characterize  such  conduct  as  atrocious 
and  brutal;  but  it  would  be  salutary  for  those  who  wantonly 
invoke  the  demon  of  war  to  take  some  account  of  the  in 
evitable  vandalism  that  marches  with  the  conqueror. 

By  the  evening  of  the  12th  the  whole  army  had  crossed 
the  river,  and  was  preparing  to  move  next  morning  on  the 
hights  in  the  rear,  where  Lee  was  still  strongly  intrenching. 
Couch's  (2d)  corps  occupied  the  town;  while  Wilcox's  (9th) 
corps  extended  south-east  towards  Franklin's  grand  division. 

The  Fourteenth  was  the  only  Connecticut  regiment  that 
was  warmly  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  Long- 
street  held  the  Confederate  left.  His  advance  artillery  was 
stationed  on  Marye's  Heights  ;  and  two  brigades  of  infantry 
were  posted  behind  the  stone  walls  at  the  foot  of  the  declivity. 
Burnside  opened  the  battle  on  the  right  by  hurling  French's 
division  against  this  position. 

The  Fourteenth  had  slept  during  the  night  in  the  shelled 
and  bullet-riddled  houses  of  Caroline  Street;  and  in  the 
morning  moved  promptly  out  by  the  flank  to  the  plateau 
back  of  the  city,  and  formed  in  line  of  battle  with  the  divis 
ion  that  had  done  such  noble  service  at  Antietam.  "  No 
sooner  had  this  division  burst  out  on  the  plain  than  from  the 
batteries  on  the  hights  came  a  frightful  fire, — cross-showers 
of  shot  and  shell,  —  opening  great  gaps  in  the  ranks ;  but, 
closing  up,  the  ever-thinning  lines  pressed  on,  and  had  passed 
over  a  great  part  of  the  interval,  when  met  by  volleys  of 
musketry  at  short  range."5  From  the  semicircular  crest 
of  the  hill  came  a  direct  and  converging  fire. 

The  Fourteenth  crowded  on  to  the  foot  of  the  steep,  and 
began  to  mount.  They  were  now  surrounded  by  an  artillery- 
fire  (for  the  cannon  in  the  rear  were  nearly  as  troublesome 

2  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  AT  FIIEDERICKSB IHIG.  293 

as  those  in  the  front) ;  and  from  the  stone  wall  came  showers 
of  bullets.  Men  fell  on  every  hand.  The  regiment  wavered, 
recoiled,  rallied,  and  again  advanced ;  firing  steadily  all  the 
while.  Three  separate  charges  were  made :  in  the  last, 
Lieut-Col.  Perkins  fell  at  the  head  of  the  regiment.  The 
men  rallied  around  their  wounded  chief,  and  fell  back  witli 
the  line  of  the  division. 

Hancock  now  led  his  division  to  the  charge ;  and  with  it, 
in  the  front  ranks,  steadily  moved  the  Twenty-seventh  Con 
necticut,  —  nine-months'  troops.  The  regimental  historian, 
Lieut.  Winthrop  D.  Sheldon,  gives  the  following  sketch  of 
the  charge :  — 

"  As  soon  as  we  arrived  at  the  railroad  depot,  several  rebel  gnus, 
trained  upon  the  spot  with  fatal  accuracy,  welcomed  us  to  the  encounter. 
Very  near  this  point  fell  Capt.  Schweizer,  the  first  of  the  long  list  of  casu 
alties.  .  .  .  The  division  now  advanced  by  the  double-quick  into  the 
open  field  ;  then,  after  resting  a  few  moments  on  the  ground,  at  the  order 
'  Charge  ! '  moved  by  the  left  flank  with  fixed  bayonets,  passing  French's 
division,  which  had  been  obliged  to  fall  back.  A  second  brief  rest,  then 
on  again  ;  while  shot  and  shell  plow  the  ground  in  front,  burst  over  our 
heads,  or  make  fearful  gaps  in  the  line.  Yet  on  we  rush.  The  wounded 
are  left  where  they  fall.  Not  a  word  is  spoken  ;  not  a  gun  fired.  As  we 
approach  nearer  the  rebel  lines,  all  the  elements  of  destruction  that  inge 
nuity  can  devise  are  concentrated  upon  the  narrow  space.  From  rows  of 
rifle-pits,  protected  by  a  heavy  stone  wall,  bursts  a  continuous  roll  of  mus 
ketry  ;  from  neighboring  houses  flashes  the  deadly  fire  of  sharpshooters ; 
while  batteries  posted  on  the  hights  behind  strong  field-works,  and  sup 
ported  by  infantry,  sweep  the  field  with  shot  and  shell,  and  grape  and  can 
ister.  Enfilading  batteries  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  rebel  semicircle 
pour  in  their  swift  discharges.  .  .  .  The  line  now  begins  to  waver,  and 
with  some  disorder  presses  forward  to  a  brick  house,  from  which  a  brisk 
musketry-fire  is  kept  up  in  the  direction  of  the  stone  wall.  At  this  time, 
the  various  regiments  became  mingled  together  ;  and  the  Twenty-seventh, 
in  consequence  of  the  confusion,  separated  into  several  fragments,  advan- 
cin»-  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  house.  The  time  for  a  sudden  dash  had 
passed  ;  and  unable  longer  to  stem  the  avalanche  of  fire,  which  seemed  to 
gather  intensity  as  we  proceeded,  the  charge  was  continued  only  as  far  as 
a  board-fence,  all  full  of  bullet-holes  and  torn  with  shot,  less  than  a  hun 
dred  yards  from  the  famous  stone  wall." 

Here  the  Twenty-seventh  remained  all  the  afternoon, 
holding  the  advanced  position ;  while  division  after  division 
charged  towards  the  hill,  and  recoiled  before  the  terrible 
tempest  of  death. 

A  correspondent  of  the  London  Times,  on  Lee's  staffj  said 
that  "  no  braver  men  ever  lived  than  those  who  forced  their 


294  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

way  up  Marye's  Heights  that  day,"  and  that  their  conduct 
extorted  praise  from  the  rebel  chieftain. 

After  this,  similar  charges  were  made  up  the  impregna 
ble  slope  by  Howard's,  Sturgis's,  and  Getty's  divisions,  and 
finally  by  the  divisions  of  Hooker's  corps,  all  with  similar 
result;  while  Franklin,  after  a  sturdy  grapple  with  Jackson, 
had  been  repulsed  on  the  left. 

On  the  morning  of  this  day,  Col.  Harland  had,  by  order 
of  Gen.  Getty,  placed  his  (the  2d)  brigade  on  the  bank 
of  the  river  below  the  town,  where  the  troops  were  con 
cealed  from  the  enemy,  and  sheltered  from  their  fire.  The 
Eleventh  Connecticut,  present  eighteen  officers  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  was  detached,  and  moved  forward  to 
support  the  pickets  of  the  1st  Brigade.  Its  casualties  were 
few,  and  it  rejoined  the  brigade,  which  had  occupied  its  shel 
tered  position  during  the  day;  while  Burnside, in  a  spirit  of 
apparent  desperation,  was  hurling  forward,  his  troops  to 
slaughter  on  the  right  and  left. 

Col.  Harland  says  in  his  official  report,  "  About  five,  P.M., 
1  was  ordered  to  move  forward  to  the  support  of  the  1st 
Brigade.  I  advanced  the  brigade  in  two  columns,  —  the 
Twenty-first  Connecticut  and  the  4th  Rhode-Island  consti 
tuting  the  column  on  the  right;  and  the  Eighth,  Fifteenth, 
and  Sixteenth  Connecticut  that  on  the  left.  On  the  street 
in  front  of  the  slaughter-house,  I  re-formed  the  line,  and 
advanced  until  the  right  was  nearly  up  with  the  9th  New- 
York,  and  tlio  left  had  arrived  at  the  foot  of  a  steep  hill 
about  ten  rods  in  rear  of  the  railroad,  where  the  Eleventh 
Connecticut  Volunteers  had  been  stationed  during  the  clay." 

The  brigade  remained  in  this  position  during  the  night, 
picketing  in  front,  and  in  the  morning  was  returned  to  the 
location  of  Friday  night.  The  Fifteenth  Connecticut,  Lieut.- 
Col.  Samuel  Tolles  commanding,  was  detached  to  support  a 
battery.  Capt.  Charles  L.  Upharn  with  a  detachment  occu 
pied  the  ground  in  front  and  the  block-house  near  the  rail 
road.  On  the  morning  of  Monday  the  15th,  the  Eighth 
Connecticut,  under  Capt.  H.  M.  Hoyt,  reported  to  Capt. 
Upham ;  and  the  picket-line  was  extended  along  the  brow 
of  the  hill.  At  dark,  the  brigade,  with  these  exceptions, 


THE  FAILUEE  AT  FIIEDEKICK.SBUI1G.  295 

was  moved  about  two  hundred  yards  in  rear  of  Gen.  Wil- 
eox's  headquarters,  where  it  spent  the  night.  Next  morning, 
the  whole  force  was  recalled  across  the  Rappahannock ;  and, 
with  the  exception  of  two  companies,  —  D  under  Capt. 
Samuel  Hubbard,  and  I  under  Capt.  Frank  M.  Lovejoy, 
detailed  under  Major  Hiram  B.  Crosby  on  fatigue-duty, — 
Harland's  brigade  returned  to  camp  near  the  Lacey  House. 

To  say  that  the  terrible  battle  had  been  a  terrible  failure 
is  to  speak  quite  inadequately  of  the  result.  The  magnitude 
of  the  blunder  seemed  to  be  equaled  only  by  the  magni 
tude  of  the  losses.  The  Union  casualties  numbered  twelve 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing ;  while  the  Confederate  loss  was  less  than  half  that 
number.  Connecticut  suffered  less,  proportionately,  than 
any  other  State  that  had  regiments  engaged.  The  ratio 
came  near  being  reversed. 

After  the  decisive  repulse  of  Saturday,  a  return  across 
the  Rappahannock  was  urged  by  the  chief  commanders ;  but 
Burnside,  mortified  by  defeat,  had  apparently  lost  his  mental 
equipoise,  and  resolved  to  form  the  remaining  9th  Corps  in 
a  column  of  attack  by  regiments,  the  Eleventh  Connecticut 
Volunteers  in  advance,  and  lead  it  in  person  to  scale  the 
hights.  He  was  at  last  dissuaded  from  the  desperate 
scheme  by  his  counselors ;  and  the  bloody  and  useless 
slaughter  came  to  an  end. 

The  retreat  over  the  central  pontoon-bridge  was  mate 
rially  assisted  by  Major  II.  B.  Crosby  of  the  Twenty-first, 
provost-marshal  of  the  9th  Corps.  Gen.  Wilcox,  command 
ing  the  corps,  says  in  his  official  report,  "  The  whole  body, 
numbering  about  sixteen  thousand  officers  and  men,  were 
withdrawn  noiselessly  in  less  than  two  hours.  The  most 
perfect  order  prevailed ;  no  confusion  in  the  ranks ;  no  signs 
of  alarm  or  demoralization,  notwithstanding  many  hours  of 
passive  exposure  to  the  enemy's  fire.  The  ease  with  which 
this  remarkable  withdrawal  was  effected  was  due  partly  to 
the  excellent  judgment  of  Major  Crosby  in  carrying  out  the 
special  orders  of  Gen.  Wilcox.  With  a  pioneer  party  and 
a  cavalry  patrol  he  paved  the  way  smoothly  and  rapidly  for 
the  movement."  Major  Crosby  muffled  the  bridge  with  dirt 


296  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   REBELLION. 

about  three  inches  deep,  so  as  to  conceal  the  retreat  from 
the  enemy,  whose  guns  commanded  the  bridge.  It  was 
dark,  cold,  and  stormy ;  while  he  sat  on  his  horse,  and  re 
peated  in  hushed  tones  private  orders  to  commanders  till 
near  .daylight,  by  which  time  the  army  was  again  in 
camp. 

The  Eighth  Connecticut  had  lost  one  killed  and  two 
wounded  ;  the  Eleventh  had  one  wounded  ;  the  Fifteenth, 
two  killed  and  eight  wounded ;  the  Sixteenth,  one  wounded  ; 
the  Twenty-first,  one  killed  and  five  wounded. 

The  Fourteenth  had  lost  twenty-four  killed,  or  died  of 
wounds,  and  eighty-one  others  wounded.  Among  those  who 
were  killed,  or  died  shortly  of  wounds,  were  Capt.  Elijah  W. 
Gibbons  of  Middletown,  and  Lieuts.  Theodore  A.  Stanley  of 
New  Britain,  William  A.  Coomes  of  New  Haven,  and  David 
E.  Canfieid  of  Middletown. 

Capt.  Gibbons  was,  before  the  war,  a  citizen  of  Middle- 
town,  where  he  had  many  friends.  He  was  an  active  and 
faithful  supporter  of  the  Sunday  school.  When  the  war- 
broke  out,  he  went  as  first  lieutenant  in  the  Fourth  Rein- 

7  o 

ment,  but  resigned  his  commission  in  May,  1862,  and,  re 
turning  home,  raised  a  company  for  the  Fourteenth.  Capt. 
Gibbons  shared  all  the  fortunes  of  his  company,  never  being 
behind  the  regiment  a  day.  In  the  attack  on  Marye's 
Heights,  his  thigh  was  shattered  by  a  shot,  and  he  was  borne 
to  the  rear.  lie  lingered  a  few  days,  and  died  in  great  suf 
fering,  but  with  becoming  resignation. 

Lieut.  Stanley  was  one  of  the  gallant  young  Stanleys 
from  New  Britain  who  gave  their  lives  for  the  country;  and 
Lieuts.  Canfieid  and  Coomes  received  their  mortal  wounds, 
as  soldiers  should,  at  the  head  of  their  men. 

The  Twenty-seventh  had  lost  sixteen  killed  and  eighty- 
nine  wounded.  Among  the  slain  was  Capt.  Bernard  E. 
Schweizer  of  New  Haven,  a  brave  German  soldier.  Among 
the  mortally  wounded  was  Capt.  Addison  C.  Taylor,  also  of 
New  Haven.  He  was  a  pupil  and  military  instructor  in  the 
Commercial  Institute  in  that  city  when  the  war  broke  out, 
and  drilled  Capt,  Joseph  R.  Hawley's  company  in  the  three- 
months'  service. 


SUFFERINGS    OF  THE   SEVENTEENTH.  297 

At  Fredericksburg,  also,  fell  Sergeant  Richard  H.  Fowler 
of  Guilford,  of  a  patriotic  family,  William  A.  Goodwin, 
Thomas  E.  Barrett,  Frank  E.  Ailing,  and  George  H.  Mimmic. 
Young  Ailing  was  a  student  at  Yale  when  he  enlisted ;  and 
Sergeant  Barrett  was  a  much-esteemed  and  successful  teacher 
at  the  Eaton  School  in  that  city. 


While  the  contest  for  Maryland  was  going  forward  at 
Antietam,  the  Seventeenth  remained  at  Fort  Marshall, 
menacing  the  rebels  of  Baltimore.  When  the  excitement 
subsided,  Col.  Noble  asked  of  the  authorities  at  Washington 
that  the  regiment  might  be  permitted  to  join  Sigel's  corps 
according  to  previous  understanding.  Gen.  Wool  was  much 
incensed  ;  and,  instead  of  this,  it  was  ordered  to  Tenallytown, 
and  put  at  work  intrenching  a  hill  that  was  afterwards 
known  as  Fort  Kearney,  in  the  northward  defenses  of  Wash 
ington.  For  a  fortnight,  the  men  shoveled  dirt  here ;  when, 
Nov.  3,  the  regiment  was  sent  into  Virginia  to  report  to 
Sigel,  commanding  the  llth  Corps,  and  pressing  forward 
beyond  Manassas. 

It  marched  during  that  week  to  Thoroughfare  Gap  and 
other  points  beyond  Centre ville,  but  met  no  enemy,  and 
was  withdrawn  to  a  camp  at  Chantilly,  nearer  Washington. 
The  regiment  suffered  considerable  discomfort  in  snow-clad 
"  shelters  "  and  in  long  marches  through  Virginia  mud.  Not 
having  been  paid  off,  and  the  men  needing  money,  Private 
Elias  Howe  advanced  the  thirteen  thousand  dollars  clue 
them. 

The  Seventeenth  was  not  called  upon  to  participate  in 
the  affair  of  Fredericksburg,  but  moved  to  the  vicinity,  and, 
after  the  battle,  established  its  winter  camp  at  Brooks's 
Station,  south  of  Stafford  Court  House.  Here  the  men 
found  time  to  build  for  themselves  semi-comfortable  bar 
racks, —  huts  of  logs  and  mud,  —  made  habitable  by  many 
ingenious  devices.  They  endured  the  ordinary  privations 
and  exposures  of  military  life,  and  passed  the  cheerless 
months  in  drills,  parade  and  picket  duty,  song  and  jest, 

38 


298  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   [REBELLION. 

reading  and  social  intercourse.  Capt.  James  E.  Dunham 
of  Company  G  was  appointed  provost-marshal  of  the  di 
vision. 


Soon  after  the  Twenty-second  took  the  field,  in  the  fall  of 
1862,  it  was  called  upon  to  do  picket-duty  out  at  Langley's, 
on  the  Washington  and  Leesburg  Turnpike.  A  member  of 
the  regiment  confesses,  that  "  though  still  in  the  rear  of  cav 
alry-scouts  and  an  advanced  picket,  and  at  least  fifty  miles 
from  the  enemy's  picket-line,  our  first  week  of  outpost-duty 
was  fraught  with  more  thrilling  events  and  hairbreadth 
escapes  from  death  or  captivity  than  belonged  to  the  whole 
remaining  period  of  our  service." 

On  Oct.  22,  the  regiment  marched  to  Miner's  Hill,  three 
miles  from  the  fort,  and  was  merged  in  Gen.  Cowclin's  bri 
gade,  already  consisting  of  regiments  from  New  York,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  Rhode  Island.  Within  a  week,  the  boys  began 
to  think  of  the  coming  winter,  and,  more  ambitious  than 
the  other  regiments,  resolved  to  build  for  themselves  a  vil 
lage  of  wooden  houses,  and  fold  their  breezy  tents  until 
summer.  Some  of  the  other  regiments  were  skeptical  as  to 
the  profitableness  of  the  job ;  but  the  Twenty-second  went 
heartily  at  work  clearing  the  land,  cutting  clown  pines,  dig 
ging  stumps  and  pulling  roots,  and  carting  them  out  of  the 
way,  and  preparing  the  timber  for  their  new  habitations. 
So  vigorously  did  the  work  proceed,  that  in  sixteen  days  the 
whole  was  accomplished,  and  a  general  "  moving  "  took  place. 
The  ground  had  been  cleared,  the  logs  cut,  and  a  hundred 
and  thirteen  cabins,  ten  by  fourteen  feet,  were  completed 
and  occupied,  all  uniform  in  size  and  style,  alike  provided 
with  doors  and  windows,  and  thatched,  ventilated,  and  com 
fortably  warmed  by  means  of  the  portable  camp-stove.  All 
was  done  with  only  the  most  indispensable  of  tools,  —  the 
saw,  ax,  and  hammer.  Subsequently,  all  the  streets  of  the 
new  city,  "Camp  Burn-ham,"  were  corduroyed,  and  a  large 
chapel  was  in  process  of  erection. 

Dec.  12,  the  day  before  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  the 
regiment  was  under  marching  orders,  and  prepared  to  leave 


THE  FIFTH  AND  TWENTIETH  AT  WASHINGTON.  299 

on  the  cars;  but,  after  waiting  two  hours,  the  order  was 
countermanded,  and  the  1st  Brigade,  in  which  was  the 
Connecticut  Twenty  -  seventh,  was  sent  forward  instead. 
Dec.  29,  the  regiment  was  aroused  by  the  long-roll,  and 
marched  over  eight  miles  of  the  worst  of  the  roads  to  inter 
cept  Stuart's  cavalry.  After  watching  twenty-four  hours, 
they  marched  back ;  that  famous  raider  having  vanished  in 
an  unexpected  direction. 

The  regiment,  during  the  four  months  of  its  stay  here, 
occupied  its  time  profitably  in  company  and  battalion  drills 
and  occasional  reviews.  Feb.  12,  the  men  left  their  com 
fortable  cabins,  and  spent  two  months  in  preparing  the 
groundworks  of  Forts  Craig,  McDowell,  and  McClellan. 


On  Sept.  4,  the  Fifth  once  more  crossed  the  Potomac 
into  Washington,  and  with  the  main  army  proceeded 
slowly  northward  towards  the  fords  where  Lee's  army  was 
simultaneously  crossing  into  Maryland.  The  regiment  was 
halted  at  Frederick  ;  and  here,  on  familiar  ground,  while 
the  battle  was  progressing  at^  Antietam,  it  was  assigned 
to  provost-duty.  It  remained  nearly  three  months  mend 
ing  its  shattered  ranks.  Col.  Chapman  here  returned  to 
the  regiment  after  a  short  Experience  in  rebel  prisons,  his 
health  seriously  impaired.  On  Dec.  10,  the  regiment  was 
assigned  to  the  12th  Army  Corps,  Gen.  Slocum. 

The  Twentieth  was  kept  in  front  of  Washington 
until  Lee  had  retreated  below  Culpeper;  and,  Sept.  29, 
was  ordered  to  proceed  by  cars  to  Frederick,  Md.  By  some 
blunder,  the  men  were  directed  to  leave  their  knapsacks 
in  Washington.  All  night  they  waited  at  the  depot  for 
transportation,  starting  before  daybreak,  and  made  their 
next  bivouac  near  Frederick  without  tents  or  blankets.  At 
Sandy  Hook,  Oct.  2,  the  Twentieth  was  brigaded  with 
some  New-York  regiments,  and  attached  to  the  12th' Corps, 
like  the  Fifth  Connecticut  Volunteers.  Thenceforth  their 
fortunes  lay  mainly  together. 

Rigid  discipline  was  now  adopted  in  the  Twentieth ;  drills 
were  required  daily ;  schools  of  instruction  were  instituted ; 


300  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

and  guard  and  picket  duty  regularly  performed.  Gen. 
Gordon,  commanding  the  division,  issued  an  order  not  un 
usual  in  the  army,  but  widely  at  variance  with  the  idea 
citizens  sometimes  entertain  of  military  life.  The  following 
is  the  principal  part : 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  DIVISION,  TWELFTH  CORPS, 
MARYLAND  HEIGHTS,  Oct.  20,  1862. 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  40.  —  "The  evil,  where  it  exists,  of -commis 
sioned  officers  associating  with  enlisted  men  in  any  other  relation  than 
an  official  one,  is,  to  both  officers  and  men,  most  pernicious  in  its  effects, 
and  must  in  future  be  totally  discontinued.  Hereafter  no  enlisted  man 
can  be  permitted  to  visit  the  tent  or  quarters  of  a  commissioned  officer 
for  the  amusement  of  either  party.  Except  for  official  purposes,  it  is 
highly  unmilitary  for  officer  and  private  to  associate  together." 

The  beautiful  weeks  of  autumn  had  vanished  while  Lee 
was  retreating,  and  McClellan  had  not  pursued.  The  early 
winter  rains  were  about  to  set  in,  making  of  the  plastic 
Virginia  clay  a  compound  through  which  locomotion  was 
almost  impossible  ;  and  the  army  was  ordered  to  prepare  for 
an  offensive  move.  Perhaps  such  a  state  of  things  was  un 
avoidable;  McClellan  so  asserted :  but  Lieut-Col.  Buckingham 
expressed  the  feelings  of  the  army  and  the  country  when  he 
wrote  in  his  diary,  "  If  it  takes  a  month  to  recover  from  the 
effects  of  a  victor}-.  Heaven  save  us  from  the  necessity  of 
ever  being  obliged  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  a  defeat ! " 

About  the  1st  of  November,  the  regiments  north  of  the 
Potomac  crossed  the  river,  and  advanced  into  Virginia.  The 
Twentieth  occupied  Keyes  Ford  and  Manning's  Ford  of  the 
Shenandoah.  Nov.  9,  it  moved  over  the  mountains  east 
ward  into  the  London  Valley  ;  and  the  forward  movement 
seemed  to  be  ended.  An  order  was  issued  to  the  men  to 
build  huts,  and  make  themselves  comfortable  for  the  winter. 

'The  manuscript  regimental  history  of  the  Twentieth,  by 
Lieut-Col.  Buckingham,  says,  "  Some  of  the  old  regiments 
in  three  or  four  days  had  nice,  comfortable  huts  built,  with 
doors,  floors,  windows,  and  chimneys,  and  then  came  and 
laughed  at  our  awkwardness.  There  were  in  the  regiment 
carpenters,  shipbuilders,  masons,  wheelwrights,  tinners,  black 
smiths,  men  who  could  make  the  hair-spring  to  a  watch  or 
build  a  locomotive ;  but,  when  it  came  to  producing  log-huts 
without  tools,  they  could  not '  get  the  hang  of  it.'  We  won- 


THE  FIFTH  AND  TWENTIETH   UNDER   ARMS. 

clered  where  the  veterans  obtained  windows  and  various 
other  fixings  that  added  so  much  to  their  comfort,  and  were 
told  that  they  '  drew  them.'  After  a  while,  the  greenness 
wore  off  from  our  men  ;  and  they,  too,  learned  to  '  draw 
things,'  not  always  of  Uncle  Sam's  quartermasters.  Boards 
were  afterwards  sometimes  '  drawn '  from  the  side  of  a  barn 
two  miles  from  camp ;  windows  were  '  drawn '  a  still  greater 
distance  ;  and  then  they  managed  to  '  draw  '  hay  or  straw  for 
a  bunk.  It  takes  soldiers  a  year  to  learn  how  to  keep  com 
fortable."  That  confession  will  answer  for  all  the  regiments 
during  their  unseasoned  period.  Sickness  prevailed  as  the 
result  of  the  exposure  and  the  new  life  ;  and,  during  the 
winter,  more  than  thirty  died. 

On  Nov.  10,  Slocuin's  corps  moved  to  join  the  main 
armv  near  Fredericksburg.  The  Fifth  Connecticut,  which 

*/ 

had  been  detailed  on  provost  duty  at  Frederick,  now 
rejoined  the  corps. 

Passing  through  Hillsborough.  Wheatland,  Leesburg,  Chan- 
tilly,  and  Fairfax  Court  House,  they  reached  Fairfax  Station, 
on  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  Railroad,  on  the  14th.  They 
crossed  the  Occoquan  next  morning  at  Wolf-run  Shoals,  and 
pushed  on  through  rain  and  mud  for  two  days,  while  heavy 
guns  were  pounding  away  at  Fredericksburg.  On  the  17th. 
Burnside  having  escaped  from  his  cul  de  sac,  they  turned 
back  to  Fairfax  Station,  and  began  to  make  a  winter 
camp. 

For  a  time,  rations  were  poor  arid  scanty  ;  and  many 
actually  suffered  for  food.  While  the  12th  Corps  was  at 
Fairfax,  the  rebel  Stuart  rode  with  his  cavalr}^  entirely 
around  the  force,  and  passed  out  below  Leesburg  unmolested. 
The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  were  under  arms  for  a  time ;  but 
there  was  no  fight.  The  men  built  half-comfortable  log- 
huts,  and  were  beginning  to  settle  down  for  the  third  time 
for  a  winter's  rest,  when  orders  came  to  march  to  Stafford 
Court  House.  Again  the  drudgery  and  toil  of  moving  were 
repeated :  the  great  wagons  were  loaded,  and  dragged  on 
four  miles  a  day,' the  corps  keeping  along  so  as  to  help  the 
stalled  teams  out  of  the  mud.  Soldiers  were  most  of  the 
time  on  half-rations. 


302         CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  full  army-ration  is  enough  for  any  man.  It  consists 
of  meat,  either  fresh  or  salt,  hard  or  soft  bread,  or  flour, 
beans  or  peas,  rice  or  hominy,  coffee  or  tea,  sugar,  vinegar, 
candles,  soap,  salt,  pepper,  potatoes,  and  molasses ;  but 
after  a  battle,  or  during  the  prevalence  of  a  long  storm  or 
deep  mud,  and  very  often  when  no  sufficient  reason  was 
visible,  this  was  diminished  to  suit  circumstances.  At  Staf 
ford  Court  House,  the  men  found  food,  rest,  and  the  army 
paymaster.  Capt.  Cogswell  of  the  Fifth,  and  Lieut.  Beards- 
ley  of  the  Twentieth,  were  detailed  as  brigade-inspectors; 
and  Major  Buckingham  acted  as  assistant  inspector-general 
of  the  division.  Col.  Chapman  of  the  Fifth,  to  whom,  mainly, 
the  regiment  owed  its  efficiency  in  discipline  and  drill,  was 
compelled  on  account  of  ill  health  to  resign,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Col.  Warren  W.  Packer  of  Groton,  who  went  out 
as  captain  of  Company  G.  A  correspondent  wrote  the 
Providence  Journal  at  this  time  as  follows  :  — 

"  We  learned  a  day  or  two  since  some  interesting  facts  of 
the  Fifth  Connecticut  Regiment,  which,  for  army-life,  is  as 
anomalous  as  it  is  pleasing.  Its  commander,  Col.  Packer, 
we  are  assured,  is  a  teetotaler  ;  neither  drinking  any  intoxi 
cating  liquors  himself,  nor  allowing  any  to  his  men.  Its 
chaplain,  Rev.  Mr.  Welch,  is  declared  to  be  the  very  best  in 
the  army,  though  never  preaching  a  sermon ;  and  its  sutler, 
Mr.  Randall,  who  acted  in  this  capacity  over  two  years,  never 
sold  or  offered  for  sale  a  single  drop  of  liquor." 

At  Stafford  Court  House,  the  men  once  more  built  them 
selves  winter  huts;  and  occupied  them,  with  only  the 
usual  incidents  of  camp-life,  until  the  army  was  thawed  out 
in  April. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

The  First  Connecticut  Battery  and  Seventh  Regiment  in  Florida.  —  Capture  of  St.  John's 
Bluff.  —  Sixth  and  Seventh  in  South  Carolina.  —  Battle  of  Pocotaligo.  —  The  Twelfth 
at  Camp  Parapet. — Yankee  Enterprise. — Anecdotes  of  the  Thirteenth.  —  Services 
and  Sufferings  of  the  Ninth  at  Vicksburg.  —  The  Battle  of  Baton  Rouge. —  The  La 
Fourche  Campaign. — Battle  of  Georgia  Landing. — Thanksgiving.  —  The  Nine- 
months'  Regiments  leave  Long  Island.  —  The  Twenty-eighth  at  Pensacola.  —  Destruc 
tion  of  a  Rebel  Gunboat. 

URING  the  heat  of  the  summer  of  1862,  the 
Sixth  and  Seventh,  with 'the  First  Battery,  re 
mained  at  Hilton  Head  ;  while  military  inaction 
reigned,  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  department 
contracted.  The  members  of  the  Seventh 
named  their  camp  "  Camp  Hitchcock,"  after  their  lamented 
comrade. 

In  September,  an  expedition  was  planned  to  capture  a 
fort  at  St.  John's  Bluff,  Fla.,  which  had  considerably  annoyed 
the  navy,  but  was  on  such  high  ground,  that  the  gunboats 
were  unable  to  destroy  it.  The  Seventh  Connecticut,  47th 
Pennsylvania,  Capt.  Rockwell's  First  Connecticut  Battery, 
and  one  company  of  Massachusetts  cavalry,  were  selected 
for  the  purpose.  They  left  Hilton  Head  on  board  the 
steamers  Ben.  Deford,  Boston,  Cosmopolitan,  and  Neptune, 
on  the  thirtieth  day  of  September,  1862,  arriving  off  the  bar 
at  the  mouth  of  St.  John's  River  on  the  morning  of  Oct.  1. 
They  went  over  the  bar;  landed  at  a  place  called  May- 
port  Mills ;  traveled  across  the  country  for  miles,  through 
swamp  and  mire,  the  most  of  the  time  through  mud  and 
water  knee-deep;  and  came  across  a  rebel  cavalry  camp, 
charging  through  it,  and  putting  the  cavalry  to  flight  with 
an  exchange  of  shots,  but  no  loss  of  life  to  either  side.  The 
fugitives  left  their  dinner  smoking  hot ;  and  the  Union  boys, 

303 


204  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

tired,  wet,  and  hungry,  did  ample  justice  thereto.  After  a 
two-days'  farther  march,  they  came  upon  the  rebel  stronghold, 
only  to  find  they  had  abandoned  it  in  a  hurry  a  short  time 
before,  leaving  every  thing  behind  them,  —  camp-kettles  on 
the  fire  with  their  rations  in  them,  and  guns  unspiked.  The 
fort  was  immediately  dismantled,  and  all  the  guns  sent  to 
Hilton  Head.  The  force  went  up  the  river  as  far  as  Jackson 
ville,  bringing  away  a  number  of  white  and  black  refugees 
from  Rebeldom,  who  hailed  our  men  as  their  deliverers. 

In  the  afternoon  of  Oct.  21,  two  brigades  under  Connec 
ticut  officers,  with  Gen.  Brannan  in  command,  started  on 
an  expedition  inland  to  burn  the  railroad  bridges  between 
Charleston  and  Savannah.  Sergeant  Robert  Wilson,  an  in 
telligent  scout  from  Stamford  in  the  Sixth  Connecticut,  had 
been  out  with  a  negro  examining  the  rivers,  landings,  &c. ; 
and  he  now  piloted  the  raid. 

The  Sixth,  commanded  by  Lieut-Col.  Speidal,  was  in  the 
1st  Brigade,  under  Col.  Chatfield ;  and  the  Seventh  in  the  2d 
Brigade,  under  Gen.  Terrv.  The  Connecticut  regiments  had 

fj  '  v  O 

each  five  hundred  men.  The  Seventh  Regiment  embarked  on 
the  Boston ;  and  the  whole  force  moved  up  Broad  River  to 
Mackay's  Point,  where  they  landed  next  morning,  the  22d. 

The  line  of  march  \vas  taken  up,  the  1st  Brigade  ahead  ; 
and  the  force,  in  column  by  companies,  moved  briskly  some 
five  miles  inland,  where  they  discovered  the  enemy  posted 
on  rising  ground  beyond  a  marsh  which  was  flanked  by  thick 
woods.  •  The  rebels  opened  with  howitzers  and  musketry. 
The  1st  Brigade  advanced  in  line  of  battle,  and  soon  became 
hotly  engaged :  but  the  rebels  fled  along  the  road  before  the 
2d  Brigade  was  fairly  up  ;  and  our  men  jumped  the  ditch, 
waded  through  the  swamp,  and  pursued. 

Another  rapid  march  of  two  or  three  miles,  much  of  it  at 
the  double-quick ;  again  the  skirmishers  were  driven  in ;  the 
enemy  had  taken  a  new. position.  Two  field-pieces  were 
posted  on  a  slope  beyond  some  sparse  woods,  while  their 
infantry  was  stationed  in  the  thicket,  or  concealed  behind 
houses  near  by.  The  Sixth  Connecticut,  a  New-Hampshire, 
and  two  Pennsylvania  regiments,  moved  into  the  woods  to 
dislodge  the  enemy.  These  regiments  were  subjected  to  a 


THE  DEAD   OF  THE   SIXTH  AND   SEVENTH.  3Q5 

galling  fire  of  both  artillery  and  musketry.  The  Sixth  suf 
fered  severely  at  this  point ;  Col.  Chatfield  and  Lieut-Col. 
Speidal  being  both  struck  with  canister-shots  while  bravely 
leading  their  men.  The  line  moved  steadily  forward,  cut 
up  by  shot  and  shell,  tangled  by  thickets,  the  men  now  stand 
ing,  now  lying  down,  now  carefully  advancing,  pressing  the 
enemy  closer  and  harder  in  a  fight  of  two  hours ;  when,  de 
spite  their  advantage  of  ground,  the  rebels  again  fled,  protect 
ing  their  guns,  however,  as  they  dragged  them  sullenly  to 
the  rear.  During  the  fight,  Capts.  Chamberlain's  and  Bur- 
dick's  companies  of  the  Seventh  had  also  done  good  service  as 
sharpshooters,  and  the  rest  of  the  regiment  had  been  for  a 
short  time  briskly  engaged. 

Again  our  forces  pursued  ;  but  the  rebels  retired  deliber 
ately,  our  column  being  much  harassed  by  guns  unlimbered 
on  commanding  points  in  the  road,  and  infantry  firing  from 
the  fences  and  woods.  The  need  of  cavalry  was  much  felt. 
Our  troops  successively  charged  upon  and  dislodged  the 
enemy  for  a  distance  of  nearly  four  miles ;  when  the  rebels 
retreated  across  the  Pocotaligo  River,  burning  the  bridge 
behind  them.  Across  this  creek,  which,  though  narrow,  was 
deep,  the  enemy  posted  batteries  ;  but  some  of  our  men  pro 
ceeded  to  fell  trees  across  for  bridges.  During  the  lull,  a 
locomotive  whistle  was  heard  in  the  distance ;  then  a  train 
loaded  with  rebel  soldiers  thundered  into  the  village,  and 
was  received  with  cheers  for  "  South  Carolina."  At  night 
fall  our  forces  returned  to  Mackay's,  which  they  reached 
before  daybreak,  and  re-embarked  for  Beaufort. 

The  Sixth  had  lost  five  killed  and  thirty-three  wounded ; 
Orderly  Sergeant  Eobert  B.  Gage  of  Bridgeport,  a  brave 
man,  being  killed  by  a  rifle-ball  in  the  side.  Of  the  wound 
ed,  Corporal  David  G.  Shepard  and  Private  Taylor  died  of 
their  wounds.  The  Seventh  lost  in  killed  two,  wounded 
twenty-seven.  Five  died  of  their  wounds. 

The  expedition  did  not  result  in  any  advantage  to  the 
Union  cause. 

Our  regiments  in  Louisiana  were  living  by  no  means  an 
inactive  life.  They  had  recruited  their  ranks  to  the  maxi- 

39 


306  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

mum  number.  At  periods  during  the  summer,  the  Twelfth 
was  called  upon  to  do  provost-duty  at  various  posts.  Com 
pany  A  was  at  Jefferson  City  in  June  and  July,  Capt.  Lewis 
provost-marshal.  Company  F  went  to  Lake  Pontchartrain 
during  the  same  period,  and,  out  of  seventy  men,  returned 
with  only  fifteen  fit  for  duty.  Capt.  Nathan  Frankau  was 
provost-marshal  at  Carrollton,  with  his  company  for  guard. 
A  detail  of  ten  men  captured  the  Laurel  Hill,  the  largest  ves 
sel  at  New  Orleans,  afterwards  of  great  service  to  the  gov 
ernment.  In  July,  half  the  regiment,  under  Major  Peck, 
went  on  an  expedition  to  Lake  Pontchartrain,  having  for  its 
object  the  destruction  of  the  railroad  bridges  and  the  capture 
of  the  rebel  force  at  Pass  Manchac  and  Pontchatoula.  Two 
companies  of  the  Thirteenth  under  Capts.  Comstock  and 
Blinn,  and  several  companies  of  the  Ninth  under  Major  Frye, 
were  also  a  part  of  the  force.  The  expedition  was  but  par 
tially  successful.  The  rebels  rallied,  and  drove  our  troops 
back,  inflicting  a  severe  loss.  Assistant  Surgeon  Avery  of 
the  Ninth  was  among  the  prisoners.  There  is  a  story,  that, 
while  a  captive,  the  shrewd  doctor  beat  the  rebel  command 
ant,  Jeff.  Thompson,  at  cards,  got  him  drunk,  challenged 
him  to  a  horse-race,  and  came  near  breaking  his  neck  among 
the  trees. 

Camp  Parapet,  the  headquarters  of  the  Twelfth,  was  one 
of  the  outer  defenses  of  New  Orleans,  and  there  were  fre 
quent  alarms. 

The  camp  was  terribly  muddy ;  and,  in  the  later  summer, 
typhoid-fever  made  fearful  havoc.  Sometimes  a  hundred 
were  in  the  hospital  at  once.  More  than  forty  died  during 
those  months,  including  Capt.  Toy  of  Collinsville,  a  faithful 
and  excellent  officer.  The  surgeons  were  constantly  occu 
pied  ;  and  Dr.  Fletcher  of  Southington,  a  private  in  Compa 
ny  I,  on  the  meager  pay  of  extra  duty,  devoted  himself  un 
tiringly  to  the  care  of  the  men.  Lieut.  Charles  "W.  Corn 
wall  of  New  Haven,  provost-marshal  on  Gen.  Phelps's  staff, 
also  fell  a  victim  to  the  climate.  Of  him  Lieut-Col.  Led- 
yard  Colburn  wrote,  "  In  the  name  of  the  regiment,  I  would 
declare  our  sorrow  and  sadness  at  the  untimely  death  of  one 
beloved  and  respected  by  all."  Lieut.  Stanton  Allyn,  of 


FIRST  REGIMENT  OF  LOUISIANA   VOLUNTEERS.  307 

Company  K,  was  for  a  time  prostrated,  and  obliged  to  go 
into  hospital,  but  subsequently,  and  when  quite  out  of  health, 
rejoined  his  regiment  to  participate  in  the  siege  of  Port 
Hudson,  where  perilous  labors  awaited  him." 

More  steamboats  were  wanted  in  New  Orleans;  and  the 
general  commanding,  knowing  that  the  Yankees  could  do 
almost  any  thing,  and  hearing  that  Col.  Colburn  of  the 
Twelfth  knew  something  about  steamboats,  applied  to  him 
in  the  dilemma.  "  The  colonel,  after  looking  about  him  and 
making  inquiries,  soon  discovered  that  lumber  was  the  impor 
tant  item  wanted  ;  but  being  of  a  progressive,  ingenious, 
and  go-ahead  disposition,  soon  took  his  measures  to  obviate 
the  difficulty.  He  went  to  Fort  Pike,  where  he  found  a 
large  raft  of  logs  that  had  been  placed  in  the  Eigolets  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  the  passing  of  our  vessels.  These 
were  fastened  together  with  several  tons  of  chains,  which 
were  removed,  and  the  logs  got  out.  The  next  thing  was  a 
saw-mill ;  but  this  was  soon  built,  and  was  so  successful,  that, 
the  necessary  lumber  was  made  from  the  logs  obtained  at 
the  Rigolets.  The  engine  was  also  built  under  the  colonel's 
direction  ;  and  the  result  was  a  steamer  a  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  feet  long  by  forty  broad  over  all,  stanch  and  durable." 

Col.  Doming  was  seldom  with  the  regiment,  being  ap 
pointed  Mayor  of  New  Orleans,  —  an  office  which  he  ably 
administered. 

The  Thirteenth  remained  at  New  Orleans.  During  the 
summer,  Company  A  was  stationed  on  the  lake ;  Company 
E,  Capt.  Tisdale,  was  detailed  as  provost-guard ;  Company  I, 
Capt.  Schleiter,  was  stationed  at  Gen.  Twiggs's  house  as  a 
body-guard  for  Gen.  Butler;  Company  K,  Capt.  Mitchell, 
guarded  Col.  Birge's  headquarters. 

In  July,  Major  Holcomb  of  the  Thirteenth  was  authorized 
to  raise  the  1st  Eegiment  of  white  Louisiana  Volunteers. 
Commissions  were  also  issued  to  Sergeants  Charles  A.  Tracy, 
Oscar  F.  Merrill,  George  A.  Mayne,  James  T.  Smith,  James 
M.  Gardner,  Charles  H.  Grosvenor,  George  G.  Smith,  Cor 
poral  Devereaux  Jones,  and  Private  Leonidas  R.  Hall. 

In  August,  Companies  A  and  K,  under  Capt.  Mitchell,  made 
a  successful  foraging  expedition  up  the  Mississippi,  and 


308  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  EEBELLION. 

brought  back  a  few  prisoners,  and  an  immense  number  of 
horses,  mules,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  poultry.  On  Sept.  22, 
Capt.  Sprague  with  Company  H  went  up  the  river  a  few  miles 
on  a  steamboat.  They  found  a  Frenchman  with  four  hundred 
cattle  trying  to  cross  the  river.  A  pass  from  Dick  Taylor 
being  found  on  him,  the  cattle  were  confiscated ;  and,  after 
hours  of  exciting  labor,  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  were 
driven  aboard,  the  rest  having  escaped  to  the  woods,  or 
plunged  into  the  river.  The  captain  also  captured  eight 
hundred  hogsheads  of  sugar,  and  landed  the  whole  at  New 
Orleans.  He  reported  to  Gen.  Butler,  who,  after  a  brief 
examination  of  the  facts,  said,  "  Captain,  you  did  right : 
'  when  you're  in  doubt,  take  the  trick.'  " 

On  the  last  day  of  September,  the  regiment  left  the  Cus 
tom  House,  and  went  to  Camp  Parapet,  where  it  was  bri 
gaded  with  the  Twelfth  under  Gen.  Weitzel.  Here  they 
had  Sibley  tents,  and  were  comfortable.  Both  regiments 
had  now  acquired  an  excellent  discipline ;  and  soldiers  and 
citizens  came  to  witness  their  dress-parades. 

We  transfer  from  Col.  Sprague's  admirable  history  of  the 
Thirteenth  some  anecdotes  showing  the  wit  and  humor  of 
Quartermaster  J.  B.  Bromley  :  — 

"  The  principal  difficulty  at  this  time  was  in  getting  wood.  Our 
quartermaster,  never  long  at  a  loss  for  expedients,  finally  proceeded  to  the 
depot  of  the  Carrollton  Railroad,  and  commenced  loading  his  teams.  The 
superintendent  is  said  to  have  come  up,  and  to  have  held  the  following 
dialogue  with  Bromley:  — 

"  '  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  wood  ? ' 

"  '  Cook  rations.     (Go  on  with  your  loading,  corporal.)' 

'"Who  are  you?' 

"  '  Bromley,  Quartermaster  of  Thirteenth  Connecticut  Volunteeers. 
Allow  me,  sir,  in  turn,  to  inquire  whom  I  have  the  distinguished  honor  to 
address.' 

"  '  I'm  superintendent  of  this  railroad.' 

"  '  All  right.     (Go  on  with  your  loading,  corporal.)' 

"  '  The  wood  belongs  to  the  railroad.' 

"  '  So  I  supposed.' 

"  '  But  I  forbid  you  to  take  it.' 

"  '  Put  your  protest  in  writing  in  red  ink.  Tie  it  with  a  piece  of  red  tape. 
I'll  approve  it  and  forward  it.  You  see,  we've  got  to  have  wood  to  cook 
with.  Can't  eat  beans  and  pork  raw.  I'd  prefer  'em  raw  ;  but  the  men 
are  so  unreasonable  they  want  'em  cooked.' 

"  '  But  that  wood's  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  railroad.' 

"  '  It's  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut.' 

"'I  should  like  to  know  how  a  locomotive  is  going  to  run  without 
wood.' 


THE  NINTH  RENDER   SIGNAL   SERVICE.  3Q9 

"  '  I've  often  wondered  how  a  regiment  could  be  run  without  wood.' 

"  '  Gen.  Butler  orders  me  to  run  this  railroad.' 

"  '  Col.  Birge  orders  me  to  run  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut.' 

'"Who's  Col.  Birge?' 

"  '  Who's  Col.  Birge  ?'  Why,  the  d deuse  !  don't  you  know  Col. 

Birge?  If  there's  one  man  above  another  that  everybody  knows,  it's 
Col.  Birge.' 

"  '  Will  Col.  Birge  pay  for  the  wood?  ' 

"  '  Col.  Birge  pay  for  the  wood !  Why,  no  !  It's  a  reflection  on  your 
sagacity  to  ask  such  a  question.' 

"  '  Who  will  pay  for  it  ? ' 

"  '  The  Quartermaster's  Department.  If  there's  one  thing  above  another 
that  I  admire  in  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  it's  because  they'll 
always  pay  for  wood.  Now,  my  friend  of  the  railroad  persuasion,  if 
you'll  come  and  see  me,  I'll  give  you  receipts,  and  help  you  fix  up  the 
proper  papers  to  present  to  the  Quartermaster's  Department.' 

"  '  How  long  will  it  be  before  I  get  pay  ? ' 

"'It  will  be  at  some  future  day,  —  the  futurest  kind  of  a  day,  I'm 
afraid.' 

"  The  superintendent  posted  off  to  see  Col.  Birge.  Bromley  preceded 
him,  however,  and  cautioned  the  sentinels  to  admit  no  citizen  without  a 
pass.  '  Halt ! '  said  the  sentry ;  and  the  superintendent  gave  up  the 
pursuit  in  despair. 

"  The  instructions  which  Bromley  gave  to  Corporal  Strange,  a  member 
of  his  staff,  as  he  termed  him,  were  quite  significant.  '  Strange,  we're 
going  on  an  expedition.  I  want  my  staff  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  turkeys, 
geese,  pigs,  and  sheep.  Don't  be  the  aggressor  in  any  contest.  Stand 
strictly  on  the  defensive  ;  but,  if  you're  attacked  by  any  of  these  animals, 
show  fight,  and  don't  forget  to  bring  off  the  enemy's  dead'" 

During  the  last  week  in  June,  the  Ninth,  with  Williams's 
brigade,  left  Baton  Rouge,  and  went  up  the  Mississippi  on 
the  Diana,  William  Benton,  and  Sally  Robinson,  river 
steamboats.  Coming  in  sight  of  batteries  which  the  rebels 
had  posted  here  and  there  to  command  the  river,  the  in 
fantry  would  go  ashore  and  attack  by  land  on  the  flank, 
driving  the  enemy  from  the  position,  and  enabling  the  fleet 
to  pass  up.  The  Ninth  was  several  times  engaged  in  these 
operations,  and  rendered  much  service.  The  vessels  went 
up  to  the  very  guns  of  Vicksburg,  when  the  brigade  was 
landed  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  advanced  to 
Young's  Station,  opposite  the  city. 

Here  Commodore  Farragut  had  already  arrived,  and  had 
set  large  numbers  of  soldiers  and  negroes  at  work  digging 
the  famous  canal  for  a  new  channel  of  the  river ;  and  the 
regiments  of  Williams's  brigade  at  once  joined  enthusiasti 
cally  in  the  excavation  for  the  cut-off.  Col.  Cahill  of  the 


310  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Ninth  was  the  ranking  colonel,  and  commanded  in  the 
absence  of  Gen.  Williams. 

Here  the  Ninth  again  suffered  greatly.  There  was  nothing 
to  eat  for  weeks  but  pork  and  hard-tack ;  no  water  to  drink 
but  the  muddy  water  of  the  Mississippi.  The  swamp  reeked 
with  malaria,  and  the  men  slept  upon  the  mud.  The  supply 
of  quinine,  that  panacea  for  all  the  soldier's  aches  and  ills, 
was  exhausted :  there  was  little  medicine  of  any  sort.  Re 
quisitions  were  sent  as  far  as  New  Orleans ;  but  the  medical 
Dogberry  declined  to  honor  them  on  the  ground  of  "  irregu 
larity."  Almost  the  whole  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  was  at  one 
time  on  the  sick-list  with  fever  caused  by  exposure  and  pri 
vation.  The  poor  fellows  died  sometimes  at  the  fearful  rate 
of  a  score  a  week ;  and,  out  of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty 
Connecticut  members  present,  the  State  catalogue  of  troops 
shows  that  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  died  during  this 
season,  —  a  mortality  not  equaled  by  any  other  of  our  regi 
ments  within  a  similar  period. 

After  a  month  of  this  deadly  service,  the  engineers  dis 
covered  that  the  water  was  falling,  and  would  not  flow 
through  their  canal;  and  the  work  was  abandoned.  Wil- 
liams's  brigade  returned  down  the  river  again  about  the  1st 
of  August;  Breckinridge  pursuing  along  the  shore.  On  the 
boat  Algerine  left  behind  were  three  hundred  sick,  in  charge 
of  Surgeon  Gallagher  of  the  Ninth,  —  a  brave  and  devoted 
officer,  and  friend  of  the  suffering  men. 

The  Union  troops,  arrived  at  Baton  Rouge,  immediately 
took  possession,  and  began  to  fortify,  anticipating  an  attack 
from  the  rebels  advancing  in  heavy  force.  Williams  had 
seven  small  regiments  and  three  batteries,  which  he  disposed 
on  the  north-east  of  the  town.  The  Ninth  Connecticut  and 
4th  Wisconsin  were  on  the  left  of  the  line,  on  a  hill  over 
looking  the  Bayou  Gras,  where  was  expected  an  attack 
from  the  rebel  ram  Arkansas,  that  had  just  caused  such 
havoc  in  Farragut's  fleet  up  the  river.  At  daylight  of  Aug. 
5,  Breckinridge  threw  his  whole  force  against  the  Union 
center  under  cover  of  a  fog,  but  was  met  with  unflinching 
bravery.  Again  and  again  he  assailed  with  great  vigor,  but 
each  time  was  driven  back  with  heavv  loss  on  either  side. 


CAPT.   SILAS  W.   SAWYER.  311 

When  the  battle  had  raged  several  hours,  Gen.  Williams  fell 
mortally  wounded ;  and  Col.  Cahill  of  the  Ninth  succeeded 
to  the  command  of  the  Union  forces,  Lieut.-Col.  Richard 
Fitz  Gibbons  leading  the  regiment.  Fifty  men  from  the 
Ninth  were  detailed  as  artillerists  to  Whin's  battery,  and  five 
to  Everett's  battery ;  and  the  regiment  was  swung  round  to 
the  support  of  the  center.  Col.  Fitz  Gibbons  says  in  his  offi 
cial  report,  "  To  complete  this  manoeuver,  the  regiment 
inarched  along  the  North  Road  until  it  came  within  range 
of  the  enemy's  guns,  when  it  filed  across  the  road  in  the  midst 
of  a  shower  of  grape  and  canister,  and  formed  in  line  of  bat 
tle  in  a  cornfield,  the  battery  opening  fire  from  the  road. 
The  enemy  at  this  juncture  appeared  directly  in  front,  yell 
ing,  and  firing  volleys  of  musketry,  which,  however,  did  but 
little  damage ;  the  shot  mostly  going  over  us,  owing  to  the 
proximity  of  the  enemy,  who,  on  delivering  his  fire,  fell  back. 
The  left  flank  being  exposed,  we  were  ordered  to  its  de 
fense  ;  and  the  regiment  resumed  its  first  position,  which  it 
retained  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  night." 

After  the  gallant  leader  was  shot  down,  the  valorous 
troops  were  skillfully  led  by  Col.  Cahill ;  and  the  enemy, 
having  lost  fearfully,  finally  retired  in  disorder,  leaving  the 
Union  forces  in  possession  of  the  field.  Col.  Cahill  says, 
u  Capt.  Silas  W.  Sawyer,  Company  H  of  the  Ninth  Connecti 
cut,  deserves  mention  for  his  bold  reconnoissance  on  the 
morning  of  the  6th,  going  out  on  the  Bayou-Sara  Road  three 
miles,  and  finding  no  trace  of  the  enemy.  Taking  a  cattle- 
path  through  the  woods,  he  came  out  on  the  Clinton  Road, 
beyond  the  original  line  of  our  pickets.  He  scoured  the 
country  to  Bird's  Plantation,  in  scouting  round  which  he 
found  one  of  the  enemy's  caissons,  and,  near  by,  three  others. 
Crossing  over  to  Bernard's  Plantation,  he  found  another 
and  a  damaged  ambulance."  Returning  to  headquarters,  he 
brought  them  safely  in. 

Lieut.-Col.  Fitz  Gibbons  mentioned  Adjutant  Kattensbroth 
and  Sergeant-Major  Curtis  for  gallant  service.  The  regi 
ment  took  twenty-four  prisoners,  and  lost  one  killed  and 
nine  wounded. 

The  enemy  fell  back,  but  rapidly  gathered  re-inforcements. 


312  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  EEBELLION. 

The  general  commanding  the  department  ordered  an  evac 
uation  of  the  post  on  account  of  its  evident  insecurity ;  and 
the  Union  forces  under  Col.  Cahill,  acting  brigadier-general, 
moved  on  transports  down  to  Camp  Parapet.  Here  the 
Ninth  was  again  on  outpost-duty,  picketing  the  shores  up 
and  down  the  river. 

On  Sept.  7,  the  Ninth,  Major  Frye  commanding,  partici 
pated  with  three  other  regiments  in  an  expedition  across 
the  river  to  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Charles  Court  House. 
The  object  was  to  capture  or  disperse  a  camp  of  two  thou 
sand  rebel  infantry  said  to  be  stationed  there.  The  Ninth, 
with  the  14th  Maine,  landed  at  daylight  of  the  8th  at  a 
point  above  Carrollton,  and  advanced  westward ;  the  other 
regiments  going  six  miles  higher  up.  Major  Frye  says  in  his 
official  report,  — 

"  The  artillery  shelled  the  woods  ;  but,  failing  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  the 
Ninth  Connecticut  were  thrown  forward  as  skirmishers.  After  moving 
forward  several  miles  through  woods,  swamps,  bayous,  and  canebrakes, 
everywhere  finding  traces  of  a  flying  enemy,  —  abandoned  haversacks, 
blankets,  bundles,  paper,  &c.,  —  it  was  found  that  the  enemy,  mostly  cav 
alry,  attempting  to  break  through  in  this  direction,  had  been  driven  back, 
and,  abandoning  their  horses,  saddles,  and  equipments,  had  fled  into  an  al 
most  impenetrable  swamp.  But,  being  surrounded  on  all  sides,  our  troops 
killed  and  wounded  eight,  taking  about  forty  prisoners,  and  bringing  in 
upwards  of  two  hundred  horses  ready  equipped.  This  was  accomplished 
without  loss  on  our  side." 

Stores  and  other  property  were  also  captured ;  and 
the  expedition  then  returned  to  camp  at  Carrollton  with 
the  booty.  Though  the  Ninth  had  not  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  Vicksburg  and  Port-Hudson  expeditions,  we 
are  told  "  not  a  man  lagged."  The  regiment  had  earned  an 
excellent  reputation ;  and  a  correspondent  of  the  Tribune, 
in  giving  some  account  of  its  movements,  said,  "  I  may  be 
allowed  to  acknowledge  the  services  of  one  of  our  oldest 
and  best-disciplined  regiments,  the  Ninth  Connecticut,  which 
was  the  second  regiment  debarked  at  Ship  Island.  Col.  T.  W. 
Cahill  has  been  for  the  past  year  an  acting  brigadier-general, 
and  is  still  serving  in  that  capacity."  For  a  time,  both  Col. 
Cahill  and  Col.  Birge  commanded  brigades,  under  Major- 
Gen.  Beckwith,  also  from  Connecticut. 

During  September,  the  Thirteenth  lost  a  popular  and  en- 


THE  TWELFTH  AND  THIRTEENTH  IN  BATTLE.  313 

terprising  officer  in  Lieut.  Isaac  F.  Nettleton  of  Kent.  "  He 
was  the  first  of  our  officers  to  die,"  says  Col.  Sprague.  "  His 
death  caused  a  deep  gloom  and  heartfelt  sorrow  among  his 
associates." 

On  Oct.  24,  Weitzel's  brigade,  at  Carrollton,  including 
the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Connecticut,  embarked,  and  pro 
ceeded  ninety  miles  up  the  river  to  Donaldsonville'.  Next 
morning  they  moved  westward,  along  both  sides  of  the 
Bayou  La  Fourche,  which,  twenty  miles  from  the  Mississippi, 
courses  southwardly  through  a  district  much  broken  by 
swamps  and  lakes,  and  connects  with  the  Gulf.  In  order 
to  concentrate,  the  enemy  retired  down  the  bayou.  The 
Union  column  advanced ;  while  negroes  thronged  the  way, 
and  clamored  their  extravagant  benedictions  in  bad  English, 
only  too  happy  to  "  tote "  musket  and  knapsack  for  the 
weary  soldier. 

On  Oct.  27,  the  brigade  came  up  with  the  rebel  position 
at  Georgia  Landing,  near  Labadieville.  There  two  veteran 
regiments  occupied  rifle-pits  behind  a  stout  cypress  fence. 
To  this  position,  from  the  left  bank,  the  rebel  force  hurried 
to  cut  off  the  8th  New-Hampshire  and  Perkins's  cavalry  be 
fore  relief  could  reach  them.  Weitzel  divined  the  move 
ment,  and  threw  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Connecticut 
across  on  an  extemporized  bridge  of  flat-boats.  The  rebels 
opened  a  fierce  cannonade  on  the  frail  structure ;  but  the 
Twelfth  dashed  across,  and  deployed  into  line  of  battle. 
Again  we  copy  from  Col.  Sprague's  History  of  the  Thir 
teenth  :  — 

"  For  the  first  time,  the  Thirteenth  was  fairly  in  battle.  The  big  solid 
shot  were  pounding  upon  us,  and  the  rifled  shells  were  whistling  demoni 
acally  over  our  heads.  We  had  great  confidence  in  Gen.  Weitzel  and  Col. 
Birge,  but  not  yet  in  ourselves.  Would  our  men  stand  fire?  Would  they 
resist  a  cavalry  charge  ?  for  the  enemy  were  superior  in  cavalry.  Would 
our  men  march  straight  against  a  bristling  fence  of  bayonets?  .  .  .  Such 
questions  agitated  our  breasts  as  the  enemy's  shot  came  ripping  up  the 
ground,  smashing  the  trees,  or  screaming  and  exploding  overhead. 

"  We  neared  the  opening  in  the  levee.  Our  step  changed  to  the  double- 
quick.  .  .  .  '  File  left ! '  commanded  Col.  Birge  ;  and  the  regiment  at 
double-quick  gilded  down  the  bank  and  upon  the  bridge,  with  muskets  at  a 
right-shoulder  shift.  Our  pace  quickened  almost  to  a  run,  while  the  can 
non-balls  were  flying  over  us  or  plowing  up  the  water  under  our  feet. 
Up  the  steep  bank  on  the  other  side,  and  straight  out  among  the  brambles 
40 


314  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

and  trees.  .  .  .  We  reached  the  middle  of  the  field.  '  Battalion,  halt ! 
Front !  On  the  center,  dress  ! '  rang  out  the  voice  of  Col.  Dirge.  A  shell 
exploded  over  his  head  at  this  moment,  and  a  large  fragment  dropped  un 
der  his  horse's  feet.  '  A  piece  of  shell  for  you,  boys,'  said  he,  smiling. 
They  soon  came  thicker  than  was  amusing. 

"  The  three  regiments  Avere  now  in  echelon  descending  from  the  right,  at 
about  ten  rods  lateral  and  perpendicular  distance  between  the  steps  ;  the 
Eighth  resting  on  the  bayou,  the  Thirteenth  in  the  center,  the  Twelfth  on 
the  right.  The  Twelfth  were  already  in  motion  to  the  front  when 
our  colonel  commanded,  '  Battalion,  forward  !  Guide  center  !  March  ! ' 
Through  the  thick  thorn-bushes  and  among  scattering  trees,  over  stumps 
and  ditches,  we  pressed  forward.  ...  It  gave  us  real  pain  to  see  the  line 
become  wavy.  There  was  an  astonishing  and  somewhat  shocking  quan 
tity  of  swearing  expended  to  keep  the  ranks  closed  and  companies  even 
with  the  colors.  There  was,  however,  no  lagging,  except  when  an 
exhausted,  sick,  or  wounded  man  fell  behind.  The  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
were  moving  steadily  forward.  .  .  . 

"  We  were  a  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  rebel  line,  and 
had  not  yet  fired  a  bullet,  when  the  enemy's  infantry  opened  upon  us  with 
a  rattle  like  the  discharge  of  an  endless  string  of  fire-crackers.  The  invis 
ible  messengers  came  humming  and  singing  in  our  ears,  and  striking  a 
man  here  and  there  with  a  quick  chuck !  that  sounded  far  uglier  than  the 
rush  of  the  larger  missiles,  which  can  often  be  seen  and  frequently  give  a 
little  warning  before  they  strike.  Here  we  passed  the  band  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Connecticut,  and  some  of  the  drum  corps,  not  standing  up  or 
marching  to  the  front,  blowing  and  drumming  as  if  their  life  depended 
upon  it,  as  one  sees  them  represented  in  pictures,  but  lying  flat  on  the 
ground  behind  stumps,  and  clinging  fondly  to  mother  earth. 

"  We  passed  a  few  rods  fariher,  halted,  dressed  accurately  on  the  center, 
and  stood  a  few  minutes  in  a  line,  while  the  hail  flew  over  us.  David 
Black,  private  of  Company  F,  dropped  dead,  a  bullet  passing  through  his 
heart :  others  fell  wounded.  A  large  tree  stood  in  touching  distance  of  the 
line.  A  quick  rush  was  made  by  a  dozen  soldiers  and  two  or  three  officers 
to  get  behind  it.  '  Come  out  from  behind  that  tree,  and  go  back  to  your 
places  in  the  ranks,  or  I'll  blow  your  brains  out  ! '  exclaimed  our  colonel, 
witli  a  succession  of  oaths  that  sounded  at  the  time  emphatic  rather  than 
profane.  Weitzel  came  up.  '  It's  getting  pretty  warm,'  said  he.  'You'd 
better  lie  down.'  —  '  Lie  down  ! '  commanded  the  colonel.  This  order  did 
not  need  to  be  repeated,  nor  did  any  other.  We  had  passed  through  the 
severest  test  of  discipline,  —  that  which  requires  a  soldier  simply  to  stand 
straight  up  and  be  shot  at,  without  flinching,  and  without  returning  the 
compliment." 

"  As  Weitzel  sat  on  his  horse  at  our  left,  intently  watching 
the  enemy,  he  suddenly  said,  '  Rise  up  ! '  A  moment  after, 
he  quietly  remarked,  '  Their  cavalry  are  coming.'  Bayo 
nets  were  fixed  ;  but  there  appeared  not  to  be  time  to  form 
square.  We  stood  breathlessly  awaiting  the  onset.  '  You 
may  lie  down.  They're  not  coming,'  said  the  general :  '  we 
must  charge  them.  Rise  up  !  Battalion,  forward !  Guide 
center!  March!'  Col.  Birge  again  commanded.  The 


THE  TWELFTH  AND  THIRTEENTH  IN  ACTION.  315 

Twelfth  were  in  motion  the  same  instant,  and  the  final  grand 
charge  began.  The  enemy's  fire  redoubled  its  fierceness. 
From  their  cover  in  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  down  in  their 
rifle-pits  behind  the  stout  fence,  they  had  a  full  view  of  the 
four  hundred  men  of  the  Twelfth  and  the  long  line  of  six 
hundred  bayonets  of  the  Thirteenth  that  came  steadily  for 
ward  with  unbroken  ranks ;  while  we  could  see  very  few  of 
our  antagonists,  though  the  innumerable  puffs  of  white  smoke 
and  the  terrible  roll  of  musketry  and  cannon  fully  revealed 
their  position.  With  difficulty,  by  savage  threats,  we 
restrained  our  men  from  shooting ;  while  the  tempest  of 
missiles  was  hissing  past  us,  tearing  through  our  colors,  our 
clothing,  and  our  persons.  How  we  longed  to  return  the 
fire !  But  our  leader  seemed  to  rely  on  the  bayonet  alone. 
The  flanking  force  which  the  enemy  had  sent  round  might 
fall  on  our  rear  at  any  moment.  Not  a  second  was  to  be 
lost  by  stopping  to  fire  even  a  single  volley.  Forward,  still 
forward,  we  pressed,  shoulder  to  shoulder :  and  still  we  were 
the  targets  of  their  two  batteries  and  three  infantry  regi 
ments.  Our  impatience  to  be  shooting  grew  extreme  ;  and  I 
think  the  sweetest  sound  that  smote  upon  our  ears  during 
the  war  was  the  sudden  crash  of  the  four  hundred  rifles  of 
the  Twelfth  Connecticut  on  our  right.  Heavens,  what  a  vol 
ley  1  Unable  to  hold  back  longer,  the  Thirteenth  instantly  an 
swered  with  a  tremendous  roll  of  musketry.  Both  regiments 
poured  in  an  unceasing  fire,  all  the  while  marching  steadily 
forward.  The  fence  beneath  which  the  first  line  of  rebels 
lay  was  splintered,  riddled,  honey-combed.  The  excitement 
grew  intense.  Will  they  stand  a  bayonet-charge  ?  See,  the 
rebel  line  wavers !  Their  officers  frantically  brandish  their 
swords,  and  in  vain  try  to  hold  their  men.  Many  are  leap- 
irig  out  of  the  rifle-pits  •  many  more  are  fluttering  their 
white  handkerchiefs  in  token  of  surrender." 

Both  regiments  now  rushed  over  the  rebel  position,  sweep 
ing  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery  away.  They  captured 
two  hundred  prisoners,  a  piece  of  artillery,  and  many  arms 
and  accouterments.  Gen.  Weitzel  addressed  the  regiments 
briefly,  expressing  his  approbation ;  while  Capt.  Tisdale 
continued  the  pursuit  to  pick  up  stragglers.  The  Twelfth 


316  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

lost  nineteen  and  the  Thirteenth  fifteen  killed  and  wounded. 
Next  day  they  marched  to  Thibodeau,  and  unfurled  the  flag 
of  Connecticut,  frowned  on  by  the  whites,  and  hailed  by 
thousands  of  negroes  as  the  emblem  of  emancipation. 

The  battle  of  Georgia  Landing  was  decisive.  The  rebels 
fled  from  all  the  region  of  the  La  Fourche,  and  west  beyond 
Brashear  City. 

The  Ninth  Connecticut  Volunteers  was  part  of  a  co-opera 
tive  force  that  went  by  rail  to  the  crossing  below  Thibodeau ; 
but  it  was  not  engaged. 

Assistant  Surgeon  M.  C.  Leavenworth  of  the  Twelfth, 
from  Waterbury,  died  Nov.  16.  Lieut.  John  T.  Wheeler 
of  the  Thirteenth,  from  New  Haven,  and  Lieut.  Andrew  T. 
Johnson  of  Montville,  were  instantly  killed,  Nov.  7,  by 
the  explosion  of  an  arnmunition-car  on  the  railroad. 

At  Thibodeau,  Weitzel's  brigade  made  a  camp,  and  called 
it  "  Camp  Stevens."  There  was  an  insufficiency  of  food,  and 
the  soldiers  were  sometimes  very  hungry.  Foraging  was 
freely  carried  on ;  and  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  managed 
to  keep  in  good  spirits. 

The  last  Thursday  in  November,  1862,  was  celebrated  by 
the  regiments  as  a  grand  holiday,  in  memory  of  the  Con 
necticut  Thanksgiving.  There  were  all  sorts  of  races  and 
games.  Col.  Birge  temporarily  abdicated  his  position,  and 
allowed  the  regiment  to  choose  a  colonel  for  the  day.  They 
selected  Sergeant  Ezra  M.  Hull  of  Newtown,  who  arrayed 
himself  as  an  Indian  chief,  and  issued  a  series  of  amusing 
orders  founded  on  the  rule  that  whoever  should  do  any  thing 
right  during  the  day  should  be  put  into  the  guard-house. 
The  orders  were  strictly  enforced,  and  great  fun  resulted, 
though  there  were  few  offenders  against  the  edict.  Then  a 
good  dinner  was  provided.  "  The  whole  concluded  with  a 
sham  dress-parade,  in  which  the  line-officers,  in  disguise,  per 
sonated  a  band  of  music,  and  the  whole  regiment,  attired  in 
a  style  that  would  have  broken  Falstaff's  heart,  obeyed  the 
standing  order  to  do  nothing  right." 

The  nine-months'  Connecticut  regiments — the  Twenty- 
third,    Twenty -fourth,    Twenty -fifth,    Twenty  -  sixth,   and 


ARRIVAL  AT  SHIP  ISLAND.  317 

Twenty-eighth  —  did  not  tarry  many  weeks  on  Long  Island. 
On  Nov.  29,  1862,  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-eighth 
broke  camp  at  Centreville  ;  and  seven  companies  of  each 
marched  to  Atlantic  Ferry,  Brooklyn,  and  embarked  on  the 
steamer  Che-Kiang  (Sea-King)  to  join  the  forces  of  Gen. 
Banks,  now  assembling  in  the  Gulf  Department.  About 
the  same  time,  the  Twenty-sixth  and  five  companies  of  the 
Twenty-fifth  crowded  the  steam-vessel  Empire  City ;  and  the 
rest  took  passage  later  on  the  Mary  A.  Boardman  and  Mer- 
rimack.  Col.  Almy  found  it  impossible  to  get  adequate  trans 
portation  ;  and  the  vessels  were  terribly  overloaded,  to  the 
great  injury  of  the  health  of  the  men. 

The  first  sea-sickness  over,  the  soldier-passengers  did  not 
find  it  difficult  to  amuse  themselves,  and  several  pleasant 
days  were  passed.  On  the  evening  of  Dec.  5,  off  Hat- 
teras,  the  usual  storm  burst  upon  the  vessels  in  all  its  fury, 
threatening  to  ingulf  them.  The  Che-Kiang,  with  its 
freight  of  a  thousand  men,  refused  to  obey  the  helm,  and 
wallowed  helpless  in  the  trough  of  the  sea,  shivering  under 
the  mountainous  waves ;  while  flash  after  flash  of  lurid  light- 
nino-  revealed  the  terrors  of  the  situation.  However,  the 

o 

vessels  all  weathered  the  storm,  and  at  last,  after  touching 
at  the  Tortugas,  arrived  safely  at  the  rude  wharf  of  Ship 
Island,  and  disembarked.  "  This  low  sand-bank  is  the  crea 
tion  of  the  restless  Mexican  Gulf.  It  boasts  but  little  vege 
tation.  A  few  grasses,  cacti,  flowering  herbs  and  shrubs,  and 
some  stunted  pines,  exhaust  the  list.  Nor  is  the  fauna 
more  extensive  than  the  flora.  A  dilapidated  cow  and  an 
untimely  calf,  some  splendid  horses  and  refractory  mules, 
ugly  alligators,  venomous  spiders,  and  spiteful  mosquitoes, 
would  chiefly  claim  the  attention  of,  the  naturalist.  The 
encircling  waves  swarm  with  fish."  * 

Here  the  regiments  rested  a  few  days,  and  inhaled  fresh 
air,  after  their  trying  confinement ;  then  resumed  their  jour 
ney,  and  passed  up  the  river,  depositing  an  overgrown  mail 
at  New  Orleans.  The  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-eighth 
landed  at  Camp  Parapet,  the  northerly  defense  of  the  city, 
on  Dec.  IT,  and  laid  out  a  camp. 

1  Chaplain  Richard  Whcatley. 


318  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Hardly  had  the  tents  been  pitched,  and  the  wearied  sol 
diers  begun  to  think  of  the  night's  rest,  when  orders  came 
from  headquarters  for  the  Twenty-eighth  to  re-embark,  and 
repair  to  Pensacola,  Fla.,  to  relieve  the  91st  New- York.  In 
two  hours,  the  regiment  was  again  on  board ;  and  the  trans 
port  dropped  down  to  the  city,  and  proceeded  through  the 
Gulf,  arriving  at  Pensacola  on  the  22d ;  and  the  city  appeared 
in  sight  when  the  vessel  came  over  the  bar  ten  miles  off 
"  Its  solitary  church-spire,  houses,  and  streets  looked  prettily 
enough  to  eyes  so  utterly  tired  of  the  briny  deep ;  nor  did 
it  look  less  cosy  and  comfortable  after  a  personal  inspection. 
Three  months  were  very  pleasantly  spent  in  that  ancient, 
unenterprising  city,  with  its  singular  population,  gathered, 
apparently,  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven." ' 

The  city  had  already  been  encircled  with  a  barricade  of 
strong  stakes  and  an  abatis  of  tree-tops ;  and  a  small  fort  and 
redoubt  commanded  the  principal  -approaches.  Under  Gen. 
Neal  Dow,  the  Twenty-eighth  and  two  other  regiments 
strengthened  these  works,  added  masked  batteries,  and  made 
the  place  defensible.  Chaplain  Richard  Wheatley,  in  a 
sketch  of  the  regiment  in  the  Stamford  Advocate,  says  of 
the  occupation  of  Pensacola,  "Favored  with  good  food, 
regular  rest,  clear  skies,  a  balmy  and  delicious  atmosphere, 
and  an  occasional  scrimmage  with  the  enemy,  we  should  not 
have  objected  to  spend  the  period  of  our  enlistment  there." 

But  it  was  not  so  ordered.  By  direction  of  Gen.  Banks,  the 
city,  being  of  no  strategic  importance,  was  evacuated ;  and 
troops,  ordnance,  and  materiel  were  removed  to  Fort  Baran- 
cas  and  Warrington  Navy-yard,  eight  miles  west,  and  oppo 
site  Fort  Pickens.  At  Pensacola  died  the  amiable  and 
popular  Capt,  Francis  R.  Leeds,  formerly  cashier  of  the 
Stamford  Bank.  Detained  at  home  by  typhoid  fever  when 
the  regiment  went  away,  he  had  not  wholly  recovered 
when  he  rejoined  his  comrades  in  Western  Florida,  and  was 
received  with  general  joy.  In  another  week,  he  had  fallen 
a  victim  to  the  climate  of  the  South.  There  was  genuine 
grief  at  his  loss. 

The  regiment  now  comfortably  settled  in  the  edge  of  the 

2  Narrative  in  Stamford  Advocate,  by  Chaplain  Richard  Wheatley. 


IX  CAMP  AT  BATOX  ROUGE.  319 

pine-woods  near  Barancas.  Seven  weeks  sped  swiftly  by 
while  encamped  on  that  lovely  spot ;  the  loose  and  yielding 
sand  absorbing  the  moisture  as  it  fell,  the  rustling  branches 
of  the  dark  old  pines  affording  some  protection  against  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  heat  attempered  by  the  invigorating 
breezes  that  daily  came  in  from  the  bright  and  beautiful 
Gulf.  The  camp  was  neat;  the  tents  admirably  if  not  ele 
gantly  furnished  ;  the  culinary  arrangements  hardly  suggest 
ing  the  privations  of  a  state  of  war  Here  the  winter 
(1862-3)  wore  pleasantly  away.  Of  course,  there  was  picket- 
duty  and  occasional  alarms,  disease  and  occasional  death. 
Several  faithful  men  went  to  sleep  under  the  branches  of  the 
pines,  whose  leaves  were  vocal  with  a  perpetual  dirge  in 
memory  of  the  unre turning  brave. 

The  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  Regiments  imme 
diately  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  Baton  Rouge,  landing  on 
Dec.  17,  as  the  rebels  evacuated  the  town  under  the  fire  of" 
our  gunboats.  Again  the  national  flag  was  unfurled  from 
the  summit  of  the  State  House,  and  again  a  populous  village 
of  tents  sprung  up  in  the  arsenal-grounds  and  the  open 
places  of  the  city.  The  Thirteenth  also  arrived  about  this 
time  from  the  La-Fourche  Campaign,  and  was  at  first  with 
the  Twenty-fourth,  and  afterwards  with  the  Twenty-fifth,  in 
a  brigade  under  Col.  Birge.  The  regiments  suffered  less 
than  many  others  during  this  period  of  acclimation. 

The  Twenty-sixth  had  remained  with  the  Twenty-third  at 
Camp  Parapet,  drilling,  doing  guard-duty,  and  on  detached 
service.  Some  private  soldiers  died  there  ;  and  their  remains 
were  generally  sent  home  in  metallic  coffins,  by  the  compa 
nies  to  which  they  belonged.  Not  an  officer  of  the  Twenty- 
sixth  died  while  in  service.  On  Jan.  27,  1863,  Lieut.  Jonah 
F.  Clark  of  the  Thirteenth,  from  New  Haven,  fell  a  victim  of 
fever.  He  was  mourned  as  a  gallant  officer  and  a  true  man. 

The  Thirteenth  had  left  Thibodeau  for  Baton  Rouge  on 
Dec.  27 ;  but  the  Twelfth  remained  with  Weitzel's  brigade. 
Lieut.-Col.  Colburn  was  made  superintendent  of  the  railroad, 
and  Major  Peck  was  in  command  of  the  latter  regiment. 
In  January,  1863,  the  brigade  went  on  an  expedition  up  the 
Teche  to  destroy  the  gunboat  J.  A.  Cptton. 


320  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

The  infantry  marched  overland,  sleeping  the  first  night  in 
a  cornfield  near  Pattersonville.  Next  morning,  the  Twelfth 
went  on  in  line  of  battle  through  a  field  of  cane ;  and  before 
noon  the  huge  boat  was  in  plain  view,  and,  being  aground, 
she  remained  until  they  were  quite  abreast  of  her.  After 
some  of  her  men  were  shot  by  our  sharpshooters  along  the 
bank,  and  under  a  terrible  fire  from  our  artillery,  she  backed 
off  around  a  bend  in  the  bayou.  Her  armament  was  power 
ful,  and  she  used  it  well  while  she  could.  The  obstructions 
prevented  our  gunboats  approaching. 

"  After  a  few  hours,  her  black  smoke  was  seen  at  the  bend 
in  the  bayou ;  and  all  eyes  were  turned  up  the  river  as  her 
shot  plowed  up  the  ground  around  us :  but  our  line 
wavered  not.  In  a  moment,  the  artillery  opened  upon  her, 
and  taught  her,  by  many  a  shot  crashing  through  her  wood 
work,  she  must  be  off,  or  sink.  We  slept  that  night  in  a 
canefield,  in  the  extreme  advance.  It  was  bitter  cold,  and 
a  moderate  rain  added  not  a  little  to  our  discomfort.  Our 
rations  that  day  were  raw  pork  and  hard  bread ;  but  food  never 
tasted  better.  By  daylight  next  morning,  we  saw  the  bright 
fire  made  by  the  burning  of  the  saucy  gunboat.  She  was 
so  disabled,  the  rebels  concluded  to  fire  her ;  and  she  lies 
in  the  Teche  a  charred,  unsightly  mass."  3 

The  brigade  now  returned,  and  regained  the  camp  at 
Thibodeau.  In  February,  the  Twelfth  moved  to  Brashear 
City,  and  remained  in  Camp  Reno  and  Bayou  Boeuf  during 
the  remaining  weeks  of  the  early  Southern  spring. 

In  March,  Company  A  was  detailed  to  go  on  board  the 
gunboat  Diana  on  a  reconnoissance  into  Grand  Lake.  The 
rebels  opened  upon  them  so  severely  with  artillery  and 
musketry,  that  they  were  obliged  to  surrender.  Lieut  James 
L.  Francis  of  Hartford  was  shot  through  the  body.  He  had 
just  returned  to  the  regiment,  having  been  taken  prisoner 
at  Labadieville ;  and,  after  a  few  weeks  on  corn-meal  in  sev 
eral  of  the  Confederate  prisons,  was  exchanged.  Thirty 
men  of  Company  A  were  captured.  One  private  was  killed, 
and  several  wounded.  Company  A's  revolving  rifle,  a 
present  from  Col.  Colt  of  Hartford,  was  fired  while  the  am- 

8  Narrative  in  the  Connecticut  War  Record. 


GALLANTRY   OF  LIEUT.   BUCKLEY.  321 

munition  lasted,  and  then  taken  apart,  and  thrown  into  the 
bayou  in  different  places. 

"  They  are  said  to  have  fought  with  the  greatest  gallantry^ 
and  only  surrendered  when  surrounded  by  greatly  superior 
numbers,  after  the  boat  had  become  disabled.  After  the  gun 
ners  of  the  boat  had  been  driven  from  their  pieces  by  the 
enemy's  sharpshooters,  Lieut.  William  S.  Buckley,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  small  boy,  loaded  and  fired  a  20-pound  Parrott 
gun  three  times;  the  last  time  sending  ramrod  and  all."4 

*  Official  Report  of  Col.  Frank  H.  Peck. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Spring  Election  of  1863.  —  The  Peace  "Wing  of  the  Democracy  again  Demonstrative. — 
Buckingham  versus  Seymour.  —  "  No  more  War!  " —  The  Platforms.  — Gov.  Seymour's 
Letter. — Appeals  from  the  Connecticut  Regiments  in  the  Field.—  Sharp  Extracts. — 
The  Vote.  —  Eaton's  Resolutions  in  the  Assembly.  —  After  Frcdcricksburg.  —  The 
Eighth,  Eleventh,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Twenty-first  at  Newport  News.  —  Siege  of 
SuiFolk.  —  Skirmishes  and  Reconnoissanccs.  —  Capture  of  Eort  linger.  —  Raising 
of  the  Siege.  —  Evacuation.  —  "  The  Blackberry  Raid." 

RECEDING  the  spring  election  of  1863,  the 
campaign  was  far  more  exciting  than  the  last 
had  been.  Again  the  Democrats  resolutely 
contested  the  State,  this  time  boldly  rallying 
under  the  banner,  "  No  more  war." 
Two  years  of  conflict  had  not  seemed  to  carry  forward 
the  national  array.  The  Confederates  stoutly  held  about 
all  they  had  at  first  claimed ;  and  recognition  by  foreign 
powers  appeared  to  them  nearer  than  ever.  The  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  a  hundred  thousand  strong,  still  struggled  with 
Virginia  mud  within  sight  of  Washington.  The  humiliating 
Peninsular  campaign  and  Fredericksburg  were  behind,  and 
Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg  still  ahead.  President  Lincoln, 
in  the  nation's  dire  strait,  had  just  struck  the  Achilles  heel 
of  the  Confederacy  ;  and  the  Republicans  were  called  on  to 
defend  this  "  unconstitutional  "  blow  at  slavery,  without  yet 
being  able  to  point  to  any  of  the  compensating  advantages 
that  had  been  predicted.  Some  of  the  great  Middle  and 
Western  States  had  just  given  Democratic  majorities  ;  and  it 
was  plain,  that,  in  a  close  State  like  Connecticut,  even  the 
popular  incumbent,  Gov.  Buckingham,  might  be  defeated. 

Again  the  "  peace  men "  gathered  strength,  increased  in 
numbers,  frankly  avowed  their  principles ;  declaring  that 
the  Union  could  be  saved  only  by  an  immediate  cessation 

322 


EXCITING  POLITICAL   CONTEST.  323 

of  hostilities.  The  Democrats  were  somewhat  elated,  and 
entered  the  field  with  great  spirit.  Their  State  Convention 
assembled  in  Hartford  in  February ;  and  by  the  shrewd 
management  of  Alfred  E.  Burr,  editor  of  the  Times,  Hon. 
Thomas  H.  Seymour  was  nominated  for  governor.  W.  W. 
Eaton,  the  ablest  and  boldest  advocate  of  the  peace  doctrine, 
reported  the  platform  of  the  party. 

The  resolutions  set  forth  that  "  the  United  States  are  a 
confederacy  of  States  co-equal  in  sovereignty  and  political 
power ;  "  and  that  "  the  Administration  has,  for  nearly  two 
years,  been  in  armed  collision  with  the  people  of  more  than 
one-third  of  the  States  composing  this  Confederacy  ; "  and 
declared,  "  while  we  denounce  the  heresy  of  secession  as 
unwarranted  by  the  Constitution,  the  time  has  now  corne 
when  all  true  lovers  of  the  Constitution  are  ready  to 
abandon  the  '  monstrous  fallacy '  that  the  Union  can  be 
restored  by  the  armed  hand."  They  further  called  on  all  to 
unite  in  saving  the  Union  by  withdrawing  our  army  from 
the  field,  and  proposing  a  compromise. 

The  Republicans  opened  the  campaign  with  equal  earnest 
ness  ;  renominating  Gov.  Buckingham,  declaring  plainly  for 
the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion  by  war,  and  avowing  that 
"  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  has  our  hearty  support  as 
a  measure  of  military  necessity  alike  expedient  and  just." 

Both  conventions  thanked  the  soldiers  in  the  field  for 
their  patient  endurance  and  courage,  and  both  parties  em 
ployed  the  usual  weapons. 

The  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  had,  a  short  time 
before,  written  an  anti-war  letter  to  a  Thomas  Lawrence  of 
New  York.  A.  copy  of  this  was  found  in  the  possession 
of  Capt.  Gladding  of  the  rebel  navy,  detained  at  Hilton 
Head  as  a  spy  ;  and  it  was  greedily  seized  and  published 
by  the  Republican  papers  over  and  over.  The  Hartford 
Times  accepted  it  in  Mr.  Seymour's  name,  and  declared 
that  it  was  "  a  splendid  letter."  The  following  are  some 
extracts,  rendered  important  by  the  fact  that  the  epistle  was 
made  his  platform  :  — 

.     "  Your    allusion    to    '  constitutional    liberty'  suggests    pain 
ful  reflections.     Since  the  inauguration  of  this  war,  the  men  in  power  at 


324  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Washington  have  been  robbing  us  of  our  rights.  The  great  safeguards  of 
the  citizen,  protecting  him  against  illegal  arrests  and  false  imprisonments, 
Lave  been  struck  down  by  ignorant  or  wicked  rulers. 

"  I  abhor  the  whole  scheme  of  Southern  invasion,  with  all  its  horrible 
consequences  of  rapine  and  plunder.  You  cannot  but  see,  sir,  what  thou 
sands  of  us  are  beginning  to  see,  that  no  Union  can  be  got  in  this  way. 
The  war  might  have  been  avoided,  and  the  Union  saved.  This  is  getting 
to  be  the  prevailing  opinion.  And  it  would  have  been  avoided,  but  for  a 
frantic  set  of  men  besieging  the  president,  and  who  wanted  blood  and  plun 
der.  They  have  got  both,  and  humanity  weeps  over  the  wrecks  of  body 
and  soul.  Those  who  drive  the  car  of  war  at  this  time  have  no  more  idea 
of  saving  the  Union  by  their  bloody  sacrifices  of  this  sort  than  they  have 
of  changing  the  course  of  nature.  Still  they  go  on. 

"  In  presence  of  the  appalling  fact,  which  should  haunt  them  like  a  ghost 
of  the  damned,  that  we  are  losing  our  young  men  at  the  rate  of  '  twenty 
thousand  a  month,  aside  from  those  who  fall  in  battle,'  —  in  presence  of  all 
this,  they  demand  new  levies  for  the  hospitals,  the  marshes,  the  ditches, 
and  the  gunboat  shambles. 

"  Depend  upon  it,  Heaven  will  frown  on  such  a  cause  as  this  :  it  can 
not  and  will  not  come  to  good.  I  would  rather  have  the  good  opinion  of 
fellow-citizens,  who,  like  yourself,  have  given  me  their  sympathy  in  a  time 
of  some  considerable  trial  for  one's  faith,  than  to  be  first  among  the  slayers 
of  kindred,  or  wear  the  bloody  laurels  they  may  gather  in  a  fratricidal  war. 
I  doubt  if  the  Union  can  be  restored  at  all :  things  have  gone  so  far  now, 
that  the  only  possible  chance  will  be  by  the  adoption  of  a  Christian  policy, 
very  different  from  that  which  prevails  at  Washington  at  the  present 
time. 

"  Though  I  only  know  you,  sir,  by  your  very  kind  letter,  I  shall  not 
soon  forget  that  it  was  written,  or  by  whom." 

Dr.  Crary  of  Hartford  being  among  the  vice-presidents  of 
a  Democratic  mass-meeting  in  Hartford,  the  Press  next 
day  copied  the  following  certificate  of  a  birth  returned  to 
the  register's  office  by  him  :  — 

"Father,  —  Leverett  B.  Owen;  house,  Main  Street.  Occupation, — 
Off  South,  murdering  as  many  of  our  brethren  there  as  possible  " 

The  campaign  was  bitter.  The  passions  of  the  State  were 
roused ;  and  the  soldiers  at  the  front,  having  no  immediate 
fight  of  their  own,  took  a  hand  in  this.  Almost  every  regi 
ment  of  the  twenty-four  in  the  field  adopted  an  "  Appeal  to 
the  Citizens  of  Connecticut "  to  re-elect  Gov.  Buckingham. 
These  ranged  in  length  from  one-half  to  a  whole  news 
paper  column  each ;  and  they  were  generally  adopted  by 
unanimous  acclamation,  and  signed  by  nearly  every  officer 
on  duty. 

The  appeal  from  the  Twentieth  came  first.     It  was  signed 


APPEALS  FPtOM  THE  REGIMENTS.  325 

by  Col.  Ross,  and  indorsed  u  unanimously  adopted  by  officers 
and  men."     The  following  is  an  extract :  — 

"  The  cry  of  '  peace '  is  too  old  to  deceive  an  intelligent  patriot.  We 
remember  that  the  '  peace-men  '  of  the  Revolution  fled  to  British  men-of- 
war.  We  remember  that  the  'peace-men'  of  1812  furnished  the  enemy 
with  supplies,  or  sought  refuge  from  conscription  by  cowardly  flights  to 
Canada.  We  know  of  no  definition  for  '  peace-men '  in  time  of  Avar  but 
enemies  of  the  government  which  protects  and  defends  them. 

"  Let  the  people  of  Connecticut  remember  that  the  issue  is  fairly  before 
them,  whether  they  will  make  a  cowardly  surrender  of  the  cause  of  free 
government  ;  whether  they  will  basely  desert  the  thousands  who  are  fight 
ing  their  battles  to  strengthen  the  arms  and  direct  the  bayonets  of  the  foe  ; 
whether  they  will  cast  contumely  upon  the  noble  dead  who  have  already 
fallen  in  this  struggle,  and  whose  headstones  point  the  way  to  duty.  We 
are  Avilling  still  to  bear  the  hardships  and  brave  the  dangers  of  the  field : 
we  call  upon  you  to  decide  whether  you  Avill  sustain  us,  or  give  comfort 
and  strength  to  our  enemies.  To  us  the  Southern  skies  are  brightening 
with  the  iislit  of  hope :  let  not  defeat  at  home  turn  back  '  the  shadow  on 
the  dial.'  " 

The  following  is  a  paragraph  from  the  appeal  of  the  Nine 
teenth  :  it  was  signed  by  more  than  four  hundred  officers 
and  men,  whose  names  were  published  in  the  Litch field 
Enquirer :  — 

"  Men  of  Connecticut !  did  you  encourage  us  by  your  bounties,  your 
banners,  your  words,  and  deeds,  to  leave  homes,  friends,  every  thing,  to 
fight  Southern  rebels,  only  that  we  might  look  back,  and  see  foes  not  less 
malignant,  and  not  less  dangerous,  assailing  us  from  behind?  We  pray 
you  not  to  crush  our  resolution  and  palsy  our  arms  by  electing  for  your 
governor  and  ours  a  man  who  hopes  for  our  defeat  and  humiliation." 

The  Connecticut  regiments  in  the  9th  Corps  at  Newport 
News  sent  forward  an  earnest  address,  somewhat  acrimonious 
withal,  from  which  the  following  is  a  quotation :  — 

"We  may  justly  feel  a  soldier's  respect  for  our  foes  on  the  James  and 
the  Rappahannock  on  account  of  their  skill  and  courage  ;  but  towards  the 
enemies  of  the  Republic  on  the  Thames,  the  Connecticut,  and  the  Housa- 
tonic,  AVC  can  have  no  other  feelings  than  those  of  unmitigated  scorn  and 
contempt.  The  former  are  foemen  worthy  of  our  steel ;  for  the  latter  we 
feel  no  such  chivalrous  regard." 

This  appeal,  of  a  column,  was  signed  by  eighteen  com 
missioned  officers  of  the  Eighth,  eleven  of  the  Eleventh, 
seventeen  of  the  Fifteenth,  eighteen  of  the  Sixteenth,  and 
twenty-three  of  the  Twenty-first,  —  nearly  all  that  were 
present. 

On   March    8,   a  soldier  in  the  Twenty-second  wrote  to 


326  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

the  Hartford  Times,  that  three-fourths  of  the  regiment  were 
Democrats.  On  the  10th,  he  wrote,  that,  on  the  previous 
clay,  they  were  marched  out  in  column  by  company,  and  "  the 
colonel  told  them  that  the  officers  had  unanimously  adopted 
the  resolutions  for  Buckingham.  The  adjutant  then  read 
them,  and  put  them  to  vote,  asking  all  who  approved  to  say, 
i  Yes/  and  all  who  disapproved  to  say,  '  No.'  The  '  Yes/  " 
says  the  correspondent,  "was  freely  given  by  Republicans 
and  Democrats  together.  When  the  dissentients  were  called 
upon  to  speak  out,  not  one  man  dared  to  raise  his  voice. 
Even  the  boldest  would  not  dare  to  record  his  dissentient 
vote  whilst  out  here  in  Virginia." 

The  Fourteenth,  in  camp  near  Plymouth,  passed  similar 
resolutions,  brief  and  unambiguous. 

The  Seventeenth,  just  getting  ready  to  march  to  battle, 
unanimously  wrote  to  Fairlield  County, — 

"  Can  it  be  true  that  any  considerable  number  of  you,  fellow-citizens, 
will  be  enticed  by  base  appeals  to  the  meanest  motives  that  can  actuate 
mankind,  —  those  of  avarice  and  cowardice,  —  to  be  false  to  your  professions 
and  pledges  to  us,  recreant  to  your  principles,  and  traitors  to  the  thousands  of 
your  gallant  brothers  and  countrymen  with  us  in  the  field  ?  We  can  not 
believe  it.  Here,  in  the  very  tramp  and  bustle  of  movement  to  actual 
conflict,  we,  your  sons,  your  brothers,  and  your  friends,  as  the  last  appeal 
which  we  may  make  to  you  on  earth,  implore  you  to  redeem  your  pledges, 
and  be  true  to  your  duty." 

The  Twelfth,  at  Brashear  City,  issued  an  appeal  of  unusual 
eloquence,  of  which  the  following  sentences  are  extracts :  — 

"  We  call  on  Connecticut  citizens  to  be  as  brave  by  their  firesides  as  they 
expect  Connecticut  soldiers  to  be  on  the  battle-field.  We  call  on  you, 
across  a  thousand  miles  of  hostile  territory,  so  to  decide  that  we  can  look 
into  the  eyes  of  our  Southern  friends  and  our  Southern  foes,  without  being 
ashamed  of  you.  When  we  face  the  rebel  cannon,  we  do  not  wish  to  see 
your  masses  behind  them  giving  them  better  support  than  that  of  their 
own  infantry.  And  if  Connecticut  joins  her  voice  with  that  of  our  own 
enemies,  and  the  enemies  of  our  country,  we  do  not  desire  ever  to  tread  her 
soil  again. 

The  enlisted  men  of  the  Seventh  held  a  meeting,  where 
they  had  songs  and  speeches,  and  passed,  almost  unani 
mously,  resolutions  concurrent  in  spirit  with  the  above.  The 
officers  signed  and  sent  home  an  appeal  (written  by  Col. 
Hawley),  of  which  the  following  is  a  paragraph:- 


.      MEETING   OF  THE  LEGISLATURE.  327 

"  Fellow-citizens  of  New-Haven  County,  remember  your  own  Hitch 
cock  who  died  so  nobly,  and  your  adopted  citizen  the  lion-hearted  William 
Kay,  who,  with  his  wounds  yet  unhealed,  hastened  to  another  and  fatal 
field  of  battle.  Citizens  of  Hartford  County,  recall  to  mind  Upson  and 
William  Soby  and  Francis  Brainard.  Men  of  Litchfield  County,  remem 
ber  Palmer,  the  idol  of  his  home  and  of  his  command,  and  Sergeant 
Reynolds.  People  of  Windham  County,  remember  your  own  Hibbard 
and  Corbin.  Citizens  of  Fairficld  County,  do  not  forget  Starr,  and  the 
brave  Thomas  Horton,  and  Holmes,  dying  a  prisoner,  and  wounded,  and 
Eaton  and  Cooke.  Men  of  New-London  County,  remember  Joab  Jeffrey. 
Remember  these,  your  brothers  and  ours,  and  a  multitude  besides  ;  and  for 
God's  sake  do  not  dishonor  their  fresh  graves  by  declaring  that  they  died 
in  a  fool's  cause  !  " 

Such  appeals  as  these,  signed  in  camp  and  hospital,  on 
the  hasty  march  and  at  the  nightly  bivouac,  could  not  be 
unheeded  in  the  canvass.  The  Democrats  received  them 
with  the  assertion  that  soldiers  had  no  right  to  meddle  in 
the  affairs  of  the  State,  or  that  the  dissentients  had  not  been 
permitted  to  express  themselves ;  and  the  radical  peace-men, 
sincere  in  their  earnest  purpose,  went  from  town  to  town, 
and  from  house  to  house,  and,  in  the  name  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  besought  the  men  who  had  sons  or  brothers  at  the 
front  to  stop  the  unholy  war,  and  save  the  lives  of  their 
kinsmen. 

The  Republicans  prosecuted  the  campaign  with  an  energy 
that  could  not  have  been  mustered  a  few  weeks  before;  and 
the  little  State  was  rocked  from  end  to  end  with  the  fierce 
and  turbulent  passions  of  partisan  foes.  Many  soldiers  came 
home  to  vote. 

Yet  all  the  agencies  Republicans  could  bring  to  their  aid 
barely  saved  the  State,  always  close  in  contested  elections. 
Buckingham  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  2,637  in  a  total 
vote  of  79,427,  —  a  poll  of  nine  thousand  over  the  total  vote 
of  1862,  and  more  than  two  thousand  over  the  aggregate 
presidential  vote  of  1860. 

The  General  Assembly  convened  at  Hartford  on  May  6 ; 
the  Democrats  having  eight  members  of  the  Senate,  and 
about  ninety  members  of  the  House.  The  Senate  organized 
by  the  election  of  G.  W.  Phillips  as  president  pro  tempore; 
and  Erastus  S.  Day  was  chosen  clerk.  The  House  elected 
Hon.  Chauncey  F.  Cleveland,  speaker,  and  H.  Lynde  Har 
rison  and  William  T.  Elmer,  clerks. 


328  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Gov.  Buckingham  in  his  message,  delivered  in  the  darkest 
day  of  the  war,  just  after  the  bloody  repulse  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  spoke  the  words  of  courage  and  hope.  He  said,  — 

"  The  conflict  inaugurated  at  Sumter  must  go  on  until  (he  government  shall 
conquer  or  be  conquered.  Let  no  one  be  deceived  by  the  artful  device  of 
securing  peace  by  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  or  by  yielding  the  claims  of  our 
enemies.  A  peace  thus  obtained  would  cost  a  nation's  birthright ;  while  our 
adversaries  design  a  perpetual  separation  of  the  United  States,  and  proclaim 
from  every  public  assembly,  from  every  legislative  hall,  and  from  every 
battle-field,  their  determination  to.  continue  the  war  until  their  independence 
shall  be  acknowledged.  .  .  .  Civil  war  is  cruelty.  Its  fruits  are  desolation, 
sorrow,  and  death.  Fear,  hesitation,  and  a  timid  use  of  the  forces  of  war 
to  check  its  progress,  will  eventually  increase  the  terrible  sufferings.  They 
will  be  diminished  by  courage,  vigor,  and  severity.  Humanity  demands 
that  we  should  endeavor  to  overcome  the  power  and  spirit  of  the  enemy  by 
assaulting  his  most  vulnerable  point,  and  by  following  up  every  advantage 
we  may  gain  by  the  use  of  all  the  means  which  God  and  Nature  shall  place 
at  our  command.  .  .  .  Would  it  not  be  right  for  the  parricide  to  perish  by 
the  instrument  which  he  had  forged  for  the  life  of  his  guardian  and  protector? 

"Whatever  of  trial,  suffering,  or  privation,  may  be  in  store  for  us,  or 
however  long  may  be  the  controversy,  firm  in  the  faith  that  our  nation  will 
be  preserved  in  its  integrity,  let  us,  in  adversity  as  well  as  in  prosperity,  iu 
darkness  as  well  as  iu  light,  give  the  Administration  our  counsel,  our  con 
fidence,  and  our  support ;  that  its  power  may  drive  those  wiio  have  conspired 
against  the  liberties  of  the  people,  as  vagabonds  and  fugitives  through  Un 
earth,  or  inflict  upon  them  the  penalties  justly  due  for  their  treason.  Let 
the  retribution  be  so  terrible,  that  future  generations  shall  not  dare  to  repeat 
the  crime.  Then,  and  then  only,  shall  the  wrongs  of  an  outraged  people 
be  avenged,  human  rights  be  vindicated,  and  constitutional  authority  be 
re-established." 

William  W.  Eaton,  on  May  13,  introduced  a  series  of  reso 
lutions  known  as  the  "  Vallandigham  Resolutions,"  which 
were  under  discussion  for  weeks,  and  created  more  excite.- 
ment  than  any  other  political  proposition  ever  presented  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut. 

Clement  L.  Vallandigham  had  just  been  arrested,  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  sent  beyond  the  Confederate  lines,  for 
inciting  to  rebellion  by  certain  seditious  speeches  in  Ohio ; 
and  the  preamble  set  forth  that  his  arrest  was  in  wanton  dis 
regard"  of  his  constitutional  rights,  and  the  first  resolution 
denounced  it  accordingly.  The  succeeding  resolutions  em 
bodied,  in  the  following  cautious  language,  the  doctrines  of 
Calhoun,  the  principles  whereby  Jefferson  Davis  and  his 
coadjutors  sought  to  justify  their  treason  :  — 

2d,  That  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  doth  unequivocally 
express  a  firm  resolution  to  maintain  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the 


DEBATE   ON  THE  PEACE  EESOLUTIONS.  329 

United  States  and  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  against  every  aggression, 
either  foreign  or  domestic  ;  and  that  they  will  support  the  Federal  Adminis 
tration  in  every  measure  warranted  by  the  former. 

3d,  That  this.  Assembly  doth  explicitly  and  peremptorily  declare  that  it 
views  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  as  resulting  from  the  compact 
to  Avhich  the  States  are  parties  ;  as  limited  by  the  plain  sense  and  intention 
of  the  instrument  constituting  that  compact  ;  as  no  further  valid  than  they 
are  authorized  by  the  grants  enumerated  therein  ;  and  that  in  case  of  a 
deliberate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers,  not  granted 
by  the  said  compact,  the  States  who  are  parties  thereto  have  the  right,  and 
are  in  duty  bound,  to  interpose  for  arresting  the  progress  of  the  evil, 
and  for  maintaining  within  their  respective  limits  the  authorities,  rights,  and 
liberties  appertaining  to  them. 

These  resolutions,  plainly  affirming  the  right  of  any  State 
to  resist  the  Federal  Government  whenever  that  government 
goes  beyond  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Constitution,  and 
making  a  majority  of  the  people  of  any  single  State  the  sole 
and  final  judge  whether  the  Constitution  has  been  so  vio 
lated,  raised  the  very  question  which  was  being  debated  with 
savage  emphasis  by  the  thinking  bayonets  and  throbbing 
cannon  at  the  front,  —  the  question,  "  Is  the  United  States  a 
nation,  or  a  voluntary  copartnership  ?  " 

Nearly  every  prominent  member  of  the  House  spoke  upon 
one  side  or  the  other;  and  the  floor  and  galleries  were  daily 
crowded.  Mr.  Eaton  delivered  the  most  carefully-prepared 
argument  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  the  resolutions,  showing- 
great  power  and  scholarly  research;  and  Col.  Dexter  R. 
Wright,  the  recognized  Republican  leader,  in  a  -masterly 
speech  of  considerable  length,  eloquently  maintained  the 
duty  of  loyalty  to  the  Federal  Union,  and  roused  the  House 
and  galleries  to  a  high  pitch  of  enthusiasm. 

On  June  24,  a  vote  was  taken ;  and  the  resolutions  re 
ceived  the  ninety-four  votes  of  the  Democrats  in  favor,  and 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  votes  of  Republicans  against ; 
twelve  members  beino;  absent.  The  effect  of  the  discussion 

o 

was  to  unite  the  Republicans  more  heartily  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  war,  and  to  commit  the  Democracy  of  the  State 
more  decidedly  to  the  position  of  hostility,  —  an  attitude 
which  the  party  now  seemed  to  have  officially  assumed. 

Laws  were  enacted  authorizing  State  banks  to  change  to 
National ;  appropriating  the  interest  of  the  Agricultural-col 
lege  Fund  to  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale ;  and, 

42 


330  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

early  in  the  session,  a  bill  introduced  by  Sherwood  Sterling 
of  Fairfield  became  a  law,  passed  by  a  strict  party-vote, 
enabling  persons  holding  funds  in  a  fiduciary  capacity  to 
invest  the  same  in  State  and  National  bonds. 

Other  States  had  repeatedly  furnished  regiments  of  their 
militia,  for  short  periods,  to  meet  exigencies  of  the  govern 
ment  ;  and  it  was  felt  desirable  that  Connecticut  should  be 
able  to  respond  similarly.  The  existing  militia-law  having 
become  practically  a  dead  letter,  Col.  Wright,  chairman  of 
the  military  committee,  prepared  a  bill  which  provided  for 
a  compensated  volunteer  force,  not  to  exceed  ten  thousand 
men.  This  force  was  to  be  armed,  uniformed,  and  equipped 
by  the  State ;  and  the  several  regiments  were  to  be  drilled 
at  an  encampment  one  week  in  every  year :  the  commuta 
tion-tax  to  be  paid  by  the  inactive  militia  to  be  about  equal 
to  the  annual  expense  of  the  whole  system ;  and  the  gov 
ernor  to  have  the  power  of  turning  over  any  portion  of 
this  force  to  the  General  Government  for  short  service. 
The  bill  met  with  violent  opposition  from  the  Democrats, 
and  was  finally  lost  between  the  two  houses.  A  law  simi 
lar  in  its  leading  features  was  enacted  by  the  stronger  Re 
publican  legislature  of  1864  and  1865 ;  and  under  this  an 
efficient  militia  was  organized. 


The  smoke  rose,  and  floated  off  from  the  hard-fought 
field  of  Fredericksburg ;  the  wounded  were  sent  home ;  the 
dead  were  buried ;  and  thinned  ranks  answered  the  morn 
ing  roll-call.  The  Twenty-first  was  now  with  the  4th  Rhode- 
Island,  the  25th  New- Jersey,  and  the  13th  New-Hamp 
shire,  in  a  brigade  commanded  by  Col.  Arthur  H.  But 
ton  ;  leaving  the  regiment  under  Lieut.-Col.  Burpee.  The 
Eighth,  Eleventh,  Fifteenth,  and  Sixteenth  Connecticut  Re 
giments  were  still  brigaded  together.  Burnside  resolved 
upon  another  attack  on  the  enemy's  works ;  and  the  regi 
ments  that  were  to  form  the  right  had  moved  several  miles 
up  the  river,  when  a  severe  and  protracted  storm  rendered 
the  assault  impracticable.  It  was  consequently  abandoned  ; 
and  the  men  inarched  back  in  rain  and  mud.  The  command- 


THE  CONNECTICUT  BEIGADE  AT  SUFFOLK.        331 

ing  general  was  soon  succeeded  by  Hooker ;  and  once  more 
the  picket  reported,  "  All  quiet  along  the  Rappahannock." 

After  this  the  time  passed  for  weeks  with  only  the  old 
daily  routine  of  duty,  and  nothing  of  importance  to  vary  the 
sameness  of  soldier-life,  except  that  now  and  then  the 
muffled  drum  sounded  out  the  departure  of  a  comrade  to 
another  life.  Rations  were  scanty,  the  weather  was  inclem 
ent,  and  disease  active. 

At  last  marching-orders  broke  the  comparative  quiet.  On 
Friday,  Feb.  6  (1863),  the  regiments  of  the  9th  Army  Corps 
bade  adieu  to  Falmouth.  The  Connecticut  brigade  evacu 
ated  Camp  Mud,  as  they  had  designated  their  location,  and 
took  the  cars  for  Acquia  Creek.  Here  they  embarked  on 
transports.  Precisely  at  noon  of  the  8th,  the  signal  for 
departure  sounded  ;  and  next  morning  they  found  themselves 
at  Fortress  Monroe.  In  the  afternoon,  they  proceeded  to 
Newport  News,  and  pitched  their  tents. 

Here  a  quiet  month  was  passed  in  log-barracks,  when  on 
March  13  they  went  to  Norfolk  in  transports,  and  thence  by 
rail  to  Suffolk.  The  Connecticut  brigade  went  into  camp 
close  by  the  town,  in  Gen.  Peck's  division.  The  programme 
was  now  somewhat  changed ;  for,  instead  of  daily  drills  with 
the  musket,  the  men  were  exercised  in  "  the  manual  of  the 
shovel  and  the  hoe,"  excavating  rifle-pits  and  erecting  forti 
fications.  The  Twenty-first  was  ordered  about  four  miles 
below  Suffolk,  upon  the  Nansemond  River,  to  build  a  fort. 
Here  they  laid  out  a  splendid  camp  ;  and  much  ingenuity 
was  displayed  in  the  construction  of  rustic  seats  and  chairs, 
and  other  articles  of  camp-furniture.  They  also  planned  a 
fort  called  Fort  Connecticut,  and  worked  upon  it  daily  until 
it  was  nearly  completed ;  when,  the  siege  of  Suffolk  having 
commenced,  they  left  it  yet  unfinished  on  the  llth  of  April, 
and  proceeded  to  the  defense  of  the  city. 

Meantime  the  other  Connecticut  regiments  had  sprung 
into  line  at  the  sound  of  the  long-roll ;  and  the  alarm  was 
repeated  from  night  to  night.  The  men  slept  on  their  arms. 
At  last  the  pickets  were  driven  in,  and  Longstreet  began 
the  siege  of  Suffolk.  Gen.  Getty  commanded  the  Federal 
troops.  During  the  succeeding  weeks,  considerable  valor  and 


332  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

vigilance  were  expended  on  both  sides  over  the  possession 
of  a  town  so  utterly  without  strategic  importance  as  not  to 
be  worth  either  capturing  or  defending.  April  14,  the  regi 
ments  went  into  their  rifle-pits ;  and  during  the  night,  and 
every  subsequent  night,  there  was  more  or  less  skirmishing 
between  the  pickets,  but  no  battle.  The  works  of  defense 
were  unfinished ;  and  the  alarms,  watchings,  and  constant 
fatigue-duty,  were  very  exhausting  and  dispiriting.  It  was 
not  long  before  the  men  became  pretty  thoroughly  disgusted, 
feeling  (for  even  enlisted  men  frequently  took  that  liberty) 
the  uselessness  of  the  work  upon  which  they  were  engaged. 

About  this  time,  the  Twenty-second  Regiment  left  its  camp 
at  Arlington,  and  joined  the  forces  at  Suffolk.  The  men 
worked  for  a  time  on  Fort  Connecticut  and  the  Nansernond 
sand-batteries.  They  also  helped  to  construct  the  miles  of 
rifle-pits,  and  were  out  on  picket  almost  constantly.  Here 
the  regiment  found  soldiers'  fare,  and  suffered  much  from 
privation  and  exposure. 

The  Twenty-first  picketed  on  the  Nansemond,  below  the 
city ;  the  rebels  holding  the  opposite  bank.  At  first  the 
pickets  shot  at  each  other;  but  their  hostility  relaxed,  so 
that  they  began  to  converse  familiarly  together,  and  in  some 
instances  they  swam  the  river  and  shook  hands. 

A  single  brilliant  episode  relieved  the  dullness  of  the  siege. 
It  occurred  on  April  19,  —  a  patriotic  anniversary  which 
might  stimulate  any  American  to  deeds  of  valor. 

The  rebels  had  advanced  cautiously  to  a  slight  elevation 
near  the  west  bank  of  the  Nansernond,  and  re-occupied  Fort 
Huger,  an  old  but  unnoticed  work  of  theirs,  known  to  our 
troops  as  Hill's  Point  Battery,  refitting  it,  and  planting 
five  new  brass  guns,  —  four  12-pounder  howitzers,  and  one 
24-pounder. 

The  fortification  was  so  located  at  a  bend  as  to  sweep  the 
stream  for  a  long  distance,  annoying  our  gunboats  exceed 
ingly,  and  rendering  all  operations  near  that  point  quite 
perilous.  It  was  thought  best  to  dislodge  the  rebels.  Late 
in  the  afternoon,  six  companies  of  the  Eighth  Connecticut, 
with  six  companies  of  the  89th  New- York,  in  all  about  two 
hundred  and  eighty  men,  commanded  by  Col.  John  E.  Ward 


CAPTURE  OF  A  REBEL  BATTERY.  333 

of  the  Eighth,  were  embarked  on  board  the  gunboat  Step 
ping  Stones.  A  canvas  screen  drawn  up  around  the  boat 
effectually  concealed  the  men.  The  orders  from  Gen.  Getty 
were, "  When  the  boat  touches  land,  get  off  at  once.  Do  not 
stop  to  call  the  roll  or  form  a  line,  but  let  each  officer  rally 
all  the  men  he  can  ;  push  right  forward,  and  take  the  bat 
tery."  After  these  orders,  the  gunboat  steamed  up  the  river 
as  if  to  run  past  the  battery ;  and  the  rebels  made  ready  to 
fire.  They  waited  for  her  to  come  past  a  small  bluff  which 
sheltered  the  boat  for  a  short  distance  from  the  view  and 
the  fire  of  the  enemy.  Instead  of  passing,  she  quickly 
turned,  and  made  for  shore.  As  she  struck,  the  gang-planks 
were  shoved  off.  The  boat  swung  round  with  the  current, 
making  the  gang-planks  useless ;  but  the  men  leaped  into 
the  mud  and  water  up  to  their  arm-pits,  rushed  along  the 
side  of  the  friendly  bluff  and  into  a  small  ravine  which  led 
around  past  the  rear  of  the  intrenchments.  The  rebels,  dis 
covering  the  ruse,  now  opened  a  sharp  fire  of  musketry. 
Companies  and  regiments  were  hopelessly  interspersed  and 
commingled.  Pausing  a  moment,  they  rallied  around  the  offi 
cers  indiscriminately  ;  then,  Lieut.  H.  E.  Morgan  taking  the 
lead,  started  at  full  run  along  the  ravine,  up  the  banks,  over 
the  rifle-pits,  and  into  the  enemy's  works,  without  firing  a 
shot.  "  We  cave  !  "  screamed  the  astonished  rebels  :  "  we 
cave  !  don't  fire,  don't  fire !  "  And  the  boys  did  not ;  for  the 
victory  was  won. 

The  Connecticut  and  New- York  soldiers  were  side  by  side. 
Both  battalions  dashed  into  the  works  together ;  and  the  two 
old  standards,  torn  by  bullets  in  many  battles,  were  planted 
on  the  breastworks. 

But  the  task  was  not  ended.  "  Work  quickly,  boys ! "  was 
the  word.  The  prisoners,  a  hundred  and  twelve  in  num 
ber,  were  marched  on  board  the  gunboat;  and  the  howitzers 
were  rolled  out  of  the  works  across  a  plowed  field,  and, 
within  fifteen  minutes,  drawn  to  the  beach. 

Hardly  were  the  prisoners  secured,  when  the  rebels  were 
seen  swarming  from  the  adjacent  woods  to  retake  the  battery. 
The  guns  just  captured  were  ranged  as  by  magic  around  the 
bluff,  and  turned  upon  them  with  deadly  effect.  Meanwhile 


334  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

the  marines  had,  with  great  labor  and  celerity,  transferred 
several  howitzers  from  the  gunboat  to  the  bank,  and  then 
dragged  them  up  the  bluff.  They,  too,  opened  on  the  rebels 
at  the  edge  of  the  woods  and  in  the  woods  with  wonderful 
rapidity  and  accuracy. 

The  rebels  fell  back.  By  this  time,  the  other  four  compa 
nies  of  the  Eighth  were  ferried  over ;  pickets  were  thrown  out 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  ;  and  the  whole  remaining  force  were  set 
at  work  vigorously  digging  rifle-pits  in  the  rear  of  the  in- 
trenchments.  The  pickets  were  once  driven  in,  but  soon 
rallied,  and  again  took  their  position. 

To  capture  a  strong  battery  with  two  hundred  men,  while 
thousands  of  rebel  troops  were  within  a  mile,  is  no  common 
achievement ;  and  the  men  were  proud  of  the  feat. 

The  coolness  and  fearlessness  of  Col.  Ward  won  for  him 
the  admiration  and  abiding  confidence  of  the  veterans  of  his 
regiment. 

The  Union  position  in  front  of  Suffolk  was  still  almost 
incessantly  shelled.  The  men  had  been  without  proper 
rations,  and  those  in  front  obtained  little  refreshing  sleep. 
On  April  24,  the  whole  division  moved  south  and  west  on  a 
reconnoissance  in  force.  The  Connecticut  brigade  advanced 
southward  on  the  Eclenton  Road,  under  Gen.  Corcoran ;  the 
Eighth  being  left  to  hold  the  position  if  attacked. 

The  companies  of  Capts.  Luther  G.  Riggs  and  E.  B.  Pres 
ton  of  the  Twenty-second  were  placed  in  support  of  a  Wis 
consin  battery  that  did  good  execution.  The  Sixteenth  was 
deployed  to  skirmish  at  the  head  of  the  column,  and  its  com 
panies  moved  forward  on  both  sides  of  the  road.  After  pro 
ceeding  half  a  mile,  they  encountered  the  enemy's  pickets, 
and  pushed  them  back  steadily  for  an  hour,  replying  rapidly 
to  the  rebel  musketry-fire.  The  Eleventh  advanced  in  line 
of  battle  on  the  right,  and  the  Fifteenth  on  the  left.  The 
enemy  was  driven  from  his  rifle-pits  and  into  his  batteries. 
At  dark,  the  force  was  recalled. 

On  May  3,  another  reconnoissance  in  force  was  made  to 
hasten  the  raising  of  the  siege  already  begun  by  Longstreet. 
A  force,  including  the  Eleventh,  Fifteenth,  and  Sixteenth  Con 
necticut  Regiments,  advanced  across  the  Nansemond,  north- 


CASUALTIES  DUEING  THE   SIEGE.  335 

westward  towards  the  Blackwater,  along  the  Providence- 
church  Road.  The  enemy  skirmished  spiritedly,  still  falling 
back,  and  that  night  departed  from  the  front. 

The  Twenty-first  had  marched  down  the  river,  north,  to 
Sleepy  Hole,  with  a  section  of  the  Wisconsin  battery,  crossed 
the  broad  Nansemond  at  three  in  the  morning,  and  pushed 
directly  into  the  enemy's  country  westward.  Major  Hiram 
B.  Crosby  led  the  regiment;  Col.  Button  being  in  command 
of  the  3d  Provisional  Brigade.  As  they  advanced,  the  rebels 
fell  back  to  the  village  of  Chuckatuck,  and  retreated  through 
it.  Major  Crosby  ordered  Capt.  William  Spittle,  with  com 
panies,  to  skirmish  along  the  Reed's-ferry  Road,  while  another 
company  took  the  road  to  Everett's  Bridge.  On  the  latter, 
the  rebels  in  ambush  fired  upon  our  force,  killing  one,  and 
wounding  two.  They  were  soon  driven  off,  and  the  regiment 
again  advanced.  When  approaching  the  West  Branch,  the 
skirmishers,  under  Capts.  Spittle,  J.  H.  Shepard,  and  N.  A. 
Belden,  were  again  sharply  engaged ;  the  skirmish  resulting 
in  the  capture  of  one  rebel  officer  and  fifteen  privates. 

Major  Crosby  tried  to  form  a  junction  with  the  forces  at 
the  left,  but  found  that  they  had  all  been  withdrawn,  and  the 
regiment  was  unsupported.  It  then  returned  to  the  river, 
threw  up  intrenchments,  and  encamped  behind  them  for  the 
night,  recrossing  the  river  next  morning.  The  regiment 
received  the  thanks  of  Gen.  Getty. 

Buring  the  siege,  the  Eighth  had  lost  two  killed  and  four 
wounded ;  the  Eleventh,  one  killed  and  four  wounded ;  the 
Fifteenth,  two  killed  and  seven  wounded ;  the  Sixteenth,  six 
killed  and  twelve  wounded ;  the  Twenty-first,  two  killed  and 
five  wounded. 

Capt.  Charles  A.  Tennant  of  the  Sixteenth  (from  Hart 
ford)  received  a  severe  flesh-wound  in  the  right  thigh  in  the 
affair  across  the  Nansemond.  He  was  taken  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  he  died  in  hospital  on  the  24th,  of  lockjaw. 
He  went  out  as  second  lieutentant,  and  was  one  of  the  best 
officers  in  the  regiment. 

Lieut-Col.  John  H.  Burnham  of  the  Sixteenth  was  wounded, 
also  Capt,  Randall  H.  Rice  of  the  Eleventh. 

An  officer  of  the   Eighth  wrote,  "  For  about    two  weeks 


336  CONNECTICUT  DURING    THE   REBELLION. 

we  were  kept  busy  at  making  gabions  [barrel-shaped  baskets 
open  at  both  ends,  to  hold  the  earth  in  the  construction  of 
forts]  and  building  a  corduroy  road.  Our  works,  unlike  those 
attributed  to  good  men,  will  not  probably  live  after  us.  As  we 
failed  to  feel  the  importance  of  building  the  road,  and  did 
not  think  that  a  reputation  for  great  mechanical  skill  would 
be  for  our  advantage  while  in  the  field,  we  took  care  not  to 
earn  such  a  reputation.  The  boys  styled  themselves,  after 
the  manner  of  sensational  authors, '  Peck's  Avengers ;  or,  the 
Basket-Makers  of  the  Nansemond.'  " 

On  May  5,  the  Twenty-second  Regiment  went  to  West 
Point,  at  the  head  of  the  York  River.  Here  it  remained  a 
month,  the  men  working  on  rifle-pits,  breastworks,  for 
tifications,  building  military  roads  and  bomb-proofs,  and 
doing  picket-duty.  The  force  went  on  an  expedition  to 
White  House,  within  twelve  miles  of  Richmond,  the  very 
spot  where  Stonewall  Jackson  cut  McClellan  from  his  base 
of  supplies  a  year  before ;  and,  as  the  peril  became  realized, 
Gen.  Dix  withdrew  the  division  to  Yorktown.  On  June  9, 
the  troops  began  a  reconnoissance  in  force,  inarching  to  Wil- 
liamsburg,  Fort  Magruder,  Barhamsville,  and  the  Chicka- 
hominy  ;  remaining  out  a  week.  The  Twenty-second  lost  a 
colored  servant  killed  by  guerrillas,  —  the  only  man  con 
nected  with  the  regiment  who  was  shot  by  the  enemy  during 
its  term  of  service. 

About  the  middle  of  June,  Gen.  Getty  evacuated  Suffolk, 
and  fell  back  north-eastward  to  Portsmouth,  across  the  Eliza 
beth  River  from  Norfolk,  and  almost  within  sight  of  Fortress 
Monroe,  rising  over  the  broad  James  only  twelve  miles  dis 
tant.  Here  they  occupied  some  incomplete  fortifications, 
and  fell  at  work  to  finish  them. 

During  the  last  week  in  June,  1863,  while  the  armies 
of  Hooker  and  Lee  were  going  towards  Gettysburg,  Gen. 
John  A.  Dix  conceived  the  idea  of  moving  on  Richmond, 
up  the  peninsula;  hoping  to  draw  off  Confederate  troops 
from  the  Army  of  Virginia.  Gen.  Getty's  division  was 
immediately  started  from  Getty's  Station  on  transports,  and 
moved  around  to  Yorktown.  Here  the  troops  remained  two 
days,  the  few  rebels  on  the  peninsula  giving  them  plenty 


FOKAGING  AND  MAKAUDING.  337 

of  room.  The  movement  was  continued  up  to  White  House, 
where  the  Twenty-first  Connecticut  was  detached  for  provost- 
duty;  Col.  Button  still  commanding  the  brigade. 

At  six  6'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  1,  the  force  crossed 
the  Pamunkey  River  at  White  House,  on  the  railroad -bridge. 
The  day  was  extremely  hot;  but  the  column  moved  slowly 
northward,  passing  Lanesville  and  King  William  Court 
House,  encountering  no  enemy.  The  Connecticut  brigade 
bivouacked  in  a  clover-patch  of  a  Mr.  Pemberton,  while 
the  horses  were  turned  loose  in  fields  of  juicy  oats.  Mr. 
Pemberton  was  away  at  a  meeting ;  and  every  man  for  miles 
around  was  absent, — "gone  to  mill,"  "gone  to  see  his  sister," 
gone  to  an  indefinite  meeting  at  some  indefinite  place  for 
some  indefinite  purpose. 

Next  day  the  force  made  eleven  miles  more,  passing  still 
westward  towards  Mongohick.  Chaplain  Morris,  in  a  letter 
to  the  Palladium  on  that  day.  said,  "  There  is  a  general 
order  strictly  prohibiting  foraging  by  irresponsible  parties; 
but  I  regret  to  say  that  it  is  openly  disregarded  in  some 
regiments  by  both  officers  and  men.  The  woods  resound 
with  the  crack  of  the  rifle  ;  and  in  all  directions  men  are 
entering  camp  loaded  with  poultry,  fresh  pork,  beef,  and 
mutton.  In  an  adjoining  field,  while  I  am  writing,  there  lie 
as  many  as  fifty  sheep-skins. 

"  We  passed  just  after  mid-day  the  princely  mansion  of 
Dr.  Fountain,  whose  wife  is  a  daughter  of  Patrick  Henry, 
and  is  an  outspoken  and  zealous  rebel.  The  planter  had 
gone  to  Richmond  ;  and  the  women  fled  in  terror  at  our 
approach,  leaving  the  splendid  establishment  in  the  hands  of 
the  blacks.  When  we  arrived,  marauders  had  been  before 
us.  Every  chair  and  table  was  broken,  marble  tables  and 
mantels,  mirrors  and  picture-frames,  smashed  to  fragments ; 
one  old  family  portrait  was  cut  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
hopelessly  ruined ;  bureaus  were  broken  open,  destroyed, 
and  their  contents  torn  and  scattered  and  trampled  by 
muddy  boots;  bedposts  were  split  in  twain  by  axes;  jars  of 
preserves  were  dashed  against  the  clean  white  walls;  a 
splendid  library  was  tumbled  from  the  shelves,  and  many 
books  chopped  in  two  and  stamped  to  pieces.  Nothing 


338  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

escaped  the  ax,  or  the  butt  of  the  musket :  every  room 
was  strewn  thickly  with  fragments  and  tatters,  bedaubed 
and  unsightly  where  every  thing  had  been  costly  and 
tasteful. 

"  The  indignation  of  Gen.  Getty,  and  of  every  decent 
man,  was  unbounded.  A  guard  was  immediately  posted, 
and  every  effort  made  to  detect  the  miscreants.  Several 
were  arrested,  and  tried  this  afternoon  by  a  drumhead  court- 
martial  ;  but  I  regret  to  say  the  evidence  was  too  meager 
to  convict  any  of  the  despicable  knaves.  The  perpetrators 
doubtless  were  professional  stragglers.  A  majority  of  the 
soldiers,  I  am  happy  to  say,  condemn  and  execrate  such 
men,  and  would  deem  the  death-penalty  inadequate  pun 
ishment." 

On  July  3,  the  Connecticut  brigade  had  the  advance,  the 
Eighth  out  as  skirmishers.  It  was  fiercely  hot,  and  many 
fell  sun-struck.  Surgeon  Sabin  Stocking  of  the  Eighth, 
and  the  chaplain,  impressed  from  the  plantations  along  the 
march  all  the  horses,  mules,  carriages,  and  carts  they  could 
discover  to  transport  the  loads  of  sick  and  fainting  men.  It 
was  a  motley  collection  of  carts  and  gigs,  of  colts,  toothless 
nags,  and  broken-down  mules,  uniform  only  in  leanness  and 
worthlessness ;  but  they  served  the  purpose  to  the  extent  of 
their  feeble  ability,  and  were  turned  loose  at  the  journey's 
end.  At  night,  the  force  reached  a  point  due  north  from 
Richmond,  opposite  Hanover  Court  House,  on  the  Pamun- 
key. 

The  next  clay,  the  4th  of  July,  was  spent  near  the  bivouac, 
on  the  plantation  of  Mr.  John  Taylor,  one  of  three  wealthy 
brothers,  —  a  keen,  cruel,  sensual  man,  and  a  bitter  rebel. 
Mr.  Taylor  was  in  a  frame  of  mind  to  enjoy  the  day  and  the 
scene.  Being  a  wily,  fluent,  and  vehement  talker,  well 
posted  in  political  history,  and  not  at  all  backward  in  de 
claring  his  views,  he  volunteered  to  make  a  speech  to  the 
soldiers  from  his  porch.  Some  of  his  slaves  and  quadroon 
women  were  peeping  from  the  windows  of  the  mansion. 
His  wife  had  long  been  divorced.  He  spoke  of  the  "  inva 
sion  of  the  South,"  but  especially  of  slavery,  in  regard  to 
the  workings  of  which  he  claimed  to  be  well  informed.  He 


A  BLACKBERRY    RAID.  339 

said  it  was  a  patriarchal  institution,  good  for  the  happiness 
of  both  races.  He  spoke  freely  of  his  kindness  and  gentle 
care  of  his  slaves;  admitted  that  he  had  to  punish  them 
occasionally,  but  explained  that  he  stood  in  a  paternal  rela 
tion  to  them  (which,  in  many  cases,  was  believed  to  be  the 
exact  truth);  that  they  regarded  his  correction  as  inflicted  for 
their  own  good ;  and  that  they  were  devoted  to  hiin;  and  ready 
to  do  or  die  for  him.  Deluded  orator !  at  that  very  instant 
the  hiding-place  of  his  own  son,  a  member  of  Stuart's  cavalry, 
now  home  on  furlough,  had  been  betrayed  by  some  of  his 
most  trusted  "servants;"  and  others  were  pointing  out  his 
secreted  treasures  of  meat,  wine,  grain,  and  store ;  while 
every  black  that  could  hobble  was  gathering  what  he  could 
to  "  tote  "  to  the  land  of  freedom. 

In  the  mean  time,  it  transpired  that  the  Connecticut  brigade 
had  been  left  as  a  reserve  to  assist  Mr.  Taylor  in  a  proper 
celebration  of  Independence  Day ;  while  the  other  regiments 
of  the  division  had  tried  to  cross  the  Pamunkey  into  Han 
over  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  Richmond  and  Fred- 
ericksburg  Railroad.  The  passage  of  the  river  was  success 
fully  resisted ;  and,  after  burning  a  bridge  or  two,  they 
returned  to  Taylor's  next  day.  The  expedition  was  sub 
stantially  a  failure,  and  the  troops  felt  disheartened  as  they 
turned  their  faces  again  to  the  rear;  their  chagrin  being 
modified,  however,  by  exhilarating  rumors  from  Pennsyl 
vania. 

Early  fruits  were  in  their  prime,  and  the  troops  lived 
voluptuously.  The  soldiers  from  the  hard  hills  of  New 
England  had  never  before  seen  such  a  wealth  of  berries, 
especially  of  running  blackberries,  as  now  bestrewed  the 
route  of  march.  A  man  could  sit  upon  the  ground,  and, 
without  changing  his  position,  pick  as  many  as  he  could 
eat.  An  officer  recalling  this  time  says,  "  I  picked  a 
water-pail  three-quarters  full  from  the  vines  within  my 
tent."  These  promoted  the  health  of  officers  and  men,  pre 
viously  inclined  to  dysentery;  and  the  column  returned 
rapidly  and  in  good  spirits,  five  hundred  thoughtless,  care 
less,  jolly  contrabands  swarming  upon  the  flanks  and  rear. 


340  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  return  through  White  House,  Williamsburg,  and 
Yorktown,  to  Hampton,  was  made  on  foot,  through  a  region 
too  poor  for  plunder;  and  the  division  crossed  the  Roads 
next  day,  and  again  quietly  encamped  for  rest  and  drill, 
cheering  over  the  news  from  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg,  and 
resolutely  subduing  their  feelings  of  pride  as  they  rehearsed 
the  achievements  of  "  The  Blackberry  Raid." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers  at  Newberne. — Expedition  to  the  Interior.  —  The 
Tarborough  Scout.  —  Forage  and  Rations. — An  Incident  of  Slavery.  —  The  Battle 
of  Kinston.  —  The  Tenth  at  the  Front. —  The  Contest  for  the  Bridge.  —  Compli 
mented  by  Gen.  Foster.  —  Heavy  Losses.  —  The  Railroad  destroyed  at  Goldsborough. 
—  Gallantry. —  To  St.  Helena  Island.  —  Camp  and  Surroundings.  —  The  Eighteenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers  still  at  Baltimore. — Joins  Milroy  at  Winchester.  —  The 
Situation.  —  Battle  of  the  First  Day.  —  The  Second  Day  at  the  Intrenchments.  —  The 
Evacuation.  —  The  Charge  into  the  Woods. —  Surrender  of  the  Eighteenth.  —  Casu 
alties.  —  Colors  saved.  —  Prison  Life. 

EANTIME,  in  the  summer  of  1862,  the  Tenth 
staid  at  Newberne ;  recovering  its  strength, 
and  attaining  admirable  discipline.  Major  Pet- 
tiborie  had  been  promoted  to  be  colonel,  and 
Capt.  Pardee  became  lieutenant-colonel.  The 
latter  resigned,  however,  in  September,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Major  Robert  Leggett.  Inaction  seemed  not  to  dull  the 
spirit,  or  injure  the  morals,  of  the  men.  Rev.  Henry  Clay 
Trumbull,  who  had  brought  to  the  regiment  all  the  charac 
teristics  of  an  admirable  chaplain,  wrote,  "  This  is  a  noble 
regiment.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  moral  standard 
is  now  as  high  in  the  camp  of  the  Tenth  as  with  the  same 
class  of  men  in  any  part  of  Connecticut.  I  have  heard  more 
profanity  in  one  day  in  some  streets  of  Hartford  than  here 
in  any  week  since  my  arrival.  Many  are  far  more  manly 
than  when  they  left  home." 

The  Tenth  lost  an  excellent  officer,  Sept.  19,  in  Major 
Daniel  M.  Mead  of  Greenwich,  who  died  of  exposure  to  the 
debilitating  influence  of  the  Southern  climate.  He  was  a 
young  man  of  sterling  qualities,  —  of  earnestness,  bravery, 
integrity,  —  and  he  impressed  himelf  for  good  on  all  his 
associates.  Capt.  Thomas  R,  Mead,  also  of  Greenwich,  died 

341 


342  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

in  October.  He  had,  within  the  single  year  of  army  life, 
been  promoted  from  second  lieutenant  for  his  efficiency. 

During  November,  the  monotony  was  broken  by  a  raid 
to  the  north-west.  Moving  round  on  transports  to  Washing 
ton,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Tar  and  Pamlico  Rivers,  the 
regiment  was  put  in  the  advance  of  Foster's  brigade,  Capts. 
Goodyear's  and  Greaves's  companies  out  as  skirmishers. 
Going  towards  Tarborough,  they  received  the  first  fire  of  the 
enemy  at  Little  Creek.  Then  the  whole  regiment  forded 
an  ugly  stream  after  dark,  under  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry 
and  grape,  and  drove  back  the  enemy  on  the  other  bank. 
Two  companies  of  a  Massachusetts  regiment  were  the  only 
other  infantry  engaged.  The  rebels  were  pursued  rapidly 
to  Rawl's  Mills,  and  shelled  during  their  retreat.  That 
night  the  Tenth  bivouacked  in  the  clear  moonlight  on  the 
soft  clay  of  the  captured  line  of  works.  The  next  morning, 
Williamston  was  entered  without  opposition.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  pillaging  in  the  village ;  pork,  beef,  and  poultry 
being  knocked  over,  and  cooked  in  primitive  fashion  at 
fires  in  the  streets,  with  fence-palings  for  fuel.  Houses 
were  sacked,  our  troops  having  been  fired  upon  in  the  vil 
lage  ;  and  "  handsome  furniture,  pianos,  crockery-ware,  and 
every  thing  was  turned  topsy-turvy  and  destroyed  by  our 
soldiers,  in  search  of  relics  and  valuables." a 

Next  day  the  column,  the  Tenth  still  in  advance,  pressed 
on,  and  captured  Rainbow  Fort  on  the  Roanoke,  and  thence 
to  Hamilton,  and  across  the  country  to  the  suburbs  of  Tar- 
borough.  In  two  days,  they  returned  to  camp ;  having  been 
absent  two  weeks,  and  marched  more  than  a  hundred  miles. 

Of  course,  negroes  were  everywhere  encountered,  whose 
experience  furnished  fresh  arguments  for  the  war.  Lieut. 
Henry  W.  Carnp  of  the  Tenth  wrote  as  follows  concerning 
this  class  of  people  :  — 

"  I  was  in  a  negro  house  yesterday,  and  had  some  conversation  with 
the  inmates.  I  asked  a  gray-headed  old  negress  if  she  had  ever  had  chil 
dren  sold  away  from  her.  k  Sold  !  dey  all  sold  !  —  chil'en  an'  gran'chil'en 
an'  great  gran' chil'en,  —  dey  sell  ebry  one  ! '  She  clasped  her  bony  hands 
over  her  head,  and  looked  up  at  me  as  she  spoke.  '  Dere  was  one,  —  de  lass 
one,  de  o'ny  gran'chile  I  did  hab  lef .  He  neber  kuowed  his  mammy.  I 

1  Letter  of  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  44th. 


THE  TENTH  AT  KINSTON  BRIDGE.  343 

took  him  when  he  dat  little.  I  bringed  him  up  to  massa,  an'  I  say,  "  Massa, 
dis  my  little  gran'chile  :  may  I  keep  him  'bout  heah?"  An'  he  say,  '*  I 
don't  care  wot  you  do  wid  him."  So  I  take  him :  he  dat  little.  Den  one 
mornin',  wen  he  all  rolled  up  in  blanket  'tween  my  knees,  Massa  Green 
corned  in  an'  say,  "  Dis  boy  sold  ! "  and  dey  take  him  'way,  O  Lord 
Jesus,  help  me  pray  ! ' ' 

In  the  Tenth,  and  in  most  of  the  other  Connecticut  regi 
ments,  Thanksgiving  was  duly  observed,  as  far  as  the  limited 
facilities  would  allow.  On  Nov.  15,  Col.  Pettibone  resigned, 
and  returned  to  Connecticut,  after  faithful  service. 

Great  courage  is  sometimes  shown  in  facing  apparent 
peril,  even  where  none  actually  exists.  The  Tenth  had  now 
an  experience1  of  this  kind.  Report  came  to  Newberne  that 
the  New- York  Marine  Artillery  Regiment,  which  had  with 
some  justice  felt  aggrieved,  had  mutinied  at  Roanoke  Island, 
and  taken  possession ;  disobeying  and  defying  the  officers  in 
command.  Foster  turned  to  the  Tenth,  —  always  held  by 
him  in  higher  regard  than  any  other  regiment,  —  and 
ordered  it  to  Roanoke  to  subdue  the  insurgents.  It  started 
promptly;  but  for  the  first  time  the  men  were  depressed  in 
spirits.  They  were  on  a  hazardous  mission,  —  to  fight  their 
own  brother-soldiers,  brave  men  who  would  fight  desper 
ately,  knowing  that  death  was  the  penalty  of  their  offense. 
But  it  was  a  false  alarm.  There  had  been  no  rebellion,  and 
the  Tenth  was  recalled. 

On  Dec.  11,  Foster's  division  left  Newberne  for  a  west 
ward  expedition,  to  strike  the  Richmond  and  Wilmington 
Railroad.  The  force  was  twelve  thousand  strong,  with  fifty 
pieces  of  artillery.  On  the  next  day  and  the  next,  the 
advance  had  skirmishes  with  the  enemy.  At  ten  o'clock 
Sunday  morning,  the  14th,  farther  progress  was  opposed  by 
a  body  of  rebels  well  posted,  with  several  guns,  in  and  about 
an  old  church  an  eighth  of  a  mile  from  Kinston  Bridge  on 
the  Neuse.  Our  artillery  wheeled  into  position,  and  replied 
vigorously.  The  Tenth,  with  other  regiments,  formed  line 
of  battle  in  rear  of  the  batteries. 

The  enemy  had  great  advantage  in  position.  Col.  Mallett, 
a  rebel  prisoner,  said  afterwards,  "  We  had  you  just  where 
we  wanted  you."  The  approach  to  them  lay  through  a 
seemingly  impassable  swamp.  A  charge  was  ordered ;  and 


344  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

the  troops,  throwing  off  encumbrances,  rushed  through  the 
swamp,  and  halted  for  orders  on  the  other  side,  the  Tenth 
being  held  back  in  the  third  line.  The  regiments  were  now 
under  a  very  heavy  fire  from  the  front. 

Chaplain  Trumbull  thus  writes  of  what  followed,  "  About 
noon,  Gen.  Foster,  sending  for  Lieut.-Col.  Leggett,  told  him 
he  wished  the  Tenth  to  pass  over  two  regiments  lying  imme 
diately  before  them,  and  find  the  enemy ;  not  returning  until 
they  had  cleared  them  out.  Our  boys  were  well  pleased 
with  being  preferred  above  other  regiments,  old  and  new, 
for  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous  task  of  the  day ;  and 
charged  gallantly  through  a  short  piece  of  woods,  under  an 
incessant  and  murderous  fire.  Then  seeing  just  the  posi 
tion  of  the  enemy,  and  being  within  short  range,  the  regi 
ment  opened  fire,  and  continued  it  with  telling  effect." 

The  Tenth  was  now  in  the  first  line  of  battle,  some  parts 
of  which  were  already  in  disorder.  Soon  the  regiment 
found  itself  in  the  extreme  advance,  and  officers  and  men 
were  falling  rapidly.  They  were  taken  towards  the  rear, 
and  the  rest  stood  up  stoutly  to  the  work.  Both  the  field- 
officers  were  struck  down,  and  many  others  killed  or 
wounded. 

After  half  an  hour  of  incessant  and  close  fighting,  the 
regiment  again  pressed  forward ;  when  the  rebels  broke,  and 
ran  towards  the  bridge.  Then  the  Tenth,  with  a  shout, 
charged  down  the  hill  upon  the  flying  foe.  The  rebels  set 
fire  to  the  bridge  as  they  crossed  it,  severely  burning  some 
of  their  own  wounded  endeavoring  to  escape.  At  the  same 
time  another  rebel  force,  in  line  in  a  cornfield  across  the 
river,  opened  a  cross-fire  upon  the  Tenth  as  the  latter 
dashed  upon  the  burning  bridge,  extinguished  the  flames, 
captured  a  hundred  prisoners,  and  pushed  across,  taking  a 
Confederate  flag  and  the  enemy's  artillery.  "  The  regiment 
was  in  line  of  battle  on  the  Kinston  bank  before  any  other 
[Union]  infantry  had  crossed  the  bridge.  At  the  close  of 
the  battle,  Gen.  Foster  rode  to  the  front,  and,  taking  off  his 
hat,  publicly  thanked  the  gallant  Tenth  for  its  part  in  the 
action.,  He  said  it  had  showed  itself  now,  as  before,  the 
bravest  among  the  brave ;  and,  if  it  would  stand  by  him  as 


THE  TENTH   STILL  FIGHTING.  345 

hitherto,  he  could  sweep  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  .  .  . 
But  oh  the  cost  of  such  a  compliment!  We  went  into 
action  with  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  officers  and  men ; 
and,  of  these,  one  hundred  and  six  were  killed  or  wounded. 
Of  these,  twenty-three  were  killed  outright,  or  died"  within 
four  days.  Five  died  afterwards  of  their  wounds."  2 

"  Among  those  who  fell,"  says  Chaplain  Trumbull,  "  were 
some  of  our  best  and  bravest.  We  sadly  miss  and  mourn 
them.  Our  officers  say  that  the  fire  of  the  rebels  in  rapidity 
and  accuracy  surpassed  any  thing  they  had  met  before.  A 
number  of  our  men  were  shot  in  two  and  three  places  at  the 
same  time.  Three  brothers  Shepard  and  two  brothers  Zuich 
were  in  Company  A ;  and  all  were  wounded."  Drs.  Newton 
of  Suffield,  and  Hart  of  Hartford,  were  tireless  in  caring  for 
the  men. 

The  Confederate  flag  was  a  lone-star  banner,  and  was  cap 
tured  ,by  Corporal  Edwin  D.  Ayres,  formerly  of  the  Palla 
dium  office,  but  was  afterwards  stolen  by  some  "  bummers  " 
belonging  to  the  New-Jersey  9th. 

Next  morning  the  force  pressed  on  towards  Goldsborough ; 
and  Tuesday  afternoon  the  flying  foe  made  another  brief 
stand  at  Whitehall,  where  they  had  burned  the  bridge.  The 
action  here  was  mostly  by  artillery  and  sharpshooters,  the 
Confederates  having  both  posted  on  the  opposite  bank. 
Again  the  shattered  Tenth  was  ordered  to  the  front,  and 
opened  fire  to  the  left  of  the  road.  Finding  no  ford,  Col. 
Leggett  called  for  volunteers  to  swim  the  stream.  Five 
brave  boys  immediately  stepped  forward  and  stripped ;  and 
on  that  cold  December  clay  they  swam  the  broad  river  with 
axes  on  their  backs,  and  felled  tall  trees  on  the  opposite 
bank,  while  others  did  the  same  on  this.  In  half  an  hour 
more,  a  bridge  would  have  been  built ;  but  an  order  came  to 
discontinue.  The  regiment  met  with  no  loss. 

Again,  on  Wednesday,  they  pressed  forward,  and  had  sharp 
fighting,  both  morning  and  evening,  at  the  railroad  bridge 
near  Goldsborough.  This  was  burned,  and  the  track  de 
stroyed  for  some  distance ;  when  the  force  returned  to  New- 
berne. 

2  Letter  of  Chaplain  H.  C.  Trumbull. 

44 


346  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

This  was  perhaps  the  severest  battle  in  which  the  Tenth 
was  ever  engaged.  It  had  more  than  one-fourth  of  all  the 
casualties  of  the  expedition,  notwithstanding  its  small  num 
bers.  Its  praise  was  on  the  lips  of  all.  A  colonel  of  one 
of  the  Massachusetts  regiments  which  had  been  walked  over 
at  Kinston  said  he  could  not  look  upon  a  man  of  the  Tenth 
without  feeling  the  highest  respect  for  him. 

Sergeant  Henry  E.  Chitty  of  New  London  bore  the  colors 
until  his  right  arm  was  shattered;  and  his  subsequent  anxi 
ety  seemed  to  be  only  for  the  safety  of  the  colors.  Corporal 
Albert  F.  Wheaton  of  North  Branford,  one  of  the  color-guard, 
was  shot  through  the  body,  and  died  the  next  day.  He  said, 
"  I  did  what  I  could  to  guard  the  colors  :  I'd  stand  by  them 
to  the  last.  Where's  the  regiment  now  ?  "  he  asked.  "  It 
has  gone  on  to  do  its  work,"  answered  the  chaplain. 
«  Glory  !  "  he  cried.  "  If  I  die,"  he  added,  "  tell  my  friends  I 
gave  my  life  for  liberty,  and  I'd  gladly  give  another." 

Five  officers  of  the  Tenth  had  fallen  to  fight  no  more,  — 
Capt.  Henry  A.  Wells  of  Hartford,  and  Lieuts.  John  M 
Simms  of  Stamford,  John  C.  Coffing  of  Hartford,  William  W. 
Perkins  of  New  London,  and  Theron  D.  Hill  of  Coventry. 

Capt.  Wells,  before  the  war,  was  in  the  United-States  ma 
rine  service ;  and,  when  the  call  to  arms  came,  he  entered  the 
first  regiment  for  the  three-months'  service.  Chaplain  Trum- 
bull  says,  "  He  was  one  of  the  bravest  men  we  had  :  indeed, 
he  was  conspicuous  among  brave  men.  He  was  light-hearted 
amid  the  greatest  dangers,  and  performed  the  severest  ser 
vice  with  a  cheerful  alacrity  that  always  inspirited  the  men." 

Lieut,  Coffing  was  mortally  \vounded,  and  did  not  long 
survive.  The  enlisted  men  of  his  company  resolved,  "  That, 
in  his  death,  we  have  lost  an  officer  endeared  to  us  by  all  the 
qualities  which  command  the  respect,  confidence,  and  affec 
tion  of  his  subordinates ; "  and  that  he  "  died  nobly  in  a 
cause  which  he  devotedly  loved." 

Lieut.  Perkins  was  a  son  of  Dr.  N.  S.  Perkins  of  New  Lon 
don  ;  and  he  and  his  brother,  Major  B.  R.  Perkins  of  the  12th 
United  States,  were  the  first  volunteers  from  that  city  in  the 
war.  The  New-London  Star  said  of  him,  "It  is  seldom  that  we 
are  called  upon  to  mourn  a  firmer  patriot,  a  braver  soldier,  or 


THE   TENTH   AT   ST.    HELENA   ISLAND.  347 

a  truer  or  more  genial  friend,  than  was  Lieut.  Perkins.  He 
sprang  to  arms  with  alacrity  at  the  first  call  of  his  country, 
and  established  an  enviable  reputation  in  five  hotly-con 
tested  battles ;  in  the  last  of  which  he  fell  where  a  soldier 
would  choose  to  fall,  —  leading  the  advance,  —  and  expired 
amid  the  rattling  volleys  of  his  regiment  and  the  loud  cheers 
of  victory."  His  body,  like  the  remains  of  his  comrades,  was 
brought  home,  and  buried  with  all  honors. 

Lieut.  Simms  went  out  as  sergeant  of  Company  G.  He 
was  promoted  in  order,  and  was  presented  with  a  handsome 
sword  by  the  Baptist  Sabbath  school  at  Stamford,  of  which 
he  had  been  an  active  member.  A  bullet  passed  into  his 
body  early  in  this  action  ;  but  it  was  thought  he  would 
recover.  In  the  hospital  prayer-meeting  in  the  evening  he 
joined  in  social  worship,  in  song  and  prayer.  He  lived  some 
months,  and  died  in  the  perfect  love  that  casts  out  fear. 

On  Jan.  26,  1863,  the  Tenth  left  Newberne  by  railroad  for 
Morehead  City,  and  the  same  day  went  on  board  of  a  trans 
port  in  Beaufort  Harbor.  "  To  Wilmington ! "  was  the  word 
that  passed  round  ;  but,  a  monitor  being  lost,  the  expedition 
was  turned  to  participate  in  the  siege  of  Charleston. 

The  Tenth  had  left  behind  all  camp  and  garrison  equipage 
and  personal  baggage ;  but  the  regiment  was  ordered  to 
camp  on  St.  Helena  Island,  a  few  miles  above  Hilton  Head. 
They  adapted  themselves  as  well  as  possible  to  the  situa 
tion  ;  and  of  shelter-tents,  with  palmetto-trees  as  an  auxiliary, 
soon  made  a  comfortable  and  attractive  camp  on  an  old  sea- 
island  cotton-field.  By  sundown  there  was  a  home-like  air 
to  the  whole  encampment.  Every  day  they  expected  to 
move  ;  but  they  kept  at  work,  leveled  the  furrows,  and  laid 
out  a  fine  parade-ground.  The  shelter-tents  were  raised  on 
walls  of  logs,  or  banks  of  earth,  their  ends  plaited  with  pine- 
boughs  or  rushes,  or  thatched  with  palmetto-leaves  or  the 
long  gray  moss  that  hangs  from  Southern  trees.  Cosy  wig 
wams  answered  the  purpose  of  company  cook-houses. 

And  finally  a  rustic  chapel  was  erected  at  the  end  of  the 
officers'  avenue,  sided  and  roofed  with  the  feathery  pine. 
Seats  were  made  by  driving  crotched  sticks  into  the  ground, 
and  laying  a  stout  pole  across  them.  A  cracker-box  on  four 


348  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

sticks  was  the  pulpit-desk,  and  it  was  prettily  curtained  with 
palmetto-leaves.  Here  Sunday  services  were  held,  with 
preaching  by  Chaplain  Trumbull ;  also  evening  prayer-meet 
ings,  when  three  lanterns  were  pendent  from  the  festooned 
rafters,  and  stars  twinkled  through  the  lattice. 

The  regiment  tarried  here,  with  daily  drill  and  occasional 
dress-parade,  until  March  27,  when  it  proceeded  on  a  trans 
port  to  North  Edisto  Inlet,  and  took  possession  of  the  lower 
part  of  Seabrook  Island.  The  upper  part  was  held  by  the 
enemy,  and  picket-duty  was  sometimes  exciting. 

Here  were  the  tangled  tropical  undergrowth,  palmetto- 
jungles,  and  low  groves  of  live  oaks.  "  Alligators  moved 
lazily  through  the  sluggish  waters  of  the  gloomy  lagoon,  and 
poisonous  reptiles  glided- through  the  grass  before  the  tread 
of  the  passing  soldier."3  There  were  gnats,  mosquitoes, 
spiders,  lizards,  scorpions,  and  moccasins. 

"  When  you  hear  of  mosquitoes,"  wrote  Lieut.  Camp  in  a 
moment  of  desperate  humor,  "  you  think  of  a  small  brown 
insect,  don't  you  ?  with  legs  and  wings  almost  invisible,  and 
a  hum  audible  some  inches  from  the  ear  ?  I  wish  you  could 
see  the  animal  that  goes  by  the  same  name  here.  When  / 
speak  of  a  mosquito,  I  mean  something  that  stands  a  little 
less  than  fourteen  hands  high  (can't  give  the  weight  because 
we  have  no  platform  scales) ;  whose  wings  are  like  Apol- 
ly on's  in  the  Pilgrim's  Progress ;  whose  muscular  legs  are 
horribly  striped  with  black  and  white  ;  whose  sting  is  like 
the  dragon's  which  St.  George  slew;  and  whose  voice  is  as 
the  sound  of  many  waters." 

Here  the  Tenth  was  doomed  to  stay,  while  down  upon  the 
breeze  came  the  thunder  of  heavy  guns  pounding  away  at 
Sumter  and  Wagner.  Gen.  Terry,  promoted  after  Pulaski, 
assumed  command  of  these  troops  in  May ;  and  here  they 
waited,  leading  an  uneventful  life,  until  July  6,  1863,  when 
they  were  ordered  to  participate  in  the  advance  being  made 
on  Morris  Island. 

When  the  Seventeenth  left  Fort  Marshall  in  Baltimore, 
the  Eighteenth  was  transferred  to  it  from  Fort  McHenry.  It 

3  Chaplain  Trumbull  in  the  Knightly  Soldier. 


THE   EIGHTEENTH  -IN  MAKYLAND.  349 

was  on  higher  ground,  and  much  more  healthful.  Some  of 
the  men  brought  sickness  with  them,  however :  and  Capt. 
Bromley  appears  to  have  had  a  touch  of  jaundice ;  for  he 
wrote  to  the  Bulletin  that  iie  was  "looking  through  the 
yellowest  pair  of  eyes  that  were  ever  hung  out  as  a  wrecked 
liver's  signal  of  distress." 

Col.  Ely  hoped  to  be  able  here  to  devote  some  attention 
to  the  necessary  drill :  but  the  next  day  the  right  wing,  con 
sisting  of  the  companies  of  Capts.  Isaac  W.  Hakes,  jr.,  Mat- 
thewson,  and  Charles  D.  Bowen,  went  down  along  the  rail 
road  near  Havre  de  Grace,  under  Major  Ephraim  Keech,  jr.; 
and  Capt.  Henry  C.  Davis's  company  was  dispatched  to 
Upper  Maryborough,  a  secession  town,  but  returned  next  day. 
"  The  only  accident,"  says  Bromley,  "  was  the  sudden  death 
of  a  pig,  who  ran  against  a  bayonet  on  the  march  from  Marl- 
borough  back.  He  died  so  suddenly,  that  they  roasted  him 
to  keep  him  from  spoiling." 

The  regiment  remained  all  winter  divided  in  Maryland,  with 
headquarters  at  Fort  Marshall.  The  men  were  industriously 
drilled  in  artillery  and  infantry  tactics ;  and  the  left  wing 
was  so  thoroughly  exercised  in  battalion-movements,  as  to 
win  the  approval  of  Brig.-Gen.  Morris,  an  old  army  officer, 
who  was  chary  of  his  commendations.  Comfortable  quar 
ters  were  built ;  food  was  plenty,  if  not  of  a  quality  to  tempt 
an  epicure ;  service  was  not  arduous ;  and,  on  the  whole,  the 
regiment  had  an  easy  time.  Col.  Ely  was  president  of  a 
military  court,  and  Capt.  Bromley  judge-advocate.  The 
officers  enjoyed  the  society  of  the  few  Union  families  in 
the  city.  Capt.  Bromley  wrote,  '•  Col.  Ely  has  won  golden 
opinions  from  all  the  officers  of  the  department  with  whom 
he  has  come  in  contact.  No  officer  was  ever  more  watchful 
than  he  for  the  welfare  of  the  men,  and  none  ever  deserved 
more  fully  the  confidence,  which,  without  exception,  they 
repose  in  him." 

At  last,  late  in  the  spring  of  1863,  the  monotonous  life  in 
barracks  ended.  Most  of  the  men  were  tired  of  its  unsol- 
dierly  quiet,  and  rejoiced  when  orders  came  to  go  to  the 
front,  —  even  though  that  front  was  the  oftrcontested  She- 
nandoah  Valley.  Already  had  the  Rebel  and  Union  forces 


CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

been  repeatedly  driven  through  it  from  end  to  end,  and 
already  had  veteran  regiments  learned  to  prefer  any  other 
service  to  the  bewildering  tramps  through  its  rivers  and 
ravines. 

By  the  middle  of  May,  the  detached  companies  had  been 
called  in  from  Havre  de  Grace  and  the  Wilmington  Road ; 
and  on  the  22d  the  regiment  moved  to  the  depot  of  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  took  a  train  in  waiting,  and 
sped  up  the  wild  and  picturesque  valley.  Crossing  at  Har 
per's  Ferry,  it  shortly  left  the  crowded  cars  at  Winchester, 
joining  the  command  of  Major-Gen.  Milroy. 

As  far  back  as  the  previous  November,  Gen.  Halleck's 
chief-of-staff,  Gen.  Cullom,  had  reported,  after  careful  examina 
tion,  not  only  that  the  works  at  Winchester  were  so  located 
as  to  be  indefensible  per  se,  but  that  the  place  required  no 
works,  and  should  have  no  heavy  garrison;  being  merely  "an 
eye  of  the  National  army  looking  up  the  Shenandoah  Val 
ley."  He  recommended  that  all  infantry  be  withdrawn,  and 
only  a  strong  cavalry  picket  retained.  The  recommendation 
was  not  heeded ;  and  Milroy  remained  with  seven  thousand 
men,  while  Lee's  army,  flushed  with  the  victories  along  the 
Rappahannock,  was  pressing  towards  Pennsylvania.  About 
the  9th  of  June,  Early,  with  Stonewall  Jackson's  old  corps 
of  thirty  thousand  men,  pushed  silently  and  swiftly  north 
ward  through  the  valley,  while  Lee  seized  and  held  the  gaps 
of  the  Blue  Ridge.  Next  day,  Milroy  exultingly  telegraphed 
to  Gen.  Schenck  at  Baltimore,  that  his  advance  had  had  "a 
splendid  little  skirmish"  with  the  rebels,  and  added,  "The 
enemy  are  probably  approaching  in  some  force.  I  am  en 
tirely  ready  for  them :  I  can  hold  this  place."  And  as  late 
as  the  succeeding  day,  June  11,  Col.  Bonn  Piatt,  chief-of-staff, 
possessed  by  the  same  delusion,  telegraphed,  "  All  works  tine. 
Can  whip  any  thing  the  rebels  can  fetch  .here.  How  is  Mrs. 
Piatt  ?  "  He  did  not  wait  long  for  an  answer. 

On  Saturday,  June  13,  the  Union  pickets  were  driven 
towards  Winchester,  and  brisk  skirmishing  ensued.  Col.  Ely 
of  the  Eighteenth  was  in  charge  of  a  brigade ;  and  he  im 
mediately  advanced  upon  the  Front-Royal  Pike  with  his  regi 
ment  (under  Lieut.-Col.  Nichols)  and  the  87th  Pennsylvania, 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  ENGAGED  AT   WINCHESTER.  351 

and  a  section  of  battery,  to  "  feel  for  the  enemy."  The  feeling 
was  mutual.  They  had  gone  little  more  than  a  mile  from  town 
when  they  were  opened  upon  by  a  battery  planted  in  the 
edge  of  a  dense  thicket  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  deep  ravine. 

The  Union  battery  was  wheeled  upon  a  knoll,  and  opened 
briskly ;  the  Eighteenth  lying  down  in  high  clover  closely  in 
the  rear,  except  Companies  A  and  B  deployed  as  skirmishers. 
The  enemy  played  upon  our  regiments  at  a  distance  of  not 
more  than  four  hundred  yards,  for  an  hour,  with  six  Napo 
leon  pieces,  and  at  last  exploded  the  caisson  of  the  battery, 
and  silenced  the  guns ;  when  the  brigade  fell  back. 

Nearer  the  city,  the  artillery-fight  was  resumed  at  long 
range.  Meanwhile  Early  had  thrown  other  brigades  around 
on  the  west,  and  there  had  been  severe  fighting  there. 

Night  came  on,  and  the  city  was  besieged.  Milroy  ascer 
tained  that  an  overwhelming  force  was  in  front  of  him  and 
on  his  flanks  :  this  was  his  opportunity  to  retreat  under  cover 
of  the  blinding  darkness  and  the  heavy  thunder-shower;  but 
some  fatuity  detained  him. 

The  Eighteenth  was  stationed  all  night  in  rifle-pits  just 
outside  the  city,  wet  through  with  the  drenching  rain.  By 
midnight,  it  was  obvious  that  Early  was  closing  in  ;  and  Ely's 
brigade  of  four  regiments  was  recalled  to  the  fort,  but  at 
sunrise  was  sent  out  again.  "  The  1st  Brigade,  under  Gen. 
Elliott,  occupied  the  main  fort;  the  2d,  under  Col.  Ely, 
held  the  town  and  the  space  outside ;  the  3d,  under  Col. 
McReynolds,  was  posted  in  the  star  fort." 4 

"The  Eighteenth"  (commanded  by  Major  Henry  Peale)  "was  sta 
tioned  for  a  few  hours  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city,  defending  govern 
ment  property ;  and  some  of  the  companies  skirmished  with  small  parties 
of  rebels.  The  command  was  soon  ordered  to  the  defenses  in  the  north-east, 
commanding  the  Berry  ville  Road,  in  which  direction  the  lines  of  the  enemy 
could  now  be  discovered.  Severe  firing  shortly  ensued,  which  lasted  for 
several  hours.  The  rebels  took  possession  of  a  large  house  within  rifle 
distance  of  the  regiment,  and  annoyed  us  severely ;  delivering  their  fire 
whenever  a  head  showed  itself  above  the  rifle-pits.  It  was  resolved  to  dis 
lodge  them  ;  and  a  24-pouuder  brass  howitzer  was  procured  from  the  fort,  and 
turned  upon  the  building.  After  the  firing  of  several  shots,  some  of  which 
penetrated  it,  a  portion  of  the  regiment  (Companies  F  and  H),  under  Capt. 
Charles  D.  Bowen  of  the  latter  company,  charged,  and  captured  eight  pris 
oners  ;  the  rest  making  their  escape."  5 

4  New- York  Herald  Narrative.  6  Major  Peak's  Official  Report. 


352  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  2d  (Ely's)  Brigade  was. now  stationed  near  the  ceme 
tery,  across  which  the  principal  firing  took  place.  "About 
four  in  the  afternoon,  the  rebel  skirmishers  charged  up  to 
the  very  edge  of  the  town ;  when  a  well-directed  fire  from 
our  troops  sent  them  back  in  confusion  to  their  supporting 
line,  which  also  caught  the  panic,  and  rushed  back  to  the  very 
edge  of  the  timber." (  Here  several  of  the  Eighteenth  were 
killed  and  wounded. 

About  this  time  the  rebels  charged  upon  and  captured 
the  important  outworks  held  by  an  Ohio  regiment,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  main  fort ;  and  the  2d  Brigade  fell  back 
to  the  works  north-east  of  the  fortification,  in  which  the  prin 
cipal  part  of  our  forces  were  now  besieged,  and  subjected  to 
a  severe  bombardment. 

By  sundown  of  the  14th,  the  city  was  three-fourths  in 
vested.  Early's  right  crossed  the  Berryville  Road  on  the 
north-east,  and  his  left  intersected  the  Front  Royal,  Strasburg, 
and  Romney  Roads. 

"At  1, A.M., on  the  15th,  the  order  was  given  for  the  silent 
evacuation  of  Winchester.  The  night  was  intensely  dark ; 
but  the  column  moved  with  order  on  the  road  leading  to 
Martinsburg, due  north;  the  Eighteenth  Connecticut  forming 
the  advance  of  the  center  brigade.  The  command  had  pro 
ceeded  about  four  and  a  half  miles,  when  the  head  of  the 
1st  Brigade  suddenly  encountered  the  right  of  the  enemy 
posted  in  strong  force  in  a  piece  of  woods  skirting  the  right 
of  the  road.  The  rebels  threw  forward  with  great  rapidity 
a  sufficient  force  to  command  the  whole  of  the  1st  Brigade, 
and  a  large  portion  of  the  2d.  One  or  more  volleys  were 
delivered  by  them  and  returned,  but,  owing  to  the  extreme 
darkness  of  the  morning,  had  little  or  no  effect.  At  this 
time,  the  1st  Brigade  charged ;  and,  having  partially  driven 
back  the  force  immediately  in  its  front,  the  larger  portion 
passed  on,  and  continued  its  flight  to  Harper's  Ferry.  The 
remainder  pf  the  1st  Brigade,  together  with  the  2d,  fell  back 
in  a  field  to  the  left  of  the  road,  and  re-formed  their  partially- 
disordered  ranks."  7 

A  letter  written  by  one  of  the  regiment  soon  after  gives 

6  New- York  Herald  Narrative.  7  Major  Peale's  Official  Report. 


FIRST   BATTLE   OF   THE   EIGHTEENTH.  353 

the  following  account  of  the  gallant  part  borne  by  the 
Eighteenth  in  the  charge  of  the  2d  Brigade  :  "  We  charged 
into  the  woods ;  but,  in  the  gray  dawn,  nothing  could  be 
discerned  but  the  flash  of  their  rifles.  We  could  not  see  a 
man ;  and  they  had  every  advantage  of  us,  as  we  charged 
from  light  into  the  darkness,  where  they  quietly  awaited 
our  coming.  The  crack  of  rifles  was  for  a  time  terrific ; 
but  numbers  and  position  finally  prevailed,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  retreat. 

"  We  formed  again,  in  perfect  order,  in  the  open  field,  and 
prepared  for  a  second  charge.  By  this  time,  we  could  form 
some  idea  of  the  rebel  position;  for  we  could  see  quite 
plainly.  Gen.  Milroy  was  behind  us  on  his  horse  ;  and  he 
told  us  to  take  that  battery ;  that  we  could  do  it  in  ten 
minutes.  Officers  and  men  were  cool  again,  and  in  good 
spirits.  Well,  the  order  was  given,  '  Forward,  Eighteenth ! 
Charge  bayonets  !  Double-quick  !  March  ! '  and  away  we 
went  into  those  woods  again.  We  were  met  with  a  murder 
ous  fire  ;  but  forward  sprang  the  line  with  a  yell.  Up  the 
cross-road  we  charged,  in  point-blank  range  of  the  rebel 
battery. 

"A  long  line  of  fire  streamed  from  thousands  of  rifles, 
interrupted  now  and  then  by  the  blaze  of  the  battery. 
Trees  were  peeled  in  all  directions.  We  charged  up  to  the 
battery  and  silenced  it,  killing  or  wounding  every  man 
that  stood  by  it ;  but  they  had  plenty  of  artillery  in  re 
serve  :  so  we  saw  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  hold  it.  After 
fighting  desperately  for  some  time,  and  losing  many  valu 
able  men,  the  order  to  retreat  was  given  ;  and  we  again  fell 
back." 

This  was  the  first  battle  in  which  the  Eighteenth  had  been 
engaged  ;  and  its  behavior  had  deserved  great  credit.  The 
above  statement  seems  slightly  colored  by  the  interest 
which  a  participant  would  naturally  feel;  yet  it  is  abundant 
ly  corroborated  by  the  list  of  casualties,  and  by  the  account 
given  by  the  Confederates  themselves. 

The  Richmond  Whig,  during  the  same  week,  contained  a 
letter  written  by  a  member  of  the  1st  Maryland  (rebel) 
Battery,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  "  About  d^rk 


354  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

the  same  night,  Johnston's  division  moved  off  to  the  right, 
and  came  on  the  road  leading  to  Charleston.  We  marched 
all  night ;  and  at  break  of  day,  as  we  were  going  towards 
Winchester,  we  received  a  volley  of  Minie-balls.  We  imme 
diately  went  into  position ;  but,  as  it  was  dark,  we  could  not 
see  the  enemy,  who  continued  to  fire  upon  us.  ...  As 
soon  as  it  was  light,  we  commenced  firing :  then  came  a 
shower  of  Minie-balls  such  as  I  never  heard  before.  With  a 
yell,  the  Yankees  charged  our  battery  three  times,  and  got 
within  a  few  yards  of  it,  but  were  driven  off  So  many 
were  killed  at  gun  No.  1,  that  it  had  to  be  abandoned ;  and 
we  had  fired  every  round  of  ammunition  from  gun  No.  2,  — 
these  being  the  only  guns  of  our  battery  firing  on  the 
charging  columns  of  the  enemy.  Then  the  Yankees  made 
a  final  charge,  and  got  nearer  than  before;  and  we  thought 
we  wore  about  to  be  captured.  Two  or  three  horses  having 
been  killed,  we  were  unable  to  move  off  We  then  found  a 
few  rounds  of  ammunition  in  the  caisson  of  No.  1;  and,  put 
ting  them  in  No.  2,  we  drove  them  back  for  the  last  time." 

The  Eighteenth  had  lost  thirty-one  killed  and  forty-four 
wounded,  including  five  commanders  of  companies.  After 
the  last  charge,  Col.  Ely  looked  about  him  for  support,  and 
found  that  the  3d  Brigade  had  taken  advantage  of  the  fight 
to  turn  about,  and  make  its  way  across  the  country  towards 
Pennsylvania,  Milroy  and  Major  Peale  had  already  escaped 
with  a  few  men,  including  thirty  from  the  Eighteenth. 

Col.  Ely  and  Lieut-Col.  Nichols  were  dismounted,  and 
were  immediately  summoned  to  surrender.  The  rebels  now 
occupied  the  road  in  both  directions.  The  Federals  num 
bered  but  a  thousand  men,  jaded  by  two  days'  sleepless 
service,  and  now  badly  cut  up.  Under  the  circumstances, 
Col.  Ely  surrendered  the  command.  The  men  were  imme 
diately  placed  under  guard. 

Col.  Ely's  sword  had  been  hit  by  a  ball  during  the  battle, 
shattering  the  blade  near  the  hilt.  When  he  delivered  it  to 
the  rebel  Gen.  Walker  after  the  fight,  that  officer  asked, 
"When  was  this  done,  sir?"  —  "This  morning."  —  "You 
deserve  to  keep  this,"  was  the  rejoinder:  "I  will  direct  it 
to  be  retained  for  you."  It  was  sent  to  Gen.  Early,  by 


DEATH  OF  CAPT.  PORTEK.  355 

whose  order  it  was  finally  forwarded  through,  by  flag  of 
truce,  to  the  father  of  Col.  Ely,  while  the  soldier  who  had 
borne  it  gallantly  was  yet  a  prisoner. 

Besides  the  thirty  who  got  away  with  Major  Peale,  Com 
pany  D  of  the  Eighteenth,  detailed  as  provost-guard,  escaped 
intact.  About  half  of  the  seven  thousand  of  the  division 
ultimately  escaped  ;  stragglers  coming  into  the  border-towns 
of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  for  a  week,  most  of  them 
unarmed  and  nearly  famished. 

Within  thirty  minutes  after  Ely's  surrender,  Early's  entire 
corps  marched  across  the  battle-field  in  swift  pursuit  of  the 
fugitives.  Many  were  captured. 

Among  the  killed  in  this  battle  was  Capt.  Edward  L. 
Porter,  only  son  of  Dr.  Isaac  G.  Porter  of  New  London.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Yale  of  the  class  of  '57 ;  a  young  man 
of  excellent  literary  taste,  and  had  adopted  the  practice  of 
law  with  fine  promise.  Surgeon  Holbrook  recently  wrote 
of  him,  "  I  remember  Capt.  Porter  as  one  of  the  noblest  of 
our  company  of  martyrs,  who,  on  that  memorable  morning, 
offered  up  their  lives  on  the  altar  of  constitutional  liberty. 
At  my  suggestion,  he  went  to  the  hospital  three  days 
before ;  being  sick  with  what  I  feared  might  prove  typhoid 
fever.  I  visited  him  on  the  day  before  the  evacuation,  and 
found  him  very  weak,  and  was  surprised,  on  the  following 
morning,  to  find  him  at  the  head  of  his  company.  An  offi 
cer  informed  me  that  he  seemed  possessed  of  superhuman 
energy  in  the  battle,  and  gallantly  led  his  men  in  the 
charge,  when  he  was  struck  by  a  bullet  in  the  forehead,  and 
died  almost  immediately.  He  has  left  a  bright  record  of 
honorable  manliness.  Dignified  and  '  gentlemanly,  always 
prompt  in  the  conscientious  discharge  of  duty,  he  attested 
by  his  death  the  sincerity  of  his  patriotism,  and  sealed  with 
his  blood  his  love  of  liberty."  His  watch  was  returned  to 
his  father ;  and  on  the  inside  he  had  written,  jap  ip^srai  vo*  •. 
"  For  the  night  cometh."  The  words  characterized  his  gen 
eral  thoughtfulness. 

The  handsome  regimental  colors  presented  by  the  ladies 
of  Norwich  were  not  captured  with  the  regiment.  When 
they  were  inquired  for,  the  men  would  not  or  could  not  give 


356  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

any  information  as  to  their  whereabouts ;  but  in  two  days, 
after  many  "hairbreadth  scapes,"  they  crossed  the  Pennsyl 
vania  border  wound  about  the  body  of  Color-sergeant  George 
Torrey  of  Woodstock,  who  had  taken  to  the  woods  during 
the  confusion.  He  was  subsequently  commissioned  captain 
in  the  United-States  colored  troops. 

About  two  hundred  made  good  their  retreat,  and  gradually 
gathered  again  at  Maryland  Heights,  under  Major  Peale. 
H.  H.  Starkweather  immediately  went  to  the  rendezvous, 
carrying  food  and  other  comforts  from  home,  and  sending 
back  to  the  anxious  relatives  news  from  the  regiment. 
Capt.  Thomas  K.  Bates,  a  brave  officer,  severely  wounded 
and  a  prisoner,  was  recaptured  shortly  after  in  a  rebel 
hospital. 

The  prisoners  suffered  from  the  first  day  of  their  cap 
tivity.  •  They  were  not  allowed  to  bury  the  dead  of  the 
regiment,  as  that  would  deprive  the  rebels  of  the  Thenar- 
dierian  privilege  of  robbing  the  corpses  of  the  slain.  The 
prisoners  were  hurried  back  to  the  fort,  and  next  day  were 
started  for  Richmond  on  foot.  They  made  ninety-two  miles 
in  four  days,  arriving  at  Staunton  on  Monday  the  22d,  and 
thence  took  the  cars  for  Richmond.  They  reached  the  Con 
federate  capital  early  next  morning,  and,  without  making 
any  triumphal  entree,  marched  straight  to  Libby  Prison. 

The  food  on  the  journey  consisted  of  a  pint  of  flour  and 
a  very  small  piece  of  pork  to  each  man.  The  officers  and 
enlisted  men  were  in  separate  squads,  and  were  not  permit 
ted  to  communicate. 

Un  the  second  day,  the  privates  were  transferred  from 
Libby  to  Belle  Isle  in  the  James  River,  now  so  infamous  in 
the  annals  of  the  war.  Here  they  staid  a  few  weeks,  on 
scanty  rations ;  when  they  were  taken  back  to  Libby,  paroled 
July  2,  taken  to  City  Point,  released,  and  transported  to 
Annapolis;  having  been  under  the  stars  and  bars  seven 
teen  days.  They  remained  at  Camp  Parole  until  the  1st 
of  October,  when  they  were  duly  exchanged,  and  returned 
to  the  nucleus  of  the  regiment,  now  in  camp  at  Martinsburg, 
north  of  Winchester. 

The  officers  were  not  so  fortunate.     They  were  detained 


DEATH  OF  CORPORAL  WORDEN.  357 

at  Libby  through  many  weary  months  ;  hoping,  fearing, 
expecting,  and  sometimes  almost  despairing.  They  had 
scarcely  food  enough  to  sustain  life ;  but  the  miserable 
rations  were  supplemented  with  heavy  boxes  of  succulent 
and  nourishing  food,  prepared  with  loving  hands  in  Eastern 
Connecticut.  Officers  of  other  regiments  brought  away 
letters  concealed  in  their  buttons,  from  Col.  Ely,  Capt. 
Davis,  Lieut.  Higgins,  and  others.  Capt.  Davis  said,  "  On 
the  prison-walls  of  the  Conciergerie,  in  the  days  of  the 
French  Revolution,  was  written, '  He  who  retains  his  patriot 
ism  can  never  be  wholly  miserable;'  so  here  in  these  days,  a 
parallel  with  that  time  in  fraternal  bloodshed,  this  sentiment 
sustains  many  a  prisoner.  Deprived  of  liberty,  and  subsist 
ing  on  a  scanty  diet,  we  are  not  of  all  men  the  most  misera 
ble  when  we  remember  for  what  we  are  here." 

About  this  time,  Corporal  Samuel  D.  Worden  of  Canterbury 
died  of  wounds  received  at  Winchester,  and  disease  engen 
dered  on  Belle  Isle.  He  was  liberally  educated,  a  graduate 
of  the  Unitarian  Theological  Seminary  at  Meadville,  and  had 
occasionally  occupied  the  pulpit  of  that  denomination.  He 
was  an  exemplary  Christian  soldier,  and  fought  as  he  had 
lived,  in  compliance  with  his  conscientious  convictions. 
When  the  second  call  for  troops  came,  he  had  charge  of  a 
school  at  Greenville ;  but  he  joined  Capt.  Davis's  company, 
and  laid  all  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of  his  cultivated  mind 
on  the  altar  of  American  nationality.  He  finally  died  at 
home,  where  Rev.  Mr.  Stone  of  Brooklyn  delivered  a  touch 
ing  address ;  and  the  remains  of  the  fallen  hero  were  borne 
to  the  grave  by  his  companions  in  arms.  Such  were  many 
of  the  men  who  fought  in  the  ranks  of  our  great  army. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Battle  of  Cliancellorsville.  —  Advance  upon  the  Flank.  —  The  Fifth,  Fourteenth,  Seven 
teenth,  Twentieth,  and  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  Regiments  engaged.  —  The  llth 
Corps  overwhelmed  by  Stonewall  Jackson.  —  Terrible  Battle  of  May  3. — Heavy 
Losses  of  the  Twentieth  Connecticut  Volunteers. — The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment 
captured.  —  A  New  Line  of  Battle.  —  Withdrawal  of  the  Army  and  Failure  of  the 
Movement.  —  Losses  of  the  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  Prisoners  of  War. 

PRING  came.  It  was  1863.  Two  years  of  the 
war  had  passed  with  little  gain  for  the  Union 
arms  in  Virginia.  Hooker  was  in  command  of 
the  splendidly-disciplined  and  plucky  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  which  he  declared  to  be  "  the  finest 
army  on  the  planet,"  His  eight  corps  were  eager  to  be  led 
again  towards  Richmond.,  —  this  time  by  the  soldier  who  had 
borne  the  brunt  of  battle  at  Antietam.  Five  Connecticut 
regiments  were  with  him,  —  the  Fifth  and  Twentieth  in  the 
12th  Corps,  the  Fourteenth  and  Twenty-seventh  in  the  2d 
Corps,  and  the  Seventeenth  in  the  llth  Corps. 

In  the  march  to  Chancellorsville,  the  llth  and  12th  Corps 
were  in  company  ;  while  the  2d  proceeded  by  the  nearer 
route,  via  United-States  Ford. 

On  April  27,  the  reveille  was  sounded  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  Breakfast  was  dispatched ;  tents  struck  and 
knapsacks  slung ;  officers'  baggage  sent  to  the  regimental 
wagons ;  and  at  six  o'clock  the  men  were  in  line.  They 
were  supplied  with  eight  days'  rations  of  hard-tack,  sugar, 
coffee,  and  salt.  Mules  bore  a  blanket  and  a  shelter-tent  for 
each  man.  Fresh  beef  was  driven  along  in  the  train ;  one 
ration  to  be  issued  every  three  days.  The  men  were  in 
good  spirits  :  the  day  was  beautiful.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  llth 
and  12th  Corps  were  in  motion  ;  the  march,  of  the  day  lying 


358 


FORDING  THE  HAPIDAK.  359 

westward,  parallel  to  the  Rappahannock.  They  bivouacked 
upon  a  pleasant  hillside  near  Hartwood  Church  that  night ; 
waking  early,  and  starting  again  at  daybreak,  still  westward. 
At  two  o'clock,  the  Seventeenth  Regiment  halted,  and  ate  a 
frugal  dinner  near  Barrett's  Ford  ;  where,  on  account  of  a 
drizzling  rain,  they  waited  until  midnight. 

They  then  crossed  in  silence,  and  without  opposition,  and 
pressed  forward  towards  Culpeper.  At  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  having  been  under  arms  twenty-five  hours,  the 
men  dropped  down  in  the  woods,  and  slept  till  seven.  Here 
the  12th  Corps  passed.  The  llth  Corps  was  shortly  in 
motion  again  ;  and  towards  evening  both  corps  turned  short 
to  the  left,  and  advanced  towards  Fredericksburg. 

The  question  of  how  to  cross  the  Rapidan  was  next  en 
countered.  The  bridge  was  gone ;  the  banks  were  steep 
and  high ;  and  the  stream  swollen  by  previous  rains  so  as 
to  be  hardly  fordable  for  artillery.  Delay  was  defeat;  so 
a  ford  was  ordered.  "  The  men  fixed  bayonets,  hung  their 
cartridge-boxes  on  them ;  and  then,  with  muskets  at  right- 
shoulder-shift,  clambered  down  the  bank.  It  was  a  cold  day  ; 
the  water  was  chilly ;  and,  as  they  plunged  in,  it  was  like  the 
cut  of  a  knife  :  but  they  wallowed  on,  singing,  '  John  Brown's 
soul  is  inarching  on,'  some  shouting,  '  Who  wouldn't  be  a 
soldier?'  and  others  wondering  why  Hooker  didn't  make  his 
regiments  into  gunboats,  and  use  them  in  the  naval  service. 

"  The  current  was  so  strong  as  to  carry  several  of  them 
down  stream ;  but  they  finally  reached  the  opposite  bank 
some  distance  below,  with  the  loss  of  musket  and  cartridge- 
box.  Here  you  would  see  a  cautious  fellow  slip  off  his 
stockings,  shoes,  and  pants,  tie  them  in  his  handkerchief, 
and  suspend  the  bundle  on  his  bayonet  to  keep  it  dry  •  then 
join  the  crowd  to  the  river.  Watch  him :  ten  to  one  the 
current  trips  him,  and  he  wets  bundle  and  cartridge-box  to 
gether,  and  is  lucky  if  he  get  to  the  shore  without  losing  a 
part  or  all  of  his  load.  On  the  south  bank  were  men  drip 
ping  with  water,  and  shivering  with  cold,  wringing  their 
drenched  clothes."1  Two  miles  farther  on,  they  spent  the 
night  around  blazing  fires. 

1  Col.  P.  B.  Buckingham's  MS.  History  of  the  Twentieth. 


360  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   KEBELLION. 

Companies  A  and  H  of  the  Fifth  unpacked  all  the  ammu 
nition  from  the  mules,  and  carried  it  across  by  hand  during 
the  evening.  In  the  night  also,  a  detail  of  men,  under  Capt. 
Samuel  S.  Woodruff  of  the  Twentieth,  threw  a  rude  bridge 
across  the  river,  which  was  very  seviceable  to  the  llth  and 
5th  Corps.  They  pushed  up  to  the  Rapidan  in  the  evening, 
where  they  bivouacked,  and  enjoyed  the  easy  slumber  of 
the  tired  soldier.  At  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  they  were 
awakened,  and  ordered  to  "  fall  in  "  to  cross  the  river.  Lieut. 
Wilcoxson  of  the  Seventeenth,  in  a  letter  to  his  wife,  wrote 
of  this, — 

"  A  wild  and  weird  scene  it  was.  Moving  down  the  road 
to  the  abrupt  bank  of  the  river,  we  came  upon  the  abutment 
where  had  been  the  old  bridge,  and  where  the  rebels  had 
lately  begun  the  construction  of  the  new.  Here,  dividing 
our  ranks,  each  man  groped  for  himself  a  way  down  the 
steep  bank  to  the  foot  of  the  abutment,  from  which  a  rude 
and  trembling  structure  scarcely  four  feet  wide,  and  but  a 
trifle  raised  above  the  surface  of  the  rushing  and  foaming 
river,  led  to  one  pier  and  another,  and  so  to  the  opposite 
bank.  The  night  was  pitchy  dark ;  and,  to  enable  us  to  avoid 
a  tumble  into  the  boiling  flood,  fires  had  been  built  on  the 
piers,  which  lighted  up  the  tortuous  course  of  the  phantom- 
like  train  as  it  slowly  crawled  out  of  the  darkness  on  one 
side,  across  the  flimsy  bridge  in  the  ruddy  glare,  and  into 
the  darkness  beyond." 

Two  miles  farther,  and  another  halt.  One  rubber  blan 
ket  on  the  ground  and  another  over  him,  the  soldier's  simple 
toilet  is  made,  and  he  falls  asleep  to  the  music  of  pattering 
rain  on  the  rubber  covering.  At  daylight,  the  rain  in 
creased  ;  but  by  noon  both  ^corps  were  again  in  motion,  with 
a  hot  sun  overhead.  The  march  was  rapid,  without  halt 
for  dinner.  They  passed  through  the  Wilderness,  and  at  six 
o'clock  arrived  at  Chancellorsville. 

The  line  of  battle  was  disposed  in  the  form  of  an  irregular, 
inverted  V  ;  the  left  leg  resting  on  the  river,  and  Mr.  Chan 
cellor's  house  being  in  the  rather  obtuse  apex.  The  llth 
Corps,  under  Gen.  0.  0.  Howard,  held  the  right  of  the  whole 
line ;  Devens's  division  abutting  on  a  dense  wood  assumed  to 


OVER-CONFIDENCE   OF   HOOKER   AND   HOWARD.  361 

be  impenetrable.  On  the  left  was  the  3d  Corps,  arid  on  the 
left  of  that  the  12th ;  while  the  2d  held  a  position  to  the  left 
of  Chancellor's  house. 

The  Seventeenth  Regiment  was  stationed  near  the  resi 
dence  of  a  Mr.  Hatch,  a  native  of  Farinington,  Conn. :  and 
Saturday,  May  2,  found  it  supporting  Dieckman's  battery  ;  the 
right  wing  being  in  Hatch's  garden,  and  the  left  deployed 
along  the  Culpeper  Road  in  line  of  battle.  The  house  was 
the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Devens,  commanding  the  division 
at  the  extreme  right  of  the  army. 

Notwithstanding  this  exposed  situation,  neither  he  nor 
Gen.  Howard  seems  to  have  guarded  against  surprise.  Re 
peatedly  warned  on  Friday  by  the  artillery  duels  at  the  right, 
and  on  Saturday  by  spies  and  scouts  bringing  information 
that  the  rebel  infantry  was  massing  there,  they  took  no 
adequate  precautions.  Adjutant  Wilcoxson,  writing  next 
day,  said,  "  For  some  time,  troops  were  seen  passing  to  the 
south-west,  along  the  crest  of  a  distant  hill ;  in  regard  to 
whom  conjectures  were  various.  Gen.  McLean  (command 
ing  the  brigade  to  which  the  Seventeenth  was  attached) 
thought  them  to  be  rebels ;  but  Gen.  Devens  was  confident 
it  was  another  corps  of  our  own  army.  At  one  o'clock,  in 
formation  came  to  Gen.  Devens  that  the  rebel  batteries  were 
moving  around  our  right  flank.  I  have  since  learned  that 
our  generals  had  been  informed  that  the  enemy  were  in 
strong  force  upon  our  flank ;  and  why  a  stronger  force  was 
riot  sent  out  as  skirmishers,  and  the  line  of  battle  changed 
to  front  the  foe,  is  more  than  I  am  able  to  understand." 

The  fact  is,  that  both  Hooker  and  Howard  were  over-confi 
dent  and  incautious,  and  believed  none  of  the  stories  of  the 
Hank-movement.  Hooker  wrote2  to  Sedgwick  at  this  hour, 
"  We  know  that  the  enemy  is  flying,  trying  to  save  his  trains. 
Sickles's  two  divisions  are  among  them."  Gen.  (then  Col.) 
Noble  writes,  "The  disaster  resulted  from  Howard's  and 
Devens's  utter  disregard  and  inattention,  under  warnings 
that  came  in  from  the  front  and  flank  all  through  the  day. 
Horseman  after  horseman  rode  into  my  post,  and  was  sent 
to  headquarters  with  the  information  that  the  enemy  were 

2  Vide  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


362  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE  REBELLION. 

heavily  marching  along  our  front,  and  proceeding  to  our 
right ;  and,  last  of  all,  an  officer  reported  the  rebels  mass 
ing  for  attack.  Howard  scouted  the  report,  and  insulted 
the  informants ;  charging  them  with  telling  a  story  that  was 
the  offspring  of  their  imagination  or  their  fears." 

Two  companies  of  the  Seventeenth,  Wilson  French's  of 
Ridgefield,  and  Albert  II.  Wilcoxson's  of  Norwalk,  were  out 
on  picket,  when  they  were  attacked  by  the  advancing  hosts 
of  Stonewall  Jackson,  and  driven  in  upon  the  flank,  rapidly 
pursued.  As  soon  as  the  rebels  were  unmasked  by  the  pick 
ets,  the  regiment  poured  several  volleys  into  them ;  but  they 
rushed  forward  in  overwhelming  numbers.  The  battery 
retreated  without  attempting  to  fire  a  gun.  The  German 
troops  at  the  left,  exposed  to  the  same  tremendous  shower 
of  grape  and  canister  and  shell,  accompanied  by  an  attack 
of  infantry,  fell  back,  outnumbered  ten  to  one.  For  a  time, 
McLean's  brigade  alone  remained  on  the  contested  ground, 
which  had  become  a  perfect  Pandemonium,  alive  with  shriek 
ing  shells  and  whistling  balls. 

"It  was  a  complete  surprise  to  this  corps.  Gen.  Hooker 
had  announced  that  the  rebels  were  running  away.  Gen. 
Howard  did  not  expect  an  attack  ;  and  his  men  were  cooking 
supper,  some  with  their  arms  stacked,  and  hardly  a  single 
regiment  in  position  to  repel  attack.  Almost  the  first  inti 
mation  the  men  had  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy  in  their 
immediate  vicinity  was  a  volley  of  musketry,  and  a  shower 
of  grape  and  canister  in  front,  flank,  and  rear.  They  were 
panic-stricken,  as  most  troops  would  have  been."3 

The  Seventeenth  Regiment  had  been  ordered  to  lie  down. 
The  heroic  Lieut-Col.  Charles  Walter  rose  to  ascertain  the 
situation.  He  was  seen  to  drop  suddenly.  It  was  supposed 
that  he  had  lain  down  again  for  protection ;  but  he  had  been 
shot  through  the  head,  and  was  dead.  Many  were  slain  si 
multaneously  in  the  fierce  onset.  The  regiment  yielded  to 
vastly  superior  numbers  pressing  in  on  all  sides;  and  the 
two  wings  marched  out  by  the  left  flank,  under  a  most 
galling  fire.  While  gallantly  rallying  his  men  to  return  the 
rebel  fire,  a  shot  struck  Col.  Noble  in  the  arm,  severing  an 

8  Col.  Buckingham's  MS.  History. 


THE   TWENTIETH   UNDER   FIEE   FOE   FIRST  TIME.  363 

artery.  He  remained  on  the  field  until  so  faint  from  loss  of 
blood  that  he  could  no  longer  manage  his  horse  ;  when  he 
was  supported  to  the  rear.  The  horse  had  been  wounded, 
and  died  soon  after.  The  regiment  made  a  brave  stand  at 
the  rifle-pits,  near  headquarters,  and  remained  there  all  night, 
supporting  a  battery  ;  while  the  3d  Corps  was  flung  into  the 
gap. 

The  retreat  of  the  llth  Corps,  instead  of  being  the  rout 
and  flight  of  poltroons,  as  described  at  the  time,  was  inevita 
ble  after  the  impetuous  Jackson  had  got  in  its  rear  with 
forty  thousand  infantry.  But  it  is  unquestionable  that 
McLean's  brigade  contested  the  ground  stubbornly.  Ket- 
tell's  History  of  the  Rebellion  says,  "  The  brigades  of  Bush- 
beck  and  McLean  held  their  ground  for  a  time,  but  were 
compelled  to  fall  back  before  the  irruption  of  the  enemy." 
The  New-York  Times'  correspondent  said,  "  The  brigade  of 
McLean  remained  fighting,  and  maintained  themselves  nobly 
as  long  as  possible."  The  Tribune  said,  "  McLean's  men 
stood  their  ground  manfully." 

The  "Dutch"  have  been  long  enough  held  responsible  for 
the  repulse  at  Chancellorsville.  The  fact  is,  that  less  than 
half  of  the  llth  Corps  were  Germans,  and  they  were  at  the 
left  of  Devens. 

On  Friday,  the  day  preceding  Jackson's  assault  on  the 
llth  Corps,  the  Fifth  and  Twentieth,  with  some  other  regi 
ments,  went  on  a  reconnoissance  in  force  towards  Freder- 
icksburg,  and  were  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy's 
batteries  for  two  hours.  For  the  first  time  under  fire,  the 
Twentieth  behaved  with  great  coolness  and  steadiness.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  the  conduct  of  the  Fifth. 

The  repulse  of  the  llth  Corps  next  day  was  a  severe  trial 
to  both,  holding  the  line  immediately  on  the  left.  Lieut. 
William  A.  Daniels,  adjutant  of  the  Fifth,  in  the  official 
report  of  the  action,  says,  — 

"  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  our  corps  was  ordered  out  from  the 
barricades,  which  had  been  constructed  the  previous  night,  to  engage  the 
enemy  upon  the  left  of  our  (corps)  line.  Before  meeting  the  enemy,  we 
moved  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  left,  then  formed  line  of  battle,  the 
Fifth  Connecticut  taking  the  right  of  our  division,  and  forming  part  of  the 
first  line  of  battle  ;  Company  H,  under  Capt.  Daboll,  being  thrown  forward 


364  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

as  skirmishers.  These  having  drawn  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  a  rapid 
exchange  of  shots  ensued,  until  within  about  fifty  yards  of  the  enemy's  line  ; 
when,  the  skirmishers  being  ordered  to  lie  down,  the  regiment  received 
orders  to  commence  firing,  which  they  did,  alternating  front  and  rear  rank, 
with  good  effect. 

"  After  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  engagement,  the  entire  line 
received  orders  to  fall  back,  firing  as  they  moved,  which  was  done  in  good 
order,  the  men  conducting  themselves  with  the  most  perfect  coolness  and 
regard  for  discipline  ;  our  regiment  in  the  mean  time  performing  the  diffi 
cult  maneuver  of  '  doubling  on  center.' 

"  After  moving  to  the  rear  about  two  hundred  yards,  the  entire  brigade 
was  ordered  to  move  at  double-quick  in  the  direction  of  the  intrenchments 
formerly  occupied.  Upon  arriving  within  two  hundred  yards  of  our  barri 
cades,  we  received  a  tremendous  volley  of  musketry  from  the  enemy,  who 
had  succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  them  in  our  absence,  through  the 
retreat  of  the  llth  Corps,  which  had  occupied  a  position  upon  the  right  of 
our  intrenchments." 

It  is  not  surprising  that  this  bold  attack  in  the  rear  threw 
the  regiments  into  some  disorder.  The  brigade,  however, 
instantly  charged,  and  retook  the  intrenchments ;  but  was 
forced  to  withdraw  by  the  overwhelming  numbers  of  the 
enemy.  In  this  confusion,  Col.  Warren  W.  Packer  and  five 
other  officers  of  the  Fifth  were  taken  prisoners ;  but  the 
regiment  rallied,  and  held  a  position  near  by.  Col.  Packer 
says  he  moved  the  regiment  by  the  flank  at  this  time,  in 
obedience  to  explicit  orders ;  and  that  the  whole  regiment 
might  have  been  captured  if  the  rebels  had  been  bolder. 

The  Twentieth,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  2d,  began  to 
throw  up  intrenchments  along  its  front.  A  member  wrote, 
"  The  want  of  suitable  implements  for  this  work  was  felt ; 
but  bayonets  took  the  place  of  picks,  cups  and  plates  became 
the  substitutes  for  shovels ;  and  so  in  a  few  hours  our  defen 
sive  arrangements  were  complete." 

During  the  afternoon,  as  has  been  seen,  the  12th  Corps 
was  swung  to  the  left  through  the  woods  towards  Freder- 
icksburg,  with  the  intention  of  cutting  off  the  rebel  rear 
from  joining  Jackson  in  his  retreat.  The  Twentieth  was 
advanced  through  the  woods,  and  was  again  under  a  severe 
fire  of  shot  and  shell.  When  the  llth  Corps  gave  way,  the 
regiment  retired  slowly  and  in  good  order  to  a  position 
behind  the  breastwork  previously  constructed. 

This  was  held  for  a  time  ;  and  still  the  retreating  regi 
ments  went  surging  past,  and  the  rebels  pressed  closely  after 


THE  BATTLE   OF   CHANCELLORSVILLE.  365 

them.  Here  some  severe  hand-to-band  fighting  took  place ; 
and  in  the  almost  total  darkness  friend  could  hardly  be  dis 
tinguished  from  foe,  except  when  the  fitful  flash  of  musketry 
revealed  the  presence  of  one  or  the  other. 

The  3d  Corps  had  taken  the  place  of  the  llth ;  and  a  skir 
mish  was  kept  up  during  the  evening,  sometimes  bursting 
into  sharp  volleys,  and  then  subsiding.  "  About  eight  o'clock, 
P.M.,  Jackson  opened  with  artillery,  and  hurled  his  massed 
columns  of  infantry  upon  this  portion  of  our  line  with  a 
vigor  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  resist.  The  advancing 
column  was  met  on  our  part  with  great  steadiness  and  a 
firmness  that  could  not  be  overcome.  Guided  in  its  aim  by 
the  flashes  of  musketry,  our  artillery  threw  shells  into  the 
solid  masses  of  rebel  infantry,  carrying  destruction  and 
death.  The  roll  of  musketry  was  incessant;  the  air  was 
filled  with  missiles  of  every  shape;  solid  shot  hissed  through 
the  air,  cutting  off  the  tops  and  huge  limbs  of  trees  that  fell 
crashing  to  the  ground  ;  shells,  shrieking  and  howling 
through  the  darkness,  could  be  traced  in  their  pathway 
by  the  fire  from  the  lighted  fuses,  until  they  burst  into 
hundreds  of  ragged  fragments,  carrying  death  and  horri 
ble  wounds  on  every  side ;  the  red  flashes  from  the  mus 
kets,  and  pieces  of  artillery,  lighted  up  the  woods ;  and,  as  the 
smoke  settled  over  the  combatants,  you  could  see,  under 
neath  the  sulphurous  canopy,  men  begrimed  with  smoke  and 
smeared  with  the  blood  flowing  from  their  wounds,  stalking 
about  like  fiends ;  and  one  could  not  but  think  the  whole 
scene  belonged  to  the  infernal  regions."4 

The  Fifth  was  here  under  fire  in  support  of  a  battery ; 
the  Twentieth  held  an  intrenchment  a  little  at  the  left ;  and 
during  the  night  the  Fourteenth  had  been  removed  from  the 
left  to  this  vicinity,  and  was  engaged  all  day  in  a  fierce 
guerrilla  battle  in  the  woods. 

The  rebels  pressed  forward  time  after  time  during  the 
night,  apparently  determined  to  break  our  ranks,  or  perish 
in  the  attempt ;  the  line  swayed  backward  and  forward  ; 
charges  and  counter-charges  were  made  ;  our  artillery,  play 
ing  over  the  heads  of  our  men,  made  terrible  havoc  in  the 

4  Col.  Buckingham's  MS.  History. 


366  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

assaulting  columns ;  and  the  faces  of  the  contestants  glowed 
in  the  strange  and  grand  illumination.  During  three  long 
hours,  our  men  stood  firmly,  holding  the  ground  against  the 
surging  masses  brought  against  them,  and  never  yielding 
another  inch.  At  eleven  o'clock,  the  rebels  lost  a  little 
ground,  and  shortly  after  ceased  firing  for  the  night. 

The  Fifth,  Fourteenth,  and  Twentieth  were  involved  in 
the  terrible  fight  next  morning  on  this  front. 

Major  P.  B.  Buckingham  of  the  Twentieth,  commanding 
at  the  close  of  the  action,  reports  :  - 

"  Both  officers  and  men  manifested  a  determination  to  hold  the  position, 
should  an  attack  be  made  upon  this  portion  of  the  general  line,  which  was 
momentarily  expected,  as  the  enemy  had  driven  in  the  extreme  right  of  our 
line,  held  by  the  llth  Corps,  and  was  making  a  murderous  attack  upon 
the  center  of  our  position,  which  was  but  a  short  distance  to  the  right 
of  the  portion  of  the  line  held  by  this  regiment. 

"  On  Sunday  morning,  the  3d  iustaut,  the  enemy  appeared  in  force  near 
the  point  of  attack  on  our  center  on  the  evening  previous.  The  action 
soon  became  general,  and  extended  along  the  left  of  the  line  till  it  reached 
the  point  occupied  by  the  Twentieth  Connecticut.  The  officers  and  men 
awaited  with  great  coolness  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  who  came  up  yell 
ing  like  fiends,  till  they  arrived  in  a  ravine  about  twenty  rods  from  the 
front  of  the  regiment;  when  the  men  rose,  and  discharged  a  well-aimed 
volley,  which  covered  the  ground  with  the  killed  and  wounded  of  the 
enemy,  and  caused  them  to  fall  back  in  disorder.  They  again  rallied,  and 
advanced  under  cover  of  a  battery  of  artillery,  the  fire  from  which  enfi 
laded  a  portion  of  the  breastworks  occupied  by. this  regiment,  up  to,  and 
some  few  rushed  over,  the  works,  and  were  either  shot  or  taken  prisoners 
by  our  men." 

During  the  first  assault,  the  rebels  captured  a  battery  on 
the  right  front,  and  turned  it  upon  our  men.  The  fire  from 
these  guns  enfiladed  the  right  of  the  12th  Corps,  including 
the  Twentieth  Connecticut.  It  was  a  trying  time.  Occa 
sional  discharges  of  grape-shot  came  whizzing  along ;  and  a 
constant  hail-storm  of  bullets  made  the  position  one  that 
would  have  tested  the  valor  of  any  troops. 

"  After  maintaining  its  position  for  nearly  five  hours,  and  finding  that 
the  enemy  had  already  driven  our  forces  both  on  the  right  and  lei't,  and 
that  the  entire  regiment  was  in  danger  of  being  surrounded  and  captured, 
Lieut. -Col.  Wooster  reluctantly  gave  the  command  to  retire,  which  was 
executed  in  some  disorder ;  but  the  men  rallied  and  re-formed,  under  the 
direction  of  the  remaining  officers,  some  half  mile  in  the  rear  of  the  first 
position.  It  was  behind  the  barricades,  and  during  the  time  the  regiment 
was  falling  back  through  the  woods,  that  our  entire  loss  occurred.  The 
men,  after  leaving  the  barricades,  were  subjected  not  only  to  the  fire  of 
shot  and  shell  from  the  enemy's  artillery,  but  to  a  cross-fire  of  infantry." 


THE   BATTLE   OF   CHANCELLOESVILLE.  3G7 

During  the  retreat  to  a  new  position,  the  rebels,  who  had 
instantly  dashed  over  the  works  in  pursuit,  hedged  the  regi 
ment  in  upon  both  flanks,  firing  vigorously,  and  shouting, 
'•Halt!"  "Surrender!"  "Come  in  out  of  the  cold,  Yanks!" 
Some  were  captu'red  here  ;  but  the  most  of  the  men  attained 
the  new  line,  where  our  artillery  was  massed.5 

Major  Theodore  G.  Ellis  commanding  the  Fourteenth,  in 
his  official  report,  says  of  the  action  of  his  regiment, 
u  About  sunrise  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  instant,  the  first 
line  of  battle  having  been  forced  by  a  terrific  assault  of  the 
enemy,  this  regiment  became  engaged;  the  enemy  appear 
ing  on  our  front  and  right  flank  almost  simultaneously.  We 
were  forced  to  retire,  principally  on  account  of  there  being 
no  troops  on  our  right  to  prevent  the  enemy,  who  had 
engaged  the  front  line  on  our  right,  from  passing  through 
the  unoccupied  interval,  and  attaining  our  rear.  After  with 
drawing,  this  regiment  joined  the  remainder  of  the  brigade, 
and  was  placed  behind  rifle-pits  to  the  left." 

During  the  3d,  the  Fifth  moved  off  to  the  left,  and  formed 
a  portion  of  the  third  line,  lying  in  a  very  exposed  position, 
where  Capt.  Benton  was  killed,  and  many  wounded. 

In  the  mean  time,  disaster  had  overtaken  the  Twenty- 
seventh.  During  the  afternoon  of  May  1,  the  regiment 
had  participated  in  a  reconnoissance  to  ascertain  the  ene 
my's  position.  After  going  some  distance,  the  regiment 
retired  at  a  double-quick  to  meet  a  rebel  movement  threat 
ening  its  right  flank  ;  and  soon  after  moved  across  the  open 
ground  near  the  Chancellor  House,  and  down  the  road  to  a 
position  in  the  tangled  woods  on  the  left.  Here,  though 
shelled  vigorously,  the  men  succeeded  in  throwing  up  an 
intrenchment.  All  next  day  they  were  engaged  in  extend 
ing  and  strengthening  their  works ;  and  towards  evening 
they  heard  the  wild  shout  of  triumph  that  burst  from  the 
rebel  line  as  Jackson's  troops  swept  over  the  earthworks  of 
the  llth  Corps.  Doubt,  apprehension,  anxiety  followed. 
Gen.  Hancock  rode  up,  and  informed  Col.  Bostwick  that  the 

6  Capt.  Andrew  Upson  of  Southington  was  among  those  taken  prisoner.  In  a  letter 
to  his  wife,  he  gives  an  interesting  account  of  how  lie  feigned  death;  the  rifling  of  his 
pockets  l>y  the  rebels,  and  their  quaint  remarks  as  to  how  he  died  ;  and  the  final  discovery 
of  his  ruse  by  a  rebel  surgeon  lifting  his  eyelids.  Capt.  Upson  was  afterwards  killed  at 
Tracy  City,  Tenn.,  while  lighting  guerrillas. 


368  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

regiment  would  hold  the  position,  and  significantly  called  his 
attention  to  the  fact,  that,  in  extremity,  the  men  could  fight 
on  either  side  of  the  intrenchment.  The  roar  of  battle 
came  nearer.  Our  artillery  receded  to  a  new  position,  and 
again  the  forest  reverberated  with  the  cannonading.  At 
length  darkness  dropped  among  the  trees.  The  Twenty- 
seventh  continued  in  position. 

Early  on  Sunday  morning  the  battle  was  renewed,  and 
again  crept  towards  the  left.  After  a  hasty  breakfast,  the 
Twenty-seventh  was  ordered  down  into  the  intrenchments 
in  the  apex  of  the  V,  thrown  up  by  the  men  on  Friday 
night.  This  was  in  the  extreme  front,  and  very  much 
exposed.  The  regimental  history  says, — 

"As  the  regiment  advanced  at  double-quick,  down  the 
hill  into  the  ravine,  it  was  met  by  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry. 
A  number  were  wounded,  and  several  shot  through  the  head 
just  as  they  entered  the  .breastworks.  Not  succeeding  in 
their  first  attempt,  the  rebels  made  no  further  attack  in 
force  upon  our  part  of  the  line;  but,  concealed  in  the  thick 
woods,  continually  annoyed  us  with  a  scattering  fire.  The 
men  replied  as  they  had  opportunity,  and  with  considerable 
effect,  as  the  rebels  themselves  afterwards  acknowledged. 
Col.  Bostwick  was  particularly  noticeable  for  the  almost 
reckless  exposure  of  himself  to  the  enemy's  fire  while 
attending  to  his  duties  at  different  points  in  the  line.  .  .  . 
Suddenly  from  unseen  batteries  behind  us  comes  a  deep 
roar ;  and  the  next  moment  shell  after  shell  shrieks  through 
the  trees,  and  bursts  almost  in  the  rifle-pits.  The  thought 
flashes  upon  us,  that  the  rebels  are  in  our  rear ;  but  it  is 
dismissed  with  the  reflection  that  it  is  only  a  Union  battery 
firing  too  low,  which  will  soon  correct  its  false  aim.  Mean 
while,  our  little  band  had  been  reduced  to  less  than  four 
hundred  men,  including  two  hundred  and  seventy  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  ;  and,  this  force  being  entirely  inadequate 
to  hold  the  extended  line,  Col.  Bostwick  dispatched  Major 
Coburn  for  re-info rcements. 

"  In  a  few  moments  the  shelling  ceased ;  and  for  up  the 
road  in  front  appeared  a  rebel  officer  waving  a  flag  of  truce, 
and  slowly  advancing,  waiting  for  recognition.  The  men 


THE  BATTLE   OF  CHANCELLORS VILLE.  369 

stopped  firing  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  road;  while 
for  a  moment  the  musketry  became  more  brisk  on  the  left 
flank.  At  length  the  officer  arrived  within  a  few  paces  of 
the  works,  where  he  was  halted  to  await  the  presence  of 
Col.  Morris  of  the  66th  New- York,  commanding  the  whole 
line.  This  officer  was  not  to  be  found ;  and  the  responsi 
bility  of  receiving  the  communication  from  the  flag  of  truce 
devolved  upon  Col.  Bostwick. 

"  The  rebel  —  a  tall,  rough  specimen,  yet  with  the  man 
ner  of  a  gentleman  —  announced  himself  as  Lieut.  Bailey 
of  a  Georgia  regiment.  He  said  he  had  been  sent  to  inform 
us  that  we  were  entirely  surrounded ;  that  there  was  no 
possible  avenue  of  escape ;  and  therefore  he  summoned  us 
to  surrender,  and  thus  avoid  the  loss  of  life  which  would 
inevitably  follow  any  resistance  to  the  overwhelming  force 
in  front  and  rear.  The  colonel  replied  that  he  did  not '  see ' 
it;  and  proceeded  to  investigate  the  actual  state  of  affairs. 
Meanwhile,  Lieut.-Col.  Merwin  went  up  through  the  woods 
in  the  rear,  only  to  find  it  too  true  that  the  rebels  were 
posted  in  strong  force  to  bar  any  escape  in  that  direction. 
Masses  of  the  enemy  pouring  in  on  the  right  and  left  re 
vealed  at  once  the  desperate  position  in  which  we  were 
placed  ;  while  the  singing  bullets  from  the  woods  behind,  as 
well  as  in  front,  indicated  that  the  foe  were  closing  in  upon 
us. 

"  The  first  impulse  among  officers  and  men  was.  to  attempt 
to  force  our  way  through ;  but  it  \vas  evident  that  such  a 
course  would  result  in  the  destruction  of  more  than  half  our 
number,  while  the  remainder  would  inevitably  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  After  a*  hurried  consultation  among 
the  officers,  a  surrender  was  agreed  upon  ;  and  the  formality 
had  hardly  been  completed,  when  a  heavy  line  of  rebel 
skirmishers  swept  out  of  the  woods  behind.  Five  minutes 
before,  the  men  stood  at  their  posts,  undisturbed  by  even  a 
doubt  of  their  security ;  now,  astonished  at  the  sudden 
denouement,  we  found  ourselves  about  to  enter  upon  the 
terrible  uncertainties  of  rebel  captivity.  And  this  surprise 
and  mortification  was  increased  by  the  conviction  that  seri 
ous  disaster  must  have  overtaken  the  Union  army." 


4T 


370  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  impression  was  well  founded.  Our  troops  had  been 
repulsed  in  a  series  of  engagements  along  the  right;  and 
Gen.  Hooker  had  withdrawn  his  line  of  battle  towards 
the  ford,  and  re-forrned  it  in  an  irregular  semicircle,  with  the 
center  of  the  front  near  a  white  house  at  the  junction  of  the 
roads,  and  with  both  flanks  resting  on  the  river.  Orders 
were  sent  to  recall  the  Twenty-seventh ;  but  the  carrier  was 
intercepted,  and  the  regiment  was  left  to  its  fate. 

The  rebels  made  a  strong  effort  to  seize  the  road  leading  to 
United-States  Ford,  and  thus  cut  off  the  line  of  retreat ;  but 
a  storm  of  shot  and  shell  from  a  hundred  guns,  supported 
by  a  concentrated  fire  from  the  2d  and  5th  Corps,  promptly 
repulsed  the  attack.  One  more  assault  was  made  on  our 
lines  during  the  day,  with  the  intent  to  capture  a  park  of 
artillery  stationed  near  the  center ;  but  again  the  enemy 
was  hurled  back  by  the  combined  fire  of  cannon  and  mus 
ketry,  leaving  the  ground  strewn  with  his  dead. 

During  Sunday  night,  the  new  line  was  thoroughly  in 
trenched  ;  and  Lee  withdrew  to  overwhelm  Sedgwick's  corps, 
that  had  crossed  and  gallantly  stormed  Marye's  Heights  at 
Fredericksburg.0 

The  Fifth  Regiment,  under  orders,  recrossed  the  Rappa- 
hannock  on  the  evening  of  the  3d,  and  was  kept  on  provost- 
duty  for  two  days  by  Gen.  Patrick ;  after  which  it  was 
ordered  to  the  camp  at  Stafford  Court  House,  where  the 
men  arrived  at  nightfall  of  the  6th,  in  a  drenching  rain. 

The  Fourteenth  remained  in  the  rifle-pits,  under  fire,  but 
met  with  little  additional  loss.  Early  on  the  morning  of 
the  6th,  the  regiment,  now  numbering  about  two  hundred 
men,  was  withdrawn,  and  silently  recrossed  the  river  in  the 
dark,  and  proceeded  to  its  old  camp. 

The  Twentieth  had  lost  fearfully.  Lieut.-Col.  William  B. 
Wooster,  "  who  had,  through  the  whole  action,  manifested 
the  utmost  coolness  and  bravery,"  says  the  official  report, 
was  taken  prisoner  on  Sunday  ;  and  Capt.  Sanford  E.  Chaffee 
thereafter  led  the  regiment  until  the  5th,  when  Major  Buck- 

6  Batteries  B  and  M  had  been  detached  from  the  First  Connecticut  in  1862,  and  were 
engaged  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  winning  commendation  for  their  conduct.  Thcy 
were  still  detained  in  the  field,  and  were  now  stationed  at  Falmouth.  They  were  of 
material  aid  in  the  capture  of  Marye's  Heights. 


LOSSES  IN  THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  AND  FIFTH.  371 

ingham  was  relieved  from  staff-duty,  and  took  command. 
On  the  6th,  it  returned  to  the  camp  near  Stafford  Court 
House. 

When  our  artillery  checked  the  Confederate  advance 
on  the  night  of  the  2d,  the  jaded  Seventeenth  gathered 
again  on  the  top  of  a  hill  in  rear  of  the  guns,  and  slept. 
Lieut.  Wilcoxson  wrote,  "  While  the  ponderous  diapason  of 
the  artillery  rolled  along  the  vibrating  air,  and  the  solid 
earth  trembled  with  the  oft-repeated  concussion,  I  fell  asleep ; 
and,  with  the  serenity  inspired  by  a  good  position  and  heavy 
artillery,  rested  pleasantly  till  Sunday  morning."  All  next 
day  and  night,  while  the  battle  raged,  the  regiment  was  kept 
vigilant  in  defending  the  road  to  United-States  Ford  in  the 
rear.  Tents,  blankets,  and  baggage  were  gone ;  and  the 
men  were  on  less  than  half-rations.  Then  came  a  tremen 
dous  thunder-shower,  which  subsided  into  a  cold  and  settled 
rain.  Two  days  more  were  spent  in  great  discomfort ;  then, 
after  standing  under  arms  all  night,  with  the  rain  beating 
dismally  about  them,  they  returned  with  the  army  across 
the  Rappahannock,  and  crawled  back  wearily  to  Brooke's 
Station,  —  their  old  camp. 

The  Twenty-seventh  had  nearly  four  hundred  men  on 
going  into  battle  ;  of  these,  the  whole  were  captured,  except 
ing  companies  D  and  F,  with  small  squads  of  other  compa 
nies  ;  numbering  in  all  a  hundred  and  sixty  men,  under 
command  of  Capt.  Joseph  R.  Bradley.  The  regimental  flag 
was  still  borne  by  these.  This  remnant  of  the  regiment  held 
an  important  point  in  Hooker's  contracted  line  of  battle; 
being  in  the  front  of  the  line,  whose  entire  base  rested  on 
the  river.  On  the  morning  of  May  6,  it  recrossed  with 
the  rest  of  the  command,  and  constructed  for  itself  a  new 
and  more  comfortable  camp  near  Falmouth.  The  regiment 
had  two  men  killed  and  seven  wounded ;  of  the  latter,  Capt 
C.  M.  Wilcox  of  Madison  lost  a  leg. 

The  Fifth  had  lost  one  killed  (Capt.  George  S.  Benton  of 
New  Haven),  eighteen  wounded,  and  forty  captured.  The 
death  of  Capt,  Benton  was  a  loss  deeply  felt.  Adjutant 
Daniels  said  of  him  in  the  official  report,  "  Having  been 
connected  with  the  regiment  from  its  formation,  he  early 


372  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

won  the  respect  and  esteem  of  the  entire  command,  without 
distinction  as  to  rank  or  position.  Ever  prompt  to  answer 
the  call  of  duty,  falling  at  his  post  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
none  of  our  men  has  left  a  more  honorable  record  as  a  leg 
acy  to  his  friends  and  native  State  than  has  George  S. 
Benton." 

Of  the  Fourteenth  Regiment,  thirty-eight  were  wounded 
and  nineteen  taken  prisoners.  Of  the  wounded,  Capt.  Isaac 
R.  Bronson  died  in  hospital  on  June  2,  of  a  severe  wound  in 
the  upper  right  arm.  He  was  a  native  of  Middlebury,  and 
a  son  of  Leonard  Bronson,  but  was  residing  at  New  Haven 
when  the  war  broke  out.  Jle  abandoned  a  prosperous  busi 
ness,  and  gave  his  heart  and  hand  earnestly  to  the  cause. 
After  the  repulse  at  Fredericksburg,  he  wrote,  "  I  do  hope 
the  government  will  not  patch  up  a  peace  on  account  of  this 
affair.  I  would  rather  a  thousand  times  leave  my  bones 
here  than  have  my  children  inherit  a  government  exposed 
to  what  ours  must  be,  if  we  now  surrender  to  our  foes  what 
we  refused  to  our  friends."  Lieut.  Samuel  Fiske  wrote  of 
him,  — 

"  He  was  one  of  the  most  earnest,  honest,  and  fearless  patriots  whose 
life  has  been  sacrificed  in  this  great  cause.  In  a  camp-life,  which  is  too 
often  made  an  excuse  for  relaxing  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion 
that  are  a  restraint  at  home,  he  led  a  pure  and  Christian  life.  Where  pro 
fanity  and  obscenity  are  (I  am  forced  to  say)  almost  the  rule,  and  decent 
language  the  exception,  no  impure  or  irreverent  words  came  from  his  lips, 
nor,  unrebuked,  from  those  of  his  men.  Of  a  courage  that  never  left  him 
satisfied  to  be  away  from  his  post  when  action  and  danger  were  before  us ; 
of  an  earnest  patriotism  that  left  none  of  us  in  doubt  what  were  his  motives 
in  coming  to  the  field  ;  of  an  enduring  fortitude  that  shrank  from  no  extremi 
ties  of  hardship  and  privation  that  came  upon  us  ;  of  a  generous  and  cheer 
ful  spirit  that  was  an  example  to  us  all ;  he  was  a  soldier  worthy  of  our 
cause,  a  patriot  without  a  blemish,  a  Christian  that  does  not  dishonor  the 
name,  a  comrade  of  whose  loss  I  can  scarcely  trust  myself  to  speak.  Since 
the  deajh  of  the  lamented  Willard  of  my  own  town  and  home,  slain  at  An- 
tietam,  no  stroke  has  come  home  so  deeply  to  me  personally.  The  first 
captain  of  our  regiment  to  fall  on  the  field ;  and  now,  as  yet,  the  last. 
Noble,  Christian  soldiers  both  !  —  a  tear  to  their  memory  and  a  lesson  to 
each  of  us  from  their  lives." 

Of  the  Seventeenth,  two  were  killed  on  the  field,  thirty- 
four  wounded,  and  eighty  taken  prisoners.  Nine  soon  died 
of  their  wounds ;  but  most  of  the  wounded,  with  careful 
treatment,  recovered.  The  regiment  was  fortunate  in  pos- 


HEAVY   LOSS   IN  THE   TWENTIETH.  373 

sessing  a  surgeon  so  accomplished,  and  so  devoted  to  his 
duty,  as  Dr.  Robert  Hubbard  of  Bridgeport.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  skillful  surgeons  in  the  entire  corps. 

Lieut.-Col.  Charles  Walter  was  born  in  Copenhagen,  Den 
mark,  in  1832,  and  came  to  America  when  young.  He  was 
a  private  in  Capt.  Speidal's  company,  in  the  First  Regiment ; 
was  promoted  to  be  first  lieutenant;  and  was  aide  on  Gen. 
Tyler's  staff  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  On  account  of  his 
daring,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  spent  a  year  in 
rebel  prisons.  On  returning,  he  was  made  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  Seventeenth.  He  was  a  man  of  education,  of  untiring 
energy,  and  great  bravery.  He  showed  singular  coolness 
and  resoluteness  in  battle;  and  his  brother-officers  said,  "With 
deep  sorrow  and  regret  we  have  left  him  behind,  in  ground 
which  needs  no  holier  consecration  than  to  entomb  the  re 
mains  of  such  a  noble  patriot."  He  was  an  admirable  com 
panion,  possessing  high  social  qualities,  fine  literary  taste  and 
culture,  and  excellent  musical  attainments.  He  was  also 
something  of  a  genius  as  an  amateur  artist,  and  made  a 
striking  sketch  of  the  rebel  prison,  afterwards  lithographed 
by  his  friends. 

Corporal  Thomas  D.  Brown  of  Norwalk,  whose  wedding 
the  company  had  attended  on  the  morning  of  leaving  home, 
died  in  hospital.  His  spirit  took  its  flight  just  as  he  finished 
singing  a  patriotic  song.  Sergeant  Martin  V.  B.  Glover  of 
Newtown  also  died  at  this  time.  He  was  an  earnest  and  brave 
young  man,  and  had,  two  months  before,  written  to  his  neigh 
bors  and  friends  a  stirring  patriotic  letter,  beseeching  them 
to  carry  on  the  war. 

The  Twentieth  Regiment  had  lost  fully  one-third  of  its 
number ;  twenty-seven  officers  and  men  being  killed  out 
right,  sixty-two  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  eight 
taken  prisoners.  Of  the  wounded,  sixteen  died.  Col.  Ross, 
commanding  the  brigade,  was  wounded  in  the  leg  in  the 
early  part  of  the  action  on  Sunday,  and  compelled  to  leave 
the  field.  Lieut.  David  N.  Griffiths  of  Derby  was  an  officer 
of  much  promise.  He  was  struck  in  the  forehead  by  a  bul 
let,  and  instantly  killed,  while  encouraging  the  men  to  stand 
firm.  He  fell  with  feet  to  the  foe,  and  his  sword  grasped  in  his 


374  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE  REBELLION. 

hand,  —  a  pattern  of  determined  courage.  Sergeant-Major 
John  S.  Root  of  Hartford,  killed  by  a  grape-shot  at  the  bar 
ricades,  exhibited  almost  reckless  daring.  Assistant  Surgeon 
D.  L.  Jewett  of  East  Haddam  remained  with  the  wounded 
men  who  filled  the  Chancellor  House.  When  our  troops  fell 
back,  the  rebels  opened  upon  this  hospital,  and  riddled  it 
with  balls.  A  man  was  killed  under  the  hand  of  Surgeon 
Jewett,  on  the  operating-table.  Shells  were  exploded  in  the 
house ;  and  at  last  it  was  set  on  fire  and  burned  to  ashes. 
The  helpless  men  were  all  removed  to  a  place  of  safety. 
Surgeon  William  B.  Casey  had  been  promoted  to  be  brigade 
surgeon,  and  rendered  efficient  service. 

In  this  battle,  the  regiment  lost  Sergeants  Albert  Stillman 
of  New  Britain,  and  Charles  H.  Smith  of  Orange,  Corporal 
Titus  Moss  of  Cheshire  (three  brothers  were  fighting  at  his 
side),  Corporal  David  W.  Jones  of  New  town,  William  A.  Cole- 
man  of  New  Britain,  and  a  score  of  others,  bravely  fighting ; 
and  on  that  field  most  of  the  young  patriots  lie  in  unknown 
graves. 

The  battle  of  Chancellorsville  was  a  Confederate  victory ; 
yet  the  Federal  arms  effected  one  result,  which,  from  a  na 
tional  stand-point,  almost  compensated  for  the  repulse, — 
Stonewall  Jackson  was  dead  ! 

"  On  to  Richmond  !" At  least  eight  thousand  of  Hook 
er's  army  were  still  marching  towards  the  rebel  stronghold  ; 
disarmed,  however,  more  or  less  disrobed,  and  subjected  to  all 
the  indignities  of  prisoners  of  war.  Five  hundred  and  three 
of  these  were  from  Connecticut;  the  Fifth  having  lost  forty; 
the  Fourteenth,  nineteen  ;  the  Seventeenth,  eighty-four ;  the 
Twentieth,  one  hundred  and  eight ;  and  the  Twenty-seventh, 
two  hundred  and  eighty-two. 

The  prisoners  were  not  detained  long ;  but  their  trials 
were  severe  even  at  this  early  day,  before  the  world  had 
been  shocked  with  the  horrors  of  Andersonville.  Every 
thing  was  taken  from  them,  —  knapsacks,  blankets,  shelter- 
tents,  and  canteens.  Lieut.  Sheldon  says,  "  One  of  the  rebel 
skirmishers  had  hardly  lowered  his  gun  from  an  aim,  when 
he  walked  up  to  one  of  our  men,  and  said,  '  Have  you  got  a 


PRISONERS'   RATIONS.  375 

knife  to  sell  ? '  — '  No.'  And,  somewhat  abashed,  he  went  to 
try  his  luck  in  a  more  promising  field.  Quite  a  crowd  of 
'  butternuts  '  assembled  to  view  the  *  Yanks,'  and  prosecute 
their  schemes  of  trade."  Col.  Wooster  was  deprived  of  his 
elegant  cap ;  the  robbers  substituting  a  rotten  old  slouched 
hat,  almost  too  filthy  for  a  rebel  to  wear.  Lieut.  A.  E. 
Beardsley  was  similarly  treated,  and  lost  his  coat  besides ; 
but  he  defiantly  refused  any  gift  in  exchange,  and  made 
his  trip  through  the  Confederacy  and  back  to  Annapolis 
bareheaded,  protecting  his  head  occasionally  by  a  night 
cap. 

Among  the  first  to  greet  the  prisoners  was  young  Bob 
Stiles,  a  New-Haven  traitor,  who  refused  to  shake  hands 
with  his  old  acquaintances,  and  contemptuously  informed 
them,  that,  rather  than  live  again  under  the  hated  Union, 
the  Southern  gentlemen  would  die  in  the  last  ditch. 

The  next  three  days  were  days  of  speechless  misery, 
hardly  paralleled  during  the  service  of  the  men.  They 
were  broiled  in  the  sun,  soaked  in  the  rain ;  and  no  food  had 
yet  been  dealt  out.  "  At  last  the  order  is  given, '  Fall  in  for 
rations!'  We  had  almost  concluded  that  this  order  would 
never  again  greet  our  ears  until  we  should  once  more  stand 
under  the  flag  of  the  Union.  Immediately  our  thoughts 
recurred  to  camp  near  Falmouth ;  and  in  imagination  floated 
visions  of  beef,  pork,  hard-tack,  fresh  bread :  in  fact,  Uncle 
Sam's  army-rations  loomed  up  in  bolder  relief  than  ever 
before.  In  silent  suspense  we  advance  and  receive  —  three 
pints  of  flour  apiece  !  The  inquiry  arose, '  What  shall  we  do 
with  it?'  Our  extremely  limited  culinary  facilities  soon  set 
tled  that  question.  There  was  but  one  alternative ;  and  the 
men  immediately  built  little  fires,  and  were  busily  engaged 
in  cooking  up  a  bill  of  fare  for  the  march  to  Richmond,  — 
said  bill  of  fare  consisting  simply  of  flour  and  water  mixed 
together,  and  dried  before  the  fire.  A  New-England  fanner 
would  regard  it  a  personal  insult  if  one  should  offer  such 
stuff  to  his  hogs.  .  .  .  Two  days  later,  at  Hanover  Sta 
tion,  each  man  received  five  medium-sized  crackers  and 
an  ounce  of  bacon.  Our  guards  were  very  uncommuni- 


376  CONNECTICUT  DUBING  THE  HEBELLION. 

cative,  but  occasionally  sung  out, '  Git  in  yer  groups  of  fours 
dar!'"7 

Thousands  poured  into  the  roads  all  along  the  route  to  see 
the  strange  procession,  and  to  deride  the  prisoners  as  they 
inarched.  "  Well,  here  you  are  :  you've  got  Richmond 
now  ! "  shouted  one.  "  Hardly  an  honest  face  among  'em," 
observed  another.  "  What  you  uns  want  to  trouble  we  uns 
faw  ?  "  screeched  a  slatternly  female  hanging  over  the  fence, 
unable  to  comprehend  the  political  situation.  "What  are 
you  doing  down  here  ? "  demanded  a  man  indignantly. 
"  Pall-bearers  at  Stonewall  Jackson's  funeral ! "  was  the  re 
ply.  The  angry  rejoinder  came,  "If  you  were  not  a  prisoner, 
I'd  shoot  you  ! " 

So,  insulted  and  exhausted,  they  arrived  at  Richmond, 
and  were  quartered  at  Libby  Prison,  the  tobacco-factory,  and 
among  the  sands  and  wild  onions  of  Belle  Isle.  Some  were 
not  dejected,  and  insisted  on  seeing  the  humorous  side  of 
the  journey.  This,  under  the  circumstances,  was  an  achieve 
ment  compared  to  which  extracting  sunbeams  from  cucum 
bers  were  a  pastime.  On  entering  the  dismal  walls  of  Libby, 
a  lieutenant  remarked  to  the  grim  keeper,  that  he  "  wanted 
to  go  home :  he  had  some  wood  to  saw  and  other  chores 
to  attend  to."  Capt.  David  S.  Thomas  of  New  Haven  thus 
described  the  fare  in  Libby  :  — 

"  The  old  fat  quartermaster  of  the  prison  used  to  visit  us  occasionally  ; 
and,  though  he  was  a  rabid  old  rebel,  we  rather  liked  him.  He  wasn't 
what  we  call  a  good  provider,  by  any  means  ;  but  he  was  immense  on  dis 
tributing  consolation.  The  bacon  he  gave  us  looked  as  if  cut  from  the 
side  of  a  hog  about  two  weeks  old,  and  tasted  as  if  the  deceased  had  known 
no  other  diet  but  granulated  pebble-stones  and  black  ink.  With  a  slight 
process  of  tanning,  our  rations  of  bacon  would  have  made  excellent  half- 
soles  for  boots.  The  officers  were  allowed  to  purchase  some  provisions  ; 
but  this  privilege  was  denied  privates,  and  they  suffered  considerably  for 
palatable  food. 

"  It  would  astonish  a  stranger  to  see  the  variety  of  dishes  we  manufac 
tured  from  corn-meal  alone.  Mixed  with  water  to  a  consistency  of  paste, 
it  made  what  we  called  pancakes,  —  a  dish  that  constituted  a  large  item  in 
our  diet.  With  a  little  less  meal  and  more  water,  we  had  Indian  pudding, 
to  be  eaten  with  a  spoon.  A  more  liberal  donation  of  meal,  with  the 
same  quantity  of  water,  made  a  thick  substance,  which,  when  baked  in 
the  oven,  was  styled  Johnny-cake.  Then  there  are  fish-balls,  manufactured 
from  the  same  compounds.  This  receipt  requires  about  four  meals  to  one 

7  Lieut.  Sheldon's  Regimental  History. 


OFFICERS  AND  MEN  EXCHANGED.  377 

water,  and,  when  moulded  together,  should  be  able  to  stand  alone  any 
where.  Divide  the  aggregate  into  cakes  one  inch  thick,  and  about  the  size 
of  the  palin  of  the  hand.  Lay  these  in  rows  on  the  top  of  the  stove  ;  and, 
if  there  is  any  fire  at  all  inside,  you  will  have  superior  fish-balls  in  from 
one  to  three  hours." 

Within  two  weeks,  most  of  the  officers  and  men  were 
exchanged  at  City  Point,  and  hailed  the  old  flag  with  shouts 
of  welcome. 

48 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Kace  of  the  Hostile  Armies  Northward.  —  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  —  The  Fifth,  Fourteenth, 
Seventeenth,  Twentieth,  and  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  Regiments  engaged. — 
Second  Light  Battery.—  The  Affair  of  July  1.  — The  Assault  of  July  2.— Attack 
on  the  Left  Flank.  —  Terrible  Fighting  of  July  3.  —  Connecticut  Correspondents. 
—  The  Losses  in  our  Regiments.  —  Scenes  on  the  Battle-Field.  —  The  "Fourth  of 
July."  —  Tardy  Pursuit  of  Lee.  —  Our  Troops  again  in  Virginia. 

OOKER  had  been  out-generaled,  —  defeated  by 
superior  skill  rather  than  by  superior  numbers 
or  courage.  His  army  was  diminished.,  but  not 
disheartened  ;  for  the  men  attributed  their  re 
pulse  to  the  proper  cause,  and  felt,  that,  effi 
ciently  led,  they  were  a  match  for  any  soldiers  in  the 
world. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  had  fallen  into  the  habit  of 
indulging  in  a  long  rest  after  every  battle ;  taking  ample 
time  for  recuperation,  improved  by  the  rebels  with  equal 
zeal  and  profit.  But  Lee  seemed  inclined  to  act  on  the 
Napoleonic  maxim,  afterwards  adopted  by  Grant  and  Sheri 
dan,  — "  When  we  are  weak,  the  enemy  is  weak :  that 
is  the  time  to  strike."  So  now  he  did  not  wait  for  Hooker 
to  re-organize.  He  believed  the  Union  army  dispirited, 
and  in  that  fatal  delusion  projected  an  invasion  of  the 
North  through  Maryland. 

Hooker's  army  was  hastily  refitted  for  a  severe  campaign. 
The  regiments  from  Connecticut  held  about  the  same  rela 
tive  position  as  before  Chancellorsville,  except  that  the 
Fifth  and  Twentieth  were  now  brigaded  together  in  the  12th 
Corps.  Col.  Packer  and  other  officers  of  the  Fifth,  Lieut- 
Col.  Wooster  and  his  companions  of  the  Twentieth,  and  Col. 
Bostwick,  Lieut-Col.  Merwin,  Major  Coburn,  and  other  offi- 

378 


THE  POTOMAC  ARMY   AGAIN  ON  THE  MAKCH.  379 

cers  of  the  Twenty-seventh,  had  been  exchanged  as  prison 
ers  of  war,  and  now  returned  to  their  commands.  Col. 
Bostwick  was  unable  to  accompany  the  army  on  account  of 
a  painful  and  protracted  illness.  Most  of  the  enlisted  men 
captured  at  Chancellorsville  were  still  absent  on  parole. 

Hooker  watched  the  crafty  rebel  general,  and,  even 
before  his  purpose  became  apparent,  moved  his  army 
towards  Warrenton ;  covering  Washington  on  one  hand, 
while  pressing  the  rebel  flanks  on  the  other.  The  12th 
Corps  was  the  first  to  move ;  leaving  its  camp  at  Stafford 
Court  House  on  the  loth  of  June,  and  pushing  northward 
all  night,  arriving  at  Dumfries  early  in  the  morning.  Other 
corps  followed  closely ;  the  2d  being  the  last  to  leave  the 
line  of  the  Rappahannock.  Lee  maneuvered  his  forces  with 
consummate  ability,  and  kept  his  flank  so  covered  with 
cavalry,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  ascertain  his  loca 
tion  or  his  movements  from  day  to  day. 

The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  Connecticut  remained  at  Dum 
fries  a  day  and  night,  and  at  three  o'clock  next  morning 
were  again  in  motion.  The  day  was  oppressively  hot  and 
dusty  (the  thermometer  standing  at  ninety-five  degrees 
in  the  shade),  and  many  fell  out  by  the  way  with  sun 
stroke  ;  but  the  column  pressed  on  to  Fairfax  Court  House, 
which  place  was  reached  at  nine  o'clock  at  night,  after  a 
march  of  thirty-three  miles.  Serious  inroads  were  made  in 
the  ranks  of  all  the  regiments,  as  appeared  at  roll-call  when 
tattoo  was  beaten  that  night ;  and  the  corps  rested  here 
another  day  and  night.  Many  of  the  men  had  blistered 
their  feet  during  the  severe  march.  Reveille  sounded  at 
two,  A.M.,  of  the  17th;  and  the  regiments  advanced  to 
Drainesville,  and  again  bivouacked.  Sunrise  of  the  next 
day  found  them  in  line,  marching  towards  the  Potomac. 
They  encountered  a  violent  hail-storm ;  and,  in  crossing 
Goose  Creek,  the  men  waded  up  to  their  waists  in  the 
stream  ;  but,  before  taking  their  evening  rations,  they  went 
into  camp  near  Leesburg.  From  this  point,  the  Union  army 
lay  stretched  south-westward  beyond  Manassas.  The  2d 
Corps,  in  which  were  the  Fourteenth  Regiment  and  the  rem 
nant  of  the  Twenty-seventh,  was  picketing  Thoroughfare 


380  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

Gap,  —  a   gorge   in   the    Blue    Kidge   of   strategic   impor 
tance.  • 

The  12th  Corps  remained  at  Leesburg  nearly  a  week ; 
the  Fifth  Connecticut  being  there  detailed  to  do  provost- 
duty.  Meantime,  Lee  was  heard  from,  crossing  the  Potomac 
at  Williamsport,  and  appealing  to  the  people  of  Maryland 
for  support ;  and  on  June  26  the  corps  crossed  the  Poto 
mac  at  Edwards's  Ferry,  and  moved  rapidly  northward  in 
pursuit.  The  other  corps  had  now  come  up ;  and  all  crossed 
before  night  of  the  27th,  arid  advanced  to  intercept  the 
audacious  march  of  the  rebel  army  into  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  morning  of  July  1,  Gen.  George  G.  Meade,  now 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army,  started  the  1st  and 
llth  Corps  from  their  camp,  four  miles  south  of  Gettysburg, 
with  directions  to  move  rapidly  northward,  and  find  the 
enemy,  whose  infantry  was  supposed  to  be  at  least  one 
day's  march  distant.  Gen.  Reynolds,  with  the  1st  Corps, 
pressed  forward  through  the  town,  and  found  our  cavalry 
engaged  about  three  miles  north-west  of  Gettysburg.  The 
enemy  showed  no  disposition  to  yield  ground,  and,  in  repel 
ling  cavalry-charges,  had  revealed  something  of  an  infantry 
force.  Eagerly  pushing  on,  Reynolds  drew  up  his  command, 
and  engaged  the  enemy,  whose  divisions  of  infantry  now 
poured  upon  and  around  him  in  overwhelming  numbers. 
Howard  hurried  forward,  deployed  the  llth  Corps  on  the 
right  of  the  1st,  and  took  command  when  the  brave  Rey 
nolds  fell. 

In  the  mean  time,  Hill,  with  the  advance  of  the  Confede 
rate  forces,  had  been  largely  re-inforced  by  Ewell ;  so  that 
the  Union  troops  were  again  outnumbered.  The  afternoon 
witnessed  a  furious  contest. 

The  Seventeenth  Connecticut  Volunteers  conducted  itself 
with  much  courage  and  steadiness.  It  was  the  first  regi 
ment  of  the  corps  sent  forward  as  skirmishers ;  and,  while 
the  left  wing  of  the  regiment  was  thus  deployed  under  Major 
A.  G.  Brady,  the,  other  wing  wras  gallantly  led  forward  by 
Lieut.-Col.  Douglass  Fowler  in  a  charge  upon  the  advancing 
rebel  lines.  Ewell's  troops  had  arrived ;  and  the  Seven 
teenth  was  flanked,  and  attacked  fiercely '  on  the  right. 


CONNECTICUT  REGIMENTS   AT  GETTYSBUEG.  381 

The  regiment  stood  firmly,  and  lost  heavily  here ;  Lieut- 
Col.  Fowler  and  Capt.  Moore  being  struck  down  in  the  same 
charge.  Gen.  Wadsworth  was  also  outflanked  on  the  left; 
and  it  soon  became  apparent  that  these  two  corps  of  seven 
thousand  men  were  face  to  face  with  nearly  the  whole  rebel 
army.  Howard  withdrew  his  men  through  Gettysburg, 
fighting  till  within  the  very  streets,  and  took  possession  of 
a  range  of  hills  a  mile  south  of  the  town. 

The  other  corps  of  the  army  advanced  rapidly  across  the 
Pennsylvania  line,  attracted  towards  the  sharp  cannonading ; 
and  joined  the  1st,  llth,  and  12th  Corps  in  rear  of  the  ceme 
tery,  where  Meade  hastily  arrayed  them  for  the  coming 
contest.  The  men  were  despondent;  and  Lee's  army 
gathered  exultantly  around  the  pickets,  shouting  across, 
that  they  would  "  finish  the  Yanks  to-morrow."  The  divis 
ions  of  Meade's  army  were  silently  marched  into  position ; 
rude  intrenchments  were  thrown  up  during  the  night ;  and, 
before  Lee  was  ready  to  deliver  a  general  battle  next  morn 
ing,  the  Union  line  was  firmly  formed.  The  12th  Corps 
held  the  eminences  near  Rock  Creek  on  the  right ;  the  1st 
stood  next  at  Gulp's  Hill;  then  the  llth  and  2d  defending 
Cemetery  Hill,  the  key  to  the  position ;  while  the  3d  and  5th 
were  drawn  up  along  the  ridge  to  the  left ;  and  the  6th  was 
held  in  reserve.  The  line  described  an  irregular  flatiron 
shape,  with  the  toe  towards  Gettysburg,  and  the  heel  to  the 
south-east.  Opposite,  Lee  was  marshaling  his  forces  on  a 
corresponding  series  of  bights ;  while  between  the  contest 
ants  lay  a  mile-wide  belt  of  comparatively  level  and  open 
ground. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Connecticut  regiments  held  posi 
tions  of  importance  and  peril.  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth 
were  on  the  extreme  right  flank,  the  Seventeenth  in  the  right 
center,  and  the  Fourteenth  and  Twenty-seventh  along  the 
left.  The  Fourteenth  was  now  reduced  to  a  hundred  and 
sixty  men,  while  the  Twenty-seventh  went  into  action  with 
seventy-five  men.  The  Seventeenth  carried  three  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  muskets  into  the  fight.  Capt.  Albert  H.  Wil- 
coxson,  detailed  as  provost-marshal  of  the  division,  petitioned 
to  be  relieved  before  the  battle ;  and  served  nobly  as  volun- 


382  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

teer  aide  to  Gen.  Barlow  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight.  The 
Second  Connecticut  Battery,  Capt.  Sterling,  had  now  come 
up,  and  took  position  with  the  2d  Corps  in  the  left  center. 

The  forenoon  of  July  2  passed  in  continued  preparations. 
Across  the  valley  on  Seminary  Ridge,  Lee  was  marshaling 
his  men,  and  posting  his  artillery.  Twelve  o'clock  came : 
only  the  intermittent  and  feverish  discharge  of  musketry  in 
the  skirmish-lines  told  that  the  foe  was  still  wary.  One 
o'clock :  Meade  is  painfully  anxious,  and  every  officer  won 
ders  when  and  where  the  crash  will  come.  Artillery-men 
lean  upon  their  guns ;  the  infantry  in  front  of  the  cannon 
lounge  about  on  the  grass,  crack  jokes,  and  speculate  about 
the  dark  masses  maneuvering  on  the  opposite  hill.  Four 
o'clock :  the  oppressive  silence  is  broken  by  a  single  cannon 
at  the  left ;  and  a  single  ring  of  smoke  curls  up  from  the 
rebel  center. 

Within  another  minute,  the  air  is  filled  with  flying  mis 
siles  from  the  muzzles  of  hundreds  of  hostile  cannon.  At 
last,  away  towards  the  left,  the  long  gray  lines  of  Longstreet's 
corps,  with  forty  thousand  bayonets  glistening  in  the  sun, 
quickly  descend  the  slope,  and  advance  across  the  interven 
ing  space.  As  they  approach,  the  rebel  cannonade  slackens, 
and  Tyler's  artillery  turn  their  guns  upon  them  with  terrible 
effect,  throwing  a  shower  of  bursting  shells  into  the  midst 
of  the  solid  masses,  and,  as  they  come  nearer,  serving  them 
with  deadly  volleys  of  canister  and  grape.  Rapidly  moves 
the  main  line  of  the  enemy,  never  flinching  or  faltering 
under  the  incessant  fire  of  our  batteries.  When  within  mus 
ket-range  of  the  3d  Corps,  advanced  beyond  our  main  line, 
volleys  of  musketry  are  rapidly  exchanged,  and  blend  with 
the  artillery  in  one  continuous  roar.  Under  the  murderous 
fire  with  which  they  are  received,  the  rebels  first  hesitate, 
then  stagger  back,  and  finally  turn  and  fly.  They  are 
speedily  rallied  by  Longstreet,  and  led  again,  yelling,  to  the 
charge,  which  this  time  is  fierce,  protracted,  and  bloody. 
The  2d  and  5th  Corps  rush  to  the  side  of  the  3d,  which  is 
now  wavering  and  falling  slowly  back  before  the  terrific 
onset.  The  fighting  becomes  more  desperate ;  and  the  foe 
is  at  last  driven  inch  by  inch  beyond  the  wheatfield,  where 
the  first  assault  was  made. 


THE   SIXTH  AND  TWELFTH   CORPS   ENGAGED.  383 

The  little  band  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  has 
now  become  engaged.  "Lieut-Col.  Merwin  fell  while  lead 
ing  the  command  with  his  accustomed  bravery.  Under 
Major  Coburn,  the  line  still  pressed  forward  at  double-quick, 
through  the  wheatfield  and  woods  beyond,  driving  the  rebels 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  across  a  ravine,  which  on  the  farther  side 
rises  into  a  precipitous  ledge.  The  men  with  much  difficulty 
clambered  up  the  rocky  steep ;  but,  as  they  appeared  upon 
the  crest  of  the  hill,  the  enemy,  drawn  up  just  beyond  within 
pistol-range,  opened  upon  them  a  withering  fire.  The  con 
test  at  this  point  continued  for  some  time.  Planting  the 
colors  upon  the  top,  the  men  loaded  their  pieces  under  shel 
ter  of  the  brow  of  the  hill ;  then,  rising  up,  delivered  their 
fire.  Meanwhile  the  troops  to  the  right  gave  way ;  the 
enemy  advanced  a  large  body  of  troops  from  that  direction ; 
and  Gen.  Brooke  ordered  our  shattered  line  to  fall  back, 
which  was  accomplished  under  a  heavy  cross-fire." 1 

Gen.  Robert  0.  Tyler  commanded  all  the  reserve  artillery 
at  Gettysburg,  and  was  constantly  with  it  at  the  front.  The 
guns  were  fought  with  great  bravery.  Sometimes  the  rebels 
would  charge  up  to  the  muzzles  of  the  guns,  disabling  every 
man ;  then  they  in  turn  would  be  hurled  back  by  our  deter 
mined  men.  Gen.  Tyler  had  a  horse  shot  under  him. 

The  contest  raged  with  doubtful  result :  first  the  rebels 
advanced  with  a  wild  yell,  and  then  recoiled  before  our  fresh 
troops ;  and  the  surging  masses  swayed  backward  and  for 
ward  till  the  sun  passed  behind  the  hills.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  12th  Corps,  ordered  to  the  relief  from  the  extreme  right, 
came  over  and  plunged  down  the  slope  to  the  fight  just  as 
the  rebels  had,  in  a  most  determined  charge,  swept  back  the 
Union  lines,  captured  their  cannon,  and  occupied  their  ground 
nearly  up  to  the  works  on  Cemetery  Ridge.  As  this  corps 
and  the  reserved  6th  rushed  down,  cheering  loudly,  the 
rebels  gave  way,  apparently  unwilling  to  prolong  the  strug 
gle  with  fresh  troops.  The  men  advanced  rapidly;  and  a 
brigade  charged,  recapturing  a  battery  of  12-pounders  that 
was  being  dragged  off  through  the  woods.  As  twilight 
changed  to  darkness,  the  rebels  retreated  from  this  portion 

1  Lieut.  W.  D.  Sheldon's  History  of  the  Twenty-seventh. 


384  CONNECTICUT   DTTIiING   THE   REBELLION. 

of  the  line,  clinging  tenaciously  to  the  wheatfield  ;  when  the 
contest  ceased  for  the  night.  The  danger  being  passed,  the 
12th  Corps  was  ordered  to  return  to  its  position  on  the  ex 
treme  right. 

During  the  night  of  the  lst-2d,  the  Fourteenth  Connecti 
cut  had  been  out  on  picket  some  two  miles  back :  in  the 
morning  it  was  on  provost-duty,  and  in  the  afternoon  was 
moved  to  its  position  in  the  2d  Corps,  and  placed  in  support 
of  a  battery.  It  was  under  a  heavy  shell-fire  during  the 
afternoon,  but  met  with  little  loss. 

In  the  center,  on  Cemetery  Hill,  our  batteries  had  been 
assailed  in  a  desperate  manner ;  but  the  rebels  had  met  equal 
valor,  and  been  repulsed  with  heavy  loss.  The  Seventeenth 
was  posted  behind  a  stone  wall,  and  had  acquitted  itself  nobly. 
After  repeated  onsets,  the  rebels  had  retreated  to  the  town, 
leaving  the  ground  strewn  with  their  dead  and  dying. 

o  o  */         o 

The  12th  Corps  toiled  wearily  back  to  its  position  on  the 
right,  only  to  be  surprised  at  finding  the  works  which  they 
had  vacated  three  hours  before  occupied  in  force  by  Swell's 
corps  of  twenty  thousand  men.  These  troops  had  dashed 
up  the  hill  after  dark,  and  driven  out  Gen.  Greene's  brigade 
left  in  possession ;  pouring  into  the  intrenchments  by  the 
thousand.  The  woods  were  filled  with  solid  masses  of  rebel 
infantry,  waiting  for  the  light  of  morning  to  give  them  surer 
footing.  It  was  well  for  us  that  darkness  enveloped  the 
woodland  here  and  now ;  for  another  hour  of  daylight  would 
have  enabled  the  column  to  push  on  to  the  Baltimore  Pike 
in  the  rear  of  our  position  on  Cemetery  Hill,  when  scarcely 
any  thing  could  have  saved  the  Union  army  from  utter  rout. 

As  it  was,  the  12th  Corps  was  stationed  along  Swell's  front ; 
and  the  picket-line  was  pushed  forward  into  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  as  close  as  possible  to  that  of  the  enemy.  On  the 
extreme  right,  some  of  the  Union  skirmishers  advanced  to 
the  rifle-pits  simultaneously  with  those  of  the  enemy ;  and 
they  mistook  each  other  for  friends  in  the  darkness.  They 
mingled  and  talked  freely,  then  went  to  a  spring  near  by  to 
«;et  some  water,  our  men  showing  the  "  Johnnies  "  where  to 

O  '  O 

find  it ;  and,  as  they  drank  and  filled  their  canteens  together, 
a  Union  brigade  moved  up,  and  occupied  the  works.  Return- 


HEAVY  CANNONADE  AT  DAYBREAK.          385 

ing,  one  of  Ewell's  men  had  his  suspicions  aroused  by  the 
remark,  "The  Rebs  have  caught  Hail  Columbia  on  the  left;" 
when  he  cried  out  to  his  companions,  "  H — 1 !  these  are 
Yanks ! "  A  general  melee  took  place :  men  rushed  hither 
and  thither ;  muskets  were  clubbed,  and  bullets  flew  for  a 
short  time  ;  and  the  rebels  found  themselves  prisoners.  Pick 
ets  were  pushed  closely  forward  all  along  the  line. 

It  was  felt  that  Evvell  would  press  his  advantage  at  dawn ; 
and  preparations  to  meet  him  were  rapidly  made.  Troops 
moved  into  place  and  intrenched.  Four  new  batteries  were 
set,  —  one  on  McAllister's  Hill  to  the  right ;  another  on  an 
elevation  in  rear  of  the  Baltimore  Pike  .to  the  left ;  and  two 
more  on  Power's  Hill,  directly  in  front  of  the  point  where 
the  rebels  lay  in  the  gap. 

"Such  of  the  men  as  could  threw  themselves  on  the 
ground,  and  tried  to  get  a  little  rest :  but  occasionally  some 
watchful  sentry  would  fire  his  musket  at  an  enemy  whose 
tread  he  heard  in  the  thick  darkness  of  the  wood ;  and  the 
flash,  revealing  his  locality,  would  draw  two  or  three  shots 
from  the  opposing  pickets,  which  would  be  answered  by  half 
a  dozen  more,  until  the  firing  extended  all  along  the  right 
of  the  line,  and  presently  a  volley  would  burst  forth.  Roused 
by  the  tumult,  our  men  in  the  line  of  battle  would  seize 
their  muskets,  and  spring  into  their  places,  thinking  that  the 
expected  attack  had  begun  :  but  the  firing  would  subside  into 
pattering  shots  along  the  picket-line,  and  finally  die  out 
altogether;  and  all  except  the  pickets,  and  the  detail  at 
work  intrenching,  would  again  stretch  themselves  out  to  rest, 
only  to  be  roused  again  by  a  similar  alarm." 5  The  Twentieth 
Connecticut  lay  in  line  of  battle  in  a  cornfield,  ready  at  a  mo 
ment's  notice. 

With  the  first  streaks  of  day,  the  men  stood  to  their  arms ; 
and  the  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery,  whose  muzzles  pointed 
to  the  opening,  began  a  terrible  cannonade,  hurling  solid 
shot  and  shell  over  the  heads  of  our  infantry  into  the  woods 
which  concealed  the  rebel  forces.  This  was  continued  for  an 
hour ;  when  the  corps  advanced  to  a  fierce  and  bloody  con 
test  to  recover  the  works. 

2  Col.  Buckingham's  MS.  History  of  the  Twentieth. 
49 


386  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  KEBELLION. 

The  Twentieth  Connecticut  occupied  a  post  of  honor,  on 
the  left  of  the  front  division-line  ;  and  at  five  o'clock,  A.M., 
the  regiment,  under  Lieut.-Col.  Wooster,  moved  forward 
to  the  attack.  At  this  point,  there  was  a  stone  wall  eight  or 
ten  rods  in  rear  of  the  original  line  of  works ;  and  this  was 
early  taken  possession  of  by  the  regiment,  and  afforded  con 
siderable  protection.  Now  a  charge  would  be  made,  and  the 
line  of  works  reached  ;  then  the  rebels,  in  overwhelming 
force,  would  drive  the  regiment  back,  and  it  would  take 
refuge  behind  the  stone  -wall. 

On  the  right,  the  fight  raged  for  hours ;  the  line  swaying 
back  and  forth  as  ground  was  lost  or  won,  until  at  last  a 
firm  and  concentrated  charge  of  the  Union  troops  swept 
Swell's  forces  through  the  woods,  and  regained  the  works. 
When  the  rebels  turned  and  fled,  a  genuine  Yankee  cheer 
went  up  with  an  emphasis  seldom  heard,  except  in  victory. 
Our  lines  on  the  right  were  completely  restored  before 
eleven,  A.M. 

During  the  forenoon,  also,  there  were  frequent  skirmishes 
upon  the  left.  The  Fourteenth  Connecticut  gallantly  charged 
upon  and  took  a  house  and  a  barn  occupied  by  the  enemy ; 
the  two  wings  of  the  regiment  being  led  by  Major  Theodore 
G.  Ellis  and  Capt.  Samuel  A.  Moore  of  New  Britain.  The 
enemy  attempting  to  recover  possession,  the  buildings  were 
burned  by  our  men.  The  regiment  afterwards  supported 
Arnold's  battery,  under  a  terrible  fire,  until  the  battery 
retired  disabled  ;  when  the  regiment  advanced,  and  occupied 
the  position. 

Again,  during  the  two  hours  of  mid-day,  silence  brooded 
over  the  field ;  only  the  stretchers,  the  ambulances,  and  the 
surgeons  were  busy.  "  Suddenly  the  boom  of  a  single  gun 
broke  the  stillness ;  the  shell  came  screaming  over  into  our 
lines ;  and,  before  its  echo  died  away,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pieces  of  artillery  belched  forth  in  one  tremendous  roar. 
From  almost  every  part  of  the  concave  arch  of  the  rebel  line 
came  solid  shot  and  shell,  chiefly  aimed  to  dismount  the 
guns  along  Cemetery  Hill  in  the  center.  The  Union  gunners, 
undaunted,  sent  back  a  defiant  reply  from  all  the  awakened 
artillery ;  and  for  more  than  an  hour  it  was  like  the  crash 


DESPERATE   CHARGES   OF  THE  ENEMY.  387 

of  incessant  and  loudest  thunder.  The  solid  earth  trembled 
beneath  the  feet  of  the  contending  Titans ;  above  and  close 
around  was  the  smoke  and  crash  of  bursting  shell ;  and  on 
every  hand  came  some  sort  of  missile  charged  with  death."  3 

Soon  the  cannonade  nearly  ceased  ;  and  at  half-past  two 
o'clock,  afar  off,  opposite  the  left  center,  comes  the  rebel 
infantry  from  its  cover,  and  begins  anew  its  charge  over 
that  field  of  death.  Our  artillery  pour  upon  them  once 
more  a  destructive  fire,  plowing  up  the  earth,  and  strewing 
it  with  their  dead.  Quickly  they  press  forward  across  the 
shot-swept  plain,  "  in  echelon  by  brigades,"  and  approach  the 
front  of  the  2d  Corps.  It  is  a  grand  sight  ;  and  the  daunt 
less  tread  of  the  compact  hosts  tells  that  serious  work  is 
again  at  hand.  Shells  explode  constantly  above  and  among 
them.  Our  gunners  have  the  range,  and  pour  a  storm  of  iron 
hail  upon  the  advancing  ranks,  making  great  gaps,  and 
throwing  them  into  wild  confusion.  The  officers  rally  the 
men,  and  on  resolutely  they  come.  Tjder's  reserve  artillery 
is  brought  forward  ;  and,  as  the  rebels  near  our  line,  canister 
is  showered  upon  them  from  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery. 
Fearful  havoc !  yet  they  stagger  on,  gathering  impetus ;  and 
now,  within  range,  deliver  a  volley  of  musketry,  and  rush 
forward  confident  of  victory.  They  are  met  by  a  storm  of 
grape  and  bullets  that  is  irresistible ;  and  again  they  are 
broken,  and  turn  and  run  in  the  utmost  confusion,  while 
our  artillery-men  rain  shot  and  shell  upon  the  flying  throng. 

Three  times  the  lines  were  re-formed,  and  driven  up  into 
this  tempest  of  death ;  but  each  time  they  were  repulsed. 
Now  the  shattered  lines  would  almost  reach  our  works ;  and 
hundreds  would  throw  down  their  arms,  and  rush  into  our 
lines  rather  than  attempt  to  escape.  A  whole  brigade,  while 
being  almost  annihilated  within  a  few  yards  of  our  infantry- 
works,  threw  down  their  guns,  and  held  up  their  hands  in 
surrender. 

The  Fourteenth,  Seventeenth,  and  Twenty-seventh  Con 
necticut,  and  the  Second  Battery,  were  here  hotly  engaged ; 
and  the  Twentieth  Regiment,  coming  over  with  the  re 
inforcements,  was  for  a  time  under  a  sharp  fire. 

2  Col.  Buckingham's  MS.  History  of  the  Twentieth. 


388  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Major  Ellis  says  of  the  action  of  the  Fourteenth  in  his 
official  report, — 

"  Our  men  were  formed  in  a  single  line  of  battle  along  an  almost  con 
tinuous  line  of  low  stone  wall  and  fence,  which  offered  a  considerable  pro 
tection  from  the  enemy's  fire.  When  the  first  line  of  the  enemy  had 
advanced  to  within  about  two  hundred  yards,  our  fire  opened  almost  simul 
taneously  along  the  whole  line.  The  enemy's  first  line  was  broken,  and 
hurled  back  upon  the  second,  throwing  it  also  into  confusion.  Detached 
portions  of  the  lines  were  rallied,  and  for  a  short  time  maintained  their 
ground.  Being  mown  down  by  our  terribly-destructive  fire,  they  com 
menced  falling  back  ;  when  a  portion  of  this  regiment  charged  upon  them, 
capturing  five  regimental  battle-flags  and  over  forty  prisoners. 

"There  also  afterwards  came  into  the  lines  of  this  regiment  about  one 
hundred  or  more  of  the  enemy,  some  of  whom  were  wounded,  and  gave 
themselves  up. 

"  Among  the  officers  who  personally  surrendered  to  me  were  the  fol 
lowing  :  Col.  John  Fite,  Lieut.-Col.  N.  J.  George,  Lieut. -Col.  Parkers, 
and  Major  John  G.  Richardson. 

"  Many  of  the  field  and  line  officers  were  captured. 

"  Thte  colors  captured  belonged  to  the  following  regiments  :  14th  Ten 
nessee,  1st  Tennessee,  16th  North-Carolina,  52d  North-Carolina,  and 
4th  Virginia.  The  color  of  the  14th  Tennessee  was  the  first  taken,  and 
was  captured  by  Sergeant-Major  William  B.  Hincks  ;  that  of  the  52d 
North-Carolina  was  taken  by  Corporal  Christopher  Flynn  of  Sprague  ; 
and  that  of  the  16th  North-Carolina  by  Private  E.  W.  Bacon  of  Berlin." 

The  Second  Connecticut  Light  Battery  was  .here  envel 
oped  in  the  fiercest  of  the  fight.  Sergeant  D.  B.  Lockwood 
wrote  to  the  War  Record,  "  Our  battery  was  in  position 
for  fifty-six  hours  without  being  relieved,  and  a  portion  of 
the  time  under  the  hottest  fire  of  the  enemy's  artillery.  It 
was  our  first  engagement  in  a  pitched  battle ;  but  the 
courage  and  coolness  of  our  officers  and  men  were  such  as  to 
elicit  commendation  from  experienced  field-officers,  and  vete 
rans  in  the  ranks.  It  was  an  excellent  opportunity  to  test 
the  accuracy  and  destructiveness  of  our  guns  (the  James 
rifle) ;  and  the  result  was  highly  satisfactory.  .  .  .  Amid 
such  fearful  carnage  we  providentially  escaped  without  the 
loss  of  a  man :  three  only  were  wounded.  Three  of  our 
horses  were  killed,  and  a  caisson  exploded  by  a  shell."  The 
coolness  of  Capt!  John  W.  Sterling  was  conspicuous. 

The  Seventeenth  had  also  been  fiercely  engaged  at  the 
cemeteiy,  where  the  line  was  charged  by  the  "  Louisiana 
Tigers."  The  assault  was  reckless  and  desperate ;  but  our 
men,  posted  behind  a  stone  wall,  were  immovable  j  and  as 


THE  GREAT  VICTORY.  389 

often  as  the  assailants  gained  the  wall  they  were  repulsed 
with  slaughter.  For  hours  the  battle  thundered  here. 
Charge  after  charge  was  made  up  the  hill  upon  the  battery ; 
and  the  point  was  the  focus  of  missiles  from  all  the  infernal 
enginery  of  war,  while  the  regiment  stood  at  its  post  return 
ing  blow  for  blow. 

All  of  Gen.  Robert  0.  Tyler's  reserve  artillery  was  in  the 
fight.  The  enemy  would  charge  up  to  the  very  muzzles  of 
his  guns,  and  sometimes  disable  every  man,  and  seize  a 
piece,  only  to  be  in  turn  rolled  back  to  the  valley,  leaving 
the  ground  covered  with  the  slain.  Gen.  Tyler  had  a  horse 
shot  under  him. 

Finally  the  rebels  reeled  back  from  that  carnival  of  death 
for  the  last  time,  fled  across  the  plain,  and  would  not  be 
rallied ;  while  there  went  up  from  the  thousands  of  loyal 
living  a  cry  of  joy,  and  shouts  of,  "  Victory,  victory  ! "  and 
exultant  cheers  which  rolled  around  the  hills  to  the  right, 
bearing  glad  tidings.  Men  shook  hands  with  each  other  as 
if  they  had  not  met  in  an  age ;  and  tears  stood  in  their  eyes 
as  they  exchanged  congratulations. 

"  He  that  outlives  this  day,  and  comes  safe  home, 
Will  stand  a  tiptoe  when  this  day  is  named. 
He  that  shall  live  this  day,  and  see  old  age, 
Will  yearly,  on  the  vigil,  feast  his  friends, 
And  say,  '  To-morrow  is  St.  Crispian.' 
Then  will  he  strip  his  sleeve,  and  show  his  scar, 
And  say,  '  These  wounds  I  had  on  Crispian's  Day.' 
Old  men  forget ;  yet  all  shall  be  forgot 
But  he'll  remember  with  advantages 
What  feats  he  did  that  day." 

Twenty-three  thousand  killed  and  wounded  and  missing 
on  the  Union  side,  and  twenty-seven  thousand  of  the  ene 
my,4 —  these  are  the  horrible  figures  that  tell  how  much 
slavery  and  the  dogma  of  "  State  sovereignty  "  cost  during 
three  pleasant  summer  days. 

The  first  report  of  the  victory  of  Gettysburg  was  sent 
North  by  a  citizen  of  Connecticut.  Several  young  men 
from  the  State  were  regular  correspondents  in  the  field  for 
the  press :  A.  H.  Byington  of  Norwalk,  and  W.  A.  Croffut 
of  Orange  for  the  New- York  Tribune  ;  D.  W.  Bartlett  of 

*  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac,  p.  365. 


390  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

West  Haven  for  the  Evening  Post ;  Edmund  C.  Stedman 
of  Winsted  for  the  World ;  Henry  B.  Brown  of  the  navy 
for  the  Boston  Journal ;  and  that  quaint  and  genial  philoso 
pher,  John  Evans  of  Willirnantic,  for  the  New-York  Times. 
One  of  the  most  tireless  and  enterprising  of  these  was 
Byington  ;  and  the  "  heats  "  for  which  the  Tribune  became 
famous  through  his  vigilance  delighted  Mr.  Greeley  even 
more  than  the  productions  of  his  model  farm  in  West- 
chester. 

During  the  night  after  the  first  day's  fight,  Byington 
arrived  near  Gettysburg.  How  to  get  the  news  to  New 
York  was  the  first  question.  The  telegraphs  were  cut 
for  miles,  and  the  instruments  destroyed ;  for  the  rebels  had 
been  to  the  north  and  east.  He  obtained  a  horse,  and 
scoured  the  country  round ;  found  a  frightened  operator 
with  his  telegraph  instrument  hidden  under  the  bed ; 
brought  it  out  antl  replaced  it ;  sent  a  squad  of  men  ten 
miles  along  the  line  to  repair  the  wire ;  and,  "  click,"  -  -  it 
was  in  working  order.  Byington  sent  a  dispatch  to  the 
Tribune,  and  made  arrangements  for  monopolizing  the 
wire  for  two  days  as  the  price  of  having  repaired  it.  As 
was  then  the  rule,  the  dispatch  could  go  to  its  destination 
only  by  way  of  the  War  Department.  There  it  made  a 
sensation.  "  What  about  this  battle  ?  Who  is  Byington  ? " 
asked  Mr.  Lincoln  through  the  wire.  "Ask  Secretary 
Welles,"  was  the  reply.  "  Send  us  more,"  was  the  next 
dispatch.  "On  these  conditions,"  was  the  answer,  —  "that 
you  send  my  former  dispatch  immediately  to  the  Tribune 
exclusively,  and  all  others  as  soon  as  read."  —  "Agreed." 
And  under  this  stipulation  was  sent  forward  an  account  of 
the  battle  from  beginning  to  end  ;  while  other  correspond 
ents  were  racing  their,  jaded  horses  across  Pennsylvania 
with  news  a  day  old.  Byington  offered  his  telegraph  to 
Meade;  and  the  general  gladly  availed  himself  of  the  oppor 
tunity  to  rene\v  communications  with  Washington. 

The  Fifth  Connecticut  Volunteers  had  been  held  in  reserve 
much  of  the  time  ;  and,  having  been  subjected  to  little  infan 
try-fire,  its  losses  were  light,  three  wounded  and  five  cap 
tured  comprising  all. 


LOSSES  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  AND  SEVENTEENTH. 

The  Fourteenth  had  ten  killed  and  fifty-two  wounded  ; 
the  latter  including  nearly  all  the  officers  present.  Among 
the  killed  were  Corporals  Samuel  Huxham  of  Middletown, 
William  W.  Goodell  of  Vernon,  and  Walter  F.  Standish  of 
Sprague.  Among  the  wounded  were  Capt.  Walter  M.  Lucas, 
Capt.  James  B.  Coit,  Lieut.  J.  W.  Knowlton,  Lieut.  Freder 
ick  Shalk,  Lieut.  John  A.  Tibbetts,  Lieut.  Henry  L.  Snagg, 
Lieut.  Frank  E.  Stoughton,  Lieut.  F.  S.  Seymour,  and 
Lieut.  S.  H.  Seward.  Surgeon  Frederick  B.  Dudley,  who 
was  constantly  under  fire,  was  wounded  in  the  arm  by  a 
shell. 

The  Seventeenth  lost  more  than  half  its  number,  having 
been  under  a  severe  artillery  and  musketry  fire  during  each 
day's  battle.  Twenty  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  including 
its  commander  and  a  captain ;  eighty-one  were  wounded, 
and  ninety-seven  taken  prisoners. 

Lieut.-Col.  Douglass  Fowler  of  Norwalk  was  shot  dead 
during  the  first  day's  fight.  He  had  been  in  the  war  from 
the  beginning ;  having  led  a  company  in  the  Third  Regiment 
through  the  three-months'  service,  and  afterwards  raised  a 
company  for  the  Eighth.  When  he  resigned  his  commission 
in  the  latter,  he  recruited  a  company  for  the  Seventeenth. 
He  was  sick  before  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville,  and  was 
borne  to  the  fight  in  an  ambulance ;  but  he  afterwards 
fought  with  great  endurance,  being  among  the  last  to 
retreat.  He  was  by  nature  a  true  soldier,  brave  and  skillful ; 
and  his  genial  temper,  generous  disposition,  and  buoyant 
spirits,  united  with  a  fervent  interest  in  the  loyal  cause,  had 
won  for  him  an  enthusiastic  regard ;  and  the  men  followed 
him  willingly  into  the  deadly  strife.  He  was  struck  down 
while  leading  them  in  a  charge ;  and  still  he  sleeps  in  his 
unknown  grave  upon  the  battle-field  of  Gettysburg. 

There  fell  also  the  senior  captain  of  the  regiment,  Capt 
James  E.  Moore  of  Danbury.  He  was  almost  idolized  by  his 
company,  and  was  a  man  of  exemplary  character  and  ster 
ling  worth.  He  was  a  color-bearer  in  the  war  with  Mexico, 
and  led  a  company  gallantly  in  the  three-months'  service. 
His  remains  were  taken  home,  and  buried  with  all  honors ; 
the  vast  concourse  at  the  funeral  attesting  the  high  regard 


392  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

and  admiration  felt  by  his  fellow-citizens  of  Danbury. 5  The 
regimental  address  said  truly  of  both  these  officers,  "  Long 
tried,  and  bravely  serving  on  many  battle-fields,  ever  ready 
at  the  call  of  their  country,  flinching  from  no  danger  where 
duty  led,  Fairfield  County  may  proudly  point  to  them  as 
model  soldiers." 

Orderly  Sprgeant  Edwin  D.  Pickett  of  the  same  regiment, 
killed  here,  was  a  favorite  with  the  men,  and  much  esteemed 
in  Ridgefield,  where  he  lived.  On  the  Sunday  of  his  funeral, 
the  churches  suspended  other  services,  and  united  in  the  trib 
ute  to  his  high  personal  character  and  his  manly  virtues. 
To  his  children  he  left  the  legacy  of  an  unspotted  name  and 
a  record  of  noble  deeds.  "  There  also  fell  the  young  men 
of  patriotic  fire,  ever  foremost  in  encouraging  their  com 
rades  by  appeals  to  duty,  —  Stephen  C.  Crofut,  William  0. 
Dauchy,  Bethel  S.  Barnum,  Augustus  E.  Bronson,  Westlake, 
Taylor,  Rufus  Warner,  Henry  Burns  the  color-bearer,  and 
many  others  who  fought  bravely  and  died  nobly." 

Among  the  wounded  of  the  Seventeenth  were  Major 
A.  G.  Brady,  Capt.  Henry  Allen,  Capt.  Wilson  French,  and 
Lieut.  Henry  Quien  ;  and  among  the  prisoners  were  Capt. 
William  L.  Hubbell  and  Lieut.  David  S.  Bartram. 

The  Twentieth  Regiment  had  lost,  during  the  battle,  Cor 
porals  J.  C.  Dickerman  and  Thomas  Simons  and  six  others 
killed,  and  twenty  wounded. 

The  Twenty-seventh,  going  into  the  action  with  only  sev 
enty-four  men,  had  lost  eleven  killed,  twenty-four  wounded, 
and  four  captured;  total,  thirty-nine.  Lieut.-Col.  Henry  C. 
Merwin  fell  in  resisting  the  assault  of  July  2.  A  native  of 
Brookfield,  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  New 
Haven,  and,  when  the  war  broke  out,  went  as  sergeant,  with 
the  New-Haven  Grays,6  into  the  Second  Regiment.  After  the 
muster-out,  young  Merwin  wa.3  restrained  by  peculiar  home- 
duties  till  it  became  obvious  that  the  nation  must  put  forth 

5  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  R.  White  of  Danbury  gave  several  hundred  dollars  to  release 
from  debt  the  property  left  by  Capt.  Moore  to  his  family. 

0  The  New-Haven  Grays  had  an  honorable  record  during  the  war.  They  volunteered 
a  full  company  on  April  15,  1861 ;  and  during  the  war  it  furnished  sixty-one  officers, 
of  whom  three  were  generals,  and  eleven  field-officers.  In  the  roll  of  the  dead,  stand  the 
names  of  Col.  Merwin,  Major  E.  W.  Osborn,  Capt.  E.  S.  Hitchcock,  Capt.  Charles 
Smith,  Capt.  Edward  Lines,  Lieut.  C.  M.  Cornwall,  Lieut.  J.  Chapman,  Lieut.  David  C. 
Hunt,  and  Lieut.  Albert  F.  Sharp. 


LIEUT.-COL.  MEKWIN  AND  CAPT.  CHAPMAN.       393 

all  its  strength.  His  popularity  soon  gathered  around  him 
a  full  company  of  men  for  the  Twenty-seventh  ;  and,  at  the 
organization  of  the  regiment,  he  was  elected  lieutenant- 

O  tj  f 

colonel.  Thenceforward  his  life  was  identical  with  that  of 
the  regiment.  He  fought  with  them  gallantly  at  Chancel- 
lorsville,  went  with  them  to  Richmond,  and  returned  in  time 
to  lead  the  brave  remnant  in  the  next  battle.  "  Along  the 
weary  march  to  Gettysburg  he  inspired  the  men  with  his 
own  indomitable  spirit ;  and  on  that  fated  wheatfield,  where 
the  missiles  of  the  enemy  mowed  down  the  waving  grain,  he 
fell  mortally  wounded,  breathing  the  words  of  noble  self-for- 
getfulness, '  My  poor  regiment  is  suffering  fearfully.'  With 
out  disparagement  to  any,  it  may  truly  be  said  that  no 
officer  in  the  regiment  attracted  to  himself  such  unvarying 
respect,  confidence,  and  affection  among  the  men  of  his  com 
mand.  Nor  was  this  strange,  in  view  of  the  remarkable  and 
harmonious  combination  of  noble  qualities  in  his  character. 
No  pride  of  position  ever  marred  the  beautiful  consistency 
of  his  life.  .  .  .  Duty  was  evidently  the  supreme  motive 
of  his  life.  He  was  quick  of  discernment  and  rapid  in  exe 
cution  ;  but  no  harshness  ever  dimmed  the  transparent  kind 
ness  of  his  demeanor.  .  .  .  All  these  more  amiable  qual 
ities  were  supplemented  by  a  manly  independence  and 
decision  which  made  him  always  jealous  for  the  rights  of 
his  men.  In  his  death,  the  Twenty-seventh  laid  its  costliest 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  our  country." 7 

At  this  battle,  Capt.  Jedediah  Chapman  of  New  Haven 
was  killed.  He  also  was  a  member  of  the  Grays,  and  ac 
companied  them  through  the  three-months'  service.  When 
the  Twenty-seventh  was  recruited,  he  went  out  as  first  lieu 
tenant  of  Company  H,  and  was  constantly  at  his  post.  Too 
ill  to  be  present  at  Chancellorsville,  he  was  appointed  to 
command  a  company  made  up  of  the  squads  saved  from  that 
wholesale  capture,  and  fell  at  its  head.  He  possessed  a  quick 
conscience,  a  clear  mind,  a  ready  hand,  and  was  held  in  uni 
versal  esteem.  Among  other  brave  men  of  the  regiment 
killed  here  were  Corporals  Cornwall  of  Milford,. Wilson  of 
New  Haven,  and  Bodwell  of  Norwalk. 

7  Sheldon's  History  of  the  Twenty-seventh. 
60 


394  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

During  the  night  of  July  3,  1863,  the  Union  array,  worn 
out  with  the  stress  of  the  terrible  combat  of  Gettysburg, 
bivouacked  in  its  position ;  the  men  dropping  in  their  places, 
and  sleeping.  Before  the  sun  rose  on  the  4th,  Lee  had  de 
camped  with  his  whole  army  towards  the  Potomac. 

Details  of  Union  soldiers  were  at  once  made  to  bury  the 
dead.  Along  our  lines,  and  down  the  slope  in  front,  especially 
in  front  of  the  center  and  left,  where  the  Fourteenth,  Seven 
teenth,  and  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut  had  been  stationed, 
the  ground  was  strewn  with  corpses,  many  of  them  already 
blackened  and  swollen,  some  still  in  striking  attitudes. 
Here  a  soldier  had  evidently  been  engaged  trying  to  save 
the  life  of  a  wounded  comrade  by  binding  a  handkerchief 
about  the  shattered  limb,  but  was  shot,  and,  falling  on  his 
wounded  companion,  both  had  died  together. 

One  could  see  at  a  glance  the  truthfulness  of  the  picture 
drawn  by  an  officer  in  a  letter :  "  I  could  imagine  nothing 
more  terrible  than  the  silent  indications  of  agony  that 
marked  the  features  of  the  pale  corpses  which  lay  at  every 
step.  Though  dead  and  rigid  in  every  muscle,  they  still 
writhed,  and  seemed  to  turn  to  catch  the  passing  breeze  for' 
a  cooling  breath.  Staring  eyes,  gaping  mouths,  clinched 
hands,  and  strangely-contracted  limbs,  seemingly  drawn  into 
the  smallest  compass  as  if  by  a  mighty  effort  to  rend  asunder 
some  irresistible  bond  which  held  them  down  to  the  torture 
of  which  they  died.  One  sat  against  a  tree,  and,  with  mouth 
and  eyes  wide  open,  looked  up  into  the  sl\y,  as  if  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  its  fleeting  spirit.  Another  clutched  the  branch 
of  an  overhanging  tree,  and  hung  half  suspended,  as  if  in 
death  he  had  raised  himself  partly  from,  the  ground.  An 
other  had  grasped  his  faithful  musket ;  and  the  compression 
of  his  mouth  told  of  a  determination  which  would  have 
been  fatal  to  a  foe  had  life  ebbed  a  minute  later.  Another 
clung  with  both  hands  to  a  bayonet  which  was  buried  in 
the  ground.  Great  numbers  lay  in  heaps,  just  as  the  fire  of 
the  artillery  mowed  them  down,  mangling  their  forms  into 
an  almost  indistinguishable  mass." 

Col.  William  H.  Noble  of  the  Seventeenth,  who  took  a 
brief  furlough  after  his  severe  wound  at  Chancellorsville,  had 


EETEEAT  AND  PURSUIT  OF  THE  ENEMY.        395 

obtained  another  horse,  and  returned  to  his  regiment  five 
days  before  his  furlough  expired,  to  participate  in  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg.  In  this  he  was  disappointed ;  but,  after 
being  thirty-six  hours  in  the  saddle,  he  arrived  at  the  gate  of 
the  cemetery  in  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day's  fight,  and  re 
sumed  command  of  the  regiment.  Col.  Dwight  Morris  of 
the  Fourteenth  was  unable  to  get  nearer  than  Westmin 
ster,  Md. 

Independence  Day  was  strangely  kept,  —  in  Connecticut 
with  the  traditional  bell-ringing  and  cannon-firing,  by  can 
non  that  spoke  a  new  language,  and  bells  that  shook  out 
more  jubilant  anthems  than  ever  before  ;  on  the  green  slope 
of  Gettysburg  by  weary  ambulances  and  active  surgeons, 
an  anxious  counting  of  thinned  ranks,  and  a  tender  laying 
of  martyred  comrades  in  hallowed  ground. 

As  five  Connecticut  regiments  had  borne  a  creditable 
part  in  the  defeat  of  Lee's  over-confident  army,  so  now  they 
were  ready  to  join  with  alacrity  in  the  pursuit.  But  Meade 
did  not  seem  to  comprehend  his  great  advantage.  On  the 
second  day  after  the  battle,  he  carefully  pushed  the  Gth 
Corps  towards  the  enemy ;  taking  his  other  corps  by  different 
roads,  and  advancing  as  rapidly  as  Lee  moved  on  and  got 
out  of  the  way.  The  general  course  was  towards  Frederick, 
reached  on  the  second  day  out.  The  Seventeenth  pressed 
forward  with  the  llth  Corps  to  Hagerstown,  which  it  occu 
pied  on  July  12,  capturing  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
prisoners.  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  overtook  the  enemy 
intrenched  at  Fair  Play  on  the  12th,  and  were  ordered  to 
take  position  and  throw  up  earthworks.  Next  night,  the 
main  rebel  army  escaped  across  the  Potomac.  The  retreat 
and  pursuit  were  continued,  without  much  experience  of 
interest,  until  Lee's  army  occupied  the  south  side  of  the 
Rapidan,  near  Orange  Court  House. 

The  12th  Corps  went  into  camp  near  Raccoon  Ford.  Col. 
Ross,  severely  wounded  at  Chancellorsville,  had  now  rejoined 
the  Twentieth,  and  had  temporarily  command  of  the  brigade. 
On  Sept.  24,  the  12th  Corps  was  relieved,  and  marched  back 
to  Brandy  Station ;  and  all  property  was  turned  over  to  the 
post  quartermaster.  The  march  was  resumed  to  Bealton 


396  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Station,  where,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  the  corps  (with  the 
Fifth  and  Twentieth  Regiments)  was  embarked  on  board 
the  cars  to  re-inforce  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  Ten 
nessee. 

After  Gettysburg,  the  Fourteenth  Regiment  performed  a 
number  of  marches  and  countermarches  in  Maryland, 
crossed  the  Potomac  in  the  tardy  pursuit,  and,  July  26,  en 
camped  near  Warrenton.  Col.  D wight  Morris,  Lieut-Col. 
S.  H.  Perkins,  and  Major  C.  C.  Clark  had  resigned  ;  and 
Adjutant  Theodore  G.  Ellis,  in  April,  September,  and  October, 
was  promoted  to  be  successively  major,  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  colonel,  —  an  unusual  recognition,  which  he  had  earned 
by  faithful  and  gallant  service. 

On  Sept.  1,  the  regiment  went  on  a  reconnoissance  to 
Hartwood  Church  ;  and  on  Oct.  12  crossed  the  Rappahan- 
nock  with  the  2d  Corps,  and  marched  southward  on  Culpep- 
er.  Again  the  Rapidan  became  the  picket-line  between 
the  two  armies. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Admiral  Foote.  —  His  Adventures,  Battles,  and  Death.  —  Banks's 
Expedition. — Feint  towards  Port  Hudson.  —  March  Southward. — Battle  of  Irish 
Bend.  —  The  Cotton  Raid  up  the  Atchafalaya.  —  Investment  of  Port  Hudson.  —  The 
Fight  of  May  27.  —  The  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty-fifth,  Twenty- 
sixth,  and  Twenty-eighth  Connecticut.  —  The  Charge  of  June  14.  — Failure  and 
Heavy  Losses.  —  The  Twenty-fourth  in  the  Cotton-Fort.  —  The  Forlorn  Hope.  —Our 
Roll  of  Honor. —  Surrender  of  Port  Hudson. 

10NNECTICUT  lost  an  illustrious  son  during  the 
summer  of  1863  in  Rear  Admiral  Foote.  the 
hero  of  Island  Number  Ten  and  of  Forts 
Henry  and  Donelson. 

Andrew  Hull  Foote  was  born  Sept.  12,  1806, 
in  what  is  now  called  "  the  Buddington  House,"  corner  of 
Union  and  Cherry  Streets,  New  Haven.  His  paternal  grand 
father,  Rev.  John  Foote,  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
church  of  Cheshire  for  forty-six  years.  His  maternal  grand 
father,  Gen.  Andrew  Hull  of  Cheshire,  was  for  many  years 
a  prosperous  West-India  merchant  in  New  Haven.  His 
father,  Samuel  A.  Foote,  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  of  the 
class  of  1797,  and  studied  law  at  the  famous  school  in  Litch- 
iield.  He  frequently  represented  Cheshire  in  the  General 
Assembly,  and  was  speaker  of  the  House.  He  afterwards 
represented  the  State  in  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Con 
gresses,  and  in  the  United-States  Senate  for  six  years. 

From  his  seventh  year,  the  beautiful  village  of  Cheshire 
was  the  home  of  young  Andrew ;  and  to  his  seventeenth 
year  he  was  trained  by  his  excellent  mother  Eudocia  in 
right  principles  and  moral  habits,  yet  accustomed  to  the 
out-door  activities  of  rural  life,  under  the  inspiring  and 
restraining  influences  of  an  old-fashioned  Puritan  household. 

397 


398  CONNECTICUT  DURING    THE   EEBELLION. 

He 'grew  up  a  bright,  strong-willed,  amiable  boy,  with  a  full 
share  of  that  adventurous  spirit  which  sends  so  many  boys 
to  sea  at  sixteen  years  of  age. 

His  father  permitted  him  to  choose  his  vocation ;  and  he 
entered  the  navy  as  a  midshipman  in  1822.  His  first  voy 
age  was  under  the  command  of  a  lieutenant  who  had  gained 
experience  and  honorable  distinction  in  the  War  of  1812, 
and  who,  having  had  the  privilege  of  training  him  for  the 
service  of  his  country,  and  having  shared  with  him  the 
perils  of  sea  and  of  battle,  survived  in  a  vigorous  old  age  to 
share  in  a  nation's  grief  at  the  death  of  his  illustrious  pupil. 
The  intimate  and  affectionate  friendship  of  forty-one  years, 
between  Admiral  Gregory  and  Admiral  Foote,  was  honor 
able  to  both. 

Midshipman  Foote's  first  voyage  was  in  the  expedition 
against  the  pirates  of  the  West  Indies.  In  the  course  of  it, 
he  distinguished  himself  by  courage  and  enterprise  as  well 
as  by  diligence  in  the  duties  of  his  position.  His  second 
cruise  was  under  Commodore  Hull  in  the  Pacific. 

After  this  he  made  successive  voyages  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  followed  by  slow  and  well-earned  promotion.  His 
commission  as  lieutenant  was  dated  eight  years  after  he 
entered  the  service;  and  in  the  mean  time  he  had  been 
almost  continually  at  sea.  Twenty-five  years  more  of 
arduous  service  made  him  a  commander ;  when  he  was  as 
signed  to  duty  at  the  Naval  Asylum  in  Philadelphia,  Even 
here,  among  pensioners,  he  found  a  good  work  to  do. 

Devoting  himself  with  characteristic  zeal  and  kindness  to 
the  welfare  of  the  pensioners  under  his  command,  he  suc 
ceeded  in  winning  their  affectionate  confidence  ;  he  obtained 
a  high  and  beneficial  moral  influence  over  them  ;  he  became 
a  moral  and  religious  teacher  among  them  without  impair 
ing  the  dignity  of  his  position  as  an  officer,  and  persuaded 
many  of  them  to  give  up  their  spirit  ration,  and  pledge 
themselves  to  total  abstinence  from  intoxicating  drinks. 

On  his  next  cruise,  he  further  advanced  this  principle.  As 
first  lieutenant  and  executive  officer  of  the  Cumberland,  in 
the  Mediterranean,  he  persuaded  the  entire  crew  to  forego 
their  immemorial  "  grog."  At  the  same  time  he  became  a 


ACHIEVEMENTS  OF  ADMIRAL  FOOTE.  399 

volunteer  chaplain  to  them,  giving  a  lecture  every  Sunday 
on  thje  berth-deck  to  as  many  as  chose  to  attend,  and  having 
a  congregation  of  nearly  two  hundred  willing  hearers; 
the  lecture  being  followed  by  a  meeting  for  prayer  in  a 
more  retired  part  of  the  ship.  The  Cumberland  became  as 
worthy  of  honorable  memory  from  her  association  with  that 
experiment  of  free  moral  and  religious  influence  among 
the  seamen  of  our  navy  as  she  afterwards  became,  when 
with  her  flag  still  flying,  and  her  sighted  guns  exploding  at 
the  water's  edge,  she  went  down  heroically  in  that  conflict 
which  changed(  in  an  hour  the  entire  system  of  maritime 
warfare  till  wars  shall  be  no  more. 

After  this  he  was  for  some  years  on  duty  at  the  Charles- 
town  Navy  Yard,  afflicted  with  a  disease  of  the  eyes.  Recov 
ering,  he  was  attached  to  the  African  squadron,  in  command 
of  the  Perry  ;  and  that  service  was  rendered  doubly  valuable 
by  his  strenuous  activity  against  the  piratical  slave-traders. 
He  did  much  to  break  up  a  shameful  traffic  which  had  found 
safety  under  our  flag,  and  upon  which  many  of  our  politi 
cians  still  looked  with  favor.  Among  the  honors  of  that 
cruise,  also,  was  the  fact,  that  through  many  months  of  ex 
posure  along  the  unwholesome  coast,  so  often  fatal  to  life, 
the  liquor-ration  was  voluntarily  banished  from  the  Perry  ; 
and  among  her  officers  and  crew  there  was  not  a  death,  nor 
a  man  disabled. 

Soon  after,  he  published  a  book  entitled,  Africa  and  the 
American  Flag,  —  a  volume  full  of  condensed  information, 
and  valuable  for  its  practical  suggestions. 

In  1856,  he  sailed  for  China  in  the  sloop-of-war  Ports 
mouth,  and  returned  two  years  thereafter ;  having  in  the 
mean  time  distinguished  himself  by  bombarding  and  storm 
ing' the  barrier  forts  in  the  Canton  River. 

When  the  Great  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  was  in  charge  of 
the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  from  which  duty  he  was  soon 
summoned  to  the  more  arduous  service  of  creating  and 
commanding  an  inland  navy  on  the  waters  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  What  he  did  in  achieving  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson  is  well  known;  but  quite  as  laborious  was 
the  exhausting  work  of  brain  and  hand  by  which,  under  all 


400         CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

sorts  of  embarrassments  and  discouragements,  those  victories 
were  prepared  in  the  creation  of  the  resistless  flotilla  at  St. 
Louis. 

After  the  fall  of  these  strongholds,  he  swooped  down  upon 
Island  Number  Ten.  The  island  shores  were  lined  with 
heavy  forts,  and  the  banks  adjacent  were  fortified  in  all 
directions,  and  held  by  a  strong  force  ;  while  lying  in  the 
river  was  a  floating  battery  carrying  twelve  32-pounders. 
In  this  situation,  it  was  proposed  to  cut  a  canal  twelve  miles 
around,  through  swamp  and  forest.  In  nineteen  days  the 
herculean  work  was  completed.  The  channel  was  fifty  feet 
wide,  and  passed  for  two  miles  through  thick  timber ;  the 
trees  being  sawed  off  four  feet  below  the  water.1  While  the 
rebels  were  proclaiming  their  position  impregnable,  the  gun 
boats  appeared  simultaneously  below  the  island  and  above 
it,  and  advanced  to  take  the  batteries ;  when  the  island  sur 
rendered  to  Flag-officer  Foote,  with  two  thousand  prisoners, 
a  hundred  heavy  guns,  and  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition. 
"  No  single  battlefield  had  yet  afforded  to  the  North  such 
visible  fruits  of  victory  as  were  gathered  at  Island  Number 
Ten."2 

Foote  was  now  promoted  to  be  admiral,  and  recalled  to 
the  East,  where  he  again  mingled  with  his  friends,  and 
again  showed  his  zeal  in  every  good  work ;  now  presiding  at 
a  war-meeting  at  New  Haven  ;  now  assisting  some  great 
reform  in  aid  of  seamen ;  now  accepting  the  presidency  of 
the  Connecticut  Soldiers'-Aid  Society  at  Washington.  He 
had  received  a  painful  wound,  and  he  was  pale  and  feeble ; 
but  his  indomitable  spirit  would  not  succumb  to  the  depress 
ing  influence  of  bodily  weakness  or  disease.  His  medical 
advisers  commanded  him  to  rest ;  but  he  went  to  Washing 
ton,  and  his  great  abilities  were  employed  in  organizing  a 
new  bureau  in  the  Navy  Department. 

He  soon  asked  for  more  arduous  service,  and  was  assigned 
to  the  South-Atlantic  squadron,  to  relieve  Dupont.  He  ac 
cepted  the  assignment,  and  in  that  command  he  expected 

1  This  great  labor  was  performed  by  "  the  Engineer  Regiment  of  the  West,"  com 
manded  by  Col.  J.  W.  Bissell  of  this  State,  a  brother  of   Col.  G.  P.  Bissell  of  the 
Twenty-fifth  Connecticut. 

2  Pollard's  Southern  History. 


GEN.    BANKS    PREPARING   TO   MOVE.  40 1 

to  die.  It  was  in  vain  that  friends  and  physicians  entreated 
him  to  spare  himself,  and  to  ask  from  the  government  the 
relief  which  would  have  been  granted  to  the  slightest  ex 
pression  of  his  wishes.  He  was  determined  to  do  his  utmost 
for  the  nation,  at  whatever  sacrifice.  His  life,  he  said,  was 
not  his  own,  and  should  be  freely  surrendered  at  his  coun 
try's  call. 

His  preparations  for  going  were  nearly  completed,  and  he 
had  parted  with  his  family  in  New  Haven,  when  the  disease 
which  his  vigorous  constitution  had  so  long  resisted  overcame 
him ;  and,  after  great  suffering,  he  died  at  the  Astor  House, 
New  York,  June  26,  1863. 

He  had  expected  to  die  in  the  malaria  of  the  Carolina 
Islands,  tended  by  the  rough  but  loving  hands  of  fellow-war 
riors  on  the  sea ;  or  in  the  roar  and  fiery  storm  of  battle. 
Where  he  should  die,  or  how.  was  to  him  a  question  of  little 
moment.  Yet,  when  he  found  his  time  had  come,  he  could 
not  but  be  thankful  for  the  opportunity  of  dying  surrounded 
by  his  family  and  friends ;  by  his  wife  and  children  and 
brothers ;  by  old  comrades,  —  the  heroes  of  many  a  conflict, 
whose  voices  had  rung  out,  and  were  soon  to  ring  again,  loud 
and  clear  in  the  tempest  of  battle  ;  now  confessing  by  silent 
tears  how  much  they  loved  him.  Assured  that  dearth  was 
near,  he  waited  calmly  for  the  end  ;  and  his  last  intelligible 
words  were,  "  I  thank  God  for  his  loving-kindness  to  me. 
Praise  the  Lord,  0  my  soul !  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits." 


During  the  month  of  February,  1863,  Gen.  Banks  arrived, 
and  took  command  of  the  troops  at  Baton  Rouge,  which  was 
made  the  rendezvous  of  the  column  for  the  projected  assault 
on  Port  Hudson,  a  rebel  stronghold  in  Louisiana,  twenty-five 
miles  up  the  river. 

The  army  gathered  ;  Farragut's  fleet  of  mortar-schooners 
and  gunboats  was  assembled ;  and  during  the  first  week  in 
March  the  regiments  were  under  marching  orders.  At  this 
juncture,  a  meeting  of  Connecticut  regiments  was  held  to 
consider  the  approaching  State  election ;  and  Col.  Bissell  of 
the  Twenty-fifth  and  Capt.  Sprague  of  the  Thirteenth  were 


51 


402  CONNECTICUT  DUKLNG   THE   REBELLION. 

appointed  to  draft  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  Connecticut  to 
re-elect  Gov.  Buckingham.  This  was  prepared  and  numer 
ously  signed,  and  had  considerable  influence  on  the  result. 

On  March  9,  Col.  G.  P.  Bissell  of  the  Twenty-fifth  was 
ordered  to  report  in  person  to  Gen.  Banks,  and  was  put  in 
command  of  the  advance  guard  (a  regiment  of  infantry,  a 
company  of  cavalry,  and  a  section  of  battery),  with  directions 
to  repair  the  roads  and  bridges  towards  Port  Hudson.  Col. 
Bissell  seized  the  Bayou  Sara,  and  built  a  substantial  bridge, 
over  which  the  whole  army  afterwards  passed  with  its  heavy 
guns.  The  construction  was  superintended  by  Private  Wil 
liam  Webster  of  Uuionville,  who  was  au  fait  at  bridge-build 
ing.  This  preparatory  work  was  accomplished  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  Gen.  Banks ;  when  Col.  Bissell,  taken  severely 
ill,  turned  over  the  regiment  to  Major  Thomas  McManus, 
Lieut.-Col.  Weld  being  still  absent  in  hospital. 

On  March  13,  the  Connecticut  regiments  fell  into  the 
strong  column  moving  apparently  to  invest  Port  Hudson. 
The  real  object  was  a  diversion  in  the  rear  to  assist  Farra- 
gut  to  run  the  batteries  in  front ;  and  it  also  answered  the 
purpose  of  a  reconnoissance  in  force.  It  was  a  severe  test 
of  the  powers  of  endurance  of  the  men.  The  first  night 
they  rested  in  a  plowed  field ;  the  second  night  the  Twenty- 
fourth  was  posted  in  a  cornfield. 

The  army  had  now  arrived  at  the  east  of  Port  Hudson, 
and  stood  upon  the  verge  of  battle ;  but  no  battle  was 
fought.  l'  The  roar  of  the  guns  of  the  ascending  fleet  on 
the  river  was  distinctly  heard,  but  its  meaning  was  unknown  ; 
the  light  of  the  burning  Mississippi,  casting  a  lurid  radiance 
over  half  the  visible  heavens,  was  gazed  at  with  inquisitive 
-wonder,  but  brought  no  intelligence  of  coming  events;  the 
terrible  explosion,  which  out-sounded  thunder  and  extin 
guished  the  gloomy  radiance,  awakened  only  fearful  appre 
hensions  in  those  who  were  watching  by  night  the  progress  of 
•events.  Sunday  afternoon  a  retrograde  movement  towards 
Baton  Rouge  began.  The  inarch,  though  rapid,  was  orderly. 
The  men  were  very  heavily  laden.  The  day  was  hot ;  but  to 
wards  night  a  terrible  thunder-storm  set  in.  The  road  became 
ankle-deep  with  mud  where  it  was  not  entirely  overflowed : 


ADVANCE  TOWARDS   SOUTHERN  LOUISIANA.  403 

night  came  on  like  the  falling  of  a  curtain ;  onward  pressed 
the  eager  column.  A  marsh  strewn  with  brambles  and 
rotting  logs,  where  upturned  stumps  overlooked  the  puddles, 
welcomed  the  men  and  officers  to  moist  beds.  The  glare  of 
a  wilderness  of  camp-fires,  which  served  to  make  darkness 
visible,  disclosed  groups  of  uncomfortable  men  in  all  atti 
tudes, —  standing,  leaning,  sitting,  reclining,  smoking,  swear 
ing,  drinking,  sleeping,  and  trying  to  sleep.  It  was  a  night 
to  be  remembered  a  life  time."3 

The  Thirteenth  and  Twenty-fifth  fared  no  better;  for 
Col.  Sprague  says,  "An  hour  after  nightfall  we  were 
marched  by  the  flank  out  of  the  road,  and  into  a  pond  of 
water,  and  told  to  pass  the  night  there."  They  obeyed; 
and  the  place  is  remembered  as  "  Camp  Misery." 

The  wretchedness  of  the  Twenty-fifth  was  greatly  relieved 
by  the  exertions  of  Quartermaster  John  S.  Ives,  who  rode 
fourteen  miles  in  the  terrific  storm  and  mud,  returning  at 

f  O 

midnight  with  bags  of  coffee  and  sugar  across  his  horse.  It 
was  a  work  of  military  supererogation,  but  it  brought  upon 
the  faithful  quartermaster  the  cheers  and  blessings  of  the 
miserable  host.  Next  clay  they  returned  to  Baton  Rouge. 

The  men  were  greatly  disgusted  with  what  seemed  to 
them  a  foolish  and  objectless  expedition,  feeling  little  com 
pensation  for  the  incomprehensible  retreat  in  the  fifteen 
hundred  bales  of  cotton  brought  back. 

For  a  few  days  the  new  Sibley  tents  were  spread  at  Baton 
Rouge ;  but  on  the  night  of  March  28,  in  the  midst  of  a 
thunder-storm,  Grover's  division,  including  the  three  Connecti 
cut  regiments,  embarked,  and  sailed  down  the  river  to  Donald- 
sonvillc,  the  advance  of  Banks's  famous  expedition.  Here 
teuts  were  pitched  again  ;  but  on  the  31st  they  started  down 
the  road  which  leads  along  the  bayou  towards  Southern 
Louisiana,  through  a  delightful  region,  and  past  fruitful 
fields.  Stringent  orders  against  straggling  and  pillaging  were 
issued. 

On  April  2,  they  marched  through  Thibodeau  to  Terre 
Bonne,  and  took  the  cars  westward  ;  the  Twelfth  Connecti 
cut  now  joining  the  column  with  Weitzel's  division. 

8  Letter  of  Major  Patrick  Maher  of  the  Twenty-fourth  to  Thomas  R.  Trowbridge,  a 
generous  friend  and  patron  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment. 


404  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Banks  restricted  officers'  baggage  to  a  carpet-bag  and  a 
small  roll  of  blankets;  and  the  officers  of  all  Connecticut 
regiments  present  stored  their  trunks,  clothing,  papers,  and 
personal  property,  in  a  sugar-mill,  where  they  were  burned 
the  following  June  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy. 

On  reaching  the  Atchafalaya  River,  fifty  miles  west  of 
New  Orleans,  Weitzel  moved  towards  Franklin  to  attack  the 
enemy  strongly  fortified  and  in  force  just  beyond;  while 
Grover's  division  embarked,  and  steamed  up  Lake  Chesti- 
mache  to  cut  off  the  rebel  retreat. 

On  Sunday,  April  12,  the  assault  was  made  with  great 
fury  with  artillery  and  infantry.  All  day  the  contest 
raged.  The  Twelfth  supported  a  battery  on  the  left,  but  at 
night  withdrew  out  of  range,  and  got  some  sleep.  Monday 
they  advanced  to  the  extreme  front  through  a  canefield,  hear 
ing  the  bullets'  "  zip  "  through  the  cane  on  all  sides.  The  regi 
ment  again  supported  a  battery  here,  —  not  more  than  four 
hundred  yards  from  the  enemy's  guns.  The  boys  lay  concealed 
in  a  plantation-ditch ;  and  the  grape,  canister,  and  shells 
swept  over  their  heads.  At  dark  they  were  again  with 
drawn,  having  two  killed  and  thirteen  wounded.  Capts. 
Samuel  H.  Granniss,  John  Brennan,  Lester  E.  Braley,  and 
Stephen  D.  Byxbee,  and  their  companies,  received  honorable 
mention ;  also  Major  Lewis  and  Dr.  Cummings  acting  sur 
geon.  Chaplain  James  H.  Bradford  was  also  awarded 
"  great  praise  for  the  fearless  activity  with  which  he  minis 
tered  to  the  suffering  during  the  battle  and  the  night  fol 
lowing." 

During  the  night,  the  rebels  retreated  towards  Grover's 
division,  that  had  already  landed  near  a  place  called  Irish 
Bend.  In  the  night  they  slipped  past ;  but  on  the  morning 
of  the  14th  turned  a.gain,  and  accepted  battle.  The  Twenty- 
fifth  Connecticut,  deployed  to  skirmish  in  advance  of  the 
division,  pressed  rapidly  up  to  the  woods.  Suddenly  a  brisk 
musketry-fire  opened  upon  them,  which  they  warmly  re 
turned  ;  being  meantime  the  mark  of  a  battery  to  the  left, 
and  the  guns  of  the  rebel  gunboat  Diana.  Birge's  whole 
brigade  came  promptly  to  the  support.  It  was  the  first 
time  the  Twenty-fifth  had  been  under  fire ;  but  the  men 


THE  THIRTEENTH  CAPTURES  A  FLAG.  405 

stood  up  to  their  work  nobly,  incited  by  the  example  of 
their  gallant  colonel,  Bissell,  who,  regardless  of  his  own 
safety,  passed  from  end  to  end  of  the  line,  encouraging 
them  to  deeds  of  bravery. 

The  regimental  report  of  Adjutant  Henry  C.  Ward  of  the 
Twenty-fifth  says,  "  Shortly  afterwards,  the  enemy  opened 
with  his  artillery  from  the  right  of  his  line  ;  firing  shell,  grape, 
and  canister  with  great  rapidity.  After  some  delay,  two 
pieces  of  our  own  artillery  were  brought  up,  and  returned 
the  fire ;  and,  finally,  the  remaining  three  companies  of  our 
right  wing  were  called  up  to  rejoin  the  regiment,  which  was 
thus  all  brought  into  action  as  skirmishers,  engaging  the 
entire  front  of  the  wood,  which  was  a  line  of  fire.  While 
thus  in  action,  we  were  suddenly  opened  upon  by  two  regi 
ments  (the  18th  Louisiana  •  la  Texas  regiment)  which  had 
crept  through  the  cane,  a**  «  appeared  on  our  right  flank." 
The  cross-fire  was  terrible,  and  the  regiment  for  some  time 
suffered  severely. 

While  this  was  going  on  upon  the  right,  the  Thirteenth 
had  moved  by  the  flank  to  the  left,  and  advanced  against 
the  rebel  right.  The  regiment  moved  forward  in  firm  line, 
greeted  with  a  heavy  fire  from  the  gunboat,  a  New-Orleans 
regiment,  and  a  battery.  The  Union  regiments  on  the  right 
had  fallen  back,  when  Col.  Warner  gave  the  order,  "  Com 
mence  firing  ! "  and  five  hundred  muzzles  poured  forth  a 
steady  stream  of  lead,  while  the  men  were  rapidly  advan 
cing.  They  fired  fast  and  continuously  ;  and,  as  they  showed 
no  intention  of  coming  to  a  halt,  the  rebel  battery  was 
whirled  away,  and  the  rebel  regiment  fled  to  the  left  and 
rear. 

The  Thirteenth  captured  the  flag  of  the  St.  Mary's  Can 
noneers,  and  was  just  giving  itself  up  to  rejoicing  over  a  vic 
tory  won,  when  Lieut.  Perry  Averill  of  Company  D  discovered 
a  regiment  of  graybacks  advancing  straight  upon  the  right. 
The  Thirteenth  was  hastily  withdrawn  under  a  sharp  fire. 
The  enemy  now  rallied  all  along  the  line  ;  but  another  Union 
brigade  came  up,  and  the  charge  of  the  united  division  swept 
every  thing  before  it.  The  rebels  turned  and  ran  in  great 
disorder ;  and,  Weitzel's  brigade  arriving  at  this  moment  in 


406  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

the  rear,  the  gunboat  Diana  was  fired  and  blown  up  by  the 
rebels.  The  victory  of  our  forces  was  complete. 

The  Thirteenth  captured  two  caissons,  one  limber,  four 
artillery  horses,  sixty  prisoners,  many  small  arms,  and  the 
banner,  which  is  now  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  State 
of  Connecticut.  Especial  praise  was  awarded  to  Chaplain 
Upson,  Surgeon  Clary,  and  Hospital-steward  William  Bishop 
for  fearlessly  exposing  themselves  to  minister  to  the  wound 
ed.  The  regiment  lost  seven  killed  and  forty-six  wounded. 
Of  the  former  were  Sergeants  Frank  E.  Stanley  and  Frank 
W.  Stanley  of  New  Britain. 

Sergeant  Frank  W.  Stanley  was  but  a  lad,  bright,  active,  of 
superior  talent,  and  noble  character.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  to  enlist  at  the  outbreak  of  war;  but  quietly  yielded  to 
the  judgment  of  his  father,  and  remained  at  school  until 
the  second  call  for  troops.  His  patriotic  parent  kept  him 
back  no  longer,  though  an  only  son.  He  entered  the  ser 
vice  with  pride  and  zest,  and,  yet  a  boy,  displayed  the  quali 
ties  and  character  of  a  hero.  He  was  neat,  erect,  strong, 
and  grew  swiftly  to  manly  beauty.  He  w.as  ardent  and 
ambitious,  admired  by  all,  and  on  the  sure  road  to  deserved 
promotion. 

Sergeant  Frank  E.  Stanley  was  a  cousin  and  playmate  of 
Frank  W.,  —  less  lively  and  impressible,  not  so  forward,  but 
gifted  with  the  elements  of  sturdy  and  faithful  manhood. 
He  seemed  to  have  waited  for  the  war  to  develop  him.  As 
a  soldier,  none  could  be  more  ready  or  trusty :  in  battle,  his 
conduct  was  magnificent. 

The  loss  of  these  two  was  deeply  felt  in  the  army  and 
also  at  home,  .where  they  had  occupied  high  social  positions. 
Here,  also,  fell  Corporals  Edwin  L.  Nickerson  of  Cornwall 
and  Leonard  G.  Roath  of  New  London,  who  had  been  pro 
moted  for  their  merits. 

The  Twenty-fifth,  after  opening  the  battle,  had  been  under 
fire  eleven  hours,  and  had  suffered  fearfully.  Out  of  the 
three  hundred  and  fifty  who  went  into  action,  ninety-six 
were  killed,  wounded,  or  missing ;  the  latter  counting  but 
ten.  Nine  were  killed  outright,  and  five  died  of  their 
wounds. 


LOSSES   IN  THE   TWENTY-FIFTH.  407 

Capt.  Samuel  S.  Hayden  of  Windsor  Locks  was  killed  in 
stantly  by  a  fragment  of  shell.  The  excellent  chaplain  of 
the  regiment,  Rev.  George  B.  Oviatt,  said  of  him,  "  He  was  a 
Christian  patriot.  I  think  I  knew  him  well ;  and  the  more 
thoroughly  I  knew  him,  the  more  I  admired  and  loved  him. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  frank  and  outspoken  men  I  ever 
saw,  —  a  noble  specimen  of  a  Puritan  of  the  olden  time.  He 
was  a  remarkably  conscientious  man  ;  and  all  his  opinions  he 
held  with  firmness,  whether  they  were  popular  or  unpopu 
lar, —  whether,  in  holding  them,  he  stood  alone  or  among  the 
many."  He  was  a  brave,  tender-hearted,  generous  man,  and 
gifted  with  strong  common  sense. 

The  Twenty-fifth  also  lost  here  one  of  its  best  men  in 
Lieut.  Daniel  P.  Dewey  of  Hartford.  He  was  cut  down  in 
the  front  of  battle,  at  the  point  nearest  the  enemy.  When 
he  enlisted,  he  was  a  sophomore  in  Trinity  College,  one  of 
the  first  in  his  class,  says  Professor  Brockelsby.  He  possessed 
a  clear  and  vigorous  mind,  and  was  always  buoyant  in  his 
disposition.  Adjutant  Henry  C.  Ward  wrote  to  the  parents 
of  young  Dewey,  "  I  saw  your  son  then  ;  and  the  sight  I  shall 
never  forget.  Waving  his  sword  above  his  head  ;  calling  to 
his  men,  '  Remember  you  are  Company  A  ; '  his  whole  bear 
ing  so  brave  and  heroic  that  it  seemed  almost  impossible  for 
any  enemy  to  avoid  marking  him  ;  standing  unmoved  in  a 
rain  of  bullets,  he  had  a  word  of  encouragement  for  every 
man  near  him,  kindly  greeting  for  a  friend,  and  even  a 
merry  quotation  from  a  favorite  song  to  fling  after  a  shell 
that  went  shrieking  by.  So  I  last  saw  him  ;  so  I  shall 
always  remember  him."  A  memorial  volume  before  us,  con 
taining  the  letters  of  Lieut.  Dewey,  tells  that  he  was  a  reli 
gious  soldier,  and,  as  Col.  Bissell  wrote  of  him,  "  brave,  dis 
creet,  reliable,  just,  —  a  cheerful,  fearless  man." 

Lieut.  William  A.  Oliver  of  Hartford,  just  promoted  from 
sergeant,  was  a  brave  and  impetuous  soldier ;  and,  when 
wounded,  a  handkerchief  was  bound  about  his  head  by 
private  T.  H.  Robbins ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  last  to  leave 
the  field.  He  died  ten  days  later  of  his  wound. 

Sergeants  Charles  D.  Grover  of  Ellington  and  Jonas  G. 
Holden  of  Hartford  were  also  among  those  who  here  cheer 
fully  gave  their  young  lives. 


408         CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  arrived  towards  the  close  of 
the  fighting,  but  was  not  under  fire. 

The  enemy  now  scattered  to  the  woods ;  and  next  morn 
ing  the  column  pursued  its  march  northward.  From  this 
time,  April  14,  to  May  20,  the  force  of  twenty  thousand 
men  known  as  the  19th  Corps  moved  towards  the  Red  River, 
in  a  line  generally  parallel  with  the  Atchafalaya.  The,  men 
blistered  their  feet,  and  suffered  varied  hardships.  Vast 
quantities  of  cotton  and  sugar  were  taken  out  of  the  coun 
try  and  confiscated,  ostensibly  for  the  benefit  of  the  govern 
ment.  Sprague's  History  of  the  Thirteenth  has  the  follow 
ing  incident  of  this  time  :  — 

"What's  the  real  object  of  this  expedition?"  asked  Mrs. 
Semmes,  at  whose  house  some  of  the  officers  halted.  "  The 
real  object  of  the  expedition,"  replied  the  chaplain,  "  is  to 
protract  the  expedition  until  the  quartermasters  and  con 
tractors  all  get  rich.  I  verily  believe,  if  they  had  their  way, 
they'd  keep  us  in  these  swamps  as  long  as  the  children  of 
Israel  were  kept  in  the  wilderness."  —  "  Chaplain  Upson,"  re 
sponded  Bromley,  "  I  can  tell  you  why  the  children  of  Israel 
were  detained  so  long  in  the  wilderness.  It  was  because 
they  had  too  many  chaplains  and  too  few  quartermasters." 

The  men  still  vividly  remember  a  long,  tedious,  useless 
tramp  through  a  country  full  of  rank  tropical  growths,  and 
abounding  in  fruit  and  fowl  which  they  were  forbidden  to 
touch ';  "  special  agents  "  floating  off  the  cotton,  with  enor 
mous  snakes,  athletic  spiders,  and  slimy  alligators  in  the 
foreground. 

The  advance  reached  the  mouth  of  Red  River  on  May  18 ; 
and  the  whole  corps  sailed  down  the  Mississippi  to  Bayou 
Sara,  twenty  miles  above  Port  Hudson.  Next  morning,  they 
marched  towards  that  stronghold  ;  the  rebel  vedettes  foiling 
back  before  our  advance-guard,  a  detachment  of  the  Thir 
teenth.  On  Sunday,  May  24,  the  converging  columns  drew 
nearer,  and  the  investment  was  complete.  Sharp  skirmish 
ing  ensued.  The  Thirteenth  and  Twenty-fifth  advanced 
in  Birge's  brigade ;  and  the  Twenty-fourth  farther  on  the 
right,  and  the  Twenty-sixth  away  on  the  left,  chasing  the 
enemy  through  the  woods,  and  taking  possession  of  the  re- 


FIRST  ASSAULT  ON  PORT  HUDSON.  4Q9 

doubts  and  earthworks  outside  the  main  rebel  defenses. 
The  regiments  were  under  fire,  and  a  few  were  wounded. 
In  the  afternoon,  half  the  Thirteenth  went  forward  to  skir 
mish  ;  and  there  was  a  sharp  contest.  Here,  bravely  fight 
ing,  far  to  the  front,  fell  Sergeant  James  Torrence,  a  gallant 
young  Scotchman  of  Norwich. 

On  the  25th  the  Twelfth  came  up,  and  advanced  to  the 
front.  The  Thirteenth  pressed  the  enemy's  sharpshooters 
to  the  rifle-pits ;  and  at  midnight  Privates  Charles  Sidders 
(of  East  Hampton)  and  Walter  McGrath  and  Ellis  B.  Robin 
son  (of  East  Hartford)  were  selected  by  Col.  Birge,  and 
sent  at  midnight,  with  instructions  to  crawl  up  to  the  rebel 
parapet,  and  report  upon  the  practicability  of  scaling  the 
works.  They  went  through  the  enemy's  picket-line,  and 
examined  the  ground ;  all  returning  unhurt,  though  the 
pickets  of  the  Twenty-fifth  fired  on  them  by  mistake. 

On  May  27,  Weitzel  led  his  brigade  in  the  general  line 
that  advanced  to  storm  the  works.  The  Twelfth  was  ready 
for  the  business.  As  straight  as  the  nature  of  the  ground 
would  allow,  the  line  advanced  through  the  woods,  reaching 
the  clearing  in  front  at  sunrise.  u  We  were  received  as  we 
emerged  with  volleys  from  artillery  and  infantry.  I  re 
ceived  orders  to  advance  to  the  front  and  left,  and  silence 
the  artillery,  now  firing  grape  and  canister  into  our  lines. 
We  moved  by  the  flank  under  a  heavy  fire,  past  four  pieces, 
and  took  up  a  suitable  position.  Three  companies  were  sent 
forward  as  skirmishers,  and  soon  came  upon  the  skirmishers 
of  the  enemy,  whom  they  drove.  A  detachment  was  sent 
from  inside  the  works,  which  attempted  to  turn  our  flank. 
Our  left  being  entirely  unsupported,  I  sent  one  company, 
which  succeeded,  by  sharp  fighting,  in  repelling  the  attack. 
The  entire  regiment  was  finally  engaged,  and  by  noon  had 
succeeded  in  driving  the  enemy  inside  the  parapet ;  and  in 
a  short  time  afterward  had  silenced  four  pieces  of  artillery, 
two  of  which,  being  field-pieces,  were  withdrawn ;  the  other 
two  (mounted  en  barbette]  the  two  wings  of  the  regiment 
relieved  each  other  in  guarding  till  late  in  the  day.  Our 
line  did  not  halt  until  it  reached  the  parapet ;  and  at  one 
time  the  extreme  right  had  succeeded  in  scaling  the  work, 


52 


410  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION.  • 

but,  for  want  of  harmonious  support  of  other  corps,  were 
compelled  to  rest  satisfied  with  holding  the  position."  *  At 
nio;ht,  the  regiment  was  withdrawn.  While  in  this  advanced 

O        *  cj  f 

position,  Private  Andrew  B.  Bartram  of  Berlin  crept  cau 
tiously  up  to  a  rebel  embrasure,  and  reconnoitered  the  works. 
When  he  was  discovered,  the  rebels  seized  their  guns  ;  but 
Bartram  slipped  away  and  into  cover  before  they  could  fire 
upon  him.  He  was  loudly  cheered  by  our  men.  Gen. 
Stone  sent  for  him,  and  pointed  a  Dahlgren  gun  where  Bar- 
tram  saw  the  sharpshooters,  which  tore  a  large  hole  in  the 
works. 

Birge's  Brigade,  in  which  was  the  Twenty-fifth,  was 
ordered  to  the  right  to  support  Weitzel,  and  directed  to 
carry  a  redoubt  on  the  north-east  angle  of  the  enemy's 
works.  Advancing  under  a  severe  cross-fire  through  a 
ravine,  waist-deep  in  water,  forcing  its  way  over  a  most  diffi 
cult  abatis,  the  column  halted  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  lead 
ing  up  to  the  redoubt.  This  it  carried,  capturing  the  out 
posts  and  rifle-pits,  together  with  their  occupants.  But 
beyond,  and  between  the  column  and  the  redoubt,  lay  an 
impenetrable  ravine,  forming  a  natural  ditch.  After  twice 
vainly  essaying  to  cross  in  the  face  of  a  tremendous  fire, 
the  attempt  was  abandoned  ;  and  the  two  regiments  lay  on 
the  position  they  had  carried  till  ten,  P.M.,  when  they  wore 
withdrawn  under  cover  of  darkness.  At  the  time  when 
both  regiments  were  driven  back  under  the  fire  that  swept 
the  ravine,  the  standard-bearer  of  the  159th  New-York  was 
killed,  and  the  colors  left  upon  the  field.  Sergeant  Kolji-rt 
Buckley  of  the  Twenty-fifth  hearing  of  it,  without  a  word, 
sprang  forward  again  into  the  deadly  storm  of  missiles,  and, 
picking  up  the  flag,  brought  it  safely  in ;  but,  turning  to' 
take  up  his  gun  which  he  had  laid  down,  received  the  fatal 
ball  in  his  breast:  with  but  a  groan  his  spirit  passed  away. 

The  Twenty-sixth5  took  an  honorable  part  in  the  ill- 
starred  assault  of  this  day.  On  arriving  from  Baton  Itouge, 
the  regiment  was  assigned  to  Gen.  Neal  Dow's  brigade,  on 
the  extreme  left,  near  the  river.  In  the  afternoon,  the  left 

*  Col.  Feck's  Official  Report. 

5  Major  Henry  Stoll,  absent  on  leave,  rejoined  the  regiment  during  the  siege  of  Port 
Hudson. 


THE  TWELFTH  AS   SKIEMISHEES.  411 

wing  advanced,  and  was  received  with  a  concentrated  fire. 
Col.  Kingsley  of  the  Twenty-sixth  was  among  the  wounded. 
Lieut.-Col.  Joseph  Selden,  afterwards  commanding  the  regi 
ment,  reports, — 

"  The  brigade  was  ordered  forward  on  the  double-quick.  Four  fences 
intervened  between  us  and  the  intrenchments,  which  greatly  impeded  our 
advance.  In  passing  these  fences,  the  different  regiments  were  thrown 
into  confusion,  and  became  somewhat  mixed  up.  On  entering  the  field,  a 
perfect  shower  of  grape-shot  and  canister  met  us,  severely  wounding 
Gens.  Sherman  and  Dow,  and  cutting  down  officers  and  men  by  scores. 
Still  we  advanced,  and  for  more  than  two  hours  held  the  ground  ;  and, 
when  obliged  to  fall  back,  it  was  not  in  disorder.  I  rallied  our  men,  and 
formed  the  regiment  near  the  entrance  of  the  field  ;  and  we  held  the  ground 
occupied  by  our  brigade  during  the  day.  This  being  the  first  time  the 
regiment  had  been  under  fire,  I  must  be  permitted  to  say  that  they  con 
ducted  themselves  with  great  gallantry  and  bravery." 

Out  of  a  total  of  less  than  four  hundred,  one  hundred  and 
six  were  killed  or  wounded.  Isine-months'  regiments  were 
thereafter  held  at  par.  Gen.  Clark,  commanding  the  brigade, 
said  in  his  report,  "  The  nine -months'  men  have  demon 
strated  by  their  gallant  conduct  that  they  can  be  relied  on 
in  any  emergency." 

During  the  succeeding  two  weeks,  all  the  regiments  were 
engaged  constructing  covered  ways,  making  counter  breast 
works,  digging  rifle-pits  and  zigzags,  removing  obstructions, 
and  mounting  artillery.  "  On  the  night  of  June  10,  four 
companies  of  the  Twelfth  were  ordered  to  be  thrown  for 
ward  as  skirmishers  to  form  part  of  a  continuous  line  around 
the  works,  with  the  design  of  compelling  the  enemy  to  dis 
close  the  position  of  his  artillery.  Orders  were  also  given 
by  the  brigade  commanders  to  scale  and  occupy  the  works 
if  possible.  Companies  A,  B,  F,  and  K,  were  sent  out,  and 
advanced,  at  the  signal  arranged,  through  a  deep  interven 
ing  ravine  obstructed  by  fallen  trees  and  underbrush.  They 
received  a  volley  from  the  enemy  as  they  came  up,  but 
pressed  on  to  the  base  of  the  parapet."6  The  orders  were 
not  carried  out  by  the  other  regiments,  and  these  four  com 
panies  drew  the  enemy's  concentrated  fire ;  and  seventeen 
out  of  thirty-four  of  Company  B  were  killed  and  wounded. 
Twenty  others  were  wounded,  including  Capts.  Granniss, 

6  Col.  Peck's  Official  Report. 


412  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Clarke,  and  Roach.  The  attempt  was  a  signal  failure  on 
every  side. 

The  whole  field  was  now  swept  with  almost  constant  fire. 
Crash  went  the  shell  from  multitudes  of  death-dealing  can 
non  ;  and  the  "  zip,  zip,"  of  Minie-balls,  sang  just  over  the 
heads  of  the  men.  Food  was  prepared  in  the  rear,  and 
brought  to  the  front  at  night  by  the  cooks.  So  difficult  was 
the  way,  that  one  of  the  cooks  of  the  Twenty-fifth  actually 
carried  hot  coffee  across  the  neutral  ground ;  but  he  offered 
none  of  the  beverage  to  the  self-denying  rebel  sentinel  who 
challenged  him. 

The  terrible  14th  of  June  will  be  long  remembered.  About 
twelve  o'clock,  midnight,  the  Twelfth  left  their  position.  It 
was  intensely  dark.  The  guides  who  were  sent  to  direct 
them  lost  their  way  ;  the  regiment  got  separated  by  flanks, 
but,  after  considerable  wandering,  came  together,  and  en 
tered  the  ditch  leading  up  to  the  parapet,  where  the  assault 
was  to  be  made  before  daylight.  The  Thirteenth  and  Twen 
ty-fourth  were  already  at  the  ditch ;  the  duty  assigned  the 
latter  being  to  swing  their  muskets  on  their  backs,  with  an 
additional  load  of  two  30-pound  gunny-bags  of  cotton  to 
each  man  with  which  to  bridge  the  moats,  and  to  advance 
with  the  charge.  The  Twenty-fifth  was  held  for  the  present 
in  reserve,  now  mirstering  only  ninety-five  for  duty.  The 
Twenty-sixth  was  in  line  of  battle,  ready  to  charge  the  rebel 
works  again  across  the  broken  field.  From  the  Twenty- 
eighth  a  hundred  men  were  detailed,  under  Capts.  Brown 
and  Iloag,  to  form  a  part  of  the  hand-grenade  constituent, 
consisting  of  three  hundred  men  in  all.  Ravines  of  the  most 
precipitous  and  difficult  character  covered  the  front  of  the 
enemy's  works,  and  were  both  naturally  and  artificially  ob 
structed  by  trees  and  brushwood ;  in  many  instances,  also, 
being  under  the  fire  of  rifle-pits,  or  the  guns  of  flanking 
angles  of  the  works. 

Across  this  ground  dashed  the  first  line  of  battle,  in  which 
was  a  brigade  led  by  Col.  Richard  E.  Holcomb  of  the  1st 
Louisiana.  The  rebels  madly  plied  the  advancing  regiments 
with  shot  and  shell ;  with  all  missiles  known  to  war,  and 
unknown,  —  "  explosive  bullets,  case-knives,  flat-irons,  spikes, 


CHARGE  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.        413 

hatchets,  ramrods,  pig-iron,  and  wooden  plugs  wound  with 
cotton." 7 

As  the  battle  was  raging  in  front,  and  dead  and  wounded 
were  brought  to  the  rear,  the  Connecticut  regiments  ad 
vanced  through  the  covered  way,  and  issued  into  the  open 
ground  near  the  works  of  the  enemy.  The  first  attacking 
party  had  recoiled  ;  and',  as  the  Thirteenth  leaped  from  the 
end  of  the  dry  ditch,  they  caught  a  glimpse  of  Col.  Holcomb, 
their  old  major,  and  gave  him  three  hearty  cheers.  He  was 
haranguing  his  brigade,  and  trying  to  rally  them ;  but  they 
responded  doubtfully;  and  he  turned  to  the  Thirteenth, 
commanded  by  a  captain,  and  offered  to  lead  it.  Another 
rousing  cheer  accepted  the  offer;  and  they  leaped  to  the 
front  simultaneously  with  other  regiments  from  this  and 
other  States.  The  Twelfth  was  deployed  as  skirmishers  to 
the  left.  The  men  of  the  Twenty-fourth  were  running  for 
ward  with  their  cotton-bags ;  and  the  hand-grenade  party 
was  also  pushing  for  the  rebel  works. 

This  broken  plain  was  now  mown  by  shot  and  shell  in  an 
increasing  tempest.  The  companies  that  advanced  over  its 
most  exposed  parts  were  shot  down  almost  bodily.  The 
brave  Holcomb  was  slain  with  a  musket-ball  in  his  head  at 
the  first  onset ;  Lieut.  Strickland  and  twenty  others  fell  close 
by  him.  Cautiously  now  the  line  pressed  forward,  the  men 
availing  themselves  of  the  irregularities  of  the  ground  for 
cover,  until  the  center  rested  upon  the  line  of  a  ridge  not 
more  than  fifty  yards  from  the  "Priest's  Cap,"  a  rebel  redoubt 
projected  beyond  the  parapet.  The  men  fell  on  all  sides; 
and  the  battle  raged  with  great  fury  and  clamor. 

In  a  moment,  portions  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
reached  a  concealed  ravine,  almost  under  the  breastwork, 
and  nearly  parallel.  The  inner  side  was  precipitous,  barring 
further  progress  ;  and  into  it  officers  and  men  poured  head 
long,  finding  cover  from  the  instant  death  that  hurtled  across 
the  field.  To  this  ravine,  within  thirty  yards  of  the  enemy's 
works,  many  ran  the  gantlet  of  fire,  until  five  hundred  to  a 
thousand  were  there  massed.  Gen.  Banks  sent  repeated 
peremptory  orders  for  the  senior  officer  to  take  the  works  at 

7   Sprague's  History  of  the  Thirteenth,  p.  142. 


414  CONNECTICUT   DITK1NG   THE   REBELLION. 

all  hazards.  The  officers  present  regarded  it  as  a  wicked 
slaughter  of  men ;  and  every  one  refused  to  lead.  Banks 
then  directed  the  formation  of  a  storming-column  of  two 
hundred ;  and  several  officers  and  men  of  the  Twelfth 
and  Thirteenth  immediately  volunteered,  with  many  others. 
The  order  was  soon  countermanded,  on  account  of  two  heavy 
lines  of  rebel  infantry  having  been  discovered  just  inside. 
The  men  were  without  food  or  drink,  and  suffered  fearfully, 
the  day  being  very  hot.  At  night  this  advanced  force  was 
withdrawn  from  its  perilous  position. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Twenty-fourth  still  maintained  an 
exposed  position  at  the  right.  In  the  murderous  fire,  which 
killed  and  wounded  a  thousand  men,  they  had  thrust  their 
cotton-bags  before  them,  and  rushed  on  to  the  crest  of  a  little 
hill,  within  fifty  yards  of  the  rebel  works,  where  they  con 
structed  a  temporary  breastwork  and  held  it. 

The  hundred  men  of  the  Twenty-eighth,  with  the  hand- 
grenades,  had  met  with  a  bloody  repulse,  and  had  fallen  back 
to  the  intrenchments  with  the  main  line. 

The  Twenty-sixth,  under  Lieut.-Col.  Selden,  in  Col.  Clark's 
brigade,  had  steadily  advanced  upon  the  extreme  left  in  col 
umn  by  divisions,  to  writhin  about  three  hundred  yards  of 
the  rebel  works,  under  a  raking  fire.  Here  their  advance 
was  checked  by  the  deep  ravine,  rendered  almost  impassable 
by  felled  trees  and  a  dense  growth  of  chaparral.  The  enemy 
had  also  planted  a  battery,  which  kept  up  a  destructive  fire. 
The  regiment  had  already  lost  heavily.  The  first  rebel 
shell  killed  and  wounded  sixteen  ;  another  took  six  from  the 
color-company  ;  but  the  men  advanced  steadily  to  the  ravine, 
where  they  were  showered  with  grape  and  shrapnel.  In  this 
ditch  the  Twenty-sixth  was  held  all  day,  under  a  broiling 
sun,  firing  at  the  rebel  gunners,  and  unable  to  retire  until 
darkness  covered  the  field. 

Of  all  the  regiments  that  advanced  across  the  plateau  in 
the  morning,  the  Twenty-fourth  Connecticut  was  the  only 
one  so  located  as  to  be  able  to  maintain  its  hold.  Now  re 
duced  to  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  fighting  men,  it 
defended  the  narrow  arc  of  cotton-bags  resolutely.  When 
darkness  fell,  the  cotton  was  strengthened  by  being  covered 


THE  TWENTY -FOURTH  BUILD  AN  OUTPOST.  415 

with  sand ;  so  that  the  morning's  sun  rose  on  an  ambitious 
little  earthwork,  which  its  gallant  garrison  christened  Fort 
Mansfield,  after  their  accomplished  colonel.  So  quietly  was 
it  done,  that  Gen.  Grover  thought  the  rebels  had  erected  a 
new  redoubt  during  the  night,  and  ordered  a  battery  to  shell 
it  out ;  but,  fortunately,  the  blue-jackets  were  recognized. 

Fort  Mansfield  was  so  near,  that  Capt.  Mabbett  of  Ham- 
den  threw  a  bullet  into  the  enemy's  works.  The  men  talked 
with  the  rebels  over  the  hostile  parapet.  "  Shoot  lower  if 
you  expect  to  hit  anybody,"  exclaims  one.  u  Come  over 
here,  and  we  will  give  you  some  ammunition,"  is  the  invita 
tion  of  another  to  a  rebel  rifleman  whose  cap  does  not  ignite 
the  powder. 

The  position  was  subjected  to  a  severe  cross-fire  ;  but  the 
handful  of  men  poured  in  a  shower  of  lead  whenever  a  rebel 
head  was  visible.  On  the  third  day  they  felt  sufficiently 
secure  to  unfurl  the  flag  of  Connecticut  from  their  cotton- 
bales  ;  greeting  it  with-  three  hearty  cheers  and  a  shotted 
salute  of  a  hundred 'guns  at  the  rebels,  who  returned  it  with 
a  yell  of  rage  and  a  shower  of  leaden  hail  at  the  defiant 
banner.  Chaplain  J.  C.  Wightman  of  the  regiment  wrote, 
under  date  of  June  17,  as  follows :  — 

"  This  morning,  from  the  outskirts  of  the  green  woods 
which  encircle  Port  Hudson,  within  whose  dense  foliage  the 
army  of  Gen.  Banks  is  completely  embowered,  the  flag  of 
the  Twenty-fourth  might  be  seen,  far  Out  in  the  field,  waving 
triumphantly  in  the  very  jaws  of  this  rebel  stronghold.  The 
Hash  of  musketry  blazed  along  the  rebel  parapet,  and 
sent  a  shower  of  bullets  upon  this  emblem  of  our  national 
Union  and  keepsake  of  the  ladies  of  Middletown.  The 
smoke  that  rose  from  time  to  time  beneath  it  showed  that 
those  who  carried  it  thither  had  not  abandoned  it,  but  were 
jeoparding  their  lives  for  its  defense.  At  first  the  area 
which  intervenes  between  this  pioneer  band  and  the  army 
might  be  mistaken  for  a  traversable  plain  ;  but  minute  ob 
servation  will  reveal  most  hideous  features.  Stumps,  fallen 
trees  lying  one  upon  another,  brambles,  roots,  and  gorges 
which  lie  concealed  like  a  stealthy  foe  till  you  reach  their 
brink,  make  this  outer  point  which  is  held  by  a  single  small 


416      .  CONNECTICUT  DURING-  THE   REBELLION. 

regiment  almost  inaccessible  to  their  friends,  and  seem  to 
place  it  entirely  within  the  power  of  their  enemies,  whose 
frowning  breastworks  rise  within  the  distance  of  a  stone's- 
throw,  and  overlook  the  little  dwarf  of  %a  fort  that  dared 
to  be  born  so  near." 

June  15,  Gen.  Banks  promulgated  his  famous  call  for  a 
storming  column  of  a  thousand  volunteers.  In  this  appeal 
he  said,  — 

"  We  are  at  all  points  upon  the  threshold  of  the  enemy's  fortifications  : 
one  more  advance,  and  they  are  ours  !  For  the  last  duty  that  victory  im 
poses,  the  commanding  general  summons  the  bold  men  of  the  corps  to  the 
organization  of  a  storming  column  of  a  thousand  men,  to  vindicate  the 
flag  of  the  Union  and  the  memory  of  its  defenders  who  have  fallen. 

u  Officers  who  lead  the  column  of  victory  in  this  last  assault  may  be 
assured  of  the  just  recognition  of  their  services  by  promotion  ;  and  everv 
officer  and  soldier  who  shares  its  perils  and  its  glory  shall  receive  a  medal 
fit  to  commemorate  the  first  grand  success  of  the  campaign  of  1863  for 
the  freedom  of  the  Mississippi.  His  name  will  be  placed  in  general  orders 
upon  the  roll  of  honor." 

In  this  forlorn  hope,  Connecticut  took  the  lead  of  all  the 
States.  Col.  Birge,  at  his  special  request,  was  assigned  to 
lead  the  column  ;  and  his  old  regiment,  the  Thirteenth,  fur 
nished  for  the  perilous  service  one -quarter  of  the  whole 
number.  Two  colored  regiments  also  furnished  two  hun 
dred.  The  following  is  our  roll  of  honor ;  the  Connecti 
cut  regiments  not  represented  being  on  duty  at  other 
points :  — 

STAFF    OF    COMMANDING    OFFICER    OF    COLUMN. 

Col.  Henry  W.  Birge  (Thirteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers)  commanding 
3d  Brigade,  Grover's  division. 

Capt.  Edward  C.  Weeks  (Acting  Master  United-States  Navy),  A.  A. 
D.  C.,  Birge's  staff. 

Capt.  Charles  L.  Norton  (Twenty-fifth  Connecticut  Volunteers),  A.  D.  C., 
Birge's  staff. 

Assistant  Surgeon  George  Clary  (Thirteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers), 
Birge's  staff. 

FIELD    AND    STAFF,    FIRST    BATTALION. 

George  A.  liar-mount  (Adjutant  Twelfth  Connecticut  Volunteers),  Ad 
jutant. 

Hospital  Steward  William  Bishop  (Thirteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers). 

THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT  CONNECTICUT  VOLUNTEERS. 

Company  A.  —  First  Lieut.  Charles  E.  Tibbetts.  Second  Lieut.  John 
C.  Kiuney.  Corporals  Francis  J.  Wolff,  Christopher  C.  Fagan,  Andrew 


EOLL  OF  HONOK.  417 

Black.  Privates  Michael  Cunningham,  Walter  Egan,  John  Fagan,  Fran 
cis  Gaffney,  James  Gilbert,  Edward  Lautz,  Joseph  S.  Mack,  John  Mar 
tin,  John  Maguire,  Henry  Morton,  John  O'Keefe,  Loren  D.  Penfield, 
John  Quigley,  Thomas  Reilly,  Charles  R.  Rowell,  John  Smith,  Edward 
Stone. 

Company  B.  —  Capt.  Apollos  Comstock.  Second  Lieut.  Louis  Beck- 
with.  Sergeants  George  E.  Faucher,  Alonzo  Wheeler,  George  H.  Pratt. 
Corporals  Roswell  Taylor,  Francis  E.  Weed,  Isaac  W.  Bishop.  Privates 
George  M.  Balling,  John  J.  Brown,  William  E.  Casey,  Balthazar  Emme- 
rick,  Peter  Gentien,  Dennis  Heggany,  William  W.  Jones,  John  Klein, 
Benjamin  L.  Mead,  James  Mohren,  Charles  Niphols,  Victor  Pinsard, 
George  Prindle,  Morant  J.  Robertson,  Sidney  B.  Ruggles,  Felix  Scheryer, 
Louis  Schmidt,  Frederick  L.  Sturgis. 

Company  C.  —  Capt.  Charles  D.  Blinn.  Second  Lieut.  Newton  W. 
Perkins.  Sergeants  Everett  S.  Dunbar,  Charles  H.  Gaylord,  John  N. 
Lyman,  John  Maddox.  Corporals  Lewis  Hart,  Homer  M.  Welch, 
Everett  E.  Dunbar.  Privates  Willis  Barnes,  Seymour  Buckley,  Chauncey 
Griffin,  Charles  Hotchkiss,  Charles  Mitchell,  John  Odell,  Frederick  W.  Pin 
dar,  Joseph  H.  Pratt,  George  Roraback,  Mortimer  H.  Scott,  Joseph  Tay 
lor,  Daniel  Thompson. 

Company  D.  —  Capt.  Charles  J.  Fuller.  First  Lieut.  Perry  Averill. 
Sergeants  John  J.  Squier,  Ezra  M.  Hull.  Corporals  William  Finimore, 
Andrew  Holford,  Edward  Altauo.  Privates  Thomas  B.  Andrus,  Antonio 
Astenhoffer,  Henry  F.  Bishop,  Charles  Bertz,  John  Cravey,  John  Dillon, 
John  Fee,  Thomas  Fitzpatrick,  Gotlieb  Folkling,  Henry  F.  Fox,  Joseph 

A.  Gardner,  Newton  Gaylor,  Casper  Heidrick,  Louis  Hettinger,  Julius 
Camp,  Jacob  Kuhlman,    Henry  Long,    George    Lesser,    Luke    McCabe, 
Frederick  Poush,   Henry  E.   Pulling,  Horace  B.  Stoddard,  William  H. 
Tucker,  Martin  W.  Tyler,  Louis  Walters,  Edward  J.  Welden. 

Company  E.  —  Second  Lieut.  Charles  II.  Beaton.  Sergeants  Nicho 
las  Schue,  Richard  Croley.  Corporals  Robert  C.  Barry,  Leonard  E. 
Dugal.  Privates  Jacob  Brown,  Adam  Geize,  Frederick  Harris,  George 
W.  Howland,  Michael  Murphy,  Charles  F.  Odekoven,  Fritz  Odekoveu, 
F.  F.  Pfeiffer,  Andy  Regan,  Frederick  Schuh,  Joseph  Vogel,  August 
Wilson. 

Company  F.  —  Sergeants  Eugene  S.  Nash,  John  T.  Reynolds.  Cor 
poral  James  Case.  Privates  James  Barry,  George  F.  Bogue,  David  H. 
Brown,  Henry  Clousent,  James  Cosgrove,  Byron  Crocker,  Henry  Finney, 
David  D.  Jacques,  Abel  Johnson,  Patrick  Leach,  Patrick  Martin,  Thomas 
R.  McCormick,  James  O'Neil,  Thomas  Powers,  Orrin  M.  Price,  Theodore 
Secelle. 

Company  G.  —  Capt.  Denison  H.  Finley.  Sergeants  Samuel  L. 
Cook,  Charles  B.  Hutchins,  John  W.  Bradley,  Francis  Huxford.  Corpo 
rals  Timothy  Allen,  Louis  Foetish,  Moses  Gay,  Edward  Bogue.  Privates 
Frank  Austin,  George  J.  Austin,  John  Brand,  John  Ceeressole,  William 

B.  Crawford,  Charles  Culver,  James  Gay,  Albert  Hopkins,  John  Hunt, 
Henry  A.  Hurlburt,  Asahel  Ingraham,  Jeremi  S.  Jordan,  Michael  Kear 
ney,  Joseph   Kemble,  Albert  Lehleitner,  William   M.    Mayuard,  Walter 
McGrath,  John    McKevan,  Daniel    Moore,   Moses    Newhouse,  Timothy 
O'Conucll,   William  H.   Reynolds,  Ellis  B.   Robinson,   Henry  Robinson, 
John  Ryan,  Antoine  Schlosser,  Martin  J.  Sharden,  Martin  Shurrer,  Charles 
Sidders,  Edward  Skinner,  John  Suarman,  Auson  F.  Super,  S.  W.  Tinker. 

Company  H.  —  Capt.  Homer  B.  Sprague.     Sergeant  William  H.  Hunt- 
ley.     Corporals  George  H.  Twitchell,  Thomas  Harrison.     Privates  Phik) 
63 


418  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Andrews,  Heraan  W.  Bailey,  Miram  Blackman,  John  Blake,  Dennis  Doyle, 
Francis  Patterson,  William  H.  Smith. 

Company  I.  —  First  Lieut.  Frank  "Wells.  Second  Lieut.  Louis  Mies- 
ner.  Sergeants  Abner  N.  Steny,  Samuel  Taylor,  Santer  Engelbert,  John 
Duress.  Corporals  Francis  W.  Preston,  Joseph  Franz,  Garrett  Herbert. 
Privates  William  Albretch,  Fritz  Bowman,  Ulrich  Burghardt,  Michael 
Burke,  James  Dillon,  Patrick  Hines,  Thomas  McGee,  Clifford  C.  New- 
bury,  Henry  Keltrath,  Edward  Smith,  Edward  O.  Thomas,  Henry  White- 
man. 

Company  K. — First  Lieut.  William  F.  Norman.  Second  Lieut. 
Charles  Daniels.  Sergeants  Miles  J.  Beecher,  George  A.  Winslow, 
Charles  E.  Humphrey.  Corporals  Herman  Sanders,  Herbert  C.  Baldwin, 
Robert  Hollinger,  John  Nugent.  Privates  John  Bennett,  Benjamin  E. 
Benson,  Frank  C.  Bristol,  George  Clancey,  William  J.  Cojer,  Thomas 
Duffy,  Samuel  Eaves,  Edward  Ellison,  John  Gall,  Thomas  Griffin,  Wil 
liam  Krieg,  Patrick  Mahoney,  Thomas  Morris,  Richard  O'Donnell, 
George  C.  Russell,  Bernard  Stanford,  John  Storer,  Bartley  Tiernan. 

FIRST  REGIMENT  LOUISIANA  (WHITE). 

Second  Lieut.  James  T.  Smith,  formerly  of  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut 
Volunteers. 

TWELFTH  CONNECTICUT  VOLUNTEERS. 

Company  A.  —  Private  Charles  J.  Constantine. 

Company  B.  —  Sergeant  John  Mullen.     Private  Charles  Duboise. 

Company  C.  —  Corporal  John  Moore.  Privates  George  T.  Dixon,  Wil- 
loughby  Hull,  William  Putnam,  Christopher  Spies,  John  P.  Woodward. 

Company  D.  —  Sergeant  Alexander  Cohn.  Corporals  George  Shaw, 
James  Robinson.  Privates  Lawrence  P.  Ferrell,  George  Kohler,  Reuben 
Miles,  Frederick  C.  Payne. 

Company  E.  — Private  Edward  Millerick. 

Company  F.  —  Private  James  H.  Scranton. 

Company  G.* —  Capt.  Lester  E.  Braley.  First  Lieut.  A.  Dwight 
McCall.  Sergeant  C.  E.  McGlafflin.  Corporal  John  T.  Gordon.  Pri 
vates  Oliver  C.  Andrews,  James  E.  Chase,  James  Dunn,  Patrick  Fitzpat- 
rick,  Patrick  Franney,  William  Jobin,  Joseph  W.  Weeks. 

Company  H.  —  Sergeants  John  W.  Phelps,  Solomon  E.  Whiting,  Jo 
seph  W.  Carter.  Privates  Edwin  Converse,  Hugh  Donnelly,  Warren 
Gammons,  Miles  P.  Higley,  William  Lenning,  Thomas  McCue,  Melvin 
S.  Nichols. 

Company  K.  —  Second  Lieut.  Stanton  Allyn.  Privates  Frank  Beau 
mont,  Daniel  B.  Loomis,  Albert  M.  Perkins. 

TWENTY-FIFTH    CONNECTICUT    VOLUNTEERS. 

Adjutant  Henry  0.  Ward. 

Sergeant  Major  Charles  F.  Ulrich. 

Company  B.  —  Private  Eli  Hull. 

Company  F.  —  First  Lieut.  Henry  H.  Goodell. 

Company  II.  —  Privates  Samuel  Slesinger,  John  Williams. 

These  were  the  men,  who,  knowing  the  desperate  situa 
tion,  deliberately  resolved  to  sacrifice  their  lives  for  their 


SURRENDER   OF  PORT  HUDSON.  419 

country.  Day  after  day  the  storming  column  was  ordered 
under  arms,  to  be  ready  for  an  instant  assault. 

The  Twenty-fourth  clung  to  its  redoubt  of  cotton  and 
sand.  They  were  kept  constantly  on  the  qui  vive,  and  the 
regiment  was  divided  into  three  reliefs  for  vigilant  watch. 
They  bore  this  severe  service  like  brave  men.  Here  they 
remained  for  twenty-five  days ;  and  fired,  on  an  average,  not 
less  than  four  thousand  rounds  of  cartridges  per  day.  Many 
of  them  were  killed  and  wounded ;  but  desertion  of  the  post 
was  not  thought  of.  "  From  this  little  earthwork,"  says 
Major  Maher  in  a  letter,  "  the  covered  approaches  to  the 
works  were  dug,  and  the  parallels  were  made  ;  also  the  zig 
zag  approach  right  into  the  enemy's  ditch.  Besides  these, 
we  had,  on  the  morning  of  July  8,  a  mine  forty-two  feet  long 
under  the  enemy's  works,  capable  of  containing  four  hun 
dred  pounds  of  powder ;  and  we  were  ready  to  blow  up  the 
fort  if  it  had  not  surrendered."  The  surrender  of  Port 
Hudson,  on  July  8,  relieved  the  regiment  from  its  perilous 
position. 

Indeed,  the  whole  investing  force  felt  relieved  of  a  terrible 
burden  of  labor  and  endurance.  All  the  Connecticut  regi 
ments  mentioned  had  been  almost  incessantly  engaged  in 
the  rifle-pits,  digging,  fighting,  waiting,  suffering  untold 
exposure  and  privation. 

But  none  experienced  a  greater  sense  of  relief  than  "  the 
forlorn  hope,"  most  of  whom  had  prepared  for  death,  and  sol 
emnly  directed  the  final  disposal  of  their  effects.  These 
men,  from  among  the  bravest,  were  given  the  post  of  honor ; 
and  "  the  storming  column  "  was  the  first  to  enter  the  captured 
stronghold,  led  by  Col.  Birge  to  the  music  of  a  Connecticut 
band,  and  under  the  folds  of  a  tattered  Connecticut  flag. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

After  the  Capture  of  Port  Hudson.  —  The  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty- 
fifth,  Twenty^sixth,  and  Twenty-eighth  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  Casualties. — Inci 
dents  of  the  Battle.  —  The  Twenty-third  in  Southern  Louisiana.  —  Guarding  the  Rail 
road.  —  At  Brashear  City.  —  Battle  and  Capture.  —  Casualties.  —  Imprisonment  in 
Texas.  —  Return  Home  of  the  Nine-months'  Regiments. 

ICKSBURG1  and  Port  Hudson  had  fallen;  and 
once  more  "the  Father  of  Waters  flowed  un- 
vexed  to  the  sea."  The  reduction  of  Port 
Hudson  involved  a  Union  loss  of  five  thousand 
killed  and  wounded,  among  whom  were  many 
from  Connecticut.  The  Twelfth  had  twenty-three  killed 
or  died  of  wounds,  and  eighty-four  wounded.  Col.  Frank 
H.  Peck  had  been  severely  wounded  twice,  and  Major 
George  N.  Lewis  was  shot  through  the  body.  Capts.  Sam 
uel  H.  Granniss,  S.  E.  Clark,  John  Brennan,  and  James  D. 
Roche,  and  Lieuts.  H.  J.  Fletcher  and  G.  W.  Stedrnan,  had 
been  wounded.  Of  the  Thirteenth,  four  were  killed  and 
eighteen  wounded.  Among  the  former  was  Lieut.  Joseph 
Strickland  of  New  London.  He  had  assisted  greatly  in  re 
cruiting  Company  I,  of  which  lie  became  first  lieutenant. 
Col.  Sprague  says  of  the  Port-Hudson  charge,  "  Of  the  many 
gallant  officers  that  then  fell,  there  was  none  more  fearless 
or  more  deeply  mourned." 

Bravely  leading  the  same  charge,  and  within  a  few  paces 
of  young  Strickland,  fell  Col.  Richard  E.  Holcomb  of  the  1st 
Louisiana  (white).  At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  Mr.  Hol- 

1  Major  Frederick  Hoadly,  who  was  killed  while  fighting  on  the  Confederate  side  at  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  was  a  young  man  belonging  to  an  old  and  respectable  Hartford  family. 
His  grandfather  for  many  years  held  the  position  of  high  sheriff  of  Hartford  County,  and 
one  of  his  brothers  has  been  for  a  long  time  the  State  Librarian  of  Connecticut.  Major 
Hoadly  went  to  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  ten  or  twelve  years  since,  and  was  there  admitted  to 
practice  at  the  bar  in  that  State. 
420 


CASUALTIES  IN  THE  TWENTY -FOURTH.  421 

comb,  a  farmer  of  forty  years  of  age,  enlisted  from  his  quiet 
home  in  Granby  in  the  Third  regiment,  three-months'  troops. 
After  serving  faithfully  as  quartermaster,  he  returned  to 
Granby,  but  could  not  be  detained  there  while  the  nation 
was  in  peril ;  and  he  raised  a  company,  and  was  commissioned 
to  be  major  of  the  Thirteenth.  In  Louisiana,  he  was  pro 
moted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  1st  Louisiana,  and  became  its 
life  and  soul.  His  splendid  courage,  manly  bearing,  experi 
ence  in  dealing  with  men,  superior  qualities  as  an  organizer 
and  a  disciplinarian,  and  his  zeal  in  the  work,  gave  him  a 
high  position  in  the  department.  His  official  successor, 
Lieut.-Col.  William  0.  Fiske,  issued  an  order  after  his  death, 
expressing  the  sorrow  of  the  command  at  the  loss  of  the 
true  friend,  the  gallant  gentleman,  the  brave  soldier,  the 
accomplished  officer,  the  pure  patriot,  and  peerless  leader. 

The  colors  of  the  Twenty-fourth  were  borne  throughout 
the  terrible  siege  by  Color-Sergeant  John  Bohan ;  and  thirty- 
seven  bullet-holes  attest  the  fierceness  of  the  storm  to  which 
the  little  band  was  exposed.  An  instance  of  courage  and 
humanity  is  mentioned  in  the  case  of  Corporal  William 
Clark  of  Middletown,  who,  at  night  and  alone,  went  up  to  the 
enemy's  works,  carrying  water  to  a  wounded  soldier  who 
had  lain  there  forty-eight  hours ;  and  then  came  back,  got 
assistance,  and  carried  him  off  the  field.  After  the  surrender, 
"the  Twenty-fourth  was  complimented -by  the  1st  Mississippi 
for  its  coolness  and  perseverance."  Nearly  fifty  of  the 
Twenty-fourth  had  died  of  disease  in  hospital,  among  them 
Lieuts.  Bela  C.  Post  of  Essex  and  Luzerne  G.  Goodyear  of 
Hamden.  The  regiment  had  lost  during  the  siege  sixteen 
killed  and  fifty  wounded.  Among  the  former  were  H.  ,A. 
Brainard  of  Iladdam,  Corporals  Lellick  Scott  and  Charles 
Rigbey  of  Middletown,  and  Edgar  D.  Ives  of  Hamden. 
Among  the  latter  were  Lieut.-Col.  John  D.  Allison,  Adjutant 
Clark  Strong,  Capt.  Isaac  C.  Gleason,  Capt.  Alonzo  L.  Mab- 
bett,  Lieut.  Jesse  B.  Gilbert,  and  Lieut.  F.  E.  Camp.  On 
July  11,  the  regiment  embarked  for  the  Plaquemine  dis 
trict  ;  the  rebels  having  again  overrun  the  whole  of  Louis 
iana  west  of  the  river,  capturing  Banks's  artillery  and  stores, 
and  a  large  amount  of  miscellaneous  property.  The  regi- 


422  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

ment  found  no  enemy,  and  enjoyed  two  weeks'  rest ;  the 
officers  sleeping  under  a  roof  for  the  first  time  in  eight 
months. 

The  Twenty-fourth  left  Middletown  Nov.  18,  1862,  with 
six  hundred  and  ninety-eight  officers  and  men.  The  regi 
ment  served  in  the  Gulf  Department  nearly  ten  and  a  half 
months,  and  was  mustered  out  Sept,  30,  1863,  numbering 
about  four  hundred  and  sixty. 

The  Twenty-fifth,  which  had  lost  a  hundred  at  Irish  Bend, 
and  which,  on  going  into  battle  at  Port  Hudson,  numbered 
little  more  than  two  hundred  men,  had  lost  of  these  seven 
killed  and  forty  wounded.  On  July  4,  there  were  seven 
officers  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  men  on  duty. 

Among  the  killed  were  Corporals  Ira  B.  Addis  of  Hartford 
and  Erskine  Wallace  of  Ellington  ;  among  the  wounded  were 
Lieut.  Alfred  W.  Converse,  Lieut.  D.  M.  Ensworth,  Lieut. 
George  Brennan,  and  Lieut.  W.  E.  Simonds. 

On  July  11,  the  Twenty-fifth  left  its  camp  outside  Port 
Hudson,  and,  inarching  through  the  works,  embarked  on  the 
Laurel  Hill  for  Donaldsonville.  So  reduced  had  the  army 
become,  that  this  steamboat  of  moderate  capacity  carried 
five  regiments,  among  which  were  the  Thirteenth,  Twenty- 
fourth,  and  Twenty-fifth  Connecticut. 

"The  Twenty-fifth  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  a  point 
About  half  a  mile  beyond  and  below  the  town,  and,  throwing 
out  proper  pickets,  &c.,  to  hold  the  position.  We  remained 
here,  with  our  left  on  the  Mississippi,  and  our  right  on  the 
woods,  until  the  following  afternoon.  During  that  time,  and 
about  two,  P.M.,  on  the  12th  instant,  the  enemy  endeavored, 
with  some  considerable  force  of  cavalry,  to  cut  off  our 
extreme  post  on  the  right,  which  was  established  in  an 
abandoned  sugar-mill,  and  under  command  of  Lieut.  I.  W. 
Beach  (of  Bristol).  It  became  necessary  to  abandon  the 
mill  for  a  short  time.  It  was  retaken  by  Lieut.  Beach,  how 
ever,  after  a  little  skirmishing,  and  without  loss  on  our  part, 
and  our  line  maintained." 2 

The  regiment  was  shortly  after  ordered  to  the  Bayou  La 
Fourche,  beyond  the  town,  where  Lieut-Col.  Mason  C.  Weld, 

2  Report  of  Adjutant  H.  C.  Ward. 


LOSSES  IN  THE  TWENTY-FIFTH  AND  TWENTY-SIXTH.       423 

who  had  commanded  the  Twenty-fifth  during  the  entire 
siege  of  Port  Hudson,  assumed  command  of  the  brigade  as 
senior  officer.  Col.  Birge  commanded  the  division.  On  the 
13th,  the  rebels  made  a  dash  on  our  lineg  on  both  sides  of 
the  bayou ;  and  Lieut.-Col.  Weld  led  the  skirmishers  from 
the  Twenty-fifth  to  the  front :  but  the  enemy  retired  without 
further  engagement.  On  the  16th,  Col.  Bissell,  having  re 
covered  from  his  long  and  tedious  illness,  rejoined  his  regi 
ment,  and  took  command  of  the  brigade. 

Among  those  who  died  of  disease  in  the  regiment  was 
Surgeon  Alden  B.  Skinner  of  Vernon.  He  was  a  faithful 
and  skillful  officer,  and  fell  a  victim  of  typhoid  fever.  Capt. 
Newton  P.  Johnson  of  East  Granby  also  died  during  the 
process  of  acclimation.  After  the  fall  of  Port  Hudson,  the 
excitement  which  had  repelled  disease  being  taken  away, 
many  in  every  regiment  were  prostrated  with  diarrhoea  and 
climatic  fevers.  Private  William  W.  House  of  Hartford 
died  in  hospital  just  after  the  capture.  He  was  a  brave  and 
excellent  young  man,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  the  class' of  '63. 

When  Paymaster  Northrop  was  in  New  Orleans,  he  asked 
Col.  Bissell  whether  there  was  any  swearing  in  his  regiment. 
"You  may  go  through  the  regiment,"  answered  Col.  Bissell, 
"  and  I'll  give  you  five  dollars  for  every  oath  you  hear  from 
it."  It  is  said  the  paymaster  hunted  diligently  after  his 
reward  with  good  hope,  but  searched  in  vain. 

None  of  the  nine-months'  regiments  won  a  better  reputa 
tion  for  pluck  and  endurance  than  the  Twenty-fifth  Connec 
ticut  ;  and  the  reports  of  Adjutant  II.  C.  Ward  to  the 
adjutant-general's  office  were  very  complete. 

The  Twenty-sixth  had  suffered  more  than  any  other  of 
our  regiments  at  Port  Hudson ;  having  lost  during  the 
siege  twenty-six  killed  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-one 
wounded, — leaving  after  the  last  action,  as  reported  by 
Lieut.-Col.  Selden,  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  officers 
and  men  fit  for  duty.  Most  of  the  losses  of  the  regiment 
were  incurred  on  the  ill-starred  May  27,  in  its  charge  with 
Dow's  brigade  through  a  storm  of  grape  and  canister  from 
.  the  rebel  batteries.  It  was  here  that  Capt.  John  L.  Stanton 
of  Norwich  lost  his  life.  He  was  a  gallant  and  earnest 


424  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

soldier,  and  was  in  advance  of  his  men,  swinging  his  sword, 
and  calling  on  them  to  follow,  when  he  was  pierced  with  a 
bullet,  and  died  instantly.  Orderly  Sergeant  Albert  Smith 
of  Salem  was  lingering  behind  in  the  retreat ;  and,  as  he 
turned  to  fire,  he  received  a  mortal  wound.  On  being 
carried  to  the  rear,  he  shook  hands  with  Capt.  Gallup,  and 
said,  "  Good-by  !  Tell  my  friends  I  hope  to  meet  them  in 
heaven."  Capt.  Jedediah  Randall  of  Groton  fell  mortally 
wounded,  and  lay  where  the  deadly  missiles  flew  thick. 
Lieut.-Col.  Selden  tried  to  help  him;  but  he  said,  "Never 
mind  me,  colonel ;  I'm  all  right :  go  and  take  care  of  the 
boys."  Capt.  Jesse  C.  Maynard  of  Salem  was  wounded  by  a 
ball  which  passed  through  his  breast,  maiming  him  for  life. 
Capt.  Lorenzo  A.  Gallup  of  Norwich  was  indebted  for  de 
fense  to  a  rifle  directly  m  front  of  him.  A  bullet  struck  it 
with  such  force  as  to  pierce  the  band.  Eleazer  Jewett  of 
Norwich  was  saved  by  his  belt>clasp,  the  ball  spending  its 
force  after  passing  entirely  through  it.  Benjamin  C.  Doug 
lass  of  Voluntown  got  a  blow  in  the  groin,  that  he  supposed 
was  caused  by  a  piece  of  shell,  but  on  examination  found  a 
bullet  safely  lodged  in  his  tobacco-box.  Almost  every  regi 
ment  chronicled  similar  narrow  escapes  many  times  during 
the  war.  Private  Babcock  of  Stonington  was  shot  through 
the  body,  and  the  surgeons  asserted  positively  that  he  must 
die.  The  prospect  was  doubtless  rendered  less  bitter  to  him 
by  the  reflection  that  he  had  used  the  large  bounty  he  had 
received  to  pay  off  the  remainder  of  the  debt  upon  his 
mother's  house.  He  recovered  and  returned  home.  Here 
died  Cyrus  M.  Geer  of  Lyme,  Thaddeus  M.  Weenies  of 
Stonington,  and  other  heroic  spirits. 

In  the  second  assault,  fell  Lieut.  Hervey  F.  Jacobs  of  Nor 
wich,  a  native  of  Thompson.  He  had  taken  a  part  of  a 
course  at  Brown. University  when  he  enlisted.  Capt.  Lorenzo 
A.  Gallup  wrote  to  the  sister  of  his  dead  comrade  after  the 
battle,  — 

"Your  brother  has  fallen  with  a  reputation  that  any  soldier  might 
euvy.  All  who  saw  him  on  that  fatal  day  testify  to  his  coolness  and 
bravery.  I  can  speak  from  personal  observation.  When  that  dreadful 
shell  came  which  killed  aud  disabled  twenty  men,  including  himself,  he  was 
cheering  aud  encouraging  his  men,  and  pressing  forward  with  the  assur- 


THE  DEAD   OF  THE  TWENTY-SIXTH.  425 

ance  of  success.  He  was  on  my  right,  as  he  had  been  detailed  to  com 
mand  Company  A.  After  he  was  wounded,  the  noble  spirit  that  animated 
him  was  manifested  by  his  refusing  to  be  taken  to  the  rear  until  all  the 
wounded  about  him  had  been  removed." 

The  knightly  spirit  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  found  its  parallel 
a  thousand  times  upon  the  battle-fields  of  the  Rebellion. 
Young  Jacobs 3  died  at  the  Baton-Rouge  hospital  on  July  5. 
His  last  message  to  his  friends  was  that  of  a  true  soldier : 
(i  I  die  at  the  post  of  duty."  In  the  same  hospital,  next  day, 
died  his  brother  Joseph  of  the  50th  Massachusetts. 

Lieut.  Jacobs  was  succeeded  by  Lieut.  Edward  P.  Man 
ning,  promoted  from  the  ranks.  The  latter  died  at  home,  of 
disease,  three  days  after  receiving  his  commission,  and  on  the 
day  the  regiment  was  mustered  out  of  service.  He  had 
been  constantly  on  duty,  serving  at  different  times  as 
quartermaster,  commissary,  adjutant,  and  chaplain  of  the 
regiment,  and  commander  of  a  company.  He  had  won  the 
love  of  all,  and  exerted  a  most  favorable  influence  upon 
the  men  of  his  company.  On  the  field,  as  at  home,  he  was 
a  zealous  Christian,  and  was  widely  mourned. 

Lieut.  Martin  R.  Kenyon  was  sent  home  to  Preston,  where 
he  died,  Aug.  5,  of  wounds  received  at  Port  Hudson.  His 
brother  Masons  — 

Resolved,  That  we  cherish  the  memory  of  our  deceased  brother  as  that 
of  one  whose  zeal  for  the  institution  of  Masonry,  whose  Avisdom  in  its 
mysteries,  and  whose  bright  example  in  all  the  virtues  that  adorn  the 
Mason  and  the  citizen,  have  been  profitable  to  our  fraternity,  and  a  per 
petual  pleasure  to  us  as  individuals. 

Another  of  the  dead  of  the  Twenty-sixth  who  was  widely 
known  and  deeply  mourned  was  Sergeant  Edwin  R.  Keyes 
of  Pomfret,  a  native  of  Ashford.  He  was  a  promising 
graduate  of  the  State  Normal  School,  and  an  eminently  suc 
cessful  teacher.  He  was  a  faithful,  earnest,  patriotic  man. 
Rev.  Walter  S.  Alexander,  in  a  sermon,  said  of  him,  "  The 
sacrifice  he  welcomed,  in  leaving  a  family  to  which  he  was 
devotedly  attached  to  engage  in  our  common  defense,  wins 

3  Rev.  Samuel  Graves  of  'Norwich,  who  was  the  pastor  of  young  Jacobs,  in  a  memorial 
discourse  preached  Nov.  1,  1863,  says,  "Lieut.  Jacobs  was  born  Aug.  3,  1838,  and  was 
a  young  man  of  great  promise  ;  frank,  courteous,  and  high-minded  in  his  bearing ;  endowed 
with  the  happy  gift  of  winning  friends  wherever  he  went,  and  of  attaching  them  ardently 
to  himself." 

64 


426  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

our  admiration.  The  Christian  character  he  maintained  till 
the  last,  against  the  pressure  of  iniquity,  secures  our  grate 
ful  love.  The  death-scene  so  far  away,  unhallowed  by  the 
presence  of  wife  and  babes,  calls  not  in  vain  for  our  warmest 
sympathy  for  the  bereaved." 

Dr.  Ashbel  Woodward  of  Franklin  was  surgeon  of  the 
Twenty-sixth;  and  in  this  capacity,  and  as  a  member  of 
the  examining  board,  he  was  in  service  during  almost  the 
entire  period  of  the  war. 

Col.  Kingsley,  who,  since  being  wounded  in  the  fight  of 
May  27,  had  been  in  hospital  at  Baton  Rouge,  leaving 'Lieut- 
Col.  Selden  to  lead  the  regiment,  now  returned,  and  was 
placed  in  command  of  a  brigade. 

The  Twenty-eighth  had  suffered  severely  in  the  assault  of 
June  14,  in  which  a  hundred  men,  detailed  as  grenadiers, 
were  led  by  two  captains  and  four  lieutenants.  Chaplain  R. 
Wheatley  says  of  the  casualties,  — 

"Lieut.  Charles  Durand  of  Stamford  was  shot  soon  after 
the  order  to  charge  was  given.  Capt.  David  D.  Hoag  of 
New  Milford  yielded  up  his  godly  and  gallant  spirit  in  the 
ditch,  under  the  enemy's  breastworks.  Lieut.  William 
Mitchell  of  Norwalk  was  wounded  in  four  places ;  and  Lieut. 
Jonathan  C.Taylor  of  Westport,  with  his  hand  badly  shattered, 
and  back  torn  by  a  large  missile,  was  taken  prisoner.  Capt. 
Charles  II.  Brown  and  Lieut.  Henry  Avres  escaped  without 
a  wound ;  Corporal  James  Vail  and  Jason  Wardell  of  Stam 
ford,  two  deservedly  esteemed  members  of  Company  A,  were 
also  shot  dead;  and  Sergeant  George  A.  Waterbury  of  Com 
pany  B  taken  prisoner,  with  several  men  of  other  companies  : 
nor  were  these  alone  sacrificed.  A  sou  of  Lieut.  Riley  and 
an  old  companion  of  Fremont  in  his  Rocky-Mountain  explo 
rations  was  among  the  victims." 

Surgeon  Ransom  P.  Lyon  of  Bethel,  who  was  always  at 
his  post,  died  of  disease  resulting  from  exposure  and  over 
work,  and  was  buried  at  Port  Hudson,  Au<»\  6. 

'  O 

In  the  charge  of  the  grenadiers,  fell  Private  Mark  H. 
Wheeler,  a  noble  soldier  from  Winsted.  lie  enlisted  from 
high  motives  o±  principle,  and  shrank  from  no  dangers.  On 
the  day  before  the  bloody  assault,  he  wrote  to  his  wife,  "  We 


THE  TWENTY -THIRD  LEAVE  CAMP  PAEAPET.  427 

must  have  this  place  at  any  cost ;  and,  if  I  fall  in  this  affair, 
my  last  thoughts  shall  be  of  you  ;  and,  if  possible,  I  will  re 
quest  some  friend  to  forward  you  this  letter  with  my  diary: 
but  I  hope  to  add  more  cheering  intelligence.  God  shield 
me,  and  help  me  to  do  my  duty ! "  He  did  his  duty,  and,  in 
the  fury  of  the  onset,  passed  from  the  sight  of  his  comrades. 
The  third  day  afterwards,  a  rebel  officer  came  across  the 
lines,  under  flag  of  truce,  and  brought  the  letter.  It  was  in 
his  diary,  and  a  bullet  passed  through  both  to  his  heart.  The 
officer  said  that  Wheeler  crossed  the  ditch,  and  scaled  their 
breastworks,  and  "  was  shot  on  the  top  of  the  parapet." 

The  nine-months'  men  had  discharged  their  duty  nobly. 
Gen.  Neal  Dow  of  Maine  wrote  to  Col.  Kingsley  of  the 
Twenty-sixth,  a  few  months  after  this  experience,  — 

"  I  have  reason  to  remember  your  regiment  well ;  for  none  better  was 
ever  under  my  command,  either  at  Port  Hudson  or  elsewhere,  and  none 
behaved  better  on  that  terrible  day  (May  27).  I  wondered  to  see  the  men 
so  steady  and  firm,  their  first  time  under  fire.  The  regular  officers  often 
sneered  at  the  nine-mouths'  men,  and  said  they  would  run  away  at  the  first 
shot.  But  never  were  braver  men,  though  the  situation  was  the  most  try 
ing  that  even  veterans  can  be  exposed  to, —  compelled  to  stand  a  destructive 
fire  without  the  power  to  return  it  with  any  effect.  They  were  exposed  on 
a  wide,  open  plain,  to  a  storm  of  grape,  canister,  and  rifle-balls,  from  an 
enemy  securely  sheltered  behind  formidable  field-works.  All  our  brave 
men  could  do  was  to  die  ;  and  that  they  submitted  to  most  heroically. 
There  was  not  for  a  moment  any  panic  or  hesitation.  Green  troops  will 
often  manifest  the  steadiness  of  veterans  in  battle  where  they  have  a  chance 
to  '  give  as  good  as  they  get ; '  but  at  Port  Hudson  they  had  no  such 
support,  and  yet  were  as  steady  as  old  campaigners.  Among  them  all  was 
no  regiment  better  or  more  reliable  than  the  Twenty-sixth  Connecticut." 

To  return  to  the  Twenty-third :  it  had  an  unfortunate 
experience  from  the  day  of  its  organization.  Tn  the  voyage 
to  New  Orleans,  the  regiment  was  divided  on  two  or  three 
transports ;  and  the  last  detachment,  under  Major  D.  H.  Mil 
ler,  did  not  arrive  until  the  middle  of  January,  after  being 
stranded  on  the  Bahama  Islands.  The  companies  were  never 
together  long  enough  at  a  time  to  acquire  any  proper  pride 
of  organization. 

On  Jan.  11,  1863,  all  the  regiment  that  was  present  left 
Camp  Parapet  under  command  of  Col.  Charles  E.  L.  Holmes, 
by  boat  for  Algiers,  opposite  New  Orleans.  Here  they  took 
the  cars  of  the  Opelousas  Railroad  to  Berwick  Bay.  They 


428  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

were  expected  to  join  Weitzel  in  the  attack  upon  the  rebel 
gunboat  Cotton ;  but,  in  consequence  of  not  having  been 
together  since  leaving  Camp  Buckingham,  the  regiment  was 
ordered  to  remain  and  do  guard-duty  at  Brashear. 

On  Feb.  9,  they  were  ordered  to  strike  tents,  and  march  to 
the  railroad.  They  were  now  thoroughly  distributed  as  a 
guard  the  whole  length  of  the  Opelousas  Railroad,  from  Ber 
wick  Bay  to  Jefferson  (nearly  opposite  New  Orleans).  Head 
quarters  were  established  at  La  Fourche,  about  midway. 
Company  D  (Huntington  and  Trumbull),  under  Lieut.  Ste 
phen  M.  Nichols,  was  stationed  at  Jefferson ;  Company  G 
(Bethel  and  Danbury),  Capt.  George  S.  Crofut,  at  St.  Charles ; 
Company  F  (of  Derby),  Capt.  David  T.  Johnson,  at  Boutte 
Station;  Company  C  (Newtown  and  Sharon),  Capt.  Julius 
Sanford,  at  Bayou  des  Allemands  ;  Company  H  (Naugatuck 
and  Waterbury),  Capt.  A.  D.  Hopkins,  at  Raceland  ;  Company 
B  (Danbury),  Capt.  James  H.  Jenkins,  at  La  Fourche ;  Com 
pany  I  (Fairfield  and  Bridgeport),  Capt.  William  H.  May,  at 
Terrebonne ;  Company  K  (Danbury  and  New  Fairfield), 
Capt.  S.  G.  Bailey,  at  Tigerville  ;  Company  A  (Waterbury 
and  Watertown),  Capt.  Alfred  Wills,  at  Bayou  Boeuf ;  Com 
pany  E  (Wilton,  Weston,  and  Redding),  Capt.  Lewis  Nor 
throp,  at  Bayou  Romans.  About  March  1,  Companies  E  and 
I  were  ordered  to  headquarters,  and  Company  A  to  re-inforce 
Capt.  Sanford  at  Bayou  des  Allemands.  By  the  first  of  April, 
Company  B  was  also  transferred  to  Napoleon ville,  south  of 
Donaldsonville ;  and  Company  A  to  Labadieville,  still  farther 
south.  Thus  the  regiment  remained  for  two  months,  con 
stantly  occupied  with  guard  and  picket  duty,  with  little  time 
for  drill  or  discipline. 

Now  the  main  body  of  Banks's  army  was  investing  Port 
Hudson ;  and  Dick  Taylor  resolved  to  sweep  Western  Loui 
siana  during  their  absence.  The  small  Union  force  was  con 
centrated  to  meet  him.  Col.  Holmes  was  placed  in  com 
mand  of  the  post  at  Brashear  City ;  and  Capt.  Sanford  was 
ordered  to  take  command  at  Bayou  Boeuf,  where  Company 
A  immediately  reported.  Companies  B  and  E  were  sent 
to  La  Fourche ;  and  the  other  companies  were  recalled  to 
Brashear  City,  where  the  principal  resistance  was  to  be  made. 


THE  ENEMY   ATTACK  LA  FOURCHE.  429 

Col.  Holmes  was  soon  prostrated  with  sickness,  and  was  not 
again  able  to  command  the  regiment. 

Brashear  City  is  situated  on  an  island  formed  by  Lake 
Chestimache,  Bayou  Boeuf,  and  the  Atchafalaya,  and  was 
the  key  to  Western  Louisiana.  It  had  been  Banks's  base  of 
supplies,  and  valuable  stores  still  remained  there. 

On  June  1,  the  rebels  attacked  the  hospital  on  the  Ber 
wick  side  with  a  small  force.  Company  K,  under  Lieut.  Ed 
ward  Nearing,  instantly  embarked  on  the  steamer,  followed 
by  Companies  G-  (Capt.  Crofut),  I  (Capt.  May),  and  C  (Capt. 
Jenkins).  Capt.  Crofut  was  placed  in  command.  The  de 
tachment  advanced  rapidly,  and  drove  off  the  rebels  on  the 
double-quick ;  afterwards  covering  the  working  parties  in 
removing  the  sick  and  the  public  property.  A  Col.  Stickney 
now  assumed  command  of  the  post,  on  account  of  the  con 
tinued  illness  of  Lieut.-Col.Worden.  Under  the  severe  dis 
cipline  of  Col.  Stickney,  the  regiment  knew  no  rest.  They 
were  kept  moving  every  day,  and  lay  upon  their  arms 
almost  every  night ;  and  the  result  was,  that,  in  ten  days,  half 
the  whole  number  were  on  the  sick-list. 

About  the  middle  of  June,  Col.  Stickney,  being  informed 
that  the  rebels  were  coming  down  the  Bayou  La  Fourche 
from  the  Plaquemine  district,  took  all  the  men  that  could  be 
spared  from  Brashear  City,  and  moved  to  La-Fourche  Cross 
ing,  where  Capt.  James  H.  Jenkins  was  in  command.  Another 
detachment  started  on  the  19th;  but,  after  proceeding  as  far 
as  Tigerville,  the  train  was  forced  to  return  to  Bayou  Boeuf. 

The  rebels  attacked  La  Fourche  on  June  21,  and  were 
repulsed  three  times ;  the  last  time  retiring,  and  leaving  our 
troops  in  possession.  Three  companies  of  the  Twenty-third 
were  in  the  first  line  of  battle,  and  showed  commendable 
courage. 

Capt.  James  H.  Jenkins  wrote  from  La  Fourche,  "  About 
five,  P.M.,  on  the  21st,  our  pickets  began  firing.  The  enemy 
advanced,  and  soon  attacked  us  with  artillery  and  infantry. 
The  day  being  damp,  the  smoke  lay  near  the  ground,  ob 
structing  the  view ;  so  we  reserved  our  fire.  In  a  few  min 
utes,  the  rebels  charged  on  us  with  a  hideous  yell.  We. 
waited  until  they  came  within  a  few  rods,  when  our  first 


430  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

i 

volley  told  with  ruinous  effect.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued. 
The  graybacks  actually  seized  our  guns,  but  were  driven  off 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  In  twenty  minutes,  they  were 
repulsed  at  all  points,  and  fled,  leaving  the  bodies  of  their 
dead  comrades  lying  in  winrows,  marking  where  their  line 
had  been.  Our  numerical  weakness  prevented  a  pursuit, 
so  we  lay  on  our  arms  till  morning.  The  rebels  sent  in  a 
flag  of  truce,  and  we  delivered  to  them  one  hundred  and 
eight  dead  bodies.  We  had  captured  forty  prisoners.  Our 
own  loss  was  eight  killed  and  sixteen  wounded.  The  dis 
parity,  doubtless,  resulted  from  our  fighting  behind  breast 
works."  The  next  day  Col.  Stickney  fell  back  on  New  Or 
leans,  uncovering  Brashear  and  Bayou  Boeuf. 

The  rebels,  coming  up  in  strong  column,  now  turned  down 
the  railroad  on  Brashear.  This  was  held  by  a  small  force, 
under  Major  R.  C.  Anthony  of  Rhode  Island.  Major  Anthony 
immediately  disposed  his  forces  for  defense.  Companies  A,  C, 
and  H,  of  the  Twenty-third,  were  posted  on  the  Brashear  side 
of  Bayou  Boeuf.  Lieut.  Oscar  H.  Hibbard  of  Bethel,  acting 
post  adjutant,  made  a  careful  list  of  men,  who,  in  case  of  at 
tack,  would  be  able  to  stand  up,  and  load  and  fire  a  rifle ;  and 
reported  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  situation  was  gloomy. 
The  rebels  were  approaching,  both  in  front  and  rear. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  22d,  the  enemy  commenced  shelling 
from  the  Berwick  side  of  the  bay.  Capt.  Noblett  responded 
from  his  battery  in  front  of  the  town.  Capt.  Crofut,  now  in 
command  of  the  detachment  of  the  Twenty-third,  was  or 
dered  to  take  all  the  men  he  could  get,  and  post  them  along 
the  edge  of  the  water,  under  cover,  and  open  fire  across  the 
narrow  bay.  While  carrying  out  this  plan  of  operations, 
about  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  23d,  they  were 
startled  by  unearthly  yells  in  the  rear.  It  soon  appeared 
that  a  battalion  of  Texans  had  crossed  to  the  Brashear  side 
during  the  night,  landing  in  a  dense  swamp ;  and  had  cau 
tiously  worked  their  way  through  our  lines,  and  were  almost 
in  our  camp  before  being  discovered.  The  surprise  was  com 
plete.  They  rushed  upon  our  line,  and  captured  men  before 
they  had  time  to  fire  a  gun.  Capt.  James  R.  Jenkins  and 
Capt.  Crofut  rallied  a  crowd  of  forty,  and  opened  fire  upon 


A  PORTION   OF  THE   TWENTY -THIRD   CAPTURED.  431 

v 

the  advancing  foe  ;  but  they  were  immediately  surrounded, 
and  compelled  to  surrender  after  a  feeble  resistance. 

In  half  an  hour,  Brashear  was  swarming  with  rebels,  who 
had  captured  the  immense  amount  of  United-States  stores 
there  gathered.  Among  those  burned,  to  keep  them  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  enemy,  were  the  valuable  baggage  and  pri 
vate  property  of  the  Connecticut  regiments  before  Port  Hud 
son.  The  officers  of  the  Twenty-third  captured  here  were 
Capts.  Julius  Sanford,  Samuel  G.  Bailey,  Alfred  Wells,  Wil 
liam  H.  May,  James  R  Jenkins,  and  A.  D.  Hopkins ;  Lieuts. 
John  A.  Woodward,  John  F.  Peck,  0.  H.  Hibbard,  John  G. 
Stevens,  Charles  Bailey,  John  W.  Buckingham,  and  Charles 
D.  Hurlburt. 

The  prisoners  were  marched  to  the  fort  at  Brashear  City ; 
and  during  the  two  or  three  days  following  the  enlisted 
men  were  parolled,  and  returned  to  New  Orleans.  The 
officers  were  moved  across  the  river,  and  in  two  days  more 
started  on  their  tedious  march,  two  hundred  miles  across  the 
State,  to  Alexandria,  on  the  Red  River.  Here  they  took  a 
boat,  and  steamed  up  the  river  three  hundred  miles  to 
Shreveport ;  and  thence  another  trying  march,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  miles  west,  to  Tyler,  Tex.  Here  a  stock 
ade  fifteen  feet  high  was  built  about  the  prisoners;  and 
through  the  hot  summer  months  they  waited  the  tardy  ex 
change.  The  location  was  healthful,  and  sulphur-water  was 
given  them  to  drink.  As  in  every  prison  where  Union  offi 
cers  were  confined,  there  were  many  diversions  to  while  away 
the  tedious  hours,  —  debates,  music,  chess,  cards,  and,  lastly, 
a  newspaper.  This  last,  the  Old  Flag,  was  a  remarka 
ble  production  ;  and  some  officers  from  all  the  regiments  rep 
resented  were  its  contributors.  Its  editors  were  Col.  A.  J. 
H.  Duganne  of  New  York,  and  Capt.  William  H.  May  of 
Bridgeport  of  the  Twenty-third ;  the  latter  being  also  pub 
lisher  and  printer.  There  was  one  copy  of  each  number, 
and  this  was  circulated  throughout  the  prison.  Four  num 
bers  were  issued,  in  folio  form,  beautifully  and  uniquely 
printed  with  a  pen  by  Capt.  May.  It  was  scarcely  larger 
than  a  sheet  of  ordinary  letter-paper,  and  the  writing  was  not 
larger  than  newspaper-print.  Capt.  May  succeeded  in  bring- 


432  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

ing  the  Old  Flag  safely  off;  and  it  has  since  been  multi 
plied  in  lithograph,  —  one  of  the  most  interesting  relics  of 
the  war. 

During  this  eventful  period,  the  Twenty-third  had  lost  its 
faithful  chaplain,  Rev.  James  Averill.  Mr.  Averill  was  a 
native  of  Guilford,  and  was  educated  at  Amherst,  after 
wards  preparing  for  the  ministry  at  the  Yale  Theological 
School.  He  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Shrewsbury,  Mass., 
for  eight  years,  and  of  the  church  at  Plymouth  Hollow, 
Conn.,  for  ten  years,  ending  with  1862.  The  voyage  to 
Louisiana  was  very  trying  to  his  health  and  strength ;  and 
the  malarious  climate  to  which  he  was  exposed  aggravated 
his  tendencies  to  disease.  He  refused  to  leave  his  post ;  and 
on  the  28th  of  May  he  was  suddenly  attacked  with  fainting, 
followed  by  fever.  The  end  rapidly  drew  on.  The  disease 
soon  accomplished  its  appointed  work ;  and  he  sank  quietly 
to  rest,  at  four  o'clock,  P.M.,  June  11,  1863. 

Among  the  dead  of  the  Twenty-third  was  Lieut.  Frederick 
Starr  of  Danbury.  He  was  wounded  in  the  battle  at  La- 
Fourche  Crossing ;  a  ball  shattering  his  thigh  near  the  hip. 
The  leg  was  amputated ;  but  he  died  two  days  afterwards, 
and  was  buried  in  rear  of  the  hospital.  Surgeon  W.  H. 
Trowbridge,  always  faithful  and  prompt  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty,  wrote,  "  The  record  of  the  death  of  this  truly  ex 
cellent  man  is  one  of  the  most  painful  duties  of  my  service 
here.  Beloved  by  us  all,  brave,  and  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
his  country,  he  fell  in  the  discharge  of  his  extreme  duty  ; 
died  like  a  Christian  soldier ;  and  our  saddest  recollections 
are  blended  with  this  comfort,  —  living  or  dying,  he  was  the 
Lord's."  Lieut.  Starr  was  profoundly  mourned  by  his  fellow- 
citizens  of  Danbury.  Private  Abel  M.  Wheeler  of  Danbury 
was  mortally  wounded  in  the  same  battle,  and  died  on  the 
same  day.  He  went  to  the  war  solely  under  the  impulse  of 
duty,  and  gave  his  life  to  his  country  without  repining.  He 
will  long  be  remembered  for  his  patriotism  and  fervent  piety. 
0.  E.  Trowbridge  and  Charles  Hart  also  fell  at  the  same  time. 

Capt.  George  M.  Godfrey  of  Wilton  died  April  23.  Ser 
geant  F.  L.  Curtis  of  Bridgeport  was  wounded  at  Brashear, 
and  died  on  July  7.  He  was  a  talented  and  educated  young 


THE  TWENTY-SECOND  LEAVES  FOE  HOME.  433 

man,  with  a  lofty  sense  of  honor  and  a  resolute  purpose.  He 
won  the  high  regard  of  his  superior  officers,  and  was  always 
a  favorite  with  his  comrades. 

Lieut.  William  H.  Bradley  contracted  the  typhoid  fever 
in  the  exposure  and  excitement  of  the  service,  and  came 
home  to  his  father's  house  in  Derby  to  die.  He  was  a  true 
soldier,  and  was  promoted  from  the  ranks  for  merit. 

Nelson  J.  Peck  of  the  Twenty-third  was  drowned  at  Bayou 
Boeuf,  July  5.  He  was  a  son  of  Jabez  B.  Peck  of  Newtown, 
and  left  a  fine  social  and  mercantile  position  to  enlist.  In  a 
letter  home,  he  said,  "  Let  them  come  on.  I  came  here  to 
fight,  and  if  need  be  to  die,  to  wrest  from  traitors'  hands  the 
dear  old  flag.  When  I  forget  my  country,  may  God  forget 
me  1 "  His  eldest  brother  was  Lieut.  A.  W.  Peck  of  the 
Seventeenth. 

One  of  the  most  faithful  soldiers  of  the  Twenty-third  was 
Dr.  Joseph  Willimann  of  Danbury.  He  was  educated  as  a 
plrysician  in  the  best  schools  of  Germany,  and  officiated  as  a 
surgeon  during  the  greater  part  of  his  term  of  service ;  re 
ceiving  therefor  only  the  pay  of  an  enlisted  man.  He  was 
constantly  promised  the  rank  of  an  assistant  surgeon ;  but 
there  was  no  opening  for  his  promotion.  His  valuable  kit 
of  surgeon's  implements  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels  at 
Brashear  City ;  and  the  poor  man  died  a  few  weeks  after 
wards,  broken  down  in  the  service  of  his  adopted  country, 
and  leaving  his  family  only  the  scanty  pension  of  a  private 
soldier. 

The  fraction  of  the  regiment  not  captured  retired  towards 
New  Orleans,  and  continued  through  the  summer  doing 
guard-duty  in  the  "  Lowlands  of  Louisiana." 


On  June  26,  its  time  having  expired,  the  Twenty-second 
left  Yorktown,  Va.,  for  home.  At  Philadelphia  it  met  with  a 
very  refreshing  entertainment,  and  at  Jersey  City  it  was 
properly  fed  and  cared  for  by  Col.  Almy.  Arriving  at  Hart 
ford,4  the  men  were  boisterously  welcomed  and  greeted  by 

4  When  they  arrived  home,  the  soldiers  of  the  Twenty-second  found  they  had  an  un 
expended  regimental  fund  amounting  to  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  dollars ;  and  instead 
of  dividing  it,  or  expending  it  for  a  dinner,  they  voted  it  to  the  Hartford  Soldiers'-Aid 
Society. 

55 


434  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

friends  and  kindred,  as  they  were  escorted  through  the 
streets.  On  State  Street,  the  soldiers  partook  of  refresh 
ments  provided  by  Marshall  P.  Jewell  &  Son,  before  finally 
breaking  ranks  for  their  homes. 

The  Twenty-second  was  among  the  fortunate  regiments 
of  the  war.  It  had  no  regimental  list  of  casualties,  because 
it  was  never  in  an  engagement.  It  was  composed  of  patriotic 
and  sturdy  men,  and  its  officers  were  as  gallant  soldiers  as 
ever  wore  a  sword. 

Early  in  August,  1863,  our  nine-months'  regiments  in 
Louisiana  were  ordered  home.  The  Twenty-sixth  and 
Twenty-eighth  came  by  boat  up  the  Mississippi,  and  by 
rail  across  the  Central  States :  the  others  returned  as  they 
went,  —  by  way  of  the  gulf  and  ocean.  All  the  regiments 
suffered  severely  with  the  physical  prostration  produced  by 
a  Southern  summer;  and  those  that  came  overland  left 
patients  in  hospitals  at  Memphis,  and  in  Illinois  and  Ohio. 
In  every  State  through  which  they  passed,  they  received 
grateful  recognition  of  their  uniform  and  their  services. 
Gov.  Buckingham  promptly  dispatched  Capt.  Lorenzo  A.  Gal 
lup  of  the  Twenty-sixth,  with  directions  to  proceed  overland 
to  New  Orleans,  and,  wherever  Connecticut  sick  or  wounded 
were  found,  to  make  arrangements  for  their  comfort  and 
their  speedy  return  home.  "  He  was  very  successful  in  his 
mission ;  and  through  this  instrumentality  a  number  of  our 
brave  volunteers  who  most  needed  home,  care,  and  comfort, 
were  returned  to  their  families  and  friends  much  sooner  than 
would  have  been  possible  in  the  ordinary  routine  of  the  mili 
tary  service."5  Of  the  entire  number  left,  thirty-one  died.6 

5  Adjutant-General's  Report. 

6  Private  Henry  B.  Milliard  of  the  Twenty-seventh,  from  New  Haven,  died  in  hos 
pital,  after  a  life    of  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  others.     This  characteristic  was  quite 
as  often  found  in  the  enlisted  men  as  in  the  officers.    lie  went  to  the  war  deliberately,  and 
as  a  matter  of  duty;  and  during  his  brief  service  he  was  marked  for  his  kindness  to 
those  about  him.     He  often  carried  the  musket  and  knapsack  of  a  weak  comrade  on  the 
march  to  Falmouth,  and  gave  much  of  his  rations  to  the  sick ;   contributing  his  last 
dollar  for  their  comfort.     He  himself  became  feeble  and  depressed  ;  but  his  ambition  kept 
him  generally  on  foot,  and  with  the  regiment.     When  urged  to  go  to  the  hospital,  he 
carried  Frank  Johnson,  a  sick  friend,  half  a  mile,  to  a  place  of  shelter.     In  delirium,  just 
before  his  death,  he  left  his  bed  and  lay  on  the  floor,  remarking  that  his  wife  had  come, 
and  was  tired.     Thus  ended  a  life  of  heroic  self-sacrifice. 

We  wait  no  tidings  now 

Of  camp  or  field,  or  how 
Along  the  front  went  on  the  battle's  fray  ; 

For,  be  it  lost  or  won, 

His  part  was  nobly  done : 
We  crown  him  victor  in  our  hearts  to-day. 


RETUBN  OF  THE  NINE  MONTHS'   KEGIMENTS.  435 

Miles  Bromley  of  Jewett  City  died  on  the  steamboat  be 
tween  New  York  and  Norwich,  almost  within  sight  of  home 
and  friends. 

The  regiments  were  received  at  home  by  the  same  enthu 
siastic  demonstrations  of  admiration  and  love  that  had  greeted 
their  departure  ;  and  there  were  everywhere  waving  flags, 
thronging  multitudes,  and  cheers  of  welcome.  The  Twenty- 
third  was  formally  received  in  New  Haven,  by  Mayor  Tyler ; 
the  Twenty-fourth  in  Middletown,  by  Hon.  Benjamin  Doug 
lass  ;  the  Twenty-fifth  in  Hartford,  by  George  Gilman ;  the 
Twenty-sixth  in  Norwich,  by  Mayor  Greene ;  the  Twenty- 
seventh  in  New  Haven,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  and  the 
Twenty-eighth,  by  Alderman  Edwin  Marble.  These  ceremo 
nies  were  repeated  in  all  sections  of  the  State  as  regiments 
and  companies  returned  to  the  immediate  localities  that  sent 
them  forth,  —  greetings  succeeded  by  the  more  sacred  and 
cherished  welcome  in  the  moistened  eyes  and  loving  hearts 
of  home. 

All  these  nine-months'  regiments  carried  home  with  them 
evidences  of  exposure  and  of  service ;  and  the  men  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  had  this  piece  of  testimony  from  Col. 
(afterwards  Gen.)  Brooke,  commanding  the  brigade  :  — 

HEADQUARTERS  4ni  BRIGADE,  IST  DIVISION,  SD  CORPS, 
Camp  in  Pleasant  Valley,  Md.,  July  1",  1863. 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  9.  —  The  colonel  commanding  the  brigade  de 
sires,  in  parting  with  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Twenty-seventh  Connecti 
cut,  to  convey  to  them  his  sincere  feelings  of  regret  at  losing  their  services  ; 
while  he  at  the  same  time  thanks  them  for  the  obedience  and  faithfulness 
which  has  been  a  marked  feature  of  the  regiment. 

Knowing  it  intimately  for  so  many  months  of  active  and  arduous  ser 
vice  ;  having  been  an  eye-witness  of  its  many  deeds  of  gallantry,  and  of 
the  noble  devotion  displayed  by  it  on  many  a  memorable  day  during  the 
time  in  which  he  has  had  the  honor  to  command  its  services,  —  he  feels  it 
a  duty  he  owes,  riot  only  to  the  living  heroes,  but  to  the  memory  of 
those  who  have  fallen  in  the  field  in  battling  in  our  righteous  cause,  to 
bear  testimony  to  the  valor  and  gallantry  it  has  always  displayed. 

Side  by  side  with  the 'veterans  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  it  has 
fought,  and,  by  the  gallantry  of  its  conduct,  won  for  itself  an  enviable 
name  and  reputation,  which  may  well,  in  after-years,  cause  all  who  belong 
to  it  to  feel  a  pardonable  pride  in  having  it  to  say  that  they  served  with 
the  Twenty-seventh  Connecticut. 

By  order  Col.  Brooke, 

.CHARLES  P.  HATCH,  Lieutenant  A.  A.  A.  G 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

Sixth  and  Seventh  in  Florida.  —  The  Advance  on  Charleston.  —  The  Situation  at  Folly 
and  Morris  Islands.  —  Gen.  Terry  and  the  Tenth  on  James  Island.  —  A  Detachment 
of  the  Seventh  the  first  to  land  on  Morris  Island.  —  Capture  of  the  Batteries.  —  The 
Battalion  of  the  Seventh  in  the  First  Charge  on  Wagner. — Fight  on  James  Island. 
—  The  First  Connecticut  Battery.  —  Daring  Charge  of  the  Sixth  on  Wagner.  — 
Three  Hours  in  the  Fort. — Heavy  Casualties.  — Important  Service  of  the  Seventeenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers.  —  Approaches  to  the  Fort. — The  Seventh  in  Charge  of 
Heavy  Batteries.  — Bombardment  of  Sumter.  —  Capture  of  Wagner  and  Gregg.  —  The 
Roll  of  Honor.  —  The  Sixth  at  Hilton  Head.  —  The  Seventh  at  St.  Helena  Island. — 
The  Seventeenth  on  Folly  Island.  —  The  Tenth  in  Florida.  —Death  of  Col.  Chatfield. 

OR  several  weeks  of  the  winter,  the  Sixth  and 
Seventh,  with  the  First  Connecticut  Battery,  re 
mained  in  comfortable  camp  at  Beaufort  and 
Hilton  Head  ;  but  in  January,  1863,  the  Seventh 
left  for  Florida.  The  regiment  landed  at  Fer- 


- 


nandina  on  the  15th,  relieving  the  9th  Maine;  and  Col. 
Hawley  took  command  of  the  post.  Here  for  three  months 
they  remained  on  guard,  pleasantly  located,  with  plenty  of 
food  and  fruit,  surrounded  by  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of 
that  flowery  land,  and  bathing  in  the  fountains  of  perpetual 
youth  which  Ponce  de  Leon  invented.  In  April,  Col.  Haw- 
ley  went  with  five  companies  to  South  Carolina  to  partici 
pate  in  another  advance  on  Charleston ;  but  the  expedition 
miscarried,  and  he  returned. 

In  a  few  days  more,  the  two  flank  companies,  under  Capts. 
V.  B.  Chamberlain  and  Theodore  Burdick,  under  Major 
Daniel  C.  Rodman,  went  to  Hilton  Head  to  join  the  force 
again  mustering  to  move  against  Charleston.  The  Sixth, 
which  had  arrived  at  Jacksonville  in  March,  also  evacuated 
the  city  with  other  regiments  in  possession,  covering  the 
rear  in  the  retreat,  and  returned  .to  Hilton  Head.  Soon 
they  were  joined  by  two  more  companies  of  the  Seventh. 

436 


THE  SIXTH  AND  SEVENTH  ON  FOLLY  ISLAND.      437 

under  Capts.  Sylvester  H.  Gray  and  Jerome  Tourtelotte. 
The  battalion  that  remained  in  Florida  was  not  idle.  Two 
companies,  under  Capts.  Benjamin  F.  Skinner  and  John  B. 
Dennis,  made  a  raid  into  the  enemy's  country,  capturing 
about  three  hundred  head  of  beef-cattle,  which  were  penned 
up  by  the  rebel  beef-contractors  for  the  rebel  army,  and 
drove  them  into  town  in  company  with  about  forty  horses. 

An  ill-timed  attack  on  Charleston  failing,  Gen.  Hunter 
was  relieved  from  the  command  of  the  department  and  suc 
ceeded  by  Gen.  Gilmore,  who  immediately  renewed  prepara 
tions  to  make  an  assault  from  the  south.  His  first  objective 
point  seemed  to  be  Fort  Wagner,  situated  on  the  north-east 
ern  shore  of  Morris  Island. 

This  island  is  a  ridge  of  sand  formed  by  successive  accu 
mulations  from  the  tides,  and  running  along  the  southern  side 
of  the  entrance  to  Charleston  Harbor.  The  ridge  slopes 
from  the  shore  inward,  terminating  in  a  series  of  salt 
marshes  indented  by  narrow  inlets.  The  width  of  the 
high  land  varies  from  twenty-five  to  two  hundred  and  fifty 
yards.  The  island  bears  the  same  relation  to  Fort  Suin- 
ter  that  Tybee  bears  to  Pulaski. 

Folly  Island  is  a  long  strip  of  land  immediately  south 
of  Morris  Island,  from  which  its  northern  point  is  separated 
only  by  a  narrow  stream  called  Light-house  Inlet.  The 
lower  two-thirds  of  the  island  is  covered  with  a  thick  growth 
of  pine  and  palmetto  trees ;  and  the  upper  third  is  a  low, 
marshy  swamp. 

Gilmore  immediately  took  possession  of  this  island ;  and 
early  in  June  it  was  occupied  by  the  Sixth  and  the  little 
battalion  of  the  Seventh,  with  one  or  two  other  regiments. 
The  rebels  suspected  no  serious  aggression,  and  felt  out 
from  time  to  time,  meeting  with  slight  resistance.  -  But  the 
business  of  the  siege  was  at  once  begun ;  and  the  engineers 
and  working  parties  threw  up  breastworks  of  sand,  and  com 
menced  batteries,  on  the  upper  end  of  the  island,  close  under 
the  rebel  guns  intrenched  across  the  inlet. 

With  the  greatest  secrecy  the  work  was  pushed  forward. 
The  enemy  saw  no  men  nearer  than  the  distant  woods,  and 
heard  no  sound.  But,  if  our  forces  were  idle  and  listless  by 


438  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

day,  they  worked  at  night  with  superhuman  energy.  Hun 
dreds  of  spades  flashed  in  the  moonlight.  Transports  arrived 
with  more  troops.  Battery  after  battery  rose  in  the  white 
sand ;  but  nothing  was  visible  to  the  rebels.  Huge  mortars, 
Parrott-guns,  and  Columbiads  came  from  Hilton  Head,  landed 
at  Stono  Inlet,  and,  under  the  darkness,  were  dragged  slowly 
and  tediously  into  place  behind  their  mask  of  sand.  Ammu 
nition  was  also  taken  forward  and  concealed.  To  make  the 
foundation  for  the  batteries  and  the  corduroy  roads,  trees 
had  to  be  cut  upon  the  island  ;  and,  lest  the  rebels  should 
hear  the  crash  of  their  fall,  the  largest  ones  were  sawed  off, 
and  then  eased  carefully  to  the  ground  with  cables  from 
neighboring  trees.  So  the  work  went  forward  as  noiselessly 
as  the  ice-palace  of  Queen  Catherine. 

The  pickets  were  on  good  terms ;  they  told  one  another 
the  news,  joked  and  chatted  together,  and  sauntered  with 
out  fear  as  near  as  the  dividing  creek  would  let  them.  A 
member  of  the  Sixth  wrote  to  the  Waterbury  American, 
"  Our  boys  make  miniature  ships,  and  freight  them  with  salt 
and  coffee,  and  send  them  over  to  the  rebs ;  and  in  return 
they  send  us  tobacco."  Gilmore  even  diminished  the  num 
ber  of  his  picket,  so  as  to  re-assure  the  enemy. 

In  all  this  work,  the  Sixth  and  the  battalion  of  the  Seventh 
found  severe  toil.  For  three  weeks,  every  night,  by  moon 
light  or  in  the  midst  of  frightful  thunder-storms,  the  work 
went  on ;  details  from  both  regiments  being  constantly  en 
gaged  :  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  there  had  been  erected 
ten  batteries,  mounting  forty-eight  guns  of  the  heaviest 
caliber,  within  four  hundred  yards  of  the  enemy's  works. 
"  And  yet,"  says  a  narrative  of  the  time,  "  the  rebels  had  no 
suspicion  that  there  was  any  thing  more  than  light  field- 
pieces  within  seven  miles."  This  is  not  so  certain,  however, 
for  they  had  begun  very  actively  to  strengthen  their  batter 
ies  on  the  opposite  bank. 

On  the  morning  of  July  10,  some  troops  under  Brig.-Gen. 
Terry,  promoted  after  Pulaski,  landed  at  the  lower  end  of 
James  Island,  as  a  feint  to  draw  off  the  rebels  from  the  main 
attack.  In  this  force  was  the  Tenth  Connecticut,  just  arrived 
from  St.  Helena  Island,  and  the  First  Connecticut  Battery ; 


ATTACK  ON  MOERIS  ISLAND.  439 

and,  on  their  advancing  towards  Secessionville,  many  of  the 
rebels  hurried  over  from  Morris  Island  to  repel  them.  Terry 
kept  his  regiments  well  in  hand :  he  avoided  a  general  en 
gagement,  but  showed  a  bold  front,  and  skillfully  held  the 
enemy's  attention  during  the  day  and  succeeding  night. 
The  Tenth  picketed  in  front,  and  was  kept  vigilant  by  the 
inquisitive  rebels  that  crowded  down  the  island. 

At  midnight  of  the  9th,  large  detachments  from  all  the 
regiments  on  Folly  Island  stepped  quietly  into  boats,  and 
rowed  silently  up  Folly  Creek,  near  the  shore  of  Morris 
Island  ;  where  the  flotilla  of  eighty  boats  waited  for  the 
dawn.  At  five  o'clock,  Gilmore  unmasked  his  batteries,  and 
opened  simultaneously  from  fifty  guns.  The  astonished  rebels 
soon  replied,  showering  the  boats  with  shot  and  shell.  A 
boat  of  the  Sixth  was  struck,  and  one  man  killed  and  several 
wounded.  The  battalion  of  the  Seventh  was  selected  to 
lead  the  column.  After  the  artillery  duel  had  continued  for 
about  two  hours,  Lieut.-Col.  Rodman  of  the  Seventh  was  sent 
ashore  with  a  part  of  Company  A,  to  reconnoiter.  He  soon 
returned,  and  "  said  to  the  general,  '  Let  me  land  my  com 
mand,  and  take  that  battery.'  The  general  hesitated  at  first, 
and  then  said, '  Go.'  Col.  Rodman  stood  up  in  the  stern  of 
his  boat,  and  in  a  loud  voice  gave  the  command,  as  the  boats 
were  all  in  line  and  good  order,  '  Seventh  Connecticut, 
man  your  oars  and  follow  me  ! '  At  the  order,  we  all  headed 
for  the  shore ;  and,  as  the  boats  struck,  every  man  sprang  as 
if  by  instinct ;  and  in  an  instant  they  were  in  line.  Capt. 
Chamberlain  sent  forward  skirmishers  under  Lieut.  Van  Keu- 
ren,  and  we  advanced  rapidly  to  the  first  line  of  rifle-works. 
Our  skirmishers  cleared  it  with  a  bound,  and  advanced  to  the 
second  line.  Our  main  forces  moved  to  the  first  line : 
the  foe  retired,  firing.  Lieut.-Col.  Rodman  now  sent  word 
back  for  the  general  to  land  his  whole  force,  as  we  could 
hold  the  line  we  occupied."  l 

A  part  of  the  force  had  already  landed.  The  men  of  the 
Sixth  Connecticut  had  sprung  ashore  towards  the  flank,  and 
advanced  with  a  rush  and  a  wild  cheer  towards  the  batteries. 
The  whole  force  joined  in  the  onset;  and  in  ten  minutes  the 

1  Capt.  S.  H.  Gray's  report. 


440  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

rebels  at  the  sand-hill  batteries  turned  and  fled.     The  fire 
from  Wagner  and  Sumter  was  incessant. 

Capt.  S.  H.  Gray's  report  from  the  Seventh,  says,  — 

"  Lieut.-Col.  Rodman  sent  Company  B  (Capt.  Burdick)  to  the  left,  and 
Company  I  (Capt.  Gray)  to  the  right,  to  engage  the  enemy  at  short  range, 
and  drive  them  out,  if  possible  ;  while  Companies  A  and  K  (Chamberlain 
and  Tourtelotte)  held  our  first  position.  After  exchanging  a  few  shots, 
the  brigade  being  now  landed  and  ready  to  advance,  the  enemy  began 
to  give  way ;  and  Capt.  Burdick  followed  them  close  on  the  left,  and  cap 
tured  a  number  of  prisoners  and  one  or  two  camps.  Lieut.  Jordan,  with 
a  detachment  of  Company  I,  pushed  right  up  into  their  batteries  on  our 
right ;  and  not  finding  the  first  gun  in  a  working  condition  (it  having  been 
disabled  by  a  shot),  he  pushed  forward  to  what  is  now  called  Battery  Rod 
man,  in  which  there  was  an  eight-inch  seacoast  howitzer,  and  turned  it  on 
the  retreating  foe  ;  bursting  several  shells  over  their  heads  before  they 
reached  Fort  Wagner." 

The  pursuit  was  eager.  Two  hundred  prisoners  were 
taken.  Private  Roper  Hounslow  of  the  Sixth  (from  Stam 
ford)  shot  a  rebel  color-bearer,  and  captured  a  battle-flag  in 
scribed  "Pocotalico,  Oct.  22,  1862."  Col.  Chatfield  led  his 
men  on  the  last  series  of  rifle-pits,  waving  this  banner  aloft. 
The  regimental  flag  of  the  Sixth  was  soon  floating  from  the 
peak  of  the  only  house  on  the  island.  Two-thirds  of  the 
island  was  captured,  with  ten  columbiads,  two  mortars,  and 
a  Whitworth  gun;  and  the  force  threw  up  breastworks  almost 
within  rifle-shot  of  Wagner,  and  rested. 

Before  leaving  Folly  Island,  each  had  tied  a  strip  of  white 
cloth  about  his  right  arm,  that  they  might  know  one  another 
in  a  night  assault;  and  they  were  slightly  confused  on  find 
ing  in  the  morning  that  the  prisoners  caught  had,  anticipat 
ing  an  assault  from  a  feeble  force,  adopted  the  same  badge. 

It  was  determined  to  take  Fort  Wagner  by  assault  next 
morning  ;  all  the  regiments  to  be  within  supporting  distance. 
Capt.  Gray  of  the  Seventh,  in  the  official  report,  says,  "  We 
were  to  take  the  lead,  and  be  supported  by  the  76th  Penn 
sylvania  and  the  9th  Maine.  Silently  we  moved  up  to  the 
advance  line  of  our  pickets;  our  guns  loaded  and  primed, 
and  bayonets  fixed.  We  there  deployed  into  line  of  battle, 
one  hundred  and  ninety-one  men  and  officers  all  told.  It 
was  said  there  were  but  three  guns  pointing  this  way. 

"  Gen.  Strong  gave  the  order,  i  Aim  low,  and  put  your 
trust  in  God :  forward,  the  Seventh ! '  and  forward  we  went, 


HEAVY   LOSS  OF  THE   SEVENTH.  441 

being  not  more  than  five  hundred  yards  from  the  fort.  We 
had  not  gone  far  before  the  pickets  fired  ;  and  then  we  took 
the  double-quick,  and,  with  a  cheer,  rushed  for  the  works. 
Before  we  reached  the  outer  works,  we  got  a  murderous  fire 
from  the  riflemen.  A  few  fell ;  a  check  in  the  line  ;  an  en 
couraging  word  from  the  officers  (they  were  all  there, — 
eleven  in  all,  —  no  sick  ones) ;  and  right  gallantly  we 
reached  the  outer  works.  Over  them  with  a  will  we  went ; 
down  the  opposite  side,  and  across  the  moat  (there  being 
about  one  foot  of  water  in  it)  right  up  to  the  crest  of  the 
parapet.  And  there  we  lay,  anxiously  waiting  for  our  sup 
port  to  come  up  so  far  as  to  make  it  a  sure  thing  for  us  to 
rise  up  and  go  over  with  a  bound ;  our  men,  in  the  mean 
time,  busying  themselves  picking  off  sharpshooters  and  gun 
ners.  We  lay  so  near  the  top,  that  one  had  but  to  put  his 
head  up  and  gun  across  the  top  of  the  parapet  to  kill  his 
man." 

Here  was  fighting  at  close  quarters ;  and  Corporal  Giles 
James  of  Colchester,  Arthur  E.  Lyon  of  Eastford,  and  William 
DeWitt  of  Windsor  Locks,  are  mentioned  for  gallantry.  We 
quote  again  from  the  report :  "  For  a  time,  we  had  it  all  our 
own  way ;  but  it  was  of  short  duration.  As  soon  as  the  regi 
ments  in  front  broke  and  ran,  the  rebels  paid  particular 
attention  to  our  case.  They  threw  hand-grenades  over  the 
parapet,  and  soon  sent  men  into  the  flank  of  a  bastion,  which 
commanded  the  front  upon  which  we  lay.  They  had  us 
then  at  great  disadvantage.  The  question  was,  whether  we 
should  surrender  as  prisoners,  attempt  to  carry  the  works 
and  be  entirely  annihilated  (as  they  greatly  outnumbered 
us),  or  take  the  back  track,  and  rim  the  gantlet  for  our 
lives.  Upon  consulting  Lieut-Col.  Rodman,  he  reluctantly 
gave  the  order  to  retreat ;  and  down  we  went,  across  the 
moat  and  over  the  work.  They  had  a  perfect  enfilading  fire 
of  small-arms  for  a  thousand  yards,  besides  three  pieces 
giving  us  grape  and  canister.  They  fell  on  all  sides  of  me, 
and  I  alone  of  the  four  captains  was  spared  ;  and  out  of  the 
hundred  and  ninety-one  officers  and  men  that  marched  out 
to  attack  the  foe  but  eighty-eight  returned  safe  to  camp. 
And  ever  let  it  be  said,  to  the  credit  of  the  Seventh  Con- 

66 


442  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

necticut  Volunteers,  that  not  one  straggler  could  be  discov 
ered.  Fifteen  minutes  after  arrival  in  camp,  roll  was  called ; 
and  but  one  man  came  in  afterwards,  and  he  was  delayed  by 
assisting  a  wounded  comrade.  I  met  Gen.  Strong  with  tears 
in  his  eyes ;  and  he  said  we  had  done  our  whole  duty,  and 
covered  ourselves  with  glory ;  and  that,  if  the  support  had 
come  in  time,  we  should  have  taken  the  wTorks.  And  with 
out  a  doubt  we  should  have  done  so."2 

Another  bloody  failure  for  want  of  co-operation !  Again, 
for  a  week,  the  whole  force  was  engaged  in  intrenching,  and 
wheeling  great  guns  into  position.  Fort  Sumter  kept  up  an 
annoying  fire  into  Gilmore's  trenches ;  and  the  front  of  the 
fort,  where  the  island  narrowed  to  twenty-five  yards  in  width, 
was  also  swept  by  the  batteries  on  James  Island,  besides  its 
own  armament.  To  take  such  a  fort  required  all  the  skill 
and  all  the  valor  of  veteran  warriors. 

During  the  morning  of  the  16th,  the  enemy  attacked  the 
force  on  James  Island.  The  Tenth  held  the  extreme  left  of 
the  line,  and  behind  was  a  swamp,  that  could  not  be  trav 
ersed.  The  regiments  on  the  right  were  falling  back  rapidly ; 
and  the  Tenth  probably  escaped  wholesale  capture  by  pass 
ing  at  double-quick  towards  the  landing.  The  enemy's  ad 
vance  was  retarded  by  the  guns  of  the  Pawnee  and  the  field- 
pieces  of  the  First  Connecticut  Battery.  "These,"  wrote 
Lieut.  Camp  of  the  Tenth,  "  were  served  with  a  rapidity  and 
accuracy  that  spoke  well  for  our  friend  Capt.  Rockwell,  and 
compared  favorably  with  the  rebel  fire."  That  night,  James 
Island  was  evacuated  ;  and  the  Tenth,  resting  briefly  on  the 
way,  went  to  Morris  Island. 

All  night  long,  in  a  drenching  rain,  had  the  Sixth  been  in 
the  rifle-pits  before  Wagner ;  coming  into  camp  late  on  the 
morning  of  the  18th,  weary  and  wet,  and  covered  with  sand. 
Scarcely  had  they  washed  themselves,  and  cleaned  their 
guns,  and  eaten  their  dinner,  before  the  order  was  given  to 
"  fall  in,"  to  join  in  the  assault  on  Wagner  at  dark.  Never 

2  The  correspondent  of  the  New -York  Herald  wrote,  "The  Connecticut  regiment 
succeeded  in  getting  inside,  and  spiked  six  guns ;  just  then  the  Pennsylvania  regiment  fell 
back,  and  left  this  heroic  Connecticut  regiment  to  fight  it  out  alone."  The  Savannah 
Republican  (Confederate)  said,  "  Willing  to  do  justice  to  a  brave  foe,  it  may  be  added  that 
a  more  daring  and  gallant  assault  has  not  been  made  on  either  side  since  the  commence 
ment  of  the  war." 


ATTACK  ON  FORT  WAGNER.  443 

was  an  order  more  cheerfully  obeyed,  especially  as  the 
word  passed  around,  that  Col.  Chatfield  had  determined  to 
lead  his  own  regiment  into  action  ;  refusing  the  command 
of  the  brigade,  which  belonged  to  him  as  the  ranking  officer, 
and  declaring  his  preference  "  to  stand  or  fall  with  the  men 
of  the  Sixth." 

The  Tenth  also  sprang  to  arms,  and  moved  with  Stephen- 
son's  brigade  up  the  ridge.  Weary  with  days  of  toil  and 
nights  of  sleeplessness,  it  was  now  to  join  in  storming  the 
fort. 

The  column  was  quietly  formed  upon  the  beach,  under 
cover  of  the  high  bank,  and  there  remained  till  night.  The 
men  we're  impatient  to  move,  as  the  scene  around  became 
exciting.  The  New  Ironsides  had  left  her  moorings,  and 
steamed  within  easy  range  of  the  fort,  followed  by  five  mon 
itors  in  line,  and  five  gunboats  ;  and  from  them  all,  and  from 
the  forty  batteries  erected  along  the  island,  a  direct  and  in 
cessant  fire  was  now  concentrated  on  the  fort. 

"  The  scene  became  one  of  absolute  magnificence.  The 
firing  of  the  fleet  kept  up  an  uninterrupted  peal  of  thunder. 
Nothing  in  the  way  of  pyrotechnics  could  equal  in  effect  a 
broadside  from  the  Ironsides  ;  its  swift  tongues  of  flame 
piercing  deep  into  the  darkness,  and  bringing  into  momen 
tary  distinctness  the  immense  hull  from  whence  they  sprang ; 
and  the  heavy  boom  of  the  discharges  coming  over  the  water 
after  long  apparent  delay  ;  while  the  fancy  followed  into  the 
dark  fort  the  fourteen  hundred  pounds  of  solid  iron,  and 
wondered  if  they  did  their  work."3  Shot  and  shells  crashed 
fearfully  above  and  within  it ;  so  that,  when  night  came 
down,  Wagner  was  silent,  save  an  occasional  gun,  and  seemed 
a  ruined  heap  and  an  easy  prize. 

Slowly  and  softly,  as  twilight  deepened,  had  the  troops 
advanced,  till  now  but  a  short  and  level  space  lay  between 
them  and  the  stronghold.  At  the  earnest  request  of  the 
gallant  Col.  Shaw,  Col.  Chatfield  had  allowed  the  54th  Massa 
chusetts  (colored)  to  occupy  the  extreme  right,  —  the  post 
of  honor.  The  Sixth  came  next;  and  seven  other  regi 
ments  extended  to  the  left.  The  remnant  of  the  Seventh 

8  Lieut.  Camp  of  the  Tenth,  —  The  Knightly  Soldier. 


444  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Connecticut  Volunteers  was  manning  a  battery  of  three 
30-pound  rifled  Parrotts  under  command  of  Capt.  Gray. 
Stephenson's  brigade  was  now  detached  from  the  column, 
and  sent  into  the  trenches  as  a  reserve,  until  re-inforcements 
should  be  needed.  The  officers  and  men  of  the  Tenth  were 
chagrined  to  find  themselves  mere  spectators. 

Faster  and  fiercer  came  shot  and  shell  from  batteries  on 
shore  and  gunboats  in  the  bay,  till  a  signal-flag  rose  to 
"  cease  firing ; "  and  then  the  sharp,  quick  order  ran  along 
the  line,  "  Forward  !  Double-quick  ! "  Out  and  on  rushed 
the  charging  column  from  its  concealment ;  and  at  the  same 
moment,  as  if  by  a  magician's  touch,  behind  the  parapet 
sprang  up,  in  double  line,  the  ready  thousand  of  the  rebel 
host. 

Forward  rushed  the  54th  Massachusetts  in  "  line  of  battle," 
followed  by  the  Sixth  Connecticut  "in  column  by  compa 
nies,"  with  Col.  Chatfield  on  the  right,  and  Adjutant  Fitch 
on  the  left,  of  the  front,  —  forward,  till  within  point-blank 
range  ;  and  then  from  Wagner  and  Sumter  and  the  James- 
Island  batteries,  from  casemate,  parapet,  and  angle,  burst 
forth  a  concentrated  fire,  the  unintermittent  flashings  of 
which  were  like  the  vivid  lightnings  of  a  hot  summer's 
eve,  —  a  fire  as  terrific  and  murderous  as  the  annals  of  war 
fare  have  ever  known. 

The  54th  Massachusetts,  which  had  but  once  before  been 
under  fire,  pressed  bravely  forward :  but  some  companies 
wavered ;  and,  pushing  for  the  south-western  angle,  the  line 
moved  "  by  the  left  oblique  "  so  far  that  it  completely  un 
covered  the  front  of  the  Sixth,  and  left  an  unobstructed 
pathway  to  the  fort. 

On  moved  the  Sixth, —  steadily,  quickly  on, —  on  through 
the  outer  work  and  moat,  up  the  glacis,  across  the  broad 
parapet,  unchecked  by  the  awful  tempest  of  shot  and  shell, 
of  shrapnel,  canister,  and  grape,  of  bullets  and  hand- 
grenades,  entering  the  fort  at  its  south-eastern  angle,  and 
leaping  down  to  the  casemates  and  bomb-proofs,  driving  all 
before  them  in  dismay.  The  fire  in  the  fort  paused  at  this 
audacious  invasion,  —  paused  so  long,  that  spectators  upon 
the  sand-hills  said,  "  The  work  is  over :  the  fort  has  surren 
dered." 


THE  FLAG   OF  THE   SIXTH  AT  FORT  WAGNER.  445 

And  now  the  little  band  looked  for  succor ;  but  it  did  not 
come.  Two  or  three  of  the  advanced  regiments.,  including 
the  negroes,  were  still  clinging  desperately  to  the  parapet 
outside  ;  a  few,  white  and  black,  had  even  gained  the  inte 
rior;  but  the  main  supporting  column,  Jackson's  brigade, 
terrified  by  the  deadly  cannonade,  instead  of  following 
closely,  relying  on  the  bayonet  to  do  the  work,  stopped  for 
a  moment  to  return  fire,  and  again  lost  the  fort.  The  rebels 
saw  the  mistake,  and  rallied  ;  now  charging  upon  the  Sixth, 
standing  almost  alone  in  their  midst,  under  the  flag  of  Con 
necticut. 

The  charge  was  repulsed,  and  every  effort  to  expel  them 
failed.  Three  separate  times,  according  to  the  Charleston 
papers  of  the  19th,  did  they  charge  most  furiously  ;  and 
after  great  loss  desisted.  For  more  than  three  hours,  the 
Sixth  maintained  its  position  in  the  fort,  and  waited  for  sup 
port,  —  in  vain  !  and  at  last,  with  its  leader  and  many  offi 
cers  struck  down,  the  remnant  one  by  one  escaped ;  but 
they  brought  off  their  colors  with  them. 

These  were  borne  away  triumphantly,  —  torn  into  shreds, 
indeed,  but  hallowed  relics  of  the  fight.  Eight  brave  men 
had  snatched  these  colors  from  a  dying  comrade's  grasp, 
and  fallen  dead  or  wounded  upon  them.  Lieut-Col.  Red- 
field  Duryee,  in  transmitting  the  State  flag  to  Gov.  Bucking 
ham,  said,  — 

"  The  German  color-bearer,  Sergeant  Gustave  De  Bouge  (of  Water- 
bury)  was  shot  through  the  forehead  while  carrying  the  colors  at  the 
assault,  and  fell  dead  upon  them,  staining  them  with  his  blood  ;  and, 
before  they  could  be  picked  up,  several  other  men  fell  upon  them  dead  or 
wounded.  They  were,  however,  finally  seized  by  Capt.  F.  B.  Osborn, 
who  attempted  to  pull  them  from  under  the  bodies  ;  but,  in  so  doing,  the 
flag,  which  had  become  very  much  shattered  by  shots,  was  torn  through 
the  center,  and  the  part  attached  to  the  staff  only  was  saved.  The 
United-States  colors  were  so  much  torn  during  the  assault,  that  they  can 
not  be  unfurled." 

These  colors,  which  now  hang  in  their  place  among  the 
treasured  honors  of  the  State,  tell,  better  than  words  can  tell, 
of  the  unparalleled  fierceness  of  the  struggle  of  that  night. 

Among  those  who  bore  the  tattered  flag  during  the  fight 
was  the  fearless  Col.  Chatfield,  who  was  dangerously  wound 
ed  ;  being  struck  both  in  the  leg  and  hand.  He  was  carried 


446  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

off  the   field   by  Private   Andrew    Grogan   of  Bridgeport, 
afterwards  lieutenant. 

Six  regiments  advanced  near  the  fort,  and  the  general 
commanding  and  five  colonels  had  fallen :  a  major  was  the 
highest  officer  remaining  in  command  of  the  force. 

The  Sixth  had  lost  on  the  island  twelve  killed,  ninety- 
two  wounded  (several  of  whom  afterwards  died  of  wounds), 
and  forty-eight  prisoners.  Among  the  killed  were  Lieut. 
Stephen  S.  Stevens  of  Bridgeport,  Sergeant  De  Bouge,  and 
the  brave  Corporal  Glissman  bearing  the  flag.  Edmund 
Rodgers  of  Burlington,  William  A.  Morehouse  of  Stamford, 
and  six  German  citizens,  were  also  among  the  slain. 

Lieut.  Stevens  was  A.  A.  Adjutant-General  on  Gen.  Sey 
mour's  staff,  —  a  post  which  he  filled  with  marked  ability. 
He  was  a  young  man  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew 
him.  Having  made  military  matters  a  study  for  many 
years,  his  services  to  the  government  were  very  valuable. 

Of  the  hundred  and  ninety-one  officers  and  men  of  the 
Seventh,  only  eighty-seven  returned  from  the  charge  of 
July  10.  Nineteen  were  killed,  or  died  of  wounds,  thirty- 
five  others  were  wounded,  and  fifty  more  were  prisoners. 
Among  the  killed  in  the  charge  were  Capt.  Theodore  Bur- 
dick  of  Norwich  and  Lieut  John  H.  Wilson  of  Hartford. 
When  last  seen,  they  were  fighting  on  the  edge  of  the  para 
pet  with  gallant  comrades.  Here,  also,  fell  brave  young 
Edward  C.  Blakeslee  of  Plymouth,  a  brother  of  Col.  Erastus 
Blakeslee  of  the  First  Cavalry.  Another  brother  was  killed 
just  after,  at  Frankfort,  Ky. 

Among  the  killed  was  William  M.  Reeves  of  Suffield.  He 
was  an  excellent  soldier,  and  of  military  stock.  His  great 
grandfather  served  in  the  Revolution,  and  his  grandfather  in 
the  War  of  1812. 

The  Seventeenth  Connecticut  had  left  Virginia  the  first 
week  in  August,  and  proceeded,  via  Alexandria  and  Newport 
News,  to  Folly  Island,  arriving  on  the  steamer  Spauldmg 
about  the  12th  of  the  month.  Without  any  time  to  rest, 
Col.  Noble,  now  in  command  of  a  brigade,  was  ordered  to  go 
with  a  thousand  men  to  the  trenches  in  front  of  Fort  Wag 
ner  on  Morris  Island.  Night  after  night  they  spent  in  this 


OFFICEKS  IN  COMMAND   OF  BATTERIES.  447 

service,  as  the  zig-zags  and  approaches  were  cut  nearer  and 
nearer  the  doomed  fortress.  Much  of  the  time  they  were 
under  fire,  —  a  cannonade  from  all  the  forts,  and  the  hum 
of  Minie- balls  from  Wagner,  returning  fire  whenever  a 
head  appeared  above  the  rampart.  "  We  were  distributed," 
the  colonel  wrote,  "in  what  are  called  splinter-proofs  and 
covered  ways,  alongside  a  monster  magazine.  The  soldiers 
lie  as  closely  as  possible,  ready  to  stand  to  arms  at  a  mo 
ment's  warning.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  every 
man  in  the  works  is  roused,  and  is  on  the  alert  till  day 
light." 

The  six  companies  of  the  Seventh,  at  St.  Augustine,  were 
permitted  to  join  the  battalion  on  Morris  Island  while  the 
siege  was  progressing.  Major  Sanford  was  immediately  de 
tached  from  the  regiment,  and  all  the  outpost  duty  was  given 
to  his  charge,  including  the  support  of  the  huge  marsh  bat 
tery  known  as  the  "  Swamp  Angel."  He  captured  Gen.  Rip- 
ley's  private  barge,  with  a  rebel  major  and  surgeon  and 
eleven  men ;  and  two  nights  afterwards  captured  a  surgeon, 
a  naval  lieutenant,  and  sixty-one  men.  The  rest  of  the 
regiment,  as  soon  as  they  arrived  upon  the  island,  commenced 
their  regular  duties  with  other  regiments,  —  grand  guard, 
fatigue  in  the  trenches,  mounting  guns  in  the  batteries,  &c., 
-  until  the  regiment  was  nearly  all  detached  upon  the  bat 
teries. 

Capt.  Skinner  and  Lieuts.  Perry  and  Coe  commanded  a 
battery  in  the  fifth  parallel,  of  five  8-inch  siege-mortars. 
Capt,  Dennis,  with  Lieuts.  Townsend  and  Wildman,  com 
manded  a  battery  of  five  10-inch  siege-mortars.  Capt.  Gray, 
with  Lieuts.  Barker  and  Young,  commanded  the  famous  300- 
pounder  rifled  Parrott.  Capt.  Atwell  and  Lieuts.  Greene 
and  Hutchinson  commanded  a  battery  of  three  30-pounder 
Parrotts  and  three  Coehorn  mortars.  Capt.  Gray  exploded 
his  immense  gun.  He  told  the  general  that  he  "  thought  he 
could  fix  it,"  and  wras  immediately  directed  to  do  so ;  and 
while  in  action,  and  under  a  tremendous  fire  from  the  enemy, 
he  repaired  his  gun ;  and  in  eighteen  hours  had  it  in  working 
order,  and  fired  it  during  the  bombardment. 

Gilmore  opened  his  fourth  parallel  towards  Wagner,  within 


448  CONNECTICUT   DUBING   THE  REBELLION. 

three  hundred  yards,  on  Aug.  23  ;  his  fifth  parallel  within 
two  hundred  yards,  on  the  25th ;  after  this,  zig-zags  were 
opened  with  very  acute  angles.  From  the  morning  of  Sept. 
5,  the  garrison  of  fifteen  hundred  men  were  immured  in  their 
bomb-proof,  not  daring  to  expose  a  head  to  the  terrible  fire 
that  rained  upon  the  fort.  The  counterscarp  of  the  opposing 
work  was  crowned  on  the  night  of  Sept.  6 ;  when  the  rebels 
quietly  evacuated  the  fort,  and  escaped.  Sumter  had  already 
been  fiercely  bombarded  by  the  "  Swamp  Angel "  and  less 
ponderous  batteries,  and  was  now  a  shapeless  mass  of  ruins ; 
Morris  Island  was  captured ;  and  little  further  actual  pro 
gress  was  made  during  the  year. 

Gen.  Gilrnore  issued  a  general  order,  requesting  regimental 
and  battery  commanders  to  designate  enlisted  men  worthy 
to  receive  medals  of  honor  for  gallant  and  meritorious  con 
duct  during  the  siege.  The  following  is  the  list  for  Connecti 
cut  regiments :  — 

FIRST  CONNECTICUT  LIGHT  BATTERY. 

First  Sergeant  S.  C.  Dickinson.  Corporal  John  F.  Bliss.  Private  R. 
Blodgett. 

SIXTH    CONNECTICUT. 

Company  A.  —  Sergeant  H.  L.  Grant.       Private  Wolcott  Wetherell. 

Company  B.  —  Private  James  McBrien. 

Company  C.  —  First  Sergeant  Joseph  Miller.  Sergeant  Frederick 
Striby,  jr. 

Company  D.  —  Sergeants  Norman  Provost,  Horace  Hobbie. 

Company  E.  —  Sergeants  W.  Berkely,  Luzern  Baldwin. 

Company  F.  —  Corporal  J.  C.  Osborue.  Privates  Edwin  F.  Pierpont, 
A.  C.  Kurd. 

Company  G.  —  Privates  Bernard  Haffy,  Martin  B.  Eddy. 

Company  H.  —  Privates  William  Rebstock,  Francis  Bantly. 

Company   I.  —  Corporal  William  H.  Rossman.    Private  Isaac  S.  Taylor. 

Company  K.  —  Sergeant  Julius  A.  Bristol.  Corporal  Ambrose  Cock- 
croft. 

SEVENTH  CONNECTICUT. 

Sergeant-Major  Raphael  Gilbert. 

Company  A.  —  Privates  Levi  Andrews,William  Bond. 
Company  B.  —  Corporal  Chauncey  A.  Bacon.     Private   Edgar  H.  Par 
sons. 

Company  C.  —  Corporal  Dennis  O'Brien. 
Company  D.  —  Corporal  Frederick  A.  Felch. 
Company  E.  —  Private  John  Biderman. 
Company  F.  —  Corporal  Henry  A.  Allen. 
Company  G. — LeanderParmelee. 


THE  SEVENTH  AT  ST.  HELENA.  449 

Company  H.  —  Private  John  M.  Milliken. 

Company   I.  —  Corporal  John  J.  Cochrane.     Private  R.  Aggett. 

Company  K.  —  Privates  James  A.  Howard,  Elisha  F.  Soule. 

SEVENTEENTH   CONNECTICUT. 

Company  E.  —  Corporal  R.  Tibbe. 
Company  F.  —  Private  Walter  M.  Jarmon. 
Company  G.  —  First  Sergeant  Charles  Smith,  jr. 
Company  K.  —  Private  R.  McGee. 

The  Sixth,  shattered  in  the  daring  charge  of  July  18,  was 
soon  after  sent  to  Hilton  Head  to  recruit,  and  care  for  its 
scores  of  wounded.  To  the  genial  and  indefatigable  chap 
lain,  the  Tribune's  correspondent  thus  refers :  <;  We  had 
scarcely  reached  the  deck  of  the  transport  Cosmopolitan, 
when  we  discovered  a  chaplain  going  from  one  patient  to 
another,  administering  a  word  of  consolation  to  the  first, 
giving  a  cup  of  water  to  a  second,  smoothing  out  the  blank 
ets  of  a  third.  Now  he  halted  to  wash  and  dress  a  wound  ; 
anon  he  hastened  to  procure  a  cordial  for  some  one  faint 
from  loss  of  blood.  He  was  constantly  at  work,  and  every 
where  welcome.  I  ascertained  that  this  humane  and  patri 
otic  man  \vas  Rev.  Mr.  Woodruff,  Chaplain  of  the  Sixth  Con 
necticut."  At  Hilton  Head,  a  comfortable  hospital  was  found, 
in  the  rear  of  which  the  regiment  made  an  encampment, 
where  it  sought  to  recover  its  wasted  strength. 

After  three  months  of  terrible  toil  and  exposure,  the 
Seventh  was  sent  to  St.  Helena  Island,  where  the  Tenth  had 
been  located ;  and  camped  on  a  pleasant  spot  near  the  river, 
on  Oct.  15.  Next  day  a  large  number  of  small  flat-boats 
wrere  landed,  capable  of  holding  about  eighteen  or  twenty 
persons  each ;  and  the  regiment  was  instructed  in  a  boat- 
drill.  One  of  them  writes  at  this  time,  "  We  intend  to  do 
the  best  we  can,  whether  we  are  to  be  infantry  or  artillery, 
or  even  if  they  make  marines  of  us."  Here  they  remained 
for  some  time  in  comparative  quiet,  only  broken  by  a  tem 
porary  recall  to  Folly  Island.  In  the  mean  time,  Col.  Haw- 
ley  obtained  new  arms,  —  the  breech-loading  Spencer  rifle, — 
to  the  merits  of  which  the  War  Department  was  blind  until 
near  the  close  of  the  struggle.  Here  many  of  the  two  hun 
dred  sick  crept  slowly  towards  health,  and  the  regiment 
became  itself  once  more. 

57 


450  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  Seventeenth  had  two  weeks  of  constant  and  severe 
service  in  the  exposed  trenches  under  Wagner ;  when  the  regi 
ment  returned  to  Folly  Island,  and  made  a  pleasant  camp 
near  that  of  the  First  Connecticut  Battery,  which  had  been 
there  since  the  affair  of  James  Island.  Clothing  was  now 
drawn  ;  tents  were  procured,  and  set  along  the  sand-bank  that 
centuries  had  rolled  up  above  the  reach  of  the  tides.  The 
men,  dirt-begrimed  and  exhausted,  luxuriated  in  the  splendid 
surf-bathing  directly  in  front  of  the  tents.  Lieut.-Col.  Albert 
H.  Wilcoxson  was  in  command  of  the  regiment,  Col.  Noble 
still  having  charge  of  a  brigade.  Both  were  popular,  feeling 
constant  solicitude  for  the  comfort  of  the  men.  About  this 
time,  Major  Brady  was  transferred  to  the  Invalid  Corps. 

Col.  Noble  issued  an  order  directing  an  observance  of 
Christmas  in  his  brigade,  and  recommending  an  appropriate 
adornment  of  the  camp.  The  suggestion  was  complied  with 
most  spiritedly.  The  companies  hedged  their  streets  with 
young  spruces  and  pines,  interspersed  with  holly-leaves, 
abounding  there.  The  entrances  to  some  of  the  streets  were 
overhung  with  beautiful  arches  of  evergreens  enclosing 
wreaths  and  festoons.  Companies  C  and  K,  occupying  the 
central  street,  reared  in  the  middle  of  it  a  lofty  double  arch 
with  the  word  "  Constitution "  prettily  wrought  upon  it. 
Some  of  the  devices  of  the  camp  were  quite  unique,  and, 
taken  together,  formed  an  imposing  decoration.  Company 
F  (Norwalk)  constructed  a  palmetto  dining-room,  which  was 
quite  convenient  for  the  festivities  of  the  season.  Flags  were 
festooned  upon  its  front,  and  it  was  flanked  with  handsome 
arches  of  cedar,  containing  stars  of  holly.  Even  the  drum- 
corps  had  four  tents  on  a  slight  eminence,  topped  with  cedar- 
boughs,  and  surrounded  with  young  pines  connected  with  an 
evergreen  cable,  and  a  pretty  arched  stairway  leading  up  to 
the  entrance.4 

The  Tenth  Regiment  had  three  full  months  of  siege-work 
on  Morris  Island.  After  the  evacuation  of  Wagner  and 
Gregg,  the  labor  was  by  no  means  diminished,  nor  the  perils 
lessened.  The  forts  had  to  be  reconstructed,  and  others 
built,  in  which  the  toil  and  exposure  were  as  great  as  at 

4   Vide  Letter  of  Private  J.  M.  Bailey  in  Danbury  Times. 


CHAPLAIN  TKUMBULL  AND  ADJUTANT  CAMP.  451 

any  previous  time.  During  the  truce  that  prevailed  after 
the  unsuccessful  assault  of  July  18,  Chaplain  H.  Clay  Trum- 
bull  and  Adjutant  Henry  W.  Camp  advanced  upon  the  neu 
tral  ground  to  help  the  wounded,  and  were  seized  by  the 
perfidious  rebels,  and  held  as  prisoners.  Their  protests  were 
unavailing ;  and  rebel  prison-life  was  in  store  for  them. 

Trumbull  and  Camp  were  alike  in  many  respects, —  alike 
in  their  bravery  and  devotedness  to  the  cause,  alike  in  their 
tastes,  alike  in  their  beliefs,  both  men  of  high  literary  cul 
ture,  each  the  beau  ideal  of  the  Christian  soldier;  and, 
while  they  were  together  at  Columbia,  imprisonment  was 
not  very  irksome,  except  as  it  kept  them  from  the  field. 
They  cherished  a  touching  affection  for  each  other,  which 
made  all  burdens  lighter. 

"  Outside,  the  two  had  been  called  l  the  twins  : '  in  confine 
ment,  the  old  negro  woman  who  daily  brought  in  rations 
spoke  of  them  uniformly  as  '  de  mates ; '  and  they  were  thus 
designated  by  their  companions.  The  guards  spoke  to 
others  by  name,  but  to  these  as  '  you  two ; '  always  allowing 
them  liberty  together,  as  if  they  had  but  one  existence. 
The  chaplain  was  permitted  on  the  Sabbath  to  go  out  into 
the  yard,  or  up  stairs,  to  preach  to  the  Union  privates.  The 
officers,  except  Adjutant  Camp,  were  not  at  first  allowed  to 
attend  these  services.  *  You  two  can  go,  nobody  else,'  was 
the  usual  announcement.  The  friends  were  rarely  an  arm's- 
length  from  each  other  in  all  their  months  of  confinement 
together."5 

Special  efforts  were  made  for  the  release  of  both,  so  treach 
erously  captured  while  under  a  flag  of  truce.  The  chaplain, 
moreover,  was  not,  under  the  cartel,  subject  to  detention  as 
a  prisoner  of  war.  On  these  grounds,  Gen.  Meredith,  our 
exchange-commissioner,  at  last  made  a  formal  demand  on 
Judge  Ould  for  the  immediate  release  of  Chaplain  Trumbull. 
After  considerable  delay,  the  claim  was  granted.  After  the 
war  was  over,  this  claim  was  found  in  Richmond,  favorably 
indorsed  by  Ould  to  Gen.  Beauregard,  and  re-indorsed  .as 
follows  by  Gen.  Jordan,  chief-of-staff  to  Beauregard  :  — 

"  Chaplain  H.  Clay  Trumbull  has  been  directed  to  be  sent  to  Richmond 
at  once.  He  is  a  tricky  fellow,  aud  has  little  the  air  of  a  chaplain.  The 

6  The  Knightly  Soldier,  p.  166. 


452  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  KEBELLION. 

great  desire  manifested  to  get  him  back,  coupled  with  the  circumstances 
of  his  capture,  make  it  doubtful  whether  he  is  really  a  chaplain  or  a  spy." 

The  chaplain  has  a  quick,  military  mind ;  and  he  would 
doubtless  have  made  his  mark  as  an  officer.  Twice  during 
the  war  was  he  offered  the  commission  of  colonel :  he 
declined  it,  preferring  the  office  he  had  chosen ;  but  he  was 
always  at  the  front. 

John  L.  Otis  of  Manchester,  who  left  the  State  *as  second  lieu 
tenant  of  Company  B,  had  now  become  the  colonel.  Dur 
ing  the  last  of  October,  the  regiment  left  for  St.  Augustine, 
Fla.  Here  a  pleasant  camp  was  set  outside  the  city  gates, 
just  beyond  the  old  Spanish  fort.  New  A  tents  were  issued, 
and  pitched  on  handsome  streets.  Good  bunks  were  built 
for  all,  and  floors ;  and,  in  many  cases,  chimneys  of  the  pecu 
liar  cochina,  or  shell-marl,  of  the  vicinity.  Good  water  was 
plenty.  Much  ingenuity  was  shown  in  some  of  the  cook- 
rooms  and  kitchens,  constructed  of  turf,  or  cochina;  while 
exquisite  taste  and  refinement  were  often  displayed  in  the 
adornment  of  the  interior  of  the  tents.  While  the  regiment 
was  passing  the  winter  here,  Chaplain  Trumbull,  beloved  by 
the  whole  command,  came  back  from  prison,  and  the  brave 
Lieut.-Col.  Robert  Leggett,  who  had  lost  a  leg  at  Wagner, 
returned  from  his  furlough.  They  were  warmly  welcomed. 

Again,  as  ever,  Trumbull  devoted  himself  to  the  moral 
and  physical  improvement  of  his  parish  militant,  and  shortly 
after  wrote  as  follows,  in  opposition  to  the  current  ideas  of 
life  in  the  array  :  — 

"  Permit  me  to  repeat  deliberately,  that  after  all  my  experiences  in  New- 
England  life,  in  city  and  country,  before  the  war,  and  here  in  the  army, 
under  varied  circumstances,  for  more  than  two  years,  I  am  well  convinced 
that  the  moral  standard  is  higher  in  the  army  than  out  of  it ;  that  there  is 
less  of  drunkenness,  less  of  licentiousness,  less  of  lying,  less  of  stealing, 
among  soldiers  in  camp  and  field,  than  with  the  corresponding  class  of 
men  outside ;  while  the  highest  types  of  Christian  manhood  in  all  our  land 
are  to  be  found  among  those  in  active  service.  I  also  believe  that  army- 
life  tends  directly  and  uniformly  to  elevate  the  moral  standard,  and  to 
purify  the  mind  and  manners  of  those  who  are  under  its  influence." 

During  the  weeks  succeeding  the  terrible  charge  on  Fort 
Wagner,  the  State  was  called  to  mourn  the  sudden  death  of 
Col.  Chatfield  of  the  Sixth,  in  consequence  of  the  wounds 
there  received. 


COLONEL  JOHN  L.    CHATFIELD.  453 

John  L.  Chatfield  was  born  in  Oxford,  1826,  the  eldest 
son  of  Pulaski  and  Amanda  Chatfield.  He  was  apprenticed 
with  Hotchkiss  &  Co.,  builders  at  Derby,  and  remained  four 
years,  greatly  esteemed  by  all.  He  worked  for  a  while  as  a 
journeyman,  developing  unusual  mechanical  skill.  In  1855, 
having  removed  to  Waterbury,  he  became  associated  with 
his  brother  in  business  as  builder,  and  the  firm  was  widely 
and  favorably  known.  As  a  business-man,  he  was  prompt 
and  honorable,  of  sterling  integrity,  possessing  the  confi 
dence  and  hearty  esteem  of  the  entire  public. 

It  is  gratifying  to  honor  him  as  an  upright  business-man  ; 
but  he  had  other  qualities  yet  to  be  developed.  Col.  Chat- 
field  was  born  for  a  soldier.  He  was  a  private  in  the  Derby 
Blues  by  the  side  of  Charles  L.  Russell,  afterwards  the 
gallant  colonel  of  the  Tenth,  and,  like  him,  was  early  elected 
an  officer.  He  was  active  in  raising  the  Waterbury  City 
Guard,  and  was  its  captain ;  raising  the  company  to  the  first 
rank,  and  giving  it  an  enviable  reputation  for  precision  of 
movement.  He  caught  the  true  military  spirit,  and  infused 
it  into  those  about  him. 

He  studied  diligently,  and  sought  by  every  means  in  his 
power  to  perfect  his  knowledge  of  military  affairs.  To  him 
all  this  training  was  a  reality,  even  in  time  of  peace. 
When  the  alarm  sounded  in  1861,  he  was  one  of  the  very 
first  to  get  his  company  to  New  Haven.  He  was  promoted 
to  be  colonel  of  the  Third ;  and,  even  at  that  early  day,  his 
battalion-drills  were  applauded  as  worthy  any  officer  of  the 
regular  army. 

Subsequently  becoming  colonel  of  the  Sixth,  he  brought 
it  to  a  state  of  discipline  second  to  no  regiment  in  service 
from  the  State.  The  labors  of  the  first  months  were  too 
much  for  him ;  and  he  remained  an  invalid  at  Annapolis, 
while  his  regiment  went  to  Hilton  Head,  rejoining  it  in 
January,  1862.  At  the  battle  of  Pocotalico,  while  in  ad 
vance  on  horseback,  he  received  a  canister-shot  in  his  right 
thigh,  and  crawled  to  the  rear  alone. 

He  recovered  from  the  wound  sufficiently  to  rejoin  his 
regiment  in  April  following,  when,  for  a  time,  he  was  placed 
by  Gen.  Hunter  in  command  of  the  post  at  Hilton  Head; 


454  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

being  relieved  at  his  own  request,  and  permitted  to  join  in 
the  operations  before  Charleston. 

In  the  first  landing  on  Morris  Island,  his  soldierly  bearing 
and  tact  were  much  admired.  According  to  his  usual  cus 
tom  when  charging  batteries,  he  led  the  men  forward  till 
the  moment  of  the  discharge  of  the  enemy's  guns;  then 
ordered  them  to  lie  down,  up  again  and  advance,  and  down 
again,  till  near  as  he  wished  them.  So  rapid  was  their 
double-quick,  they  were  into  the  batteries  and  through  them 
before  the  enemy  could  fire  the  already  loaded  pieces.  The 
achievements  of  that  morning  placed  both  the  colonel  and 
his  command  in  the  first  place  among  fighting  men  and 
regiments. 

When  the  Sixth  charged  down  into  the  fort  on  July  18, 
the  colonel  had  his  leg  shattered  below  the  knee ;  but  he 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  being  taken  prisoner,  and 
attempted  to  drag  himself  out  of  the  fort.  He  had  par 
tially  succeeded,  when  a  shot  struck  his  right  hand,  and 
knocked  his  sword  from  his  grasp.  Wounded  though  he 
was,  he  tried  to  regain  it,  and  only  relinquished  his  efforts 
on  account  of  excessive  weakness.  The  only  things  he 
saved  were  his  scabbard  and  body-belt ;  and  these  are  in  the 
possession  of  his  family. 

He  was  carried  to  the  rear,  and  Chaplain  Woodruff  soon 
procured  transportation  home  for  him.  While  on  the  way 
to  Beaufort,  he  asked  after  the  colors  of  the  regiment.  He 
was  told  that  they  were  all  safe,  at  least  what  was  left  of 
them.  "  Thank  God  for  that ! "  said  he,  his  eye  "brighten 
ing, —  "thank  God  for  that!  I  am  so  glad  they  are  safe! 
Keep  them,  keep  them,  as  long  as  there  is  a  thread  left." 

He  was  exhausted  by  his  journey,  yet  rejoiced  to  be  at 
home.  The  fears  that  were  entertained  at  first  became  a 
reality;  and  on  Sunday  evening,  Aug.  10,  surrounded 
by  his  family  and  a  few  friends,  this  hero  of  many  battles 
breathed  his  last.  For  several  days,  he  had  been  partially 
delirious ;  but  during  the  forenoon  a  o;leam  of  consciousness 

/  cj  o 

was  visible  :  he  recognized  his  weeping  family,  expressed 
his  entire  willingness  and  readiness  to  die,  bade  each  good 
by  cheerfully,  and  died  without  a  struggle. 


COLONEL  JOHN  L.  CHATFIELD.  455 

Connecticut  sent  forth  no  more  accomplished  or  gallant 
soldier  than  he  :  had  he  lived,  he  must  have  won  high  dis 
tinction.  A  modest,  fearless,  pure-hearted,  devoted  man, 
—  his  record  is  that  a  knight  might  envy.  His  deeds  and 
noble  sacrifice  will  live  on  sunlit  pages  and  in  warm  hearts, 
when  new  generations  shall  read  the  imperishable  record  of 
the  Rebellion,  and  bless  those  whose  heroism  saved  the  nation 
and  freedom  from  destruction. 

"  Pride  of  his  country's  banded  chivalry, 

His  fame  their  hope,  his  name  their  battle-cry, 
He  lived  as  mothers  wish  their  sons  to  live, 
He  died  as  fathers  wish  their  sons  to  die." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

More  Troops  wanted.  —  A  Draft.  —  The  Result.  —  Call  for  Seven  Hundred  Thousand 
Men.  —  Seven  Hundred  Dollars'  Bounty.  —  Work  of  Recruiting.  —  The  Twenty-ninth 
Regiment. — Enlistment  and  Departure. — Re-enlistment  of  Veterans.  —  Recruiting 
Rapid.  —  The  Quota  of  the  State  full,  with  a  Surplus.  —  Soldiers'- Aid  Societies.  — 
Hartford,  Bridgeport,  New  Haven,  Norwich,  Danbury,  Derby.  —  The  Work  at  Home 
and  in  the  Field.  —  A  Thanksgiving  Dinner. 

N  June  22,  1863,  Gen.  Joseph  D.  Williams  re 
signed,  and  was  succeeded  by  Horace  J.  Morse 
as  Adjutant-General  of  Connecticut.  The  three 
hundred  thousand  nine-months'  troops  recruited 
in  the  fall  of  1862  were  now  about  to  be  mus 
tered  out  of  the  service ;  and  arrangements  were  made  to 
re-enlist  them  as  veterans.  The  War  Department  called  on 
Connecticut  for  two  regiments  of  veteran  volunteer  infan 
try.  The  United  States  offered  to  each  man  a  bounty  of 
four  hundred  and  two  dollars,  to  be  paid  in  installments 
during  service,  or  at  muster-out  if  sooner  discharged. 
The  State  offered  a  bounty  of  a  hundred  dollars.  Service- 
chevrons  were  authorized  to  be  worn  as  a  badge  of  distinc 
tion.  Col.  George  H.  Burnham  of  the  Twenty-second,  and 
Col.  S.  P.  Ferris  of  the  Twenty-eighth,  were  granted  authority 
to  raise  these  regiments.  This  plan  was  soon  changed,  and 
the  projected  new  organizations  abandoned. 

On  July  1,  it  was  ordered  by  the  War  Department  that 
a  draft  should  be  made  from  the  enrolled  militia,  and  that 
fifty  per  centum  should  be  added  to  cover  exemptions. 
The  quota  of  this  State  was  7,692;  the  number  to  be  drafted, 
11,539. 

A  provost-marshal  general  was  appointed  at  Washington, 
and  an  assistant,  Major  D.  D.  Perkins,  for  Connecticut,  to 

456 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  GOVERNOR.  457 

have  all  charge  of  recruiting  and  a  draft.  A  provost-mar 
shal  was  also  appointed  in  each  congressional  district  as 
follows :  — 

1st  District,  Capt.  Lucius  S.  Goodrich  of  Simsbury. 

2d  District,  Capt.  Benjamin  S.  Pardee  of  New  Haven. 

3d  District,  Capt.  Leverett  Wessells  of  Litchfield. 

4th  District,  Capt.  Isaac  H.  Bromley  of  Norwich. 

There  was  great  opposition  to  a  draft  on  the  part  of 
many  ;  and  the  hostility  culminated  in  terrible  mobs  in  New 
York,  Boston,  and  some  other  cities.  Similar  violence  was 
threatened  in  Connecticut;  and  secret  meetings  of  the  "peace- 
men  "  were  said  to  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
resistance  to  what  they  called  "  conscription."  It  was  widely 
declared  to  be  their  purpose  to  rush  into  the  provost-mar 
shals.'  offices,  an'd  destroy  the  boxes  while  the  draft  was  pro 
ceeding.  On  the  other  hand,  Union  Leagues  were  well  orga 
nized,  strong  and  resolute ;  and  these  were  in  some  cases 
armed  to  meet  the  impending  danger. 

Gov.  Buckingham  also  called  for  two  battalions  of  volun 
teer  infantry,  under  Major  George  D.  Chapman  and  Major 
John  C.  Hollister.  The  companies  immediately  reported ; 
but  the  stern  purpose  overawed  the  malcontents,  and  the 
draft  proceeded  peacefully,  the  services  of  the  battalions  not 
being  required. 

During  the  extra  (fall)  session  of  1863,  a  resolution  was 
passed,  setting  forth  a  belief  that  rifles,  muskets,  and  pistols 
had  been  taken  illegally  "  from  their  proper  places  of  de 
posit,  and  delivered  to  individuals,  or  organized  bodies  of 
men  not  recognized  by  the  military  law  of  this  State;"  and 
calling  on  the  Governor  for  information. 

His  Excellency  replied  in  a  message,  of  which  the  follow 
ing  is  an  extract :  — 

"  In  July  last,  a  large  number  of  men  in  the  city  of  New  York,  under  the 
influence  of  leaders  hostile  to  the  National  Union  and  in  sympathy  with 
Rebellion,  banded  together  to  resist  the  draft  ordered  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States  under  congressional  authority. 

lt  They  at  once  became  an  infuriated  mob  ;  they  compelled  men  to  leave 
their  labors,  and  close  their  places  of  business;  they  went  from  house  to 
house,  and  from  street  to  street,  overpowering  whatever  obstacles  impeded 
their  progress.  Arson,  pillage,  and  robbery  were  unrestrained.  Innocent 
citizens  were  beaten,  shot,  and  hung.  The  rioters  became  a  power  so  formi- 


458 


CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 


dablc,  that  they  could  not,  even  by  the  most  solemn  pledges  that  their  alleged 
grievances  should  be  redressed,  be  persuaded  to  resist  from  their  hellish 
work.  They  held  the  city,  with  its  untold  wealth  and  millions  of  people, 
for  days  in  the  terrors  of  anarchy. 

"  At  the  same  time,  riotous  demonstrations  were  made  in  different  parts 
of  the  country  ;  and,  without  concert  of  action,  gentlemen  residing  in  vari 
ous  sections  of  this  State,  whose  opinions  and  judgment  are  entitled  to  high 
consideration,  represented  the  danger  in  their  respective  localities  in  the 
following  language  :  — 

k' '  Those  who  oppose  the  draft  are  making  every  effort  to  unite  themselves 
together  for  resistance.'  'There  is  no  doubt  of  an  organization  here  to  re 
sist  the  draft.'  'Threats  of  resistance  are  loud  and  frequent  in  our  midst.' 
'  Notices  have  been  posted,  threatening  those  who  aid  the  draft.'  '  Men 
have  pledged  themselves  to  break  the  boxes  which  contain  the  names  of 
men  enrolled  for  the  draft.'  '  Secret  meetings  have  been  held,  at  which  it 
had  been  determined  to  commence  open  resistance  on  the  night  of  a  given 
day  ;  but  for  some  reason  it  was  postponed.'  '  I  want  a  sufficient  number 
of  men  to  guard  my  property  from  the  mob  which  is  likely  to  arise  to  pil 
lage  and  burn.'  '  I  do  not  take  counsel  of  my  fears  when  I  assure  you 
that  I  anticipate  an  outbreak  in  this  place.'  '  These  disturbances  through 
out  the  country  are  the  result  of  a  combination  of  traitors  both  North  and 
South.' 

"  In  this  critical  and  alarming  condition  of  public  affairs,  men  of  true  and 
well-known  patriotism,  belonging  to  both  the  Republican  and  Democratic 
parties,  offered  their  services  to  preserve  public  order,  and  made  requisition 
upon  the  Executive  for  arms.  In  examining  the  statutes,  I  found  authority 
to  furnish  the  active  militia,  and  the  enrolled  militia  when  ordered  into 
active  service,  with  arms  ;  and  nothing  to  prohibit  the  use  of  them  by  others 
whenever  public  necessity  requires.  Also,  that  no  place  is  designated  for 
the  deposit  of  arms  purchased  by  the  State,  and  not  in  the  hands  of  the 
militia  ;  and  that  the  commauder-in-chief  '  may  issue  such  orders  as  he  shall 
judge  expedient  to  carry  into  execution  the  intents  of  "  An  Act  relating 
to  the  Militia,"  which  act  is  especially  intended  to  give  him  full  power 
and  authority  to  use  both  the  active  and  inactive  militia  to  prevent  rebel 
lion  and  insurrection.' 

"  Considering  our  perilous  condition,  and  the  fact  that  the  active  militia 
of  the  State,  including  the  Governor's  Guards,  was  composed  of  less  than 
one  thousand  men,  orders  were  issued  from  this  Department  for  the  trans 
mission  of  arms  to  the  following  persons,  residing  in  the  towns  herein 
named,  upon  the  execution  of  proper  bonds  for  their  safe-keeping  and 
return :  — 


1863. 

July  14, 

William  T.  Miner, 

Stamford, 

65  Muskets  and  Sets  of  Accouterments. 

15, 

Dexter  R.  Wright, 

Meriden, 

200 

18, 

Joshua  Kendall, 

Derby, 

60 

18, 

1).  W.  Plumb, 

Derby, 

40 

20, 

Elisha  Carpenter, 

Daniel  sonville, 

80 

20, 

Thomas  Guyer, 

Nor  walk, 

60 

21, 

Major  F.  W.  Russell, 

Portland, 

40 

21, 

Gilbert  W.  Phillips, 

Putnam, 

80 

21, 

Capt.  A.  Seeley, 

Stamford, 

50 

24, 

Rufus  Smith, 

Litchfield, 

40 

715 


"Prior  to  the  assembling  of  your  honorable  body,  four  hundred  of  the 
above-described  muskets,  and  as  many  sets  of  accouterments,  were  returned 


ADDITIONAL  CALLS  FOE  TROOPS.  459 

to  the  State  Arsenal,  or  transferred  to  military  companies  newly  organized 
in  the  towns  where  the  arms  were  sent. 

"  Exceptions  might  be  taken  to  the  language  of  the  resolution,  which, 
assuming  that  the  Executive  has  acted  without  legal  authority,  calls  upon 
him  for  proof:  hut  I  prefer  to  have  every  public  act  of  mine,  together  with 
all  the  circumstances  connected  with  it,  fully  known  ;  and  most  cheerfully 
submit  to  your  deliberate  judgment,  and  to  the  impartial  decision  of  your 
constituents,  whether  such  Executive  action  has  put  in  jeopardy  the  rights 
or  the  person  of  any  law-abiding  citizen,  and  whether  the  Executive  would 
not,  under  the  circumstances  by  which  he  was  surrounded,  have  proved 
faithless  to  the  high  trusts  committed  to  him  by  a  confiding  people,  if  he 
had  not  placed  the  arms  of  the  State  where  they  could  have  been  used  to 
maintain  the  supremacy  of  law,  and  preserve  public  tranquillity. 

"  WM.  A.  BUCKINGHAM." 

Of  the  whole  number  (11,539)  drafted  for  in  the  State,  8,000 
were  exempted  on  various  pleas;  and  248  principals  and 
2,248  substitutes  were  mustered  into  the  service.  Of  these, 
400  deserted;  and  the  following  were  assigned  to  different 
Connecticut  organizations :  First  Connecticut  Volunteer  Ar 
tillery,  54 ;  First  Connecticut  Volunteer  Cavalry,  4 ;  Fifth 
Infantry,  424  ;  Sixth  Infantry,  228 ;  Seventh  Infantry,  142 ; 
Eighth  Infantry,  171 ;  Tenth  Infantry,  4 ;  Fourteenth  Infant 
ry,  834  ;  Twentieth  Infantry,  150  ;  Twenty-first  Infantry,  1 ; 
14th  Rhode-Island  Artillery  (colored),  66. 

On  Oct.  17,  the  president  called  for  an  additional  force  of 
three  hundred  thousand  to  strengthen  the  regiments  in  the 
field.  The  same  bounties  were  offered ;  and  a  draft  was  pro 
vided  for  in  case  the  requisition  should  not  be  filled  by  Jan. 
5,  1864.  The  re-inforcements  which  the  draft  had  failed  to 
yield,  now  began  to  be  furnished  by  voluntary  enlistments. 

Many  towns  had  already  made  extravagant  appropriations 
for  bounties  ;  which  would  involve  them  in  lawsuits,  and  per 
haps  insolvency,  if  continued.  Gov.  Buckingham,  accord 
ingly,  convened  the  General  Assembly  in  special  session,  to 
meet  on  Nov.  3. 

By  an  act  approved  Nov.  13,  a  State  bounty  of  three  hun 
dred  dollars  was  ordered  paid  to  each  volunteer  non-commis 
sioned  officer  or  private  who  should  enlist,  and  be  credited 
to  this  State,  under  the  call  of  Oct.  17  ;  and  every  town  was 
prohibited  from  making  any  appropriation  for  volunteers. 

The  quota  of  the  State  was  5,432.  The  recruiting  was 
placed  entirely  in  the  hands  of  United-States  officers ;  and 


460  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   KEBELLION. 

recruiting-agents  were  appointed,  who  were  to  receive  fifteen 
dollars  from  the  United  States,  and  ten  dollars  from  the 
State,  for  each  recruit.  Each  "  veteran  "  entitled  the  officer 
to  ten  dollars  additional.  The  bounty  was  now  six  hundred 
and  two  dollars  for  new  levies,  and  a  hundred  dollars  addi 
tional  for  soldiers  who  had  served  at  least  nine  months. 

The  authorized  agents  immediately  employed  and  put  into 
the  field  a  large  number  of  recruiting-brokers,  who  labored 
night  and  day,  receiving  for  each  recruit  a  large  commission 
from  the  premium  due  to  their  employers.  For  a  time,  this 
seemed  to  be  the  all-absorbing  industry  of  the  State.  Every 
town  at  once  began  the  work ;  and  an  enthusiasm  and  zeal 
were  manifest  that  gave  promise  of  filling  the  quota. 

Each  town  was  made  a  sub-district ;  and  the  former  rivalry, 
to  some  extent,  was  renewed.  The  citizens  of  Canton  offered 
the  recruiting-agent  a  hundred  dollars  for  each  man  credited 
to  the  town.  Laborers  received  large  wages ;  and  many  en 
listed  at  a  real  sacrifice,  for  which  the  large  bounties  did  not 
compensate.  In  the  midst  of  these  pressing  emergencies, 
many  of  the  recruiting-brokers  began  a  course  of  systematic 
swindling ;  robbing  the  volunteers  of  a  large  portion  of  their 
bounty,  and  thriving  upon  the  necessities  of  an  imperiled 
nation. 

Colored  regiments  had  already  been  accepted  by  the  War 
Department  from  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island ;  and  oth 
ers  had  been  organized  in  the  South.  By  the  efforts  of  Col. 
Dexter  R.  Wright,  ably  seconded  by  Col.  B.  S.  Pardee  of  New 
Haven,  a  bill  was  passed  in  the  General  Assembly,  authoriz 
ing  Gov.  Buckingham  to  organize  regiments  of  colored  in 
fantry  in  Connecticut.  The  Democrats  denounced  this  bill 
in  unmeasured  terms,  as  a  provision  to  let  loose  upon  the 
helpless  South  "  a  horde  of  African  barbarians,"  and  predicted 
cowardice,  disgrace,  and  ruin  as  the  result  of  the  experi 
ment. 

On  the  23d  of  November,  the  governor  called  for  colored 
volunteers  for  the  Twenty-ninth  Regiment ;  and  the  call  was 
at  once  enthusiastically  responded  to.  The  bounty  offered 
was  six  hundred  dollars  ;  the  pay  and  uniforms  being  the  same 
as  for  other  soldiers.  In  a  week,  the  nucleus  of  the  regiment 


COLOEED  EEGIMENT  FROM  CONNECTICUT.        461 

had  been  formed,  and  encamped  near  Fair  Haven,  in  comfort 
able  barracks,  at  the  draft  rendezvous. 

By  the  12th  of  January,  the  maximum  number  had  as 
sembled  ;  but  few  officers  were  yet  appointed.  Candidates 
for  commissions  were  required  to  pass  a  severe  examination 
before  a  board  appointed  by  the  War  Department.  The 
process  was  slow,  but  beneficial.  Before  the  end  of  January, 
many  officers  had  reported,  and  daily  drills  and  a  system  of 
rigid  inspections  were  established.  Thus  the  winter  months 
passed ;  and  spring  found  a  tolerably-disciplined  regiment, 
under  Capt.  Charles  L.  Norton  of  Farmington,  to  whose  efforts 
the  organization  was  much  indebted.  This  officer  wras  soon 
promoted  to  be  colonel  of  a  regiment  in  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf.  Lieut.  Jabez  A.  Tracy,  a  faithful  and  energetic 
officer,  died  in  February,  and  his  loss  was  deeply  felt. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  the  regiment  was  mustered  into  the 
service,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  month  was  fortunate  in 
receiving  for  its  commander  William  B.  Wooster  of  Derby, 
lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Twentieth.  Henry  C.  Ward  of 
Hartford  (late  adjutant  of  the  Twenty-fifth)  was  appointed 
lieutenant-colonel ;  and  David  Torrance  of  Greenville  became 
major. 

On  March  19,  after  receiving  a  United-States  flag  from 
the  colored  ladies  of  New  Haven,  the  regiment  embarked  on 
the  transport  Warrior  for  Annapolis.  Here  the  organiza 
tion  was  completed  ;  and,  through  the  efforts  of  Col.  Wooster, 
the  regiment  was  armed  with  the  latest  pattern  of  Spring 
field  rifles. 

On  Jan.  12,  the  Twenty-ninth  being  declared  full,  the  gov 
ernor  issued  a  call  for  colored  volunteers  for  the  Thirtieth, 
subject  to  the  same  conditions.  Enlistments  continued  vig 
orously. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  call  for  three  hundred  thousand 
was  modified  to  a  call 1  of  five  hundred  thousand ;  the  quota 
of  Connecticut  being  9,053.  The  draft  was  postponed  to 
March  10. 

Recruiting-officers  were  sent  to  the  regiments  in  the  field  ; 
and  the  soldiers  having  less  than  one  year  to  serve  were 

iFeb.  1. 


462 


CONNECTICUT  DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 


offered  the  veteran  bounty  of  $702  to  re-enlist,  with  a  fur 
lough  of  thirty  days  before  the  expiration  of  their  original 
term  of  enlistment.  The  effort  was  attended  with  abundant 
success. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  number  of  veteran  re- 
enlistments  in  each  of  the  Connecticut  organizations  quali 
fied  by  returns  received  up  to  April  1,  1864. 


Kegiment. 

Commanding  Officer. 

Location. 

No.  Re-en 
listed. 

1st  Artillery, 

Col.  Henry  L.  Abbot, 

Defenses  of  Washington, 

435 

1st  Cavalry, 

"     Wm.  S.  Fish, 

Baltimore,  Md., 

92 

1st  Squadron  C 

ava 

ry, 

Army  of  the  Potomac, 

43 

1st  Battery, 

Capt.  Alfred  P.  Rockwell, 

Department  of  the  South, 

46 

5th  Infantry, 

Col.  Warren  W.  Packer, 

Army  of  the  Cumberland, 

280 

6th 

Redfield  Duryee, 

Department  of  the  South, 

205 

7th 

Joseph  R.  Hawley, 

" 

333 

8th 

John  E.  Ward, 

of  Virginia, 

310 

9th 

Thomas  W.  Cahill, 

of  the  Gulf, 

321 

10th 

John  L.  Otis, 

of  the  South, 

280 

llth 

Griffin  A.Stednian,Jr. 

of  Virginia, 

268 

12th 

Ledvard  Col  burn, 

of  the  Gulf, 

436 

13th 

Charles  D.  Blinn, 

» 

298 

3,347 

The  men  of  the  First  Artillery,  First  Battery,  and  First 
Cavalry,  received  their  furloughs,  and  came  home  individu 
ally  or  in  squads.  The  re-enlisted  men  in  each  of  the  other 
regiments,  except  the  Ninth  and  Thirteenth,  returned  to 
the  State  as  regimental  organizations,  accompanied  by  their 
officers ;  the  men  who  had  not  re-enlisted  being  generally 
transferred  for  the  time  to  other  regiments. 

Meanwhile  the  recruiting  went  on  through  January,  Febru 
ary,  and  March.  Kent,  Cornwall,  Brooklyn,  and  many  other 
towns,  filled  their  quotas  from  their  own  native  citizens.  Ee- 
course  was  also  had  to  adopted  citizens,  and  to  recent  arrivals 
from  Europe.  Very  many  of  these  made  excellent  soldiers. 
Surgeon  Mayer  wrote  of  these  from  Portsmouth,  — 

"  The  conscripts  themselves,  or  rather  the  substitutes,  —  for  there  is  hard 
ly  a  drafted  man  among  them,  —  truly  comprise  '  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men.'  We  have  Ellsworth's  and  Hawkins's  Zouaves,  as  well  as  Billy  Wil 
son's.  Full  half  the  consignment  have  served  before  in  our  own  or  in  the 
European  armies.  We  have  quite  a  number  of  English,  Irish,  and  German 
regulars,  who  came  to  this  country  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting.  They  have 
taken  the  substitute-money,  and  entered  the  army  at  better  wages  than  they 
ever  before  received.  They  esteem  their  bargain  a  good  one,  and  intend 
to  do  good  service.  I  have  talked  with  many  of  this  class,  as  well  as  my 


ADDRESS   OF  THE   CITIZENS   OF   DERBY.  4G3 

limited  knowledge  of  German  would  admit,  and  fiud  them  apparently  relia 
ble  and  honorable  men.  They  express  themselves  much  better  pleased 
with  our  service  than  with  that  of  the  European  armies.  Many  of  them 
save  their  money  ;  and  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  sent  to  New  York 
and  elsewhere  by  them  since  their  arrival." 

On  March  14,  the  President  called  for  two  Hundred  thou 
sand  more,  and  the  quota  of  Connecticut  was  again  5,260. 
The  most  strenuous  efforts  were  put  forth.  Recruiting  contin 
ued  without  abatement ;  individual  and  collective  energy  was 
put  forth  to  fill  the  quota ;  and  in  two  weeks  the  quota  was  full, 
with  a  large  surplus  to  be  credited  on  any  subsequent  call. 

Adjutant-Gen.  Morse,  in  closing  his  report  for  1864,  on 
April  1,  1865,  ^ays, — 

"  We  have  entered  upon  another  year  of  the  war  ;  and  Connecticut  main 
tains  her  place  among  the  foremost  in  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  Union. 
Every  demand  for  men  has  been  responded  to  with  a  spirit  and  zeal  second 
to  none  ;  and  the  State  has  now  a  surplus  on  all  calls  of  thirty-one  hundred 
and  seventy-two,  or  more  than  the  quota  under  the  last  call  for  two  .hundred 
thousand  men. 

"  In  the  glorious  record  of  our  State,  especial  honor  should  be  given  those 
brave  and  true  men,  who,  after  the  dangers  and  toils  of  a  soldier's  life  for 
so  long  a  time,  have  again  offered  themselves  to  the  service  of  the  country." 


The  Confederacy  was  now  environed  on  all  sides  with  a 
cordon  of  triumphant  bayonets;  and  it  was  generally  felt 
that  the  Rebellion  was  staggering  to  its  doom.  Soldiers  and 
citizens  redoubled  their  energies  to  hasten  the  end.  Soldiers'- 
aid  societies,  on  the  model  of  the  Hartford  Society,  had 
been  organized  in  every  large  town  in  the  State. 

The  citizens  of  Derby,  who  had  already  shown  themselves 
among  the  first  in  patriotic  work,  as  her  soldiers  were  among 
the  first  upon  the  patriotic  record,  added  to  their  donations 
an  address  of  thanks  to  their  "  fellow-citizens  in  the  armies 
of  the  Union."  We  quote  briefly :  — 

"It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  to  us,  that  you,  though  accustomed  to 
the  peaceful  pursuits  of  civil  life,  have  shown  yourselves  valiant  in  war, 
and  that  your  patriotism  has  remained  unshaken  while  sorely  tried  by  the 
privations  of  the  camp  and  the  stern  ordeal  of  the  battle-field.  We  learn 
with  sorrow  that  some  who  went  from  our  midst  have  fallen  before  the  foe. 
But,  while  we  mourn  their  loss,  we  hold  sacred  to  memory  their  bright 
example ;  and  though  they  walk  no  more  among  us,  the  heroic  and  self- 
sacrificing  spirit  they  have  shown  in  being  willing  to  dai-e  and  to  die  for 
the  sake  of  our  beloved  land  will  never  be  forgotten.  And  now  we  would 


464  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

renew  to  you  the  assurance  of  our  sympathy,  and  pledge  you  again  our 
cordial  support.  We  would  have  you  feel  that  the  fire  of  patriotism  still 
burns  in  our  souls  ;  and  that  we  are  not  only  ready  to  lift  up  your  hands  and 
encourage  your  hearts,  but,  if  need  be,  to  come  and  stand  by  your  side,  and 
with  you  carry  on  this  great  contest  till  the  glorious  Union  of  our  fathers 
is  restored,  and  traitors  are  no  more." 

This  was  signed  by  three  hundred  citizens,  among  whom 
were  A.  Beardsley,  John  I.  Howe,  ,D.  W.  Plumb,  Egbert 
Bartlett,  Thomas  Wallace,  jr.,  Gerald  H.  Corlies,  Amos  H. 
Ailing,  William  E.  Downs,  D.  K.  Croffut,  Robert  Narramore, 
George  Blakeman,  and  other  well-known  citizens. 

The  ladies  of  Bridgeport  met,  the  day  after  the  President's 
first  call  for  troops  in  the  spring  of  1861,  to  "  see  what  they 
could  do"  for  the  volunteers;  and  commenced  their  labors 
that  afternoon.  This  was  the  first  ladies'  association  for  this 
purpose  in  the  country.  The  honorable  priority  is  conceded 
by  citizens  of  other  States.2  A  more  complete  organization 
was  formed  in  August,  denominated  the  Ladies'  Soldiers'-Re- 
lief  Society,  whereof  Mrs.  Woolsey  G.  Sterling  was  the 
earliest  president.  Mrs.  Daniel  Thacher  succeeded  her.  Miss 
Lydia  R.  Ward  was  its  secretary  from  the  beginning  to  the 
close  of  its  labors.  The  immediate  purpose  of  organization 
was  to  aid  the  Sixth  Regiment;  but,  like  other  societies, 
they  soon  widened  their  sphere  of  action,  and  sent  supplies 
to  other  Connecticut  soldiers,  to  the  Sanitary  Commission, 
to  regiments  of  other  States,  and  to  various  hospitals.  Dur 
ing  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  the  cash  receipts  were 
$2,618.21;  and  the  cash  expenditures  $1,464.57.  To  these 
accounts  must  be  added  the  articles  of  clothing  and  bedding, 
and  most  of  the  delicacies,  made  and  prepared  by  the  ladies, 
and  not  comprised  in  the  above  items.  More  than  a  hun 
dred  and  forty  families  of  soldiers  were  assisted  by  the  society 
during  the  first  year,  by  gifts  of  eight  hundred  yards  of 
cotton  cloth,  six  hundred  and  seventy  yards  of  calico,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  delaine,  a  quantity  of  new  flan 
nel,  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  finished  garments,  and 
seventy  unmade  garments  ;  besides  fuel,  provisions,  and 
bedding. 

2  See  the  Tribute  Book  by  Frank  B.  Goodrich,  p.  70 ;  and  the  History  of  the  Sani 
tary  Commission  by  Charles  G.  Stillc,  p.  39. 


DONATIONS  TO   THE   SOLDIERS.  465 

The  whole  amount  contributed  to  hospitals  during  the 
year  was  as  follows  :  — 

Articles  of  clothing  and  bedding,  5,928;  slippers,  212  pairs;  dressing- 
gowns,  80  ;  brandy  and  wines,  108  bottles  ;  tea,  sugar,  and  crackers,  132 
pounds  ;  soap  and  candles,  69  pounds  ;  camphor,  laudanum,  &c.,  56  bot 
tles  ;  dried  fruit,  225  pounds;  jellies,  110  quarts;  miscellaneous  articles, 
2,086. 

The  officers  of  this  society  for  1863  were, —  president, 
Mrs.  Daniel  H.  Sterling ;  vice-president,  Mrs.  Monson  Haw- 
ley  ;  secretary,  Mrs.  L.  H.  Norton ;  treasurer,  Mrs  William 
E.  Seeley. 

Early  during  the  winter  of  1863-64  the  project  was  started 
by  the  managers  of  this  society  to  freight  a  vessel  with  vege 
tables  and  other  provisions,  and  send  a  portion  to  every 
Connecticut  regiment  on  the  Atlantic  coast  that  could  be 
reached  by  any  means  of  carriage.  Although  the  time  for 
making  the  collection  was  limited  to  ten  days,  yet  the  supply 
from  donations  made  from  all  parts  of  the  State  was  amp^- 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  The  different  railroad-companies, 
the  express-company,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  gave 
free  transportation  to  the  supplies.  No  less  than  fifteen 
hundred  packages,  comprising  barrels,  half-barrels,  boxes,  &c., 
made  up  this  noble  and  generous  contribution  to  the  sol 
diers.  Portions  were  transmitted  by  special  agents  to  the 
First  Artillery,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh, 
Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  Seventeenth,  Twentieth, 
and  Twenty-first  Connecticut  Regiments,  and  to  the  1st 
North-Carolina  colored  regiment. 

These  supplies  filled  more  than  seven  hundred  barrels; 
and  most  of  them  reached  their  destination  before  the  1st 
of  January.  They  were,  of  course,  received  with  great  de 
light  in  all  the  winter  camps.  On  New-Year's  Day,  the  ves 
sel  reached  Folly  Island,  and  delivered  the  portion  assigned 
to  the  Seventeenth.  The  Ne\v*Year's  present  was  carted  to 
the  camp,  making  eighteen  wagon-loads.  Many  soldiers 
from  other  States  were  heard  to  exclaim,  as  the  good  things 
came  to  our  Connecticut  boys,  "  I  wish  I  had  enlisted  from 
Connecticut ! "  This  remembrance  of  the  absent  was  shown 


466  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

with  a  lavishness  that  had  its  parallel  but  few  times  during 
the  war. 

The  Soldiers'-Aid  Society  of  Norwich  was  organized  in 
September,  1861,  under  a  call  to  furnish  woolen  stockings 
for  the  soldiers. 

Donations  of  yarn  were  received,  and  quickly,  by  willing 
fingers,  transformed  into  warm  socks.  Considerable  finished 
work  was  also  contributed. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Gov.  Buckingham,  an  arrangement 
was  soon  made  for  supplying  regimental  hospitals  ;  and  the 
ladies  of  Norwich  assumed  the  especial  care  of  the  Sixth, 
Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Thirteenth  Regiments.  They  called 
upon  the  ladies  of  New-London  and  Windham  Counties 
to  co-operate,  and  were  answered  promptly  and  generously. 
In  this  manner,  they  labored  during  the  winter.  During 
the  spring  and  summer,  they  were  active  and  efficient  in 
responding  to  all  special  calls  for  general  hospital-supplies 
for  all  Connecticut  soldiers,  and  indeed  for  any  suffering 
men  who  wore  the  army  blue.  They  sent  a  large  number 
of  boxes  to  the  Women's  Central  Relief  Association  of  New 
York,  and  quickly  gained  an  enviable  name  for  the  choice 
quality  of  their  supplies. 

The  three  citizens  who  mainly  managed  and  carried  for 
ward  this  association  were  Misses  Elizabeth  Green,  Carrie 
L.  Thomas,  and  Eliza  P.  Perkins ;  and  no  }7oung  women  any 
where  gave  their  time  and  efforts  more  devotedly  to  that 
service.  From  the  time  of  the  organization,  October,  1861,  to 
January,  1863,  the  society  had  received  and  disbursed,  in  cash, 
$3,825.46 ;  most  of  it  the  result  of  church  contributions. 
Besides  this,  it  had  received  from  the  city,  and  from  tributary 
societies  in  New-London  and  Windham  Counties,  30,443 
different  articles,  and  distributed  them  to  various  hospitals 
and  to  the  Eighth,  Ninth,  Eleventh,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth, 
Fourteenth,  Eighteenth,  Twenty-first,  and  Twenty-sixth  Con 
necticut  Regiments.  After  1863,  the  scope  of  the  society 
was  enlarged ;  and  an  immense  amount  of  supplies  was  sent 
to  the  front  during  1864  and  1865 :  but  no  report  has 
been  received.  Throughout  the  entire  war,  the  patriotic 


SOLDIEES'-AID   SOCIETIES.  467 

eastern  counties  were  among  the  first  in  their  generous 
remembrance  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field. 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Claudius  B. 
Webster  and  wife  of  Norwich,  who  were  active  from  the 
first  in  connection  with  the  war.  They  were  at  first  sani 
tary  agents  at  Washington ;  then  the  doctor  was  for  a  long 
time  in  charge  of  the  freedmen's  camp  and  hospital  there 
when  it  contained  a  thousand  fugitives ;  and  was  afterwards 
medical  superintendent  of  hospital  -  trains  between  Nash 
ville  and  Louisville,  —  always  accompanied  by  his  wife,  and 
both  of  them  always  faithful  to  their  work. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Green,  and  her  sister  Miss  A.  E.  Green, 
employed  substitutes,  and  kept  them  in  the  field  during  the 
entire  war, —  an  example  which  was  followed  by  many 
other  women  throughout  the  State. 

From  first  to  last,  Danbury  was  alert  and  vigorous  in  giv 
ing  substantial  aid  to  the  soldiers.  The  Aid  Society  was 
organized  in  November,  1861,  at  the  house  of  Frederick  S. 
Wildrnan.  Mrs.  Wildman  was  made  president,  with  Mrs. 
Horace  Marshall,  vice-president,  and  Mrs.  C.  A.  Bacon,  secre 
tary.  Until  the  last  gun  was  fired,  this  society  held  regular 
weekly  meetings,  and  promptly  sent  its  offerings  to  the  front ; 
the  total  amounting  to  several  thousand  dollars.  Two  other 
soldiers'-relief  societies  were  formed  towards  the  close  of 
the  war ;  one  under  the  auspices  of  young  people,  superin 
tended  by  Misses  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Wildman.  The 
aggregate  of  donations  was  very  large ;  and  there  was 
scarcely  a  town  in  the  State  that  furnished  more  liberally, 
or  wrought  with  greater  constancy,  than  Danbury. 

The  Hartford  Soldiers'- Aid  Association  was  organized  im 
mediately  after  the  fall  of  Sumter,  in  the  spring  of  1861 ; 
and  was  one  of  the  earliest  in  the  State.  Although  in  its 
first  organization  it  was  designed  for  the  benefit  of  Coi> 

o  .  o 

necticut  volunteers,  it  gave  two-thirds  of  its  supplies  to  the 
United-States  Sanitary  Commission,  for  all  the  soldiers  of 
the  Union. 

Large  contributions  from  the  citizens  flowed  in ;  great  in 
terest  was  manifested  in  the  work  of  procuring  supplies ; 
men  gave  liberally;  and  women,  with  unflagging  zeal, 


468 


CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 


prepared  and  sent.     The  following  is  a  summary  of  con 
tributions  forwarded  to  the  front  during  the  first  year  :  — 


Clothing,  pieces    ....  19,506 

Bedding         "       ....  6,064 

Handkerchiefs,  towels,  &c.  10,281 

.  .       63 

.  .       41 

.  .        49 

.  .        27 
133 


Lint,  boxes 
Bandages,  barrels 
Old  linen,  packages  . 
Old  cotton      "     .     . 
Books,  papers,  &c.  . 


Medicines,  packages 
Dried  fruit  "... 

Groceries  "      .      .     . 

Jellies,  &c..  preserves,  jars 
Wine,  &c.,  bottles    . 
Hospital  furniture    . 
Miscellaneous 


50 
44 
215 
250 
159 
149 
183 


Something  was  sent  to  the  Fourth,  Fifth,  Tenth,  Eleventh, 
Twelfth,  and  Fourteenth  Connecticut  Regiments,  and  after 
wards  to  almost  all  organizations  from  this  State.  Clothing 
and  food,  moreover,  was  sent  to  nine  United-States  hospitals. 

During  the  first  two  years  of  the  existence  of  this  society. 
it  disbursed,  in  cash,  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars ; 
and  of  general  supplies,  more  than  sixty  thousand  dollars' 
worth.  A  large  portion  of  this  was  received  from  auxil 
iary  societies  in  other  towns.  Most  of  the  towns  and  so 
cieties  of  Hartford,  Tolland,  and  Litchfield  Counties,  poured 
generous  tributary  streams  into  the  parent  society.  The 
wealtlry  men  of  Hartford  were  active  in  furnishing  a  con 
stant  supply  of  means  to  carry  forward  the  enterprise. 

The  following  are  the  total  receipts  and  disbursements  of 
the  Hartford  Society  :  - 


RECEIPTS. 

1862 $9.314.34 

1863 13,181.51 

1864 9,889.40 

1865  (to  July)  .  .  .  2,956.37 


$36,341.62 


EXPENSES. 

1862 $10,139.05 

1863  ..*....   11,544.13 


1864  .  .  .  . 

1865  (to  July)  . 


11,883.66 
2,569.96 

$36,136.80 


The  largest  donors  were  Alfred  Smith,  $1,275.00  ;  Colt's 
employes,  $820;  Calvin  Day,  $760;  H.  C.  Beckwith, 
$750;  Collins  Brothers,  $700;'  E.  Flower,  $600;  Mrs. 
Warburton,  $515;  M.  P.  Jewell  &  Son,  $500;  L.  C.  Ives, 
475;  surplus  fund  of  Twenty-second  Regiment,  $463.64;  N. 
Kingsbury  &  Co.,  $450 ;  Thomas  Smith,  $450 ;  E.  N.  Kellogg 
&  Co.,  $425 ;  Daniel  Phillips,  $420.  The  sum  of  $2,265.56 
was  received  from  tableaux,  and  $1,324.25  from  New  Britain. 


WOEK  QF  THE   SOLDIEES'-AID   SOCIETIES.  469 

More  than  forty  gave  $200  each ;  and  all  were  at  the  same 
time  giving  liberally  in  other  directions. 

Virgil  Cornish  of  New  Britain,  a  man  admirably  qualified 
for  the  work,  contributed  his  services  as  special  agent  of  the 
society,  and  went  to  the  field  with  large  supplies  from  time 
to  time.  Mr.  E.  M.  Cushman  also  wrought  faithfully  and 
successfully  in  the  same  office.  In  December,  1862,  he  took 
U  hundred  barrels,  and  distributed  among  our  regiments  at 
Falmouth. 

A  large  quantity  of  supplies  was  received  in  Washington, 
and  distributed  by  Mrs.  Senator  Dixon,  Mrs.  Secretary 
Welles,  and  Mrs.  Gen.  Hawley  ;  the  last  of  whom  gave  many 
months  exclusively  to  hospital-work,  permanently  injuring 
her  health. 

Surgeon  Mayer  of  the  Sixteenth  wrote,  on  the  receipt  of 
supplies  from  Hartford, — 

"  Allow  me  to  say,  that  few  other  societies  in  the  United 
States  are  conducted  with  that  energy  and  success  which 
characterize  the  work  of  your  body ;  and  no  regiments  are 
provided  for  as  you  provide  for  the  Connecticut  regiments. 
God  knows,  our  poor  boys,  exposed  not  only  to  the  attacks 
of  the  enemy,  but  to  the  inroads  of  every  disease,  deserve 
richly  the  care  of  those  for  whom  they  suffer  and  fight.  The 
moral  influence  of  your  labor  for  them  is  almost  as  great  a 
comfort  to  them  as  the  good  things  you  send." 

From  Jarvis  Hospital,  Baltimore,  a  lady  who  had  distrib 
uted  supplies,  wrote,  — 

"  I  wish  each  donor  could  see  the  happy  faces  of  the  brave 
soldiers  as  the  articles  are  given  to  them.  I  tell  them  that 
they  come  from  Hartford,  Conn. ;  that  the  ladies  love  the 
cause  they  are  fighting  and  suffering  and  dying  for,  and  work 
with  willing  hands  to  prepare  articles  for  their  comfort. 
The  young  ladies  who  prepared  those  ring-pads  and  pil 
lows  will  never  know  how  much  pain  they  saved  the  poor 
fellows  who  are  obliged  to  keep  their  beds  for  months. 
Mrs.  W.  Thompson  of  East  Windsor  sent  some  small  pillows. 
A  poor  fellow  died  here  recently  that  had  used  one  for  a 
number  of  weeks.  His  broken-hearted  father  was  with  him  for 
thirteen  days  before  his  death :  just  before  he  died,  he  said, 


470  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

'  Father,  I  want  you  should  carry  this  pillow  to  my  mother : 
it  has  been  such  a  comfort  to  me.' " 

The  following  was  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Hartford 
Soldiers'-Aid  Society :  — 

First  Directress,  Mrs.  Sidney  J.  Cowen  ;  Second  Directress,  Mrs.  Ros- 
well  Brown  ;  Third  Directress,  Miss  Esther  Pratt. 

Secretary  and  Assistant  Treasurer,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Cowen. 

Treasurer,  Mr.  F.  A.  Brown.  • 

Consulting  Committee,  Mr.  E.  H.  Owen,  Mr.  Alfred  Smith,  Mr.  W.  H." 
D.  Callender,  Col.  J.  B.  Bunce,  Mr.  Virgil  Cornish. 

Managers,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Ashmead,  Mrs.  M.  H.  Buell,  Mrs.  A.  W.  But 
ler,  Mrs.  Gr.  S.  Browne,  Mrs.  J.  E.  Coleman,  Mrs.  S.  W.  Cowles,  Mrs. 
F.  Chamberlin,  Mrs.  N.  Colton,  Mrs.  H.  Foster,  Mrs.  A.  F.  Hastings, 
Mrs  A.  Gr.  Hammond,  Miss  Harrison,  Mrs.  Theron  Ives,  Mrs.  J.  F.  Judd, 
Mrs.  Pliny  Jewell,  Mrs.  William  T.  Lee,  Mrs.  D.  Phillips,  Mrs.  W.  W. 
Roberts,  Mrs.  N.  Starkweather,  Mrs.  Allyn  S.  Stillman,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Strick 
land,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Taft,  Miss  Mary  Talcott,  Miss  Jane  Woodbridge,  Mrs. 
Oswiu  Welles,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Work. 

Associate  Managers  for  New  Britain,  Mrs."  Erwin,  Mrs.  Churchill. 

Mrs.  Cowen,  sister  of  Gen.  Robert  0.  Tyler,  impelled  by 
the.  earnestness  and  energy  which  distinguish  the  family, 
was  from  the  first  the  leading  spirit  in  rendering  the  move 
ment  effective  for  good.  She  gave  her  entire  time  and  care 
to  the  work. 

Relief  was  extended  to  many  soldiers'  families  at  home ; 
and  the  wives  of  soldiers  were  constantly  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  garments. 

At  this  same  time,  Hartford  was  giving  largely  through 
the  Sanitary  Association,  established  under  the  immediate 
auspices  of  Mrs.  J.  Olmstead  and  Mrs.  T.  G.  Talcott;  and 
prosecuting  kindred  work  with  great  success. 


In  the  autumn  of  1862,  the  Ladies  of  New  Haven  came 
spontaneously  to  the  relief  of  Alfred  Walker  in  the  work 
which  he  had  so  nobly  maintained.  After  the  battle  of 
Antietam,  they  organized  the  New -Haven  Soldiers'-Aid 
Society,  to  act  mainly  in  direct  co-operation  with  the  Sani 
tary  Commission.  The  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Gen. 
B.  S.  Roberts,  whose  enterprise  contributed  largely  to  the 
success  of  the  society,  entered  into  correspondence  with 
persons  in  more  than  a  hundred  towns ;  in  most  of  which 


CONTRIBUTIONS   TO   SANITARY   COMMISSION.  471 

auxiliary  societies  were  formed  or  renewed,  swelling  largely 
the  list  of  consignments  to  Washington.  The  New-Ha 
ven  Society  occupied  the  governor's  and  treasurer's  rooms, 
except  during  the  sessions  of  the  legislature.  Here  the 
sanitary  sisters  wrought  in  patriotic  unison  for  three  years, 
sending  on  an  immense  store  of  clothing  and  food.  Here 
cloth  was  bought,  cut,  and  much  of  it  delivered  to  coun 
try  towns  to  be  made ;  and,  when  returned,  the  garments 
were  packed  and  dispatched  to  the  waiting  thousands  in 
camp  and  hospital. 

The  society  was  now  authorized  to  act  for  the  State  in  be 
half  of  the  United-States  Sanitary  Commission,  and  entered 
heartily  upon  the  work.  A  hundred  and  twenty  towns  be 
came  tributary  to  this  association,  through  their  soldiers'- 
aid  societies.  Little  was  sent  direct  to  Connecticut  regi 
ments  :  the  supplies  were  mostly  intrusted  to  the  more 
general  distribution  of  the  national  society.  Of  the  money 
expended,  $2,912.26  came  from  the  "  Bazaar,"  the  great  San 
itary  Fair  held  in  the  city. 

The  following  was  the  Board  of  Managers :  — 

First  Directress,  Mrs.  A.  N.  Skinner ;  Second  Directress,  Miss  M.  P. 
Twining  ;  Third  Directress,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Norton. 

Managers,  Mrs.  William  Bacon,  Mrs.  E.  Barrett,  Mrs.  Bassett,  Miss  E. 
Bradley,  Miss  C.  L.  Brown,  Mrs.  L.  Candee,  Mrs.  C.  Candee,  Mrs.  R. 
Chapman,  Miss  R.  Chapman,  Miss  C.  Collins,  Miss  Dickerman,  Mrs. 
II.  UuBois,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Fitch,  Miss  J.  Gibbs,  Mrs.  J.  Goodnough,  Mrs.  E. 
S.  Greeley,  Miss  M.  Hillhouse,  Miss  I.  Hillhouse,  Miss  S.  B.  Harrison, 
Mrs.  C.  A.  Ingersoll,  Mrs.  B.  Jepson,  Miss  A.  Lamed,  Mrs.  H.  Mans 
field,  Mrs.  H.  Plumb,  Mrs.  D.  C.  Pratt,  Miss  P.  Peck,  Mrs.  W.  H.  Russell, 
Mrs.  G.  B.  Rich,  Mrs.  J.  A.  Root,  Miss  E.  Sherman,  Mrs.  J.  Sheldon, 
Miss  M.  Storer,  Miss  A.  Thacher,  Mrs.  A.  Treat,  Mrs.  C.  R.  Waterhouse, 
Mrs.  William  Winchester,  Miss  D.  Woolsey. 

Corresponding  Secretaries,  Mrs.  B.  S.  Roberts,  Miss  J.  W.  Skinner. 

Recording  Secretary.  Mrs.  II.  T.  Blake. 

Treasurer,  Mrs.  Emily  M.  Fitch. 

Advisory  Committee,  Messrs.  Alexander  C.  Twining,  Charles  Carlisle, 
Thomas  R.  Trowbridge,  Alfred  Walker,  Stephen  D.  Pardee,  and  Dr. 
Moses  C.  White. 

Among  the  larger  sources  of  supply  in  1863,  Mrs.  Norton 
obtained  $517,  by  tableaux  ;  Professor  and  Mrs.  E.  E.  Salis 
bury  gave  $278  ;  H.  Sanford  and  W.  W.  Boardman,  $125 
each  ;  the  town  of  Seymour  gave  $200  ;  Woodbury  $119  ; 
Stamford,  $229.  In  1864,  Professor  and  Mrs.  E.  E.  Salisbury 


472  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

gave  $155 ;  H.  Sanford  $150 ;  town  of  Ridgefield,  $470 ; 
town  of  Seymour,  $463.70;  Cheshire,  $434,01;  Water-town, 
$209;  Birmingham,  $200 ;  Naugatuck,  $172.78;  Guilford, 
$167.25;  Woodbridge,  $149.68;  Meriden,  $867;  New  Mil- 
ford,  $321.88;  Litchfield,  $176.12.  In  1865,  there  was  re 
ceived  from  lecture  and  concert  by  J.  Sheldon,  Esq.,  $361.78  ; 
H.  Sanford,  $150 ;  W.  W.  Boardman,  $100 ;  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Salisbury,  $135  ;  from  Waterbury,  $1,007.50  ;  from  Meriden, 
$1,224.50  ;  from  Clinton,  $350  ;  Stamford,  $240  ;  Woodbury, 
$147.20  ;  New  Milford,  $206.  Other  towns  and  individuals 
gave  a  large  aggregate  in  smaller  sums. 

On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1864,  with  final  victory  close  at 
hand,  the  United-States  Sanitary  Commission  sent  to  the 
soldiers  in  the  field  a  dinner,  consisting,  among  other  things, 
of  six  hundred  tons  of  turkeys,  in  number  about  two  hun 
dred  thousand.  Connecticut  furnished  her  full  share  of  these. 
For  one  day  at  least,  in  camp  and  field  and  hospital,  the 
quiet  bird,  which  plain  Ben  Franklin  wished  to  see  inscribed 
upon  an  armorial  field,  stood  forth  supreme,  and  effectually 
superseded  the  proud  "bird  of  freedom." 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry,  in  West  Virginia,  was 
beyond  reach  of  the  timid  fowl  in  November,  but  received  a 
New-Year's  dinner  from  the  New-Haven  Society.  Chaplain 
Holmes  acknowledged  it  as  follows :  — 

CAMP  OF  FIRST  CONNECTICUT  CAVALRY, 

NEAR  WINCHESTER,  VA.,  Jan.  3,  1865. 

MRS.  B.  S.  ROBERTS,   Soldiers-Aid  Society,  New  Haven. 

MADAM,  —  You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  the  many  good  things  con 
tributed  by  our  friends  in  New  Haven  reached  here  safely,  and  were  a  very 
considerable  contribution  to  the  grand  dinner  which  our  regiment  enjoyed 
yesterday  afternoon.  Every  thing  came  in  good  condition,  —  thanks  to 
excellent  cooking  and  excellent  packing.  Our  tables,  spread  upon  the  snow, 
were  covered  with  seventy-eight  turkeys,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  chick 
ens,  and  with  any  quantity  of  mince-pies,  cakes,  cheese,  apples,  pickles,  pre 
serves,  &c., —  an  abundant  supply  not  only  for  the  immediate  occasion,  but 
for  one  or  two  meals  to-day.  If  you  could  have  heard  the  "  Three  cheers 
for  the  friends  at  home  !  "  and  the  many  expressions  of  delight  at  the  practical 
assurances  afforded,  that,  in  all  the  holiday  enjoyment,  the  soldier  was  not 
forgotten,  you  would  have  been  fully  repaid  for  the  trouble  which  our  en 
joyment  has  cost  you.  With  the  help  of  your  contribution  of  gloves  and 
mittens,  I  was  enabled  to  present  to  the  regiment  about  three  hundred  and 
titty  pairs, —  a  very  acceptable  New- Year's  gift  to  men  who  had  for  two  cold 
mouths  done,  bare  handed,  the  hardest  of  cavalry- work.  .  .  . 


WORK  OF  THE  NEW-HAVEN   SOCIETY.  473 

Be  good  enough  to  accept  our  hearty  acknowledgment  to  yourself  and 
ladies  of  your  association,  believing  me,  in  behalf  of  the  command, 
Very  respectfully  and  gratefully, 

THEODORE  J.  HOLMES, 
Chaplain  First  Connecticut  Cavalry. 

The  New-Haven  Society  received  and  disbursed,  between 
Nov.  1,  1862,  and  Nov.  18,  1865,  the  sum  of  $27,304.96. 
The  following  table  shows  the  details  of  the  work :  — 

60 


474 


CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 


02 

P3 
W 

M 

s 


o    p 


<, 

02 


2 


i 

FM 


W 


I 

o 


O     52; 


<d     P 

3  g 

^  B 

« 


K     o 

o    a 


g  8 

P  !?5~ 

g  2 

1  | 

•-  s 

02  S 

w 


Denomination. 

Quantities. 

Dried  Apples  (bbls.). 

36 

Other  dried  Fruit  (bbls.). 

4 
323  Ibs 

Blackberry  and  other 
Cordials  (gals.). 

251 

Wine  and  Spirits  (gals.). 

346 

Bay  Rum  and  Cologne 
(bottles). 

188 

Jellies  and  Jam  (jars). 

1686 
110  Ibs 

Farinaceous  Food  (Ibs.). 

1,346 

Crackers  (bbls.;. 

8 

Tea  and  Coffee  (Ibs.). 

148 

Broma,    Cocoa,   &c. 
(Ibs.). 

260 

Sugar  (Ibs.). 

266 

Spices  (Ibs.). 

51 

Fresh  Fruits  (bbls.). 

8 

Tomatoes  and  Fruits 
(cans). 

141 

Pickles  (gals.). 

9CO 

Lemons  (boxes). 

17 

Condensed  Milk  (cans). 

290 

Catsup  (gals.). 

22£ 

Tamarinds  (tubs). 

4 

Ginger  (jars). 

6 

Cider  (bbls.). 

6 

Vinegar  (bbls.). 

6 

Cheeses. 

16 

Onions  (bunches). 

810 

Beets. 

880 

Squashes. 

150 

Vegetables  (bbls.). 

453 

Groceries  in  packages. 

556 

Miscellanies  —  Eggs, 
Butter,  Cookies,  Soap, 
&c.,  &c. 

470 

Denomination. 

Quantities. 

Shins    f  5,291  Flannel. 
S   \  4,723  Cotton. 

10,014 

> 

Drawers  $  4>2°7  Flannel 
(  1,765  Cotton. 

5,972 

a 

Dressing-gowns. 

1,122 

a 

Hdkfs.  and  Napkins. 

15,098 

j3 

0 

~ 

Socks  (prs.). 

10,755 

a. 

n 

Mittens  (prs.). 

1,412 

~B 

Slippers  (prs.). 

682 

a 

£ 

Towels. 

9,291 

format 

Sheets. 

6,360 

0) 

- 

Pillow-cases. 

4,449 

5 
~ 

Quilts. 

2,400 

!L 

H. 

0 

Blankets. 

787 

.~ 

Pillows. 

3,333 

^ 

Pads  and  Cushions. 

2,750 

O 

Bed  and  pillow  sacks. 

203 

<u 

a 

Neck-tics. 

300 

1 

Fans. 

250 

5 

s 

Second-hand  Garments. 

261 

Arm-slings. 

261 

o 

— 

Abdominal  Supporters. 

219 

Needle-books  and  Com 
fort-bags. 

700 

_cu 

Bandages  (bbls.). 

31 

Rags  (bbls.). 

53 

£ 

Lint  (bbls.). 

5 

| 

Crutches  (prs.). 

36 

•2 

Mosquito  Netting  (yds.). 

173 

P 

Books. 

2,156 

1 

— 

Magazines. 

3,300 

Miscellaneous  Articles. 

1,639 

Cases    (contents   un 
known). 

54 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Harland's  Brigade  near  Portsmouth.  —  More  Digging.  —  A  Handsome  Camp.  —  The 
Twenty-first  on  Provost-Duty  in  Portsmouth  and  Norfolk.  —  Raid  through  Dismal 
Swamp.  —  The  Eleventh  at  Gloucester  Point.  —  Twenty-first  at  Newport  News.  — 
An  Expedition  up  the  James.  —  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  go  to  North  Carolina. — 
"Accidental"  Fire.  —  Twenty-first  at  Newport  Barracks  and  Newberne. — Life  at 
Plymouth.  —  Battle  and  Capture  by  the  Rebels.  —  Gen.  Peck's  Order. 

ARLAND'S  brigade,  the  only  brigade  of  Con 
necticut  regiments  in  the  service,  remained 
intact  near  Portsmouth  during  all  the  hot  sum 
mer  months  of  1863 ;  the  thermometer  some 
times  ranging  a  hundred  and  ten  degrees  in  the 
shade.  Maltby's  ice-cream  saloon  in  Norfolk  was  a  popular 
resort. 

The  brigade  was  located  at  intervals  on  a  military  high 
way  extending  along  and  within  the  line  of  fortifications 
from  the  Suffolk  to  the  Elizabeth-city  Roads,  'which  roads 
converge  towards  Portsmouth.  The  distance  to  Portsmouth 
varied  from  two  and  a  half  to  four  miles. 

The  officers  of  the  brigade  were :  Brig.-Gen.  Edward  Har- 
land  of  Norwich,  in  command ;  Capt.  H.  P.  Gates  of  the 
Eighth  (Norwich),  A.  A.  G. ;  Lieut.  C.  J.  Arms  of  the  Six 
teenth  (Norwich),  A.  D.  C.;  Lieut.  Alfred  M.  Goddard  of  the 
Eighth  (Norwich),  A.  D.  C.;  Lieut.  N.  P.  Ives,  of  the  Eighth 
(Meriden),  Brigade  Commissary;  Lieut.  Stuart  Barnes  of  the 
Fifteenth  (Fair  Haven),  Brigade  Q.  M. ;  Surgeon  Melancthon 
Storrs  of  the  Eighth  (Hartford),  Brigade  Surgeon. 

The  regiments  were  kept  almost  constantly  at  work  felling 
trees,  digging  trenches,  and  throwing  up  breastworks,  with 
the  accompanying  picket-duty.  The  position  in  front  of  the 
Eleventh  and  Sixteenth  was  named  Fort  Griswold,  after 

476 


476  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  EEBELLION. 

the  brave  captain,  killed  at  Antietam ;  and  was  surrounded 
by  a  flat,  sandy  plain,  covered  with  a  low  stretch  of  pine  and 
gum  trees.  The  toil  on  the  fortifications  served  as  a  con 
ductor  to  carry  off  the  fire  of  patriotism,  and  tended  to 
diminish  the  soldierly  spirit;  but  they  had  an  occasional 
review  and  dress-parade  with  the  accompaniment  of  a 
fine  brigade  band,  when  the  weather  was  fair,  which  kept 
the  military  spark  from  becoming  quite  extinct,  and  re 
minded  the  poor  fellows,  weary  with  chopping  trees,  rolling 
logs,  and  throwing  shovelful  after  shovelful  of  dirt  all  day, 
that  they  belonged  to  the  noble  profession  of  arms.  The 
men  were  required  to  be  neat  and  cleanly  in  their  persons 
and  accouterments. 

During  the  warm  weather,  much  sickness  prevailed,  espe 
cially  diarrhoea,  diphtheria,  and  swamp  fever;  and  there 
were  some  deaths  from  malarious  diseases.1  All  the  sur 
geons  were  faithful ;  and,  as  the  fall  and  winter  months 
approached,  health  rapidly  improved.  The  efficiency  of 
Surgeon  Dwight  Satterlee  of  Ledyard  was  also  especially 
mentioned ;  and  by  the  1st  of  October  there  were  only  two 
members  of  the  Eleventh  in  the  hospital.  Surgeon  Sat 
terlee  was  afterwards  promoted  to  be  major  of  the  regiment, 
—  the  only  case  of  the  kind  in  the  regiments  from  this 
State. 

A  member 2  of  the  Sixteenth  wrote,  "  We  have  of  late 
had  quite  a  number  of  ladies  visiting  us,  and  the  effect  on 
our  men  has  been  very  good.  Whereas  you  formerly  could 
hear  an  oath  now  and  then  from  an  aggravated  individual, 
now  no  such  imprecations  sully  the  air.  Let  me  here  men 
tion  the  incalculable  services  rendered  to  our  sick  by  Mrs. 
Burnham,  mother  of  Lieut.-Col.  John  H.  Burnham,  now  com 
manding  the  regiment.  Almost  seventy  years  old,  this  grand 
old  lady  displays  a  vigor  and  tenderness,  a  discrimination  and 
practical  kindness,  in  her  attentions  to  the  sick,  that  have 
gone  far  to  help  us  through  a  dreadful  epidemic  of  diphthe 
ria  and  of  remittent  fever,  with  the  loss  of  only  three  men. 
She  is  constantly  engaged  in  preparing  those  nice  home  tit- 

1  Sergeant  William  H   Hubbard  of  Guilford  died  in  September.     He  was  a  well-edu 
cated  younjj  man  ;  moral  and  circumspect  in  his  life,  and  happy  in  the  hour  of  his  sacrifice. 
'2  Surgeon  Nathan  Mayer. 


'c'fa> 


FINE   CONDITION  OF  THE  TWENTY-FIRST.  477 

bits  so  dear  to  the  sick  soldiers.  Not  satisfied  with  prepar 
ing  them,  she  administers  them,  talking  all  the  time  to  the 
delighted  men  as  only  a  great,  good  woman  of  that  age  and 
such  motherly  feelings  can  talk." 

Surgeon  Mayer,  the  successor  of  Dr.  Abner  S.  Warner  of 
Wethersfield,  wrote  of  this  time,  "  Gradually,  the  finest 
camp,  but  one,  which  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  see,  grew 
up.  The  most  perfect  order,  the  most  civilized  condition, 
prevailed.  The  tents  were  neatly  and  prettily  furnished,  as 
our  Connecticut  country  homes  are,  and  the  ground  always 
in  beautiful  condition.  As  winter  approached,  the  men  built 
a  hospital  of  logs,  —  log-houses  for  the  officers,  log  kitchens 
and  eating-saloons  for  the  companies.  Our  pioneers  erected 
a  perfect  village. 

"During  all  these  weeks,  the  military  standing  of  the  regi- 

o  */  o 

ment  rose  perceptibly.  There  was  not  a  cleaner,  prompter, 
more  loyal,  reliable,  and  honest  regiment  in  the  service.  No 
brighter  arms,  no  quicker  evolutions,  no  greater  perfection 
in  drill,  were  to  be  found  anywhere." 

The  -Twenty-first  had  been  assigned  to  provost-duty  in 
Portsmouth,  —  rather  more  agreeable  service.  Major  Hiram 
B.  Crosby  was  appointed  provost-marshal.  Col.  Dutton,  hav 
ing  been  released  from  the  command  of  the  3d  Brigade,  again 
assumed  command  of  the  regiment.  "  Lieut-Col.  Thomas 
F.  Burpee,  who  had  been  absent  several  weeks,  returned 
with  restored  health,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  with  his 
usual  energy,  and  did  much  toward  bringing  the  regiment 

Ot/    f  O          O  O 

up  to  a  high  standard  of  excellence  and  perfection." 3 

In  September,  the  regiment  was  inspected  by  Col.  Dono- 
hoe  of  a  New- York  regiment,  from  whose  report  the  follow 
ing  is  an  extract :  — 

"  The  clothing  of  the  men  is  in  very  fine  order ;  coats  fit 
well,  and  are  well  taken  care  of.  I  believe  that  the  general 
appearance  of  the  regiment  is  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any 
that  I  have  ever  inspected.  The  officers  appear  to  good 
advantage;  and  the  non-commissioned  officers  deserve  credit 
for  their  neat  appearance  and  soldierly  bearing.  In  conclu 
sion,  I  can  safely  say,  that  the  condition  and  general  appear- 

3  Letter  of  Capt.  Delos  D.  Brown  of  Chatham. 


478  CONNECTICUT   DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 

ance  of  the  regiment  is  as  fine  as  any  I  ever  had  the  honor 
to  inspect ;  and  close  observation  will  allow  me  to  predict 
that  the  Twenty-first  Connecticut  Volunteers  can  be  relied 
upon  in  whatever  position  they  may  be  placed." 

During  September,  a  movement  into  Secessia  was  planned  ; 
and  on  the  20th,  five  companies  of  the  Fifteenth  —  D,  E,  G, 
H,  and  K  —  started  on  boats  along  the  canal  straight  south 
through  Dismal  Swamp,  halting  at  South  Mills,  ten  miles  be 
low  the  State  line  in  North  Carolina.  Lieut-Col.  Tolles  was 
in  command  of  the  detachment.  On  Oct.  12,  the  other 
five  companies,  with  six  companies  of  the  Eighth,  left  camp 
at  Portsmouth,  and  inarched  to  Deep  Creek,  being  there 
joined  by  a  part  of  a  Pennsylvania  cavalry  regiment.  They 
moved  on  to  South  Mills  next  day ;  were  there  joined  by 
three  of  the  other  companies  of  the  Fifteenth ;  and  pressed 
on  to  surprise,  and,  if  possible,  capture,  a  camp  of"  conscript- 
catchers"  reported  to  be  quartered  in  the  swamp.  Before 
arriving  at  the  place,  the  infantry  halted,  while  the  cavalry 
and  two  mounted  companies  of  the  Eighth  rode  down  on  the 
camp  of  the  bushwhackers ;  but  they  were  in  the  woods  be 
yond  reach.  The  Union  forces  returned  next  day  with  nine 
prisoners,  and  a  quantity  of  ducks,  geese,  turkeys,  and  other 
plunder.  The  expedition  was  under  Col.  Upham  of  the  Fif 
teenth;  Capt.  Hoytof  the  Eighth  commanding  the  battalion 
of  infantry. 

As  early  as  December  of  1862,  Lieut.  John  H.  Burnhain, 
the  skillful  and  efficient  adjutant  of  the  Sixteenth,  was 
promoted  to  be  lieutenant-colonel ;  superseding  eight  or  ten 
officers  who  ranked  him.  The  choice  had  already  proved  a 
most  wise  one.  He  had  done  much  to  bring  the  regiment  to 
a  high  state  of  discipline,  and  to  make  the  men  soldiers  in 
spirit,  appearance,  and  action.  An.  officer 4  wrote,  "  He  has, 
with  little  interruption,  commanded  the  regiment  since  last 
January,  and  is  regarded  with  as  much  love  as  can  find  room 
beside  the  respect  due  to  a  regimental  commander."  Major 
John  E.  Ward  of  Norwich  had-  now  become  colonel  of  the 
Eighth,  and  Capt.  Martin  B.  Smith  of  Waterbury  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  Capt.  Henry  M.  Hoyt  of  Bridgeport  command- 

*   Surgeon  Mayer. 


THE  ELEVENTH  AT  FORT  KEYES.  479 

ing  the  regiment  in  the  absence  of  both.  Capt.  Charles 
L.  Upham  of  Meriden  had  been  promoted  to  be  lieutenant- 
colonel,  and  then  transferred  to  be  colonel,  of  the  Fifteenth. 

Our  regiments  seemed  to  have  won  the  good  opinion  of 
the  hostile  neighborhood,  as  the  Old  Dominion,  a  journal 
published  at  Portsmouth,  said, — 

"  The  gallant  little  State  of  Connecticut  is  well  represented 
in  this  vicinity  among  the  soldiery;  and,  like  brave  men, 
they  know  how  to  conduct  themselves  in  the  busy  city  and 
on  guard-duty,  as  well  as  on  the  field  of  strife.  This  has 
been  exemplified  in  the  orderly  conduct  which  has  uniformly 
characterized  the  members  in  our  midst.  We  have  heard  of 
not  a  single  case  of  rowdyism  or  wanton  interference  with 
private  rights  since  they  have  been  stationed  in  our  vicinity; 
out  everywhere  we  hear  encomiums  of  praise  bestowed 
upon  them  for  the  rectitude  of  their  conduct  and  the  excel 
lent  morals  which  they  exhibit." 

This  good  feeling  was  evidently  mutual ;  for  Capt.  Delos  D. 
Brown  of  the  Twenty-first,  from  East  Hampton,  wrote  at  the 
time,  "  Our  stay  in  Portsmouth  was  characterized  by  a  deep 
feeling  of  friendship,  and  a  unity  of  sentiment  and  action  be 
tween  ourselves  and  many  of  the  generous  citizens  of  the 
place,  which  could  but  inspire  the  highest  regard,  and  attach 
us  strongly  to  the  hospitable  inhabitants  of  this  portion  of 
the  Old  Dominion.  We  shall  ever  cherish  the  remembrances 
of  the  associations  formed  there,  as  among  the  most  happy 
and  pleasant  of  our  service." 

On  Sept.  29,  the  regiment  was  ordered  across  the  Eliza 
beth  River  to  Norfolk,  where  labor  was  more  severe ;  but 
municipal  contact  was  still  agreeable. 

The  Eleventh,  about  the  first  of  October,  was  ordered  to 
Gloucester  Point,  opposite  Yorktown,  for  a  raid  into  Matthews 
County;  but  only  Lieut.  Krazynski  (of  Danbury),  with  twen 
ty-five  sharpshooters,  participated.  The  regiment  refitted 
and  cleansed  Fort  Keyes,  a  rusty  old  reminiscence  of  McClel- 
lan,  and  made  it  healthful  and  neat.  The  uniforms,  which 
the  men  wore  from  Connecticut  two  years  before,  were 
brushed  to  tidiness ;  and  the  tattered  tents  were  patched  and 
reefed  into  winter-quarters.  The  place  was  not  gay.  The 


480  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

noble  York  River  here  narrows  from  two  miles  to  one ;  and 
a  crazy,  decrepit  ferry-boat  hitched  across  the  river  a  few 
times  a  day.  The  country  round  about  was  fertile,  but  aban 
doned.  The  new-born  national  freedmen  were  huddled  in  a 
neighborhood  known  as  "  Slab  Richmond,"  —  not  a  lively  spot 
to  hibernate ;  but  the  soldiers  of  the  Eleventh  had  long  be 
fore  learned  not  to  be  particular.  They  established  a  read 
ing-room,  and  put  in  attractive  order  the  books  and  journals 
from  home. 

On  Dec.  16,  there  was  a  terrible  fire,  followed  by  ex 
plosions,  at  Yorktown.  The  fire  began  early  in  the  even 
ing,  and  burned  its  way  to  the  forts.  Chaplain  Henry  S. 
De  Forest  wrote,  — 

"  A  premonitory  flash  was  followed  by  bursting  shell.    The 
batteries  then  opened,  and  were  kept  playing  till  the  fires 
were  quenched  by  a  rain-storm  the  next  day.     Like  some 
grand  Fourth-of-July  display,  these  loaded  sky-rockets  cleaved 
the  air,  burning  often  in  colored  light,  and  tracing  curves, 
we  thought  perhaps  of  death,  certainly  of  beauty.     Soon 
followed  the  first  two  of  the  four  great  explosions.    A  column 
of  fire  and  smoke  mounted  heavenward,  wonderful  in  size 
and  grandeur.     It  rolled  its  folds,  dark  yet  luminous,  side 
wards  and  upwards,  till  it  seemed  to  half  reach  the  clouds 
starting  from  its  base ;  and,  using  this  as  the  background  of 
the  scene,  scores  of  shells  were  tracing  their  terrible  parabo 
las  in  lines  of  fire.     They  had  not  reached  the  earth,  when 
a  second  explosion  followed,  brighter  and  grander  than  the 
first.    It  was  a  volcano-scene  such  as  is  seldom  witnessed  by 
man.    As  the  smoke  rolled  away,  fire  darted  here  and  there, 
like  lightning  running  on  the  ground.     It  was  the  bursting 
of  what  the  explosion  had  scattered  far  and  wide  :  and  so  the 
lesser  displays  went  on  ;  till  at  midnight,  and  especially  at 
four  o'clock,  an  earthquake-shock  was  repeated,  scattering 
a  brick  building  to  the  four  winds.    Two  of  the  regiment— 
Charles  II.  Cady  of  Hampton  and  Adelbert  Spencer  of  Wood 
stock —  were  stationed  as  a  guard,  almost  within  scorching 
distance  of  the  fire.    They  were  not  relieved  ;  and,  amid  show 
ers  of  brick  and  bursting  bombs  from  the  several  explosions 
of  that  long  night,  they  stood  at  their  post,  Romans  in  mod 
ern  times." 


"ACCIDENTAL"   FIRE  IN  THE   CAMP.  481 

On  Dec.  10,  the  Twenty-first,  much  to  its  regret,  was  re 
lieved  at  Norfolk  by  a  Massachusetts  regiment,  and  ordered 
to  Newport  News.  It  arrived  there  the  same  day,  and  en 
camped  within  a  few  rods  of  its  camp  of  a  year  before.  Here 
the  men  devoted  themselves  to  drill,  reading,  games,  music, 
and,  later,  to  discussing  the  merits  of  well-packed  boxes  from 
home.  Capt.  D.  D.  Brown  wrote  of  this,  "  We  have  lately 
been  the  recipients  of  a  schooner-load  of  good  things  from 
the  Soldiers'-Aid  Society  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  others,  who 
may  rest  assured  that  we  highly  appreciate  their  many  kind 
nesses  ;  and  the  more  so,  from  the  fact  that  they  came  to  us 
from  a  portion  of  the  State  from  which  few  if  any  of  our 
men  came,  and  where  the  regiment  must  be  but  little 
known."  < 

Recruits  from  home,  mostly  substitutes,  now  came  to  all 
the  regiments,  and  were  closely  guarded  and  industriously 
drilled. 

Left  alone  at  Gettysville,  as  the  camp  near  Portsmouth 
was  now  called,  after  Gen.  Getty,  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth 
Connecticut  began  to  think  of  active  service  again.  On  the 
morning  of  Jan.  21,  1864,  both  regiments  broke  camp,  to  ern- 
bark  on  two  steamers  for  Newberne,  N.C.  There  was  great 
consternation  and  grief  when  the  order  came  to  quit  the  fine 
slat  and  log  houses,  especially  in  a  line  of  pretty  cottages 
christened  "  Matrimony  Row,"  where  some  officers  resided 
with  their  wives.  About  three  thousand  dollars  had  been 
expended  in  the  construction  of  the  comfortable  village. 

It  being  suspected  that  the  division-general  in  command, 
Gen.  Heckman,  had  employed  this  finesse  in  order  to  secure 
the  admirable  quarters  for  his  own  former  regiment,  the  men 
set  fire  to  their  camp  on  evacuating  it ;  or,  as  Surgeon  Mayer 
more  circuitously  wrote,  "  Some  rubbish  accidentally  caught 
fire,  and  spread  instantly  to  the  buildings.  Gorgeous  tongues 
of  flame  leaped  up  with  a  peculiar  roar;  while  the  unfortu 
nate  possessors  of  the  property,  with  pious  resignation  in  the 
Lord's  will,  stood  by,  and  chatted  and  smiled,  and  laughed 
and  danced.  By  a  like  unaccountable  accident,  the  officers 
were  out  of  wood  in  the  evening ;  and,  no  other  being  at 
hand,  the  lofty  flagstaff  was  hewed  down  to  supply  them.  A 


61 


482  -        CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   REBELLION. 

high  wind  threw  down  every  chimney,  and  spread  devasta 
tion  over  the  land.  Thus,  when  the  golden  sun  of  Jan.  21 
beamed  down  on  the  world,  the  camp  of  the  Sixteenth  Con 
necticut  Volunteers  was  a  desert  as  flat  as  my  grandfather's 
bald  pate.  Fiat  voluntas  tua  !  " 

Transports  bore  the  regiments  down  the  coast.  In  an 
exclamatory  style  wrote  an  officer5  of  the  trip, — 

"  We  arrive  at  Morehead  City ;  one  hotel,  which  is  not 
kept,  and  five  houses  not  inhabited  ;  go  by  rail  to  Newberne, 

—  sweet  place,  elms  enough  to  furnish  a  second  New  Haven, 
everybody  in  a  fever  of  friendliness  towards  us,  nothing  else 
to  do ;  we  re-embark  for  Plymouth ;  down  the  Neuse,  across 
Pamlico  Sound  to  Roanoke,  along  Albemarle  Sound  into  the 
Roanoke  River ;  weather  glorious ;  water  quiet ;   high  enjoy 
ment  on  the  voyage ;  lots  of  fun ;  reach  Plymouth  towards 
night ;  set  our  brass  bands  blowing  ;   astonish  the  country  ; 
air  balmy  and  warm  as  in  spring. 

"  Plymouth  is  a  quiet  little  town ;  has  been  burnt  down  to 
some  extent  by  the  rebs ;  rebs  driven  back ;  excellent  fortifi 
cations  ;  well  guarded  ;  Gen.'Henry  W.  Wessels  in  command, 

—  a  Connecticut  man  ;  belongs  to  the  regular  army,  in  which 
he  is  a  lieutenant-colonel ;  good,  kind  old  gentleman,  with 
high  military  knowledge ;  makes  semi-weekly  irruptions  in 
the  enemy's  country,  burning  and  carrying  oflf  the  stores  of 
ham,  cotton,  and  beef  which  they  accumulate  in  this  vicinity 
for  the  rebel  government.     Our  men  have  been  on  two  of 
these  expeditions ;  carried  off  some  bales  of  cotton,  and  de 
stroyed  many ;  destroyed  also  several  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars'  worth  of  hams,  —  all  for  Uncle  Sam;  carried  off  sundry 
lots  of  poultry  and  eggs,  —  all  for  themselves ;  like  to  go  ex 
ceedingly." 

Gen.  Harland  being  detailed  to  serve  on  a  military  com 
mission,  Col.  Beach  commanded  the  brigade.  Lieut.-Col. 
Burnham  being  absent,  Capt.  Thomas  F.  Burke  commanded 
the  Sixteenth.  Major  Henry  L.  Pasco  and  Capt.  Edward  H. 
Mix  of  Terryville  had  been  detained  at  Portsmouth  to 
explain  the  accident  that  happened  to  the  camp  of  the  Con 


necticut  brigade. 


5  Surgeon  Mayer. 


THE  TWENTY-FIRST  AT  NEWPORT  BARRACKS.  483 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Twenty-first  had  not  been  as  idle 
as  they  anticipated.  On  Sunday,  Jan.  25,  an  expedition, 
consisting  of  four  gunboats,  thirty  of  the  harbor  police,  and 
a  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  the  Twenty-first  Connecticut, 
under  Capt.  James  F.  Brown  of  North  Stonington  (the  whole 
under  command  of  Gen.  Graham),  left  Old  Point  for  a  recon- 
noissance  up  the  James.  They  proceeded  until  within  a 
short  distance  of  Fort  Powhattan,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Chickahominy,  at  a  place  called  the  Brandon  Farm.  Here 
tlie  detachment  of  the  Twenty-first  was  landed,  and  made 
a  reconnoissance  back  into  the  country  about  two  miles,  where 
they  surprised  and  captured  a  signal  station  with  all  its  ap 
purtenances,  secret  messages,  and  letters ;  one  of  the  latter 
indicating  the  whereabouts  of  a  large  amount  of  stores  about 
to  be  removed  to  Richmond. 

Capt.  Brown  made  a  raid  upon  the  farm,  captured  the  offi 
cer  in  charge,  and  destroyed  a  very  large  quantity  of  stores 
of  bacon,  flour,  corn,  oats,  and  hay,  the  value  of  which  was 
said  to  be  estimated  by  the  rebels  at  from  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  to  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The 
detachment  now  returned  to  the  river,  and  found  that  one 
of  the  gunboats  had  captured  a  schooner  laden  with  tobacco, 
and  an  unfreighted  sloop.  Ten  horses  and  twenty  prison 
ers  were  also  taken. 

Early  in  February,  the  Twenty-first  went  from  Newport 
News  to  Morehead  City  by  water,  thence  straight  towards 
Newberne.  Previously  to  their  arrival,  Newport  Barracks, 
ten  miles  from  Morehead  City,  had  been  captured  by  the 
rebels,  routing  the  9th  Vermont.  The  bridges  had  been 
burned  in  the  flight.  The  Twenty-first  with  the  troops  that 
had  been  ejected,  all  under  Col.  Button,  now  marched  back  on 
the  barracks,  resolved  to  fight  for  possession ;  but  the  rebels 
had  decamped  most  willingly  with  what  plunder  they  could 
carry  away.  The  barracks  were  a  pile  of  smoking  ruins. 

They  encamped  for  the  night  near  the  place;  and  Col. 
Button,  being  recalled  to  the  city,  left  the  command  to  Col. 
Ripley  of  the  9th  Vermont.  Next  morning,  this  vigilant 
officer  led  his  troops  back  towards  Morehead  City,  having 
"  discovered  the  enemy  in  front  in  large  force."  At  the  ur- 


484  CONNECTICUT  DUBING  THE  REBELLION. 

gent  request  of  Lieut.-Col.  Burpee  of  the  Twenty-first,  a  stand 
was  made  at  Carolina  City,  only  five  miles  to  the  rear ;  and 
in  the  afternoon  a  company  of  the  regiment  was  sent  up  to 
reconnoiter.  They  were  directed  to  advance  slowly,  and 
with  great  caution.  "They  proceeded  cautiously  along  until 
they  arrived  at  Newport,  when  they  were  surprised  by  As 
sistant  Surgeon  Charles  Tennant,  of  the  Twenty-first,  who, 
being  asleep  when  the  forces  left  to  fall  back  on  the  city, 
had,  upon  awakening  and  finding  himself  alone,  concluded  to 
remain  in  possession  of  the  place."6 

As  soon  as  the  company  arrived,  Surgeon  Tennant  sent 
back  a  dispatch,  stating  that  he  had  held  the  place  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  thought  that  he  should  be  able  to  do  so 
until  re-inforcements  arrived.  Col.  Ripley,  feeling  the  ludi- 
crousness  of  his  position,  moved  his  force  up  with  all  speed 
on  the  cars. 

«  Arriving  at  Newport,  we  were  received  by  the  surgeon 
and  the  discovering  party  ;  and  a  salute  of  three  guns  was 
fired  from  a  cannon  they  had  found,  and  succeeded  in  remov 
ing  the  spike  from,  and  mounting  on  an  old  pair  of  wheels. 
They  reported  having  seen  no  enemy ;  and  we  reported  the 
same.  So  we  took  a  little  something  to  steady  our  nerves, 
and  again  went  on  picket,  resolved  to  make  a  desperate 
stand  if  we  were  attacked  and  were  not  ordered  back ;  and 
we  did."7 

Feb.  12,  the  Twenty-first  proceeded  to  Newberne ;  and 
Col.  Button  was  chief-of-staff  to  Gen.  Peck. 

During  February,  1864,  the  regiments  remained  at  Ply 
mouth,  employed  mainly  in  drills,  inspections,  &c.  An  of 
ficer,8  who  evidently  had  not  the  fear  of  Gen.  Casey  before 
his  eyes,  thus  facetiously  described  some  of  the  efforts  at  mili 
tary  display  :  — 

"First  of  all,  regimental  guard-mounting.  The  band 
posts  itself  in  the  very  center  of  an  open  space,  and  blows 
with  might  and  main.  Thereupon  the  details  for  guard 
from  the  various  companies  make  their  appearance,  with 
gloves  on  their  fingers,  and,  I  had  almost  said,  "  bells  on 
their  toes  ; "  their  accouterments  all  bright  and  brassy,  and 

0  Letter  of  Capt.  D.  D.  Brown.  7  Ibid.  8  Surgeon  Mayer. 


ONE  OF  GEN.  PECK'S  SCARES.  485 

their  guns  polished  to  the  highest  point  of  brilliancy.  They 
are  conducted  by  the  orderly  sergeants,  who,  bravely  decked 
out  with  sash  and  chevrons,  place  them  on  a  line  with  the 
music,  and  then  elevate  their  hangers  in  the  same  manner 
that  Edgardo  does  his  dagger  in  the  last  act  of  Lucia,  but 
in  a  reverse  position,  and  not  with  any  suicidal  intentions. 
This  is  the  salute.  All  being  in  line,  the  music  stops;  and  the 
adjutant,  who  is  fastened  to  an  immense  sword,  which  fate 
and  a  strong  belt  compel  him  to  drag  along,  advances  to  the 
front,  followed  by  the  officers  commanding  the  guard,  a 
sergeant,  corporal,  and  private.  They  are  solemnly  com 
manded  to  '  bout  face,'  and  to  '  make  their  guard,  march ! ' 
all  of  which  they  seem  to  accomplish  by  walking  off  in 
single  file,  and  hiding  themselves  behind  the  ranks. 

"  Upon  this,  follows  the  '  inspection  of  arms.'  The  band 
gives  a  melancholy  tune ;  and  the  officers  keep  time  by  rat 
tling  the  ramrods  of  the  arms  to  be  inspected  in  the  barrels 
of  the  guns.  Now,  two  individuals,  with  scarlet  sashes 
draped  around  their  bosoms  much  in  the  way  little  girls 
wear  their  pink  ribbons  at  parties,  post  themselves  in  front 
of  the  guard.  They  are  the  old  and  new  officers  of  the  day. 
The  troops  beat  off  (vulgo,  the  musicians  march  up  and 
down,  playing  a  tune) ;  the  guard  presents  arms ;  one  of  the 
red-sashed  individuals  raises  his  cap  ;  the  adjutant  turns 
about  several  times ;  and  then  —  all  go  home  to  breakfast. 
This  is  excessively  imposing  when  you  see  it  every  morn 
ing,  and  have  got  used  to  it." 

Suddenly  came  the  report  of  a  rebel  advance  on  New- 
berne ;  and  the  Fifteenth  went  up  on  the  Thomas  Collyer, 
Feb.  3,  to  assist  in  the  defense.  In  a  few  weeks,  the 
Sixteenth  was  also  called,  and  was  soon  upon  a  transport 
in  the  Neuse.  It  was  "  only  one  of  Gen.  Peck's  scares ; "  but 
the  regiment  disembarked,  and  went  into  barracks  beside 
the  Fifteenth,  —  the  same  camp  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Tenth.  Here  Major  Pasco  found  the  regiment  (having 
convinced  Gen.  Butler  of  the  innocence  of  his  men),  and 
assumed  command. 

Capt.  Mix,  in  attempting  to  get  to  Newberne,  took  a  small 
schooner  for  Roanoke  Island.  While  in  Pamlico  Sound,  a 


486  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

squall  struck  the  schooner ;  and  the  boom  knocked  Capt. 
Mix  overboard,  as  he  sat  smoking  on  deck.  A  boat  was 
instantly  lowered ;  but,  when  within  twenty-five  feet,  the 
unfortunate  man  sank  to  rise  no  more.  He  was  a  good  swim 
mer,  but  was  encumbered  with  a  heavy  overcoat  and  large 
boots.  Edward  H.  Mix  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  First 
Regiment,  and  was  the  last  of  the  original  captains  of  the 
Sixteenth.  He  was  tall ;  and  his  pale  complexion,  large 
dark  eyes,  and  black  mustache,  gave  him  a  striking  appear 
ance.  He  was  genial  in  manners,  of  average  general  knowl 
edge,  and  well  versed  in  tactics  and  military  discipline.  He 
was  much  regretted  by  the  regiment. 

On  March  20,  the  Sixteenth  returned  to  Plymouth.  The 
transport  encountered  a  very  severe  storm  opposite  Roanoke 
Island,  and  became  disabled.  It  was  feared  she  would  go 
to  pieces ;  but  the  men,  after  suffering  greatly  from  cold 
and'  hunger,  were  finally  taken  off  by  the  steamer  Gen. 
Berry,  and  carried  to  their  destination.  It  would  have 
been  better  for  them  if  they  had  been  wrecked  upon  the 
island. 

Plymouth  lies  on  the  south  side  of  the  Roanoke  River, 
eight  miles  from  Albemarle  Sound,  and  was  once  a  place  of 
some  importance,  dealing  largely  in  "  tar,  pitch,  turpentine, 
and  lumber."  Besides  the  Sixteenth,  the  garrison  now  con 
sisted  of  a  New- York  regiment,  two  Pennsylvania  regiments, 
a  light  battery,  and  two  companies  of  heavy  artillery  ;  the 
whole  in  command  of  Gen.  Henry  W.  Wessells,  a  brave  and 
judicious  officer  of  the  regular  army  from  Connecticut. 
There  were  Forts  Gray  and  Williams,  with  Compiler  and 
Coneby  Redoubts,  and  a  long  line  of  connecting  breastworks. 
Co-operating  was  a  fleet  of  five  gunboats. 

By  the  middle  of  April,  the  rebels,  under  Gen.  Hoke, 
began  to  gather  in  the  woods  south  and  west  of  the  town. 
Sunday,  the  17th,  was  a  lovely  day ;  and,  at  the  morning 
roll-call,  sixteen  hundred  men  reported  for  duty.  The  men 
listened  to  preaching  at  the  various  places  of  worship.  Just 
at  the  close  of  the  services,  the  cavalry  pickets  came  dash 
ing  into  town,  and  reported  the  rebels  near.  Artillery  and 
cavalry  were  sent  out  to  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  enemy. 


KEBEL  ATTACK   OX   PLYMOUTH.  487 

They  soon  returned,  after  a  short  engagement  with  a  superior 
force,  and  reported  three  brigades  of  rebel  infantry,  with 
artillery  and  cavalry  in  proportion,  —  in  all  not  less  than 
ten  thousand  men. 

An  attack  was  immediately  made  by  the  rebels  upon  Fort 
Gray,  a  mile  above  the  town,  on  the  river ;  and  a  company 
of  the  Sixteenth,  in  command  of  Lieut.  B.  F.  Blakeslee  of 
Hartford,  was  driven  into  Compiler's  Redoubt.  The  Six 
teenth  was  divided  ;  one  wing  being  east,  and  the  other  west, 
of  Fort  Williams,  occupying  the  center  of  the  main  works. 
On  the  following  morning,  the  assault  was  made  with  energy 
along  the  whole  line,  but  upon  the  left  flank  with  heavy 
columns.  About  seven  o'clock,  Capt.  Burke  came  in  from  the 
skirmish  line,  wounded  in  the  shoulder.  The  siege-guns  of 
the  enemy  approached,  and  there  was  heavy  firing  at  inter 
vals  throughout  the  day.  Soon  the  beautiful  camp  was 
riddled,  and  the  fort  upon  the  left  almost  silenced. 

Lieut.-Col.  Burnharn  ordered  the  regimental  band  to  the 
breastworks ;  and  the  spirit-stirring  strains  of  national  airs 
roused  the  blood  of  the  soldiers,  and  imparted  to  them  fresh 
energy.  The  fight  was  vigorously  renewed,  and  the  enemy 
fell  back  to  develop  other  resources. 

Next  day,  the  cannonading  began  with  energy,  and  again 
the  lines  closed  sternly  in.  The  rebels  had  now  occupied 
Fort  Gray  and  a  detached  redoubt ;  and  the  mailed  ram 
Albemarle  had  run  through  a  bayou  into  the  river  below 
the  town,  sunk  one  of  our  gunboats,  and  driven  off  the  rest. 
Nights  were  sleepless ;  for  all  hands  were  required  at  the 
breastworks. 

Before  daybreak  on  the  fourth  morning  of  the  siege,  the 
enemy,  under  cover  of  their  guns,  advanced  up  the  Colum 
bia  Road  with  a  wild  yell,  and  charged  upon  the  two  re 
doubts  that  defended  the  Union  position  on  the  east  side 
of  the  town.  A  company  of  the  2d  Massachusetts  Artil 
lery,  which  held  the  fort  on  that  side,  refused  to  fire  a  shot 
in  opposition  to  the  enemy,  for  fear  of  drawing  the  fire  of 
the  ram.  The  principal  opposition  made  there  was  made 
by  Col.  Frank  Beach  of  the  Sixteenth,  who  had  two  small 
Napoleon  guns  bearing  on  the  road,  and  who  gave  the 


488  CONNECTICUT   DUKING  THE   REBELLION. 

enemy  grape  and  canister  until  they  were  within  a  hundred 
paces  of  his  guns.  The  number  of  their  wounded  on  that 
spot,  the  horrible  nature  of  the  wounds  inflicted,  and  the 
repeated  wavering  of  their  column,  testify  to  the  efficiency 
of  his  resistance,  which,  but  for  the  bad  management  of  the 
Massachusetts  battery,  would  have  kept  the  enemy  at  bay. 

The  rebels  also  pressed  in  overwhelming  numbers,  regi 
ment  after  regiment,  in  upon  the  west.  An  officer  came 
up,  bearing  a  flag  of  truce  and  a  demand  for  immediate  sur 
render.  Gen.  Wessells  promptly  refused.  Again  the  rebels 
pressed  in,  surrounding  Fort  Williams,  pouring  in  a  terrible 
fire  upon  the  detached  portions  of  the  Sixteenth,  which  re 
turned  the  concentrated  fire  as  well  as  it  could.  The  battle 
was  renewed  alony:  the  whole  line,  but  with  abated  viscor  on 

o  '  o 

our  part ;  and,  as  resistance  became  less  and  less  effective, 
the  remainder  of  the  force  outside  Fort  Williams  was  sur 
rendered.  The  fort  held  out  but  a  short  time :  the  enemy 
was  around  it  with  a  force  of  fifty  to  one.  Company  H  of 
the  Sixteenth,  under  Capt.  Joseph  H.  Barn um  of  Hartford, 
had  been  sent  to  Roanoke  Island  as  an  escort  for  Union  refu 
gees,  and  escaped  capture  with  the  regiment. 

Major-Gen.  John  J.  Peck,  in  command  of  the  department, 
with  headquarters  at  Newberne,  on  April  21  issued  the 
following :  — 


B 


"  "With  the  deepest  sorrow,  the  commanding  general  announces  the  fall 
of  Plymouth,  N.C.,  and  the  capture  of  its  gallant  commander,  Brig. -Gen. 
H.  W.  Wessells,  and  his  command.  This  result,  however,  did  not  obtain 
until  after  the  most  determined  resistance  had  been  made.  Five  times  the 
enemy  stormed  our  lines,  and  as  many  was  repulsed  with  great  slaughter. 
For  their  noble  defense,  the  gallant  Gen.  Wessells  and  his  brave  band 
deserve  the  warmest  thanks  of  the  country  ;  while  all  will  sympathize  with 
them  in  their  misfortune." 

It  might  be  objected  that  this  is  slightly  turgid ;  but  it  is 
enough  to  say  that  the  subjects  of  the  eulogy  did  not  at  all 
reciprocate  the  implied  admiration.  In  fact,  since  the  dig 
ging  and  fortifying  at  Suffolk,  upon  a  plan  as  incoherent  as 
the  kite  projects  of  Mr.  Dick,  the  soldiers  had  come  to  regard 
Gen.  Peck  as  a  rather  inoffensive  old  gentleman. 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

The  First  Cavalry  Battalion. — Demoralization.  —  Increased  to  a  Regiment. — Fight  in 
Virginia. —  At  Baltimore.  —  To  the  Field.  —  The  Eighteenth  Connecticut. — At 
Martinsburg.  —  Gen.  Milroy  on  Winchester.  —  Prison-Life.  —  Officers  at  Libby.  — 
Diversions.  —  To  Macon. — Escapes. — An  Interesting  Adventure. 

FTER  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  in  1862, 
the  Connecticut  cavalry  battalion  crossed  the 
battle-field,  and  took  part  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
enemy  to  Robinson  River.  From  that  time, 
Aug.  9,  the  battalion  was  for  two  weeks  face  to 
face  with  the  enemy,  protecting  the  Union  flanks  and  rear; 
and  was  then  transferred  to  Steinway's  cavalry-brigade,  and 
chiefly  engaged  in  doing  provost-duty  until  the  end  of  Pope's 
retreat.  Chaplain  Edwin  Warriner  writes  of  that  time,  — 

"Some  of  the  most  efficient  scouts  in  that  part  of  the 
army  were  men  from  this  battalion.  Corporal  John  A. 
Peters  of  Cheshire,  in  the  disguise  of  an  old  woman,  and 
Corporal  Charles  H.  Marsh  of  New  Milford,  as  one  of  Jack 
son's  men,  passed  through  the  thrilling  adventures  of  Union 
spies.  For  months,  Marsh  was  unheard  of  among  us,  and  at 
last  was  reported  hung  at  Aldie  as  a  spy.  Yet  other  months 
passed  away,  and  he  surprised  us  by  appearing  in  Baltimore 
as  a  paroled  prisoner  from  Richmond.  He  saved  his  life  by 
the  most  consummate  stratagem.  He  was  lying  in  a  Con 
federate  hospital,  expecting  daily  to  receive  his  sentence. 
Beside  him  lay  a  fellow-prisoner  who  was  about  to  die. 
The  surgeon  who  attended  upon  both  these  men  was  him 
self  a  Union  prisoner ;  and,  by  his  assistance,  the  two  sick 
prisoners  exchanged  beds  and  names  so  secretly  as  to  make 
it  appear  that  Marsh  died  and  was  buried,  and  the  other  sol 
dier  lived,  and  was  paroled." 

62  489 


490  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

At  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  Sergeant  Leonard  P. 
Goodwin  of  Company  A  (from  Plymouth)  was  detailed  with 
a  squad  of  men  as  a  body-guard  to  Gen.  Scherick.  They  were 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  around  the  general  when  he 
was  wounded;  and  bore  him  from  the  field.  Sergeant  Good 
win  helped  to  rally  a  regiment,  and  received  the  commenda 
tion  of  Gen.  Schenck  therefor. 

The  battalion  was  mostly  without  rations,  and  lived  as  it 
could,  doing  severe  service  until  the  army  fell  back  within 
.the  intrenchments  about  Washington.  Major  Lyon  and 
Capt.  Bowen  had  resigned,  and  great  confusion  arose  as  to 
which  was  the  ranking  officer  ;  Capt.  Farns worth  refusing 
to  serve  under  Capt.  Middlebrook.  The  command  was  de 
moralized  ;  and  the  companies  had  for  weeks  marched,  skir 
mished,  and  fought  separately.  Capt.  William  S.  Fish  was 
now  made  major;  and  the  battalion,  about  Sept.  7,  was  or 
dered  into  camp  near  Georgetown,  and  an  officer  was  sent 
home  to  obtain  recruits. 

Capt.  Middlebrook  resigned  soon,  exhausted  and  sick,  as 
the  result  of  the  exposures  of  the  campaign.  The  camp  was 
moved  to  a  young  apple-orchard  near  Tenallytown,  north  of 
Washington,  where  a  hundred  excellent  recruits  from  the 
State  were  received.  Company  C,  with  all  the  horses  of 
the  battalion,  under  Capt.  A.  F.  Niles  of  Hartford,  went  out 
to  Fairfax  Court  House  on  provost-duty,  and  rendered 
highly  acceptable  service  at  Gen.  Sigel's  headquarters. 
Oct.  23,  moved  to  Kalorama  Grounds  near  Washington, 
where  drilling  was  in  order  until  Nov.  17;  when- location  was 
again  changed  to  Hall's  Farm,  about  three  miles  from  Aque 
duct  Bridge  in  Virginia.  Here  a  beautiful  and  comfortable 
camp  was  made  in  the  woods  by  clearing  up  a  dense  thicket ; 
and  the  battalion  was  again  thoroughly  equipped  and 
mounted.  "  Major  Fish's  force'  and  energy  infused  new 
spirit  throughout  the  entire  command  ;  and,  when  they  were 
required  to  march  as  a  portion  of  Sigel's  Reserve  Corps  to 
the  vicinity  of  Fredericksburg,  they  were  in  better  condition 
for  effective  service  than  ever  before."1  They  were  not, 
however,  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  but  were 

1  Letter  of  Chaplain  Warriner. 


THE   CAVALRY  REGIMENT   BUILD  BARRACKS.  491 

soon  recalled  to  Stafford  Court  House,  where  the  battalion 
joined  the  encampment  of  the  llth  Corps. 

While  here,  Company  A  was  most  of  the  time  detached, 
and  on  severe  duty  at  the  extreme  flank  of  the  army.  Cor 
poral  Michael  Carver  of  Norwich,  with  four  men,  stopped  at 
a  house  for  breakfast ;  and  Carver  was  shot  by  guerrillas  con 
cealed  in  the  house,  who  then  ran  to  the  woods.  Capt. 
Blakeslee  went  with  a  squad,  but  neither  rebels  nor  family 
were  to  be  found.  The  house  was  burned  by  order  of  Gen. 
Burnside.  "  Carver  was  a  brave,  good  soldier;  always  cheer 
ful  and  full  of  spirit;  never  shirking  duty,  but  often  volun 
teering  to  perform  extra  duty  for  others."2 

While  the  regiment  was  near  Washington,  during  the  fall 
of  1862,  Major  Fish  began  in  earnest  the  task  of  increasing 
the  battalion  to  a  regiment.  This  was  soon  ordered  to  be 
done,  mainly  through  his  influence  and  exertions.  But  the 
battalion  filled  slowly ;  and  in  January  received  the  long- 
expected  orders  to  march  to  Baltimore,  whither  it  was  called 
at  the  request  of  Major  Fish.  The  Monumental  City  was 
reached  duly  after  considerable  exposure  to  rain ;  and  here, 
for  a  time,  the  toil  of  war  was  suspended,  while  the  men 
devoted  themselves  to  the  lighter  duties  of  a  soldier.  Their 
first  care  was  to  rebuild  the  old,  uncomfortable  barracks  at 
Camp  Carroll ;  and  Yankee  skill  soon  erected  new  ones,  and 
made  them  tidy  and  pleasant,  —  a  model  of  convenience 
and  comfort.  Each  squad  of  six  or  eight  had  a  large  room  to 
itself;  and  the  kitchens  were  complete  in  their  arrangements. 
Company  streets  were  paved  with  brick,  and  the  open  spaces 
turfed  in  the  most  approved  manner.  The  stables  were 
roomy  and  well  ventilated,  and  the  grain-rooms  supplied 
with  bins  and  troughs.  All  the  work  was  done  by  the  men 
of  the  battalion;  the  government  piecing  out  the  old  boards 
with  a  small  quantity  of  new  lumber.  A  commodious  chapel 
and  hospital  were  also  built ;  and  most  of  the  work  was  prose 
cuted  under  the  energetic  superintendence  of  Capt.  Farns- 
worth.3  The  place  was  named  Camp  Cheeseboro'.  Major 
Fish  was  now  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Capt. 
Farnsworth  to  be  major. 

2  Capt.  E.  Blakeslee.  8  Diary  of  Capt.  Blakeslee. 


492  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

On  March  15,  Capt.  Albert  F.  Niles,  who  had  been  through 
a  year  of  active  service  without  a  sick  day,  was  prostrated 
with  fever  at  Baltimore,  and  suddenly  died.  He  was  a  man 
of  few  words,  and  of  a  very  self-contained  disposition,  so  that 
some  thought  him  proud  or  distant ;  but  time  proved  him  a 
perfect  gentleman,  and  a  cheerful,  brave,  ready,  self-reliant 
soldier.  He  was  buried  in  Hartford  with  all  honors. 

The  regiment  remained  in  Baltimore  during  the  spring 
and  summer  of  1863,  while  recruits  were  gradually  accumu 
lating.  Companies  were  detached  for  duty  on  the  Potomac 
and  at  other  posts.  On  June  29,  signal  rockets  announcing 
the  approach  of  Lee  caused  great  apprehension  in  Balti 
more.  The  alarm-bells  were  rung,  and  the  Union  League 
rallied  at  the  barricades.  The  First  Cavalry  turned  out  under 
arms.  Lieut.  Joab  B.  Rogers  of  Norwich  was  in  command 
of  a  picket  post  on  the  Westminster  Road,  and  heard  the  shout 
of  alarm  from  an  excited  officer  as  he  dashed  by  the  guards, 
declaring  that  the  rebels  were  in  close  pursuit,  and  urging 
the  pickets  to  fall  back.  The  lieutenant  proposed  to  remain 
at  his  post  until  he  was  relieved,  or  ordered  in,  or  driven  in 
by  the  enemy.  He  remained,  and  maintained  the  honor  of 
a  soldier.  About  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  the 
whole  effective  force  of  the  battalion  was  ordered  to  Har 
per's  Ferry. 

On  July  14,  Major  Farnsworth,  Capt.  Blakeslee,  and  fifty 
men,  crossed  the  Potomac  by  order  of  Gen.  Naglee,  to  recon- 
noiter  the  enemy's  position  beyond  Bolivar  Heights,  and  to 
ascertain  his  strength.  Capt.  Blakeslee  reports,  — 

"  About  two  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry,  the  advance-guard 
(eighteen  men,  under  myself)  charged  upon  the  picket  of  the 
enemy  (numbering  about  thirty),  and  drove  them  in  confusion 
back  upon  their  reserve.  Major  Farnsworth,  coming  up  now, 
charged  upon  the  whole  reserve  of  the  enemy,  about  two 
hundred  strong.  The  enemy  also  charged  ;  and  it  became  a 
hand-to-hand  fight,  in  which,  owing  to  the  disparity  of  our 
numbers,  they  repulsed  us,  recovering  several  prisoners  whom 
we  had  previously  taken,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  add,  captured 
Major  Farnsworth  with  twenty-four  men.  The  major  fought 
most  gallantly  until  he  was  overpowered,  and  taken  prisoner. 


THE   CAVALRY  RECRUITED  BY   REBEL  DESERTERS.        493 

I  took  command  of  the  remainder  of  our  men,  and  fell  back, 
bringing  with  me  as  prisoners  one  captain,  one  second  lieu 
tenant,  and  two  privates ;  all  of  whom  were  captured  by  the 
advance  in  their  first  charge  upon  the  picket,  in  which  we 
shot  several  horses,  and  wounded  the  colonel  of  the  12th 
Virginia  Cavalry,  who  was  afterwards  found,  and  brought  in 
a  prisoner. 

"Allen  F.  Phillips  of  Woodstock,  first  sergeant  Company  A, 
deserves  special  mention  for  his  courage  and  good  conduct 
in  the  affair." 

Sergeant  Horace  II.  Gore  of  Preston,  a  grandson  of  Asa 
A.  Gore,  the  only  male  survivor  of  the  massacre  at  Wyoming, 
was  commended  for  good  conduct  in  a  skirmish  soon  after, 
in  which  he  was  severely  wounded  and  permanently  dis 
abled.  About  the  time  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service, 
he  received  a  commission  as  lieutenant. 

Capt.  Blakeslee  was  ordered  to  Connecticut  to  recruit, 
where  he  was  promoted  to  be  major,  his  commission  dating 
from  July  14,  for  gallantry  displayed  that  day. 

Early  in  October,  the  battalion,  now  rapidly  growing  to  a 
regiment,  received  a  unique  re-inforcement  in  a  hundred  and 
twenty  veterans, — all  of  them  rebel  prisoners,  or  deserters 
from  the  rebel  army.  They  represented  nearly  every  South 
ern  State ;  but  a  majority  were  from  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee.  Most  of  them  declared  that  they  had  been  forced 
into  the  Confederate  service,  and  had  escaped  at  the  first 
opportunity ;  and  all  eagerly  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  United  States. 

"  One  of  these  brave  men,  who  was  dragged  from  his  home 
by  night,  and  compelled  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Federal 
Government,  said, '  I  have  a  wife  and  little  boy  in  Tennessee ; 
and  no  man  loves  his  family  more  than  I  do  mine  :  but  sooner 
than  lift  my  hand  against  the  stars  and  stripes'  (and  the 
vow  trembled  on  his  lips),  — '  before  I'll  be  a  traitor  to  my 
country,  I'll  say  farewell  forever  to  my  home  and  to  those 
dear  ones,  and  never  see  their  faces  any  more.'  They  all 
know  well  that  certain  death  awaits  them  if  they  are  ever 
taken  by  the  rebels.  I  suggested  this  fact  to  one  of  them. 
He  replied,  *  They  will  never  take  me  alive.'  " 4 

*  Letter  of  Chaplain  Warriner. 


494  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

It  was  evident  that  few  had  ever  entered  the  service  at  so 
much  risk  and  sacrifice  as  these  men,  and  that,  if  they  were 
true  to  their  new-made  vows,  the  army  would  not  contain 
better  soldiers.  They  generally  proved  faithful,  and  every 
way  worthy  of  the  confidence  and  brotherly  regard  which 
the  men  from  Connecticut  did  not  long  withhold. 

Several  companies  of  the  regiment  remained  at  Baltimore, 
under  command  of  Capt.  William  E.  Morris  of  Roxbury ; 
detachments  of  which  "were  occasionally  sent  on  delightful 
expeditions  down  the  Chesapeake  to  Point  Lookout  and 
various  parts  of  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland." 

Two  or  three  companies  went  to  the  polls  in  different 
counties  to  keep  rebel  soldiers  from  voting,  and  to  be  "a 
terror  to  evil-doers,  and  a  praise  to  them  that  do  well." 

Companies  A,  B,  and  E,  with  parts  of  C  and  D,  were  at 
Harper's  Ferry  after  July,  under  Capt.  Howell  Atwater  of 
New  Haven,  performing  duties  attended  with  more  hard 
ships  and  fatigue.  Capt.  Elbridge  Colburn  of  Ansonia  was 
appointed  brigade-quartermaster  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Tyler. 
Capt.  Edwin  W.  French  of  Mystic  was  assistant  provost- 
marshal  in  command  of  the  detective  force,  and  provost-mar 
shal  in  the  absence  of  Col.  Fish.  Adjutant  H.  J.  0.  Walker 
of  Mystic  Bridge  had  charge  of  passes  and  transportation. 
The  seizure  and  disposal  of  confiscated  property  was  under 
the  direction  of  Lieut.  Joseph  Backus  of  Hebron  ;  and  Lieut. 
J.  B.  Morehouse,  returned  from  imprisonment,  had  control  of 
military  prisoners,  and  was  soon  promoted  .to  be  captain. 
So  sped  the  summer,  fall,  and  early  winter,  —  time  spent 
rather  indolently  by  most  of  the  regiment. 

During  this  summer,  Gen.  Schenck  sent  for  Capt.  Blakes- 
lee,  directing  him  to  establish  a  line  of  signal-stations  twenty 
miles  out  on  different  roads.  The  captain  replied  that  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  signal-system.  "  Then  invent  one,"  was 
the  rejoinder :  " you  shall  have  a  carte  blanche"  Blakeslee 
went  at  the  work,  and,  before  daylight,  had  prepared  all  the 
necessary  flags  and  rockets,  procured  the  requisite  field-glass 
es,  and  within  three  days  had  established  the  signals  on  both 
the  routes,  so  that  satisfactory  reports  could  be  sent  over 
both  lines  in  fifteen  minutes,  day  or  night. 


GREAT  CHANGE  IN  THE  CAVALRY  REGIMENT.      495 

Lieut-Col.  Fish  was  promoted  to  be  colonel,  Aug.  22,  1863, 
and  was  detailed  to  be  provost-marshal  of  Baltimore;  but 
early  in  1864  he  was  arrested  on  charges  of  unsoldierly  con 
duct.  He  was  immediately  tried,  convicted,  dismissed  the 
service,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  heavy  fine  and  to  be  impri 
soned  for  five  years.  The  last  two  provisions  of  the  penalty 
were  afterward  remitted  in  consideration  of  his  previous  gal 
lant  services;  his  guilt  proving,  moreover,  on  further  ex 
amination,  much  less  than  it  had  at  first  appeared. 

With  the  return  of  Major  Blakeslee  to  Baltimore  in  Jan 
uary,  1864,  began  the  real  military  life  of  the  First  Regi 
ment  Connecticut  Cavalry.  He  found  some  seven  hundred 
men,  mostly  recruits,  arranged  in  companies,  and  officered, 
but  mostly  without  drill  or  discipline.  They  had  been  under 
the  command,  first  of  one  captain,  then  of  another,  no  one 
having  had  command  for  any  length  of  time ;  and  were  very 
much  demoralized.  There  was  little  order  or  subordination, 
little  military  life  or  character.  Major  Blakeslee  immediately 
established  with  a  vigorous  hand  all  the  regular  routine  of 
camp-duties,  intluding  hours  of  daily  drill.  There  had 
never  been  a  school  for  regimental  officers ;  but  one  was  now 
established,  with  long  and  thorough  instruction  every  day. 
The  daily  drill  was  had  on  the  lesson  of  the  evening  pre 
vious. 

Major  Blakeslee  was  detailed  on  a  field-officers'  court- 
martial,  and  at  first  frequently  tried  twelve  or  fifteen 
prisoners  a  clay ;  the  action  being  so  prompt,  that  prisoners 
were  sometimes  tried,  convicted,  papers  all  made  out  and 
approved,  and  sentence  rendered  on  the  same  day. 

A  great  change  was  perceptible  in  the  regiment  in  a  week, 
produced  by  simply  enforcing  the  ordinary  rules  of  military 
conduct.  Major  George  0.  Marcy  of  Bridgeport  established 
a  profitable  school  for  sergeants ;  and  Major  Brayton  Ives 
(who  now  joined  the  regiment  from  New  Haven)  prepared 
a  little  work  entitled  Hints  on  the  Treatment  of  Horses, 
which  was  considered  so  valuable,  that  it  was  published  in 
pamphlet  form  for  the  use  of  the  regiment.  Officers  and  pri 
vate  soldiers  began  suddenly  to  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  the 
days  of  "  play-soldier "  were  over,  and  that  thereafter  they 


496  CONNECTICUT   DUEING   THE   REBELLION. 

were  to  be  fighting  men.  Major  Farnsworth,  while  still  a 
prisoner  at  Libby,  had  been  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-colo 
nel,  dating  from  Jan.  18,  1864.  He  returned  to  his  regiment, 
but  soon  afterwards  resigned  his  commission,  and  was  hon 
orably  discharged. 

Lieut.  E.  H.  Latimer  of  Montville  died  suddenly,  Feb.  15, 
of  small-pox.  The  body  could  not  be  removed  to  home  and 
friends ;  but  Chaplain  Warriner  said,  "  The  deceased  had  won 
the  love  of  his  comrades,  and  we  who  knew  him  well  were 
mourners  together."  He  had  been  promoted  from  the  ranks, 
and  had  been  mustered  in  as  lieutenant  only  two  days 
before  his  death.  Some  twenty  others  died  while  the  regi 
ment  was  in  Baltimore. 

Towards  the  end  of  February,  a  new  supply  of  five  hundred 
horses  was  obtained  ;  and  then  followed  the  amusing  task  of 
assigning  them.  They  were  first  assorted  into  colors,  —  bay, 
black,  sorrel  and  light-bay,  gray  and  piebald  ;  and  then  com 
pany  commanders  drew  lots  for  colors.  The  men  were  then 
marched  up,  and  each  man  took  the  horse  opposite  to  him. 
This  was  impartial,  but  not  always  satisfactory ;  and  all  sorts 
of  devices  were  frequently  resorted  to  to  effect  a  secret 
exchange  for  some  better  animal.  Many  got  kicked  by 
their  strange  steeds ;  and  some  score  were  tumbled  to  the 
ground,  making  that  mounting  "  a  sight  to  see."  Equip 
ments  were  issued  at  once,  and  active  battalion-drills  begun. 

Orders  were  received  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Potomac; 
and  at  eight  o'clock,  A.M.,  of  March  8,  the  old  camp  was 
broken  up  and  abandoned,  rations  cooked  and  distributed, 
horses  fed  and  groomed,  small  packs  made  up ;  and  six 
hundred  and  seventy-five  mounted  men  were  drawn  up, 
mounted  in  close  column  of  squadrons,  every  man  in  place, 
sabres  shining,  flags  frying,  and  guidons  flashing  in  the  wind, 
—  a  magnificent  array.  Major  Blakeslee,  young  and  almost 
beardless,  might  well  be  proud  of  his  command  as  the 
bugler  sounded  the  officers'  call.  The  line-officers  rode  to 
the  front,  and  received  directions  to  permit  no  straggling 
nor  foraging,  and  to  keep  the  ranks  well  filled  up.  The 
bugler  sounded  the  "  Forward  !"  and  away  they  rode  to  a 
year  of  deadly  conflict,  to  toil  and  vigilance,  heat,  cold,  and 
hunger,  death-wounds  and  glory. 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  AT  MARTINSBUKG.  497 

They  went  past  the  Relay  House,  and  arrived  at  Annapo 
lis  Junction  in  the  rain  about  three  o'clock,  P.M.  Camp  by 
squadrons  was  made  east  of  the  hospital.  The  officers  fared 
well  enough  in  the  hospital ;  but  the  men  had  the  wettest, 
muddiest,  dismalest  night  they  had  spent  since  Wheeling 
Island  and  Moorefield.  They  were  drenched,  and  lying  in 
mud  knee-deep.  Two  days  later,  they  found  a  better  camp, 
on  a  slope  in  a  grove,  where  they  were  comfortable  once 
more  on  dry  land. 

After  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Winchester,  about  two 
hundred  and  twenty  officers  and  men  from  the  Eighteenth 
escaped  in  different  directions  towards  the  Potomac.5  Major 
Peale,  with  thirty  men,  arrived  on  the  same  day  at  Harper's 
Ferry;  having  had  a  very  narrow  escape.  About  two  hun 
dred  others  from  Milroy's  scattered  army  were  put  under 
Major  Peale,  and  led  against  the  flank  of  Lee's  army,  now 
retreating  from  Gettysburg.  They  marched  to  Snicker's  Gap, 
and  captured  many  of  the  fugitives.  Major  Peale  was  next 
ordered  to  Sharpsburg,  where  he  took  command  of  the 
remnant  of  the  Eighteenth.  Company  B,  Lieut.  F.  G.  Bix- 
by,  being  on  provost-duty,  had  escaped  intact  with  others ; 
and  in  a  few  days  he  was  ordered  to  report  for  provost-duty 
at  Hagerstown  to  guard  rebel  prisoners. 

On  Sept.  30,  Major  Peale  brought  the  exchanged  prison 
ers  from  Camp  Parole  at  Annapolis;  increasing  the  regi 
ment  to  eight  officers  and  six  hundred  men.  On  Oct.  3, 
they  forded  the  Potomac,  and  advanced  to  Martinsburg ; 
making  camp  about  half  a  mile  west  of  the  town  on  a 
wooded  elevation  as  pleasantly  situated  for  winter-quarters 
as  could  be  desired.  Here,  notwithstanding  the  insufficiency 
of  officers,  good  order  was  maintained ;  and  the  regiment  soon 
began  to  show  improvement  in  drill  and  general  discipline. 
Log-houses  were  built,  furnished  with  stoves  and  other  con- 

5  Immediately  after  the  disaster  to  the  Eighteenth,  Henry  B.  Norton,  a  patriotic 
and  liberal  citizen  of  Norwich,  went  to  the  Potomac  at  the  request  of  Gov.  Buckingham, 
and  was  of  great  assistance  in  collecting  the  remnants  of  the  regiment,  and  supplying  their 
immediate  wants.  The  Hartford  Press  said  of  him,  — 

"  No  gentleman  in  the  State  has  been  so  indefatigable  in  labors  of  this  kind  for  the 
comfort  of  our  soldiers  since  the  war  began.     He  has  steadily  refused  all  compensation,  or 
remuneration  of  his  expenses ;  and  is  so  unostentatious,  that  we  fear  to  annoy  him  even  by 
this  brief  and  merited  mention  of  his  services." 
63 


498  CONNECTICUT  DURING-  THE  REBELLION. 

trivances  for  comfort.  The  Yankee  propensity  to  barter 
broke  out,  and  the  men  supplied  themselves  with  many  little 
luxuries  in  exchange  for  surplus  rations. 

There  was  also  a  warm  social  side  to  life  at  Martinsburg. 
Soldiers  and  citizens  mingled  a  good  deal  in  camp  and  at 
fireside,  at  church,  prayer-meetings,  parties,  debating  socie 
ties.  Private  Albert  C.  Green  of  Company  A  established  a 
singing-school  in  town,  in  which  soldiers  and  citizens  alike 
participated.  This  was  of  real  value,  introducing  the  "boys" 
into  the  best  families,  and  adding  a  genuine  zest  to  life  in 
barracks.  Acquaintanceships  ripened  into  friendships;  friend 
ships,  into  intimacies;  and,  in  at  least  one  case,  there  resulted 
the  "  union  of  hearts  and  union  of  hands "  which  nothing 
but  death  or  "  incompatibility  of  temper "  can  dissolve. 
Slowly  the  regiment  recovered  its  old  tone  and  pride  in 
military  tactics,  and  at  last  won  commendations  again  from 
citizens,  officers,  and  inspectors.  Major  Peale  and  his  subor 
dinates  labored  with  great  zeal  and  success  in  restoring  the 
true  martial  spirit. 

Once  during  the  winter  a  raid  resulted  in  the  capture 
of  several  rebels ;  twice  or  thrice,  the  regiment  was  in  line 
of  battle,  or  on  a  reconnoissance  :  but  the  winter  was  rather 
uneventful,  and  the  men  contented  themselves  in  completing 
the  capture  of  Martinsburg. 

The  general  in  command,  notwithstanding  his  apparent 
lack  of  great  military  genius,  was  always  popular  in  his  com 
mand  ;  and,  when  he  visited  Martinsburg,  "  Daddy  Milroy  " 
was  heartily  received  by  the  Eighteenth.  They  ordered 
him  out  with  an  affectionate  if  unmilitary  clamor,  and  he 
addressed  them  as  follows:  — 

SOLDIERS  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH,  — 

I  am  glad  to  see  you  once  more  :  I  am  happy  to  see  you  looking  so 
hearty  and  well ;  happy  to  welcome  you  back  again  beneath  the  folds  of 
your  own  stars  and  stripes,  which  you  so  nobly  defended  during  the  three- 
days'  fight  at  Winchester.  Since  I  last  saw  you,  you  have  suffered  cap 
tivity  in  rebel  prisons.  We  have  been  separated  since  then  ;  but  I  have 
come  to  see  you,  and  to  praise  you  for.  your  gallantry.  I  saw  you  in  the 
second  day's  fight  as  you  charged  the  enemy  from  your  rifle-pits  and  drove 
them  back  upon  their  reserves,  holding  them  in  check  until  night ;  when 
you  fell  back,  but  with  your  face  to  the  foe.  Again  I  saw  you  the  next 
morning,  facing  as  hot  a  fire  as  I  ever  witnessed  in  my  life.  I  looked  in 
vain  to  see  you  waver.  Boys,  it  was  a  hot  place,  —  a  hot  place.  I  saw 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  IN  LIBBY  PRISON.        499 

you  go  where  none  but  brave  men  dare  go ;  saw  you  make  three  succes 
sive  charges,  preserving  your  line  as  well  as  if  on  dress-parade.  I  wit 
nessed  it  all.  I  saw  you  as  you  broke  the  first  line  of  rebel  infantry,  and 
charged  up  to  their  batteries  ;  driving  away  their  gunners,  still  pressing  on, 
and  breaking  their  reserves.  But  a  third  line  was  too  strong  for  you.  I 
knew  it  was.  Only  then  did  you  fall  back,  when  your  lines  were  broken, 
and  many  brave  Connecticut  men  lay  bleeding  on  the  field.  But  you  only 
fell  back  to  re-form,  and  give  them  another  taste  of  your  steel.  I  knew  it 
was  madness  to  order  you  forward  again  :  it  was  ordering  you  to  death 
and  annihilation  ;  for  I  well  knew  you  would  attempt  any  thing  for  your 
general.  Boys,  I  watched  you  with  pride  as  you  charged  the  third  time  ; 
but,  when  I  saw  your  rauks  withering  and  your  comrades  falling,  it  made 
my  heart  grow  sad  within  me,  and  I  ordered  you  to  fall  back.  You  know 
the  rest.  You  were  surrounded,  and  there  was  no  escape.  But  I  miss 
your  noble  commander,  Col.  Ely :  may  he  soon  return  to  you  !  Boys, 
to  your  valor  I  owe  my  safety.  You  come  from  a  State  whose  soldiers 
never  disgrace  themselves  nor  their  flag.  I  am  proud  of  you,  and  ever 
shall  be  of  such  soldiers. 

And  now  accept  my  wishes  for  your  safe  return  to  your  New-England 
homes  when  our  flag  shall  wave  in  triumph  over  our  whole  country. 
Good-by. 

In  January,  1864,  Chaplain  V.  A.  Cooper  of  New  London 
having  resigned,  he  was  succeeded  by  Chaplain  W.  C.  Walker 
of  New  Britain,  who  worked  diligently  to  elevate  the  moral 
and  physical  tone  of  the  regiment. 

In  the  mean  time,  most  of  the  officers  were  still  in  Libby 
Prison  ;  and  some  of  them  were  destined  to  remain  longer  in 
rebel  captivity  than  any  other  officers 'from  Connecticut,  and 
be  released  only  when  the  Confederacy  itself  was  crushed 
in  1865. 

Twenty-four  officers  of  the  Eighteenth  were  together  in 
Libby,  and  remained  together  nearly  a  year.  The  day's 
ration  at  first  consisted  of  one-fourth  of  a  pound  of  beef, 
and  nine  ounces  of  bread,  wheat,  or  cornmeal,  and  nine 
ounces  of  rice.  After  the  victory  of  Gettysburg,  the  fare 
was  improved  through  fear  of  retaliation ;  a  large  balance 
of  prisoners  being  in  our  hands.  Prisoners  were  now  per 
mitted  to  purchase  moderately  from  the  markets  of  Rich 
mond,  and  to  receive  supplies  from  the  North ;  yet  sharp 
discomfort  was  suffered  from  so  many  being  packed  and 
huddled  together  in  the  noxious  air  of  an  ill- ventilated 
tobacco  warehouse. 

This  monotonous  life  was  occasionally  varied  by  a  distin 
guished  arrival.  Col.  Straight,  then  famous,  enlivened  the 


500  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

prison  by  his  able  and  fearless  debates  of  the  slavery  ques 
tion  with  any  rebel  who  came  within  reach.  Gen.  Neal 
Dow  arrived  from  Mobile,  where  he  had  been  a  prisoner  in 
the  enjoyment  of  a  considerable  degree  of  freedom  and 
intercourse  with  the  citizens  •  and  he  now  repeatedly  ad 
dressed  the  officers  of  Libby,  informing  them  of  the  inner 
life  of  the  Confederacy  and  its  waning  hopes  and  prospects. 
These  speeches  were  frequently  interrupted  by  the  sudden 
appearance  of  the  rebel  sentinel ;  when  the  speaker  would 
continue,  unterrified,  "  As  I  was  saying,  this  indulgence  in 
alcoholic  stimulants  is  ruinous  to  the  mental,  moral,  and 
social  character  of  men,"  &c.  Officers  came  in  from  all  the 
armies  constantly ;  and  the  occupants  of  Libby  were  prob 
ably  better  informed  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  the 
Rebellion  than  were  their  friends  at  home.  By  a  constant 
interchange  of  news  and  sentiments,  they  were  kept  in  a 
cheerful  spirit. 

Gen.  E.  M.  Lee  (of  Guilford,  Conn.,  an  officer  in  the 
Michigan  Cavalry),  then  in  Libby,  recently  explained 
the  financial  condition  of  the  prison  at  that  time  thus :  "  We 
had  rations  miserable  in  quality,  and  so  small  in  quantity 
as  scarcely  to  support  life  without  other  means.  We  felt 
that  the  rebels  intended  to  compel  us  to  make  up  this 
deficiency  by  purchasing  in  their  markets  what  it  was  their 
duty  to  furnish  us.  We  yielded  to  the  necessity  imposed. 
But  we  soon  learned  better  than  to  waste  genuine  cur 
rency  in  this  unwilling  service  of  the  Confederacy.  They 
permitted  brokers  to  come  among  us,  who,  when  our  money 
was  exhausted,  took  our  checks  on  Northern  banks  where 
we  '  deposited.'  We  struck  as  good  a  bargain  as  possible, 
to  avert  suspicion,  and  then  sold  our  checks,  —  checks  on 
any  bank  of  which  we  could  recall  the  name.  These  fur 
nished  us  with  much  food  and  clothing,  and  some  luxu 
ries  ;  and  I  don't  think  the  checks  were  ever  collected  ! " 

In  February  of  1864,  Col.  Ely  escaped  from  Libby  with 
one  hundred  and  eight  other  officers,  through  the  famous 
tunnel.  They  had  obtained  entrance,  through  a  hole  in 
the  floor,  to  an  unoccupied  basement ;  and  thence  had  dug 
straight  out  under  Twentieth  Street,  loosening  the  earth 


LIFE  IN  THE  LIBBY  PRISON.  501 

with  an  old  hinge,  and  removing  it  in  a  broken  sugar-scoop 
taken  from  the  hospital.  The  sand  was  then  drawn  out  in 
a  carpet-bag,  and  secreted  about  the  cellar.  They  were 
at  work  upon  the  tunnel  for  fifty-five  days,  when  the  pioneer, 
Capt.  J.  N.  Johnson  of  the  6th  Kentucky  Cavalry,  struck 
daylight,  and  came  up  under  an  old  shed  across  the  street. 
That  night,  at  nine  o'clock,  the  first  man  left ;  at  five  next 
morning,  the  last.  About  fifty  were  at  last  recaptured  by 
the  cavalry,  who  scoured  the  State  in  all  directions  ;  among 
them  Col.  Ely,  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion.  He  was 
taken  by  cavalry,  forty-two  miles  out,  after  being  absent  four 
days. 

"  The  occupations  and  diversions  of  Libby  were  various," 
writes  an  officer  of  the  Eighteenth.6  "Aroused  to  morning 
consciousness  by  the  voice  of  a  stalwart  darky,  our  ears  were 
saluted  with, '  All  fo'  of  de  mawnin'  papers !  Rise,  gemmen, 
an'  bye  de  mawnin'  news  !  Great  news  from  de  Rappahan- 
nock  !  Great  news  from  Charleston  !  Great  news  from  de 
James  Ribber !  Is  all  de  gemmen  s'plied  wid  de  mawnin' 
news  ?  '  Thus  we  obtained  the  Richmond  dailies,  printed  on 
a  half-sheet  of  smoky  brown  paper,  with  little  reliable  news, 
and  editorials  filled  with  exaggerated  falsehood.  ...  In 
Libby,  the  study  of  many  languages  was  pursued, —  French, 
German,  Spanish,  Latin,  and  Greek.  A  literary  society  was 
maintained,  and  important  questions  debated.  A  journal 
called  the  Libby  Chronicle  was  edited  with  marked  ability, 
with  articles  worthy  of  the  best  periodicals.  Here  would  be 
seen  a  group  rendering  in  sweetest  concord  the  choicest  se 
lections  from  Handel,  Mozart,  and  other  masters  of  sacred 
song ;  there  a .  party  enjoying  some  admirable  exhibition  of 
comic  minstrelsy." 

In  March,  1864,  Col.  William  G.  Ely,  Lieut.-Col.  Monroe 
Nichols,  Capt.  G.  W.  Warner,  Lieuts.  I.  N.  Kibbe,  M.  V.  B. 
Tiffany,  J.  P.  Rockwell,  and  John  A.  Francis,  were  paroled, 
and  returned  to  the  North,  their  exchange  following.  The 
rest  of  the  officers  of  the  Eighteenth  were,  on  May  7,  sent 
to  Danville,  Va.,  and  after  a  few  days  transferred  to  the 
new  stockade  prison  at  Macon.  The  prison-life  at  Macon, 

6  Surgeon  Lowell  Holbrook  of  Thompson,  detained  in  prison  four  months. 


502  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Charleston,  and  Columbia,  is  elsewhere  described.  In  Decem 
ber,  Capts.  D.  W.  Hakes  and  Charles  D.  Brown,  with  Lients. 
A.  H.  Lindsay,  George  Kies,  and  A.  G.  Scran  ton,  were  paroled, 
and  went  North.  In  February,  1865,  the  rest  of  the  officers 
of  the  Eighteenth  were  sent  to  Charlotte.  Lieut.  Henry  F. 
Cowles  jumped  from  the  cars,  was  secreted  by  the  negroes, 
and  joined  Sherman's  advance  cavalry.  Lieut.  Ezra  D.  Car 
penter  escaped  from  the  hospital,  and  occupied  Columbia  the 
day  before  Gen.  Sherman.  The  remaining  officers  were  pa 
roled  at  Williamston,  N.C.,  in  March,  1865 ;  having  been  in 
captivity  twenty-one  months,  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 

Lieut.  Carpenter  had  a  singularly  interesting  experience. 
He  described  it  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  from  which  we 
make  an  extract :  "  When  the  prisoners  were  removed  to 
Charlotte,  off  the  track  of  Sherman's  advancing  army,  I  was 
very  much  reduced,  and  declared  unable  to  be  moved  with 
the  rest.  I  was  taken  to  a  large  hospital  with  others.  The 
streets  were  full  of  tumult  in  the  effort  to  escape  from  the 
doomed  city.  At  last,  when  Sherman's  first  shells  fell  in  the 
city,  the  rebels  came  to  remove  us.  I  dressed  and  passed 
down,  but,  remembering  that  I  had  forgotten  something, 

'  o  O  O ? 

went  back,  and  concealed  myself  under  one  of  the  bunks. 
Inquiries  were  made  for  me ;  but,  after  search,  they  conclud 
ed  I  had  gone  in  a  former  load.  A  slave,  sent  up  to  clean  out 
the  building,  discovered  me,  and,  with  the  quick  instincts  of 
his  race,  immediately  agreed  to  help  me  to  escape.  Finally 
rebel  soldiers  came  into  the  room  to  sleep  for  the  night. 
They  came  up  to  the  bunk  under  which  I  lay,  and  I  saw  their 
boots  as  they  walked  around  it.  They  then  built  a  fire  at 
the  other  end  of  the  room,  and  sat  around  it,  dividing  among 
themselves  my  bag  of  scanty  clothing  and  personal  effects, 
which  they  had  found  where  I  dropped  it  when  I  secreted  my 
self.  At  eight  o'clock,  I  crawled  softly  down  to  the  next  floor; 
and  soon  one  of  the  attendants,  with  a  light,  passed  within  a 
few  feet  of  where  I  lay  behind  a  bunk.  A  few  minutes  after, 
I  got  out  the  window,  and  jumped  to  the  ground.  My  first 
effort  was  to  find  a  black  man,  —  the  first  thought  of  every 
prisoner  who  ever  escaped  from  rebel  bondage.  They  were 
in  their  quarters.  At  the  first  hovel,  a  white  man  came  to 


ENTRANCE  OF  SHERMAN  INTO  COLUMBIA.        503 

the  door.     I  inquired  where  Mr. lived,  and  was  glad  to 

get  away.  At  the  next,  I  passed  as  a  rebel  soldier;  and 
some  ladies  gave  me  the  food  I  so  much  needed.  I  then 
went  straight  to  the  hotel  where  Gen.  Beauregard  stopped, 
registered  my  name  as  J.  C.  Cady  of  Charleston,  went  to  bed, 
and  lay  until  nine  o'clock  next  clay.  My  sleep  had  been  in 
terrupted  all  night  by  constant  noise  and  bustle  on  the 
street ;  and,  when  I  went  down,  confusion  seemed  to  reign. 
I  could  obtain  no  breakfast :  the  landlord  said  he  '  couldn't 
get  the  niggers  to  work.'  I  ultimately  got  breakfast,  and 
paid  my  bill  (twenty  dollars)  in  Confederate  currency.  I 
bought  a  morning  newspaper.  Every  thing  looked  well  for 
the  rebels :  Gen.  Beauregard,  the  war-horse,  snuffed  the  breeze 
from  afar,  and  was  at  his  post ;  and  Sherman  would  get  a 
warm  reception.  I  went  out,  and  found  that  the  rebels  had 
been  evacuating  the  city  all  night.  Far  in  the  distance  arose 
a  cloud  of  dust ;  nearer  were  heard  faint  cheers  ;  down  Main 
Street  came  a  carriage  bearing  a  flag,  which  grew  into  the 
stars  and  stripes  as  I  gazed.  I  trembled  with  inexpressible 
joy ;  for  our  general  and  the  mayor  of  the  city  were  in  the 
carriage.  The  swift  cavalry  whirled  though  the  city ;  the 
long  line  of  boys  in  blue  marched  steadily  up  the  street  to 
the  strains  of  Yankee  Doodle :  Columbia  was  ours  ! " 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

The  First  and  Second  Artillery,  Sixth,  Tenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Seventeenth,  during  the 
Winter  of  1863-64.  —  The  Second  Light  Battery.  —  The  Seventh  in  Florida.  —Battle 
of  Olustee.  —  Ninth  in  New  Orleans.  —  The  Twelfth  at  New  Iberia.  —  The  Thirteenth 
in  the  Red-River  Expedition.  — Battle  of  Cane  River.  —  Connecticut  Regiments  Home 
on  Veteran  Furlough.  —  Speeches  and  Banquets. 

JNCAMPED  south  of  the  Potomac,  the  First  Ar 
tillery  remained,  during  1863,  in  the  forts  form 
ing  the  most  important  section  in  the  chain  of 
defenses  to  the  capital.  Batteries  B,  Capt.  Ager, 
and  M,  Capt.  Brown,  were  still  detached  with 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Col.  Tyler  was  promoted 
brigadier-general,  Nov.  19,  1862,  and  Henry  L.  Abbot  of  the 
regular  army  was  made  colonel.  He  had  graduated  second 
in  his  class  at  West  Point,  and  was  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Daniel  Tyler  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  where  he  was 
wounded  in  the  leg.  Col.  Abbot  did  not  relax  in  any 
measure  the  severe  discipline  which  had  raised  the  regiment 
to  its  high  position. 

The  men  were  required  to  be  soldierly  in  their  habits  and 
cleanly  in  their  persons ;  and  the  result  was,  that,  during  the 
entire  period  of  life  at  Arlington,  very  few  were  in  hospital. 
They  were  drilled  as  artillery  and  infantry,  in  company  and 
battalion  movements ;  and  they  had  a  great  deal  of  practice  at 
firing,  both  from  heavy  guns  and  mortars,  at  targets,  and  in 
experiments  made  by  order  of  the  department  at  Washing 
ton,  with  elongated  and  other  projectile,  to  test  scientifically 
the  depth  of  penetration,  &c.  One  experiment,  suggested 
and  tried  by  Col.  Abbot,  was  of  an  entirely  new  combination 
in  a  mortar  projectile,  which  gave  great  satisfaction,  and  was 
afterwards  adopted. 


504 


THE  NINETEENTH   CHANGED  INTO  AETILLEEY.  5Q5 

Chaplain  Edward  A.  Walker 1  of  New  Haven  had  resigned 
in  1862,  and  Rev.  Samuel  F.  Jarvis  of  Salisbury  was  ap 
pointed  his  successor. 

Since  the  regiment  had  been  in  service,  but  one  officer, 
Capt.  Charles  E.  Bulkeley  of  Hartford,  had  died,  and  few 
men. 


The  Nineteenth  was  relieved  from  duty  at  Alexandria, 
Jan.  12,  1863,  and  moved  to  Fort  Worth,  about  three  miles 
west,  where  it  was  at  once  brigaded  with  the  First  Con 
necticut  Artillery,  under  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  Robert 
0.  Tyler.  The  regiment  began  to  drill  in  heavy-artillery 
tactics  as  well  as  infantry,  and  was  kept  constantly  busy  in 
an  easy  service.  Sibley  tents  were  obtained ;  mails  were 
regular ;  the  visits  of  friends  were  frequent.  In  May,  Com 
panies  A,  C,  D,  E,  II,  I,  and  K  moved  to  some  redoubts  near 
Fort  Lyon ;  while  B,  F,  and  G  moved  to  Fort  Ellsworth, 
near  Alexandria.  The  entire  summer  was  probably  as 
pleasant  as  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  soldiers.  Weeks  passed 
without  the  death  of  a  man. 

On  the  9th  of  November,  the  brigade  was  reviewed  by 
Gen.  Berry ;  when  the  Nineteenth  showed  to  such  excellent 
advantage,  that  an  order  was  issued  by  the  War  Department 
on  the  23d,  changing  the  regiment  from  infantry  to  heavy 
artillery,  under  the  designation  of  the  Second  Connecticut 
Artillery.  The  boys  lost  no  time  in  tearing  off  the  blue 
facings  and  getting  on  the  red  ;  and  several  officers  and  men 
were  detailed  to  go  to  Connecticut  and  recruit.  The  re 
cruiting-party  consisted  of  Lieut.  B.  F.  Hosford ;  Sergeants 
D.  E.  Marsh,  Gad  N.  Smith,  Calvin  B.  Hatch,  Oscar  Platt, 
and  0.  R.  Tyler;  Corporal  D.  B.  Wooster;  and  Private 
James  Baldwin.  This  arm  of  the  service  was  popular ;  and 
these  men  succeeded  in  sending  twelve  hundred  recruits  in 
three  months,  raising  the  regiment  to  the  maximum.  Some 

1  Chaplain  Walker,  during  McClellan's  retreat  to  the  James,  was  in  the  saddle  for 
nearly  the  whole  of  six  days  and  nights,  in  charge  of  an  ambulance-train.  Prostrated  by 
disease  and  exhaustion,  he'  was  prevailed  upon  by  his  friends  to  leave  the  army.  From 
that  severe  service  he  never  recovered.  He  spent  six  months  in  Europe,  and,  on  return 
ing,  went  to  Lake  Superior,  where  he  died,  April  10,  1865.  He  graduated  at  Yale  in  the 
class  of  1856  ;  and  had  preached  for  a  short  time  in  Terry ville,  before  the  war.  He  was 
versatile  in  bis  tastes  and  acquirements,  and  gave  promise  of  much  usefulness. 
64 


506  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

were  "bounty-jumpers,"  and  deserted  on  the  way  down;  but 
many  were  among  the  best  soldiers  in  the  service. 

Col.  Wessells  had  now  resigned,  and  Lieut-Col.  E.  S.  Kel- 
losro;  succeeded  to  the  command.  This  and  the  change  to  an 

oo  O 

artillery  regiment  involved  the  addition  of  a  large  number 
of  officers,  —  a  lieutenant-colonel,  three  majors,  three  cap 
tains,  and  twenty-nine  lieutenants;  and  fora  time  promo 
tions  were  the  chief  topic  of  interest.  The  new  regiment 
was  divided  into  three  battalions  of  four  companies  each ; 
which  garrisoned  respectively  Forts  Worth,  Williams,  and 
Ellsworth.  Col.  Kellogg  adopted  a  rigid  system  of  discipline 
and  drill ;  and  his  command  rapidly  improved  in  soldierly 
qualities. 

Major  Nathaniel  Smith  of  Woodbury  became  lieutenant- 
colonel  ;  and  Capts.  James  Hubbard  of  Salisbury,  William 
B.  Ells  of  Plymouth,  and  James  Q.  Rice  of  Goshen,  were  pro 
moted  to  be  majors. 

A  letter  written  in  November,  1863,  says, — 

"  Our  colonel  has  just  been  surprised  by  the  presentation, 
mainly  from  the  privates,  of  a  handsome  and  valuable  horse  ; 
one  on  which  we  are  not  ashamed  to  see  him  appear  on 
any  occasion.  This  renewed  testimony  of  attachment  was 
entirely  unexpected,  and  called  forth  an  expression  of  thanks 
which  must  have  abundantly  repaid  the  donors." 

One  night  about  this  time,  Private  C.  W.  Jackson  of  New 
Milford,  one  of  the  hospital  guard,  perceived  an  unusual 
fire  in  the  valley,  half  or  three-quarters  of  a  mile  distant. 
Suspecting  all  was  not  right,  he  stealthily  and  alone  recon- 
noitered,  and  found  one  of  the  bridges  of  the  Alexandria 
and  Orange  Railroad  on  fire.  After  kindling  a  fire  on  the 
track  to  arrest  the  trains,  he  applied  himself  to  save  the 
bridge ;  and  after  great  exertions  he  succeeded. 

The  Sixth  remained  at  Hilton  Head  during  the  fall  and 
winter  of  1863-4,  under  Lieut.-Col.  Redfield  Duryee,  —  pro 
moted  in  a  single  step  from  the  rank  of  Adjutant,  vice  Lieut.- 
Col.  John  Speidal  resigned.  Col.  Duryee  commanded  the 
post.  The  men  were  here  put  upon  laborious  fatigue-duty 
in  loading  and  discharging  government  transports.  From 
this  they  were  relieved  in  October;  and  Col.  Duryee  devoted 


THE   SEVENTH  AT  OLUSTEE.  507 

himself  to  bringing  back  the  regiment  to  its  former  high 
standard  of  excellence.  They  found  it  difficult  to  recover 
the  loss  of  Col.  Chatfield ;  and  one  of  the  subalterns  wrote 
at  this  time,  "  His  name  was  synonymous  with  all  that  was 
good,  noble,  brave,  and  kind.  Few  men  ever  lived  in  the 
midst  of  the  excitement  and  allurements  of  camp-life  who 
resisted  so  practically  the  attractions  that  lead  many  a  good 
man  astray." 

The  Seventh,  from  Oct.  16,  spent  most  of  its  time  on 
St.  Helena  Island.  Drilling  in  boats  was  soon  succeeded  by 
drilling  with  the  new  breech-loading  Spencer  rifles,  and  the 
usual  routine  of  winter  camp-life.  •  On  Feb.  5-6,  1864, 
the  regiment  (excepting  the  re-enlisted  veterans,  home  on 
furlough)  embarked  with  that  portion  of  Gilmore's  forces 
ordered  to  Florida  for  the  expedition  to  Olustee.  A  force 
of  five  thousand  men  of  all  arms  left  Hilton  Head,  under 
Gen.  Gilmore,  for  the  St.  John's  River,  with  intent  to  strike  into 
Central  Florida  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  off  the  enemy's 
supplies,  and  of  helping  to  reconstruct  the  loyal  government. 
Gilmore  pushed  forward  to  Jacksonville,  and  sent  a  small 
force  to  Baldwin  ;  surprising  the  enemy,  and  capturing  eight 
guns  and  a  number  of  prisoners.  Gen.  Truman  Seymour 
was  in  command  of  the  division ;  and  Gen.  Gilmore  returned 
to  Jacksonville,  leaving  instructions  for  Seymour  to  make  no 
advance  beyond  Sanderson  without  orders.  On  the  18th, 
Seymour  started  with  the  whole  force  to  destroy  the  rail 
road  near  Suwanee  River,  a  hundred  miles  west.  Col. 
Hawley  commanded  a  brigade  composed  of-  the  Seventh 
Connecticut,  7th  New-Hampshire,  and'  8th  United-States 
colored  troops. 

The  Seventh  Connecticut  Volunteers  numbered  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  men, consolidated  in  four  companies; 
the  first  under  command  of  Capt.  Mills,  the  second  of  Lieut. 
Jeremiah  Townsend,  the  third  of  Lieut.  Robert  Dempsey, 
and  the  fourth  of  Capt.  John  Thompson.  Surgeon  George 
C.  Jarvis  was  with  the  battalion.  Next  day  the  column 
reached  Barber's  Station,  thirty  miles  west.  Having  some 
information  of  the  designs  of  the  enemy,  Gen.  Seymour  hur 
ried  forward  next  day  towards  Olustee.  About  three  miles 


508  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

east  of  that  town,  the  rebels  beginning  to  annoy  our 
vedettes,  the  general  sent  for  a  company,  and  soon  for  the 
whole,  of  the  Seventh  Connecticut,  to  throw  out  as  skirmish 
ers  in  advance  of  the  cavalry,  and  move  westward.  The 
first  brigade  was  thrown  forward  to  encounter  the  enemy. 
"  The  enemy's  skirmishers  continually  fell  back,  until  they 
arrived  at  a  point  where  the  road  and  railroad  crossed.  Here 
was  an  open  space,  backed  by  pine-woods,  partially  inclosing 
the  space  in  the  form  of  a  crescent.  In  front  of  and  in  the 
woods,  the  enemy  was  posted  in  force,  with  batteries  sta 
tioned  to  sweep  the  roads.  Gen.  Seymour  sent  orders  ahead 
for  the  Seventh  Connecticut  to  advance,  and  take  the  batter 
ies.  They  moved  forward  rapidly,  the  discharges  of  their 
seven-shooters  making  a  continuous  roll  like  the  musketry 
of  a  whole  brigade."  : 

Capt.  B.  F.  Skinner  of  Danbury,  in  command  of  the  Sev 
enth,  reported,  — 

"  Our  advance  soon  came  up  with  the  enemy's  advance  guard,  and  ex 
changed  a  few  shots  with  them ;  when  they  retreated,  firing  occasionally  as 
they  went.  We  followed  them  in  this  way  about  three  miles,  when,  after 
firing  a  few  shots  from  an  advance  battery  (Capt.  Elder's),  the  enemy  replied 
with  a  battery  of  three  or  four  guns  ;  when  I  was  directed  by  Gen.  Sey 
mour  to  go  forward  with  the  rest  of  my  command,  and,  if  possible,  secure 
the  enemy's  battery.  I  moved  the  remainder  of  my  command  forward  im 
mediately,  in  double-quick  time,  upon  the  right  of  the  railroad  for  about 
three  hundred  yards  ;  when  we  came  up  with  my  line  of  skirmishers. 

"  I  immediately  directed  the  remainder  of  the  third  company,  which  had 
been  held  in  reserve,  to  deploy  as  skirmishers,  and  move  up  to  the  support 
of  the  advanced  line  :  I  also  deployed  the  fourth  company  with  the  same 
directions,  the  enemy  having  made  a  flank  movement  in  order  to  mass  his . 
advance  on  our  right.  Capt.  Mills  followed,  moving  a  portion  of  his  com 
mand  across  and  to  the  right  of  the  railroad  ;  the  whole  forming  a  very 
strong  line  of  skirmishers  three  or  four  hundred  yards  in  length.  I  imme 
diately  pushed  the  line  forward  as  fast  as  possible,  paying  particular  atten 
tion  to  the  enemy's  batteries,  the  strength  of  which  had  developed  itself 
upon  the  left  of  our  line  to  the  right  of  the  railroad.  After  moving  up  two 
or  three  hundred  yards,  I  found  the  enemy  drawn  up  in  line  to  receive  us, 
and  in  position  to  support  their  battery ;  the  enemy  here  showing  a  front 
of  five  regiments  flanked  on  the  right  and  left  by  cavalry,  which  made 
occasional  demonstrations  upon  our  flanks,  but  were  easily  turned  back  in 
disorder  after  a  few  moments'  attention  from  our  seven-shooters. 

"  Supposing  that  support  was  close  at  hand,  I  pushed  forward,  firing 
rapidly  as  I  went ;  which  caused  the  enemy  to  give  ground  to  us,  I  should 
judge  two  hundred  yards,  in  some  confusion,  but  firing  as  they  withdrew. 
Here  I  discovered  that  the  enemy  were  intrenched,  and  delivered  well- 

2  Letter  of  Col.  Hawley. 


THE   SEVENTH  ACTS  AS  REAR-GFARD.  5Q9 

directed  volleys  of  musketry.  I  found,  also,  that  my  ammunition  was  very 
nearly  expended,  some  of  my  new  men  being  entirely  out.  There  was  no 
support  in  sight.  I  had  already  pushed  so  far  in  the  enemy's  center  that 
my  line  formed  a  semicircle,  and  I  was  receiving  the  enemy's  fire  from 
three  sides." 

They  found  themselves  confronted  and  nearly  surrounded 
by  four  or  five  rebel  regiments.  The  supporting  column  was 
nearly  a  mile  behind.  "  At  this  juncture,"  continues  Capt. 
Skinner,  "  I  determined  to  withdraw,  and  save  my  command, 
which  was  done  at  the  proper  time  ;  for,  had  I  remained 
there  five  minutes  longer,  my  whole  command  would  have 
been  swallowed  up  in  the  enemy's  advance.  My  men  with 
drew  rapidly :  those  who  had  ammunition  fired  as  they 
withdrew,  and  divided  to  the  right  and  left  in  order  to  un 
mask  the  7th  New-Hampshire  Volunteers  who  approached." 

The  other  regiments  met  the  enemy  in  heavy  force,  and 
were  repulsed.  As  they  broke,  Col.  Hawley  endeavored  to 
rally  them  to  another  attack;  but  order  could  not  be  re 
stored  at  once,  and  the  line  fell  back.  The  Seventh  received 
another  supply  of  ammunition,  and  resumed  a  station  front 
ing  the  enemy.  "  We  remained  in  this  position,  occasionally 
firing,  or  permitting  a  portion  of  the  men  to  fire,  as  the  ene 
my  showed  himself,  until,  by  direction  from  Col.  Hawley,  we 
moved  to  the  rear  about  one  hundred  }~ards,  our  forces  on 
the  right  and  left  being  on  the  retreat ;  then  faced  about, 
and,  putting  the  guide-sights  at  four  hundred  yards,  opened 
an  effective  fire  for  a  few  minutes.  Soon  after  this  the  en 
gagement  closed,  though  we  took  position  in  line  two  or 
three  times."  3 

The  regiment  deployed  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  men 
as  rear-guard  for  the  army,  which  had  now  left  the  field. 
"  I  occupied  this  relative  position  and  marched  in  this  man 
ner  until  I  reached  Barber's  Ford,  for  a  distance  of  about 
eighteen  miles  from  the  battle-field,  when  I  marched  my 
command  on  to  the  same  ground  that  it  had  occupied  before 
leaving  Barber's  Ford  the  preceding  morning ;  my  men  hav 
ing  marched  a  distance  of  thirty-six  miles,  eighteen  of  which 
were  made  without  rest,  and  over  bad  ground."  *  "  It  was 
a  weary,  woeful  march.  The  poor  wounded  fellows  dragged 

8  Capt.  Skinner's  Report.  4  Ibid. 


510  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

themselves  along  on  foot,  or  bestrode  mules,  supported  by 
their  comrades  on  either  side,  or  were  borne  over  a  rough 
road  m  jolting  wagons.  In  going  sixteen  miles,  to  Barber's, 
the  army  occupied  eight  hours.  Here  the  men  rested  five 
or  six  hours,  and  then  the  wounded  and  stores  were  sent  to 
Jacksonville  in  cars  drawn  by  horses."  5  Capt.  Skinner  men 
tions  the  services  of  Adjutant  John  I.  Hutchinson  of  Crom 
well  in  this  battle. 

The  Seventh,  by  direction  of  Gen.  Seymour,  acted  as  rear 
guard  during  the  entire  retreat,  and  remained  in  Baldwin 
after  the  rest  of  the  troops  had  fallen  back.  In  returning  to 
Jacksonville,  Capt.  Charles  C.  Mills  found  three  cars  loaded 
with  four  hundred  boxes  of  hard-bread ;  and  his  company 
pushed  them  along  several  miles,  and  saved  them.  The 
force  returned  to  Six-mile  Creek,  and  there  went  into  camp. 

Col.  Hawley,  in  his  official  report,  said,  — 

"  Capt.  B.  F.  Skinner,  who  commanded  the  battalion  of  the 
Seventh  Connecticut  (a  large  portion  of  the  regiment  being 
absent  on  veteran  furloughs),  was  on  the  sick-list  when  the 
regiment  took  the  field ;  but  he  performed  his  laborious 
duties  with  the  energy  and  bravery  that  have  always 
characterized  him;  and  his  battalion  received  the  hearty 
commendation  of  the  general  at  the  close  of  the  fight.  It 
is  greatly  regretted  that  he  has  felt  compelled  by  ill  health 
to  quit  the  service.  Lieut.  Dempsey  of  that  regiment,  a 
faithful,  patriotic  man,  was  killed  early  in  the  action." 

Lieut.  E.  Lewis  Moore  (of  Salisbury),  A.  A.  Adjutant-Gen 
eral  ;  Lieut.  John  Van  Keuren  (of  New  Britain),  A.  A.  In 
spector-General  ;  and  Lieut.  William  T.  Seward  (of  Guilford), 
commissary,  —  all  on  Col.  Hawley's  staff,  received  honorable 
mention.  "Private  Edward  C.  Vinton  (of  Woodstock), 
mounted  orderly,  had  his  horse  twice  shot  and  finally  killed ; 
but  he  soon  found  another,  and  continued  on  duty." 

In  the  battle  of  Olustee,  the  Seventh  Regiment  was  repre 
sented  only  by  those  who  declined  to  re-enlist  and  the  recent 
substitutes :  but  the  former  proved  that  it  was  no  lack  of 
courage  which  prevented  their  re-enlistment ;  and  the  latter 
that  they  had  caught  the  spirit  which  had  placed  the  men  of 

5  Letter  of  Col.  Hawley. 


THE  NINTH  STILL  IK  LOUISIANA.  51 1 

the  Seventh  among  the  best  soldiers  of  the  war.  The  testi 
mony  of  the  correspondent  of  the  New- York  •  Herald  was 
given  as  follows :  "  Great  praise  is  awarded  by  all  to  the  Sev 
enth  Connecticut  for  their  superb  conduct  in  the  advance, 
throughout  the  fight,  as  skirmishers.  They  did  not  falter 
or  waver,  but  employed  their  Spencer  rifles  so  accurately 
and  effectively,  that  the  enemy  will  long  have  occasion  to 
remember  their  presence  on  the  field.  They  lost  quite 
heavily." 

Ilawley's  brigade  lost  five  hundred  and  eighty,  —  more 
than  thirty-five  per  cent.  Of  these,  the  Seventh  lost  sixty- 
nine. 

When  Lieut.  Robert  Dempsey  (of  Winsted)  fell,  he  said 
to  those  who  would  have  removed  him,  t(  I'm  going  to  die 
here.  Let  me  die  on  my  side ; "  the  blood  at  the  same  time 
gushing  from  his  breast.  Lieut.  Dempsey  went  out  as  sec 
ond  lieutenant  on  the  original  formation  of  the  regiment. 
He  was  about  thirty  years  old,  an  Irish  Catholic,  and  a  true 
soldier. 

The  regiment  remained  for  a  short  time  at  Six-mile 
Creek,  when  an  order  came  for  a  transfer  to  service  in  the 
battles  of  the  James. 

During  1863,  the  Ninth  had  its  headquarters  at  New  Or 
leans;  but  the  regiment  was  dismembered,  —  two  companies 
guarding  the  Mexican-gulf  Railroad  and  mouth  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  ;  one  company  at  Algiers,  opposite  New  Orleans ;  four 
companies  doing  provost-guard  duty  at  New  Orleans ;  and 
tl.iree  companies  stationed  at  Pass  Manchac,  about  thirty- 
eight  miles  above  New  Orleans,  at  the  water  communication 
between  Lakes  Pontchartrain  and  Maurepas,  the  outer  limit 
of  the  defenses  of  New  Orleans. 

Col.  Thomas  W.  Cahill  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  de 
fenses,  and  in  command  of  a  brigade  consisting  of  the  Ninth, 
and  three  Massachusetts  regiments.  Lieut.-Col.  R.  Fitz  Gib 
bons  was  in  command  of  the  regiment.  Major  Frederick 
Frye  commanded  Pass  Manchac,  and  the  fort  there,  includ 
ing  a  detachment  of  the  21st  Indiana,  Major  Frye  wrote  at 
that  time, "  Refugees  come  in  daily,  —  sometimes  as  many  as 


512  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  EEBELLION. 

a  dozen  at  a  time,  —  men.  women,  and  children;  ragged, 

y  '  /  OO          * 

half-starved,  and  worn  down  with  fatigue.  What  some  of 
these  mothers,  with  babes  in  their  arms,  suffer,  is  beyond 
imagination.  Think  of  a  mother  and  child  alone  two  days  and 
nights  in  a  swamp  knee-deep,  with  nothing  to  eat ;  where 
snakes,  among  them  the  deadly  water  moccasin,  abound; 
where  in  the  daytime  the  heat  is  insufferable,  and  at  night 
chilly ;  losing  her  way ;  struggling  through  ;  and,  amid  all, 
more  afraid  of  falling  again  into  the  enemy's  hands  than  of 
the  surrounding  dangers,  —  think  of  this,  and  you  have  but 
an  everyday  occurrence.  And,  oh  !  with  what  heartfelt  joy 
she  smiles,  and  nestles  up  her  child,  when  she  falls  in  with  a 
Yankee  picket!  None  of  the  blacks  have  had  a  suit  of 
clothes  since  the  war  broke  out ;  and  what  with  livin«-  in 

'  O 

the  woods,  traveling  nights,  escaping  rebel  pickets,  they  have 
but  little  of  the  manufactured  article  about  them  when  they 
reach  our  lines.  Four  have  just  come,  —  fair  specimens  in 
their  get-up  of  a  Carnival  of  Venice.  They  are  the  surviv 
ors  of  fifteen  who  started  a  week  ago,  and  have  been  in 
woods  and  swamps,  hunted  by  dogs  and  rebels ;  and,  as  they 
say, '  De  balance  done  gone  squandered.' " 

Col.  Cahill  continued,  during  the  summer  and  fall,  military 
commandant  of  New  Orleans,  in  the  administration  of  which 
office  he  gave  much  satisfaction.  His  good  judgment  and 
decision  carried  him  through  several  trying  situations  with 
credit.  He  commanded  a  brigade  for  months,  and  proved 
himself  an  enterprising  and  judicious  officer,  —  successful 
alike  as  governor  of  a  city  and  as  a  leader  in  heated  and 
critical  action. 

-4 

At  several  periods  during  the  fall  and  winter,  detachments 
of  the  regiment  were  stationed  upon  the  Gulf,  along  the 
shores  of  Lake  Borgne,  in  the  defenses  at  Lakeport,  Proc- 
torville,  and  Chalmette,  or  on  the  canal  and  railroad ;  while 
a  portion  were  at  the  North,  and  a  portion  in  Texas  with 
the  field  signal-corps.  The  regiment  was  serving  faithfully 
in  detachments,  but  had  no  opportunity  to  add  to  its  honor 
able  fame. 

During  this  season,  five  companies,  under  Lieut.-Col.  Fitz 
Gibbons,  had  a  skirmish  with  the  enemy  near  Terrebonne. 


THE  TENTH  AT  ST.   AUGUSTINE.  513 

Company  I,  Capt.  Elliot  M.  Curtis,  was  detached  to  watch 
the  cross-roads;  while  Companies  G,  under  Capt.  William 
Wright ;  C,  under  Lieut.  A.  E.  Payne  ;  E,  under  Lieut.  T. 
F.  Gibbons ;  D,  under  Capt.  John  G.  Healy ;  K,  Capt.  Ter- 
rance  Sheridan,  were  sent  out  to  skirmish  through  the 
swamp  towards  Chackahoola  Station.  There  was  a  brisk 
engagement;  but  the  enemy  maintained  possession.  Capt. 
S.  W.  Sawyer  also  made  several  raids  into  the  district  to  the 
south-east. 

Major  Frye  wrote  from  Pass  Manchac,  referring  to  the 
natural  attractions  of  the  place, — 

"  The  moccasins  and  rattlesnakes  are  quite  abundant,  and 
apparently  old  settlers,  as  we  killed  one  with  nine  rattles. 
They  are  quite  a  protection  against  a  flank  movement  of  the 
enemy  through  the  swamp ;  and  the  alligators  actually  stick 
their  noses  into  the  tents,  in  hopes  of  stealing  a  biscuit  or  a 
piece  of  pork.  And  then  all  night  long  the  soldier  is  lulled 
to  sleep  by  the  most  infernal  croaking  of  tree-toads,  and 
kept  asleep  by  the  buzzing  and  biting  of  myriads  of  mos 
quitoes  and  yellow  flies.  One  knows  not  how  it  is  ;  but 
though  every  soldier  has  a  mosquito-bar,  still  daylight  will 
find  as  many  inside  as  out:  and  then  innumerable  green  lizards 
about  four  inches  long,  harmless  but  sportive,  gambol  and 
catch  flies  and  mosquitoes  freely  upon  your  face  or  body." 


The  Tenth  went  to  St.  Augustine,  after  Fort  Wagner, 
to  recruit  its  wasted  strength  and  to  recover  from  the 
effects  of  its  terrible  experience  ;  but  even  here  it  was  not 
wholly  beyond  either  toil  or  danger.  Picket  and  guard 
duty  taxed  it  heavily ;  and  about  Jan.  1,  1864,  it  suffered  a 
loss  of  twenty-two,  ambuscaded  while  out  for  the  protection 
of  wood-choppers  just  beyond  the  lines.  Private  William 
A.  Burns  of  Greenwich  was  killed,  and  the  rest  made  prison 
ers.  The  camp  at  St.  Augustine  was  thus  described  by  Chap 
lain  H.  Clay  Trumbull :  - 

"  The  camp  is  outside  the  city  gates,  a  short  distance  beyond  the  old 
Spanish  fort.  The  location  is  a  good  one.  New  tents  of  the  A  pattern  have 
been  recently  secured,  and  pitched  on  handsome  and  regular  streets ;  being 
lifted  some  two  and  a  half  feet  from  the  ground,  and  curtained  with  the 
canvas  of  the  tents  before  condemned.  Good  floors  and  bunks  are  being 

66 


514  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

made  for  all ;  and  in  many  cases  substantial  chimneys  are  erected  of  the 
peculiar  cochina,  or  shell-marl,  of  the  vicinity.  Good  water  is  obtained  by 
little  digging ;  and  the  wells  of  the  several  companies  are  quite  attractive, 
presenting  an  Oriental  appearance,  with  a  barrel-shaft  sunk  in  a  large  earth 
basin,  walled  with  turf  or  china,  having  wide  steps  of  the  same  descending 
from  the  street  level.  Much  ingenuity  is  shown  in  some  of  the  cook-rooms 
and  kitchens,  also  constructed  of  turf,  or  cochina  ;  while  exquisite  taste  and 
real  refinement  are  often  displayed  in  the  interior  of  some  of  the  tents,  adorned 
with  the  well-arranged  arms  and  military  equipments,  family  photographs, 
home  mementoes  ;  bright,  golden  clusters  of  oranges,  lemons,  or  limes  ;  and 
fragrant  boughs  of  the  abounding  jessamine  ;  or  bouquets  of  the  rich  variety 
of  Southern  roses  and  other  flowers  of  this  land  of  bloom  and  beauty." 

Col.  Otis  had  command  of  the  post ;  Capt.  J.  S.  Engles 
was  provost-marshal ;  Lieut.  Benjamin  Wright,  post-adjutant, 
and  Lieut.  Sanford  B.  Palmer,  post-quartermaster.  Lieut- 
Col.  Leggett  commanded  the  regiment  at  Fort  Marion. 
Chaplain  Trumbull  wrote,  "  More  of  the  men  are  to  be  relied 
on  for  a  fight  than  for  any  holiday  performance  ;  more  for  a 
skirmish  than  for  a  dress-parade;  for  a  battle  than  for  a 
review.  For  instance,  at  one  time  on  Morris  Island,  when 
the  greater  part  of  both  officers  and  men  were  so  exhausted 
by  the  labors  of  the  prolonged  siege  as  to  be  really  unfit  for 
service,  only  seven  officers  were  reported  for. daily  duty; 
but  at  a  night  alarm,  when  an  attack  was  anticipated,  fifteen 
officers  were  with  the  regiment,  with  a  proportional  increase 
in  the  number  of  men." 

On  April  17,  a  suspicious-looking  craft  having  been  seen 
some  distance  below,  Capt.  Engles  put  off  with  some  men  in 
a  row-boat,  and  captured  her  as  a  prize,  —  a  schooner  of 
twenty  tons'  burthen,  trying  to  run  the  blockade  with  pri 
vate  stores  and  fifty  thousand  percussion-caps. 

The  Seventeenth  Connecticut  came  from  Folly  Island  to 
St.  Augustine  in  February,  1864 ;  and  Col.  Noble  was  again 
placed  in  command  of  a  brigade. 


The  Twelfth,  after  the  battle  of  Port  Hudson,  marched 
with  other  troops  southward  through  the  State  to  relieve 
Western  Louisiana  of  rebel  domination.  Brashear  City  was 
recovered.  While  here,  Lieut.  Stanton  Allyn  of  the  Twelfth 
died  in  hospital  on  Aug.  28.  He  was  a  son  of  Col.  Roswell  Al 
lyn  of  Ledyard,  and  a  young  man  of  high  promise.  "Among 


THE  TWELFTH   AT  KEW   IBERIA.  515 

all  his  comrades  at  school,  he  was  without  a  peer.  Books 
were  his  constant  companions,  and  he  carried  the  head  of  a 
man  on  his  youthful  shoulders." 6  He  had  thought  to  adopt 
the"  legal  profession ;  but,  when  the  war  broke  out,  he  stepped 
into  the  line  without  a  moment's  hesitation.  He  went  bravely 
through  every  battle,  —  Georgia  Landing,  Irish  Bend,  Bis- 
land,  and  the  long,  terrible  weeks  at  P^rt  Hudson.  On  the 
fatal  10th  of  June,  in  that  disastrous  charge,  he  was  fore 
most,  and  with  a  few  of  his  men  gained  a  position  under  the 
enemy's  guns,  lying  till  night  came  upon  the  rebel  parapet. 
Lieut.  Allyn  was  in  the  column  of  a  thousand  heroes  which 
Banks  summoned  as  a  forlorn  hope. 

"  The  great  strain  upon  Lieut.  Allyn's  nerves  during  the 
progress  of  this  siege  was  too  much  for  him  to  bear ;  enter 
ing  upon  the  siege  in  a  state  of  convalescence,  he  was  quite 
unfit  for  its  trials.  A  few  weeks  more  of  exposure  to  the  rains 
and  scorching  suns  brought  him  low :  a  violent  fever  seized 
upon  his  system,  and  shortly  after  swept  him  away." 7  He 
was  much  loved  and  deeply  mourned ;  and  those  who  knew 
him  best  felt  that  the  Rebellion  had  not  in  its  heavy 
exaction  of  loyal  blood  required  the  life  of  a  nobler  man. 

November,  1863,  found  the  regiment  encamped  on  an 
old  cotton-field,  three  miles  below  the  town  of  New  Iberia 
on  the  Teche.  A  soldier  wrote  home  at  that  time,  — 

"  The  men  have  shelter-tents  (mere  strips  of  cloth  which 
they  button  together),  and  the  officers  have  A  tents  about 
six  feet  square  ;  but,  in  your  well-furnished  parlors  in  Con 
necticut,  you  can  scarcely  conceive  how  we  prize  these  little 
comforts.  Almost  six  months  we  were  —  men  and  officers 
too  —  without  any  tents  whatever;  exposed  to  all  kinds 
of  hardship  ;  making  long  marches ;  fighting  hard  battles ; 
enduring  heat,  hunger;  crowded*  on  boats  where  all  could 
not  find  room  to  lie  down ;  drinking  the  most  miserable 
water,  from  which  even  cattle  at  home  would  turn  away  in 
disgust;  always  in  front,  and  subject  to  constant  alarms; 
building  railroads  and  bridges ;  and  then,  instead  of  a  quiet 
camp  in  which  to  recruit  our  wasted  energies,  spending  the 
worst  season  in  the  year,  viz.,  —  August  and  September,  —  in 

6  Vide  Sketch  in  Connecticut  War  Record,  1864,  by  Ledyard  Bill.         7  Ibid. 


516  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

one  of  the  most  unhealthy  localities  in  Louisiana.  Nearly 
all  the  regiment  were  sick  at  Brashear  City ;  so  that  the  fall 
campaign  was  entered  with  less  than  two  hundred  men  for 
duty,  and  with  nearly  three  hundred  in  the  various  hospitals 
of  the  department." 

Col.  Colburn  (still  on  detached  service),  after  building  for 
government  the  steamboat  Col.  Colburn,  already  referred  to, 
was  made  superintendent  successively  of  the  Opelousas  and 
the  Jackson  Railroads,  and  put  both  in  running  order.  A 
man  of  great  skill  and  energy,  he  made  himself  exceedingly 
useful  in  many  ways. 

Lieut.-Col.  Frank  H.  Peck  commanded  a  brigade  at  New 
Iberia;  while  Capt.  S.  E.  Clark  commanded  the  regiment, 
in  the  absence  of  Major  George  N.  Lewis,  not  yet  recovered 
from  the  serious  wound  he  received  at  Port  Hudson. 

During  November  and  December,  the  men  of  the  regiment 
mostly  re-enlisted;  and  during  the  first  week  in  January  they 
started  for  New  Orleans,  on  the  way  to  take  their  veteran 
furlough.  The  general  commanding  the  division  issued  the 
following  complimentary  order,  richly  deserved:  — 

HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  DIVISION,  19TH  ARMY  CORPS, 
NEW  IUERIA,  LA.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 

GENERAL  ORDERS  No.  2. —  The  Twelfth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  Lieut.- 
Col.  F.  II.  Peck  commanding,  having  re-enlisted,  will  comply  with 
Special  Orders  No.  1,  from  headquarters  19th  Army  Corps,  and  proceed 
to  New  Orleans. 

The  general  commanding  the  division  thinks  it  due  to  this  regiment,  and 
to  the  lieutenant-colonel  commanding  it,  to  express  his  high  opinion  of  its 
good  conduct,  whether  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  or  in  camp,  and  especially 
the  promptness  with  which  it  has  come  forward  to  re-enlist  under  the  first 
call  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  regiment  is  the  first  that  has  been  called  upon  under  the  law.     It 
has  set  a  good  example.     The  country,  and  the  authorities  which  represent 
the  country,  will  not  fail  to  honor  the  Twelfth  Connecticut. 
By  command  of  Brig.-Gen.  Emory. 

FREDERICK  SPEED,  A.  A.  General. 

At  New  Orleans  the  regiment  arrived  in  the  cold  and 
rain,  and  took  %  up  quarters  in  the  old  Picayune  cotton-press 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  A  member  of  the  regiment 
wrote  before  starting  for  home,  "  Those  unaccustomed  to  a 
soldier's  life  know  little  what  we  endure  of  personal  discom 
fort.  Think  of  two  years'  life  without  sleeping  in  a  bed ! 


THE   SECOND   LIGHT   BATTERY   IN  NEW  YORK.  517 

without  undressing  a  single  night!  —  a  board  or  the  ground 
your  softest  bed,  the  ration  of  the  soldiers  possessing  little 
variety;  but  it  is  wonderful  how  we  get  used  to  these 
things,  and  eat  to  live,  not  live  to  eat.  But  we  don't  care  for 
the  hardships.  We  are  in  for  putting  down  this  Rebellion, 
and  sweeping  the  rebels  from  the  face  of  the  earth ;  and  we 
are  going  to  stick  to  it :  and  we  are  showing  the  rebels,  some 
of  whom  in  this  section  know  the  Twelfth  Connecticut  well, 
that  we  can  hold  out  as  long  as  they  can" 

This  seemed  to  be  the  spirit  of  the  regiment ;  for  it  fur 
nished  one-fourth  more  re-enlisting  veterans  than  any  other 
infantry  regiment  from  the  State.  After  a  veteran  furlough 
of  thirty  days,  the  Twelfth  left  New  Haven  on  May  8,  1864, 
and  returned  to  Carrollton,  La.,  with  about  four  hundred 
veterans  and  eighty  recruits.  The  old  Enfield  arms  were 
exchanged  for  Springfield  rifles,  a  more  efficient  weapon. 
The  regiment  soon  received  additional  recruits,  and  insti 
tuted  rigorous  drill  until  it  was  ordered  to  return  to  Fort 
ress  Monroe  in  July. 

The  Second  Connecticut  Light  Battery,  under  Capt.  John 
W.  Sterling,  was  encamped  on  the  front  line  of  the  army, 
near  Wolf-Run  Shoals,  on  the  Occoquan,  in  Virginia,  from  Jan 
uary  to  midsummer  of  18G3,  leading  rather  an  uneventful  life. 
The  captain  now  reported  to  Brig.-Gen.  R.  0.  Tyler,  com 
manding  all  the  reserve  artillery  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac; 
and  the  battery  fought  gallantly  under  that  officer  at  Get 
tysburg,  as  has  already  appeared.  After  the  battle,  Capt. 
Sterling  took  his  battery  to  Camp  Barry,  Washington,  to  re 
fit;  and  on  the  15th  of  August  it  was  ordered  to  New  York 
for  defense  against  rioters  in  case  of  draft.  Headquarters 
were  first  at  East  New  York,  then  on  the  Battery ;  sections 
being  at  Troy,  Kingston,  Tarrytown,  and  other  places,  under 
Lieuts.  Miles  Gray  and  Philo  B.  Sherman.  About  the  mid 
dle  of  October,  tents  were  struck,  and  the  battery  returned 
to  Washington  ;  where  it  was  thoroughly  re-equipped.  New 
carriages  were  furnished,  and  the  armament  was  changed  to 
six  3-inch  rifled  guns.  In  January,  1864,  the  battery  was 
embarked  for  New  Orleans,  where  it  was  assigned  to  the 


518  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE  REBELLION. 

outer  defenses  at  Brashear  City.     Frequent  raids  and  occa 
sional  attacks  were  made  by  the  rebels ;  but  the  post  was 


held  through  the  summer. 


Midwinter  of  1863-64  found  the  Thirteenth  at  Thibodeau, 
as  comfortable  as  the  mud  and  cold  would  allow.  On  New- 
Year's  eve,  a  handsome  sword  and  equipments  were  pre 
sented  to  Gen.  Birge  by  his  old  regiment.  Capt.  McCord 
had  selected  them  at  Tiffany's  at  an  expense  of  five  hundred 
dollars.  Here  Quartermaster  Joseph  B.  Bromley,  one  of  the 
most  genial  men  in  the  service,  gave  his  brother-officers  "  a 
scientific  supper." 

The  rebel  citizens  seem  to  have  had  a  wholesome  fear,  if 
not  esteem,  for  the  soldiers  in  their  midst.  Col.  Sprague 
tells  of  a  fugitive  slave-woman,  who  recovered  her  clothing, 
retained  by  her  late  master,  on  presenting  the  following  for 
midable  document:  — 

HEADQUARTERS  COMPANY  A,  13m  CONN.  VOLS., 
THIBODEAU,  Jan.  29,  1864. 

GENERAL  ORDERS  No.  1.  —  Lucinda  (colored)  is  hereby  appointed 
laundress  of  Company  A,  Thirteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers.  She  will 
be  obeyed  and  respected  accordingly. 

J.  C.  KINNEY, 
Lieutenant  Commanding  Company  A,   13th  C.  V. 

Our  soldiers  in  the  war  had  reason  to  adopt  the  language 
of  the  old  revolutionist :  — 

"  I  am  proud  to  see 
Men,  not  afraid  of  God,  afraid  of  me." 

On  March  25,  the  regiment  embarked,  and  went  to  New 
Orleans ;  and  thence  up  the  Mississippi  and  Red  River  as  a 
part  of  the  expeditionary  force  under  Gen.  Banks.  Gen. 
Birge  commanded  the  brigade,  which  included  the  Thirteenth. 
Three  days  later,  they  debarked  at  Alexandria,  encamped  a 
few  days,  and  moved  on  a  steamer  to  Grand  £core.  Here 
the  whole  army  faced  towards  Shreveport,  and,  going 
through  Grand  ficore,  formed  a  continuous  semicircle  around 
the  rear  of  the  village.  For  several  nights,  the  soldiers  slept 
on  their  arms  amid  alarms  and  countless  speculations. 
Breastworks  were  thrown  up.  The  enemy  was  evidently 


THE  BATTLE   OF  CANE  RIVER.  519 

in  front.  After  a  week  of  tedious  occupation,  Banks  turned 
his  army  down  the  river,  and  marched  out  on  the  old  Natchi- 
toches  Road,  along  the  banks  of  Cane  River.  The  rebels, 
mostly  mounted,  kept  in  front,  and  were  apparently  in 
creasing. 

On  the  23d,  the  enemy  stood,  and  gave  battle.  Birge 
took  his  brigade  across  the  river  to  fall  upon  the  rebel  flank 
and  rear.  The  Thirteenth  waded  the  stream  first,  the  water 
waistrdeep.  Line  was  immediately  formed ;  and  the  force 
advanced  silently  a  mile  through  the  woods.  The  command 
was  given  not  to  fire  a  musket-shot,  but  to  carry  the  position 
with  the  bayonet.  Col.  Blinn  led  the  Thirteenth.  The 
line  steadily  advanced,  and  drove  the  rebels  from  the  first 
summit  they  had  occupied,  and  moved  among  the  trees  down 
the  opposite  slope.  Col.  Sprague  says,  — 

"  Suddenly  the  thousand-fold  rattle  of  musketry  and  rapid 
discharges  of  artillery,  the  foe  being  invisible  and  yet  appar 
ently  within  touching  distance,  struck  a  momentary  con 
sternation  in  our  ranks.  They  halted  as  if  paralyzed.  The 
moment  was  a  trying  one.  We  had  been  ambushed,  and 
completely  taken  by  surprise.  A  Brad  clock  defeat  stared 
us  in  the  face.  We  could  not  stand  under  that  withering 
fire,  and  we  would  not  retreat.  '  The  Thirteenth  never  re 
treats,'  we  shouted,  and  '  Forward,  forward !  At  them  with 
the  bayonet ! '  We  leaped  over  the  fence  into. and  out.  of  the 
ravine;  one  or  two  companies  on  the  right  dashing  across 
the  narrow  bridge.  We  rushed  rapidly  towards  the  rifle 
smoke  and  flash.  Some  twenty  of  Meissner's  cavalry  came 
dashing  back  pell-mell  through  our  ranks.  Many  of  them 
were  covered  with  blood ;  horses  and  riders  were  falling ; 
Meissner  himself  shot  through  and  through;  Gen.  Birge 
borne  along  hatless  by  the  tide ;  Capt.  Young  of  Banks's 
staff  with  limbs  horribly  mangled  by  a  shell ;  eighteen  of 
the  thirty  troopers  being  killed  or  wounded ;  the  whole 
scene  tending  to  strike  a  panic  into  the  two  regiments. 
Many  of  the  men  fell  flat  on  their  faces  to  escape  the  storm 
of  shot:  some  started  to  retreat.  Col.  Fiske  was  heard 
above  the  din,  exclaiming, i  Stand  up  !  For  God's  sake,  stand 
up  like  men! '  Most  of  the  officers  joined  in  the  same  com- 


CONNECTICUT   DTJEING  THE   REBELLION. 

mands ;  and  the  universal  shout  of,  '  Forward,  forward ! ' 
again  rose.  The  two  regiments  wavered  but  a  moment,  and 
then  plunged  wildly  on  towards  the  enemy.  A  crooked  ra 
vine,  running  diagonally  across  the  field,  and  filled  with 
interlacing  vines,  arrested  our  disorderly  advance,  and  afford 
ed  shelter.  For  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  the  firing  continued." 

An  arrangement  was  now  made  for  a  final  advance,  still 
relying  on  the  bayonet  alone ;  and  wrhen  shortly  the  charge 
was  made,  the  enemy  had  fled,  and  the  field  was  won.  So 
ended  the  battle  of  Cane  River.  Thenceforward  the  return 
to  Alexandria  was  not  seriously  impeded.  There  was  a  sharp 
fight  below  Marksville,  and  an  artillery  duel  on  Mansura 
Plains;  and,  on  May  17,  the  column  reached  Simsport,  and 
marched  along  the  same  bayou  where  the  route  had  lain 
just  a  year  before.  The  enemy  attacked  the  wagon-trains; 
but  Quartermaster  William  Bishop  brought  the  wagons  of 
the  Thirteenth  off  safely.  The  regiment  encamped  on  the 
Mississippi  just  above  Morganza,  where  it  lay  for  several 
weeks. 

On  June  19,  the  enemy  was  reported  in  force  up  at  Tunica 
Bend;  and  the  division  which  included  the  Thirteenth  moved 
up  to  give  them  battle.  They  encountered  a  small  party  of 
guerrillas ;  but  the  main  force  of  rebels  had  fled.  The  military 
service  of  the  Thirteenth  in  Louisiana  was  ended  ;  for  about 
the  middle  of  July  came  the  long-delayed  "-veteran  fur 
lough,"  and  the  regiment  embarked  for  home. 


The  veterans  from  all  the  old  regiments  were  received  in 
the  State  with  the  most  overwhelming  demonstrations  of 
gratitude  and  affection.  People  from  every  county  rallied 
at  New  Haven  and  Hartford  to  greet  them.  The  line  of 
march  was  magnificent  with  flags,  welcoming  devices,  and 
patriotic  decorations.  Almost  every  house  bore  signals  of 
the  general  joy.  The  streets  were  crowded,  and  cheer  fol 
lowed  cheer  through  the  awakened  city.  The  cannon 
roared  and  the  bells  clanged  in  jubilee.  A  double  reception 
was  given  most  of  the  regiments,  —  first  in  New  Haven, 
then  in  Hartford. 


GOV.   BUCKINGHAM'S   ADDRESS  TO  THE  VETERANS.        521 

The  Eighth  and  Eleventh,  which  had  always  been  bri 
gaded  together,  and  were  strongly  attached,  came  home  in 
company.  They  reached  New  Haven  on  Jan.  15,  and  were 
most  warmly  and  cordially  greeted.  They  mustered  three 
hundred  men  each. 

They  were  escorted  to  Music  Hall  by  a  military  proces 
sion,  accompanied  by  an  immense  throng.  Mayor  Tyler  was 
ready  to  welcome  them  in  grateful  words ;  but  they  had 
eaten  no  breakfast,  and  were  straightway  bidden  to  partake 
of  the  bounteous  collation  there  spread.  In  Hartford,  Allyn 
Hall  was  elaborately  ornamented  with  war-flags  and  eulogis 
tic  mottoes. 

Gov.  Buckingham  addressed  the  veterans  as  follows  :  — 

GEN.  HARLAND,  AND  OFFICERS  AND  MEN  OF  THE  EIGHTH  AND  ELEV 
ENTH  REGIMENTS,  —  In  behalf  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the  citizens 
of  Connecticut,  I  greet  you  with  a  cordial  welcome,  — uot  as  long-lost  prod 
igals  who  have  neglected  their  duty  to  themselves  and  their  homes,  but  as 
devoted  sons  who  have  gone  iu  their  manhood  from  parental  roofs,  and, 
after  achieving  brilliant  success  through  heroic  deeds  and  sacrifices,  return, 
crowned  with  glory,  to  receive  the  blessings  of  parents  and  friends. 

I  remember  the  time,  not  long  in  the  past,  when  a  certain  race  of  men 
declared  to  the  world,  that,  from  the  corner-stone  of  human  bondage,  they 
would  erect  a  government  of  their  own  in  defiance  of  law  and  constitu 
tional  obligations  ;  and  that  they  raised  armies  to  carry  out  their  bold  dec 
laration,  though  the  land  should  be  deluged  in  blood.  I  remember  that 
they,  in  their  madness,  struck  at  the  old  flag  of  their  country  as  it  waved 
over  Fort  Sumter ;  and  that  earnest  men,  fired  with  the  zeal  and  patriot 
ism  which  should  animate  every  true  American  heart,  while  on  their  way 
to  defend  the  capital  of  the  nation,  were  shot  down  in  the  streets  of 
Baltimore  by  an  infuriated  mob  stimulated  to  bloody  deeds  by  the  desire 
to  overthrow  liberty  that  slavery  might  live.  Then  it  was  that  you 
stepped  out  from  your  workshops  and  fields  of  labor,  and,  bidding  adieu 
for  the  time  being  to  peaceful  pursuits  and  the  enjoyments  of  home,  buckled 
on  the  armor  of  brave  men,  and  marched  to  distant  fields  to  defend  the 
national  life  from  the  assaults  of  a  wicked  and  desperate  foe.  I  remember 
—  and  the  people  of  Connecticut  remember  —  your  full  ranks  as  you  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  two  thousand  strong,  when  leaving  the  borders  of  the 
State  ;  and  since  that  time  watchful  eyes  and  prayerful  hearts  have  not 
lost  sight  of  you.  Through  all  the  vicissitudes  and  dangers  of  the  battle 
field,  you  have  been  watched  Avith  eager  anxiety.  We  remember  when, 
with  the  indomitable  Burnside,  you  landed  on  the  sands  of  Iloauoke  Island, 
through  the  battling  waves  of  Ilatteras,  to  the  securement  of  a  foothold  in 
the  old  North  State.  We  remember  you  at  Newberue,  at  South  Mountain, 
and  at  other  fields  where  your  valor  has  been  displayed  with  untold  honor 
to  yourselves  and  your  native  State.  At  Antietam,  where  your  gallant 
Col.  Kingsbury  laid  down  his  life  ;  where  the  intrepid  Griswold  led  the 
way  across  that  fatal  stream,  and  died  heroically ;  where  the  brave  Lieut. 
66 


522  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Wait  would  not  leave  his  post,  though  wounded  mortally,  —  we  remember 
you  with  particular  devotion.  It  is  in  that  record  that  we  find  the  names 
of  sixty-nine  of  your  numbers  who  knew  how  sweet  it  was  to  die  for  their 
country,  and  of  over  two  hundred  more  who  died  in  defense  of  liberty. 
And  we  owe  you  who  stood  at  their  side  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  we 
can  never  repay.  We  would  have  your  names  inscribed  on  the  finest  mar 
ble  and  granite  ;  but,  if  that  can  not  be,  you  may  rest  assured,  that,  engraved 
on  the  brightest  pages  of  history,  the  names  of  the  nation's  defenders 
will  ever  stir  the  gratitude  of  those  who  shall  read  hereafter  the  history 
of  this  Rebellion. 

Though  your  flags  come  back  tattered  and  torn,  they  are  crowned  with 
glory,  and  will  ever  stand,  with  the  names  of  bloody  battle-fields  which  are 
inscribed  upon  them,  as  faithful  witnesses  of  your  struggles  in  defense  of 
constitutional  liberty. 

I  feel  grateful  to  God  that  you  are  here  ;  that  you  come  to  us  with  such 
a  noble  record.  Your  re-enlistment  is  evidence  that  you  first  entered  the 
service  of  your  country  from  motives  of  patriotism,  and  are  ready  to  fight 
on,  giving  your  lives,  if  need  be,  to  the  maintenance  of  those  principles 
which  lie  close  to  the  heart  of  every  true  lover  of  his  country.  So  long  as 
our  hearts  continue  to  beat  true  to  liberty,  so  long  will  they  cherish  with 
gratitude  the  services  of  the  Eighth  and  Eleventh  Connecticut  Regiments. 

After  another  speech  by  Rowland  Swift,  Esq.,  and  an  ex 
cellent  dinner,  they  dispersed,  to  seek  that  tenderer  recep 
tion  by  fathers,  mothers,  wives,  and  sisters,  in  many  happy 
homes. 

The  Seventh  was  soon  announced.  The  common  council 
of  New  Haven  voted  a  thousand  dollars  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  reception.  A  stirring  committee  of  influential  citizens 
-  Major  F.  Wayland,  jr.,  Major  B.  F.  Mansfield,  Capt.  R  P. 
Cowles,  Charles  W.  Allen,  Henry  E.  Pardee,  Charles  T.  Gril- 
ley,  and  John  G.  North  —  was  appointed  to  co-operate  with 
the  common  council.  The  regiment  arrived  on  the  28th, 
and  was  escorted  through  the  city  by  an  immense  pro 
cession. 

"  Residences  and  stores  along  the  route  were  tastefully 
decorated.  The  stars  and  stripes  floated  everywhere,  and, 
seeming  almost  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  the  hour,  waved 
mute  but  grand  welcome.  A  thousand  miniatures  of  the 
broad  national  ensign,  in  fair  hands  and  in  tiny  hands,  waved 
lively  and  patriotic  greeting.  A  sweet  and  graceful  little 
Goddess  of  Liberty,  eight  years  of  age,  at  the  residence  of 
Dr.  Skiff,  made  many  a  sturdy  soldier-heart  beat  quicker 
with  pride  and  pleasure.  The  streets  swarmed  with  an 
eager,  vociferous  crowd.  Every  window  displayed  an  aston- 


CONTINUED  RETURN  OF  VETERANS.  523 

ishing  number  effaces, — all  lively,  good-natured,  and  intent  to 
do  honor  to  the  returning  braves.  Cheers,  blessings,  boister 
ous  and  hearty  recognitions,  blended  with  the  roar  of  cannon 
and  merry  bells  —  never  before  so  noisy  —  to  form  a  bewilder 
ing  tumult  of  joyous  sounds." 

At  Music  Hall,  they  were  greeted  by  Mayor  Tyler;  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Bacon  (whose  son,  Capt.  Theodore  Bacon,  was  in  the 
regiment)  made  the  welcoming  address.  Chaplain  Wayland 
eloquently  responded,  and  the  following  is  an  extract  from 
his  speech :  — 

"  As  we  look  over  these  ranks,  feelings  of  sadness  oppress  us  as  we 
remember  that  all  are  not  here  whom  we  took  with  us  from  the  State. 
Some,  in  consequence  of  wounds  and  sickness  incurred  in  the  service,  were 
deemed  by  the  medical  examiner  unfit  to  bear  the  toils  of  another  term  of 
service.  Others,  alas  !  are  languishing  in  the  dungeons  of  the  capital  of 
the  enemy's  country.  Others  are  no  more.  They  lie  all  along  the  Southern 
coast.  They  crowd  the  slope  of  Fort  Wagner.  They  sleep  under  the  pines 
of  lliltou  Head  and  the  live-oaks  of  St.  Helena  and  Beaufort.  The  waves 
on  lone  Tybee  murmur  near  their  graves.  They  sleep  in  the  modest  en 
closure  under  the  captured  walls  of  Fort  Pulaski.  They  repose  in  Fernan- 
dina.  At  St.  Augustine,  they  lie  in  the  military  burying-ground,  beside 
the  dead  of  the  old  Florida  War,  consecrating  anew  that  spot  of  time-hon 
ored  and  patriotic  memories.  As  I  think  of  these,  —  of  Hitchcock,  a  son  of 
New  Haven,  of  others  not  less  worthy  of  honor,  —  I  would  God  they  were 
here  to-day  to  witness  and  to  share  this  greeting !  Indeed,  they  are  not 
altogether  absent." 

Next  day  the  Sixth  arrived,  and  had  a  grand  midnight 
reception,  amid  an  exhibition  of  fireworks.  The  success  of 
this  was  credited  largely  to  the  energy  and  enterprise  of 
Alderman  Marble.  Music  Hall  was  decorated,  and  the  vete 
rans  sat  down  to  an  abundant  supper. 

The  Fifth  was  received  in  Hartford  on  the  25th  with 
unabated  enthusiasm,  and  was  escorted  to  the  City  Hall  by 
an  undiminished  throng.  An  earnest  speech  of  welcome 
was  made  by  H.  C.  Robinson,  Esq. ;  when  the  brave  fellows 
were  led  forward  to  the  charge  upon  the  laden  dinner-tables. 

The  veterans  of  the  Tenth,  under  Major  E.  S.  Greeley, 
arrived  at  New  Haven  on  Feb.  19,  and  left  for  Hartford  next 
morning.  They  were  received  in  Hartford  with  all  honors, 
escorted  proudly  about  the  city,  and  marched  to  a  collation 
at  the  City  Hall.  Here  Rev.  Mr.  Calkins  welcomed  the  regi 
ment.  Chaplain  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  coming  into  the  hall, 


524  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

was  hailed  with  repeated  cheers  by  the  men,  who  insisted 
that  he  should  make  a  speech.  He  addresed  them  as  fol 
lows  :  — 

"  COMPANIONS  OF  THE  TENTH,  —  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here  in  my  own 
home.  I  am  glad  you  are  here  to  prove  what  I  have  so  often  said  about 
you,  —  that  you  are  men  of  whom  Connecticut  may  well  be  proud.  You 
have  shown  your  devotion  to  the  cause  by  re-enlisting  for  three  years  ;  and 
I  believe  you  would  enlist  for  thirty  years  if  necessary  to  secure  the  full 
triumph  of  that  flag. 

"  But  not  all  of  your  number  are  here.  More  than  forty  of  your  officers 
and  men  are  gone.  And  some  who  are  now  here  will  not  be  here  again. 
You  know  that  well.  We  honor  you  for  what  you  have  done,  and  for 
what  you  will  do.  More  than  sixty  times  you  have  been  in  line  of  battle  ; 
and  you  will,  if  need  be,  be  in  line  of  battle  sixty  or  a  hundred  times  more, 
and  go  forward  and  never  flinch. 

"  I  have  heard  it  said  that  veterans  re-enlisted  for  the  bounties  and 
furloughs.  When  I  was  in  prison  at  Columbia,  S.C.,  I  saw  that  tested. 
There  were  soldiers  and  sailors  suffering  for  the  want  of  a  little  money. 
But  when  Beauregard's  officers  came  and  offered  them  money  without  stint, 
and  furloughs  to  go  where  they  pleased,  if  they  would  answer  a  few  questions 
about  our  army,  not  one  American  soldier  or  sailor  listened  :  there  wasn't 
money  enough  coined  to  buy  up  these  soldiers.  When  at  Whitehall  our  forces 
were  being  swept  by  a  murderous  fire  (the  river  was  before  them,  but  no 
bridge),  and  volunteers  were  called  for  to  swim  that  icy  stream  and  fell  trees 
in  the  face  of  that  deadly  fire,  they  sprang  forward  from  the  Connecticut 
Tenth.  When  an  expedition  to  attack  Fort  Sumter  was  forming,  and  men 
were  wanted  to  march  to  certain  death,  —  to  carry  powder  to  blow  up  the 
postern  gate  of  Sumter,  that  others  might  obtain  entrance  over  their  bodies, 
—  volunteers  stepped  forward  from  the  Connecticut  Tenth. 

u  I  am  glad  to  meet  you  here,  soldiers  ;  and  I  ask  no  better  place  thau 
to  be  with  you  anywhere,  till  our  work  shall  be  ended." 

The  chaplain  was  presented  with  an  elegant  sword  :  on  the 
hilt  was  set  a  silver  cross,  and  on  the  blade  engraved  the  fol 
lowing  text  of  Scripture,  '•  Let  the  high  praises  of  God  be 
in  their  mouth,  and  a  two-edged  sword  in  their  hand." 

The  Twelfth,  under  Lieut-Col.  Frank  II.  Peck,  having  re- 
enlisted  almost  unanimously,  arrived  in  New  Haven  on 
Feb.  12.  Here  and  in  Hartford  they  were  feted  and  eulo 
gized  ;  Ezra  Hall  of  Marlborough  making  a  stirring  speech 
of  welcome  at  the  City  Hall  in  Hartford. 

The  Ninth,  Col.  Thomas  Cahill  in  command,  arrived  at 
New  Haven,  April  15,  and  had  a  handsome  reception  on 
short  notice.  The  people  seemed  not  to  tire  of  these 
displays ;  but  each  return  of  the  heroes  of  the  war  seemed 
to  summon  a  larger  crowd  than  the  last.  The  veterans  were 
escorted  to  the  State  House  to  a  dinner,  where  they  were 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  NINTH   AND   THIRTEENTH.  525 

welcomed  by  Mayor  Tyler.  Rev.  Matthew  Hart  of  St.  Pat 
rick's  Church  delivered  a  brief  address,  of  which  the  follow 
ing  is  an  extract :  — 

"  We  hoped  for  great  things  from  you  ;  and  I  proclaim  before  you  that 
our  hopes  have  not  been  disappointed,  —  no,  not  in  a  single  instance.  We 
have  followed  you  from  Ship  Island  to  Pass  Christian  since  your  first  en 
counters  in  the  war,  when,  after  having  conquered  the  fathers,  you  gave 
bread  to  the  starving  children.  We  followed  you  to  New  Orleans.  We 
found  you  in  the  expedition  bound  for  Vicksburg.  There  many  of  your 
noble  brothers  in  arms  laid  down  their  lives  upon  their  country's  altar. 
Sacred  be  their  memories  to-night !  Honored  be  the  graves  in  which 
their  patriotic  dust  is  laid  to  rest !  and  may  our  country,  for  which  they 
died,  care  for  their  widows  and  orphaned  ones  !  From  Vicksburg,  we 
watched  your  steps  to  Baton  Rouge,  now  made  famous  by  your  exploits  ; 
where,  after  a  most  desperate  contest,  lasting  for  six  hours,  your  gallant 
colonel  (Cahill)  was  placed  in  command,  by  whose  efforts  the  day  was 
won,  and  the  enemy  defeated,  forced  to  retire,  leaving  their  dead  and 
wounded  in  your  hands.  You  have  done  well.  We  are  proud  of  you. 
Other  regiments  may  have  fought  more  than  you,  because  they  had  it  to 
do.  You  have  done  all  the  fighting  given  you  to  do,  and  .done  it  well. 
We  honor  you,  therefore,  and  were  proud  of  you  when  we  heard  of  your 
congratulatory  orders,  and  your  compliments  for  discipline  and  bravery." 

The  Thirteenth,  under  Col.  C.  D.  Blinn  of  West  Cornwall, 
did  not  reach  New  Haven  until  July  26.  The  veterans  were 
cordially  greeted.  Gov.  Buckingham  made  a  short  address, 
of  which  the  following  is  an  extract :  — 

"  We  know  that  the  dangers  which  you  have  braved  have  not  dampened 
your  ardor  nor  quenched  your  patriotism  ;  but  you  have  re-enlisted  to  give 
yourselves  for  three  years  more  to  the  country,  and,  through  the  country,  to 
God.  Those  at  home  appreciate  your  services  and  your  devotion  ;  and, 
though  you  may  sometimes  feel  that  there  is  a  coldness  toward  you,  let  me 
tell  you  it  is  only  in  appearance  :  there  is  a  feeling  in  this  people's  heart 
which  perhaps  no  other  people  have  cherished  towards  their  brave  sol 
diers.  Let  me  tell  you,  that,  so  long  as  this  heart  beats,  it  will  beat  with 
gratitude  and  love  for  the  men  who  have  offered  themselves  as  a  bulwark 
to  the  nation.  So  long  as  this  voice  can  speak,  so  long  will  it  speak  in 
praise  of  the  men  of  the  Thirteenth  Connecticut.  God  bless  you !  I 
welcome  you  to  the  City  and  the  State." 

The  veteran  regiments  received  many  recruits  at  home ; 
and  they  marched  back  again  to  the  front,  when  their  brief 
furlough  was  ended,  followed  by  the  benedictions  of  the 
State,  and  made  readier  by  the  touch  of  loving  hands  for 
the  last  death-grapple  with  the  Rebellion. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 


The  Sixteenth  in  Rebel  Prisons.  —  The  Enlisted  Men  at  Andersonville.  —  Rations.  — 
Terrible  Suffering  in  the  Stockade.  —  The  "  Dead-Line." —  Starvation. — Insanity. 
—  The  Patriot's  Burial.  —  The  Hospital.  —  Officers  at  Macon.  —  Chivalry  and  Blood 
hounds. —  The  "Glorious  Fourth."  —  In  Charleston. — Efforts  to  Escape. — Ex 
change. 


LYMOUTH  was  the  end  of  the  active  war-life  of 
the  Sixteenth.  Almost  a  year  of  captivity  was 
before  them,  —  the  year  when  rebel  prisons 
were  the  portals  of  death.  Of  the  four  hun 
dred  enlisted  men,  less  than  two  hundred  ever 
escaped  to  tell  the  story  of  the  starvation  and  nameless  tor 
tures  in  the  loathsome  hell  of  Andersonville.  The  cowardly 
persecution  of  prisoners  of  war  had  not  then  culminated ; 
and  the  men  had  but  a  very  faint  foreshadowing  of  the 
ghastly  future,  as  they  dropped  their  burnished  arms,  and 
stepped  into  the  midst  of  the  exulting  "  graybacks." 

The  Sixteenth  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  detail  of  the 
35th  North-Carolina,  kindly-disposed  fellows,  who  treated 
Union  soldiers  with  some  humanity  and  respect.1  The 
prisoners  were  not  plundered,  but  retained  their  blankets, 
overcoats,  and  all  Clothing  and  personal  property.  They 
perhaps  abused  their  privileges  ;  for  the  soldiers  tell,  that,  as 
they  marched  into  Williamston,  they  howled  into  the  ears 
of  their  indulgent  escort  the  song,  — 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  moldcring  in  the  grave." 

The  hard-tack  and  raw  pork  captured  at  Plymouth  were 
dealt  out  in  slim  rations.  At  Hamilton,  some  of  the  officers 

1  The  following  account  of  the  imprisonment  of  the  enlisted  men  is  mainly  com 
piled  from  Life  and  Death  in  Rebel  Prisons;   a  book  by  Sergeant-Major  Robert  H. 
Kellogg  of  the  Sixteenth. 
526 


ANDERSON VILLE  PRISON.  527 

bought  corn-meal  pone  at  five  dollars  a  small  loaf;  and 
the  prisoners  struck  up  a  "  right  smart  of  trading  "  with  the 
guard.  Those  who  were  deserters  from  the  rebel  army 
were  taken  out  to  be  shot.  "  For  a  piece  of  pie,"  says  Ser 
geant  Kellogg,  "  I  gave  the  last '  greenback '  dollar  I  had  in 
the  world.  Some  time  before,  our  forces  had  made  a  raid 
to  Elizabeth  City ;  and  some  of  the  men,  breaking  into  the 
Farmers'  Bank,  appropriated  to  themselves  a  large  number 
of  unsigned  certificates  of  deposit.  These  were  now  filled 
out  with  any  names  most  convenient,  and  passed  with  the 
greatest  readiness  as  good,  sound  money." 

They  staid  a  while  in  Tarborough  ;  thence  by  rail,  uncom 
fortably  enough,  to  Wilmington ;  thence  to  Charleston, 
arriving  May  1 ;  thence  to  Savannah ;  thence  to  Macon. 
Here  the  officers  found  quarters.  The  enlisted  men  sped  on 
sixty  miles  south-westward  to  Andersonville.  As  they 
entered,  they  were  shocked  to  see  the  prisoners  reduced  to 
mere  walking  skeletons  by  privation  and  exposure,  and  cov 
ered  with  filth  and  vermin.  A  ration  for  a  day  consisted  of 
a  pint  and  a  half  of  coarse  corn-meal,  two  ounces  of  musty 
bacon,  and  a  pinch  of  salt.  The  first  night,  ten  died  near 
the  position  of  the  Sixteenth.  The  old  prisoners  called  it, 
with  a  touching  humor, <;  being  exchanged." 

Men  were  shot  for  wandering  over  the  "  dead-line,"  or  for 
crossing  the  brook.  On  the  fifth  night,  a  squad  tunneled 
out;  but  they  were  hunted  down  with  bloodhounds,  cap 
tured,  and  returned  ;  some  of  them  horribly  lacerated.  The 
dead  were  piled,  just  as  they  were,  one  upon  another,  in 
wagon-loads,  carted  out,  thrown  into  a  ditch,  and  covered 
with  earth ;  and  that  was  the  patriot's  burial. 

Sometimes  women  came  to  the  gates,  and  amused  them 
selves  by  throwing  in  bread,  and  witnessing  the  eagerness 
with  which  the  poor  fellows  scrambled  to  get  it.  The  men 
had  no  bed  but  the  ground ;  too  little  food  to  support  life, 
and  not  wood  enough  to  cook  even  that  little ;  clothing  that 
did  not  cover  their  nakedness.  Rations  were  cut  down  one- 
half. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  at  the  news  brought  by  prison 
ers  from  Sherman's  army ;  and  the  fact  that  telegraph  dis- 


528  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

patches  were  cut  from  the  papers  which  were  handed  in 
filled  the  men  with  hope  and  enthusiasm.  The  rebels  were 
very  ignorant.  A  pompous  Confederate  officer  in  search  of 
a  clerk  addressed  a  newly-arrived  lot  of  prisoners  one  day, 
"  If  there  is  a  man  among  you  that  can  write  his  name,  he 
may  step  this  way."  Of  course,  the  whole  crowd  charged 
on  the  inquirer,  to  his  infinite  amazement  and  perplexity. 

Suffering  became  extreme.  Men  died  every  hour,  and 
were  carted  off  like  cattle.  Rations  grew  worse  and  worse. 
One  day  a  cripple,  unable  to  hold  his  way  any  longer,  and 
filled  with  despair,  deliberately  crossed  the  dead-line,  and 
refused  to  go  out;  telling  the  sentry  that  he  wished  to  die. 
The  sentinel  shot  the  poor  fellow  dead ;  and  the  released 
soul  could  not  have  found  at  the  hand  of  a  loving  Father 
any  other  hell  like  that  from  which  it  had  escaped. 

The  prisoners  made  sundry  attempts  to  dig  out ;  but  every 
time,  just  as  they  were  upon  the  eve  of  accomplishing  their 
escape,  they  were  betrayed.  After  a  while,  the  rations  were 
varied  to  one  bucket  of  mush  for  forty-five  men.  Those 
who  still  had  life  enough  left  for  a  facetious  word  called  it 
"  chicken-feed  ;  "  for  it  was  nothing  but  coarse  corn-meal  and 
water,  half  cooked. 

About  the  1st  of  June,  a  large  number  of  prisoners  came 
in  from  Butler's  army,  including  twenty-four  of  the  Eighth 
Connecticut,  fifty-two  of  the  Seventh,  a  hundred  and  thirty 
of  the  Eleventh,  and  fifteen  of  the  Twenty-first. 

Rations  were  asrain  reduced;  and  rains  came  on,  bcatin"- 

o  *  O 

mercilessly  on  the  unsheltered  thousands.  Many  died  of 
exposure  ;  and  corpses  were  now  carried  from  the  stockade  at 
the  rate  of  a  hundred  a  day.  The  ration  was  a  few  teaspoon- 
fuls  of  uncooked  rice,  and  two  ounces  of  bacon,  to  be  cooked 
and  eaten  amid  the  mud  and  desolation  of  the  place.  One 
or  two  could  almost  always  be  seen  at  the  brookside,  whither 
they  had  crawled  to  die.  Every  week,  some  were  killed  at 
the  dead-line ;  one  being  shot  for  reaching  over  to  get  a 
root  to  kindle  fire  with :  and  constantly,  through  the  long 
and  dreary  months,  the  hopeless  prisoners  were  tortured 
anew  with  the  promise  of  immediate  exchange. 

Large  gangs  of  prisoners,  from  fifty  to  five  hundred  a 


GREAT   SUFFERINGS   OF  THE   PRISONERS.  529 

day,  were  brought  within  the  stockade,  which  increased  the 
number,  notwithstanding  the  loads  of  the  dead  daily  carted 
out.  Every  week,  the  waiting  skeletons  heard  from-  the 
armies  of  Grant,  Butler,  and  Sherman.  On  the  4th  of  July, 
a  little  raw  food  was  thrown  in  to  them,  and  they  were  de 
nied  wood  wherewith  to  cook  it.  Some  of  the  wasted  crea 
tures  gave  their  morsels  away  to  others,  declaring  that  they 
were  tired  of  fighting  for  life,  and  were  resolved  to  die  of 
the  hunger  that  had  seized  them.  Many  were  now  too 
emaciated,  even  if  they  could  have  obtained  wood,  to  cook 
the  bits  of  bacon  on  which  maggots  were  crawling.  Yet 
the  day  was  not  wholly  forgotten ;  for  Kellogg  says,  "  One 
of  the  boys  had  a  few  percussion-caps,  and,  by  snapping 
these  with  a  fragment  of  brick  upon  a  tenpenny  nail,  we  had 
a  miniature  celebration." 

A  petition  to  President  Lincoln  for  exchange  was  at  this 
time  circulated ;  but  the  men  of  the  Sixteenth  generally 
refused  to  sign  it,  on  the  ground  that  it  might  embarrass  the 
irovernmcnt  in  its  dealings  with  the  Rebellion ;  and  that  the 

O  O  ' 

loyal  authorities  were  already,  doubtless,  doing  what  they 
could.  There  were  now  thirty  thousand  in  the  stockade. 
A  rebel  contractor  came  in  to  induce  men  to  desert,  and 
promised  them  good  rations  and  pay  if  they  would  go  out 
and  make  shoes  for  the  Confederacy  :  but  the  starving  pa 
triots  resolutely  refused  such  service ;  and  the  recruiting  cob 
bler  was  hooted  and  jeered  out  of  the  stockade.  It  was  now 
Aug.  1 ;  and  the  distress  had  become  very  great.  Some  of 
the  Sixteenth  died  nearly  every  day. 

The  prisoners  had  nothing  to  shield  them  from  the  thun 
der-storms  and  the  burning  sun.  Many  were  insane.  One 
poor  fellow  would  strip  off  his  rags,  and  wallow  in  the  dirty 
stream  where  the  men  both  washed,  and  quenched  their 
thirst.  Sergeant  Kellogg  asked  him, "  Why  don't  you  wash, 
and  not  stay  there  in  the  sun  ? "  His  hopeless  reply  was, 
"  I  am  waiting  for  the  water  to  become  clear."  Alas !  it 
would  never  run  clear  for  him ;  for  the  rebel  cook-house  was 
on  its  brink  outside,  and  the  prisoner's  sink  upon  its  brink 
inside.  Hundreds  lost  their  lives  by  scurvy.  A  member 
of  the  52d  New-York  became  corrupt  while  still  conscious 

67 


530  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

in  life,  and  his  body  was  literally  devoured.  Parts  became 
raw  and  bloody ;  and  the  filthy  maggots  could  be  seen  issu 
ing  from  his  nose  and  mouth. 

Uncooked,  meager  rations,  with  no  wood,  was  the  rule ;  no 
soap,  no  salt;  and  at  night  the  famished,  wretched  men 
threw  themselves  on  the  wet  ground  to  think  over  again 
the  promise  of  exchange  repeated  during  the  day,  and  then 
to  fall  into  uneasy  slumbers,  and  dream  of  being  guests  at  a 
luxurious  banquet,  or  a  Thanksgiving  dinner  in  Connecticut, 
—  to  dream  for  the  hundredth  time  about  the  pleasant  home- 
circle,  and  to  listen  to  —  , 

"  The  echoes  that  start, 
While  Memory  plays  its  old  tune  on  the  heart." 

In  the  hospital,  matters  were  just  as  bad.  To  enter  was 
to  face  almost  certain  death.  "  The  emaciated,  pain-racked 
frames  had  no  place  to  rest  but  the  cold,  hard  ground  ;  and 
in  numberless  instances  thejr  heads  were  pillowed  on  nothing 
softer  than  a  stick  of  wood.  The  skin  would  often  wear 
away,  leaving  their  bodies  sore." '"  Many  of  these  were  the 
manly  youths  who  had  left  Connectiput  with  patriotism  in 
their  heart,  fire  in  their  eye,  vigor  in  their  arm,  elasticity  in 
their  step  ;  the  pride  of  countless  homes,  the  idols  of  many 
hearts,  for  whose  return  love  was  still  keeping  its  hearth 
stone  bright,  —  now  treated  like  vagabonds  and  outlaws  !  A 
day's  ration  for  these  invalids  consisted  of  '•'  a  piece  of  corn- 
bread  about  two  inches  square,  and  about  two  ounces  of 
meat.  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  cases  of  scurvy,  where  the 
men  have  actually  starved  to  death,  being  unable  to  eat  the 
coarse  food  furnished." 2 

"  My  patients  are  in  a  deplorable  condition.  In  the  first, 
second,  and  third  wards,  we  have  no  bunks ;  the  patients 
being  obliged  to  lie  upon  the  ground,  many  of  them  without 
blankets,  or  any  covering  whatsoever.  We  have  men  in  this 
ward  who  are  a  living,  moving  mass  of  putrefaction,  and  can 
not  possibly  be  cured  unless  we  can  make  them  more  com 
fortable."  3 

In  the  stockade  and  hospital,  three  thousand  died  during 

2  Sergeant  Hiram  Buckingham  of  the  Sixteenth. 

8  Report  of  Dr.  Thornberg,  rebel  surgeon,  to  the  authorities. 


EXPEKIEXCE  OF  THE   CAPTUEED  OFFICEKS.  531 

August,  and  thirteen  thousand  during  the  summer.  At  last, 
in  September,  the  men  of  the  Sixteenth  still  living  were 
taken  out,  and  transported  to  Charleston,  under  promise  of 
exchange.  But  here  again  they  were  turned  into  a  camp 
on  the  race-course,  and  were  again  in  prison.  The  Sisters 
of  Charity  —  those  Roman-Catholic  angels  of  mercy,  who 
were  omnipresent  in  good  deeds  throughout  the  war  —  ad 
ministered  greatly  to  their  comfort.  About  the  1st  of  Octo 
ber,  the  yellow-fever  made  its  appearance ;  and  they  were 
taken  to  Florence  and  another  stockade.  Here  some  Union 
soldiers,  broken  down  with  sickness,  exposure,  and  starva 
tion,  enlisted  in  the  rebel  army,  on  a  promise  of  food  and 
clothing.  About  the  1st  of  December,  most  of  the  surviving 
members  of  the  Sixteenth  were  taken  to  Savannah,  and  ex 
changed  ;  going  North  immediately  on  a  steamer.  They  had 
endured  tortures  such  as  no  battle-field  witnesses;  and  their 
sufferings  for  the  Union  cause  had  doubtless  been  equal  to 
those  of  any  regiment  from  the  State. 

The  officers  had  an  experience  scarcely  less  terrible.  They 
arrived  at  Macon  early  in  May,  and  were  put  into  a  pen, 
with  one  thousand  and  ninety-five  others.  Chaplain  Charles 
Dixon  of  Wallingford  preached  in  the  evening  from  Exodus 
iii.  2.  The  rations  were  very  poor,  and  the  most  of  the  offi 
cers  soon  expended  their  last  dollar  in  purchasing  food. 
Many  attempts  to  escape  were  planned ;  but  few  were  suc 
cessful.  Major  Pasco  was  a  member  of  a  band  of  eighty, 
bent  on  escape  by  tunneling.  They  were  betrayed  ;  and  the 
officer  in  command  ordered  Major  Pasco,  who  stood  near,  to 
fill  up  the  tunnel.  A  revolver  was  helcf  menacingly  at  his 
breast ;  but  he  resolutely  refused.  He  was  then  taken  from 
the  prison ;  and  the  authorities  threatened  to  "  make  an  ex 
ample  of  him"  by  hanging  him,  unless  he  should  comply 
with  the  demand,  and  furnish  other  information  that  was 
required.  He  showed  no  sign  of  yielding,  and  was  finally 
recommitted. 

On  June  10,  fifty  of  the  highest  Union  officers  in  the 
hands  of  the  Confederates  were  taken  from  prison,  and  ex 
posed  in  Charleston,  under  and  in  range  of  the  guns  of 
Gilmore  from  Morris  Island.  Among  these  was  Lieut-Col. 


532  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Burnham.  They  received  the  outrage  complacently  ;  and, 
within  two  weeks,  fifty  of  the  highest  rebel  officers  were  con 
fined  within  a  hot  inclosure  on  Morris  Island,  watching  the 
plunging  shots  that  dropped  about  them  from  the  rebel  forts. 
This  prompt  retaliation  brought  about  an  exchange  of  the 
two  parties,  after  little  delay. 

Sixteen  officers  of  the  Eighteenth  Connecticut,  from  Libby, 
arrived  at  the  Macon  stockade  about  the  same  time.  The 
inclosure  measured  two  and  a  half  acres,  and  contained  from 
a  thousand  to  eighteen  hundred  prisoners.  Capt.  Henry 
C.  Davis,  one  of  the  best  officers  of  the  Eighteenth,  has  writ 
ten,  "  The  treatment  of  the  officers  was  inhuman,  and  in 
strong  contrast  with  the  treatment  in  Libby.  We  were 
herded  together  like  cattle,  and  for  a  long  time  without  any 
shelter  from  the  storm  or  the  burning  sun.  Chronic  diar 
rhea,  fever,  scurvy,  constantly  diminished  our  ranks.  Rations 
were  issued  once  in  five  days,  and  consisted  of  seven  pints 
of  coarse  corn-meal,  half  a  pint  of  sorghum,  one-seventh  of  a 
pound  of  maggoty,  rancid  bacon,  two  table-spoonfuls  of  beans 
(black  and  wormy),  two  table-spoonfuls  of  salt ;  this  for 
each  man  for  five  days." 

One  night,  three  tunnels  were  nearly  completed,  but  were 
discovered.  The  Morning  Republican,  under  the  head  of 
The  Escaping  Yankee  Doodles,  had  an  editorial  which 
closed  as  follows  :  — 

"We  have  hundreds  of  dogs,  trained  to  catch  negroes, 
which  are  thirsting  for  blood,  and  are  ready  to  be  put  on  the 
trail  of  escaping  Yankees.  We  will  use  them  for  the  benefit 
of  all  who  attempt  to  escape  ;  and  the  best  thing  the  Doodles 
can  do  is  to  remain  under  the  protecting  care  of  their  rebel 
superiors." 

On  the  4th  of  July,  the  rebels  gave  them  four  roll-calls 
in  the  morning.  "  An  officer  hoisted  a  small  United-States 
flag,  which  we  all  cheered  lustily,  much  to  the  chagrin 
of  the  rebel  guards  ;  then  another  sang  the  Star-spangled 
Banner  :  we  cheered  that ;  then,  without  any  preconcert,  we 
went  into  a  large  building,  and  held  a  meeting.  Chaplain 
Dixon  made  one  of  the  most  patriotic  prayers  I  ever  heard ; 
then  earnest,  off-hand  speeches  were  made,  filled  with  a  deter- 


SUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPTS  TO  ESCAPE.          533 

urination  to  persevere  until  the  Rebellion  should  be  crushed. 
Lieut-Col.  Forbes  was  particularly  defiant,  and  the  rebels 
threatened  to  put  him  in  irons.  In  the  evening,  we  made 
fireworks  out  of  fat  and  pine,  and  had  an  exhibition  of  the 
elephant  and  other  animals."  * 

On  the  1st  of  August,  the  officers  of  the  Sixteenth  and 

Eighteenth   were  taken,  with  others,  to  Savannah.     Lieut. 

&  '  ' 

John  M.  Waters  of  Hartford  died  on- the  29th,  of  bilious 
fever.  On  Sept.  13,  they  were  again  removed ;  this  time 
being  taken  to  Charleston,  where,  says  Lieut.  Blakeslee, 
"  the  rebels  gave  us  an  enthusiastic  reception."  They  were 
here  imprisoned  in  full  view  of  Gilmore's  batteries  on  Morris 
Island.  They  had  been  under  lire  before,  and,  even  in  their 
helplessness,  felt  more  than  compensated  by  the  ruin  which 
the  solid  shot  and  bursting  shells  were  working  on  every 
hand.  Cheer  after  cheer  went  up  to  hear  the  missiles  crash 
through  adjacent  buildings. 

Lieut.  Blakeslee  at  this  time  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  In  the 
evening  we  often  watch  the  shells  coming,  and  it  is  a  beau 
tiful  sight.  We  first  catch  the  flash  of  our  guns;  then,  after 
waiting  a  few  seconds,  we  can  see  the  missile,  which  looks 
like  a  shooting  or  moving  star,  climbing  up  higher  and 
higher ;  and,  when  it  reaches  its  full  higlit,  we  hear  the  re 
port  of  the  gun  that  sent  it ;  and  by  this  time  the  shell  is  so 
near,  that  we  can  hear  its  sharp,  shrill  shriek ;  then  it  grad 
ually  descends,  and  approaches  until  it  is  right  over  our 
heads,  and  bursts  ;  most  of  the  pieces  going  beyond  us.  The 
report  of  the  explosion  then  reaches  us,  as  we  hear  the  frag 
ments  rattle  among  the  brick  walls,  or  crash  fearfully  through 
the  wooden  tenements."  During  imprisonment  here,  Lieut. 
James  D.  Higgins  of  the  Eighteenth  escaped  by  a  bold 
stratagem,  and  arrived  safely  at  Hilton  Head. 

Oct.  5,  they  left  Charleston  on  the  railroad  running  north 
ward.  No  rations  were  issued,  and  the  officers  were  in  a  piti 
ful  condition  from  hunger.  Efforts  to  escape  still  continued  : 
a  number  were  successful.  The  rebel  officers  proposed  to 
increase  and  improve  the  prisoners'  rations  if  they  would 

4  Diary  of  Lieut.  B.  F.  Blakeslee  of  the  Sixteenth,  from  Hartford. 


534  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

give  their  parole  not  to  try  to  escape ;  but  they  indignantly 
declined  the  offer,  in  consequence  of  which  all  sorts  of  pri 
vations  were  imposed  upon  them. 

They  were  now  taken  to  a  camp  near  Columbia,  S.C., 
which  the  prisoners  named  Camp  Sorghum,  on  account  of 
the  prevalence  of  that  saccharine  in  the  meagre  rations.  One 
or  two  hundred  had  escaped  by  jumping  from  the  cars. 
Some  were  killed ;  some  hunted  down  and  recaptured ; 
many  made  their  way  to  the  coast,  and  found  refuge  under 
the  old  flag,  —  never  before  so  beautiful  or  so  sacred.  More 
escaped  from  the  stockade,  —  a  score  every  day,  a  hundred 
almost  every  night.  This  was  accomplished  by  either  brib 
ing  the  guard,  or  charging  out  in  a  crowd,  and  taking  the 
chance  of  death  by  the  musket  of  the  sentinel.  They  heard 
that  Sherman  was  rapidly  approaching,  and  they  usually 
made  their  way  towards  his  lines. 

In  this  manner,  several  officers  of  the  Sixteenth  escaped : 
among  them  Major  Henry  L.  Pasco ;  Capts.  Timothy  B.  Rob 
inson  of  Bristol,  Alfred  A.  Dickerson  of  Hartford,  Thomas 
F.  Burke  of  Hartford,  Mark  C.  Turner  of  Hartford,  Charles 
W.  Morse  of  Collinsville,  and  Henry  Hintz  of  Suffield ;  and 
Lieuts.  H.  Bruns  of  Bristol  and  George  Johnson  of  Derby. 
The  first  five  made  their  way  to  our  lines  on  the  second 
attempt.  A  few  were  recaptured ;  but  their  condition  at 
Camp  Sorghum  was  so  wretched,  that  no  risk  was  too  great 
to  prevent  constant  efforts  to  escape. 

Capt.  H.  C.  Davis  of  the  Eighteenth  escaped  by  giving  the 
guard  an  old  watch,  and  fifty  dollars  in  Confederate  money ; 
but,  after  a  tramp  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  through 
wood  and  swamp,  was  run  down  by  a  pack  of  hounds,  and 
brought  back  after  an  absence  of  twenty-three  days. 

In  February,  Sherman  arrived  at  Columbia,  and  the  pris 
oners  were  hurried  off  his  line  of  march  to  Camp  Asylum ; 
and  in  March,  1865,  the  officers  of  the  Sixteenth  were  taken 
about  a  mile  from  Maryborough,  N.C.,  and  exchanged.  Lieut. 
Blakeslee's  diary  tells  of  the  joyful  occasion :  "  As  soon  as 
we  were  able  clearly  to  comprehend  that  there  was  not 
somebody  at  our  side  with  a  loaded  musket,  we  swung  our 
caps,  cheered  over  and  over  again,  hugged,  kissed,  rolled 


GREAT  EE JUICING S.  535 

on  the  ground,  sang,  laughed,  and  finally  cried.  Then,  tak 
ing  in  another  breath  of  fresh  American  air,  we  flung  up 
our  old  pans,  kettles,  bags  of  meal,  and  bundles  of  all  sorts, 
and  cheered  again  for  Lincoln,  Gen.  Grant,  Gen.  Sherman, 
and  Gen.  Exchange ;  and  hugged  the  horse  of  the  colonel, 
who  was  trying  in  vain  to  get  us  into  line." 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 


Up  the  James  River.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first 
at  Bermuda  Hundred. — A  Rcconnoissance.  —  The  Railroad  destroyed. — Battle 
of  Dairy's  Bluff.  —  Repulse  and  Heavy  Losses.  —  "  Bottled  up  "  within  the  Intrench- 
mcnts. —  Fight  of  the  Twenty-first. — Death  of  Col.  Arthur  II.  Dutton. —  Losses 
of  the  Seventh.  —  The  First  Connecticut  Artillery  ordered  to  Bermuda  Hundred.  — 
The  Non- Veterans  mustered  out. 


EE  still  contended  bravely  for  the  possession  of 
Virginia ;  though  no  relief  came  to  the  armies 
of  the  Rebellion  with  the  spring  of  1864. 
While  Sherman  was  consolidating  the  armies 
of  the  West,  and  Grant  getting  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  well  in  hand,  Butler  marshaled  the  Army  of  the 
James.  The  Connecticut  regiments  had  by  this  time  been 
filled  with  recruits,  until,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  they 
again  mustered  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand  men  each.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  soon  deserted,  leaving  the  regiments 
little  stronger  than  when  they  came. 

On  the  morning  of  March  1,  the  veterans  of  the  Eighth 
and  Eleventh  Connecticut,  returning  from  furlough,  were 
on  board  a  transport  anchored  off  Fortress  Monroe.  The 
Eighth  debarked  at  Portsmouth,  and  returned  to  the  old 
camp.  On  the  13th,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Deep 
Creek,  where  it  remained  performing  outpost  and  picket 
duty  one  month,  when  it  shared  in  the  reconnoissance  to 
wards  Suffolk.  It  now  broke  camp  at  Deep  Creek,  and 
went  to  Yorktown,  where  it  encamped  on  April  21.  The 
Eleventh  arrived  at  Williamsburg,  March  3,  constituting  the 
force  nearest  Richmond.  Recruits  had  been  received,  so 
that  1,035  were  present  for  duty.  The  Eighth  was  now  in 
the  1st  Division,  and  the  Eleventh  in  the  2d  Division,  of 
the  18th  Army  Corps,  under  Gen.  W.  F.  («  Baldy")  Smith. 

536 


THREATENED   ATTACK   ON  WASHINGTON,  N.C.  537 

On  April  26,  the  veterans  of  the  Tenth,  under  Lieut.-Col. 
E.  S.  Greeley  from  Connecticut,  and  the  non-veterans,  under 
Col.  John  L.  Otis  from  Florida,  met  at  Gloucester  Point; 
and  the  regiment  was  assigned  a  place  in  the  10th  Corps. 

On  the  27th  of  April,  the  Sixth1  embarked  at  Hilton 
Head, 'and  the  Seventh  took  steamer  at  Jacksonville,  Fla., 
on  the  13th;  and  both  regiments  proceeded  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  and  thence  to  Gloucester  Point,  where  they  were 
assigned  to  the  10th  Army  Corps,  under  Major-Gen.  Gilmore. 

In  March,  Gen.  Edward  II a rl and  was  stationed  at  Wash 
ington,  N.C.,  in  command  of  the  sub-district  of  the  Pam- 
lico.  After  the  capture  of  Plymouth,  on  April  20,  it  was 
expected  that  Gen.  Hoke  would  attack  Washington.  Harland 
was  ordered  to  evacuate.  He  made  hasty  preparations ; 
and  the  Twenty-first  Connecticut  and  51st  Pennsylvania  had 
already  embarked  on  transports,  when  Hoke  invested  the 
town.  The  regiments  were  at  once  ordered  back,  and  put 
into  the  works.  Every  preparation  was  made  to  repel  the 
attack.  The  Fifteenth  Connecticut  still  remained  here.  All 
the  troops  were  assigned  places  in  the  intrenchments,  and 
at  three  o'clock  each  morning  were  called  out  to  the  breast 
works  in  readiness  for  action,  where  they  remained  until 
daybreak.  Picket-lines  were  strengthened,  and  every  pre 
caution  taken  to  guard  against  surprise,  and  to  insure  pro 
tection  to  the  town.  Gen.  Harland,  ever  active,  superin 
tended  the  arrangements  for  defense  of  the  town  in  person, 
and  by  his  activity  and  energy  did  much  to  inspire  the 
soldiers  under  his  command  with  confidence  and  courage. 

When  the  transports  returned,  Hoke  thought  Harland 
was  receiving  re-info rcements,  and  withdrew  in  the  night 
without  attack. 

Finally,  towards  the  end  of  April,  Gen.  Harland  evacuated 
the  town,  and  prepared  to  go  to  Newberne,  sending  the 
Twenty-first  before  him  to  the  Army  of  the  James.  On 
the  28th,  the  Twenty-first  marched  down  to  the  wharf, 

1  On  April  20,  Capt.  Lewis  C.  Allen,  jr.,  died  of  disease.  In  former  years,  lie  was 
a  member  of  a  militia  company  in  Georgia;  and  afterwards,  removing  to  New  Haven, 
was  drill-officer  of  the  New-Haven  Blues.  He  went  out  as  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  third 
three-months'  regiment,  and  as  captain  of  the  Brewster  Rifles  of  the  Sixth.  He  was 
provost-marshal  at  Hilton,  and  participated  with  credit  in  all  the  battles  of  the  regiment. 
68 


•538  .CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

to  find  that  the  boat  assigned  to  them  had  been  loaded 
down  with  the  anxious  negroes  and  their  baggage.  The 
trespassers  were  ordered  off.  Capt.  Delos  D.  Brown  wrote 
of  the  scene,  — 

"  After  the  negroes  were  all  disembarked,  our  men  were  ordered  on 
board  to  unload  the  baggage  ;  and  mounting  the  hurricane-deck,  where 
it  had  been  packed  away,  they  charged  upon  the  confused  mass  of  African 
possessions,  and  commenced  transferring  them  in  a  very  unceremonious 
manner  to  the  wharf.  The  scene  which  followed  baffles  description. 
Feather-beds  fell  like  snow-flakes,  only  rather  more  forcibly,  upon  the 
heads  of  the  frantic  searchers  for  '  their  own  '  household  goods.  Bedding, 
clothing,  all  manner  of  domestic  goods,  filled  the  air,  and  fell  like  rain  in 
one  confused  and  inextricable  mass.  Hooped  skirts  were  hurled  gracefully 
from  the  deck  to  come  down  enveloping  some  corpulent  wench,  and  add 
ing  to  her  wrath.  Some  were  crying,  some  laughing,  some  fighting,  and 
all  wrangled  amid  the  shower  of  '  bag  and  baggage '  which  '  mingling 
fell.'  And  thus  we  left  them,  to  be  subsequently  conveyed  to  Newberne  ; 
but,  if  they  ever  live  to  sort  that  baggage,  they  will  exceed  the  average 
African  longevity." 

The  Fifteenth  returned  to  Newberne,  forty  miles  south, 
while  the  Twenty-first  proceeded  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
encamped  at  Portsmouth.  Hampton  Roads  now  presented 
a  very  animated  sight.  Hundreds  of  steamers  and  trans 
ports  of  all  kinds  ^oved  to  and  fro,  busy  in  preparations 
for  the  coming  campaign  against  Petersburg. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  Gen.  Butler's  force  —  the  10th  and  the 
18th  Corps  —  embarked  on  transports,  and  followed  gun 
boats  up  the  James.  The  enemy  was  surprised ;  and  the  land 
ing  at  City  Point  and  Bermuda  Hundred,2  on  each  side  the 
Appomattox,  was  unopposed.  The  Sixth  and  Seventh  Con 
necticut  were  in  Col.  J.  R  Hawley's  brigade  of  Brig.-Gen. 
Alfred  H.  Terry's  division  of  Gilmore's  10th  Corps ;  and 
the  Tenth  was  in  Plaisted's  brigade  of  the  same  division. 
The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first  were  in  Smith's 
corps  ;  the  Eleventh,  in  a  brigade  commanded  by  Col.  Griffin 
A.  Stedman  ;  and  the  Twenty-first,  in  a  brigade  commanded 
by  Col.  Arthur  H.  Button. 

On  the  7th,  both  corps  advanced  cautiously  through  the 

'2  Bermuda  Hundred  is  a  small  cluster  of  houses  on  the  extremity  of  the  peninsula 
formed  by  the  James  and  Appomattox  Rivers.  In  the  early  settlement  of  Virginia, 
slaves  were  located  at  different  places  in  gangs  of  a  hundred  at  each  point.  These  set 
tlements  were  usually  designated  by  taking  the  name  of  the  place  from  which  the  slaves 
were  bought,  with  the  word  "  hundred  "  affixed.  The  gang  landed  here  was  from  Ber 
muda;  hence  the  name  Bermuda  Hundred. 


THE  SEVENTH  RECAPTURE  A  PIECE  OF  ARTILLERY. 

thick  woods,  towards  the  Richmond  and  Petersburg  Railroad ; 
and  the  ground  was  feebly  contested. 

Hawley's  brigade  struck  the  railroad  near  Chester  Station, 
on  the  morning  of  the  10th ;  when  the  Sixth  under  Lorenzo 
Meeker,  and  the  left  wing  of  the  Seventh  under  Major  0.  S. 
Sanford,  moved  up  towards  the  station,  destroying  the  track. 
This  was  done  very  thoroughly  in  the  face  of  an  alert  enemy. 
Skirmishing  was  constantly  kept  up,  and  the  Sixth  lost  one 
(Capt.  Jay  P.  Wilcox)  killed  and  twenty-one  wounded.  Ser 
geant  John  H.  Botts  of  Stamford  lost  his  eyes. 

Capt.  Jay  P.  Wilcox  left  Waterbury  as  a  private  soldier  in 
the  Sixth,  but  was  soon  promoted  to  be  corporal,  and  thence 
rapidly  to  be  captain,  for  gallantry,  and  fidelity  to  the  inter 
ests  of  the  service.  He  was  sincerely  mourned. 

In  the  mean  time,  Lieut.-Col.  Rodman,  with  the  right  wing 
of  the  Seventh,  moved  up  the  turnpike  to  destroy  the  tele 
graph.  After  a  short  time,  they  were  ordered  forward  at  a 
quick  pace.  "  Arriving  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  to  the  right 
of  and  near  Chester  Station,  we  were  ordered  into  line  of 
battle  on  a  road  leading  from  the  right  of  the  turnpike ;  and 
immediately  threw  out  Company  D,  under  Capt.  Jeremiah 
Townsend,  as  skirmishers.  We  were  soon  joined  by  the  left 
wing,  under  Major  Sanford.  Two  companies,  E  and  H,  under 
Capt.  John  B.  Dennis,  were  immediately  sent  to  support  a 
battery  upon  a  hill  a  little  in  front  of  our  line.  I  then 
ordered  Major  Sanford,  with  Companies  B  and  K,  to  proceed 
to  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  engage  the  enemy." ; 

Major  Sanford  reported, — 

"  I  threw  the  right  of  my  line  a  little  forward,  and  opened  fire  on  the 
left  flank  of  the  enemy,  stationed  in  the  woods,  and  drove  them  back. 
We  engaged  the  enemy  at  intervals.  They  were  trying  to  take  a  piece  of 
artillery  which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  4th  New-Jersey,  and  was  near 
their  lines.  I  drove  them  back  at  every  attempt.  The  enemy  opened  with 
two  pieces  of  artillery  ;  and  I  sent  a  request  for  a  section  of  battery  to 
silence  that  of  the  enemy.  One  piece  of  the  4th  New-Jersey  was  sent  to  my 
position,  and  immediately  opened  upon  them.  I  then  ordered  Lieut.  Charles 
E.  Barker,  with  Company  K,  to  move  forward,  and  bring  in  the  abandoned 
piece,  which  he  succeeded  in  doing.  I  placed  the  piece  in  position,  manning 
it  with  men  from  Company  K,  taking  ammunition  from  a  caisson  which 
was  also  abandoned  by  the  4th  New-Jersey,  all  the  horses  having  been  shot. 

3  Report  of  Major  Sanford. 


540  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   EEBELLION. 

After  firing  about  ten  shots  from  that  piece,  and  as  many  more  from  the  one 
already  there,  we  drove  the  enemy's  battery  from  its  position.  ...  I  was 
then  ordered  to  take  position  on  the  left  of  the  169th  New- York  Volun 
teers,  where  I  found  the  other  three  companies,  under  command  of  Capt. 
Theodore  Bacon,  supporting  a  section  of  the  First  Connecticut  Battery. 
We  remained  there  until  dark,  and  then  were  ordered  to  camp. 

u  Of  the  conduct  of  the  officers  and  men  under  my  command  during 
the  engagement,  I  can  but  speak  in  terms  of  the  highest  praise,  particularly 
of  Lieut.  Barker  and  his  company  for  their  gallant  conduct  in  rescuing  the 
gnu  which  had  been  abandoned,  and  was  near  the  enemy's  liue.  On  at 
tempting  to  work  the  piece,  I  could  find  no  lanyard  ;  and  my  thanks  are  due 
to  Private  Clapp  of  Company  K,  for  the  promptness  and  ingenuity  dis 
played  in  forming  one  from  a  piece  of  telegraph-wire  near  at  hand." 

The  rebels  charged  the  First  Connecticut  Battery  three 
times,  and  were  repulsed  gallantly.  The  Eighth,  after  assist 
ing  to  destroy  the  track,  also  encountered  the  enemy  in 
trenched  near  Walthall  Junction,  and  soon  became  warmly 
engaged.  "  The  regiment  was  here  formed  in  line  of  battle, 
and  repeatedly  drove  the  enemy.  They  as  repeatedly  re 
formed  behind  an  embankment,  and  were  not  dislodged,  but 
confessed  to  heavy  losses,  and  at  night  retired  from  the  posi 
tion.  We  were  in  an  open  field,  exposed  to  artillery  as  well 
as  musketry.  .  .  .  The  regiment  was  complimented  by  the 
lamented  Gen.  Burnham  for  heroism  that  day,  and  as  it 
returned  from  the  field  was  cheered  by  the  whole  brigade."4 
In  this  affair,  the  regiment  lost  seventy-two.  Col.  John  E. 
Ward  was  severely  injured  by  a  shell;  Capt.  James  R  Moore 
and  Lieut.  John  H.  Vorra,  severely  wounded ;  and  Lieuts. 
Levi  C.  Bingham  of  Meriden  and  Alfred  M.  Goddard  of  Nor 
wich,  killed.  Lieut.  Goddard5  came  home  from  the  Sandwich 
Islands  when  the  war  broke  out,  to  join  in  the  contest  for 
the  Union.  He  served  on  Gen.  Harland's  staff  until  the 
transfer  to  the  Army  of  the  James :  then  he  rejoined  his 
regiment.  He  often  said,  '•  If  I  ever  flinch  or  skulk  in  bat 
tle,  I  hope  I  shall  be  shot  on  the  spot.  I  never  wish  to 
survive  such  dishonor."  Capt.  Charles  M.  Coit,  himself  a 
model  soldier,  wrote  of  his  death,  "  I  have  no  words  to  ex 
press  my  appreciation  of  his  behavior  in  this  his  first  action. 
He  was  thoughtful,  considerate,  and  commiserate.  Not  rash 

4  Official  report  of  Major  William  M.  Pratt. 

5  Lieut.  Goddard  was  a  brother  of  Capt.  Henry  P.  Goddard  of  the  Fourteenth,  who 
had  been  promoted  from  the  ranks,  and  who  resigned  for  disability  resulting  from  severe 
wounds  received  at  ChancellorsviHe. 


A  MOVEMENT  TOWARDS  RICHMOND.  541 

or  impetuous,  but  cool  and  collected,  ready  for  every  emer 
gency,  willing  for  every  duty.  While  most  bravely  fighting, 
and  cheering  on  our  men,  the  fatal  bullet  struck  him,  arid  he 
was  taken  from  the  field.  As  he  was  carried  past  me,  he 
said  that  he  was  wounded,  but  that  he  had  done  his  duty. 
Most  truly  can  I  echo  those  last  words." 

An  officer  of  Harland's  staff  wrote,  "  May  God  rest  the 
soul  of  our  martyr-hero !  He  is  no  more.  But  the  memories 
which  the  thought  of  him  suggests  are  of  the  most  tender 
and  pleasing  character.  How  kind  and  unselfish  he  was ! 
What  a  sturdy  champion  for  every  thing  just  and  noble 
and  right !  How  he  loathed  oppression  and  injustice  !  How 
he  loved  his  country !  While  his  heart  was  tenderly  suscepti 
ble  to  the  sufferings  of  both  parties  in  the  great  conflict,  he 
was  filled  with  determination  to  fight  it  to  the  bitter  end." 

The  regiments  were  now  engaged  for  two  or  three  days  in 
intrenching  their  position  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  On  May  9, 
at  dawn,  the  Eleventh  was  led  out  towards  the  railroad.  It 
crossed  a  creek,  formed  in  line  of  battle  on  the  left  of  the 
pike,  and  did  its  part  in  expelling  the  enemy  from  the 
woods,  and  driving  them  across  Swift  Creek.  The  regiment 
was  again  led  by  Col.  Stedman,  and  lost  two  killed  and  ten 
wounded. 

On  the  13th,  a  movement  in  force  was  made  towards 
Richmond ;  Smith's  Corps  advancing  along  the  James  River, 
to  Drury's  Bluff,  and  Gilmore  pressing  forward  on  the  left. 
The  enemy  skirmished  spiritedly,  and  fell  back  to  within 
three  miles  of  Fort  Darling ;  and  Gilmore  passed  beyond  the 
halfway-house,  when  the  troops  rested  for  the  night.  In  the 
morning,  a  flying  column  was  organized,  and  sent  out  to  turn 
the  enemy's  right ;  Gen.  A.  H.  Terry  commanding,  with  the 
brigades  of  Hawley  and  Plaisted  in  advance.  Terry  led  his 
division  rapidly  around  to  the  rear  of  the  Confederate  works, 
when  the  enemy  were  driven  from  their  position  in  retreat 
towards  Richmond.  The  captured  works  were  occupied, 
and  the  rebels  again  intrenched  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
to  the  rear. 

In  this  movement,  the  First  Connecticut  Battery  had  been 
warmly  engaged,  and  had  fought  gallantly.  Among  its  losses 


542  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

was  the  death  of  First  Lieut.  George  Metcalf  of  Hartford. 
He  was  an  efficient  officer,  and  a  kind-hearted  gentleman : 
he  died  at  his  post,  as  the  soldier  dies,  and  was  buried  in  a 
lovely  spot  on  the  banks  of  the  James,  —  the  family  burying- 
ground  of  a  loyal  Virginian. 

In  the  battle  of  Drury's  Bluff,  of  which  this  advance  was  a 
prelude,  the  First  Connecticut  Battery  took  part ;  also  the 
Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Tenth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first 
Connecticut  Infantry.  More  or  less  skirmishing  was  kept  up 
until  the  IGth  ;  at  which  time  the  enemy  had  fallen  back  to 
a  defensible  line,  stretching  from  Fort  Darling  to  the  rail 
road,  and  our  forces  had  strengthened  their  position  in 
front. 

On  the  morning  of  the  IGth,  the  rebels  massed,  and  made 
a  determined  dash  against  our  right,  under  cover  of  a  very 
thick  four ;  and,  after  lon^  and  hard  fighting  in  the  darkness, 

O    7  O  O  O 

Weitzel's  division  Was  overborne,  and  forced  to  the  rear.  On 
the  left  was  a  simultaneous  attack,  resisted  fiercely  ;  but  at 
last  the  enemy's  massed  column  made  its  way,  and  Terry's 
division  was  obliged  to  retire.  To  consider  more  especially 
the  part  taken  by  each  of  the  regiments  from  this  State  :  — 

Five  companies  of  the  Sixth  were  on  picket  when  the 
rebels  attacked ;  and  when  driven  they  were  supported  by 
the  remainder  of  the  regiment.  After  three  hours'  fighting, 
.having  expended  ammunition,  they  fell  back,  and  rallied 
behind  the  earthworks  until  the  troops  on  the  flank  gave 
way. 

The  regiment  had  lost  seven  killed  and  fifty-four  wounded. 
Among  the  wounded  were  Lieut-Col.  Lorenzo  Meeker,  Capts. 
Charles  H.  Nichols,  John  N.  Tracy,  and  Henry  Biebel,  and 
Lieuts.  Bennett  S.  Lewis,  Charles  J.  Buckbee,  and  Norman 
Provost.  Capt.  Horatio  D.  Eaton  of  Hartford  was  killed 
while  gallantly  leading  his  men  before  Fort  Darling.  He 
served  through  the  three-months'  campaign,  and  afterwards 
went  out  as  first  lieutenant  in  the  Sixth.  He  was  greatly 
beloved  by  a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  possessed  the  esteem 
of  all  who  knew  him. 

The  Seventh  moved  out,  on  the  12th,  to  the  vicinity  of 
Chester  Station,  and  bivouacked.  Next  day,  with  occasional 


GALLANT  CONDUCT  OF  THE  SEVENTH.         543 

skirmishing,  the  regiment  moved  forward  to  the  right  and 
rear  of  the  enemy's  intrenchments ;  the  rebels  retiring,  and 
occupying  works  farther  in  the  rear.  Early  in  the  morning 
of  the  14th,  the  regiment  advanced  to  support  the  left  of 
Turner's  division,  which  was  moving  on  the  enemy.  The 
latter  occupied  strong  works  along  a  ridge,  while  the  advan 
cing  column  formed  in  line  of  battle  in  the  valley  in  front. 
In  front  of  the  Seventh,  Capt.  Dennis  commanded  the  skirm 
ishers,  and  they  maintained  their  ground  nobly.  About  three, 
P.M.,  at  the  word  of  command,  the  line  swept  forward  under  a 
furious  fire,  and  occupied  the  top  of  the  hill,  driving  the 
enemy  into  his  works.  Chaplain  Jacob  Eaton  wrote, — 

"  Our  men  wrere  ordered  to  lie  down  after  reaching  this 
advanced  position,  as  they  were  exposed  to  a  terrific  fire 
from  the  rebels,  who  were  massed  behind  their  breastworks. 
Our  gallant  fellows  did  not  remain  idle ;  for  in  a  few  minutes 
they  had  formed,  by  the  aid  of  the  cups  and  plates  which 
wrere  in  their  haversacks,  a  slight  cover  of  earth,  which  effect 
ually  impeded  the  storm  of  rebel  bullets.  This  precaution 
saved  scores  of  our  men  from  wounds  or  death.  As  night 
came  on,  and  our  sharpshooters  were  unable  to  distinguish 
the  heads  of  the  enemy,  the  rebels  opened  a  most  terrific  fire 
of  musketry  upon  the  Seventh.  Old  officers  say  they  never 
witnessed  before  such  continuous  and  heavy  volleys.  But  the 
heroic  Seventh  could  not  be  driven  from  their  advanced  posi-, 
tion.  The  volleyed  wrath  of  the  rebel  hosts  could  not  daunt 
and  demoralize  the  men  who  had  so  nobly  fought  at  Pulaski, 
James  Island,  Wagner,  Olustee.  There  they  remained  under 
the  blaze  and  crash  of  musketry,  clinching  their  Spencer  rifles, 
and  ready  to  repel  any  assault  of  the  enemy." 

Lieut.-Col.  D.  C.  Rodman,  not  yet  recovered  from  his  ter 
rible  wound  at  Fort  Wagner,  had  rejoined  his  regiment,  and 
was  again  in  command.  He  says  of  this  attack,  "Just  about 
dark  the  rebels  opened  fire  furiously,  and  charged  from  their 
works  with  desperation.  We  opened  for  about  a  minute  and 
a  half  with  the  full  rapidity  of  the  Spencer  carbine.  The 
rebels'  fire  was  completely  subdued,  and  the  charge  repulsed." 

Of  the  experience  of  the  Seventh  on  the  16th,  Major 
0.  S.  Sanford  reported,  "  Every  thing  remained  quiet  until 


544  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

about  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  when  heavy 
firing  and  cheering  was  heard  on  the  right  of  our  lines,  in 
creasing  and  nearing  our  position,  until  about  five  o'clock ; 
when  the  enemy  tried  to  force  the  lines  on  our  left,  and 
were  driven  back.  In  about  fifteen  minutes,  the  picket  in 
our  front  fired  and  fell  back,  reporting  th*e  enemy  advan 
cing  in  force.  It  being  very  foggy  at  the  time,  they  could 
not  be  seen  until  within  forty  or  fifty  yards  of  our  position. 
1  immediately  opened  upon  them,  driving  them  back  with 
great  loss.  They  rallied,  and  advanced  a  second  and  third 
time  with  a  determination  to  carry  the  position,  but  were 
at  each  attempt  repulsed  ;  leaving  the.  dead  and  wounded  in 
great  numbers  on  our  front.  I  was  soon  informed  that  the 
enemy  had  forced  the  line  back  on  my  right,  and  was 
pouring  an  enfilading  fire  upon  my  right  flank.  I  ordered 
a  fire  to  be  opened  from  an  angle  in  the  center  of  my  lines, 
in  that  direction,  and  from  my  right-Sank  company,  which 
silenced  the  enemy  for  a  short  time.  I  sent  word  to  the 
colonel  commanding  brigade  to  have  my  right  supported, 
and  I  would  hold  the  position  against  any  force.  The  fog 
lifting  about  that  time,  I  could  see  the  enemy  about  a 
hundred  yards  on  my  right  flank,  secreted  behind  a  fence 
and  trees,  picking  my  men  off.  I  set  sharpshooters  at  work, 
and  succeeded  in  keeping  them  down.  ...  I  soon  received 
orders  to  leave  a  strong  picket-force  and  fall  back.  I  had 
fifteen  men  from  each  company  selected  to  remain  under 
charge  of  Lieuts.  Charles  E.  Barker,  Raphael  Gilbert,  and 
John  B.  Young,  the  whole  under  command  of  Capt.  John  B. 
Dennis ;  and  was  about  to  fall  back  with  the  rest  of  my 
command,  when  I  received  orders  to  fall  back  immediately 
with  the  whole,  and  form  in  the  field  to  the  rear  of  the  woods. 
I  then  gave  orders  ;  but  the  men  who  had  been  selected  to 
stay,  not  hearing  it,  remained.  We  fell  back  rapidly  ;  the 
enemy  pouring  volley  after  volley  into  us  over  the  top  of 
their  works,  and  coming  out  in  thousands  to  sweep  the  little 
band  (which  had  been  left  behind,  and  were  pouring  a 
murderous  fire  into  them)  from  their  position.  Arriving  in 
the  open  field,  I  received  orders  to  foil  back  to  a  position 
in  the  woods,  across  the  field.  ...  I  will  mention  the  names 


HEAVY  LOSS  OF  THE  SEVENTH.  545 

of  Corporals  John  Walker  and  Patrick  Brannan,  Privates  J. 
D.  Lampbere  and  Christopher  Holmes,  Company  H  ;  Privates 
M.  G.  Painter,  Abraham  Miner,  John  R.  Jackson,  and  Horace 
W.  Wright,  Company  C ;  and  Privates  D.  C.  Andrews  and 
Charles  A.  Brockett,  Company  E,  —  who  volunteered  to  re- 
connoiter  in  our  front  after  the  enemy  were  driven  back,  and 
went  forward  into  the  fog,  upon  the  ground  just  vacated  by 
the  enemy.  And  of  the  fifteen  men  from  each  company  left 
back,  too  much  praise  can  not  be  given  them  for  their  con 
duct  in  holding  the  rifle-pits  until  the  rest  of  the  command 
had  got  safely  into  the  woods  :  but  for  them  the  whole 
command  must  have  been  badly  cut  up." 

"  The  commanders  of  the  companies  have  assured  me 
that  the  most  trying  duty  they  ever  performed  was  to  select 
men  for  such  work,  when  those  men  had  served  long  and 
faithfully,  and  with  the  conviction  that  they  would,  with  few 
exceptions,  be  either  "killed,  wounded,  or  taken  prisoners. 
Yet  every  man  thus  selected,  after  bidding  his  comrades 
good-by,  turned  his  face  towards  the  advancing  enemy,  and 
performed  his  duty  with  a  willing  heart  and  undaunted 
spirits.  Such  courage  was  never  surpassed." G 

About  eighty  of  these  men  were  killed  or  captured. 

In  this  engagement,  the  Seventh  lost  twenty-seven  killed, 
ninety-three  wounded,  and  seventy-five  prisoners.7  Among 
the  killed  were  some  of  their  bravest.  Lieut.  Charles  A. 
Wood  of  Willimantic  was  highly  esteemed.  He  enlisted 
from  patriotic  principles,  and  was  promoted  from  the  ranks 
for  efficiency  and  gallant  service.  Sergeant  David  D.  Keyes 
of  Farmington  was  also  killed  here.  He  was  regarded  by 
regular  officers  as  the  best  artillerist  among  the  enlisted 
men  engaged  in  the  reduction  of  Fort  Suinter.  He  refused 
promotion  while  in  the  Department  of  the  South,  remark 
ing,  <;  that  he  could  serve  his  country  as  effectually  in  the 
position  he  then  occupied  as  in  any  other."  During  the 
engagement,  he  occupied  a  position  with  the  most  advanced 

0  Chaplain  Eaton. 

">  Among  the  prisoners  lost  was  Private  George  N.  Tro.wbridge  of  Suffield.  He  had 
been  in  captivity  since  the  assault  on  Wagner,  and  was  now  taken  again.  This  time,  he 
was  confined  at  Andersonviilc  through  that  deadly  summer,  and  arrived  at  Annapolis  in 
the  fail,  emaciated  and  diseased,  to  die  —  another  martyr  to  the  cruelty  of  a  barbarous 
foe. 

69 


546  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   EEBELLION 

line  of  skirmishers,  and  died  a  brave  soldier  and  true  patriot. 
Sergeant  Charles  H.  Eipley  of  Windham  was  a  gallant  of 
ficer,  and  conspicuous  for  courage  in  every  engagement  in 
which  he  participated.  He  fell  while  urging  on  his  brave 
men,  and  inspiring  them  by  his  own  example. 

Here,  also,  Sergeant  Hobart  L.  Bailey  of  Southington,  a 
most  worthy  man,  was  instantly  killed.  Sergeant  Andrew 
B.  Nichols  of  "Redding  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  ball 
which  passed  through  both  hips.  A  braver  soldier  never  fell 
for  his  country.  First  Sergeant  William  S.  English  was  shot 
through  the  body,  and  died  immediately.  This  gallant  sol 
dier  was  wounded  on  the  14th,  but  remained  with  his  com 
pany,  doing  and  daring  for  the  country  he  so  ardently  loved. 
Here  fell  Corporal  William  McEwen  of  Portland,  Everett 
Bailey  of  Hamden,  H.  C.  Parker  of  Essex,  and  a  score  of 
sterling  men. 

Many  also  were  wounded.  While  Sergeant  Daniel  Mor 
gan  of  Bridgeport  was  standing  with  his  hand  upon  his  side, 
a  ball  carried  away  his  second  finger,  and  buried  itself  in  his 
watch.  He  was  carried  to  the  rear,  his  comrades  supposing 
he  had  been  mortally  wrounded  ;  but  the  sergeant  soon 
reported  to  the  major,  saying,  as  he  held  the  impaired  time 
keeper  in  his  left  hand,  "  There  goes  fifty  dollars." 

Chaplain  Jacob  Eaton  wrote  about  this  time,  — 

"  Gen.  A.  H.  Terry  of  Connecticut,  originally  colonel  of  the  Seventh 
Connecticut  Volunteers,  is  in  great  favor  with  the  corps  commanders,  sub 
ordinate  officers,  and  soldiers  of  this  army.  He  handled  his  division,  in  the 
hattles  of  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  of  May,  with  masterly  coolness  and 
ability.  He  was  master  of  every  situation  in  which  he  was  placed,  and 
fought  his  command  with  great  vigor  and  effectiveness.  He  is  in  every 
sense  a  good  officer  and  a  true  gentleman.  Connecticut  may  refer  to  his 
record  with  just  pride  and  admiration. 

"Col.  J.  R.  Hawley  commands  the  2d  Brigade  of  the  1st  Division, 
10th  Corps.  His  record  as  an  officer  is  adorned  with  acts  of  conspicuous 
courage  and  noblest  devotion  to  the  cause  of  justice,  humanity,  freedom. 
Capable,  cool  under  fire,  and  devoting  all  his  energies  to  the  work  of  sup 
pressing  the  Rebellion,  he  has  achieved  a  reputation  most  honorable  and 
enduring." 

The  Eighth,  farther  to  the  right,  moved  forward  on  the 
13th  in  a  jaded  condition.  Every  day  they  skirmished  con 
stantly,  and  every  night  slept  on  their  arms. 

Chaplain  Moses  Smith  wrote,  "  On  Saturday  morning,  the 


THE  EIGHTH  ATTACKED  IN  THE  FOG.         547 

13th,  the  whole  line  advanced  to  the  deserted  breastworks 
on  Drury's  Bluff,  before  Fort  Darling ;  and  our  regiment 
lay  in  those  trenches,  with  no  relief,  until  Monday  morn 
ing.  The  casualties  of  the  four  days  during  which  we  were 
thus  on  the  front  were  not  great ;  but  such  unrelieved 
watching  utterly  took  the  heart  out  of  our  men.  Many 
could  not  endure  it,  and  were  forced  to  leave.  Those  who 
remained  were  badly  prepared  for  what  was  to  follow. 

"  Monday  morning,  a  dense  fog  settled  down  over  all  the 
line.  The  enemy,  who  knew  every  inch  of  the  ground,  and 
who  had  been  re-inforced  during  the  night,  seized  the  oppor 
tunity  to  make  a  heavy  assault  upon  the  right  of  our  army, 
and  succeeded  in  driving  it  back.  The  Eighth  Connecticut 
occupied  the  right  of  the  left  center,  and  were  soon  attacked. 
Our  lieutenant-colonel,  Martin  B.  Smith,  then  in  command, 
had  remarked  the  day  previous,  to  the  general  commanding 
our  division,  that  the  right  and  left  center  were  not  united : 
.  .  .  but  no  protection  was  given  to  that  place  or  to  our  right. 
On  Monday  morning,  as  the  right  line  was  being  pressed, 
and  while  the  fog  was  so  dense  that  a  man  could  not  be  seen 
at  a  distance  of  ten  paces,  the  enemy  in  mass  came  pouring 
in  at  our  right.  The  only  alternative  seemed  to  be,  fall  back, 
or  be  captured.  But  for  an  hour  our  men  battled  them : 
sometimes  mixed  with  the  enemy,  sometimes  driving  them ; 
but  constantly  exposed  to  the  enfilading  fire,  and  the  enemy 
gaining.  At  length,  to  prevent  capture,  our  lieutenant-colo 
nel  gave  the  order  to  fall  back.  For  this  order,  he  was 
at  first  blamed,  and  the  heroic  old  Eighth  reported  as  hav 
ing  e  skedaddled.'  That  some  men  straggled  in  the  fog  is 
true ;  but  be  it  remembered  that  the  regiment  was  already 
so  flanked,  that  the  right  was  compelled  to  pass  within  the 
breastworks,  and  go  down  the  rebel  side,  and  then  over  those 
works,  to  rejoin  the  regiment." 

"  We  held  our  position  on  the  works  for  some  time,  with 
considerable  loss,  until  flanked  both  right  and  left ;  when  we 
fell  back  in  as  good  order  as  possible   under  the  circum 
stances,  the  fog  and  smoke  being  so  dense  that  it  was  impos- 
•sible  for  officers  or  men  to  distinguish  each  other."8 

8  Keport  of  Lieut.-Col.  M.  B.  Smith,  commanding  regiment. 


548  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

The  losses  of  the  Eighth  were  seven  killed,  thirty  wound 
ed,  and  twenty-six  prisoners.  Among  the  dead  were  the 
brave  Capt.  John  McCall  and  Sergeant  Edward  Wadhams.' 

John  McCall  of  Yantic  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Eighth, 
was  elected  by  his  comrades  first  sergeant,  and  soon  pro 
moted  to  be  lieutenant.  He  was  made  a  captain  for  gal 
lantry.  His  bravery  at  the  capture  of  Fort  Huger  was  con 
spicuous.  Whenever  the  regiment  was  under  fire,  he  was  at 
the  head  of  his  men.  On  May  14,  while  under  a  severe  fire, 
Capt.  McCall  was  sitting  on  the  ground,  when  a  bullet  pierced 
his  heart.  He  sprang  to  his  feet,  saying,  "I  shall  be  dead  in 
a  minute ! "  and  fell  backwards,  dead.  He  was  a  general 
favorite, — as  a  companion,  frank,  genial,  and  manly;  as  a 
soldier,  prompt,  bold,  and  enterprising.9 

Edward  Wadhams  was  one  of  three  brothers  of  Litchfield, 
and  his  record  as  a  faithful  soldier  was  unsurpassed.  One 
who  had  known  him  in  camp  and  battle  wrote  of  him, 
"  Sergeant  Wadhams  was  a  man  of  sterling  common  sense, 
and  sound  moral  and  religious  convictions.  His  life  was 
never  stained  by  evil  word  or  deed.  He  was  firm  and  strict 
in  discipline,  yet  kind,  judicious,  and  helpful."  Within 
two  weeks,  both  his  brothers  were  killed  in  battle. 

Among  the  wounded  were  Capt.  Henry  C.  Hall  and  Lieut. 
Edwin  D.  Hall,  both  severely. 

The  Tenth  had  fought  on  the  left ;  Gen.  Plaisted's  brigade 
adjoining  Col.  Hawley's  in  Terry's  division.  Col.  John  L.  Otis, 
in  command,  sent  forward  a  strong  line  of  skirmishers,  under 
Major  Edwin  S.  Greeley,  which  drove  in  the  enemy's  skirm 
ishers,  and  uncovered  their  position.  The  First  Connecti 
cut  Battery,  Capt.  A.  P.  Rockwell,  was  at  the  left,  doing  good 
execution.  The  attack  of  the  enemy  in  the  evening  was 
handsomely  repulsed. 

Col.  Otis,  in  his  official  report,  says,  "  On  the  16th  a  furious 
cannonade,  with  heavy  volleys  of  musketry,  commenced  on 
our  right  at  half-past  four,  A.M.  The  regiment  was  formed  in 
order  of  battle  immediately,  and  at  six  was  ordered  forward 
to .  support  an  assault  on  the  enemy's  works.  No  assault 
was  made,  however ;  and  at  half-past  nine,  Col.  Plaisted  or^ 

9  Vide  sketch  in  War  Record  by  Hon.  John  T.  Wait. 


THE  TENTH   COMPLIMENTED.  549 

dered  me  to  move  my  command  off  by  the  right  flank,  taking 
care  to  keep  up  communication  with  Col.  Hawley's  brigade, 
which  was  executing  the  same  movement  on  our  right.     We 
moved  off  as  directed,  and,  on  reaching  the  open  field  near  Gen. 
Gilmore's  quarters,  took  position  to  cover  the  withdrawal  of 
the  advance  regiments  of  our  own  brigade  and  ft  portion  of 
Col.  Hawley's.    While  in  this  position,  the  enemy  attacked  us 
in  strong  force,  but  was  completely  repulsed  after  a  sharp  en 
gagement  in  which  we  took  several  prisoners  ;    our  own  loss 
being  three  killed  and  fifteen  wounded.     As  the  enemy  fell 
back,  I  sent  forward  a  body  of  skirmishers  under  Capt.  E.  D. 
S.  Goodyear,  and  ascertained  they  had  left  our  front  entirely. 
The  regiment  remained  in  this  position  until  the  killed  and 
wounded  had  all  been  removed,  and  was  then  withdrawn ; 
taking  a  new  position  to  cover  the  retreat  of  a  portion  of 
White's  brigade  on  our  left.      After  they  had  all  retired,  the 
regiment  fell  back  to  the  position  occupied  by  our  artillery, 
and,  joining  the  other  regiments  of  the  brigade,  marched 
rapidly  across  to  the  Richmond  Turnpike,  and  again  formed 
in  line  of  battle  to  cover  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  in  front. 
At  two,  P.M.,  we  advanced  up  the  turnpike  to  the  halfway- 
house,  and  were  posted  on  the  left  of  the  road  to  support  a 
section  of  battery.     The  regiment  continued  in  this  position 
about  an  hour,  and  was  then  withdrawn  under  a  scattering 
fire  of  musketry."  • 

Gen.  H.  M.  Plaisted,  commanding  the  brigade,  said,  — 

"  Of  the  Tenth  Connecticut  and  24th  Massachusetts,  I  need  hardly  say 
more  than  that  they  fully  sustained  the  splendid  reputation  they  have  hitherto 
borne.  For  steady  and  soldierly  behavior,  under  most  trying  circumstances 
too,  entirely  new  to  them(for  never  before  were  their  backs  turned  to  the  ene 
my),  they  may  have  been  equaled,  but  never  surpassed.  Under  a  fire  in 
which  eighteen  fell  from  the  left  of  the  Tenth  Connecticut  in  almost  as  many 
seconds,  not  a  soldier  of  the  regiment  spoke  a  word,  or  moved  a  heel  from 
the  alignment.  Too  much  credit  can  not  be  accorded  to  the  commanding 
officers  of  these  regiments  —  Cols.  Osborn  a.nd  Otis  —  for  their  coolness  and 
self-possession  under  fire,  and  the  skillful  manner  in  which  they  handled 
their  commands." 

The  losses  of  the  Tenth  were  seven  killed  and  thirty 
wounded.  Capt.  Charles  C.  Brewster  of  Hartford  was  se 
verely  wounded  in  the  leg. 


650  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

While  the  Tenth  was  moving  slowly  ofi^  serving  as  rear 
guard,  Adjutant  Henry  W.  Camp,  ten  months  a  prisoner,  and 
just  exchanged,  came  riding  towards  the  frgnt.  He  was 
affectionately  greeted  by  all,  from  Gen.  Terry  down  to  the 
private  soldier.  "  Each  company  successively  greeted  him 
with  hearty -hurrahs,  while  he  sat,  cap  in  hand,  in  all  his  man 
ly  beauty,  receiving  their  congratulations  with  feelings  of 
grateful  pride  that  atoned  for  weary  months  of  waiting  and 
suffering  in  prison."  10  Again  "  the  twins,"  Camp  and  Chap 
lain  Trumbull,  were  together. 

The  Eleventh,  in  Wistar's  brigade,  had  met  a  fate  similar  to 
the  rest.  Col.  Stedman,  in  his  official  report,  says,  "  No  shot 
was  fired  by  the  regiment  until  the  enemy  charged  in  line  of 
battle  the  immediate  front ;  when,  opening  fire,  the  advance 
of  the  rebels  was  checked,  and  after  about  an  hour  their  line 
was  driven  back.  At  this  time,  and  within  a  few  moments 
after  the  regiment  ceased  firing,  an  order  reached  me  from 
Gen.  Wistar  to  fall  back.  Facing  my  regiment  about,  I  re 
luctantly  obeyed,  and  marched  through  thick  woods  to  a  road 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  rear.  At  this  point,  I  was  ordered 
to  advance,  and  re-occupy  the  breastwork.  Moving  without 
delay,  the  regiment  returned,  and,  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the 
rebel  line  which  occupied  the  fortifications,  retook  its  old 
position.  No  other  regiment  of  the  brigade  was  there,  nor 
could  any  Union  troops  be  seen  along  the  whole  line  to  the 
right  or  left.  A  rebel  battery  enfiladed  the  regiment  from 
the  left.  After  twenty  minutes,  I  saw  a  movement  on  the 
part  of  the  rebels,  indicating  an  intention  to  charge  our  front ; 
and  I  saw  a  column  file  into  the  road  to  the  position  before 
occupied  by  the  2d  New-Hampshire,  —  within  thirty  yards  of 
my  right  flank.  Finding  myself  unsupported,  and  in  danger 
of  annihilation  or  capture,  I  faced  the  regiment  about,  and 
marched  to  the  rear,  constantly  obliquing  to  the  right  to  avoid 
the  enemy,  who  were  following  the  movement  with  yells." 
The  regiment  came  off  in  tolerable  order,  with  a  loss  of  four 
teen  killed,  fifty-four  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and  twelve 
missing.  Capt.  Henry  J.  McDonald  of  Danbury  was  among 

10  The  Knightly  Soldier,  p.  224. 


STUBBORN   RESISTANCE   OF  THE   TWENTY-I'MKST.  551 

the  captured,  and  Lieuts.  Morris  Krazynski  and  Erastus 
Blackrnar  were  wounded. 

The  Twenty-first,  Lieut-Col.  T.  F.  Burpee  commanding, 
was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  at  Drury's  Bluff,  and  fought 
stubbornly  and  suffered  severely.  Of  its  participation,  Capt. 
Delos  D.  Brown  wrote,  "  The  fog  was  still  thick,  and  hung 
heavily  about  us,  making  it  impossible  to  see  what  was  the 
cause  of  the  alarm ;  but  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  en 
emy  were  making  a  dash  upon  our  lines,  and  with  no  small 
force,  as  the  firing  was  very  heavy.  The  skirmishers  stood 
their  ground  firmly,  and  resisted  every  assault  of  the  enemy, 
notwithstanding  the  severe  fire  which  was  directed  against 
them.  Soon,  however,  it  became  evident  that  the  rebels  were 
massing  their  forces  for  an  attack  upon  the  right.  Favored 
by  the  fog,  they  succeeded  in  getting  a  strong  position  on 
and  in  rear  of  the  right  flank  of  our  lines,  and  then  at  once 
threw  a  large  force  upon  us  in  front. 

"  The  battle  now  opened  in  earnest,  and  raged  with  ter 
rible  energy.  Charge  succeeded  charge,  volley  returned  vol 
ley,  repulse  followed  repulse,  backward  and  forward  surged 
the  mighty  waves,  lashed  into  fury  by  the  struggles  of  the 
infuriated  combatants.  Nobly  did  our  forces  breast  the  ter 
rible  storm  which  assailed  them." 

The  rebels  had  massed  here,  and  hurled  their  army  upon 
the  right  of  our  line.  At  last,  the  9th  New-Jersey  and  27th 
Massachusetts  retired,  and  left  the  right  of  the  Twenty-first 
exposed ;  so  that  this  regiment  and  the  8th  Maine  were  com 
pelled  to  face  to  the  north,  and  form  line  of  battle  at  right 
angle  to  the  works.  Says  Capt.  Brown,  "  Again  and  again 
they  hurled  their  forces  upon  us,  but  were  met  by  the  firm 
and  desperate  resistance  of  unflinching  columns  and  the  mur 
derous  fire  of  opposing  and  determined  men.  The  8th  Maine 
now  fell  back,  and  the  Twenty-first  Connecticut  was  left  to 
breast  the  battle  alone.  At  this  juncture,  an  aide  came  dash 
ing  up,  and  said,  that,  if  we  could  hold  the  enemy  in  check 
one  half-hour,  Gen.  Smith  would  have  re-inforcements  to  re 
establish  the  right  of  the  line ;  and  wished  us  to  hold  the  po 
sition  at  all  hazards.  Inspired  with  this  hope,  we  determined 
to  hold  our  position ;  and  with  renewed  energy  continued 


552  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

the  battle,  which  every  moment  increased  in  fury.  Char 
ging  through  the  thick  woods  and  marsh,  we  delivered  vol 
ley  after  volley  into  the  maddened  enemy,  until,  in  the  thick 
smoke  and  fog,  we  could  see  nothing  but  the  flash  of  the 
rebels'  muskets  as  they  returned  our  fire.  The  battle  now 
assumed  the  character  of  Indian  warfare,  while,  with  the 
enemy  nearly  surrounding  us,  we  fought  to  hold  our  position 
with  the  energy  of  desperation.  Finding  that  we  were 
being  fast  surrounded  and  overpowered,  the  colonel  gave  the 
order  to  fall  back  slowly,  as  no  re-inforcements  had  appeared, 
and  we  were  suffering  terribly  in  killed  and  wounded. 

"  Arrived  at  the  open  field  beyond  the  woods,  we  again 
formed  line  of  battle  and  advanced  into  the  woods,  and  once 
more  opened  a  brisk  fire  upon  the  enemy  ;  and  never  did 
men  face  a  foe  with  more  apparent  indifference  or  coolness 
than  in  this  last  engagement." 

The  regiment  was  now  recalled  to  a  position  near  the 
halfway-house.  It  had  lost  fifteen  killed,  seventy  wounded, 
and  twenty-four  missing.  Among  the  wounded  were  Chap 
lain  Thomas  G.  Brown,  Capts.  C.  T.  Stanton  (severely),  J. 
M.  Shepard  (lost  a  leg),  and  Lieuts.  William  S.  Hubbell,  A.  S. 
Button,  Alvin  M.  Crane,  and  Color-Sergeant  John  C.  Doug 
lass  (severely). 

Capts.  Stanton  and  Shepard  displayed  great  courage  at 
the  skirmish-line.  The  venerable  Chaplain  Brown  of  East 
Hampton  was  constantly  near  the  front,  ministering  to  the 
wounded  and  dying.  He  was  always  brave  and  faithful, 
and  greatly  beloved  by  his  men.  Col.  Crosby  afterwards 
wrote,  "  Chaplain  Brown  remained  with  the  regiment,  dis 
tributing  ammunition  among  the  men,  assisting  the  wounded, 
and  praying  with  the  dying.  His  conduct  on  that  occasion 
greatly  endeared  him  to  the  regiment,  lie  had  been  a 
soldier  in  the  War  of  1812 ;  and,  though  his  head  was  frost 
ed  with  years,  the  fire  of  youth  was  by  no  means  quenched. 
Our  gallant  chaplain  was  a  hero  at  Drury's  Bluff!" 

Col.  Crosby  also  mentioned  Capts.  James  II.  Latham  and 
Nathan  A.  Belden,  and  Lieuts.  William  S.  Ilubbell,  A.  S. 
Dutton,  A.  M.  Crane,  Delos  D.  Brown,  W.  P.  Long,  P.  F.  Tal- 
cott,  G.  W.  Shepard,  Frank  C.  Jeffrey,  and  E.  P.  Packer  for 
gallant  conduct  in  the  engagement. 


THE   SIXTH  AND  TWENTY-FIRST  IX  ACTION.  553 

All  the  forces  of  Butler  now  fell  back  to  the  original 
lines,  and  began  strengthening  their  intrenchments,  stretch 
ing  from  the  James  to  the  Appomattox.  The  rebels  ad 
vanced,  and  again  occupied  and  repaired  the  railroad  from 
Richmond  to  Petersburg. 

Col.  Stetlman  of  the  Eleventh  wrote  at  this  time,  "  We 
have  moved  our  camp,  and  are  now  delightfully  located  upon 
the  banks  of  the  muddy  Appomattox  in  a  pine-forest  and  on 
a  dry  soil.  We  look  out  on  a  wild  country,  made  pictur 
esque  and  beautiful  by  varied  features  of  hill,  dale,  swamp, 
cultivated  fields,  and  primeval  woods,  with  three  plantation- 
houses  at  long  intervals,  giving  an  air  of  civilization  to  the 
scene.  With  a  glass,  we  can  distinguish  the  rebels  at  a  dis 
tance  of  two  miles,  working  like  beavers  at  a  fort ;  and  they 
are  probably  entertained  in  watching  us,  for  all  our  men  are 
industriously  digging  in  the  attempt  to  render  this  position 
defensible." 

On  the  20th  of  May,  the  Sixth,  now  attached  to  Col.  How- 
ell's  brigade,  was  engaged  in  a  charge  upon  and  capture  of 
a  point  in  the  enemy's  advanced  line  of  rifle-pits.  The 
ground  was  maintained  for  several  days.  In  this  affair,  the 
regiment,  commanded  by  Major  Daniel  Klein,  lost  three 
killed  and  thirty-three  wounded.  Lieut.  William  F.  Bradley 
of  Madison  was  among  the  slain.  He  was  a  true  soldier. 

The  Twenty-first  did  not  long  rest. 

"  Oil  the  25th  of  May,  Col.  A.  II.  Dutton,  commanding  the  brigade, 
having  received  orders  from  Gen.  William  F.  Smith  to  reconnoiter  the  left 
of  the  enemy's  position,  near  our  line  of  intreuchrnents  at  Bermuda  Hun 
dred,  designated  this  regiment  for  that  purpose.  The  regiment  passed  out 
side  our  lines,  and  crossed  the  deep  and  almost  impassable  ravine  thai  runs 
along  the  left  of  our  works  until  it  meets  the  Appomattox.  On  the  farther 
side  of  the  ravine,  the  left  wing  was  posted  in  reserve,  and  the  remaining 
companies  were  advanced  to  the  front.  Our  skirmishers  swept  along  the 
west  bank  of  the  ravine,  and  thence  farther  into  the  interior,  coming  well 
on  to  the  enemy's  right  flank.  But,  night  coming  on,  Col.  Dutton  recalled 
the  skirmishers  ;  and  the  regiment  returned  to  camp  with  orders  to  be 
ready  to  continue  the  recounoissance  early  the  next  morning.  On  the  day 
following,  the  2Gth,  Col.  Dutton  again  crossed  the  ravine  with  the  brigade, 
consisting  of  the  Twenty-first  Connecticut,  58th  Pennsylvania,  188th  Penn 
sylvania,  and  92d  New-York,  with  orders  to  push  the  recounoissance  until 
stopped  by  the  enemy.  Gen.  Devens's  brigade  also  moved  out  on  our  ex 
treme  left,  along  the  Port-Walthal  Road,  to  co-operate  with  Col.  Dutton, 
who  took  up  the  line  of  march  in  the  direction  of  Port  Walthal.  After  an 
advance  of  about  two  miles,  through  heavy  woods,  our  skirmish-line  came 
70 


554  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

upon  the  rebels,  strongly  intrenched,  and  almost  hidden  from  view  by  the 
thick  underbrush.  Line  of  battle  was  formed  at  once  ;  but,  as  our  skir 
mishers  were  becoming  engaged,  Col.  Button,  who  was  then,  as  usual,  on 
the  skirmish-line,  was  mortally  wounded."  u 

The  command  of  the  brigade  then  devolved  upon  Lieut- 
Col.  Thomas  F.  Burpee,  who  shortly  received  orders  to 
retire. 

Col.  Button  died  on  the  5th  of  June,  in  the  very  morning 
of  his  life.  When  a  boy,  young  Arthur  had  felt  a  tendency 
to  a  military  life,  and  he  went  from  his  home  at  Wallingford 
to  West  Point,  where  he  graduated  in  the  engineer  corps  of 
1861 ;  Custer,  Benjamin,  and  Farqhuar  being  among  his 
classmates.  When  war  broke  out,  he  was  called  to  the  staff 
of  Gen.  Mansfield,  at  Washington,  and  assisted  in  laying  out 
the  forts.  He  had  thoroughly  mastered  the  higher  studies 
in  the  art  of  war,  and  he  exhibited  remarkable  genius  as  an 
engineer.  Subsequently,  he  had  charge  of  the  defenses  at 
Fernandina,  Fla.,  until  mustered  as  colonel  of  the  Twen 
ty-first.  No  regiment  went  from  Connecticut  better  com 
manded, —  Arthur  H.  Button,  colonel,  Thomas  F.  Burpee, 
lieutenantrcoloncl,  and  Hiram  B.  Crosby,  first  adjutant  and 
then  major.  All  of  them  were  superior  officers,  and  all  lived 
to  lead  the  regiment  repeatedly  to  battle.  Col.  Button 
commanded  a  brigade  almost  from  the  first  of  his  service. 
In  North  Carolina,  he  won  much  credit  as  chief  of  staff  of 
Major-Gen.  Peck,  and  afterwards  of  Major-Gen.  Bix  ;  while 
during  the  battle  of  Brury's  Bluff  he  held  the  same  office 
under  Major-Gen.  Smith,  corps  commander.  He  was  an 
officer  of  much  promise.  Major  Crosby,  in  announcing  his 
death,  said,  "  Bold  and  chivalrous,  with  a  nice  sense  of  honor, 
a  judgment  quick  and  decisive,  an  unwavering  zeal  in  his 
chosen  profession,  he  was  in  every  respect  a  thorough  sol 
dier.  As  an  engineer,  his  talents  were  of  the  highest  order; 
and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  attained  the  rank  of 
captain  of  engineers  in  the  regular  army.  By  his  compan 
ions  in  arms  he  will  never  be  forgotton  ;  and  to  them  his 
last  resting-place  will  be  as  a  shrine  commemorating  the 
friendships  which  not  the  rude  shock  of  war  nor  lapse  of 
time  can  blight  or  destroy." 

11  Official  Report  of  Major  Hiram  B.  Crosby,  commanding. 


A  PORTION  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CAPTURED.        555 

About  this  time,  the  Seventh  suffered  the  loss  of  Major 
Oliver  S.  Sanford  and  eighty  officers  and  men  as  prisoners 
of  war.  On  the  evening  of  June  1,  the  regiment,  number 
ing  fifteen  officers  and  three  hundred  and  twenty-four  en 
listed  men,  went  upon  the  picket-line  in  front  of  Bermuda 
Hundred.  Four  companies,  under  Capt.  Theodore  Bacon, 
were  posted  across  open  ground  in  front  of  our  works.  On 
the  right  was  Capt.  John  B.  Dennis,  with  two  companies, 
the  line  turning  rather  abruptly  to  the  front ;  and  on  the 
left,  Capt.  Charles  C.  Mills,  with  four  companies,  the  flanks 
of  the  regimental  line  being  in  thick  woods.  In  front,  the 
rebel  line  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant,  but  in 
the  woods  approached  to  within  twenty  yards.  There  were 
no  reserves  nearer  than  the  intrenchments. 

About  sunrise  on  the  2d,  the  rebels  attacked  with  a  strong 
skirmish-line.  "  In  the  woods  on  the  left,"  says  Capt.  Bacon 
in  his  report,  "  this  attack  was  extremely  rapid  and  sudden : 
a  few  steps  placed  the  enemy  in  our  pits,  in  a  position,  which, 
favored  by  the  direction  of  part  of  the  line,  enabled  them  to 
cut  off  and  capture  a  large  part  of  Company  B.  Such  part 
of  Capt.  Mills's  command  as  was  not  captured  fell  back 
slowly,  contesting  the  ground,  to  a  position  nearer  the  works, 
which  they  held  until  later  in  the  morning  ;  when  they  were 
re-inforced,  and  re-occupied  and  held  their  first  position. 

"  In  the  open  field,  the  advance  of  the  enemy  began  a  few 
moments  after  firing  had  been  heard  on  the  left.  The  ene 
my  moved  toward  us  in  good  line,  but  slowly  and  hesitat 
ingly.  I  opened  fire  along  the  whole  line,  and  in  two 
minutes  they  had  all  dropped  to  the  ground  ;  where  they 
lay,  firing  from  such  cover  as  they  could  get,  for  a  few  min 
utes  longer,  when  the  entire  line  rose,  and  ran  to  the  shelter 
of  their  rifle-pits,  at  full  speed,  followed  by  our  cheers  and 
bullets.  From  this  cover,  they  never  ventured  again,  con 
tenting  themselves  with  a  dropping  fire  from  it  until  we 
abandoned  our  entire  line.  On  the  right  of  the  line,  the 
movement  of  the  enemy  was  by  a  dash  across  that  part  of 
the  line  which  ran  along  the  edge  of  the  woods,  nearly  at 
right  angles  with  the  general  direction  of  the  line.  This 
movement,  of  which  at  the  time  I  had  no  information,  cut 


556  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

off  nearly  all  of  the  two  companies  posted  there,  together 
with  the  major  commanding  the  regiment." 

The  whole  line  now  fell  back  to  the  main  works,  except 
ing  a  portion  of  Company  E,  which  held  its  ground  at  the 
left,  until  the  men  pushed  forward  again,  and  re-established 
the  line. 

In  this  they  were  materially  assisted  by  a  company  of  the 
First  Connecticut  Artillery,  holding  the  works  here.  Lieut- 
Col.  Nelson  L.  White,  writing  shortly  afterwards,  said  of 
this,  "  Capt.  William  G.  Pride,  with  Company  L,  had  the 
honor  of  participating  in  another  brilliant  though  short  affair 
on  the  2d  of  June.  The  enemy  had  driven  in  our  pickets, 
and  captured  two  companies  of  the  Seventh  Connecticut  in 
the  woods  in  front  of  this  redoubt,  compelling  our  picket- 
line  to  fall  back.  Capt.  Pride  opened  upon  them  with  can 
ister,  with  deadly  effect,  causing  them  to  retreat  to  cover. 
He  sent  out  all  his  garrison,  excepting  twenty-one  men  left 
to  man  the  guns  in  the  redoubt,  —  at  first,  forty  of  the  caval 
ry  and  twenty-one  of  Company  L,  with  instructions  to  form 
a  junction  with  such  of  our  pickets  as  had  remained  in  line; 
and  soon  after,  Lieut.  William  II.  Rogers  of  Company  L, 
with  the  remainder.  The  rebels  at  this  time  waved  a  white 
flag  from  the  point  at  which  the  canister  had  been  fired. 
As  our  skirmish-line  advanced  to  the  flag,  twenty- three  of 
the  enemy  surrendered.  They  had  suffered  severely  by 
the  fire  from  Pride's  howitzers,  losing  their  colonel  (Dantzer, 
22d  South-Carolina)." 

In  this  affair,  the  Seventh  lost  five  killed,  twelve  wound 
ed,  and  eighty  prisoners.  Among  the  captured  were  Major 
0.  S.  Sanford,  Assistant  Surgeon  S.  B.  Shepard,  Capt.  John 

B.  Dennis,  and  Lieut.  Henry  H.  Pierce.     Among  the  wound 
ed  were  Capt.  C.  C.  Mills,  severely,  in  right  breast ;    Lieut. 
William   S.  Marble,  severely,  in  right  shoulder ;  and  Lieut. 
Byron  Bradford.     Capt.  Bacon,  in  his  report,  speaks  of  "  the 
extraordinary  coolness  and  courage  of  Capt.  Mills."     Capt. 

C.  C.  Mills  resigned  and  went  home,  where  he  lingered  in 
much  suffering,  and  was  finally  released  by  death.     He  had 
just  begun  a  course  of  study  at  Yale  College  when  the  war 
began. 


FORMATION   OF  A  SIEGE-TRAIN.  557 

About  this  time  fell  Private  James  L.  Allen.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  he  enlisted  from  the  Jeffersonian 
office  in  Danbury.  Being  but  fifteen  years  old,  he  wrote 
to  his  mother  at  Norwalk,  "  Dear  mother,  I  have  enlisted. 
Please  telegraph  your  consent,  for  I  do  not  wish  to  be  a 
disobedient  boy."  He  served  three  years,  re-enlisted,  and 
was  mortally  wounded  on  picket,  having  never  been  absent 
from  duty  for  a  single  day.  Chaplain  Jacob  Eaton  wrote, 
'*  Major  Sanford  was  self-possessed,  and  handled  his  troops 
admirably  under  fire.  No  one  could  be  more  highy  es 
teemed  by  the  officers  and  men  of  his  regiment." 

About  this  time,  Lieut-Col.  D.  C.  Rodman  resigned.  The 
severe  wound  which  he  received  while  gallantly  leading  his 
regiment  at  Fort  Wagner  had  unfitted  him  for  active  ser 
vice ;  and  he  declared  he  would  not  hold  a  position  while 
physically  incapacitated  to  perform  its  duties.  Lieut-Col 
Rodman  was  a  generous,  intelligent,  and  patriotic  man,  and 
a  brave  and  efficient  officer. 

As  early  as  April  20,  Col.  Henry  L.  Abbot,  commanding 
the  First  Connecticut  Artillery  in  the  defenses  of  Washing 
ton,  had  been  directed  by  Gen.  Halleck  to  organize  a  siege- 
train,  and  report  to  Gen.  Butler  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  The 
train,  afterwards  largety  increased,  was  to  consist  at  first 
of  forty  30-pounder  rifled  Parrotts,  ten  10-inch  mortars, 
twenty  8-inch  mortars,  twenty  Coehorn  mortars,  and  six 
100-pounder  Parrotts.  The  guns,  ammunition,  and  mak'riel 
were  immediately  gathered,  Capt.  S.  P.  Hatfield  was  de 
tailed  as  ordnance-officer  to  superintend  the  loading.  He 
was  assisted  by  Lieut.  L.  W.  Jackson.  Twelve  schooners,  of 
two  hundred  tons'  burden,  were  obtained  from  the  quarter 
master's  department;  and  the  material  was  afloat  by  May  10. 

The  regiment  was  ordered  forward  in  advance  of  the 
train,  and  arrived  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  seventeen  hundred 
strong,  on  May  13.  The  men  were  soon  at  work  construct 
ing  magazines,  getting  into  position  the  heavy  guns  already 
up,  and  strengthening  the  lines ;  so  that  when,  on  May  16, 
the  army  fell  back,  the  defenses  were  in  a  state  of  forward 
ness.  Col.  Abbot  was  assigned  by  Gen.  Butler  to  the  com- 


558  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

mand  of  all  the  siege-artillery,  and  Lieut.  W.  C.  Faxon  and 
Lieut.  C.  Gillett  were  detailed  as  ordnance-officers.  From 
this,  date  until  the  latter  part  of  June,  an  artillery-fire  was 
kept  up  intermittently  along  the  lines. 

On  May  24,  the  rebels  made  a  determined  attack  on 
Wilson's  Landing.  "  The  mail-boat  was  stopped,"  says  Col. 
Abbot,  "  and  all  the  troops  on  board  were  landed  to  meet 
the  assault.  Among  them  were  six  enlisted  men  of  the 
First,  returning  from  veteran  furlough.  Although  no  offi 
cer  of  the  regiment  was  present,  these  men  volunteered  to 
serve  a  10-pounder  Parrott,  then  silenced ;  and  served  it  so 
effectively  as  to  contribute  materially  to  the  repulse  of  the 
rebels.  They  fired  about  eighty  rounds, — some  being  double- 
shotted  canister  at  about  two  hundred  yards' range. —  and 

«/  o     / 

their  gun  was  the  only  one  not  silenced  by  the  enemy. 
The  names  of  these  brave  soldiers  are  Sergeant  W.  H.  II. 
Bingham,  Company  G  ;  Privates  W.  B.  Watson,  Company  H ; 
James  Kelley  (afterwards  killed  by  a  shell  in  front  of 
Petersburg),  II.  G.  Scott,  James  R.  Young,  and  John  Kea- 
ton  of  Company  I." 

On  May  25,  Company  G,  Capt.  Wilbur  F.  Osborne  of 
Birmingham,  was  placed  with  two  20-pounder  Parrotts  in 
Fort  Converse,  on  right  bank  of  Appomattox  River.  Subse 
quently,  two  30-pounder  Parrotts  were  added.  They  did 
important  service  in  repelling  an  attack  on  May  31,  and 
also  in  occasionally  shelling  Fort  Clifton  from  an  advanced 
position  on  the  river-bank.  On  May  26,  Major-Gen.  Gil- 
more  was  placed  in  command  of  the  whole  line ;  and  he 
appointed  Col.  Abbot  his  chief  of  artillery,  and,  on  June  1, 
his  acting  chief  engineer. 

Sergeant  George  B.  Butler  of  the  First  died  in  Hartford 
during  the  spring  of  1864,  of  disease  engendered  by  ex 
posure  in  the  service.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Col 
lege,  an  intelligent  and  enterprising  young  man,  and  while 
in  service  developed  considerable  genius  as  an  artist.  He 
well  deserved  promotion,  but  was  kept  in  the  ranks,  like 
hundreds  of  others,  by  the  jealousy  of  inferior  '•'  superiors." 

In  May  the  three-years'  service  of  the  regiment  had 
expired ;  and  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  men  who  had 


ILL-TREATMENT  OF  MEN  FOR  NOT  RE-ENLISTING.          559 

not  re-enlisted  as  veterans  were  mustered  out,  and  made 
their  way  home  as  best  they  could.  On  arriving  in  New 
York,  they  drew  up  and  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions. 
They  began  by  rehearsing  an  order  of  Col.  Abbot,  dated 
May  21,  urging  them  to  "  stand  by  their  colors,  and  not 
inarch  to  the  rear  to  the  sound  of  the  enemy's  cannon." 
They  then  resolved, — 

"  That  those  who  can  not  appreciate  thirty-six  months  of  service  would 
also  fail  to  appreciate  thirty-eight  or  thirty-nine  months  ;  and  that  we  indig 
nantly  denounce  those  who  would  attempt  to  disgrace  us  for  retiring  to 
our  homes  and  friends,  from  whom  we  have  been  absent  three  long  years, 
as  ingrates  worthy  only  of  our  deepest  and  heartiest  contempt." 

The  reason  for  their  non  re-enlistment  seems  to  be  stated 
in  the  charge  against  Col  Abbot :  — 

"  That  he  has  spared  no  pains  to  place  over  us  a  military  aristocracy, 
subjecting  us  to  every  variety  of  petty  annoyance,  to  show  his  own  power, 
and  take  away  our  manhood  ;  subjecting  men  to  inhuman  and  illegal 
punishments  for  appealing  to  him  for  justice  ;  disgracing  others  for  attempt 
ing  to  obtain  commissions  in  colored  regiments  ;  .  .  .  about  May  4  ordering 
his  heavy  artillery  men  who  had  not  re-enlisted,  into  the  ditch  for  the 
remainder  of  their  term  of  service,  thus  placing  us  on  a  level  with  prison 
ers  under  sentence  of  court-martial ;  and  finally  capping  the  climax  by  leav 
ing  us  to  the  tender  mercies  of  provost-marshals,  turning  us  loose  on  the 
world,  without  pay,  without  officers,  without  transportation,  without 
rations,  and  without  our  colors." 

They  further  presented  the  following  view  of  the  situa 
tion  :  — 

"  That  when  the  able-bodied  men  of  our  land  have  taken  their  turn  of 
three  years  in  the  national  service,  if  an  army  is  still  needed  to  enforce 
the  laws  of  the  land,  none  will  sooner  fall  into  the  line  than  those  who 
sprang  to  arms  at  the  first  note  of  danger  ;  that  no  class  of  men  have  a 
deeper  interest  in  the  present  struggle  than  those  who  have  carried  mus 
ket  and  knapsack  for  the  past  three  years ;  and  that  we  will  not  allow 
abuse  from  superiors  to  interfere  with  our  duty  to  our  country." 

They  then  offered  their  "  heartiest  thanks  "  to  Gen.  R.  0. 
Tyler  for  his  services  as  their  old  commander,  and  to  Gen. 
Butler  and  the  various  officers  who.  had  helped  them  home. 
They  were  received  in  Connecticut  with  the  honors  due  to 
their  patriotic  services. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 


The  Fourteenth  at  Stevensburg. —  The  Affair  at  Mine  Hun. — How  to  build  Winter- 
Quarters,  and  how  to  enjoy  them.  —  Fight  at  Morton's  Ford.  —  First  Connecticut 
Cavalry  joins  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. —  Grant  crosses  the  Rapidan. —  Struggle  of 
the  Wilderness.  —  Flank  March  to  Spottsylvania.  —  Terrible  Fighting.  —  The  Second 
Connecticut  Artillery  (^Nineteenth)  comes  up. —  Gen.  Robert  O.  Tyler  commands 
a  Division.  —  Spirited  Contest.  —  The  First  Cavalry  in  Front  of  Richmond.  —  To  the 
North  Anna.  —  Another  Flank  Movement.  —  Death  of  Gen.  John  Sedgwick.  —  His 
Character  and  Public  Services. 


GRACING  and  picketing,  with  considerable  rest, 
and  now  and  then  a  fight,  the  Fourteenth  waited 
in  Virginia,  —  the  only  Connecticut  regiment  in 
the  active  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  State  could 
riot  have  been  more  gallantly  represented.  Of 
its  life  during  the  fall  of  1863,  Capt.  Samuel  Fiske  ("Dunn 
Browne ")  wrote,.  "  Our  regiment  has  had  its  share  of  the 
marches  and  countermarches,  the  picket-duty,  the  fatigues, 
the  skirmishes,  the  night-retreats,  and  the  whole  ever-vary 
ing  experience  of  camp  and  field  life,  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  for  the  last  two  months.  We  picketed  along  the 
Rapidan  for  some  three  weeks ;  left  the  front  with  the  2d 
Corps  on  the  6th  of  October;  bivouacked  near  Culpeper 
till  the  llth;  crossed,  recrossed,- and  crossed  again  the  Rap- 
pahannock  in  apparently  the  very  profitless  maneuvering 
of  Oct.  12  and  13  ;  and,  after  a  long  and  fatiguing  night 
and  day  march,  participated  in  the  brilliant  skirmishes 
of  the  14th  of  October.  Our  regiment  did  its  share  in  re 
pulsing  the  sudden  attack  of  the  enemy  at  Bristoe  Station. 
Our  loss  was  twenty-six  killed  and  wounded ;  mostly  in  the 
first  fifteen  minutes  of  the  fight.  It  would  have  done  your 
heart  good  to  see  the  steadiness  and  alacrity  with  which  our 
men,  marching  by  the  flank,  faced  to  the  front,  and  advanced 


560 


EXTRACT  FKOM   CAPT.   FISKE.  561 

in  line  of  battle  at  the  double-quick,  across  the  railroad,  and 
into  the  woods  whence  the  fire  opened  on  us,  without  know 
ing  at  all  how  many  rebels  we  should  find  there ;  without 
having  had  a  moment's  preparation,  or  thought  of  being  at 
tacked.  Scarcely  a  man  faltered,  save  from  the  fatigue  of 
the  double-quick,  which  few  can  sustain  for  any  long  distance 
with  knapsacks,  rations,  and  equipments  on,  in  heavy  march 
ing  order.  The  enemy  were  driven  out  of  sight,  five  hun 
dred  prisoners  and  a  battery  captured,  and  the  skirmish 
over,  almost  before  we  really  began  to  understand  that  a 
fight  was  going  on  at  all ;  then  we  lay  along  the  track  of 
the  railroad  till  ten  P.M.,  and  withdrew. 

"  Oh !  that  was  indeed  a  fatiguing  night-march  to  Centre- 
ville,  —  fording  two  deep  streams;  plunging  through  the  mud  ; 
stumbling  over  stones  and  stumps  ;  standing  a  half-hour  at  a 
time,  with  your  eyes  closing  in  spite  of  yourself,  waiting  for 
the  head  of  the  column  to  pass  an  obstacle ;  getting  mixed 
up  with  wagons  and  artillery  ;  and  finally,  after  wading  Bull 
Run  (from  two  to  three  feet  deep),  lying  down  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  grass,  in  the  drizzling  rain  to 
sleep.  .  We  didn't  take  much  cold,  because  a  cold  is  produced, 
I  believe,  by  a  want  of  equilibrium  in  the  system  in  respect 
to  dampness  or  heat ;  and  we  were  so  thoroughly  wet  and 
cold  all  over  that  there  was  no  partial  process  possible. 
Such  is  the  soldier's  life  in  the  field. 

"Our  new  recruits  (substitutes)  are  proving  themselves 
generally  very  good  soldiers  ;  and  the  regiment  is,  on  the 
whole,  in  good  condition,  with  its  complement  of  officers 
nearly  filled,  and  a  fine,  long  line  at  dress-parade,  contrast 
ing  very  favorably  with  the  corporal's  guard,  or  a  few  more, 
that  gathered  round  our  colors  a  few  months  since. 

"I  have  just  burned  my  bedstead  to  cook  my  breakfast 
with, —  to  such  extremities  am  I  reduced.  Fortunately  our 
furniture  hereabouts  is  not  very  costly.  My  bedstead  above 
mentioned  consisted  of  seven  three-cornered  rails  from  a 
Virginia  fence,  laid  down  side  by  side  in  the  mud  near  the 
fire,  on  which  my  lieutenant  and  I  spread  our  blanket,  and 
slept  very  sweetly,  with  a  rubber  blanket  over  us,  through 
the  steady,  heavy  rain  that  improved  the  darkness  of  the 

71 


562  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   EEBELLION. 

night  to  come  down  upon  us  unseen,  but  not  unfelt  This 
morning,  ashamed  to  look  us  in  the  face  after  such  deeds  of 
darkness,  the  rain  has  entirely  ceased  ;  and  the  face  of  Nature 
beams  on  us  as  smilingly  and  roguishly  as  if  the  dripping 
doings  of  the  night  were  an  exquisite  joke.  Well,  it  seems 
to  us  much  more  like  a  joke  than  it  did,  as  the  creases  made 
by  the  rails  are  getting  rubbed  out  of  our  sides  and  legs,  and 
the  clothes  are  mostly  dried. 

"  Picketing  is  pretty  good  fun  after  all.  How  many  of  you 
are  coming  out  here  to  try  it  ?  0  my  dear  readers !  there 
are  at  least  a  full  thousand  of  you,  —  a  strong,  able-bodied 
regiment  among  you,  —  who  certainly  ought  to  be  here,  who 
can't  possibly  get  an  exemption-certificate  from  your  own 
conscience. 

"  I  would  not  bring  one  recruit  to  our  ranks  by  misrepre 
senting  the  case  to  him.  Soldiering  is  a  hard  business,  the 
best  you  can  make  of  it  I  have  laid  a  good  deal  of  stone 
fence,  dug  many  a  rod  of  ditch,  worked  at  carpentering  and 
all  sorts  of  fanning,  been  a  bookbinder,  set  up  type ;  sawed 
a  cord  of  oak-wood  three  times  in  two,  split  and  piled  it,  be 
sides  getting  my  lessons  and  reciting  them  (after  a  fashion), 
all  in  one  day  ;  I've  taught  a  big  district  school  of  little 
urchins  of  the  Yankee  persuasion,  which  is  harder  than  any 
of  the  above ;  and  I've  attended  three  sewing-societies  and 
made  five  and  twenty  calls  of  an  afternoon,  which  is  hardest 
of  all :  but,  of  all  the  different  kinds  of  manual  labor  that 
I  ever  attempted,  the  business  of  inarching  with  an  army  in 
heavy  marching  order,  and  on  rations  of  hard-tack  and  pork, 
is  the  most  exhausting.  There  is  very  little  poetry,  and  a 
great  deal  of  hard  work,  about  an  active  campaign.  It  is 
hard  to  be  a  private,  hard  to  be  an  officer,  hard  to  march, 
hard  to  fight,  hard  to  be  out  on  picket  in  the  rain,  hard  to 
live  on  short  rations  and  be  exposed  to  all  sorts  of  weather, 
hard  to  be  wounded  and  lose  legs  and  arms,  and  get  ugly 
scars  on  one's  face,  hard  to  think  of  lying  down  in  death 
without  the  gentle  hand  of  love  to  smooth  one's  brow:  but 
there  is  just  one  thing  that  makes  all  things  easy ;  and  that 
is  the  spirit  of  Christian  patriotism. 

"  The  army  is  going  to  do  up  the  work,  whether  you  re- 


MEADE  MOVES   AGAINST  LEE.  563 

inforce  us  or  not.  It  is  for  you  to  say  whether  you  will  come 
in  to  share  the  glory  of  it.  We  have  worked  for  Uncle  Sam's 
thirteen  dollars  a  month,  and  spent  that  to  eke  out  our  monot 
onous  rations,  and  replace  the  clothing  we  have  been  com 
pelled  to  throw  away  in  battle,  or  drop  in  wearisome  inarches, 
till  the  worship  of  the  almighty  dollar  is  driven  out  of  us  any 
way ;  and  if  you  prefer  to  stay  at  home  on  your  farms  and 
with  your  merchandise,  and  trade  in  oxen,  and  marry  wives, 
and  revel  in  luxuries,  and  clothe  your  wives  with  contracts  at 
the  expense  of  the  brave  soldiers  who  are  fighting  your  bat 
tles, —  why,  be  the  money  and  ease  yours;  save  your  precious 
legs  and  lives;  add  house  to  house,  and  acre  to  acre;  pay  com 
mutation-money,  and  avoid  drafts;  wrangle  over  party  poli 
tics,  and  settle  yourselves  in  fat  offices.  And  be  the  hardships 
ours ;  ours  the  wormy  crackers  and  the  rusty  pork ;  ours  the 
marches,  the  hard  blows,  the  wasting  sicknesses;  ours  the 
longings  for  the  dear  loved  ones  at  home,  the  wives  and  lit 
tle  ones,  who  are  watching  and  waiting  for  our  returning 
steps  with  unutterable  anxiety :  be  it  ours  to  fight  all  the 
longer  because  you  refuse  to  help ;  be  it  ours  to  come  home 
all  the  fewer  that  you  may  stay  at  home  the  more  and  the 
merrier.  Still  will  we  not  murmur  at  our  share,  nor  willingly 
exchange  it  for  yours.  We  will  hold  it  a  proud  privilege  to 
go  home  poor  on  our  country's  pay ;  to  carry  on  our  persons 
the  scars  of  our  country's  service ;  to  point  to  the  marks  of 
our  blood  on  our  country's  torn  but  triumphant  banner;  to 
have  it  written  on  our  headstone, '  He  was  a  soldier  of  the 
Union.'" 

On  the  27th  of  November,  Meade  moved  to  turn  Lee's 
right  at  Mine  Run ;  and  arrangements  were  made  for  Sedg- 
wick  to  assault  on  the  right,  and  Warren  on  the  left,  early 
on  the  morning  of  the  30th.  But  the  tentative  movements 
that  accompanied  the  advance  across  the  Eapidan  had 
informed  Lee  of  his  adversary's  intentions,  and  he  had 
arrayed  his  forces  accordingly.  The  morning  of  attack 
found  his  main  army  drawn  up  on  the  right  behind  impene 
trable  abatis,  and  defended  by  strong  intrenchments.  The 
Fourteenth  was  conspicuous  in  the  line  of  battle.  The  brave 
rank  and  file  felt  that  assault  would  result  fatally.  "Knowing 


564  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

well  that  no  man  could  count  on  escaping  death,  the  soldiers, 
without  sign  of  shrinking  from  the  sacrifice,  were  seen  quietly 
pinning  on  the  breast  of  their  blouses  of  blue  slips  of  paper 
on  which  each  had  written  his  name  !  " 1  At  this  moment,  the 
fearless  Warren  took  the  responsibility  of  disobeying  the 
command  of  his  superior,  and  sent  word  that  the  works 
could  not  be  taken  by  a  front  assault.  Meade  relinquished 
the  attempt,  and  withdrew  his  army  that  night  across  the 
Rapidan. 

The  regiment  went  into  winter-quarters  at  Stony  Moun 
tain,  near  Stevensburg,  just  east  of  Culpeper.  From  this 
camp,  Capt.  Fiske  wrote  in  December, — 

"  Did  you  ever  see  a  big  camp  unroof  itself,  and  get  into  marching 
order  in  about  five  minutes'  time  ?  doff  its  white  canvas  in  early  morning, 
as  'twere  a  nightcap?  take  in  its  sail  by  magic,  like  a  great  ship  fearing  a 
gale?  At  two,  this  A.M.,  we  were  all  roused  from  our  comfortable  slum 
bers  with  the  pleasant  order  to  get  our  breakfasts,  pack  up  our  traps,  and 
be  ready  to  march  at  break  of  day.  '  To  hear  is  to  obey,'  under  the  sway 
of  military  authority.  So,  though  the  rain  came  down  in  a  steady,  perse 
vering,  business-like  way,  as  if  its  day's  work  were  laid  out  before  it,  and 
couldn't  be  postponed  or  interrupted  for  all  the  armies  on  the  planet,  when 
the  time  came,  and  the  bugle  sounded,  down  came  the  houses,  and  were 
soon  folded  up,  all  dripping  and  heavy,  on  the  men's  backs.  Grumbling,  but, 
on  the  whole,  good  naturedly,  as  all  things  of  late  are  done  in  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  the  boys  were  getting  into  line,  ready  for  a  hard,  slippery, 
soaking  march,  no  tent  in  the  regiment  left  standing,  save  that  of  your 
humble  servant,  as  chance  was  ;  when  an  aide  came  dashing  up  to  the  colo 
nel,  and  informed  him  that  the  order  to  march  was  countermanded. 
With  a  rousing  cheer  all  along  our  lines,  off'  come  the  dripping  packs,  and 
on  go  the  roofs  to  the  houses  again  :  our  Camp,  like  magic,  spreads  her  sails 
again,  and  we  remain. 

"  The  soldier,  unlike  the  sailor,  furls  his  canvas  when  he  moves,  and 
spreads  it  when  he  stops.  Woe,  this  morning,  to  the  improvident  boys, 
who,  in  the  thought  of  departure,  have  piled  their  cracker-box  chairs  and 
stools,  and  their  sapling  bedsteads,  into  the  big  fireplaces,  and  burned  their 
pork-barrel  chimneys,  and,  in  many  cases,  the  whole  walls  and  frames  of 
their  houses,  just  to  laugh  at  the  bonfire  !  The  laugh  was  on  the  other  side 
of  their  mouth  when  the  word  was  '  Stay  !  '  and  they  had  to  go  to  work 
again  in  the  rain  to  rebuild  their  houses  out  of  the  ruins. 

"  We  build  winter-quarters  now  immediately  at  every  stopping-place, 
whether  for  three  days  or  for  months.  It  is  surprising  to  see  how  quickly 
our  boys  will  make  themselves  comfortable.  In  one  day,  six  men  with  a 
hatchet  or  ax,  and  an  hour's  loan  of  the  company  spade,  will  build  them 
selves  a  handsome  and  comfortable  first-class,  brown- front,  mud-log  resi 
dence,  with  all  the  modern  soldier  conveniences,  turf-chimney  included. 
Log-walls  three  or  four  feet  high,  plastered  up  with  mud  ;  four  pieces  of 
shelter-tent  buttoned  together  over  a  sapling  ridge-pole  seven  feet  high,  on 

1  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


DEATH   OF  LIEUT.   EDWARD  W.   HART. 

two  forked  stakes,  constituting  the  roof,  and  two  more  buttoning  in  to  fill 
up  the  gable-ends,  — this  is  the  house,  nine  feet  by  six,  amply  large  for  a 
half-dozen  soldiers.  The  door  and  chimney  are  side  by  side  on  the  same 
end,  —  the  latter,  built  now  usually  of  turf,  laid  up  in  a  square  or  circular 
form,  with  two  or  three  stakes  driven  in  to  keep  it  steady,  and  a  pork- 
barrel  set  on  the  top  to  finish  out  the  flue ;  the  former  (the  door)  not  being 
built  at  all,  but  left,  and  a  rubber  blanket  hung  over,  perhaps,  to  keep  out 
the  air.  Inside,  across  one  end,  two  and  one-half  feet  high,  a  bunk  of 
cedar-poles  or  pine  will  be  laid  across,  wide  enough  for  three  men  to 
occupy  for  a  couch  ;  aud  below  on  the  ground,  but  kept  from  contact  with 
the  earth  by  saplings  laid  underneath,  and  covered  over  with  cedar- 
boughs,  is  room  for  the  other  three.  Thus,  more  than  half  of  the  front 
end  of  the  room  is  left  free  to  serve  as  a  parlor  aud  drawing-room ;  aud 
still  the  sleeping  apartments  (in  both  stories)  are  ample  ;  rifles,  equip 
ments,  are  slung  under  the  ridge-poles,  knapsacks  chucked  under  the  bunks. 
A  cracker-box  holds  the  crockery  and  loose  provisions  of  the  party.  Two 
of  them  get  the  wood  aud  water,  one  cooks,  another  washes  the  dishes, 
while  the  other  two  are  most  likely  on  guard  or  picket  duty." 

Life  in  winter-quarters  here  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
very  irksome.  The  days  went  by  more  peacefully  and 
quietly  than  at  any  other  time'  in  the  history  of  the  Four 
teenth.  Here,  for  the  first  and  last  time,  ladies,  the  wives 
and  sisters  of  the  officers,  were  allowed  to  visit  camp. 
Pleasure-rides  and  balls  were  numerous ;  and  the  battles  of 
these  months  were  mostly  with  Cupid's  arrows.  The  regi 
ment  had  some  of  its  most  interesting  engagements  at  this 
point.  The  presence  of  the  ladies  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  demoralizing ;  for  Capt.  Fiske  wrote,  — 

"  Our  camps  are  wonderfully  improved  by  the  rival  edifices  that  are 
being  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the  fair  ones.  Logs  are  piled  up  in  all 
manner  of  fanciful  shapes.  Bits  of  boards  command  fabulous  prices. 
More  queer  inventions  for  hinges  aud  door-latches  are  gotten  up  than 
would  be  registered  in  the  patent-office  in  a  year.  The  streets  are  better 
policed  than  they  Avere  ;  more  care  is  taken  in  setting  out  trees,  aud  orua- 
menting  our  camps  ;  and  all  our  army  cities  and  villages  are  neater  and 
brighter  in  appearance,  more  free  from  nuisances,  less  noisy,  and  more 
civilized  in  all  respects,  for  the  presence  of  women  in  our  midst.  God 
bless  them  !  " 

During  the  winter,  the  Fourteenth  lost  one  of  its  worthi 
est  men  in  Lieut.  Edward  W.  Hart  of  Madison.  He  enlisted 
as  a  private  from  patriotic  motives,  went  from  the  State  as 
a  corporal,  and  was  made  lieutenant  in  1863.  Capt.  H.  P. 
Goddard  wrote  of  him,  "  He  was  ever  brave,  prompt,  and 
faithful,  doing  his  duty  as  a  true  soldier.  Especially  did  I 
note  his  gallant  conduct  at  Chancellorsville,  where  he  ren- 


566  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

dered  most  efficient  service.  While  his  memory  will  remain 
green  i,n  our  hearts  for  ever,  we  know  that  his  soul  is  with 
the  God  to  whom  he  clung  amid  all  temptations." 

It  seemed  to  be  decreed  that  the  Fourteenth  should  never 
go  many  weeks  without  a  fight ;  and  now  Warren's  corps 
was  directed  to  make  a  diversion  along  the  Rapidan,  while 
the  cavalry  went  on  a  Quixotic  raid  to  Richmond.  On 
Feb.  7,  1864,  the  corps  inarched  down  to  the  river ;  \vhen 
Gen.  Aleck  Hayes  (God  rest  the  soul  of  the  brave  old 
fighter!)  swore  that  his  division  "must  cross,  and  tackle  the 
rebels."  Caldwell,  commanding  in  the  absence  of  Warren, 
consented.  The  brigade  containing  the  Fourteenth  crossed 
the  river  at  Morton's  Ford  at  noon,  with  little  opposition. 
The  water  was  waist-deep  and  icy  cold. 

Col.  T.  G.  Ellis  commanded  the  brigade,  and  Lieut.-Col. 
S.  A.  Moore  led  the  Fourteenth.  From  Col.  Moore's  report, 
the  fallowing  is  extracted  :  — 

"  As  the  regiment  moved  over  the  crest  of  the  first  hill,  they  opened  a 
shell  fire  upon  us  ;  but  their  aim  was  a  little  too  high.  About  half  a  mile 
from  the  ford,  the  regiment  took  up  its  position  with  the  rest  of  the  brigade, 
under  the  slope  of  a  hill,  and  in  rear  of  a  small  white  house.  Here  we 
remained  in  line  of  battle,  being  occasionally  shelled  by  the  enemy,  until 
about  five  o'clock,  P.M.  At  this  time  the  rebels  made  an  attack  upon  our 
position  ;  and  this  regiment  was  ordered  out  to  the  support  of  the  skirmish- 
line,  commanded  by  Col.  Beard.  The  regiment  advanced  upon  the  enemy, 
deployed  as  skirmishers,  and  drove  back  their  line  of  battle  for  upwards 
of  half  a  mile,  to  a  place  where  there  were  about  a  dozen  small  houses 
and  out-buildings  situated  in  a  grove  of  trees.  Plere  the  enemy  made  a 
stand  ;  and  the  regiment  fought  them  hand  to  hand,  in  some  cases  using 
the  bayonet,  until  the  108th  New-York  Volunteers  and  the  battalion  of 
the  10th  New- York  coming  to  our  aid,  enabled  us  to  drive  them  from  the 
buildings.  We  held  this  point  for  upwards  of  an  hour,  until  ordered  to 
withdraw  to  our  former  position,  which  we  did,  leaving  a  strong  picket  to 
keep  the  enemy  from  advancing  while  we  were  carrying  off  our  dead  and 
wounded.  We  brought  off  all  of  the  dead  and  wounded  whom  we  could 
find.  At  about  eleven  o'clock,  P.M.,  we  recrossed  the  river." 

Capt.  Fiske,  writing  of  the  fight  at  the  buildings,  said, 
"  Our  regiment,  being  at  that  time  in  the  advance,  and  most 
gallantly  pushed  on  by  Lieut.-Col.  Moore,  who  was  constantly 
riding  up  and  down  the  line  in  the  hottest  of  the  fire,  direct 
ing  and  cheering  on  his  men,  suffered  a  very  heavy  loss. 
Pitchy  darkness  came  on.  The  only  light  to  direct  the 
firing  was  that  which  poured  out  of  the  muzzles  of  the  mus- 


CELEBRATION  OF   ST.   PATRICK'S  DAY.  567 

kets  and  of  the  cannon  in  the  distance.  Scarcely  a  sem 
blance  of  a  line  could  be  preserved  on  either  side.  Men 
called  out  to  each  other  in  the  darkness,  and  recognized  each 
other  as  friend  or  foe  by  the  State  or  regiment  answered. 
Men  were  captured  and  recaptured  and  captured  over 
again.  Friends  were  killed  by  friends'  fire.  Men  fired  at 
each  other  in  rooms  of  houses  not  a  musket-barrel's  length 
apart.  The  rebels  were  ejected,  and  driven  to  their  intrench- 
ments.  The  loss  of  the  division  was  about  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five;  that  of  our  regiment,  just  one-half  of  the 
whole  loss. 

"The  conduct  of  all  the  officers,  and  of  the  men  generally, 
is  spoken  of  as  being  beyond  all  praise ;  especially  that  of 
Col.  Moore,  who  had  returned  from  leave  of  absence  only 
the  night  before,  and  showed  not  only  the  most  perfect  cool 
ness,  and  contempt  of  danger,  which  was  only  what  we 
expected  of  him,  but  also  great  judgment  and  skill  in  the 
handling  of  his  troops,  as  to  which  qualities  he  had  not 
before  been  so  thoroughly  tested." 

The  regiment  lost  ten  killed,  eighty-six  wounded,' and 
nineteen  prisoners.  Among  the  killed  were  Color-Sergeant 
Amory  Allen  of  Hartford,  shot  through  the  breast  while 
bravely  holding  up  the  colors,  Francis  M.  Norton  of  Guil- 
ford,  Robert  A.  Chad  wick  of  East  Lyme,  and  Henry  W. 
Orcutt  of  Vernon.  Major  James  B.  Coit  of  Norwich  was 
wounded  in  the  leg.  Capt.  F.  B.  Doten  of  Bridgeport,  while 
trying  to  capture  a  party  of  rebels  in  one  of  the  houses, 
was  himself  taken  prisoner. 

St.  Patrick's  Day  was  made  a  holiday  in  the  camp  of 
the  Fourteenth,  and  a  literary  entertainment  was  provided 
in  the  structure  erected  as  a  lecture-room.  There  were 
tableaux,  ballad -singing,  dialogues,  excellent  music  by 
the  band  under  the  leadership  of  Louis  Senglaube,  and 
theatricals ;  "  Jeff.  Davis's  dream "  being  performed  by 
George  H.  Lillibridge,  D.  and  F.  Sprenkle,  0.  K.  Tomlinson, 
"W".  W.  Westover,  and  others  having  dramatic  genius. 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry,  under  Major  E.  Blakeslee, 
remained  at  Annapolis  Junction,  Md.,  until  March  15,  when 


568  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

they  left  for  Brandy  Station,  Ya.  Here  they  reported  to 
Gen.  Pleasanton,  and  were  assigned  to  the  cavalry  brigade 
of  Gen.  Davies,  under  Kilpatrick.  They  joined  the  army 
near  Stevensburg,  and  went  into  camp.  About  April  1, 
Sergeant  George  A.  Fish  of  Groton,  by  direction  of  Capt. 
John  B.  Morehouse,  proceeded  with  fifteen  men  to  patrol 
the  road  towards  Fredericksburg.  They  were  suddenly 
ambushed  and  surrounded  by  a  large  party  of  guerrillas, 
who  ordered  Sergeant  Fish  to  surrender,  which  he  did,  see 
ing  no  chance  of  escape.  But  the  rebels  fired,  wounding 
Sergeant  Fish,  Corporal  Samuel  E.  Hurlbut,  and  Privates 
William  Brown  and  Joseph  McCormick,  and  killing  the 
horses  of  two  others,  whom  they  took  prisoners.  Hurlbut 
and  Brown  escaped.  Fish  and  McCormick  were  left  on 
the  ground  almost  dead.  The  rebels  robbed  them  of  every 
thing  of  value,  and  shot  Sergeant  Fish  three  or  four  times 
in  the  abdomen  with  his  own  revolver,  which  they  had 
taken  from  his  belt  as  he  lay  upon  the  ground.  Fish  was 
wounded  in  twenty-one  different  places  with  bullets  and 
buck-shot,  and  yet,  with  a  wonderful  tenacity  of  life,  he  lived 
several  days.  His  body  was  afterwards  embalmed,  and 
brought  to  Connecticut. 

The  regular  picket  detail  of  the  regiment  during  this 
period  amounted  to  about  one-third  its  duty  men,  and  was 
very  severe  ;  the  tours  being  of  three  days  each.  Capt. 
Elbridge  Colburn  of  Ansonia  went  on  detached  service  to 
Ohio,  and,  on  returning,  died  very  suddenly  of  malignant 
erysipelas.  He  had  been  with  the  command  since  its  first 
organization  as  a  battalion,  and  had  perhaps  done  as  much 
hard  service  as  any  officer  in  the  regiment.  He  was  greatly 
lamented. 

The  regiment,  since  its  growth  from  a  battalion,  was  for 
tunate  in  having  a  chaplain,  and  doubly  fortunate  in  the 
fact  that  the  chaplain  was  Rev.  Theodore  J.  Holmes.  Mr. 
Holmes  had  left  a  thriving  parish,  —  the  church  of  East 
Hartford,  where  he  was  ranch  esteemed,  —  and  enlisted  in 
the  army  as  a  private  soldier.  He  was  appointed  chaplain 
of  the  First  Cavalry.  His  piety  was  of  a  cheerful,  hopeful, 
sunny  sort;  and  he  went  with  the  regiment  in  its  most 


GENERAL  GRANT  IN   COMMAND.  5£9 

perilous  service,  calling  on  the  men  to  crush  the  Slave 
holders'  Rebellion,  as  he  would  have  called  them  to  do  any 
godly  work.  He  was  always  helpful,  —  one  of  those  chap 
lains,  who,  like  Jacob  Eaton,  Hiram  Eddy,  and  Henry  Clay 
Trumbull,  were  never  "  in  the  way." 

About  June  1,  Lieut.  Edward  W.  Whitaker  was  trans 
ferred  from  the  Connecticut  squadron  in  the  New- York 
Harris  Light  Cavalry,2  and  made  captain  in  the  First  Con 
necticut.  He  had  borne  an  "honorable  part  in  the  three- 
months'  service  as  a  corporal  in  Hawley's  company,  and  then, 
enlisting  in  the  Connecticut  squadron,  had  served  with  his 
company  in  all  the  prominent  cavalry  raids  of  1862  and 
1863.  In  June,  1863,  he  was  made  first  lieutenant  for 
gallantry  at  Brandy  Station,  where  his  brother,  Lieut.  Daniel 
Whitaker,  was  killed  leading  a  charge.  He  was  detailed  as 
an  aide  on  Kilpatrick's  staff,  and  went  on  the  great  raid  in 
April,  1864,  into  the  very  fortifications  of  Richmond. 

As  the  weeks  wore  away,  and  the  graves  of  the  dead  grew 
green  with  grass  and  fragrant  with  flowers  under  the  vernal 
sun,  Grant  took  his  stand  at  the  side  of  Meade,  in  command 
of  the  unfortunate,  but  always  strong  and  always  eager, 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  By  May  3,  the  great  leader  was 
ready  to  launch  his  blow  against  the  Confederate  right.  At 
twelve  o'clock  that  night,  Wilson's  cavalry  division  was  sad 
dled,  and  at  sunrise  of  the  4th  crossed  the  Rapidan  at  Ger- 
mania  Ford.  Warren's  corps  followed  closely  during  the 
forenoon.  The  cavalry  pushed  on,  around  the  Confederate 
right ;  and  the  First  Connecticut  bivouacked  at  Parker's 
Store,  south  of  the  Wilderness.  Next  morning,  near  Craig's 
Church,  the  enemy  appeared,  and  engaged  them  spiritedly ; 

2  After  the  squadron  joined  the  Harris  Light  Cavalry,  it  was  no  longer  recognized  by 
the  War  Department  as  a  Connecticut  organization.  The  officers  were  thereafter  com 
missioned  by  the  Executive  of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  regiment  won  honorable 
fame  when  the  cavalry  force  was  weak.  Davies  and  Kilpatrick  both  won  their  first  dis 
tinction  as  its  officers.  It  was  often  and  hotly  engaged,  —  at  Catlett's  Station,  Brandy 
Station,  Martinslmrg,  Frcderickslwrg,  Chancellorsvillc,  Gettysburg;  always  doing  effective 
and  honorable  service.  Capt.  William  M.  Mallory  of  Hartford,  who  raised  the  squadron, 
became  major  of  the  regiment,  a  position  which  he  tilled  with  much  credit.  The  follow 
ing  officers  and  men  were  also  promoted,  —  Lieut.  L.  H.  Southard  of  Hartford  to  be  cap 
tain  ;  Lieut.  Marcus  Coon  of  U'aterbury  to  be  captain;  Second  Lieut.  J.  N.  Decker  of 
Hartford  to  be  first  lieutenant ;  Sergeants  Philo  L.  Ives  of  Hartford,  Daniel  Whitaker  of 
Asht'ord,  Frederick  C.  Lord  of  Naugatuck,  and  Augustus  Martinson  of  Plymouth,  and 
Corporal  George  Castle  of  Watertown,  to  be  lieutenants.  Lieut.  Decker  was  killed  in  the 
advance  to  Falmouth  in  the  spring  of  1862,  and  Lieut.  Whitaker  fell  at  Brandy  Station. 
Both  were  bold  and  skillful  soldiers. 

72 


570  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

Lee  pushing  his  whole  array  towards  the  Wilderness,  to  give 
battle  before  Grant  could  deploy  on  open  ground.  Major 
Blakeslee,  in  his  report,  says,  "  Major  George  0.  Marcy  of 
my  regiment  was  sent  with  Companies  C,  L,  I,  and  II,  to 
reconnoiter  on  the  enemy's  right,  on  the  Pamunkey  Road. 
Capt.  Leonard  P.  Goodwin,  with  Companies  F  and  B,  was 
sent  in  the  same  direction  by  another  road.  They  after 
wards  effected  a  junction,  and  returned  only  to  find  that  the 
division  had  been  driven  back,  and  that  a  large  body  of  the 
enemy  had  got  in  between  them  and  the  rest  of  the  brigade. 
As  the  only  chance  of  escape,  Major  Marcy  ordered  sabres 
drawn  and  a  charge  through  the  enemy,  which  feat  was 
most  gallantly  accomplished.  For  a  few  moments,  friend 
and  foe  were  mingled  in  one  confused  mass,  when  Major 
Marcy  and  his  command  emerged,  with  a  loss  of  six  wounded 
and  thirty-seven  prisoners,  including  Lieuts.  John  Bristol  and 
Levi  E.  Tyler  of  Company  L.  During  this  time,  the  remain 
der  of  the  regiment  was  supporting  a  battery,  being  exposed 
to  the  enemy's  shell,  which  fell  thickly  about  us." 

The  brigade  was  withdrawn  to  Todd's  Tavern,  where  it 
repulsed  the  enemy's  charge,  and  held  them  in  check  until 
relieved  by  the  Union  infantry,  now  coming  up. 

The  battle  began  in  all  its  fury,  and  raged  through  this 
tangled  forest.  Col.  Ellis  of  the  Fourteenth  was  in  command 
of  a  large  brigade  of  nine  regiments,  which  he  was  destined 
to  lead  during  the  coming  struggles ;  leaving  the  regiment 
to*  Lieut.-Col.  S.  A.  Moore.  The  regimental  report  says, — 

"  We  turned  northward,  and  marched  to  the  cross-roads,  about  five  miles 
west  from  Chancellorsville,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  plank  road  from 
Chancellorsville  to  Orange  Court  House,  and  the  road  upon  which  we 
marched.  The  firing  was  quite  heavy  when  our  brigade  reached  the  scene 
of  action.  We  were  formed  in  line  of  battle  immediately  north  of  the 
cross-roads,  and  advanced  into  the  woods,  where  we  at  once  became  en 
gaged  with  the  enemy.  The  Fourteenth  was  in  the  first  line  of  battle,  and 
behaved  nobly  ;  at  one  time  executing  a  change  of  front  under  fire  to  repel 
an  attack  on  our  left.  Before  going  into  action,  our  force  was  twenty  com 
missioned  officers  and  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  enlisted  men. 

"  The  battle  was  resumed  at  daylight  on  the  6th.  Our  brigade  ad 
vanced  to  the  attack,  and  moved  forward  about  half  a  mile  through  the 
woods,  changing  front  towards  the  north-west,  and  crossing  the  plank  road 
running  westward  from  the  cross-roads.  Here  the  enemy  was  found  in 
force.  After  being  engaged  in  the  front  line  until  our  ammunition  was 
exhausted,  the  regiment  was  withdrawn  to  the  second  line  until  again  sup 
plied.  » 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS.          571 

"  In  the  early  part  of  the  afternoon,  the  enemy  made  a  fierce  and  des 
perate  assault  upon  our  left  flank,  which  was  for  some  time  resisted  ;  but, 
our  brigade  being  unsupported  on  the  left,  it  was  obliged  to  fall  back  be 
yond  the  north  and  south  road  before  mentioned.  During  the  rest  of  the 
afternoon,  the  regiment  was  placed  in  reserve  near  the  road ;  being  occa 
sionally  moved,  as  different  points  were  threatened. 

"  In  the  evening,  we  were  moved  a  short  distance  up  the  road,  and  were 
engaged  most  of  the  night  in  constructing  breastworks  along  the  west  side 
of  tbe  road.  Our  force  in  this  day's  engagement  was  eighteen  officers  and 
three  hundred  enlisted  men." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  here  a  full  account  of  this  un 
paralleled  combat  of  the  Wilderness.  It  was  not  a  battle  in 
the  ordinary  sense,  but  a  mere  desperate  trial  of  strength. 
It  admitted  of  no  combinations  or  tactical  movements :  it 
was  a  deadly  struggle,  in  which  every  regiment  attacked 
straight  in  its  front,  with  little  thought  of  support  or  relief 
from  any  other.  The  fight  was  in  "  a  dense  undergrowth  of 
low-limbed  and  scraggy  pines,  stiff  and  bristling  chincapins, 
scrub-oaks,  and  hazel.  It  was  a  region  of  gloom  and  the 
shadow  of  death.  Maneuvering  here  was  necessarily  out  of 
the  question,  and  only  Indian  tactics  told.  The  troops  could 
only  receive  direction  by  a  point  of  the  compass;  for  not 
only  were  the  lines  of  battle  entirely  hidden  from  the  sight 
of  the  commander,  but  no  officer  could  see  ten  files  on  each 
side  of  him.  Artillery  was  wholly  ruled  out  of  use  :  the 
massive  concentration  of  three  hundred  guns  stood  silent; 
and  only  an  occasional  piece  could  be  brought  into  play  in 
the  roadsides.  Cavalry  was  still  more  useless.  But  in  that 
horrid  thicket  there  lurked  two  hundred  thousand  men,  and 
through  it  lurid  fires  played  ; .  and,  though  no  array  of  battle 
could' be  seen,  there  came  out  of  its  depths  the  crackle  and 
roll  of  musketry,  like  the  noisy  boiling  of  some  hell  cal 
dron,  that  told  the  dread  story  of  death.  There  is  something 
horrible  yet  fascinating  in  the  mystery  shrouding  this 
strangest  of  battles  ever  fought,  —  a  battle  which  no  man 
could  see,  and  whose  progress  could  only  be  followed  by  the 
ear,  as  the  sharp  and  crackling  volleys  of  musketry  and 
the  alternate  Union  cheer  and  Confederate  yell  told  how  the 
fight  surged  and  swelled.  The  battle  lasted  two  days ;  yet 
such  was  the  mettle  of  each  combatant,  that  it  decided 
nothing." 3 

8  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


572  CONNECTICUT  DUBING  THE  REBELLION. 

But  the  result  was  such  that  Grant,  with  his  eye  ever  on 
Richmond,  moved  off  by  the  left  on  the  night  of  May  7,  and 
began  his  march  to  Spottsylvania. 

The  cavalry  skirmished  in  the  advance ;  and,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  May  8,  Company  C  of  the  First  Connecticut  opened 
the  battle  of  Spottsylvania,  —  Lee  having  hastily  withdrawn 
his  army  and  flung  it  again  in  the  path  of  his  adversary,  to 
exact  a  heavy  toll  in  blood.  Chaplain  Holmes.,  who  remained 
constantly  with  his  regiment,  wrote,  — 

"  No  opposition  met  us  till  within  a  mile  of  the  place,  when 
the  rebel  pickets  were  driven  in,  and  a  gun  opened  upon  us, 
which  was  speedily  silenced  by  one  of  our  batteries.  The 
town  was  then  cleared  out  by  a  charge  led  by  our  regiment ; 
after  which,  a  considerable  force  dismounted  and  went  into 
the  woods,  —  the  First  Connecticut  being  in  the  advance. 
An  hour's  sharp  skirmishing  resulted  in  the  rout  of  the  ene 
my  ;  but  they  soon  returned  re-inforced  by  infantry,  when, 
the  object  of  the  reconnoisance  being  accomplished,  the 
division  retired.  We  were  glad  when  the  day  closed,  and 
there  was  promise  of  rest;  but  our  blankets  had  hardly  been 
spread  upon  the  ground,  after  a  meager  evening  meal,  before 
orders  came  to  prepare  at  once  for  a  long  and  trying  march, 
—  whither  no  one  knew,  but  every  one  guessed  ;  instructions 
being  given  to  leave  behind  every  horse  and  every  man  unfit 
for  the  toughest  of  cavalry  experience.  The  night  was 
mostly  spent  in  preparation,  —  the  night  whose  rest  we  had 
so  longed  for ;  and  by  daylight  we  were  off  for  Richmond, 
the  whole  cavalry  corps  being  now  together  under  Gen. 
Phil.  Sheridan." 

Again  the  two  armies  faced  each  other  resolutely  :  one 
lying  like  a  lion  in  the  way ;  the  other,  undaunted,  determined 
to  pass  on. 

The  official  report  of  the  Fourteenth  Regiment  contin 
ues,  — 

"  On  the  7th,  8th,  and  9th,  we  were  formed  in  line  of  battle  at  various 
points,  changing  our  position  more  to  the  south-west.  About  dark  on  the 
evening  of  the  9th,  we  crossed  the  River  Po  near  Mr.  Giles  Graves's  house, 
and  encamped  for  the  night. 

"  The  next  morning  our  division  recrossed  the  river,  and  went  to  the 
support  of  the  5th  Corps.  We  marched  by  a  circuitous  route  to  the  left, 


THE   SECOND  ARTILLERY  AS  INFANTRY.  573 

where  we  lay  for  some  time  exposed  to  a  heavy  shell-fire  in  rear  of  part  of 
the  5th  Corps.  Soon  our  brigade  was  in  line  of  battle.  We  advanced 
over  the  line  of  breastworks  behind  which  lay  part  of  the  corps  we  were 
supporting,  and  charged  forward  against  the  enemy. 

"  Our  advance  was  through  a  tangled  road,  difficult  to  pass  in  order, 
dispersing  our  men,  and  obliging  us  to  halt  occasionally  to  re-form  our  line. 
To  add  to  the  difficulty,  the  woods  were  on  fire  for  some  distance  over 
which  we  had  to  pass.  At  times  the  heat  of  the  fire  was  suffocating.  Our 
men.  however,  moved  bi'avely  forward,  under  cover  of  the  woods,  to  within 
about  fifty  paces  of  the  enemy's  works,  which  opened  upon  us  a  galling  fire. 
Unable  to  advance  farther,  we  opened  fire  upon  such  of  the  enemy  as  could 
be  seen,  and  maintained  our  position  for  about  six  hours,  when,  our  ammu 
nition  being  exhausted,  we  were  relieved,  and  lay  in  the  second  line,  still  in 
front  of  the  breastworks,  all  that  night  and  the  next  day.  Our  force  in  this 
engagement  was  eleven  officers  and  two  hundred  and  twenty  enlisted  men. 

"  About  midnight  we  marched  eastward,  with  our  corps,  to  the  right  of 
the  rebel  position  ;  when,  about  daylight  on  the  12th,  an  assault  was  made 
upon  the  enemy's  works.  We  were  in  the  second  line,  and  passed  over  the 
rebel  intrenchments  directly  after  a  portion  of  the  1st  Division,  which  pre 
ceded  us.  We  captured  a  great  number  of  prisoners,  which  we  sent  to  the 
rear  in  charge  of  Capt.  James  R.  Nichols.  We  pursued  the  flying  enemy 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  when  I  found  our  men  becoming  scattered, 
our  colors  in  advance  of  any  other  troops,  and  the  fire  from  the  enemy's 
second  line  of  works  becoming  serious.  The  rebels  had  also  rallied,  arid 
were  advancing  a  line  of  battle  in  our  front.  I  therefore  ordered  our  men 
to  fall  back  to  the  first  line  of  works.  In  this  first  line  were  the  enemy's 
cannon,  which  were  all  captured.  Many  of  these  guns  were  turned  on  the 
enemy.  Two  of  them  were  worked  by  the  men  of  the  Fourteenth,  under 
the  direction  of  Lieut. -Col.  Moore  and  Lieut.  J.  Frank  Morgan.  These 
guns  were  drawn  oif  by  our  men.  Our  force  in  this  engagement  was 
eight  commissioned  officers  and  two  hundred  enlisted  men. 

"  The  regiment  was  afterwards  moved  to  the  left  during  the  day,  and 
lay  in  the  rebel  intrenchments  all  night. 

"  The  13th  and  1-ith  were  passed  in  the  same  viqinity,  with  slight  changes 
of  position.  About  dai'k^  on  the  evening  of  the  14th,  our  brigade  was 
marched  westward  to  another  line  of  rifle-pits,  to  resist  an  expected  attack. 
The  Fourteenth  remained  in  the  works  in  line  of  battle.  On  the  night 
of  the  17th,  the  regiment  being  on  picket,  it  was  formed  into  a  skirmish- 
line,  with  some  two  or  three  other  regiments,  and  advanced  upon  the  ene 
my's  position.  The  whole  of  the  18th  was  passed  upon  the  skirmish- 
line,  the  regiment  being  at  times  under  a  shell-fire,  but  meeting  with  no 
casualties.  We  were  relieved  at  night." 

On  May  17,  the  Second  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery,  under 
Col.  Elisha  S.  Kellogg,  under  orders  to  join  Meade's  army  as 
infantry,  moved  out  from  the  forts  opposite  Washington,  and 
bivouacked  that  evening  just  outside  of  Alexandria.  Next 
morning,  they  embarked  on  transports  to  Belle  Plaine,  arriv 
ing  towards  nightfall,  and  bivouacking  among  the  bushes  in 
a  heavy  rain.  The  regiment  marched  to  Fredericksburg, 
met  the  wounded  from  the  Wilderness,  and  hurried  for 
ward  to  the  front. 


574  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   EEBELLION. 

When  near  Spottsylvania,  the  regiment,  now  about  sixteen 
hundred  strong,  and  probably  larger  than  any  other  regi 
ment  under  Meade  at  the  time,  was  assigned  to  the  2d 
(Upton's)  Brigade,  1st  Division,  of  the  6th  Corps,  under 
the  gallant  Major-Gen.  Sedgwick.  On  the  21st,  they  were 
placed  in  breastworks  before  the  enemy  for  the  first  time. 

Gen.  Robert  0.  Tyler,  formerly  of  the  First  Connecticut, 
commanded  an  independent  division  of  foot-artillerists  on 
the  extreme  right,  and  was  posted  on  an  important  position. 
"  Ewell  crossed  the  Ny  River  above  the  right  flank,  and, 
moving  down,  seized  the  Fredericksburg  Road,  and  laid  hands 
on  the  ammunition-train  coming  up.  Tyler  promptly  met 
this  attack,  and  succeeded  in  driving  the  enemy  from  the 
road  and  into  the  woods  beyond.  The  foot-artillerists  had 
not  been  before  in  battle ;  but  it  was  found,  that,  once  under 
fire,  they  displayed  an  audacity  surpassing  even  the  old 
troops.  In  these  murderous  wood-fights,  the  veterans  had 
learned  to  employ  all  the  Indian  devices  that  offered  shelter 
to  the  person;  but  these  green  battalions,  unused  to  this 
kind  of  craft,  pushed  boldly  on,  firing  furiously.  Their  loss 
was  heavy  ;  but  the  honor  of  the  enemy's  repulse  belongs  to 
them."4 

"  Carleton,"  of  the  Boston  Journal,  wrote  of  this  fight,  in 
which  the  Union  troops  were  so  completely  surprised,  — 

"  Gen.  Tyler,  who  commanded  the  division  of  heavy  artillery,  called 
upon  his  men  to  move  against  the  enemy.  The  troops  never  had  been 
under  fire.  They  had  arrived,  some  of  them,  only  the  day  before.  They 
hesitated.  Gen.  Tyler  rode  to  Tannatt's  brigade,  composed  of  the  1st 
Massachusetts  and  1st  Maine. 

"  '  The  sons  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts  are  not  cowards  !  '  shouted  the 
general.  '  No  !  no  ! '  was  the  response.  '  Follow  me,  then  ! ' 

"  Away  they  went  with  a  cheer.  They  came  within  musket-range,  and 
the  contest  began,  —  E well's  old  veterans  on  the  one  hand;  and  the  troops 
who  till  last  week  had  not  handled  a  musket,  on  the  other.  The  heavy 
artillery  knew  little  about  infantry  tactics,  of  handling  muskets,  of  loading 
and  firing  ;  but  they  poured  in  their  volleys  —  no,  not  volleys  ;  but  each  man 
loaded  a  piece,  irrespective  of  all  orders.  It  was  a  continuous  roll. 

"Meanwhile  the  rest  of  Tyler's  division  —  four  regiments  ;  one  from 
New  York,  one  from  Pennsylvania,  one  from  Wisconsin,  and  one  from  Rhode 
Island  — joined,  and  the  contest  became  more  furious. 

"  The  2d  Corps,  which  was  near  at  hand,  was  swung  round  to  form 
a  second  line ;  but,  before  it  could  be  brought  into  action,  the  heavy 

*  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


CAVALRY   RAID   OF   SHERIDAN.  575 

artillery  had  repulsed  the  rebels.  It  was  a  short,  sharp,  decisive  engage 
ment.  It  was  particularly  marked  by  the  stubbornness  of  our  men.  Gen. 
Hunt,  commanding  the  artillery,  was  early  on  the  ground,  and  brought  eight 
guns  into  position,  four  of  them  of  Hart's  regular  battery.  The  rebel  loss 
was  quite  severe,  as  was  our  own.  We  took  several  hundred  prisoners, 
probably  six  hundred. 

.  "  The  result  has  had  a  great  effect  on  the  army,  raising  its  spirits  to  the 
highest  pitch.  Gen.  Meade  issued  a  congratulatory  order  this  morning  to 
the  heavy  artillery,  which  was  received  with  cheers  by  the  troops." 

For  two  weeks,  Grant,  persistent,  and  contemptuous  of  ma 
neuvering,  had  stoutly  hammered  away  at  the  intrenchments 
of  Lee  upon  the  Spottsylvania  crest.  Hancock  had  made  a 
breach,  and  captured  Johnson's  whole  rebel  division  of  four 
thousand  men,  with  twenty  guns  and  thirty  colors,  after  one 
of  the  most  terrific  and  deadly  struggles  in  the  history  of 
warfare.  In  this,  as  has  been  seen,  the  Fourteenth  took  a 
gallant  part.  Yet  the  success  was  not  a  victory,  for  Lee  still 
maintained  a  stubborn  front.  The  cost  had  been  frightful. 
Not  less  than  fort}'  thousand  of  Grant's  army  had  been 
placed  liors  de  combat 

In  the  midst  of  the  battle,  fell  Major-Gen.  John  Sedgwick 
of  Connecticut,  the  beloved  chief  of  the  6th  Corps,  one  of 
the  most  tried  and  trusted  leaders  in  the  army. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  Grant  was  pounding  away  at 
the  rebel  front,  Sheridan  was  charging  gallantly  around  the 
rebel  rear,  doing  infinite  mischief.  The  First  Connecticut 
had  already  been  partially  armed  with  Spencer  rifles  and 
Sharp's  carbines,  in  place  of  the  old  Smith's,  and  was  now 
called  upon  to  use  them  almost  every  day.  On  the  night 
of  the  9th,  the  column  bivouacked  on  the  North  Anna; 
next  night,  on  the  South  Anna;  and,  on  the  llth,  met 
Stuart's  cavalry  at  Yellow  Tavern.  The  First  Connecticut 
was  drawn  up  as  a  support,  but  was  not  called  to  the  front. 
The  enemy  was  routed  by  Custer's  Michigan  brigade ; 5  and 
the  celebrated  rebel  leader,  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  was  killed. 
Chaplain  Holmes  wrote, — 

"  After  this,  we  marched  along  without  interruption,  on  the  main  pike 
to  Richmond ;  and  when  within  three  miles  of  the  city,  our  division  being 
in  the  advance,  took  a  road  for  Meadow  Bridge,  en  route  for  the  Peninsula. 

6  In  this  famous  brigade  was  a  regiment  led  by  Col.  Edward  M.  Lee,  a  native  of 
Guilford,  Conn.  He  was  brevetted  brigadier-general  for  gallantry.  —  See  Appendix. 


576  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

About  daylight,  we  were  proceeding  quietly,  —  the  whole  command  nearly 
exhausted  from  Avant  of  food  and  rest  ;  many  sleeping  in  the  saddle,  — 
when  a  shot,  so  heavy  we  knew  it  must  have  come  from  the  fortifications 
by  the  city,  revealed  to  us  that  we  were  in  a  decidedly  perilous  locality. 
A  severe  fight  ensued  with  the  rebel  cavalry,  in  which  the  First  Connecticut 
was  heavily  engaged,  resulting  in  a  rebel  defeat  ;  when  we  retired  out  of 
reach  of  the  heavy  guns  of  their  intrenchmerits.  One  of  our  men,  killed 
by  a  24-pounder  as  the  regiment  was  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  in  an 
open  field,  we  buried  under  a  wide-spreading  tree,  and  during  the  brief 
service  a  shell  burst  very  near  us.  From  our  position  upon  an  eminence, 
we  could  witness  a  fierce  struggle  in  the  plains  below." 

At  Meadow  Bridge  there  was  a  spirited  fight,  in  which 
Ouster's  brigade  again  made  a  magnificent  charge,  and  took 
the  bridge.  The  force  crossed  and  bivouacked.  Chaplain 
Holmes  says,  "  We  had  a'  soft  bed  that  night,  —  our  regi 
ment,  at  least,  —  the  ploughed  ground  where  we  halted 
being  well  soaked  with  the  rain,  which  fell  steadily  till 
morning ;  but  though  we  lay  in  the  mud,  with  no  shelter 
but  such  as  was  afforded  by  rubber  blankets,  our  rest  was 
as  sweet  as  good  friends  at  home  were  enjoying  in  their 
comfortable  beds." 

Next  clay,  they  proceeded  to  the  James,  and  communi 
cated  with  Butler.  On  the  17th,  they  started  to  return, 
crossed  the  Chickahominy,  marched  to  Baltimore  Cross 
roads,  and  thence  on  the  22d  to  White  House,  to  order  up 
supplies.  From  this  point  they  returned,  and  renewed  con 
nections  with  the  main  army. 

Grant  had  now  four  corps,  —  the  2d,  under  Hancock;  the 
5th,  under  Warren ;  the  6th,  in  command  of  which  Major- 
Gen.  II.  G.  Wright  °  succeeded  Sedgwick ;  and  the  9th,  under 
Burnside.  Finding  the  "  hammering  "  policy  too  expensive 
and  too  slow,  he  now 7  swung  his  army  again  to  the  left,  in 
what  the  rebels  derisively  called  "  the  crab  movement,"  and 
flanked  the  impregnable  position.  Lee  evacuated  his  works 
simultaneously,  and  swept  southward ;  and  another  race 
began  on  parallel  roads  to  Richmond. 

Hancock  first  inarched  out  on  the  extreme  left,  moving 
towards  Fredericksburg,  and  then  turning  south  along  the 
railroad.  On  the  21st,  he  reached  Milford  Station,  seventeen 
miles  from  the  point  of  starting. 

6  A  native  of  Orange,  Conn.  —  See  Appendix.  7  June  20. 


GENERAL  JOHN  SEDGWICK.  577 

Col.  Ellis  of  the  Fourteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers  says 
in  his  official  report, — 

"  On  Sunday  the  22d,  we  were  again  engaged  in  skirmishing  with  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  near  Milford  Station.  About  eleven,  A.M.,  on  the  24th, 
we  moved  across  the  North  Anna  River,  and  were  engaged  most  of  tb,e 
day  in  a  severe  skirmish  with  the  enemy.  Our  line  advanced,  and  drove 
the  rebel  skirmishers  about  half  a  mile,  across  a  wheat-field  on  the  left, 
and  through  the  woods  on  the  right.  We  were  relieved  at  night,  with  our 
ammunition  entirely  expended.  Our  force  this  day  was  seven  commis 
sioned  officers  and  a  hundred  and  eighty-five  enlisted  men. 

The  next  morning,  the  regiment  was  again  moved  to  the  front,  and  was 
engaged  all  day  in  throwing  up  intrenchments.  On  the  2Gth,  about  seven,, 
P.M.,  the  Fourteenth,  with  two  other  regiments,  was  ordered  to  advance, 
and  drive  the  enemy  from  their  advanced  works  on  the  left  of  our  position  ; 
which  they  did  in  gallant  style,  after  a  terrific  struggle  which  lasted  until 
dark.  The  strength  of  the  regiment  engaged  in  this  encounter  was  eight 
officers  and  a  hundred  and  sixty-five  enlisted  men." 

The  Second  Artillery  had  also  made  a  forced  and  severe 
march  with  the  6th  Corps,  and  arrived  at  the  North  -Anna 
on  the  23d,  greatly  exhausted.  One  hundred  and  twenty 
men  were,  however,  detailed  for  picket,  and  sent  across  the 
river.  Next  morning,  the  regiment  crossed  with  the  corps, 
and  the  advance  was  occupied  in  skirmishing.  Near  here, 
Henry  Colby  of  Goshen  was  killed.  The  6th  Corps  was 
not  heavily  engaged.  On  the  25th,  the  Second  Artillery 
destroyed  several  miles  of  the  railroad,  while  Hancock's 
corps  at  Hanover  Junction  was  attempting  to  push  the 
rebels  from  the  river. 

On  the  25th,  the  whole  army  was  compelled  by  the  admi 
rable  position  taken  by  Lee,  and  the  tenacity  with  which  he 
held  it  at  his  center,  to  recross  the  North  Anna,  and  march 
down  the  Pamunkey,  by  a  flank  movement,  again  to  the 
left  towards  Cold  Harbor.  The  6th  Corps  was  in  the 
advance ;  Sheridan  clearing  the  way  with  cavalry. 


Gen.  John  Sedgwick  was  born  in  Cornwall  Hollow,  Litch- 
field  County,  Sept.  13,  1813.  His  lineage  was  illustrious. 
A  remote  ancestor,  Robert  Sedgwick,  —  removed  six  genera 
tions, —  was  one  of  the  noble  Puritans  who  struck  such  sturdy 
blows  for  the  rights  of  the  people,  while  marching  under 
the  banner  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  In  that  band  of  heroes,  he 
attained  the  rank  of  major-general.  John  Sedgwick,  grand- 


73 


578  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  major  in  the  Rev 
olutionary  array,  and  was  one  of  those  who  stood  firm  at 
Valley  Forge.  On  returning  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was 
made  major-general  of  the  militia ;  and  his  patriotic  neigh 
bors  assembled,  and  built  him  a  house  upon  the  ashes  of 
the  homestead  which  the  "  peace-men "  had  burned  as  soon 
as  he  left  for  the  war.  He  afterwards  often  represented  the 
town  in  the  General  Assembly. 

John  Sedgwick  was  a  generous,  manly,  vigorous  boy,  born 
to  command.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  entered  the  mili 
tary  academy  at  West  Point,  graduating  in  1837.  As  lieuten 
ant  of  artillery,  he  served  through  the  inglorious  Seminole 
War;  then  upon  the  northern  frontier  during  the  Canadian 
troubles ;  and,  when  slaveholders  plunged  us  in  the  war 
with  Mexico,  he  was  ordered  to  the  more  active  service. 
Here  'his  native  intrepidity  and  military  genius  began  to 
develop  themselves.  In  many  a  hot  fight,  his  gallantry  was 
conspicuous.  At  Contreras  and  Churubusco  and  Chapulte- 
pec,  he  obtained  the  reputation  of  the  bravest  of  the  brave. 
Promotion  rapidly  followed  merit.  In  1855,  he  obtained 
the  rank  of  major  in  the  1st  United-States  Cavalry. 

In  1860,  Major  Sedgwick  was  engaged  in  the  construction 
of  Fort  Wise  in  the  vicinity  of  Pike's  Peak.  He  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics ;  but  he  loved  his  country  far  better 
than  party ;  and,  when  war  broke  out,  he  threw  himself  into 
the  struggle  for  the  Union  with  all  the  earnestness  of  his 
nature.  He  was  appointed  to  succeed  Robert  E.  Lee  as 
colonel  of  the  4th  Regular  Cavalry.  Henceforth,  his  fame 
was  national;  for  he  was  found  wherever  blows  fell  heaviest 
and  fastest,  and  where  danger  was  most  imminent.  Accord 
ing  to  the  statement  of  the  Prince  de  Joinville  and  of  Gen. 
Richardson,  the  skill,  energy,  and  bravery  of  Sedgwick, 
then  brigadier-general,  was  mainly  instrumental  in  rescuing 
victoriously  our  army  imperiled  by  a  false  position  at  Fair 
Oaks.  Gen.  Richardson  says, — 

"  In  half  an  hour  more,  our  column  would  have  been  cut  in  two,  which 
would  have  secured  the  defeat  of  our  army.  The  danger  was  imminent. 
But  the  division  of  Gen.  Sedgwick,  advancing  at  quick  time,  came  up  at 
the  critical  moment,  and  formed  in  line  of  battle  in  the  edge  of  the  wood, 
at  the  skirt  of  a  large,  open  field.  At  this  point,  commencing  a  fire  of 


GENERAL  JOHN   SEDGWICK.  579' 

canister-shot  upon  the  head  of  the  column  from  his  twenty- four  pieces, 
he  staggered  it ;  and  the  division,  then  moving  down  in  line  of  battle, 
swept  the  field,  recovering  much  of  our  lost  ground." 

At  the  bloody  battle  of  Antietam,  Gen.  Sedgwick  was  in 
the  thickest  of  the  fight.  Twice  he  was  wounded  while 
attempting  to  rally  his  troops  and  hold  them  firm  where 
bullets  and  grape  swept  their  ranks  like  hail-stones.  Faint 
from  loss  of  blood,  ho  was  at  length  borne  in  an  almost  sense 
less  condition  from  the  field.  His  wounds  were  scarcely 
healed,  ere  he  was  again  in  the  saddle  and  on  the  field.  The 
shouts  of  his  troops  welcomed  their  beloved  commander 
back  to  the  campaign  of  Chancellorsville. 

Gen.  Hooker  knew  well  whom  to  trust  for  any  adventure 
which  required  the  bravery  of  desperation,  and  the  pru 
dence  of  the  coolest  brain.  To  him  and  his  renowned  com 
mand —  the  6th  Corps  —  was  assigned  the  part  to  storm 
and  hold  the  hights  of  Fredericksburg.  Heroically  the  gal 
lant  exploit  was  achieved. 

As  Sedgwick  entered  upon  this,  one  of  the  most  thrill 
ing  adventures  of  the  war,  he  said  to  his  men,  "Soldiers, 
the  occasion  demands  that  each  regiment  should  perform 
the  work  of  a  brigade." 

His  men  were  worthy  of  their  leader.  They  knew  how 
to  appreciate  their  general,  who  was  every  inch  a  soldier. 
His  courage,  his  quick  eye,  his  prompt  judgment,  his  ener 
getic  action,  his  sympathy  for  his  men,  and  the  self-sacrifice 
with  which  he  shared  their  toils  and  hardships,  won  for  him 
that  strongest  of  almost  all  earthly  love,  —  a  soldier's  heart. 

Sedgwick  was  never  married;  but  he  was  as  affectionate 
and  tender  as  a  woman.  His  fondness  for  his  home,  and  his 
love  for  his  ancestral  acres,  were  with  him  almost  a  passion. 
One  day,  standing  upon  his  doorstep,  he  looked  around  upon 
the  pleasing  landscape  before  him,  hallowed  by  all  the  as 
sociations  of  childhood,  and  exclaimed,  "  Is  there  another 
spot  on  earth  so  beautiful  as  Cornwall  Hollow  ?" 

As  a  soldier,  he  was  a  man  of  few  words,  but  of  great 
deeds.  Quiet,  unobtrusive,  unambitious,  he  excited  little 
envy ;  while  all  were  ready  to  do  homage  to  his  virtues  and 
his  genius.  Twice  he  was  offered  the  command  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  twice  he  refused  it. 


•  580  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

In  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Sedgwick  took  a  promi 
nent  part.  On  Monday,  May  9,  at  Spottsylvania,  he  was 
surveying  the  ground  to  find  a  good  position  to  post  his 
troops.  The  bullet  of  a  rebel  sharpshooter  whizzed  over 
his  head.  He  quietly  remarked,  "  They  can  not  hit  us  at 
such  a  distance,"  and  went  on  with  his  reconnoissance.  The 
next  shot  was  fatal.  The  bullet  struck  him  just  beneath  the 
left  eye,  and  passed  through  his  head.  He  fell  dead  without 
a  struggle  or  a  pang. 

Swinton,  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  says,  "  Sedg 
wick  was  the  exemplar  of  steadfast,  soldierly  obedience  to 
duty :  singularly  gentle  and  childlike  in  character,  he  was 
scarcely  more  beloved  in  his  own  command  than  throughout 
the  army.  The  loss  of  this  lion-hearted  soldier  caused  the 
profoundest  grief  among  his  comrades.  The  army  felt  it 
could  better  have  afforded  to  sacrifice  the  best  division." 

The  remains  of  the  hero  were  conveyed  tenderly  to  his 
friends  in  Cornwall,  escorted  by  Gov.  Buckingham,  our  del 
egation  in  Congress,  and  other  public  officers.  The  legisla 
ture  proposed  a  public  funeral ;  but  it  did  not  accord  with 
the  feelings  of  the  family  that  one  whose  life  was  so  simple 
should  be  buried  in  any  other  way  than  quietly  from  the 
home  ho  loved. 

The  funeral  ceremonies  were  solemnized  in  Cornwall, 
May  15.  Thousands  attended  from  all  the  surrounding 
towns;  and  his  pall-bearers  were  near  neighbors,  who  had 
known  him  from  a  boy.  Rev.  Charles  Wetherby  of  the  vil 
lage  church  preached  an  appropriate  sermon.  The  body  was 
enshrouded  in  the  American  flag.  No  military  salute  was 
fired  above  his  grave;  but,  as  the  body  was  lowered  to  its 
last  resting-place,  a  peal  of  thunder  like  the  roar  of  distant 
artillery  reverberated  along  the  heavens,  sounding  the  re 
quiem.  And  the  tired  soldier  rested. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry.  —  Severe  Service.  — Battle  of  Ashland.  — Brilliant  Per 
sonal  Encounter.  —  Bravery  and  Losses.  —  Battle  of  Cold  Harbor.  —  Charge  of  the 
Second  Connecticut  Artillery.  —  Terrible  Losses. — Death  of  Col.  E.  S.  Kellogg. — 
Casualties  of  the  Fourteenth.  —  The  Charge  of  June  3.  —  Losses  of  the  Eighth,  Elev 
enth,  and  Twenty-first  Connecticut.  —  Death  of  Col.  Burpee  and  Major  Converse.  — 
Organization  of  the  Thirtieth  Connecticut. 

0  sooner  had  Grant  moved  his  army  south-east 
ward,  down  the  Pamunkey,  than  Lee  withdrew 
south-eastward  along  the  front  of  its  right  flank. 
The  Union  cavalry,  corps  was  sent  to  the  right 
to  delay  the  movement  of  the  rebels.  During 
the  day  and  night  of  the  31st,  the  First  Connecticut  was  for 
eighteen  hours  on  the  dismounted  skirrnish-line,  near  Han 
over  Court  House.  About  dark,  as  they  were  exchanging 
occasional  shots,  a  general  advance  was  ordered.  "  We  had 
the  left  of  the  brigade-line,"  said  Major  Blakeslee,  "  and 
charged  rapidly  up  hill,  under  a  heavy  fire.  We  pushed  the 
enemy  at  every  point,  and  stood  on  the  line  all  night,  with 
out  relief."  The  fatigue  and  hunger  of  the  men  were  hardly 
diminished  by  the  compliment  of  Gen.  Mclntosh,  command 
ing  the  brigade.  "  I  must  have  a  resriment  on  the  left  that  I 

DO'  O 

can  trust :  the  First  Connecticut  must  stay  all  night." 

At  dawn  next  morning,  the  regiment  advanced  again 
towards  Ashland.  It  was  out  of  ammunition  ;  and  Major 
Blakeslee  sent  a  detail  to  obtain  a  supply.  They  returned 
in  two  hours,  having  been  unable  to  find  the  ammunition- 
train.  Another  was  sent  out,  returning  about  noon  with 
the  same  report.  The  major  then  sent  Lieut.  Henry  T. 
Phillips,  with  instructions  not  to  return  without  ammunition. 
That  energetic  officer  obtained  forty  rounds  to  a  man.  The 


681 


582  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

regiment,  having  been  in  front  the  clay  before,  was  now 
guarding  the  trains,  and  did  not  expect  a  fight.  But  the 
troops  behind  were  diverted  to  another  road,  without  warn 
ing  Major  Blakeslee  to  put  out  a  rear  guard. 

The  rebels  fell  back  rapidly  in  front,  and  the  column  ad 
vanced  ;  the  First  having  been  ordered  simply  to  "  support 
and  protect  the  battery,"  which  was  pushing  along  ahead  of 
the  regiment.  Suddenly  the  enemy  charged  upon  the  rear 
of  the  regiment,  among  the  servants  and  pack-animals.  A 
terrible  panic  ensued ;  the  led  horses  plunging  through  the 
ranks,  and  making  great  confusion.  A  wild  rush  followed  ; 
and  instantly  the  whole  road  was  jammed  full  of  a  struggling 
mass  of  terrified  horses  and  mules  (many  of  them  loose),  and 
mounted  servants  and  soldiers,  surging  forward  away  from 
the  furiously  firing  and  yelling  rebels  in  the  rear.  All  regi 
mental  and  company  order  was  lost.  Brave,  cool  men  were 
driven  along  in  the  rush  with  panic-stricken  ones  ;  and  the 
only  impulse  seemed  to  be  to  get  away.  Major  Blakeslee. 
by  the  aid  of  his  powerful  horse,  forced  a  passage  towards 
the  rear,  and  shouted, "  Open  right  and  left,  and  let  the  train 
through !  Form  line  in  the  woods,  on  both  sides  ! "  Most  of 
the  men  struggled  to  obey,  and  quickly  the  road  was  cleared. 
An  irregular  line  was  formed  on  both  sides.  A  rapid,  well- 
directed  volley  checked  the  enemy  ;  and  a  spirited  counter 
charge,  by  a  few  men,  drove  them  back  upon  their  reserves, 
—  a  brigade  of  rebel  cavalry,  under  Fitzhugh  Lee,  now 
concentrated  there.  In  this  charge,  Major  Blakeslee  had  a 
personal  encounter  with  one  of  the  rebel  horsemen.  He 
wrote  in  a  private  letter,  — 

"  I  was  somewhat  in  advance  of  my  men.  The  sudden  dash  of  the 
horses  had  somehow  —  I  have  no  distinct  idea  how  —  brought  this  rebel 
and  myself  side  by  side.  He  was  a  little  in  advance  of  his  men,  and  we 
met  about  midway  between  the  opposing  troops.  He  was  so  near,  that  I 
could  have  laid  my  hand  on  his  shoulder,  when  he  thrust  the  muzzle  of  his 
pistol  three  or  four  inches  from  my  right  side,  and  snapped  the  cap.  It 
missed.  As  quick  as  thought,  I  raised  my  pistol  to  his  left  side,  and  fired. 
He  fell  from  his  horse,  and  died  instantly.  I  saw  his  pistol  drop  from  his 
grasp  to  the  ground ;  and  I  did  what,  in  a  cooler  moment,  I  should  not 
have  done,  —  in  the  midst  of  bullets,  I  leaped  from  my  horse,  snatched 
the  pistol,  sprang  on  again,  and  led  his  horse  to  my  men.  I  gave  the  ani 
mal  to  Sergeant  Stephen  N.  Hinman  of  Woodstock,  who,  fighting  near  me, 
had  had  his  horse  shot  under  him  ;  but  I  kept  the  revolver  as  a  trophy. 


GALLANT  BEHAVIOR  OF  THE  FIRST  CAVALRY.    •  583 

The  whole  occupied  but  a  few  seconds.  How  narroAv  an  escape  I  had  may 
best  be  realized  from  the  fact,  that,  before  I  was  wounded,  I  fired  every 
chamber  of  that  revolver ;  and  the  last  one,  the  same  that  had  been 
snapped  at  me,  I  fired  at  the  man  who  wounded  me,  and  that,  too,  Avith- 
out  changing  the  cap." 

Capt.  Leonard  P.  Goodwin,  commanding  the  rear  squad 
ron,  fought  bravely,  ever  foremost  in  the  charge,  and  effi 
cient  in  rallying  the  men.  He  was  placed  in  command  at 
this  point,  while  Major  Blakeslee  galloped  forward  to  the 
cross-roads  to  rally  for  another  stand.  Capt.  Addison  G. 
Warner  now  returned  at  full  speed  with  the  absent  squad 
ron,  having  been  attracted  by  the  firing.  They  had  barely 
time  to  form  in  line,  when  back  rushed  Capt.  Goodwin's 
men,  swept  like  chaff  before  an  overwhelming  number.  The 
rebels  charged  down  two  of  the  roads  on  Warner's  position  ; 
but  the  Spencer  carbine  did  the  work.  The  squadron  stood 
splendidly,  and  resisted  the  onset,  and  turned  it  back.  Many 
saddles  were  emptied,  and  the  horsemen  took  to  the  woods 
discomfited.  Down  the  road,  in  another  minute,  charged 
another  rushing,  yelling  mass ;  but  their  fury  was  caught 
on  the  trusty  carbine,  and  a  score  of  yells  ended  with  the 
death-rattle.  Lieut.  Charles  E.  Briggs  was  struck  by  a  ball 
on  the  temple,  and  knocked  from  his  horse,  —  a  wound  from 
which  he  has  never  fully  recovered.  Lieuts.  W.  E.  Phillips, 
E.  M.  Neville,  and  E.  B.  Dyer  were  wounded.  Capt.  Warner 
was  shot  through  the  body.  Though  mortally  wounded,  he 
kept  his  saddle,  and  continued  to  rally  and  cheer  on  his  men 
with  determined  and  extraordinary  courage.  He  soon  re 
ceived  another  wound,  when,  faint  from  loss  of  blood,  he  fell 
from  his  horse,  and  died  gloriously.  Major  Marcy  now  took 
command  of  this  line,  to  resist  another  body  of  rebel  cavalry 
rushing  down ;  while  Major  Blakeslee  stationed  Color-Ser 
geant  Samuel  Whipple,  with  the  regimental  colors,  still  far 
ther  back,  and  there  rallied  another  line  of  battle ;  when 
Marcy  was  shortly  driven  again. 

In  this  rapid  and  fierce  way  of  fighting  on  a  run,  the  regi 
ment  formed  eight  or  ten  distinct  lines,  breaking  each  char 
ging  rebel  squadron,  which,  as  it  became  disorganized  by  the 
volleys,  scattered  to  the  woods,  and  swarmed  upon  the  flanks. 
So,  as  long  as  the  woods  continued,  it  was  impossible  to 


584     '  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

charge  in  return,  or  to  stand  long  in  a  place,  for  fear  of  being 
surrounded.  By  this  time,  the  favorite  battery  and  the  trains 
were  out  of  the  way,  saved  by  the  persistent  courage  of  a 
hundred  men. 

As  pursued  and  pursuers  came  out  into  the  open  fields, 
the  First  Cavalry  formed  to  charge,  under  a  scattering  fire 
in  front  and  flank.  At  this  juncture,  Major  Blakeslee  was 
severely  wounded  in  the  arm  and  side,  and  was  unable  to 
join.  With  a  shout,  the  troops  dashed  away,  headed  by 
Capt.  Joseph  Backus.  The  little  handful  pressed  forward 
into  the  very  midst  of  the  enemy,  driving  them  some  dis 
tance.  Lieut.  Uriah  N.  Parrnelee  of  Guilford  resolved  to 
capture  a  rebel  battle-flag  flaunting  in  front.  He  rode  far 
in  advance  of  any  of  -his  men,  and  got  so  near  the  flag,  that 
he  reached  out  his  hand  to  grasp  it,  when  a  rebel  soldier 
snatched  it  from  the  color-bearer,  and  held  it  beyond  Parme- 
lee's  reach.  Parmelee  wheeled  his  horse,  and  escaped  un 
hurt.  For  his  bravery  in  this  action,  he  was  promoted  to 
be  captain. 

The  regiment  was  soon  driven  back,  or  forward,  upon  the 
brigaderline,  when  the  rebels  charged  again  in  force ;  and  it 
took  the  united  exertions  of  all  the  cavalry  and  the  gun 
ners,  with  guns  double-shotted  with  canister,  to  drive  them 
permanently  back. 

Major  Blakeslee  remounted  as  soon  as  his  wound  was 
dressed,  and  remained  in,  the  saddle  until  two  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  but  so  weak  the  latter  part  of  the  time  as  to  need 
the  support  of  his  orderly's  arm.  He  had  eaten  nothing 
for  sixty  hours.  On  coming  to  a  halt,  he  was  placed'  in  an 
ambulance,  where  he  was  next  day  mustered  in  as  lieuten 
ant-colonel.  A  few  days  afterwards,  his  colonel's  commis 
sion  .came.  In  the  mean  time,  the  regiment  was  commanded 
by  Major  Marcy,  who  had  behaved  most  gallantly  in  the 
Ashland  fight. 

Capt.  Addison  G.  Warner  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
three-months'  service,  and,  on  returning,  taught  a  private 
school  in  Putnam,  where  he  married.  He  attained  much 
popularity  and  success  as  a  teacher ;  exhibiting  tact,  enthu 
siasm,  and  patience  combined.  But  the  call  to  the  field  was 


DEATH  OF   CAPT.   WARXER  AND   SERGT.   WHIPPLE.         585 

irresistible ;  and,  having  recruited  more  than  one  hundred 
men  for  the  First  Cavalry,  he  was  commissioned  captain 
in  January,  1864.  He  was  constitutionally  and  from  prin 
ciple  a  brave  man.  Sergeant  Alexander  McDonald  of  Nor 
folk,  who  assisted  him  on  the  field  after  he  was  wounded, 
writes  the  following  thrilling  account :  — 

"  I  was  only  a  few  feet  from  him  when  the  rebels  came  charging  upon 
us,  and  could  hear  his  calm,  bold  tone  of  command,  '  Stand  fast,  boys ! 
Give  it  to  them ! '  When  numbers  forced  us  to  retire,  and  brave  Major 
Blakeslee  rallied  us  again,  I  saw  Capt.  Warner  standing  about  a  dozen 
yards  iu  front  of  the  regiment.  I  rode  up,  and  asked  him  what  he  was 
doing  there.  He  said,  '  Mac,  I'm  wounded  in  the  shoulder.'  I  urged  him 
to  go  to  the  rear.  He  refused.  There  was  no  time  for  words ;  for  the 
regiment  swept  forward  again,  and  we  with  them.  The  captain,  regard 
less  of  his  wound,  was  again  foremost  in  the  fight,  and  held  his  ground 
when  it  became  a  hand-to-hand  contest.  We  were  for  a  moment  separated  ; 
when  Sergeant  Wheeler  called  out,  '  Mac,  captain's  wounded.'  In  a  moment, 
I  was  at  his  side.  His  first  wound  was  through  his  body,  close  under  his 
shoulder  :  that  he  did  not  seem  to  mind.  The  next  broke  his  leg  below  the 
knee,  and  he  was  unsteady  in  the  saddle.  Wheeler  caught  him  as  we 
turned  him  around,  —  almost  by  force  ;  for  he  insisted  on  facing  the  enemy. 
We  had  gone  but  a  few  steps,  when  another  ball  struck  him  in  his  thigh, 
severing  an  artery.  He  was  in  possession  of  all  his  faculties ;  but  he  did 
not  betray  pain.  A  moment  more,  and  a  ball  passed  through  his  head, 
coming  out  at  the  left  temple  ;  but  even  this  did  not  cause  instant  death. 
He  was  now  very  weak  ;  and  I  had  my  arm  around  him,  trying  to  guide 
the  horses  with  the  other.  We  struck  a  tree,  which  separated  us  ;  and  he 
fell.  His  foot  caught  iu  the  stirrup,  and  he  was  dragged  some  distance, 
until  the  horse,  by  kicking,  disengaged  him.  We  rallied,  drove  the  rebels 
back,  and  brought  the  captain  off.  I  took  his  head  on  my  lap,  and  asked 
him  if  he  knew  me.  '  Yes,  —  Mac,'  said  he.  '  Oh,  my  poor  wife  and  child  ! ' 
And  then  his  face  would  change,  and  he  would  cry,  '  Rally,  boys  !  —  rally  for 
the  old  flag  ! '  .  .  .  When  we  dug  the  grave  to  bury  our  heroic  command 
er,  the  bullets  flew  like  hail." 

Capt.  Warner,  says  Col.  Blakeslee,  was  "  brave  to  a  fault, 
active,  energetic,  and  faithful :  he  was  also  in  a  peculiar  man 
ner  the  friend  of  his  men.  He  spared  no  labor  for  them, 
and  secured  a  remarkably  strong  hold  upon  their  con 
fidence  and  esteem.  His  loss  was  sincerely  mourned  in  the 
regiment." 

Color-bearer  Samuel  S.  Whipple  of  Preston  was  shot 
through  the-body,  and  instantly  killed,  while  he  was  stand 
ing  in  the  middle  of  the  road  in  the  hottest  of  the  fight. 
Wrote  the  colonel,  "  He  was  a  brave,  faithful  man,  and 
carried  his  colors  as  proudly  and  coolly  in  the  heat  of  battle 
as  on  parade.  Let  his  name  be  remembered  with  honor ! " 

74 


586  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Private  Walter  Pierpont  of  New  Haven  was  also  particu 
larly  cool  and  brave,  and  fell  mortally  wounded  in  the  fury 
of  a  charge. 

Chaplain  Theodore  J.  Holmes  won  a  distinguished  name 
by  his  bravery  that  day,  —  a  reputation  which  he  always 
afterwards  maintained.  He  assisted  in  rallying  the  men, 
and  holding  them  to  the  fight ;  and  while,  with  his  hand 
uplifted,  he  was  exhorting  the  men  to  "  stand  for  the  honor 
of  Connecticut,"  he  was  shot  through  the  wrist  by  a  pistol- 
ball. 

Capt.  Edward  W.  Whitaker  was  at  this  time  upon  the 
staff  of  Major-Gen.  Wilson  ;  and  he  wrote  home,  "  This  Ash 
land  fight  has  become  the  crowning  one  in  establishing 
the  reputation  of  the  First  Connecticut.  In  the  camp-talk, 
the  greatest  compliments  are  paid  to  the  gallantry  of  both 
officers  and  men.  The  chaplain's  coolness  and  bravery  are 
noted  as  remarkable." 

Gen.  Wilson  afterwards  wrote  to  Col.  Blakeslee,  "  Your 
regiment  first  attracted  my  attention  by  its  gallantry  and 
steadiness  at  Ashland  Station.  Upon  this  occasion,  it  ex 
hibited  the  highest  qualities  of  courage  and  efficiency,  and 
succeeded  in  holding  the  enemy  in  check  until  the  rest  of 
the  brigade  could  get  into  position." 

As  Lee  fell  back  along  shorter  lines,  he  was  enabled  still 
to  keep  in  front  of  Grant,  and  cover  Richmond.  The  Con 
federate  army  was  soon  drawn  up  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Chickahominy  stream,  having  its  front  obstructed  by 
thickets,  and  cut  up  by  marshes.  Grant's  depot  of  supplies 
had  been  changed  from  Fredericksburg  to  White  House 
on  the  Pamunkey.  Gen.  W.  F.  Smith,  with  his  18th  Corps 
and  a  division  of  the  10th,  —  in  all  sixteen  thousand  men, 
—  had  re-inforced  the  Union  army  from  the  Army  of  the 
James. 

At  eight,  P.M.,  of  the  26th,  commenced  the  hardest  march 
the  Second  Artillery  ever  had  before  or  afterwards,  con 
tinuing  through  the  entire  night,  with  occasional  ten- 
minute  rests,  crossing  the  Pamunkey  near  Hanover  Town, 
and  halting,  at  noon  of  the  27th,  within  fifteen  miles  of 
Richmond.  Sergeant  Henry  P.  Milford  of  Cornwall  was 


CHAEGE    OF   THE   SECOND   ARTILLERY.  587 

sent  out  in  charge  of  the  pickets.  The  5th  Corps  and  the 
9th  under  Bnrnside,  which  had  joined  the  army  at  Spott- 
sylvania,  followed  the  6th  closely ;  and  Hancock's  2d  brought 
up  the  rear.  The  Fourteenth  Connecticut  Volunteers 
crossed  the  Pamunkey  at  four,  P.M.,  of  the  28th,  and  re 
mained  for  two  days  near  the  river  with  slight  changes  of 

*/  C5  O 

position. 

On  the  night  of  the  31st,  Wright's  6th  Corps  was  detached 
from  the  extreme  right  of  the  army,  and  directed  on  Cold 
Harbor,  which  had  now  become  a  point  of  strategic  value. 
Lee,  detecting  the  movement,  and  divining  its  purpose,  sent 
Longstreet  from  his  own  left  to.  seize  the  roads  in  front  of 
Cold  Harbor.  The  movement  and  dispositions  were  rapidly 
made ;  so  that  when  Wright  and  Smith  arrived,  on  June  1, 
the  rebels  were  behind  earthworks  in  the  edge  of  a  thick 
wood,  approachable  only  across  an  open  plain  several  hun 
dred  yards  in  width. 

The  Second  Connecticut  Artillery,  fighting  as  infantry,  was 
disposed  in  three  lines  as  follows  :  Companies  A,  B,  E,  and  K, 
forming  the  first  battalion,  under  Major  James  Hubbard;  Com 
panies  D,  F,  I,  and  M,  the  second,  under  Major  James  Q. 
Rice ;  and  Companies  C,  II,  G,  and  L,  the  third,  under  Major 
William  B.  Ells ;  the  whole  under  Col.  Kellogg.  The  regiment 
lay  in  mass  under  shelter  of  a  hastily-constructed  breastwork, 
about  four  hundred  yards  distant  from  the  front  line  of  the 
enemy,  whose  sharpshooters  and  artillery  kept  up  a  constant 
fire  frpm  the  direct  and  oblique  points.  The  Second,  though 
never  in  battle,  was  assigned  to  lead  the  brigade  of  veterans. 

At  five  o'clock,  the  order  to  charge  is  heard  ;  and  the  regi 
ment,  fourteen  hundred  strong,  springs  into  line.  Bayonets 
are  fixed  ;  but  no  caps  are  on  the  muskets,  which  are  at  port. 
Out  into  the  open  space,  and  steadily  forward  on  the  quick 
step,  press  the  men,  towards  a  re-entering  angle  of  the 
frowning  fortification,  where  a  battery  is  blazing.  From  the 
moment  the  charge  commences,  they  are  under,  an  irregular 
fire.  They  dash  across  an  open  field  into  a  growth  of  pines, 
emerging  again  into  a  partial  opening.  The  rebel  fire  in 
creases  here ;  men  fall  at  the  right  and  left ;  cannon-shot 
roar;  and  bullets  whistle :  yet  on  sweep  the  battalions  un- 


588  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

flinchingly  as  if  composed  of  the  veterans  of  a  hundred  fights. 
Lieut-Col.  James  Hubbard  says  in  his  official  report,  "  The 
rebel  fire  brought  men  to  the  ground  in  every  part  of  the 
line,  and  in  all  the  battalions.  The  ranks,  however,  were 
instantly  closed.  The  enemy  vacated  his  first  line  on  our 
approach,  and  retired  to  his  second.  The  first  battalion  came 
up  to  that  with  a  momentum  which  would  have  carried  it 
over,  had  not  its  progress  been  arrested  by  a  strong  abatis 
of  pine-boughs.  A  terrific  musketry-fight  ensued,  lasting  for 
half  an  hour." 

The  abatis  completely  stopped  for  a  time  the  advance  of 
the  regiment ;  and,  when  it  was  reached,  the  rebels  opened  a 
terribly  destructive  fire  from  their  intrenchments  not  more 
than  five  rods  distant.  Two  hundred  rebel  prisoners  were 
captured  by  the  first  battalion,  and  sent  to  the  rear. 

The  second  battalion,  about  thirty  rods  behind  the  first, 
and  the  third  just  behind  the  second,  lay  down,  and  sought 
whatever  protection  the  irregularities  of  the  ground  afford 
ed.  The  rebels  plied  the  position  with  musketry,  and  swept  it 
with  grape  and  canister.  Major  Ells  was  wounded,  almost 
by  the  first  fire.  Col.  Kellogg,  proud  of  his  men,  but  fearful 
lest  they  might  shrink  in  their  first  encounter,  was  in  ad 
vance  of  the  foremost  line,  his  towering  and  conspicuous 
form  making  him  a  target  for  the  bolts  of  the  enemy ;  and 
he,  too,  fell  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  fight,  pierced  with 
a  dozen  bullets.  He  was  a  model  soldier,  whose  equal  the 
regiment  never  before  or  afterwards  saw. 

There  were  no  Union  troops  upon  the  left ;  and  the  Confed 
erates  in  that  direction  and  in  front  poured  a  concentrated 
cross-fire  upon  the  wood  where  this  regiment  lay.  Every 
foot  of  ground  seemed  to  be  in  the  precise  range  of  musket 
or  cannon ;  and  within  the  first  ten  minutes  a  hundred  of  the 
first  battalion  were  killed  or  wounded.  Capt.  Luman  Wad- 
hams  was  killed.  The  companies  in  front  became  disorgan 
ized  and  broken  by  the  horrible  fire  which  they  could  neither 
resist  nor  endure ;  and  the  shattered  fragments  crept  back  to 
cover,  near  where  the  other  battalions  were  lying.  Only 
*  half  of  them  returned,  however ;  for  they  left  nearly  two 
hundred  bleeding  on  the  ground. 


SECOND   ARTILLERY   AND   FOURTEENTH  INFANTRY.         589 

This  position,  within  forty  rods  of  the  rebel  parapet,  was 
firmly  held  by  the  regiment,  and  quietly  intrenched.  The 
front  was  strewn  thickly  with  the  dead;  and  the  wounded 
lay  all  night  calling  for  help  and  for  water, —  calls  which  could 
be  heeded  only  at  the  imminent  risk  of  adding  to  their  num 
ber.  Next  morning,  the  Unionists  strengthened  their  ad 
vance  position,  and  made  another  charge ;  when  the  rebels 
retreated  to  intrenchments  twenty  rods  still  farther  south. 
The  Second  advanced,  and  occupied  the  vacated  line,  remain 
ing  in  possession  until  a  new  movement  was  ordered. 

The  sufferings  and  exposures  of  the  Second  Connecticut 
Artillery  and  the  Fourteenth  had  been  very  severe.  Col. 
Ellis  reported  on  June  7,  "  The  strength  of  the  regiment 
is  at  present  seven  commissioned  officers  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty  enlisted  men.  The  present  campaign  has  thus  far 
been  a  severe  one.  Since  its  commencement  to  the  present 
time,  the  regiment  has  been  in  line  of  battle,  and  under  fire, 
almost  every  day.  At  night,  we  have  almost  invariably 
bivouacked  in  line,  prepared  for  an  attack.  The  fatigues 
and  exposure  of  the  night-marches,  and  continual  encounters 
with  the  enemy,  have  been  extraordinary  ;  but  the  officers 
and  men  of  this  regiment  have  met  them  nobly  and  uncom 
plainingly,  cheerfully  bearing  all  the  hardships  they  have 
been  called  upon  to  endure.  Among  the  officers  especially 
noticed  for  their  gallantry  in  the  various  actions  in  which 
they  have  been  engaged,  I  would  mention  the  names  of 
Lieut-Col.  S.  A.  Moore  and  Adjutant  William  B.  Hincks." 

Adjutant  Hincks  was  especially  marked  for  his  bravery, 
capturing  personally  two  battle-flags  by  riding  in  advance 
of  the  regiment.  He  was  soon  promoted  to  be  major,  vice 
Major  J.  B.  Coit,  who,  having  received  a  severe  wound, 
resigned. 

Since  leaving  winter-quarters  at  Stony  Mountain,  six  weeks 
before,  with  barely  three  hundred  and  forty-five  officers  and 
men,  the  Fourteenth  had  lost  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  in 
killed  and  wounded,  —  more  than  forty-five  per  cent.  Of 
these,  three  officers  (Capt.  Fiske  and  Lieuts.  Wadhams  and 
Schalk)  and  twenty-three  enlisted  men  were  dead.  Among 
the  wounded  were  Lieut.-Col.  S.  A.  Moore,  Major  J.  B.  Coit, 


CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE  REBELLION. 

and  Lieuts.  William  Murdock,  Robert  Russell,  Newell  P.  Rock- 
wood,  L.  F.  Norton,  Samuel  H.  Seward,  and  George  H.  Lilli- 
bridge. 

Capt.  Samuel  Fiske  of  Madison  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
of  the  sons  of  Connecticut  killed  in  the  war.  He  was  born 
at  Shelburne,  Mass.,  in  1828.  He  was  early  taught  self-reli 
ance  ;  and  maintained  himself  through  Amherst  College  (the 
youngest  and  smallest  student),  graduating  with  the  second 
honors  of  his  class.  He  held  the  post  of  tutor  for  three  years, 
studying  meanwhile  for  the  ministry,  and  then  went  abroad. 
On  his  return,  his  letters  to  the  Springfield  Republican 
were  collected,  and  published  in  a  volume  entitled  Expert 
ences  in  Foreign  Parts.  By  Dunn  Browne.  It  was  the 
most  witty,  genial,  and  sparkling  volume  of  the  year.  Pro 
fessor  Tyler  of  Amherst,  in  a  memorial  address,  said  of  Fiske 
when  he  first  began  to  preach,  "  His  sermons  were  full  o*f 
thought,  full  of  illustration,  suggestive,  and  impulsive  to  a  rare 
degree.  They  were  also  inwardly  charged,  nigh  unto  burst 
ing,  with  wit  and  humor.  He  could  not  always  keep  his  wit 
and  genius  out  of  his  prayers.  His  prayers  were  not  like  any 
other  man's  prayers  :  his  sermons  were  not  like  any  other  per 
son's  sermons.  He  was  a  manifest  and  marked  original." 
He  was  afterwards  settled  in  Madison,  near  New  Haven, 
where  he  was  much  beloved  for  his  ingenuousness,  his  great 
ability,  and  his  consecration  to  his  work.  When  the  second 
call  for  troops  came,  he  felt  that  it  was  for  him ;  left  his 
pulpit,  and  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Fourteenth.  He  was 
soon  chosen  lieutenant,  and  promoted  to  be  captain.  He 
insisted  that  the  care  of  his  men  was  the  first  duty  of  an 
officer,  and  he  honored  the  theory  in  practice.  Never 
shrinking  from  service  in  camp  or  field,  he  yet  found  time 
to  be  an  historian,  as  well  as  a  hero  of  the  campaigns,  and 
photographed  the  most  striking  scenes  in  a  series  of  letters 
to  the  Springfield  Republican,  which,  for  truth  and  faithful 
ness,  wit  and  humor,  burlesque  and  pathos,  strangely  inter 
mingled,  have  no  superior  in  all  the  journalistic  literature 
of  the  war.1 

Capt.  Fiske  fell  at  the  head  of  his  company,  shot  through 

1  These  are  republished  in  a  piquant  volume  entitled  Dunn  Browne  in  the  Army, 
remarkable  for  its  graphic  pictures  of  soldier-life. 


CAPTAIN  FISKE  AND  LIEUTENANT   WADHAMS.  591 

the  collar-bone  and  top  of  the  right  lung.  He  rode  on 
horseback  to  the  hospital,  —  a  mile  to  the  rear,  — •  and  thence 
was  borne  to  Fredericksburg.  Those  who  loved  him  best 
were  summoned  to  his  side  ;  and,  amid  the  tears  of  his  friends 
and  associates,  he  gently  breathed  his  last,  just  at  the  close 
of  the  holy  Sabbath,  when  stillness  reigned,  and  Nature 
seemed  to  be  paying  him  a  last  tribute  of  respect. 

When  a  chill  came  over  him,  which  he  took  to  be  the  last, 
he  said  to  his  brother,  "Asa,  do  you  think  heaven  comes 
right  off?  I  shall  soon  know  all  about  it."  On  the  morn 
ing  of  his  death,  he  greeted  his  sister  with  the  salutation, 
"  To-day  I  shall  get  my  marching  orders :  well,  I  am  ready." 

Lieut.  Frederick  E.  Schalk  of  Norwich  died  in  the  hospital 
at  Fredericksburg,  of  wounds  received  at  Spottsylvania.  He 
was  in  the  three-months'  service,  and  afterwards  rose  from 
the  ranks  to  first  lieutenant  in.  the  Fourteenth.  He  was  vig 
orous  and  energetic,  yet  buoyant  in  his  disposition,  always  at 
his  post,  smiling  at  hardship,  and  meeting  peril  with  defiant 
courage. 

Lieut.  Henry  W.  Wadhams  was  one  of  three  stalwart, 
manly  brothers,  sons  of  Edwin  Wadhams  of  Litchfield,  all 
of  whom  enlisted  in  the  service,  and  were  killed  in  battle. 
Henry  volunteered  as  a  private,  and  was  promoted  for  faith 
ful  performance  of  duty.  He  had  passed  through  many 
dangers  unharmed,  and  advanced  with  alacrity  to  the  charge 
with  four  small  companies,  on  an  angle  of  the  enemy's 
works,  on  the  North  Anna.  He  led  on  his  men,  stimulating 
them  by  his  gallant  example,  —  on,  over  the  rebel  parapet, 
and  fell  within  the  enemy's  works,  pierced  by  a  bullet.  At 
dark  he  was  borne  off',  at  much  peril,  by  Sergeant  Junius  E. 
Goodwin  and  Thomas  Hannah.  He  suffered  intensely,  yet 
murmured  not.  Love  in  him  overcame  excruciating  pain ; 
for,  forgetting  his  suffering,  he  kept  saying,  "  0  my  poor 
wife  and  child!"  He  lived  a  few  hours, and  died,  murmuring 
still  of  the  gentle  and  patriotic  woman  who  had  not  opposed 
his  going  to  the  war. 

"  I  have  known  him  long  and  well,"  wrote  Capt.  William 
H.  Hawley,  "  and  can  truly  say  that  he  was  always  faithful 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duties ;  always  brave  and  trust- 


592  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

worthy ;  always  careful  of  his  men,  and  mindful  of  their 
wants."  And  one  of  the  faithful  soldiers  who  helped,  at 
great  risk,  to  bear  him  from  the  field,  says,  "  Sacred  be  his 
memory,  because  he  was  as  good  as  he  was  brave." 

The  Fourteenth  had  lost  more  than  twenty  brave  enlisted 
men,  whom  the  regiment  could  ill  afford  to  spare.  The  gal 
lant  color-bearer,  Henry  Lyon  of  New  Haven,  had  fallen ; 
and  Sergeant  Charles  M.  Scoville  of  New  Britain,  and  Wil 
liam  Glossinger,  and  the  fearless  Edwin  Stroud  of  Middle- 
town.  During  the  fight  at  Bristoe  Station,  Stroud,  single- 
handed,  captured  and  brought  in  five  armed  rebels  in  one 
squad. 

The  losses  of  the  Second  Connecticut  Artillery  at  Cold 
Harbor  had  been  heavier  in  killed  and  wounded  than  those 
of  any  other  regiment  from  this  State  in  any  battle.  Sev 
enty-five  killed  and  a  hundred  and  eighty-four  wounded  was 
the  total  footing ;  and  among  the  killed  were  Col.  Kellogg 
and  Capt.  Luman  Wadhams ;  and  among  the  wounded, 
Major  William  B.  Ells,  Capt.  James  Deane,  and  Lieuts.  B. 
H.  Camp,  H.  E.  Tuttle,  and  Calvin  B.  Hatch. 

Col.  Elisha  S.  Kellogg  was  born  in  Glastenbury,  Conn.,  in 
1824.  A  boyish  love  of  adventure  led  him  to  choose  the 
life  of  a  sailor.  For  many  years  he  was  buffeted  by  waves, 
and  disciplined  by  hardship,  until  he  grew  in  stature  robust 
and  vigorous ;  in  mind  honest,  sincere,  and  kind,  with  a 
certain  brusque  roughness  which  pertains  to  the  hardy  sail 
or.  He  went  out  to  California  in  search  of  a  fortune;  came 
back,  and  settled  in  the  pretty  and  enterprising  village  of 
Birmingham. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  our  State 
militia  will  remember  Lieut.,  Capt.,  Major,  and  Lieut-Col. 
Kellogg :  this  is  the  order  in  which  he  rose  from  rank  to 
rank,  until  he  was  acknowledged  one  of  the  best-drilled  sol 
diers  in  the  State. 

At  the  first  gun,  he  sprang  to  arms,  called  his  company 
about  him,  and  they  were  mustered  for  three  years  into  the 
Fourth  Regiment.  He  was  the  best  officer  in  the  regiment, 
until  Col.  Robert  0.  Tyler  came  and  saved  it.  After  serving 
gallantly  in  the  battles  on  the  Peninsula,  Major  Kellogg  was 


DEATH  OF   COLONEL  KELLOGG.  593 

transferred  to  be  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Nineteenth,  and 
ultimately,  as  has  been  seen,  succeeded  to  the  command.  He 
made  the  regiment  what  it  afterwards  became  as  the  Second 
Connecticut  Artillery.  On  the  1st  of  June,  he  went  boldty 
to  the  charge  at  Cold  Harbor.  Says  a  member  of  his 
staff,  "He  was  fully  impressed  with  a  sense  of  what  was 
before  us;  marked  out  on  the  ground  the  shape  of  the 
works  to  be  taken ;  told  the  officers  what  disposition  to 
make  of  the  different  battalions,  how  the  charge  would  be 
made ;  spoke  of  our  reputation  as  '  a  band-box  regiment.' 
Now  we  were  called  on  to  show  what  we  could  do  at  fight 
ing.  He  felt  confident  we  would  in  this  our  first  fight  estab 
lish,  and  ever  afterwards  maintain,  a  glorious  reputation  as  a 
fighting  regiment. 

"  We  were  soon  ordered  to  the  charge.  Col.  Kellogg  led  us 
in  bravely,  coolly,  and  steadily ;  taking  the  first  line  of 
works,  near  which  he  was  wounded,  he  pushed  steadily  on 
to  the  second  line,  and  called  on  the  '  boys '  to  capture  the 
fleeing;  rebels.  ,  .  I  went  to  the  left  of  the  battalion,  and 

o  ' 

on  the  way  passed  Col.  Kellogg:  his  face  was  covered  with 
blood  from  a  wound  in  the  cheek ;  he  was  cheering  on  the 
men.  On  reaching  the  main  works,  which  were  protected 
by  a  mass  of  felled  trees  and  limbs  piled  up  in  front,  our 
boys  could  not  get  over  them ;  and  there  they  halted,  firing 
over  the  obstructions.  The  galling  fire  of  the  enemy  at 
last  forced  our  line  to  give  way.  I  went  over  where  the 
center  had  rested,  and  there  my  worst  fears  were  realized. 
On  the  top  of  the  abatis  the  colonel  lay  dead  ;  and  near  him 
a  score  of  our  brave  boys  had  fallen.  He  was  shot  through 
the  head  just  above  the  ear,  —  two  shots  near  together:  he 
was  also  shot  in  the  arm  and  face.  He  fell  in  advance  of 
his  command,  leading  them  on ;  forgetting  his  own  safety,  and 
thinking  only  of  victory  over  the  traitors  to  his  country 
and  his  country's  flag." 

Gen.  Upton,  commanding  the  brigade,  said,  "That  he 
exposed  his  own  life  but  too  freely  is  well  known  to  all.  A 
brave  and  patriotic  officer  has  fallen  in  the  defense  of  his 
country :  he  has  done  much  for  the  honor  and  reputation  of 
his  native  State." 

75 


594  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE  REBELLION. 

Notwithstanding  the  vicissitudes  of  a  checkered  life,  the 
"immediate  jewel  of  his  soul"  had  been  preserved  untar 
nished.  He  was  a  man  of  good  conscience.  What  is  ordi 
narily  termed  "  manhood  "  was  his  distinguishing  trait  of 
character.  This  was  the  one  thing  never  to  be  sacrificed. 
Truth,  honor,  bravery,  sincerity,  were,  in  his  esteem,  car 
dinal  virtues :  these  were  his  idols.  Hypocrisy,  pretense, 
cant,  quackery,  were  his  abhorrence.  His  patriotism  was 
unbounded :  it  was  sublime  in  its  massive  strength  and 
grandeur. 

Exteriorly,  he  was  a  man  of  rough  mold,  yet  moved  by 
gentle  emotions  and  kindly  impulses.  He  possessed  a  quick, 
ardent  temperament ;  was  not  slow  to  anger ;  not  choice  in 
expletives  nor  careful  of  consequences  when  roused.  He 
cherished  no  malice. 

He  was  a  man  of  excellent  judgment ;  knew  how  to 
command  and  control  without  exciting  opposition  or  tardy 
compliance.  He  always  manifested  a  paternal  care,  which 
endeared  him  to  his  men,  and  a  capability  which  inspired 
confidence.  No  commander  ever  exacted  more  of  his  com 
mand,  or  held  their  hearts  in  a  firmer  bond  of  affection. 

Col.  Kellogg  was  a  most  unselfish  man :  the  story  of  his 
life  is  replete  with  tender  charities  and  kindly  ministrations. 
The  stern  warrior  who  could  tread  with  unfaltering  steps 
and  unblanched  cheek  along  the  fiery  front  of  battle  could 
also  bend  with  tearful  sympathy  over  the  victims.  And  so 
he  was  loved ;  and,  when  his  mortal  remains  were  laid  in 
the  pleasant  valley  at  Winsted,  a  thousand  hearts  turned 
tenderly  towards  the  grave. 

The  colonelcy  of  the  Second  was  now  offered  to  Lieut.-Col. 
James  Hubbard2  of  Salisbury;  but  he  declined  the  position. 
The  officers  nominated  Capt.  Ranald  S.  Mackenzie,  a  regu 
lar  army  officer  serving  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Wright ;  and  he 
was  accordingly  commissioned  colonel. 

Capt.  Luman  Wadhams  of  the  Second  Artillery  was  killed 
a  week  after  his  brother  Henry  fell  at  the  North  Anna.  He 
went  through  the  three-months'  service ;  was  afterwards  a 
lieutenant  for  seven  months  in  the  Eighth ;  and,  when  the 

2  Lieut.-Col.  Nathaniel  Smith  had  resigned  on  May  6,  on  account  of  disability. 


CASUALTIES  AT  COLD  HARBOE.  595 

Nineteenth  was  called  for,  he  raised  a  company,  and  led  it  to 
the  field.  Capt.  Wadharas  loved  his  men,  and  did  all  he 
could  to  help  them.  When  on  duty,  he  was  their  officer ;  at 
other  times,  their  friend.  He  seldom  punished  his  men  ;  yet 
they  were  seldom  in  the  guard-house.  If  a  man  was  disor 
derly,  he  called  him  aside,  pointed  out  the  offense,  and  tried 
to  inculcate  the  duties  of  a  soldier.  He  governed  mainly  by 
strengthening  self-respect  in  his  men.  They,  in  turn,  felt  for 
him  the  most  enthusiastic  affection,  and  found  many  ways 
by  which  to  testify  their  high  appreciation.  On  one  occa 
sion,  they  presented  to  him  a  valuable  sword.  In  speaking 
of  the  gift,  Capt.  Wadhams  said,  "  That  was  given  me  when 
I  had  been  with  the  boys  a  year  and  a  half;  when  they  knew 
me  and  I  knew  them  well.  For  that  reason,  I  prize  it."  None 
were  braver  than  he  at  Cold  Harbor.  "  I  can  never,"  writes 
Capt.  E.  W.  Marsh,  "  forget  his  bearing  as  he  led  us  to  the 
charge.  His  commanding  figure,  his  determined  step,  and 
electric  glance,  told  that  he  was  nerved  to  his  responsible 
work ;  and  his  men  emulated  his  example." 

In  the  moment  of  success  he  fell,  pierced  through  the 
body.  His  devoted  men  sprang  to  his  assistance,  and  bore 
him  to  the  rear,  where  he  soon  expired.  His  body  was 
buried  at  Litchfield  with  Masonic  honors,  sixteen  weeks  after 
his  wedding-day.  And  one  soldier  expressed  the  feelings  of 
all  as  he  wrote, "  When  I  heard  that  our  dear  captain  was 
dead,  I  could  not  keep  from  crying."  Precious  ointment  for 
the  brow  of  a  dying  officer  are  the  tears  of  his  men. 

In  this  bloody  struggle  had  fallen  many  noble  men  who 
held  no  commissions.  Here,  in  the  Second  Regiment,  fell 
Joseph  P.  Parke,  A.  C.  Morse,  Benjamin  Meeker,  G.  W.  Pot 
ter,  Walter  C.  Sparks,  David  J.  Thorpe,  R  W.  Daniels,  Wil- 
lard  Hart,  Alonzo  J.  Hull,  George  L.  Beach,  Henry  A.  Rex- 
ford,  Samuel  E.  Gibbs,  Joseph  B.  Payne,  George  H.  McBarney, 
Charles  Adams,  jr.,  and  half  a  hundred  others  as  worthy  and 
as  brave.  Nathan  H.  Geer  of  Bristol  lost  his  leg  in  this 
fight,  and  suffered  three  amputations.  He  lived,  was  dis 
charged,  graduated  with  honor  at  the  Hartford  Commercial 
College,  and  was  on  the  point  of  marriage,  when  ab- 
cesses  formed ;  and  he  died  two  years  after  the  battle.  Two 


596  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

brothers,  Sergeant  James  A.  Greene  and  Stephen  S.  Greene 
of  Colebrook,  were  mortally  wounded  here,  and  died ;  one  on 
the  following  Tuesday,  and  the  other  on  Wednesday.  They 
were  brave  and  manly  young  soldiers,  earnest  and  upright 
in  their  lives.3 

When  partial  success  had  crowned  this  fight  for  the  pos 
session  of  Cold  Harbor  on  the  left,  Grant  and  Lee  rapidly 
disposed  their  armies  for  the  coming  grapple.  The  Union 
force  was  drawn  up  on  the  night  of  June  2  :  Hancock  on  the 
left,  then  Wright,  then  Smith,  with  Warren  and  Burnside  on 
the  right.  Gen.  Robert  0.  Tyler  commanded  the  reserve  ar 
tillery.  The  plan  of  battle  was  simple,  and  similar  to  that 
of  Spottsylvania,  —  a  general  assault  with  the  bayonet  along 
the  whole  front  of  six  miles,  to  be  made  in  column  by  divis 
ion,  at  half-past  four  next  morning.  All  caps  were  removed 
from  the  muskets.  "  It  was  not  later  than  forty-five  minutes 
past  four  when  the  whole  line  was  in  motion,  and  the  dark 
hollows  between  the  armies  were  lighted  up  with  the  fires 
of  death.  It  took  hardly  more  than  ten  minutes  of  the  fig 
ment  men  call  time  to  decide  the  battle.  There  was  along 
the  whole  line  a  rush,  the  spectacle  of  impregnable  works,  a 
bloody  loss,  then  a  sullen  falling-back ;  and  the  action  was 
decided." 4 

In  this  charge,  Brig.-Gen.  R  0.  Tyler,  while  gallantly  lead 
ing  his  command,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  leg,  and  car 
ried  off  the  field.5  Three  of  his  regimental  commanders 
were  killed. 

8  A  third  brother,  George,  had  died  in  the  naval  service  a  year  before. 

*  Swinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

5  Gen.  Tyler  received  a  furlough;  and,  while  detained  in  Connecticut  by  his  wound, 
he  was  presented  by  his  friends  with  a  handsome  sword  costing  a  thousand  dollars,  and 
before  returning  to  the  army  was  brevctted  major-general  "  for  great  gallantry  at  Cold 
Harbor."  The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  letter  accompanying  the  sword  :  "  Of 
the  during  and  steady  endurance  of  the  division  which  followed  you,  with  courage  undis 
mayed,  to  triumph  at  Spottsylvania,  your  commanding  general  has  already  assured  the 
country ;  and  the  wound  which  still  detains  you  from  active  service  attests  your  personal 
gallantry  during  the  brilliant  charges  at  Cold  Harbor.  While  you  arc  again  at  your  home, 
we.  a  few  of  your  friends,  have  united  in  presenting  to  you  the  sword  and  equipments  which 
accompany  this  letter  as  a  testimonial  of  our  high  admiration  for  the  honorable  distinc 
tion  you  have  won  in  the  many  engagements  of  this  protracted  contest. 

"M.  M.  Merriman ;  Roland  Mather ;  Edmund  G.  Howe;  N.  Shipman ;  II.  A.  Per 
kins  ;  James  L.  Howard  &  Co.  ;  J.  H.  Trumbull ;  Albert  Day,  Sons,  &  Co.  ;  W.  II.  D. 
Callendcr ;  J.  C.  Colcman  ;  R.  Swift ;  Watson  Beach  ;  Charles  M.  Beach ;  James  Dixon ; 
H.  L.  Porter;  J.  M.  Nilcs ;  A.  G.  Hammond;  Thomas  Smith  ;  J.  G.  Rathbun  ;  Charles 
H.  Prentice;  J.  C.  Parsons  ;  W.  T.  Lee;  E.  Flower;  J.  A.  Butler;  Lucius  Barbour; 
William  II.  Post ;  N.  Kingsbury  &  Co. ;  Collins  Brothers  &  Co. ;  Griswold,  Seymour, 


MAJOR  JOSEPH  H.   CONVERSE.  597 

The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first  Connecticut  were 
in  the  charge  with  Smith's  corps ;  and  their  losses  had  been 
heavy  within  those  few  minutes. 

The  Eighth  was  least  exposed,'  being  held  as  a  reserve, 
Capt.  Charles  M.  Coit  in  command.  Its  losses  were  eight 
killed  and  thirty  wounded.  Sergeant  Albion  D.  Brooks  was 
among  the  dead.  He  was  a  thoroughly  exemplary  man, 
and  was  studying  for  the  ministry  when  the  war  broke  out. 
He  promptly  enlisted  as  a  private,  and  re-enlisted  as  a  vet 
eran  ;  reading  the  Greek  testament  and  studying  Hebrew  in 
the  leisure  of  his  service.  He  was  widely  lamented. 

Col.  Stedman  had  led  his  brigade  bravely  in  the  terrible 
onset.  In  a  private  letter  written  at  the  time,  he  said,  "  We 
formed  in  the  woods  in  solid  columns.  I  gave  the  command, 
'  Forward  ! '  We  started  with  unloaded  muskets  and  fixed 
bayonets.  I  was  the  first  to  enter  the  open  field  and  see  the 
enemy's  lines,  —  a  curve.  I  bade  farewell  to  all  I  loved.  It 
seemed  impossible  to  survive  that  fire ;  but  I  was  spared, 
while  the  officers  of  my  staff,  who  followed  me  closely,  were 
struck  down.  We  reached  a  point  within  thirty  yards  of  the 
enemy's  main  works ;  but  the  fire  was  too  murderous,  and 
my  men  were  repulsed.  We  left  the  woods  with  two  thou 
sand  men  ;  injive  minutes  we  returned,  six  hundred  less  !" 

The  Eleventh  had  lost  nine  killed  and  seventy-five  wound 
ed.  The  colonel  escaped  with  several  bullet-holes  through 
his  coat.  Major  Converse,  Capt.  Amos  S.  Allen,  and  Adju 
tant  Samuel  C.  Barnum,  were  mortally  wounded,  and  soon 
died. 

Major  Joseph  H.  Converse  of  Windsor  Locks  was  born  at 
Stafford,  of  vigorous  and  enterprising  New-England  ancestry. 
He  prepared  for  college,  but  did  not  enter.  When  the  first 
call  came,  he  enlisted  in  the  first  company  from  the  State, 
and  served  faithfully  as  orderly  sergeant  of  Company  A.  He 
then  prepared  himself  for  an  efficient  officer,  and  went  out 
as  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  Eleventh.  From  rank  to  rank 
he  rose  gradually  by  his  own  merits.  He  was  a  good 

&  Co. ;  E.  Fessenden  ;  E.  S.  Cleveland ;  Moore  &  Johnson ;  E.  N.  Kelloerg  &  Co. ; 
R.  Burkett ;  Samuel  S.  Ward  ;  T.  M.  Allyn  ;  H.  &  W.  Keeney  ;  Tudor  Brownell  ; 
Bolles,  Sexton,  &  Co  ;  Gurdon  Trumbull  ;  E.  K.  Root  ;  Cheeney  Brothers ;  Owen, 
Day,  &  Root ;  Richard  S.  Ely ;  J.  G.  Batterson  ;  W.  C.  Alden ;  H.  T.  Sperry  ;  Marshall 
Jewell ;  E.  P.  Allen. 


598  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

scholar,  and  of  refined  literary  tastes  ;  and  his  letters  to  the 
Hartford  Press,  descriptive  of  the  battles  of  Newberne,  An- 
tietam,  Fredericksburg,  &c.,  are  among  the  best  war-sketches 
published  in  the  State.  He  was  adjutant  to  Col.  Kingsbury 
at  Antietam,  and  was  within  a  month  promoted  to  be  major, 
for  skill  and  conspicuous  valor  on  that  occasion.  He  wished 
to  remain  with  his  regiment,  but  was  frequently  detailed  to 
service  requiring  scholarly  attainments.  At  Cold  Harbor 
he  was  serving  as  aide  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Martindale.  Col. 
Stedman  (shortly  afterwards  to  fall  as  suddenly)  wrote  to 
the  father  of  Major  Converse,  after  the  battle,  — 

"  I  was  waiting  in  the  edge  of  the  woods,  my  brigade  hav 
ing  the  advance.  Major  Converse  rode  up,  and,  shaking 
hands,  said, '  Colonel,  the  general  sends  his  compliments,  and 
says  all  is  ready.'  We  parted,  —  he  to  rejoin  the  general,  I 
into  the  open  field.  As  we  appeared  to  the  enemy,  a  volley 
met  us,  and  in  it  the  major  fell.  I  was  not  aware  of  his  fate 
until  my  return.  I  had  then  seen  all  my  own  staff  killed  or 
wounded,  and  five  hundred  of  the  gallant  brigade  fallen.  I 
was  told  by  the  general  that  Converse  had  gone  too.  It 
was  a  sad  blow  to  me ;  for,  through  three  years  of  hard  ser 
vice,  we  had  been  comrades  and  intimate  friends." 

When  told  that  his  wound  was  fatal,  he  only  said,  u  I  am 
ready  to  go."  Dr.  N.  Mayer,  who  knew  him  well,  has  thus 
written,  "Allow  me  a  few  words  on  his  character.  He 
was  a  good  representative  of  his  age  and  nation.  Without 
agreeing  with  any  school  of  transcendentalists,  he  was  essen 
tially  a  protestant,  a  protester  against  established  systems 
and  customs.  He  fully  realized  the  state  of  transition  which 
the  present  age  and  our  nation  is  in ;  and  his  satire  flashed 
up  broad  and  indignant  against  the  fetters  that  yet  are  tim 
idly  thrown  around  us,  because  the  clear  aim  and  result  of 
our  progress  can  not  now  be  foreseen.  He  had  infinite 
humor,  yet,  under  the  comic  mask,  wore  a  strong,  feeling 
heart.  He  loved  well,  and  hated  strongly.  It  was  easy  for 
him  to  enter  on  the  views  and  feelings  of  any  person,  and 
from  that  person's  standpoint  contemplate  subjects,  yet  not 
lose  his  individuality.  He  was  a  prompt  officer,  very  abso 
lute  and  strict;  not  familiarly  popular,  but  always  trusted 


SCENES  AFTEK  THE  BATTLE.  599 

and  well  obeyed.  His  character  was  fast  rooted  in  resolute 
firmness  and  incorruptible  integrity,  and  adorned  with  na 
tive  courtesy  and  an  exquisite  sense  of  honor." 

One  year  before,  learning  that  Capt.  Samuel  Hayden,  a 
high-minded  and  gallant  friend,  had  fallen  at  the  battle  of 
Irish  Bend,  La.,  he  uttered  from  his  heart  this  touching 

'  '  O 

tribute,  "His  devotion  to  the  cause  which  he  deemed 
sacred,  and  his  bravery,  have  been  most  sadly  attested  by 
his  death.  The  character  that  he  maintained  as  a  citizen 
needs  no  eulogium ;  but  on  the  grave  of  that  Christian  spirit, 
far  away  on  the  bank  of  the  Teche,  a  younger  soldier  would 
fain  lay  his  laurel-wreath,  and  carve  on  the  tombstone  of  the 
gallant,  Dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  patria  mori ! "  Thus 
unconsciously  did  he  pen  words  most  appropriate  for  his 
own  epitaph. 

Of  Lieut.  Barnum,  Chaplain  H.  C.  De  Forest  wrote,  — 
"He  was  Col.  Stedman's  adjutant>general,  always  at  his 
side,  and  therefore  always  in  danger  if  duty  became  dan 
gerous.  We  thought  it  would  prove  not  a  permanent  injury, 
nor  lead  to  amputation.  His  patient  endurance  deceived  us ; 
for  his  fortitude  in  enduring  was  not  surpassed  by  his  brav 
ery  in  receiving  the  wound.  But  we  now  mourn  him  also. 
He  died  among  his  friends,  who  attended  him  in  those  last 
days ;  but  he  always  had  friends  wherever  he  had  acquaint 
ances."  Of  the  hospital,  next  day,  he  continues,  — 

"  There  Major  Converse  was  dying.  By  his  side  was  the  adjutant,  smil 
ing,  without  a  groan  or  murmur,  but  pale.  Not  far  away,  but  on  the  open 
hillside,  where  the  morning  sun  was  striking,  lay  brave  Capt.  Allen,  his 
wound  for  hours  undressed.  Near  him  was  Lieut.  Horn,  wounded  in  the 
shoulder ;  and,  on  the  same  rubber  blanket,  Lieut.  Pray,  hit  by  a  ball  that 
had  become  weary  in  its  mission  of  death.  That  noble,  manly  sergeant 
was  George  B.  Covell  of  Killingly  ;  and  in  his  death,  which  soon  followed, 
we  lost  one  of  the  best  and  truest  and  firmest  patriots.  For  him  the  chap 
lain  mourns.  If  there  was  a  sabbath  service,  or  a  meeting  for  prayer  and 
song,  Sergeant  Covell  was  there.  With  him  would  be  Sergeant  James 
Souter,  his  friend  and  ours,  who  fell  so  heroically,  and  was  left  on  the  field. 
...  In  the  work  of  the  night,  Lieut. -Col.  W.  C.  Moegling's  belt  and  pis 
tol,  following  the  strategy  of  the  campaign,  had  slid  to  the  left.  In  the  gray 
of  the  morning,  a  rebel  sharpshooter  had  spied  him  as  he  stood  at  our 
advance-line  recoimoitering  with  his  glass.  He  aimed  well.  The  ball 
struck  the  misplaced  pistol,  and  though  it  tore  the  pistol,  cleaving  wood 
work  from  iron,  and  left  its  mark  on  coat  and  person,  yet,  by  this  displace 
ment,  a  mortal  blow  was  turned  away." 


600  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

The  Twenty-first,  Col.  Thomas  F.  Burpee  commanding, 
went  gallantly  to  the  charge,  leading  a  brigade  in  the  second 
line.  The  regiments  of  Gen.  Marston,  in  advance,  were  soon 
broken  by  the  terrible  fire ;  but  the  Twenty-first  held  the 
ground  with  great  steadiness,  and  a  new  line,  a  little  in  the 
rear,  was  formed  and  maintained  under  a  heavy  fire.  The 
regiment  suffered  a  loss  of  nine  killed  and  forty  wounded. 
Col.  Burpee  was  mortally  wounded  at  daybreak,  on  June  9, 
while  going  the  rounds  as  brigade  officer  of  the  day.  Lieut. 
Luther  N.  Curtis  was  wounded  dangerously  in  the  neck ; 
and  Color-Bearer  J.  F.  Cowles,  severely  in  the  side. 

Col.  Burpee  was  a  native  of  Tolland  County,  and  before 
the  war  was  a  quiet  and  unpretending  citizen  of  Rockwell. 
He  enlisted  a  company  for  the  Fifteenth  Regiment,  and  was 
chosen  captain.  He  was  soon  transferred  to  be  major  of  the 
Twenty-first,  and  then  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-colonel. 
He  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  regiment  faithfully ;  and,  on 
the  death  of  Col.  Button,  was  promoted  to  be  colonel.  His 
letters  tell  of  his  character.  He  wrote,  "Tell  Louise"  (a  sis 
ter  whose  eldest  son  had  enlisted  in  the  Fourteenth)  "not  to 
be  over-anxious  about  William.  I  should  rather  see  him  sac 
rificed  for  a  holy  principle  than  to  see  him  remain  in  inglo 
rious  waiting  at  a  time  like  this.  The  Lord  has  said, '  Who 
soever  will  save  his  life  shall  lose  it  ; '  and  this  has  often  been 
the  case  in  this  accursed  Rebellion.  The  lofty  inspiration  of 
this  cause  is  worth  living  a  lifetime  to  feel ;  and,  if  I  had  a 
thousand  lives,  I  would  not  withhold  one  of  them.  Should  I 
be  laid  in  the  grave,  remember  our  heavenly  Father  doeth 
all  things  well.  Look  on  the  bright  side,  and  the  bright  side 
only.  God  bless  you  and  the  children ! " 

To  the  sister  above  mentioned,  whose  son,  William  Good- 
ell,  had  fallen  bravely  fighting  at  Gettysburg,  he  wrote, 
"  Nothing  can  be  untimely  which  is  ordered  by  an  all-wise 
God.  The  blow  which  laid  him  low  welded  our  hearts  to 
our  country's  cause.  The  sacrifice  of  suffering  and  blood 
which  he  poured  out  sanctified  to  us  its  soil." 

Col.  Burpee's  last  letter  was  written  in  the  trenches,  at 
that  period,  about  the  5th  of  June,  when  portions  of  the  hos 
tile  lines  lay  within  a  few  yards  of  each  other ;  and  it  breathes 


ANOTHER  REGIMENT  OF   COLORED   SOLDIERS.  601 

the  same  spirit.  He  said, "  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to 
die ;  and  it  matters  little  when  or  where  if  we  are  prepared, 
and  engaged  in  duty." 

The  Second  Connecticut  stubbornly  held  the  place  it  had 
won.  The  Fourteenth  was  not  heavily  engaged  in  the  charge, 
being  in  reserve.  Col.  Ellis  was  at  this  time  detailed  to 
command  the  camp  at  Annapolis,  Md.,  which  important  posi 
tion  he  held  during  the  summer ;  fortifying  the  place  when  it 
was  menaced  by  Early's  raid. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th,  regular  siege-approaches  were 
begun,  running  zig-zag  towards  the  rebel  works,  nearer  and 
nearer  day  by  day.  During  the  following  week,  the  army 
saw  little  rest.  Again  we  quote  from  a  letter  of  Col.  Sted- 
man,  written  in  the  trenches  :  — 

"  Our  life  in  the  trenches  is  like  this :  first,  the  trench  is  a 
long  passage,  as  its  name  indicates,  running  in  a  direction 
with  reference  to  the  enemy's  works.  The  earth  is  thrown 
towards  the  enemy  ;  and  this,  with  the  trench  or  ditch,  forms 
a  protection  some  eight  feet  high.  The  trench  is  eight  or  ten 
feet  wide  :  in  this  the  troops  remain,  unable  to  leave  it  on 
account  of  the  enemy's  sharpshooters.  The  officers  dig  holes 
in  rear  of  the  trench,  in  which  our  spare  time  is  passed. 
Like  a  rabbit,  the  soldier  burrows  deeper  and  deeper  as  dan 
ger  increases.  At  least  one-third  of  the  troops  are  constantly 
on  duty ;  and  at  night  we  are  all  on  the  alert." 

On  the  12th,  this  work  was  abandoned ;  and  Grant  again 
swung  off  to  the  left  to  join  the  Army  of  the  James. 


During  the  preceding  fall,  another  regiment  of  colored  sol 
diers  was  called  for  in  Connecticut ;  and  the  organization  soon 
began,  under  the  designation  of  the  Thirtieth.  They  gathered 
slowly  at  the  United-States' rendezvous  at  Fair  Haven  during 
the  winter  of  1863-64.  Capt.  Henry  C.  Ward,  who  had  served 
most  efficiently  as  adjutant  of  the  Twenty-fifth  during  its 
term  of  service,  was  appointed  to  be  colonel  of  the  Thirtieth. 
Among  its  other  officers  from  Connecticut  were  Capt.  George 
Greenman  of  Norwich,  Capt.  Charles  F.  Ulrich  of  Hartford, 
Capt.  R  Cecil  Barrett  of  Somers,  Capt.  William  C.  Williams 


70 


602  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

of  Rocky  Hill,  and  Capt.  Ira  S.  Smith  of  New  Haven.  In  Feb 
ruary,  1864,  the  battalion  was  addressed  by  Frederick  Doug 
lass,  the  colored  orator  from  Rochester,  N.Y.  It  finally  left 
New  Haven  without  its  minimum  complement  of  men ;  and  in 
June,  near  Cold  Harbor,  it  was  consolidated  with  another  bat 
talion  as  the  United-States  31st.  During  the  next  week,  they 
were  detailed  as  a  guard  for  two  or  three  thousand  prisoners, 
to  whom  the  situation  was  very  trying. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

After  Cold  Harbor.  —  The  First  Cavalry.  —  To  Petersburg.  —  Exploit  of  the  Eighth.  — 
Charge  of  the  Eleventh.  —  The  Second,  Fourteenth,  and  Twenty-first.  —  The  Sixth, 
Seventh,  Ninth,  and  Tenth  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  —  Wilson's  Eaid.  —  The  First 
Cavalry.  —  Bold  Hide  of  Capt.  Whitaker.  —  Incidents.  —  First  Connecticut  Artil 
lery.  —  Siege- Work  of  the  Summer.  —  Battle  of  Strawberry  Plains.  — The  Thirtieth 
Connecticut  at  the  Mine.  —  Death  of  Col.  Stedman  and  Lieut.-Col.  Moegling. 

EEP  to  the  left"  was  Grant's  constant  formula 
of  command ;  and  every  swing  brought  him 
nearer  to  Richmond.  A  change  of  base,  which 
Napoleon  called  "  the  ablest  maneuver  taught  by 
military  art,"  was  achieved  by  Grant  and  Meade, 
after  Cold  Harbor,  with  masterly  skill  and  complete  success. 
One  by  one  the  corps  were  withdrawn  from  the  right,  and 
sent  to  the  rear  and  left.  The  right  was  thus  gradually  and 
cautiously  refused,  and  the  line  developed  towards  the  lower 
crossings  of  the  Chickahominy.  In  the  mean  time,  Wilson's 
division  of  cavalry,  which  included  the  First  Connecticut, 
was  sent  around  the  rebel  right,  straight  on  Richmond.  By 
this  ruse,  Lee  was  deceived,  and  withdrew  his  army  rapidly 
towards  the  capital  to  intercept  what  he  supposed  to  be 
Grant's  direct  advance  by  the  left.  Wilson's  cavalry,  after 
seizing  and  holding  Long  Bridge,  on  the  Chickahominy, 
dashed  towards  Richmond,  and  drove  the  rebel  cavalry  and 
infantry  across  White-oak  Swamp.  Here  the  First  Connec 
ticut  was  in  a  spirited  engagement.  Hard  and  continuous 
skirmishing  followed  for  several  days,  while  the  infantry 
corps  marched  rapidly  across  the  Peninsula  to  the  James. 

On  the  morning  of  June  10,  while  the  First  was  on  picket, 
the  rebel  cavalry  made  a  dash  upon  the  line  of  the  18th  Penn 
sylvania,  and  penetrated  to  the  post  held  by  Capt.  Joseph 


603 


604  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

Backus.  Major  Marcy,  in  his  official  report,  says,  "Capt.  Jo 
seph  Backus  made  a  gallant  defense  with  his  little  band ;  but 
he  was  overpowered  by  superior  numbers,  and  would  not  re 
treat,  and  was  shot  down ;  the  ball  passing  through  his  body, 
and  killing  him  instantly.  Then  his  squadron,  having  lost 
their  leader,  retired  to  the  protection  of  the  infantry.  The 
brigade  was  immediately  called  out,  and  drove  the  rebel 
cavalry  back  behind  their  intrenchments.  The  body  of 
Capt.  Backus  was  found  lying  in  the  road,  where  he  fell, 
stripped  of  every  thing  but  his  shirt.  I  willingly  bear  testi 
mony  to  his  soldierly  and  manly  qualities.  He  was  a  brave 
and  hio-h-toned  gentleman ;  and,  in  losing  him,  the  regiment 

O  O  '  '  <~>  '  CJ 

was  deprived  of  a  superior  officer,  and  the  State  of  a  noble 
ornament.  He  was  truly  loyal,  having  enlisted  in  the  regi 
ment  as  a  private  soldier,  and  by  his  own  merit  won  his 
position  as  captain  commanding  a  squadron." 

Joseph  Backus  was  a  resident  of  Hebron,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  he  had  re-enlisted  for  three  years.  While  he 
was  a  sergeant,  he  was  asked  if  he  did  not  regret  having 
enlisted ;  and  his  prompt  reply  was,  that  he  should  never 
regret  it  if  he  lost  all  his  limbs  in  the  service.  After  the 
battle  of  Ashland,  he  wrote,  "  My  horse  was  shot  from 
under  me ;  but,  mounting  another  that  came  in  from  the 
rebel  lines,  I  was  again  ready  for  the  fight.  I  just  escaped 
capture,  as  a  rebel  officer  ordered  me  to  halt  and  surrender ; 
but  I  turned,  and  fired  at  him.  It  is  a  wonder  that  I  did  not 
get  hit ;  but,  fortunately,  I  did  not  receive  that  compliment, 
or  get  the  honor  of  the  slightest  wound.  But  my  turn  may 
come.  I  do  not  wish  you  to  worry  about  me.  If  it  is  my 
lot  to  fall  in  battle,  so  let  it  be.  I  shall  be  content.  I  am 
determined  to  do  my  whole  duty.  I  shall  never  be  taken 
prisoner.  I  shall  sell  life  as  dearly  as  possible." 

He  went  wTith  Kilpatrick  on  his  celebrated  raid  into  Rich 
mond  ;  and,  in  the  battle  near  that  city,  two  bullets  passed 
through  his  clothing.  He  sent  home  a  flower  "picked  within 
two  miles  of  Richmond,  and  inside  the  outer  intrenchments." 
He  started  from  the  Rapidan  with  ninety  men  in  his  com 
pany,  and,  after  thirty-six  days  almost  continuous  fighting, 
he  fell ;  leaving  but  fifteen  survivors  on  duty.  Lieut.  H.  J.  0. 


ADVANCE  TOWAEDS  PETEESBUEG.  605 

Walker  of  Mystic  wrote  of  him,  "  A  nobler,  truer,  more 
generous  friend  could  not  be  found.  He  was  beloved  and 
respected  by  every  one  in  the  regiment  for  his  gentlemanly 
bearing  and  manliness,  and  for  his  superior  soldierly  qualities. 
The  men  of  his  company  loved  him,  and  placed  the  utmost 
confidence  in  him ;  and  he  gave  promise  of  soon  attaining  a 
much  higher  position  in  the  regiment.  Brave  to  a  fault, 
always  ready  and  willing  to  perform  any  duty  assigned  to 
him,  no  matter  how  tedious  or  dangerous,  he  was  constantly 
eliciting  praises  from  all,  and  had  made  a  reputation  that 
any  might  be  proud  to  win." 

Smith's  (18th)  corps  took  transports  at  White  House,  and 
arrived  at  Bermuda  Hundred  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the 
army,  on  June  14.  Being  here  joined  by  Kautz's  cavalry  divi 
sion,  Smith  advanced  directly  towards  Petersburg  via  Point 
of  Rocks.  Hinks's  colored  division  rushed  on,  and  carried  the 
first  line  of  works  in  a  spirited  manner;  capturing  one  gun 
and  several  hundred  prisoners.  On  reconnoitering,  the  main 
position  was  found  to  be  defended  by  a  strong  line  of  redans, 
partially  covered  by  formidable  rifle-pits.  The  artillery  of 
the  works  swept  the  broad,  low  valley.  Smith  determined 
to  charge  with  a  heavy  line  of  skirmishers ;  which,  at  seven, 
P.M.,  of  the  15th,  were  thrown  forward  from  his  three  divisions. 
Under  a  sharp  infantry-fire,  they  carried  the  line.  Hinks's 
colored  troops  took  four  redoubts  on  the  left,  while  Brooks's 
and  Martindale's  divisions  captured  the  important  works  on 
the  salient.  The  rebels  held  their  fortifications  on  the  right, 
and  farther  to  the  left. 

The  Eighth  Connecticut  was  again  conspicuous  in  this 
advance.  Col.  John  E.  Ward  had  not  yet  been  able  to  re 
turn;  Lieut-Col.  M.  B.  Smith  was  in  hospital;  there  was  no 
major;  and  the  senior  captain,  H.  M.  Hoyt,  was  on  the  staff 
of  the  brigade  commander:  so  Capt.  Charles  M.  Coit  com 
manded  the  regiment,  now  in  Brooks's  division.  In  his 
report  of  the  movements  of  these  days,  Capt.  Coit  says, — 

"  The  line,  advancing,  drove  the  enemy  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  through  the 
woods,  at  which  point  their  strong  fortifications  were  discovered.  The  men, 
covering  themselves  as  much  as  possible  by  the  trees  on  the  left,  and  a 
thick  jungle  on  the  right,  advanced  as  close  to  the  works  as  these  afforded 
shelter,  and  kept  up  a  deliberate  fire  on  the  enemy's  works  ;  and  our  right 


606        CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

were  enabled  to  almost  entirely  silence  the  artillery  in  the  strong  fort  in 
their  front.  About  noon,  the  enemy  charged  upon  the  center  of  our  line, 
but  were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss.  At  six  o'clock,  P.M.,  the  two 
companies  (G- and  K),  armed  with  Sharpe's  rifles,  occupying  the  center  of 
our  line,  having  during  the  day  expended  their  sixty  rounds  of  ammunition, 
and  being  unable  to  procure  an  additional  supply  of  that  caliber,  were  re 
lieved  by  two  companies  of  the  118th  New-York  Volunteers.  At  seven 
o'clock,  P.M.,  in  accordance  with  orders  from  Gen.  Burnham,  command 
ing  brigade,  the  skirmish-line  —  the  13th  New-Hampshire  on  the  left,  and 
the  eight  companies  of  the  Eighth  Connecticut  Volunteers,  with  the  detach 
ment  of  the  118th  New- York,  on  the  right — advanced,  and,  charging 
upon  the  enemy's  works,  captured  them,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty 
prisoners  and  five  field-pieces." 

Chaplain  Moses  Smith  wrote  of  this :  — 

"To  cross  the  open  ground,  descend  into  the  ravine  in 
front  of  the  works,  and  then  attempt  to  enter  a  well-built, 
and,  as  was  supposed,  a  well-manned  fort,  seemed  certain 
death.  But,  strange  to  tell,  as  the  line  advanced,  few  men 
fell ;  and  the  skirmishers  alone  charged  up  the  embankment, 
leaped  over  the  parapet,  and  captured  guns,  colors,  men,  and 
all,  before  the  line  of  battle  could  come  up.  We  are  told 
that  Gen.  Smith,  as  he  saw  the  result  from  an  eminence 
near  by,  leaped  and  shouted  for  joy ;  adding  that  he  felt  like 
giving  a  commission  to  the  whole  regiment  that  had  done 
that  gallant  deed." 

In  the  middle  of  Smith's  line,  also  in  Brooks's  division,  was 
the  Twenty-first  Connecticut,  commanded  by  Capt.  James  F. 
Brown,  in  the  absence,  in  hospital,  of  Lieut-Col.  Hiram  B. 
Crosby  and  Major  Charles  F.  Stanton.  The  regiment  was 
held  closely  in  reserve,  ready  to  participate  in  the  fighting, 
if  it  became  severe. 

The  Eleventh  Connecticut  was  in  Martindale's  division,  in 
a  brigade  led  by  Col.  Griffin  A.  Stedman,  and  composed  of 
six  large  regiments.  The  division  advanced  along  the  Appo- 
mattox,  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  corps ;  and  the  Eleventh 
Connecticut  occupied  the  left  of  the  brigade-line,  and  was 
under  command  of  Lieut-Col.  William  A.  Moegling.  The 
regiment  rushed  forward  across  the  plain,  over  a  creek  and 
numerous  ditches,  steadily  driving  back  the  rebels  until 
within  thirty  yards  of  the  rifle-pits.  Here  a  stand  was  made ; 
but,  after  a  short  engagement,  the  rebels  were  driven  to  their 
main  intrenchments.  Just  as  Col.  Stedman  was  about  to 


ADVANCE  TOWARDS  PETERSBURG.  607 

storm  the  works  under  a  heavy  fire,  the  brigade  was  relieved, 
and  sent  to  the  left  to  assist  the  colored  troops  to  hold  the 
position  they  had  taken. 

Every  consideration  urged  a  prompt  renewal  of  the  assault 
at  early  dawn.  This  was  Smith's  intention ;  but,  not  being 
properly  supported  by  Hancock,  he  felt  compelled  to  wait, 
while  Lee  hurried  forward  his  army,  and  threw  a  large  force 
into  Petersburg.  It  subsequently  appeared  that  Smith  might 
have  captured  the  city  with  his  own  corps,  had  he  advanced 
promptly  and  resolutely. 

In  the  mean  time,  Stedman's  brigade  was  again  relieved, 
and  returned  to  the  right ;  Stedman  sending  a  scouting-party 
along  the  river-bank.  During  the  day  (the  16th),  being  in 
formed  that  Hancock  would  attack  at  six,  P.M.,  on  the  ex 
treme  left,  Martindale  moved  forward  as  a  feint  on  the  right. 
Col.  Stedman  advanced  his  brigade,  and,  after  hard  skirmish 
ing,  took  possession  of  infantry-parapets  and  a  bastion  on  the 
left  of  the  road.  The  Eleventh  was  again  on  the  skirmish- 
line.  After  a  while,  it  having  become  evident  that  the  attack 
had  failed,  the  division  was  withdrawn  to  the  position  of  the 
morning. 

Col.  Ellis  says,  in  his  official  report  of  the  service  of  the 
Fourteenth,  "Early  on  the  morning  of  June  16,  the  skirm 
ishers  of  our  brigade  advanced  upon  the  enemy,  driving  their 
skirmishers  back  for  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  ob 
taining  a  much  better  position,  besides  capturing  about  fifty 
prisoners.  Our  loss  was  very  small.  Private  John  Geatley 
of  Bridgeport,  in  this  advance,  captured  with  an  unloaded 
gun  three  armed  rebels,  and  brought  them  in  as  prisoners. 
In  the  afternoon,  upon  the  skirmish-line,  the  same  man 
wounded  two  rebels,  one  of  them  apparently  fatally. 

"Upon  the  17th,  our  brigade  was  moved  to  the  left  with 
instructions  to  support  Gen.  Barlow's  division.  At  night, 
we  were  instructed  to  advance  our  line  nearer  to  the  enemy's 
position.  The  regiment  did  this  in  good  style,  moving  for 
ward  through  a  dense  and  thickly-wooded  swamp,  driving  in 
the  enemy's  skirmishers,  and  taking  up  a  position  about  fifty 
yards  in  front  of  their  line,  and  opening  upon  them  an  effect 
ive  fire.  We  held  this  position  for  two  or  three  hours,  when, 


608  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   EEBELLION. 

owing  to  the  failure  of  troops  upon  the  left  to  connect,  we 
were  ordered  to  withdraw." 

At  five,  P.M.,  on  the  17th,  the  Twenty-first  was  ordered,  with 
other  troops,  to  the  left,  to  support  a  charge  on  the  inner 
line  of  defenses  before  the  city.  The  next  day,  Brooks's 
division,  containing  the  Eighth  and  Twenty-first,  was  relieved, 
and  held  in  reserve. 

It  was  now  resolved  to  make  a  more  vigorous  assault  next 
morning,  the  18th,  though  by  this  time  Beauregard  had  re 
ceived  heavy  re-inforcements.  The  Union  line  ran  thus  from 
right  to  left:  Martindale's  and  Hincks's  division  of  Smith's 
corps,  Wright's  corps,  Hancock's,  Burnside's,  and  Warren's. 
There  were  in  line  of  battle  the  Second  Connecticut,  the 
Eleventh,  and  the  Fourteenth. 

The  right  of  Col.  Stedman's  brigade  in  the  morning 
reached  to  the  Appomattox,  and  the  left  extended  nearly  to 
the  City-Point  Railroad.  The  Eleventh,  Lieut.-Col.  Moegling 
commanding,  was  deployed  as  skirmishers  to  cover  the  front 
of  the  entire  brigade.  Stannard's  brigade  followed  as  a  re 
serve.  The  6th  Corps  joined  on  the  left.  The  men  ad 
vanced  through  the  open  oat  and  corn  fields,  continually  ex 
posed  to  the  enemy's  artillery,  across  a  most  difficult  ravine, 
beyond  which  a  long  line  of  the  rebel  intrenchments  were 
brought  to  view.  White  puffs  of  smoke,  and  the  sharp  crack 
of  rifles,  showed  that  the  advance  was  to  be  contested.  The 
Eleventh  steadily  advanced  without  firing,  a  considerable 
number  of  wounded  falling  to  the  rear ;  and  in  a  few  mo 
ments  more  the  skirmishers  rushed  into  the  rebel  works 
as  the  occupants  fled  to  their  second  line. 

A  brisk  fire  was  opened  on  the  retreating  rebels,  which 
was  returned  with  spirit  and  severity.  Soon  the  skirmishers 
were  ordered  to  charge,  and  advanced  with  a  cheer ;  broke 
the  enemy's  line,  captured  a  rebel  major  and  thirty  men,  and 
dislodged  the  rest,  who  retreated  in  great  confusion.  The 
regiment  was  now  far  ahead  of  the  6th  Corps,  and  its  left 
flank  was  exposed  and  without  support ;  yet  so  earnest  was 
the  purpose  of  Col.  Stedman  to  capture  Petersburg  that  day, 
that  he  ordered  the  advance  resumed.  The  spires  of  the 
coveted  "  Cockade  City"  were  now  in  full  view,  and  the  men 
dashed  on  with  another  shout. 


THE  ATTACK  REPULSED.  609 

They  were  shortly  confronted  by  a  stubborn  line  of  battle. 
The  skirmishers  halted  under  a  withering  fire,  and  awaited 
support.  The  sixty  rounds  brought  in  the  morning  had  long 
been  exhausted,  and  the  want  was  supplied  by  ammunition 
captured  at  the  rebel  defenses. 

Stannard's  brigade  came  up,  and  the  advance  was  resumed  ; 
the  enemy's  line  firing  rapidly,  and  falling  back  within  the 
strong  defenses.  Here  a  charge  was  made  upon  the  breast 
works  at  a  double-quick,  along  the  whole  line  ;  but  it  failed 
utterly.  Night  coming  on,  Stedman's  men  made  a  line  of 
rifle-pits,  using  as  intrenching  tools  their  bayonets,  cups,  and 
plates.  They  constructed  a  line,  which  covered  them  from 
the  enemy's  fire ;  and  all  through  the  darkness  of  that  night 
of  weariness,  but  not  of  sleep,  the  rebels  could  be  heard 
busily  at  work  strengthening  their  intrenchments.  Firing 
was  kept  up  at  intervals  all  night.  Hungry,  and  worn  with 
fatigue,  the  Eleventh  kept  its  place  in  the  advance  until  ten 
o'clock  next  morning;  when  it  was  relieved  and  fell  back. 

The  Second  Connecticut,  nearer  the  center  of  the  line,  as 
soon  as  it  was  dark  enough  to  cover  the  movement,  was 
'taken  into  the  front  line,  near  the  enemy,  —  only  a  single 
wheatfield  intervening.  Here  they  lay  all  night  and  the 
next  day,  scooping  up  the  dirt  into  earthworks ;  and  .every 
man  who  raised  his  head  made  it  a  target  for  a  rebel  sharp 
shooter.  Several  men  were  killed  and  wounded  here.  When 
night  again  came,  they  were  recalled  to  a  line  a  few  rods  in 
the  rear,  where  they  were  hardly  less  exposed  ;  for  the  rebels 
had  artillery  and  musketry  range  in  front  and  flank.  At 
dark  they  were  relieved. 

The  Fourteenth  Connecticut  was  in  the  second  line,  and 
its  losses  were  only  one  killed  and  four  wounded. 

In  the  fighting  of  the  three  days,  ending  with  the  repulse 
of  the  18th,  the  Eleventh  had  lost  five  killed  and  fifty-four 
wounded-.  Among  the  severely  wounded  were  Capt.  Ran 
dall  H.  Rice,  Lieuts.  David  A.  Hoag  and  Smith  ^S.  Gilbert, 
and  Sergeants  David  B.  Mansfield,  John  B.  Butler,  and  Mar 
shall  Kenyon. 

Among  the  killed  was  Capt.  William  H.  Sackett  of  Hart 
ford.  He  had  served  faithfully  in  the  three-months'  service, 

77 


610  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

and  was  appointed  to  a  second  lieutenancy  in  the  Eleventh. 
He  was  promoted  after  the  battle  of  Newberne,  and  again 
for  gallantry  at  Antietam.  For  several  months,  he  was  de 
tailed  to  Connecticut  in  charge  of  recruits,  but  rejoined  the 
regiment  before  Petersburg.  In  the  fight  of  Friday,  June 
17,  he  received  a  wound  in  his  right  arm  ;  "  and  though  "  (as 
he  says  in  a  letter  to  a  friend)  "  suffering  much  from  it,  I  shall 
not  allow  it  to  keep  me  from  the  command  of  my  company." 
Chaplain  De  Forest,  in  a  letter,  said,  "  In  Capt.  Sackett's 
death  we  have  lost  a  most  heroic,  devoted,  and  efficient  offi 
cer.  He  did  not  expect  to  survive  this  terrible  campaign. 
He  seemed  to  have  a  presentiment  of  death.  He  gave  di 
rections  for  the  disposal  of  his  effects,  and  the  embalming  of 
his  body.  This  foreboding,  which  proved  too  true,  did  not 
diminish  his  noble  courage.  He  fell  in  the  thickest  of  the 
fight,  —  a  heroic  leader  among  heroic  men.  His  death  was 
easy  :  without  a  struggle,  he  fell  into  the  arms  of  a  brother 
officer,  and  expired." 

The  Eighth  had  lost  two  killed  and  seventeen  wounded. 
"  Of  the  dead,  Sergeant  Fitz  G.  Hollister  was  as  worthy  a 
man  as  ever  graced  the  ranks  of  the  Eighth.  He  was  diffi 
dent,  but  intelligent ;  retiring,  but  influential,  and  faithful 
even  unto  death,  both  to  God  and  his  country.  He  is  em 
balmed  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  really  knew  him.  Dead,  he 
yet  lives." l 

Col.  William  C.  Moegling,  in  a  report  at  this  time,  said, 
"  Since  the  9th  of  May,  the  Eleventh  has  been  under  fire 
twenty-three  times,  and  has  lost  four  hundred  men  in  action, 
and  over  one-half  of  its  officers :  it  has  marched  many  miles, 
with  but  very  few  stragglers,  and  has  always  done  its  duty 
without  flinching.  The  health  of  the  command  at  present  is 
excellent,  although  the  heat  is  intense,  and  the  duty  in  the 
trenches  very  hard  in  consequence." 

The  casualties  of  the  Twenty-first  had  been  light.  The 
regiments  were  alternately  in  the  front  and  rear  lines.  "  We 
spend  forty-eight  hours  in  the  trenches,"  wrote  Col.  Stedman, 
"  then  retire  for  rest  to  a  deep  ravine  in  rear  of  our  works." 
On  June  24,  he  wrote,  — 

1  Letter  of  Chaplain  Moses  Smith. 


PEISONEES  TAKEN  BY  THE   TENTH.  611 

"  Last  night,  we  came  from  the  front  line,  and  are  now  in  the  third  ; 
giving  the  troops  an  opportunity  to  pitch  their  shelter-tents.  I  enjoy  this 
wild,  hard  life.  But  one  thing  makes  me  sad,  —  the  loss  of  so  many 
friends.  Yesterday,  I  learned  that  Adjutant  Barnum's  leg  had  been  ampu 
tated  ;  and  to-day,  that  he  is  dead.  I  loved  him  very  dearly.  Always 
cheerful  and  happy,  he  was  a  most  efficient  officer,  and  a  perfect  gentle 
man.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  heard  him  utter  a  word  that  he  might  not  say 
to  ladies  ;  and,  as  I  once  told  him,  I  consider  that  the  best  rule  for  one's 
guidance  is  never  to  say  or  do  among  men  what  would  be  improper  before 
a  mother  or  sister." 

During  the  night  of  the  21st,  the  Second  Connecticut  was 
marched  with  Wright's  corps  off  to  the  extreme  left,  to  -  par 
ticipate  in  the  attack  next  morning  upon  the  line  of  the 
Weldon  Railroad.  After  a  rest,  the  regiment  moved  on  into 
an  open  lot;  immediately  forming  in  line  of  battle.  This 
was  now  the  extreme  left  of  the  army,  the  2d  Corps  joining 
upon  the  right.  In  a  few  minutes,  the  rebel  pickets  were 
encountered,  and  a  lively  skirmish  ensued;  the  regiment 
losing  six  killed,  seven  wounded,  and  six  missing.  Col. 
Mackenzie  lost  two  fingers.  The  men  quickly  improvised 
a  breastwork  of  rails,  and  held  the  line,  the  rebels  retiring. 
Thick  woods  enveloped  the  place.  The  next  day,  the  troops 
were  maneuvered  back  and  forth,  feeling  the  ground  and 
securing  positions.  The  Second  Regiment  remained  near 
here  some  weeks ;  and  the  position  was  never  abandoned. 

Butler,  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  had  attempted  to  intercept 
and  turn  back  the  re-inforcements  which  Lee  was  hurrying 
forward  for  the  rescue  of  Petersburg.  On  the  night  of 
June  15,  while  the  Tenth  was  picketing  at  the  extreme 
right  of  the  line,  next  the  James,  the  enemy's  line  appeared 
very  weak.  Lieut.-Col.  Greeley,  commanding  the  regiment, 
pushed  forward  his  vedettes,  and  re-inforced  them  with  the 
pickets.  His  report  says,  — 

"  We  engaged  the  enemy,  and  drove  him  from  his  rifle-pits  ;  taking  as 
prisoners  three  commissioned  officers  and  twenty-six  men,  with  thirty  stands 
of  small-arms.  We  then  advanced,  and  took  possession  of  the  enemy's 
main  works  ;  he  having  fallen  back  into  a  second  line.  I  then  brought 
up  my  reserves,  and  again  advanced  the  skirrnish-line  ;  and,  after  a  sharp 
engagement,  drove  the  enemy  from  this  line,  and  took  possession  of  it  also. 
Subsequently,  Sergeant  Sayers  of  Company  K,  with  two  men,  while  out  as 
scouts,  captured  five  prisoners.  The  regiment  held  this  position  until  the 
return  of  the  1st  Division,  under  Brig.-Gen.  Terry,  from  the  Petersburg 
Pike  ;  when  it  was  withdrawn  to  a  position  near  the  Weir-bottom  Church. 


612  CONNECTICUT  DURING    THE  REBELLION. 

At  about  four,  P.M.,  Pickett's  division  charged  on  our  rifle-pits,  but  was 
easily  repulsed." 

On  June  17,  simultaneously  with  Hancock's  assault,  Terry 
threw  his  division  forward  from  the  intrenchments  to  the 
Richmond  and  Petersburg  Railroad.  The  Sixth,  Seventh, 
and  Tenth  were  engaged  in  this  expedition.  By  some  mis 
take,  the  rebels  had  withdrawn  from  the  front;  and  one 
brigade  proceeded  to  destroy  the  track  and  communications, 
while  the  rest  pressed  on  towards  Richmond.  These  last 
soon  met  a  heavy  column  under  Longstreet ;  and  the  divis 
ion  fell  back  to  the  intrenchments  after  heavy  skirmishing. 
The  Sixth  lost  in  this  affair  five  killed,  sixteen  wounded,  and 
eighteen  missing.  Among  the  severely  wounded  were 
Lieuts.  Clovis  E.  Hammond,  Sylvester  Davis,  and  William 
H.  Reynolds.  Capt.  Charles  H.  Nichols  was  among  the 
captured. 

On  June  22,  Gen.  Wilson,  with  his  own  division  of  cavalry 
and  half  of  Kautz's,  cut  loose  from  the  left  of  the  army  in 
front  of  Petersburg,  and  started  on  his  great  raid,  —  to  cut 
the  rebel  communications  south *and  west  of  Richmond.  In 
the  absence  of  Col.  E.  Blakeslee,  wounded  at  Ashland,  the 
First  Connecticut  Cavalry  was  led  during  this  expedition, 
gallantly  and  well,  by  Major  George  0.  Marcy. 

The  force  marched  via  Reams's  Station,  striking  the  Lynch- 
burg  Road  at  Ford  Station,  and  proceeding  westward  towards 
Lynchburg.  The  road  was  completely  destroyed ;  and  at 
Mehering,  the  command  struck  the  Danville  Road,  the  main 
reliance  of  the  rebel  army.  Richmond  was  now  nearly  east. 
From  this  point,  they  continued  down  the  Danville  Road  to 
Roanoke,  destroying  it  thoroughly  all  the  way.  Here  the 
enemy  contested  the  passage.  "  Seventy-five  men  and  two 
commissioned  officers  were  called  for  from  the  First  Connec 
ticut  Cavalry  to  take  the  railroad  bridge  spanning  the  river 
at  this  point.  It  was  considered  a  forlorn  hope,  and  this  was 
the  regiment  honored  by  the  selection  of  the  men  to  com 
pose  it.  Capt.  J.  B.  Morehouse  commanded  this  detach 
ment  ;  and  Lieuts.  Alfred  V.  Burnham  and  Edwin  M.  Neville 
were  selected  to  accompany  him.  That  gallant  body  of  men 
who  started  off  that  night,  knowing  that  they  were  going  on 


THE  FIRST  CAVALKY  IN  GEN.   WILSON'S  KAID.  613 

a  desperate  errand  the  result  of  which  might  be  fatal  to  each 
and  all  of  them,  can  not  be  sufficiently  honored  by  their 
State.  The  accomplishment  of  the  affair  was  considered 
such  a  desperate  undertaking,  that  the  order  was  counter 
manded,  and  Capt.  Morehouse  with  his  men  returned  to  the 
regiment  the  next  morning."2 

The    force    now   turned  their  faces    towards   Petersburg 

o 

again.  There  had  been  little  rest  thus  far,  and  little  food. 
All  the  sleep  the  men  had  was  generally  snatched  while 
lying  at  their  horses'  heads.  An  immense  amount  of  damage 
had  been  done.  "  On  the  night  of  the  25th,  Gen.  Wilson, 
finding  himself  in  a  precarious  situation,  from  which  there 
must  be  immediate  escape,  moved  his  whole  command,  at 
midnight,  through  a  ravine  within  five  or  six  hundred  yards 
of  the  enemy's  guns,  planted  upon  bluffs  on  either  side. 
The  movement,  from  its  very  audacity,  was  not  suspected 
nor  discovered  till  our  forces  were  well  out  of  the  emer 
gency,  started  in  the  direction  of  Black's-and-White's  Sta 
tion.  On  the  morning  of  the  26th,  the  First  Connecticut  was 
ordered  forward  to  hold  the  bridge  over  the  Mehering  River, 
which  they  did  effectually  till  the  main  column  came  up 
early  on  the  27th;  when  the  march  was  resumed  to  Notto- 
way  River,  and  thence  to  Stony  Creek."3 

Here  a  large  force  of  rebel  infantry  showed  itself,  disputing 
the  crossing  of  the  Petersburg  and  Weldon  Road.  Gen.  Wil 
son  immediately  engaged  them,  but  was  repulsed.  Finding 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  force  his  way  through,  he  sent 
Kautz  with  the  trains  by  a  circuitous  route  to  the  left,  to 
Reams's  Station,  supposed  to  be  by  this  time  in  possession  of 
the  Union  troops.  "  Wilson's  division  protected  the  passage, 
and  brought  on  two  fierce  night-attacks  of  infantry,  both  of 
which  the  division  repelled ;  the  men  being  dismounted,  and 
protected  by  breastworks  of  rails  thrown  up  at  the  moment 
by  themselves.  The  First  Connecticut  held  the  center  of 
this  line ;  and  in  the  interval  between  the  two  attacks,  most 
of  the  trains  having  passed  by,  one  regiment  after  another 
was  quietly  withdrawn  from  behind  these  temporary  barri 
cades,  so  that  when  the  last  attack  was  made  no  regi- 

8  Official  Report  by  Major  Marcy.          8  Narrative  by  Chaplain  T.  J.  Holmes. 


614  CONNECTICUT   DUEING   THE   EEBELLION. 

ments  were  left  to  withstand  it  but  the  First  Connecticut 
and  1st  Vermont.  Major  Ives  commanded  the  left  of  our 
line,  and  I  commanded  the  right ;  and  it  was  not  until  after 
the  fight  was  over,  and  we  were  retiring  to  mount  our  horses, 
that  I  knew  of  the  twofold  danger  the  regiment  was  in ;  and 
I  can  not  be  too  thankful  for  its  preservation,  and  the  supe 
rior  conduct  of  officers  and  men."4 

Gen.  Wilson,  anticipating  trouble  at  Reams's  Station,  dis 
patched  Capt.  E.  W.  Whitaker  of  the  First  Connecticut, 
serving  on  his  staff,  with  forty  men,  directed  to  cut  his  way 
through  to  Gen.  Meade,  and  bring  relief.  Capt.  Whitaker, 
who  had  already  won  an  enviable  reputation  for  gallantry, 
started  at  once  upon  his  desperate  mission.  He  found 
Reams's  Station  occupied  by  rebel  infantry,  and  avoided  the 
place  after  a  slight  skirmish.  He  came  upon  two  infantry 
camps,  but  changed  his  course,  and  rode  around  them. 
Rebel  cavalry  and  guerrillas  harassed  him  all  the  way. 
He  was  repeatedly  beset  by  a  superior  force,  and  obliged 
to  escape  across  the  fields  and  through  the  woods ;  keeping 
due  east.  At  last  he  charged  through  the  enemy's  pickets, 
and  actually  succeeded  in  taking  two  prisoners ;  arriving  at 
Meade's  headquarters  with  fourteen  out  of  the  forty  men 
who  started  with  him. 

Meade  moved  an  infantry  corps  instantly  ;  but  it  arrived 
too  late  for  assistance.  The  Second  Connecticut  was  in  this 
movement.  Kautz  had  fought  his  way  through  to  our 
lines,  after  burning  all  the  trains ;  and  Wilson  had  turned 
about,  and  escaped  by  a  long  detour  to  the  south,  with  a  loss 
of  all  his  guns.  Major  Marcy  says,  "  The  order  was  given 
for  men  to  throw  off  all  superfluous  baggage.  The  wagon- 
trains  were  parked  and  set  on  fire ;  the  ammunition  was 
destroyed  ;  and  the  ambulances,  with  the  wounded,  were 
abandoned.  The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry  was  given  its 
order  of  march ;  and  I  was  informed  that  the  5th  New-York 
and  the  2d  Ohio  were  to  follow  us.  Both  of  these  regi 
ments,  however,  being  cut  off,  were  unable  to  join  the 
column ;  and  the  responsible  position  of  rear-guard  devolved 
upon  the  First  Connecticut.  This  position  was  kept  by 
us  all  the  night  of  the  29th  of  June ;  and  the  story  of  that 

4  Report  of  Major  Marcy 


HARDSHIPS   OF  WILSON'S   CAVALRY.  615 

day  and  night  is  told,  when  the  report  shows  sixty-two  en 
listed  men  and  two  officers  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 

'  '  O 

That  night's  march  was  the  most  exhausting  and  fearful 
of  any  of  our  marchings.  The  regiment  destroyed  bridges 
in  rear  of  the  column,  and  put  every  obstruction  in  the 
way  of  the  enemy,  and  was  especially  thanked  by  Gen. 
Wilson  for  its  services.  The  men  themselves,  worn  and 
hungry  as  they  were,  were  cheerful  and  cool ;  and  when 
twelve  volunteers  were  called  for  to  cross  a  bridge,  and 
bring  over  a  caisson  belonging  to  Fitzhugh's  battery,  twelve 
men  sprang  from  the  ranks  of  the  First  Connecticut  Cav 
alry,  crossed  the  bridge,  and  brought  over  the  caisson,  and 
reported  with  it  to  Gen.  Wilson." 

The  regiment  lost  seventy-two  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing.  Chaplain  Holmes  wrote, — 

"  Some  of  the  time  there  was  keen  suffering  from  hunger.  Five  days' 
rations,  issued  at  the  start,  could  not  be  comfortably  stretched  over  ten  days. 
Not  more  than  once  was  permission  formally  given  to  unsaddle  and  make 
coffee,  though  it  was  possible  to  nibble  at  hard-tack  and  salt  pork  at  odd 
moments  of  halting,  or  in  the  saddle.  All  suffered,  too,  very  much,  from 
want  of  rest.  During  the  ten  days,  not  more  than  two  hours  out  of  the 
twenty-four,  on  an  average,  could  be  afforded  for  uninterrupted  sleep. 
One  of  the  chief  surgeons  in  the  division  told  me  he  had  not,  at  one  time,  slept 
at  all  in  seventy-two  hours  ;  and  his  whole  nervous  system  by  the  fatigue 
and  excitement  was  almost  entirely  prostrated.  It  was  his  opinion,  that 
the  greater  portion  of  the  missiug  had  fallen  out  from  exhaustion,  and 
were  captured.  Very  many  of  the  horses  became  worn  out ;  having  been 
almost  constantly  saddled,  marching  over  three  hundred  miles,  kept  on 
short  forage,  going  sometimes  for  forty-eight  hours  without  a  drop  of  water. 
Then,  to  appreciate  these  sufferings  of  horses  and  men,  it  needs  to  be 
remembered  that  the  ten  days  consumed  by  the  expedition  embraced  the 
very  hottest  of  the  hot  weather,  for  which  this  summer  is  becoming  some 
what  marked  ;  and  during  all  the  time  there  was  but  a  single  shower,  —  not 
enough  to  lay  the  dust.  Some  of  the  men  who  had  been  dismounted  were 
fortunate  enough,  or  sharp  enough,  to  avoid  Libby  Prison. 

"  Sergeant  F.  A.  Lamb  of  Hartford,  Peter  Miller  of  Hartford,  and  John 
Cunningham  of  Greenwich,  with  perhaps  others,  were  three  or  four  days 
within  the  rebel  lines,  hid  in  the  woods,  living  on  berries,  with  an  occa 
sional  bite  of  hoe-cake  furnished  by  friendly  negroes  ;  and,  with  the  assist 
ance  of  negro  scouts,  finally  got  safely  back.  It  was  several  days  before 
all  came  in.  Major  Marcy,  on  returning  to  camp,  went  North  on  furlough, 
leaving  the  regiment  in  command  of  Major  Brayton  Ives,  whose  soldierly 
skill  and  energy  had  an  ample  field  in  gathering  the  fragments,  and  re 
organizing  the  command." 

A  remarkable  incident  is  related  of  Private  William  F. 
Clark,  a  Hartford  boy  only  seventeen  years  old.  Being  on 


616  CONNECTICUT  CUBING  THE   REBELLION. 

a  mule  in  the  rear,  he  struck  across  lots,  and  came  out 
ahead  of  the  column.  He  had  not  gone  far,  when  he  was 
halted  and  captured  by  eight  or  ten  guerrillas,  disarmed,  and 
hurried  into  the  woods.  Clark  thus  relates  his  subsequent 
experience,  "  After  the-  column  had  passed,  they  went  into 
the  rear,  and  picked  up  one  of  the  2d  New-York  Cavalry, 
and  a  colored  servant  belonging  to  some  of  the  officers. 
When  it  was  near  night,  we  took  up  our  line  of  march  for 
prison,  we  supposed.  They  marched  in  the  woods,  for  they 
said  that  was  the  nearest  way ;  but,  when  they  got  to  the 
thickest  part  of  the  woods,  they  shot  us  all,  and  left  us  for 
dead.  The  other  two  were  killed  immediately ;  but  I  am 
alive  and  kicking  yet,  and  inside  the  Union  lines,  in  an 
officers'  hospital.  I  have  got  something  like  ten  bullet-holes 
in  me,  and  my  shoulder  is  broken.  The  wounds  are  flesh- 
wounds,  and  are  not  very  painful :  the  shoulder  is  the  worst. 
I  hope  you  will  excuse  this  writing ;  for  I  am  lying  on  my 
back,  with  only  one  hand  to  work  with." 

Gen.  Wilson  drew  from  the  First  Connecticut  not  only 
the  most  enterprising  member  of  his  staff,  but  Lieut.  W. 
C.  Spellman  of  Hartford,  and  his  entire  escort  of  sixty  men. 
In  his  report  of  the  expedition,  written  before  he  had  met 
Capt.  Whitaker,  or  received  any  official  report  of  his  move- . 
ment,  he  said,  "  I  have  since  learned  that  he  gallantly  rode 
through  the  enemy's  cavalry  and  infantry  columns  in  motion, 
escaping  with  twenty  men." 

In  the  fight  at  Reams' s  Station,  the  First  Connecticut  had 
lost  three  killed,  seven  wounded,  and  fifty  prisoners.  The 
killed  .were  Sylvester  Bugbee,  Giles  P.  Lucrenia,  and  Michael 
Flynn.  Lieuts.  J.  H.  Kane  and  E.  B.  Dyer  were  wounded. 
Quartermaster-Sergeant  John  S.  Jameson  was  captured  in 
this  engagement. 

The  rebels  continued  active  and  aggressive  upon  the 
Petersburg  front,  near  the  Appomattox,  where  Col.  Sted- 
man's  brigade  was  located.  We  quote  from  the  report  of 
Capt.  J.  F.  Brown,  commanding  the  Twenty-first :  "  Early  on 
the  morning  of  June  24,  the  enemy  opened  upon  us  a 
heavy  artillery-fire,  which  was  continued  for  an  hour  or 
more  ;  when  he  advanced  a  strong  line  to  carry  our  works, 


EEPOET  OF  COL.  HENEY  L.  ABBOT.          617 

supposing,  as  we  learned  from  prisoners,  that  our  force  had 
been  mostly  withdrawn.  Our  men  kept  well  concealed  till 
the  enemy  were  close  upon  them,  and  then  opened  a  most 
deadly  fire,  that  threw  the  enemy's  line  into  complete  con 
fusion.  Most  of  those  who  escaped  the  first  fire  at  once 
threw  down  their  arms  and  surrendered.  Several  hundred 
prisoners,  in  addition  to  the  killed  and  wounded,  thus  fell 
into  our  hands.  The  enemy  never  repeated  this  attempt 
upon  that  portion  of  our  lines." 

On  June  23,  the  regular  siege-train  of  the  First  Connecti 
cut  Artillery  arrived  at  Bermuda  Hundred.  Col.  Henry  L. 
Abbot  was  appointed  by  Gen.  Grant  to  be  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  siege-artillery,  both  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
and  the  Army  of  the  James ;  so  that  all  the  siege-artillery  in 
front  of  Richmond  and  Petersburg  was  served  under  him, 
and  chiefly  by  the  First  Connecticut. 

Lieut-Col.  Nelson  L.  White  was  appointed  by  Gen.  Butler 
acting  inspector-general,  and  discharged  the  functions  of 
that  office  in  a  thorough  manner,  and  with  excellent  judg 
ment 

The  regiment  had  a  train  of  sixty  artillery-wagons.  Most 
of  the  ammunition  was  kept  afloat,  being  landed  only  as 
required.  We  quote  from  the  official  report  of  Col.  Abbot, 
made  in  March,  1865:  — 

"  Capt.  S.  P.  Hatfield  was  placed  in  command  of  the  depot,  assisted  by 
First  Lieut.  W.  C.  Faxon  and  First  Lieut.  C.  Gillette,  all  of  First  Connecti 
cut  Artillery.  Capt.  Hatfield  had  commanded  a  siege-battery  during  a  part 
of  the  Peninsular  Campaign  of  1862,  and  had  been  ordnance  officer  of  my 
brigade  in  the  defenses  of  Washington  for  more  than  a  year.  To  his  high 
professional  attainments  and  energetic  character,  and  to  the  zeal  and 
ability  of  his  assistants,  the  excellent  administration  of  his  department 
during  the  campaign  is  to  be  attributed.  Although  some  eleven  hundred 
tons  of  ammunition,  hauled  an  average  distance  of  nearly  seven  miles  by 
wagon,  have  already  been  fired  during  the  campaign,  in  no  single  instance 
has  a  battery  failed  to  be  amply  supplied  for  ordinary  or  even  extraordi 
nary  demands  ;  and  in  no  case  has  a  useless  accumulation  of  ammunition 
occurred. 

u  Advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  comparative  stability  of  the  command 
to  have  all  the  regimental  sick  properly  cared  for  by  Surgeon  S.  W.  Skin 
ner,  First  Connecticut  Artillery,  who  has  organized  one  of  the  best  field-hos 
pitals  I  have  ever  seen.  The  patients  have  varied  from  thirty  to  seventy 
in  number.  By  avoiding  the  sending  of  those  lightly  diseased  to  General 
Hospital,  much  has  unquestionably  been  done  to  keep  up  the  numbers  of  the 
78 


618  CONNECTICUT   DUEING  THE   KEBELLIOK 

command.  The  comfort  of  the  patients  has  been  quite  unusual  for  the 
field, -p  whig  to  the  attention  of  the  surgeon  in  charge,  and  to  the  efforts  of 
Clmplain  S.  F.  Jarvis,  First  Connecticut  Artillery,  who  has  actively  exerted 
himself  in  their  behalf. 

"  Assistant  Surgeon  J.  S.  Delavan  has  devoted  himself  to  the  sick  of  the 
regiment  in  the  batteries  in  front  of  Petersburg  ;  and  Assistant  Surgeon  N. 
Matson,  until  broken  down  by  his  exertions,  to  those  in  the  command  on  the 
lines  of  Bermuda  Hundred.  Although  so  much  scattered,  I  believe  few 
troops  have  enjoyed  as  good  medical  care  during  this  campaign  as  mine. 

"  For  the  prompt  and  accurate  transaction  of  the  various  office-work  of 
the  command,  I  am  indebted  to  Capt.  B.  P.  Learned,  First  Connecticut 
Artillery,  acting  assistant  adjutant-general." 

Considerable  praise  was  also  given  to  Lieut.  G.  P.  Mason 
for  the  skill  and  energy  with  which  he  managed  the  com 
missary  department. 

Grant  felt,  by  the  first  of  July,  that  the  hope  to  carry 
Petersburg  by  surprise  was  futile.  A  systematic  line  of 
intrenchments  was  begun  ;  and  a  few  days'  hard  labor  ren 
dered  these  strong  enough  to  be  easily  held,  and  to  permit 
an  extension  of  the  line  to  the  left.  The  Confederate  line 
of  defense  also  became  so  formidable,  that  direct  assault  was 
pronounced  impracticable.5  Their  new  chain  of  redans,  con 
nected  by  powerful  infantry  parapets,  stretched  from  the 
Appomattox  away  to  the  south-west. 

In  this  attitude,  a  coup  de  main  was  projected.  Bnrnside's 
corps  occupied  commanding  ground  within  a  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  the  enemy's  line  ;  and  in  the  direct  front  was  a 
fort  on  a  re-entering  angle  of  the  rebel  works.  Under  this, 
a  mine  was  dug,  and  a  large  amount  of  powder  concealed. 
July  30  was  at  last  fixed  upon  for  the  assault. 

The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first  Regiments  re 
mained  in  the  18th  Corps  along  the  Petersburg  front. 
Chaplain  Moses  Smith  of  the  Eighth  wrote  on  July  20,  — 

"  A  month  of  siege-work  ;  lying  in  the  trenches  ;  eyeing  the  rebels  ; 
digging  by  moonlight ;  broiling  in  the  sun  ;  shooting  through  a  knot-hole  ; 
shot  at  if  a  head  is  lifted  ;  artillery  compliments  passing  and  repassiug  ;  our 
lives  endangered  by  shells  from  both  sides  ;  officers  falling  ;  comrades  dying  ; 
everybody  wearied  by  the  monotony,  and  exhausted  by  heat  and  watching  ; 
dull  hours  enlivened  and  lonely  hearts  encouraged  by  kind  words  in  the 

6  See  Report  of  Major  Duane,  chief  engineer. 


BUTLER  TEN  MILES  FEOM  RICHMOND.  619 


I 


mail-bag,  and  good  fruits  in  the  sanitary  issues  ;  numbers  growing  less,  but 
hope  never  dying,  —  such  is  an  epitome  of  the  'month  since  I  wrote  you 
before.  Here  we  have  remained  constantly  under  the  enemy's  fire.  Occa 
sionally,  for  one  or  two  days,  the  regiment  has  been  withdrawn  from  the  pits, 
beyond  bullet-range,  but  not  from  artillery-shots.  Rebel  sharpshooters  and 
rebel  mortars  have  been  busy  upon  us,  both  while  in  the  front  and  when 
relieved.  In  return,  our  men  have  played  the  sharpshooter,  and  burrowed 
under  ground. 

"  Twenty  casualties  have  occurred  in  our  regiment  during  these  thirty 
days.  Most  of  the  wounds  have  been  severe,  and  five  of  the  men  are  dead. 
Among  our  losses  we  sorrowfully  record  three  honored  captains,  —  Roger 
M.  Ford,  commanding  Company  G,  wounded  in  right  leg  ;  Elam  T.  Good 
rich,  commanding  Company  H,  wounded  in  the  hip  ;  and  Henry  C.  Hall, 
commanding  Company  F,  instantly  killed  by  a  rifle-ball.  It  is  said,  '  Death 
loves  a  shining  mark.'  Surely  he  selected  such  a  one  among  us,  —  Capt. 
Hall,  young  and  vigorous,  cool  and  resolute,  faithful  even  unto  death,  whose 
'words  were  never  tarnished  by  an  oath,  nor  his  taste  defiled  by  poison  of 
drink  or  drug.  The  death  of  no  other  officer  of  the  line  would  have  caused 
wider  or  sadder  disappointment  than  did  his.  We  can  not  think  of  him  as 
never  to  return  to  us  again.  So  among  the  non-commissioned  dead.  No 
man  in  Company  B  can  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Sergeant 
Joseph  Glover.  Youthful,  tender-hearted,  honoring  religion,  faithful  to 
every  duty,  true  to  his  calling,  and  loved  by  all,  he  fell  in  a  moment,  and 
we  mourn  his  loss." 

The  experience  of  the  Eleventh  was  similar,  —  constantly 
under  fire.  Lieut-Col.  William  C.  Moegling  reports,  as  the 
casualties  for  July,  six  killed  and  nine  wounded. 

Col.  Stedman  wrote  in  a  private  letter  at  this  time,  "  I 
have  won  the  silver  star!  After  the  fight  of  the  19th  instant, 
.Gen.  Martindale  forwarded  his  report,  in  which  I  had  the 
honor  to  be  the  only  officer  mentioned.  The  general  urged 
that  I  should  be  promoted,  and  that  speedily.  Every  one 
of  my  four  promotions  has  come  to  me  unexpectedly.  This 
is  a  surprise  ;  and,  should  the  appointment  not  come,  I  should 
lose  nothing  of  my  gratification  at  receiving  the  unqualified 
approbation  of  my  superiors  —  soldiers  who  know  me." 

As  early  as  June  20,  Butler  had  secured  a  lodgment  at 
Deep  Bottom,  north  of  the  James,  and  ten  miles  from  Rich 
mond,  by  crossing  Gen.  Foster's  command  to  maintain  pos 
session.  The  Tenth  Connecticut  was  a  part  of  this  force. 
"  The  enemy  occupied  the  position  at  that  time  ;  and  on  Col. 
Otis  devolved  the  delicate  and  difficult  task  of  establishing, 
between  midnight  and  morning,  a  safe  picket-line,  in  a  portion 
of  country  he  had  never  visited  before ;  pressing  back  the 
rebel  pickets  as  he  posted  his  own."6  Weeks  of  picket-duty 

6  The  Knightly  Soldier,  p.  249. 


620  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

followed ;  the  regiment  being  under  occasional  artillery-fire. 
Adjutant  H.  W.  Camp  wrote  at  this  time,  "  The  regiment  has 
stacked  arms  where  the  shaded  path  winds  pleasantly  up 
from  the  river-bank.  Headquarters  are  under  a  large  tree, 
just  in  rear  of  the  line.  Henry  and  I,  who  always  carry 
writing  materials  in  a  little  haversack  which  we  keep  by  us, 
are  writing  our  letters  in  the  intervals  of  rest.  The  gun 
boats  are  firing  over  our  heads  at  the  rebels  in  front ;  and 
each  explosion,  so  near  are  we  to  the  muzzles  of  the  guns, 
makes  one  feel  as  if  both  ears  were  being  boxed  with  sledge 
hammers,  and  the  top  of  his  head  flattened  with  a  pile- 
driver." 

Here,  for  several  weeks  of  summer,  the  Tenth,  with  the' 
other  regiments  of  the  brigade,  was  busy  in  erecting  long 
lines  of  earthworks  in  the  intense  heat  of  a  Southern  mid 
summer,  and  picketing  before  a  vigilant  and  determined 
foe.  Several  companies,  under  Capt.  E.  D.  S.  Goodyear,  were 
sent  down  the  river  on  two  occasions,  to  destroy  large  stores 
.of  grain  gathered  by  the  rebels  ;  and  fully  accomplished  their 
work.  On  another  occasion,  on  the  llth  of  July,  fifty  men 
of  the  Tenth,  under  Lieuts.  James  H.  Lindsley  and  Albert  F. 
Sharpe,  volunteered,  on  the  request  of  Major-Gen.  Butler, 
"  for  an  arduous  and  difficult  but  serviceable  expedition  ; " 
and,  with  about  an  equal  number  of  men  from  the  3d  Penn 
sylvania  Heavy  Artillery,  moved  up  the  river  to  Dutch  Gap, 
and  by  night  across  the  country  to  Cox's  Wharf;  making  an 
attack,  in  the  early  morning,  upon  a  strong  rebel  picket- 
force ;  capturing  a  lieutenant  and  fourteen  men;  securing  a 
torpedo,  with  boxes  of  powder,  galvanic  battery,  and  floats, 
in  a  wagon  just  down  from  Richmond,  designed  for  use 
against  our  navy  ;  and  then  setting  fire  to  extensive  steam 
saw  and  flouring  mills,  stores,  and  barns,  —  this  destruction 
being  the  purpose  of  the  movement. 

The  Tenth  was  warmly  engaged  on  July  26.  Col.  Otis,  at 
seven,  A.M.,  received  orders  to  move  his  command  to  the  east 
side  of  Four-mile  Creek,  to  assist  in  forcing  the  enemy  from 
a  piece  of  woods,  and  retake,  if  possible,  an  important  posi 
tion,  covering  the  road  from  Richmond  to  Malvern  Hill. 
Having  to  cross  the  James  River  twice  before  reaching  the 


THE  TENTH  IX  A  PERILOUS  POSITION.  621 

position,  considerable  time  elapsed;  but,  on  their  arrival, 
sharpshooters  were  sent  out,  under  Lieut.  James  H.  Lindsley, 
to  re-inforce  the  skirmishers,  with  four  companies  of  the  line 
under  Capt.  B.  L.  Graves.  Major  Greeley,  with  four  com 
panies  more,  supported  the  First  Connecticut  Battery,  and 
another  battery  in  the  'redan.  Heavy  skirmishing  continued 
all  the  afternoon. 

Lieut.  Lindsley  was  wounded  early  in  the  engagement,  and 
Lieut.  Henry  A.  Peck  was  placed  in  command  of  the  sharp 
shooters.  The  enemy's  skirmishers,  having  the  advantage 
of  position,  and  being  several  times  re-inforced,  contested  the 
ground  obstinately ;  but  were  steadily  forced  back,  until 
they  reached  a  strong  rifle-pit,  from  which  they  had  driven 
a  regiment  of  the  18th  Corps  the  day  previous.  Here  they 
made  a  determined  stand ;  but  were  driven  out  by  the  skir 
mishers  of  the  two  regiments,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

The  enemy  was  still  forced  back,  and  the  Tenth  alone 
held  the  picket-line  during  the  night.  Capt.  E.  D.  S.  Good 
year  and  Capt.  J.  S.  Engles  counted  four  guns  that  were 
placed  in  the  opposite  "battery  before  morning. 

Chaplain  Trumbull,  in  the  Knightly  Soldier,  adds,  "  The 
pickets  of  the  Tenth  lay  concealed  in  the  low  underbrush. 
If  they  discovered  themselves  by  the  crackling  of  a  twig, 
they  were  liable  to  be  silenced  by  a  shot  just  in  their  front; 
and  the  preparations  for  the  morning,  which  they  could  hear 
the  enemy  making,  were  any  thing  but  encouraging.  Artil 
lery  was  brought  down,  and  so  planted  that  they  could 
almost  have  looked  into  the  gun-muzzles ;  while  a  single  dis 
charge  of  grape  from  the  battery  could  sweep  them  away 
like  chaff  from  the  enfiladed  picket-line.  They  could  hear 
the  braggart  threats  of  annihilation  of  the  venturesome  Yan 
kees  when  the  daylight  came,  and  they  realized  their  dan 
ger  ;  yet  all  who  were  unwounded  remained  firm  and  true. 
.  .  .  There  was  not  much  sleeping  that  night  among  officers 
or  men  of  the  Tenth,  —  only  an  anxio  us  waiting  for  the 
morning,  whose  sun  must  rise  in  blood." 

Lee  had  already  sent  several  divisions  across  the  James, 
and  these  now  environed  the  little  brigade  of  Foster ;  but, 
next  morning,  Hancock,  with  his  2d  Corps,  brought  welcome 


622  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

relief,  and  the  whole  force  prepared  to  move  forward  to 
menace  Richmond  from  the  east,  and  to  destroy  the  rebel 
pontoon-bridges  swung  across  at  Chapin's  Bluff  The  move 
ment  was  also  a  cover  for  the  explosion  of  the  mine.  The 
Fourteenth  had  marched  from  the  extreme  left  in  front  of 
Petersburg,  and  now  engaged  in  the'  demonstration  on  the 
rebel  works  at  this  point.  The  Ninth,  under  Col.  T.  W. 
Cahill,  had  arrived  at  Bermuda  Hundred  on  the  20th  from 
Connecticut,  and  now  participated  in  this  movement  with  its 
usual  alacrity.  In  an  immediate  advance  the  rebel  works 
were  taken,  and  several  guns  captured. 

Col.  Otis  of  the  Tenth  says,  "  A  portion  of  my  own  line 
became  engaged,  and  assisted  materially  in  driving  the  ene 
my  from  his  works,  and  capturing  his  guns ;  our  position 
being  such  as  to  cover  the  Richmond  Road,  and  effectually 
prevent  the  enemy  from  taking  away  the  guns  after  with 
drawing  them  from  battery.  The  action  being  over,  at 
eight,  A.M.,  I  was  ordered  to  march  my  command  back  to  the 
west  side  of  the  creek.  Our  entire  loss  was  one  commissioned 
officer  and  eight  men." 

On  the  night  of  July  29,  the  2d  Corps  returned  to  the 
works  before  Petersburg,  to  support  the  assault  which  was 
to  follow  the  explosion.  The  Fourteenth  marched  twenty 
miles,  and  arrived  at  daylight. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  the  mine  was 
exploded  ;  and  was  followed  by  a  feeble  assault,  a  mournful 
slaughter,  and  an  utter,  terrible  failure. 

The  31st  United-States  (including  the  colored  battalion 
from  Connecticut)  had  moved  to  the"  vicinitv  the  ni^ht  be- 

/  i/  G 

fore,  marched  silently  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  our  outer 
rifle-pits,  and  lay  down  to  a  fitful  sleep  on  their  muskets, 
with  bayonets  fixed.  The  division  of  negro  troops  lay  all 
about  them,  waiting  for  the  explosion.  When  the  great 
shock  came,  Ledlie's  inefficient  division  of  white  troops  sprang 
forward  to  the  assault,  followed  by  the  blacks.  Up  to  the 
crater  they  went  in  the  impetuous  charge.  Here  many 
sought  refuge,  and  were  killed  ;  while  thousands  pressed 
forward  more  than  a  mile,  the  Confederates  having  left  the 
ground  clear.  Now  came  the  fearful  recoil.  The  rebels 


CHARGE  OF  THE  COLOEED  TKOOPS  AT  THE  MINE.    623 

rallied,  and  replied  in  a  counter-charge ;  the  Union  troops 
were  not  supported ;  and  blacks  and  whites  rushed  pell-mell 
into  the  vast  bowl  of  crumbling  earth  where  the  fort  had 
been.  Then  the  helplessness ;  then  the  butchery  !  Burnside 
was  on  another  part  of  the  line. 

Our  little  battalion  of  four  companies  of  the  31st  United- 
States  had  lost  more  than  a  hundred  men.  Lieut-Col.  W.  E. 
W.  Ross  and  Major  T.  Wright  were  wounded ;  leaving  the 
command  to  Capt.  Charles  Robinson,  who  was  soon  after 
wards  made  prisoner.  Capt,  Richard  K.  Woodruff  was  killed. 
Lieuts.  W.  H.  Ayres,  J.  B.  Mason,  and  H.  A.  Downing,  were 
among  the  wounded.  Major  Wright  reported,  "I  can  not 
speak  ^too  highly  of  both  officers  and  men  in  this  engagement. 
More  bravery  and  enthusiasm  I  never  witnessed.  Besides 
their  patriotic  ardor,  they  went  into  that  action  with  a  de 
termination  to  command  the  respect  of  white  troops ;  which 
we  knew  could  only  be  obtained  by  hard  fighting." 
.  Capt.  Richard  Kirtland  Woodruff  was  son  of  Rev.  Richard 
Woodruff  of  Westbrook.  He  entered  Yale  in  1859,  and  the 
service  of  his  country  in  1862;  was  promoted  to  be  captain, 
and  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  "  mine." 

Among  the  colored  martyrs  who  sealed  their  devotion 
with  their  blood  this  day  was  Orderly-Sergeant  Tilghman 
S.  Wood,  of  Capt.  Woodruff's  company,  —  a  quiet,  faithful, 
and  fearless  man,  killed  at  the  moment  when  he  called  to 
his  comrades,  "  Come  on,  boys ! "  Sergeant  Thomas  B. 
Daley  fell  by  his  side,  while  pressing  np  the  hill.  A  score 
of  others  were  dead ;  but  they  had  proved  their  valor,  and 
earned  the  gratitude  of  all  Americans. 

The  Twenty-first  Connecticut  was  stationed  well  forward 
among  the  supports.  Their  work  was  to  keep  up  a  constant 
fire  of  musketry,  and  divert  the  attention  of  the  enemy  from 
the  assaulting  party.  Nobly  did  they  perform  the  task, 
though  one  of  the  enemy's  batteries  enfiladed  the  line  ;  and 
his  shot  frequently  swept  down  inside  the  rifle-pit,  through 
its  whole  length.  The  sun,  too,  poured  down  with  such  in 
tensity,  as  it  rose  higher,  as  to  render  it  almost  impossible  to 
keep  the  works  manned.  Many  received  severe  sunstrokes. 
So  rapid  was  the  firing,  also,  that  the  gun-barrels  became  so 


624 


CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 


heated  as  to  scorch  the  hands  of  the  men.  Yet  they  stood 
nobly  to  their  work  while  required.  The  regiment  there  lost 
three  men  killed  and  twelve  wounded.  One  of  its  bravest 
officers  there  fell,  —  Capt.  Francis  S.  Long  of  Willimantic. 
Being  in  command  of  a  corps  of  sharpshooters,  he  was  on 
the  extreme  front,  directing  their  movements,  entirely  neg 
lectful  of  self,  when  a  piece  of  shell  pierced  his  neck,  killing 
him  instantly.  He  was  just  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  full  of 
bright  promise. 

The  point  in  front  of  the  explosion  was  covered  by  the 
First  Connecticut  Artillery.  The  following  table  exhibits  the 
amount  of  siege-artillery  put  into  position  preparatory  to 
the  explosion  of  the  mine,  commanded  by  members  of  this 
regiment :  — 


Commanding  officer. 

Armament. 

Locality. 

Capt.  John  II.  Burton, 

3  30-pdr.  Parrotts, 

Battery  4. 

Capt.  Charles  O.  Brigham, 

4     « 

Battery  1. 

Lieut.  L.  VV  Jackson, 

4  8-inch  Mortars, 

Battery  10. 

Lieut.  William  A.  Lincoln,  | 
Lieut.  George  M.  Williams,  \ 

5  Coehorns, 

(  3   to   Battery  9. 
J  2   to   Battery  near 
(      Fort  McGilvray. 

Capt.  Edwin  C.  Dow, 

(  3  30-pdr.  Parrotts  > 
|  4  8-inch  Mortars,    ) 

Battery  5. 

(  To  assume  command 

Major  Thomas  S.  Trumbull, 

of  Batteries  on  Line 

(      of  18th  Corps. 

Capt.  Alhert  F.  Brooker, 

6  4^-inch  Guns, 

Battery  17 

(  To  assume  command 

Capt.  Albert  F.  Brooker, 

of  Batteries  on  line 

(      of  9th  and  5th  Corps. 

Capt.  Edward  A.  Gillette, 

4  8-inch  Mortars, 

In  front  of  Battery  14 

Lieut.  George  D.  Sargent, 

2  8-inch  Mortars, 

Near  Battery  11. 

Lieut.  Benjamin  Andrews, 

5  Coehorns, 

Near  Battery  12. 

Capt.  Wilbur  F.  Osborne. 

1  13-inch  Mortars, 

On  R.  R.  near  Battery  3. 

Capt.  Franklin  A.  Pratt, 

6  4i-inch  Guns, 

Fort  Morton. 

Capt.  Henry  11.  Pierce, 

10  10-inch  Mortars, 

Near  Fort  Rice. 

Lieut.  Henry  D.  Patterson, 

6  8-inch  Mortars, 

Near  Battery  20. 

Total, 

63  Pieces. 

Col.  Abbot,  in  his  report,  says,  "  On  July  30,  the  mine  was 
sprung  ;  and  a  heavy  cannonade  was  instantly  opened,  and 
continued  until  about  ten  hours,  thirty  minutes,  A.M.,  when 
it  gradually  ceased ;  the  assault  of  the  infantry  having  failed, 
and  the  attack  being  discontinued.  The  part  assigned  to  the 
artillery  —  to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  enemy  upon  the 
flanks  of  the  column  of  attack,  and  to  keep  back  his  re-inforce- 
ments — was  successfully  executed." 


DEATH  OF  LIEUT. -COL.   MOEGLING.  625 

Immediately  in  front  of  the  mine  supporting  the  First 
Connecticut  Artillery  lay  Burnside's  9th  Corps  (now  the 
weakest  and  poorest  corps  in  the  army),  with  Smith's  18th 
directly  up  as  a  reserve.  The  Eighth  and  Eleventh  lay  all 
night  upon,  the  ground,  ready  to  spring  into  the  gap  after 
Burnside's  men. 

After  the  disgraceful  recoil,  —  more  disgraceful  to  officers 
than  men,  —  Gen.  Stedman  wrote,  "Then  we  asked  why  we 
were  not  sent  in  ?  Why  is  the  18th  Corps  kept  back  ?  We 
can  carry  the  position,  let  us  go !  But  it  was  not  permitted. 
...  I  do  not  like  to  write  or  talk  much  of  our  failures. 
I  feel  less  a  soldier  when  I  do  so ;  for  there  is  much  to  make 
one  say  unpatriotic  things.  ...  I  see  to-day  a  notice  of  the 
death  of  Capt.  Reynolds,  my  adjutant-general,  wounded  in 
both  arms  at  Cold  Harbor.  Poor  fellows !  —  they  all  die  !  " 

These  were,  probably,  the  last  words  Gen.  Stedman  ever 
wrote ;  for  shortly  after  he  was  under  a  fatal  fire.  Aug.  5 
was  a  dark  day  for  the  Eleventh ;  for  the  missiles  of  that  day 
swept  down  Gen.  Griffin  A.  Stedman,  still  commanding  the 
brigade,  and  Lieut-Col.  Moegling,  commanding  the  regiment. 
Both  were  hit  by  random  shots  ;  and  the  wound  of  Gen.  Sted 
man  was  mortal. 

Lieut-Col.  Moegling  was  wounded  slightly  in  the  foot 
Chaplain  Henry  S.  DeForest  wrote  of  him,  "  He  was  at  the 
time  indisposed.  Ill  health  followed,  and,  after  a  partial  re 
covery,  he  grew  worse  again.  His  sickness  finally  became 
a  typhoid ;  and  it  was  thought  advisable  that  he  should  visit 
his  home,  and  try  a  northern  climate.  But  he  went  home 
to  Danbury  to  die.  Exposure  and  hardship  during  four 
campaigns  had  been  doing  this  work.  The  vital  powers 
were  overborne.  No  care  of  friends  or  home-attentions 
could  avail.  He  had  been  thrice  wounded,  and  had  been  in 
frequent  battles  and  desperate  charges,  yet  had  escaped 
them  all,  only  to  meet  death  in  another  form.  To  this  land 
of  his  adoption,  to  constitutional  government  and  to  uni 
versal  liberty,  which  is  the  same  in  every  land,  he  gave  the 
blossom  of  his  manhood  and  his  life.  He  had  the  real  Ger 
manic  love  of  liberty,  and  its  opposite,  —  a  keen  hate  to 
slavery.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  join  the  first  regiment 

79  '     ' 


626  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELL1ON. 

from  the  State.  He  served  faithfully,  fought  fearlessly,  and, 
having  before  spilled  his  blood,  finally  offered  his  life  in 
the  national  cause." 

The  chaplain  also  tells  of  the  death  of  Gen.  Stedman,  "  He 
lay  in  his  own  tent,  within  sound  of  the  enemy's  guns,  with 
his  face  turned  towards  their  lines,  but  his  eyes  turned 
heavenward.  His  staff  were  about  him,  and  others  from 
the  Eleventh.  The  tide  of  life  ebbed  away  gently  at  the 
last.  The  soul  was  free,  and  the  body  at  rest ;  but  the  soil 
which  drank  that  blood  is  ours,  and  shall  never  be  aban 
doned. 

"  His  culture,  his  refinement,  his  urbanity,  his  taste,  his 
delicacy,  and  purity  of  sentiment,  fitted  him  well  for 
social  concourse  and  the  evening  assembly.  But  he  had 
royal  and  martial  qualities  to  which  a  drawing-room  could 
give  no  scope.  His  promotion  in  military  life  only  followed 
acknowledged  merit,  and  that  at  a  long  interval.  While  act 
ing  brigadier-general  in  this  terrible  campaign,  he  had  been 
recommended  for  that  rank  by  all  his  superior  officers, — 
by  Gen.  Martindale  of  the  division,  Gen.  Baldy  Smith  of 
the  corps,  and  twice,  and  in  most  flattering  terms,  by  Gen. 
Butler  of  the  department ;  and  yet,  as  if  to  mock  all  earthly 
honor,  his  brevet  as  brigadier  only  came  after  he  had 
received  his  mortal  wound.  .  .  .  But  more  than  of  his 
valor,  do  I  love  to  think  of  his  virtues.  His  voice  was  not 
the  loud  trumpet  of  war,  but  those  silver  tones  which  the 
ear  of  friendship  could  gather  in,  and  which  come  back 
from  the  grave  in  still  sweeter  echoes.  These  virtues  were 
his  crowning  excellences  while  living ;  they  make  his 
memory  sacred  when  dead.  The  vices  of  the  camp  did  not 
tarnish  him.  The  leprosy  was  all  around  him ;  but  it  spared 
him.  His  integrity  was  rooted  fast.  It  stood  like  the  mori- 
arch  of  the  forest,  while  the  weaker  fibre  of  other  growth 
yielded  to  the  tempest,  and  fell." 

Dr.  Nathan  Mayer,  surgeon  of  the  Eleventh,  in  a  bio 
graphical  sketch  of  his  friend,  wrote,  "  He  was  an  aristocrat 
in  the  noblest  acceptance  of  the  term,  when  aristocrats 
were  the  representatives  of  mental  power  and  culture,  of 
moral  strength  and  purity,  of  grand  aims  and  lofty  deeds, 


TRIBUTES  TO  GEN.    STEDMAN.  627 

and  of  the  most  exquisite  sentiments  perpetuated  in  the 
pages  of  romance.  Conceive  Tennyson's  Sir  Galahad,  or 
any  of  King  Arthur's  mail-clad  champions  ;  imagine  Kings- 
ley's  Francis  Leigh,  or  any  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  pure  and 
chivalrous  courtiers ;  conjure  up,  in  short,  a  nature  with  the 
purity,  delicacy,  and  innocence  of  a  maiden,  bound  to  the 
valor,  firmness,  and  power  of  a  hero,  a  hundred  charming 
weaknesses  blended  with  adamantine  strength  of  principle, 
an  elegance  of  thought  that  did  not  impair  the  mind's  in 
exorable  firmness,  an  affectionate  disposition  that  lessened 
not  the  strength  of  character,  a  number  of  iron  qualities 
bound  together  with  garlands  of  roses,  —  and  you  have  an 
idea  with  what  eyes  I  viewed  him  to  whom  I  bowed  in  the 
fullness  of  my  hero  worship."  .  .  . 

The  doctor  gives  the  following  reminiscence  of  the  days 
under  Col.  Kingsbury  :  — 

"  There  sat,  mostly  at  Col.  Kingsbury's  side,  upon  a  tiger- 
skin  blanket,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  A  large,  heavy 
brow,  with  ponderous  developments,  and  very  short  light 
hair,  overshadowed  features  lovely  and  mirthful  as  a  school 
boy's.  Only  the  jaw's  powerful  sweep,  and  the  long  blonde 
mustache,  relieved  the  lower  part  of  his  face  from  that  gay 
and  roguish  look,  that  boyish  smile,  that  always  lingered 
there.  There  was  Major  Moegling,  with  his  straightforward 
face  and  brilliant  color,  and  Adjutant  Converse,  pale,  quick, 
and  spiritual.  Furthermore,  there  was  the  old  surgeon  (Dr. 
J.  B.  Whitcomb),  stout  as  a  live-oak,  with  kindness  and 
good  sense  beaming  from  his  eyes,  and  his  ruddy  cheeks 
always  ready  to  smooth  out  their  thousand  wrinkles  in  a 
good  laugh.  How  late  we  used  to  sit  talking  of  the  world 
and  its  manners,  of  the  brilliant  actions  of  renowned  men ; 
recapitulating  the  wittiest  sayings,  the  rarest  thoughts,  and 
the  queerest  stories  !  How  we  tried  to  discuss  that  exquisite 
politeness,  that  delicate  chivalry,  which  graced  the  last 
days  of  Francis'  old  regime,  and  that  wonderful  spirit  of 
devotion  and  consistent  purity  which  characterized  the 
days  of  knighthood  !  These  were  favorite  themes  with  Col. 
Stedman. 

"  While  the  force  of  strict  rules,  and  splendid  external 


628  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

management,  at  first  controlled  the  regiment,  Col.  Stedman 
slowly  substituted  for  these  a  chivalric  feeling,  a  corps 
d 'esprit,  that  made  every  private  as  anxious  to  uphold  the 
reputation  of  the  regiment  as  the  commander  himself.  The 
tinge  of  patriotism  which  made  every  man  individually 
adore  himself  as  a  hero  and  martyr  of  liberty  was  brushed 
away ;  and  they  felt  themselves  soldiers,  links  of  a  chain, 
pieces  of  machinery,  but  pieces  that  were  conscious  of  the 
glory  which  was  earned  by  the  whole,  and  that  strove  for 
it  unitedly,  and  each  in  his  place.  ...  It  only  remains  for 
me  -to  lay  the  friend's  wreath  of  immortelles  upon  the 
grave  on  which  they  have  written,  Brig.-Gen.  Griffin  A. 
Stedman. 

Happy  their  end 

Who  vanish  down  Life's  evening  stream 
Placid  as  swans  that  drift  in  dream 

Round  the  next  river-bend  ! 
Happy  long  life,  with  honor  at  the  close, 
Friends'  painless  tears,  the  softened  thought  of  foes ! 

And  yet,  like  him,  to  spend 
All  at  a  gush,  keeping  our  first  faith  sure 
From  mid-life's  doubt  and  eld's  contentment  poor : 

What  more  could  Fortune  send? 

I  write  of  one, 

While  with  dim  eyes  I  think  of  three : 
Who  weeps  not  others  fair  and  brave  as  he? 

Ah !  when  the  fight  is  won, 

Dear  Laud,  whom  triflers  now  make  bold  to  scorn, 
(Thee  from  whose  forehead  Earth  awaits  her  morn !) 

How  nobler  shall  the  sun 

Flame  in  thy  sky,  how  braver  breathe  thy  air, 
That  thou  bred'st  children  who  for  thee  could  dare 

And  die  as  thine  have  done  ! 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

General  Assembly.  —  Adjourned  Session  in  January,  1864.  —  Spring  Session.  —  Govern 
or's  Message.  —  The  Ballot  given  to  Soldiers  in  the  Field.  —  Calls  for  Troops.  — 
Eecruiting.  —  The  Quotas  filled.  —  How  it  was  done.  —  Presidential  Election.  —  The 
Twenty-ninth  (colored)  in  South  Carolina.  —  The  Eighteenth  Regiment. —  Home 
on  Furlough.  —  Advance  with  Sigel. — Defeat  at  New  Market.  —  Victory  at  Pied- 
mont.  —  Loss  of  Brave  Men.  —  Pushing  South. — Across  the  James. — Advance  on 
Lynchburg.  —  Eepulse  and  Retreat.  —  Early  attacks  Washington.  —  Affair  at  Snick 
er's  Ferry. 

iVERY  success  or  reverse  of  the  soldiers  at  the 
front  was  met  by  patriotic  effort  at  home. 
The  adjourned  session  of  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  1863  was  held  at  Hartford. on  Jan.  12, 
1864.  Volunteering  was  progressing  rapidly; 
and  the  payment  of  the  three-hundred-dollar  bounty  was 
continued  by  special  enactment. 

This  session  lasted  only  four  days ;  and  most  of  the  time 
was  spent  in  debate  upon  the  proposed  amendment  of  the 
State  Constitution,  allowing  all  electors  of  the  State  in  the 
volunteer  military  service  of  the  United  States  to  vote  in 
the  field  during  the  Rebellion.  At  the  special  session  of  the 
previous  winter,  the  Democratic  members  had  opposed  giv 
ing  the  ballot  to  the  soldiers,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
unconstitutional :  now  they  resisted  it  on  other  grounds. 

During  the  debate,  some  of  the  opponents  of  the  amend 
ment  alluded  to  the  soldiers  as  "the  armed  cohort  of 
despotism ; "  and  the  effect  of  their  voting  for  State  officers 
and  president  was  compared  to  the  disgraceful  sale  of  the 
imperial  purple  by  the  praetorian  guard  in  the  latter  days  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  The  amendment  was  adopted  by  the 
House  on  the  last  morning  of  the  session  by  a  party  vote  of 
a  hundred  and  seventeen  yeas  to  seventy-seven  nays.  As  it 


629 


630  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

was  the  first  year  it  was  acted  upon,  the   Senate  was  not 
required  to  vote  ;   and  it  went  over  for  further  action. 


The  spring  election  of  1864  was  very  quiet,  and  resulted 
in  the  re-election  of  Gov.  Buckingham.  Only  73,982  votes 
were  cast ;  and  William  A.  Buckingham  had  a  majority  over 
Origen  S.  Seymour,  of  5,658.  The  Republicans  elected  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  Lower  House,  and  eighteen  out  of 
twenty-one  senators. 

The  General  Assembly  met  at  New  Haven  on  the  fourth 
day  of  May.  But  little  interest  was  felt  in  its  proceedings ; 
for  the  legislative  machinery  to  supply  the  sinews  of  war 
was  in  full  operation,  and  public  attention  was  entirely 
wrapped  up  in  the  tremendous  preparations  being  made  by 
Grant  and  Sherman  for  those  two  wonderful  campaigns 
which  crushed  the  life  out  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  Senate  was  organized  by  the  election  of  John  T. 
Adams  president  pro  tern.,  and  H.  Lynde  Harrison  clerk. 

The  House  of  Representatives  elected  John  T.  Rice 
speaker,  and  William  T.  Elmer  and  John  R.  Buck  clerks. 

0.  H.  Platt  of  Meriden  was  appointed  chairman  of  the 
judiciary  committee,  thus  making  him  by  courtesy  the 
leader  of  the  majority  party  in  the  House;  and  Col.  Dwight 
Morris  of  Bridgeport  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  military 
committee.  The  message  of  Gov.  Buckingham  exhibited 
the  same  cairn  dignity,  clear  statements,  and  intense  loyalty, 
that  had  characterized  his  previous  official  communications. 
He  thus  tersely  stated  the  argument  for  the  amendment 
giving  soldiers  the  ballot :  — 

"Freemen  who  sustain  and  protect  a  government  by  baring  their  bosoms 
to  the  deadly  shafts  of  its  enemies  should  have  an  opportunity  to  express 
an  opinion  in  respect  to  its  policy  and  the  character  and  qualifications^  its 
officers." 1 

He  closed  the  message  by  urging  national  legislative 
action  abolishing  slavery,  and  said, — 

1  A  newspaper  at  this  time  thus  put  the  matter  :  "  Perhaps  we  are  prejudiced  ;  but  it 
seems  to  us  that  a,  man  who  does  nothing  worse  than  shed  his  blood  for  the  old  flag  ought 
not,  for  so  small  an  offense  as  that,  to  be  disfranchised  like  a  common  thief." 


SOLDIERS  IN  THE  FIELD  ALLOWED  TO  VOTE.  631 

"  Slavery  is  not  dead.  Its  life  is  in  the  custody  of  its  friends  ;  and  while 
it  shall  so  remain  there  will  be  no  peace.  The  events  of  the  past  urge  us 
to  adopt  some  measure  which  shall  terminate  in  favor  of  freedom  that  con 
troversy  which  must  ever  exist  so  long  as  a  part  of  the  nation  remains  free 
and  a  part  enslaved.  .  .  .  Let  us  embrace  this  opportunity,  and  perform 
these  duties  [establish  justice  and  form  a  more  perfect  union]  with  humble 
confidence,  that,  under  the  guidance  of  the  King  of  kings,  this  revolution  will 
carry  the  natioa  onward  in  the  path  of  prosperity,  intelligence,  and  influ 
ence,  and  upward  to  a  higher  level  of  freedom,  civilization,  and  Christianitv, 
until  every  man,  whether  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  ignorant,  of 
whatever  tribe  or  race  or  nation,  shall  be  protected  in  all  the  inalienable 
rights  which  God  has  given  him  under  our  national  emblem  of  liberty, 
uniou,  and  power." 

More  than  four  million  dollars  had  been  expended  during 
the  year,  and  the  total  indebtedness  of  the  State  was  about 
seven  millions. 

Gen.  Stephen  W.  Kellogg  of  Waterbury  was  very  active 
and  efficient  at  this  session  in  procuring  important  modifi 
cations  of  the  militia  law,  by  which  the  annual  encampment 
was  extended  to  four  days,  two  spring  parades  were  pro 
vided  for,  and  a  commutation  of  five  dollars  annually  was 
authorized  to  be  paid  to  each  member  of  the  militia  force 
who  should  provide  himself  with  a  complete  uniform.  This 
law  proved  to  be  an  excelJent  one. 

The  constitutional  amendment  providing  for  the  exten 
sion  of  the  elective  franchise  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field  was 
passed  in  the  Senate  by  a  party  vote  of  eighteen  to  three. 
In  the  House,  the  amendment  received  a  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  votes  (all  Republicans)  against  seventy-one  votes  of  the 
Democrats.  The  affirmative  vote  lacked  five  of  'being  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  members  elected ;  viz.,  two 
hundred  and  thirty-seven.  It  was  immediately  claimed  by 
the  Democrats  that  the  amendment  had  failed  for  want  of  a 
two-thirds  vote  of  the  whole  house  ;  and  the  speaker,  guided 
by  a  precedent  in  his  favor,  decided  that  the  amendment 
was  not  carried.  Mr.  Platt  of  Meriden  immediately  appealed 
from  this  decision  ;  and  a  long  debate  ensued,  which  was  con 
tinued  through  two  daily  sessions.  The  yeas  and  nays  were 
called  upon  the  appeal,  which  was  sustained  by  the  party 
vote  of  a  hundred  and  thirty-two  yeas  to  fifty-four  nays  ;  and 
the  speaker  thereupon  declared  that  the  amendment  had 
passed  by  the  requisite  constitutional  majority. 


632  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

This  amendment  was  submitted  to  the  people  on  the  third 
Monday  of  August,  and  was  then  ratified  by  a  large  majori 
ty  ;  only  a  few  of  the  strongly  Democratic  towns  giving 
majorities  against  it.  The  popular  verdict  was  as  follows  : 
Hartford  County,  yes,  4,783  ;  no,  3,520.  New-Haven  County, 
yes,  4,761 ;  no,  3.028.  New-London  County,  yes,  2,808  ;  no, 
1,108.  Fairfield  County,  yes,  3,578  ;  no,  2,088.  Windham 
County,  yes,  1,980  ;  no,  668.  Litchfield  County,  yes,  3,102  ; 
no,  1,923.  Middlesex  County,  yes,  1,795  ;  no,  1,029.  Tol- 
land  County,  yes,  1,523 ;  no,  873.  Total,  yes,  24,280  ;  total, 
no,  14,231.  Majority  for  the  amendment,  10,049.  The 
governor  then  declared  the  amendment  to  be  made,  by  vote 
of  the  people,  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Con 
necticut. 

A  statute  was  passed  at  the  same  session  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  the  amendment  into  effect,  by  which  commission 
ers  were  authorized  to  be  sent  into  the  field,  camp,  and  hos 
pital  to  receive  the  votes  of  all  the  electors  of  the  State. 
Under  its  operations,  the  soldiers  renewed  their  rights  as  citi 
zens,  and  with  remarkable  unanimity  voted  the  Republican 
ticket  in  November,  1864,  and  April,  1865. 

Hon.  Charles  Chapman  of  Hartford  was  the  Democratic 
leader  in  the  House;  while  Messrs.  0.  H.  Platt,  H.  K.  W. 

Welch, Watrous,  Charles  Ives,  Dwight  Morris,  David 

Gallup,  and  many  others,  were  prominent  upon  the  Repub 
lican  side. 

The  Assembly  adjourned  sine  die  on  the  ninth  day  of 
July. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1864,  Connecticut  had  the 
proud  honor  of  being  the  only  State  east  of  the  prairies 
whose  quota  was  full.  t 

During  the  year,  there  were  two  calls  for  troops ;  requir 
ing  an  aggregate  of  eight  hundred  thousand  men.  The 
first  was  issued  on  July  18,  for  five  hundred  thousand  men  ; 
and  the  quota  of  Connecticut  was  declared  to  be  ten  thou 
sand  one  hundred  and  twenty-one.  This  number  being 
largely  in  excess  of  any  quota  theretofore  assigned  under  a 
call  for  the  same  number  of  men,  and  the  reason  being 


FAREWELL  OF  PROVOST-MARSHAL  BROMLEY.  633 

apparent,  Adjutant-Gen.  Horace  J.  Morse  ascertained  how 
many  not  subject  to  draft  were  enrolled  in  the  various  sub- 
districts  ;  and  Gov.  Buckingham  made  a  representation  of 
the  facts  to  the  War  Department,  which  secured  a  diminu 
tion  and  re-assignment  of  the  quota  at  8,408. 

By  a  law  passed  at  the  May  session,  the  paymaster-gen 
eral  of  the  State  was  authorized  to  offer  a  bounty  of  three 
hundred  dollars  to  every  enrolled  person  who  should  fur 
nish  a  substitute  upon  the  quota  of  the  State  for  the  term 
of  three  years ;  and  the  provisions  of  the  family-bounty  act 
were  extended  to  the  families  of  all  such  substitutes.  The 
three-hundred-dollar  bounty  was  also  made  payable  to  all 
recruits  for  the  navy ;  and  many  young  men  in  the  coast 
towns  volunteered  under  its  provisions.  The  recruiting 
agents  whom  the  governor  sent  into  the  Southern  States 
obtained  about  one  thousand  men,  who  were  credited  on 
the  quota. 

Much  fraud  was  practiced ;  and  "  bounty-jumping  "  had 
become  an  occupation  with  a  large  class  of  vagrants  who 
went  from  town  to  town,  and  from  State  to  State,  enlisting 
under  various  names  and  disguises ;  taking  the  large  bounty, 
and  deserting  at  the  first  opportunity. 

Capt  Isaac  H.  Bromley  resigned  his  office  of  provost- 
marshal  of  the  Third  District ;  and  Capt.  Theodore  C.  Kibbe 
was  appointed  his  successor.  In  taking  leave  of  the  office, 
Capt.  Bromley  hinted  at  the  perplexities  of  the  position  in 
the  following  farewell  to  the  many-  characters  he  had  dealt 
with,  — 

"  The  retiring  officer  has  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing,  that,  in  the 
discharge  of  duties  eminently  calculated  to  '  make  everybody  hate  you,' 
he  has  met  with  the  most  cheering  success.  Without  a  pang  of  regret,  he 
bids  an  official  but  affectionate  adieu  to  the  gentlemanly  substitute-brokers 
who  always  have  '  two  or  three  first-rate  men  of  good  moral  character ' 
they  want  to  get  in-;  to  the  patriotic  selectmen  and  town  agents  who  would 
'  like  to  look  over  the  lists  to  see  if  James  Henry  Alexander's  name  is 
down  ; '  to  the  short-haired  substitutes,  with  a  complication  of  diseases, 
who  swear  they  are  '  tough  enough  to  stand  marching  and  fighting ; ' 
to  the-  timid  young  gentlemen  from  the  rural  districts  who  '  have  the 
rheumatism  very  bad  in  wet  weather,'  and  '  have  never  been  very  well ' 
since  the  war  broke  out ;  to  the  anxious  parties  who  have  for  the  past 
three  or  four  weeks  waylaid  him  in  the  streets,  and  opened  their  attacks 
with  a  dreadful  series  of  '  s'posens  ; '  to  the  aliens  from  Ireland  and  the 
80 


634  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

aliens  from  Germany,  the  aliens  who  were  willing  to  swear  they  were 
aliens,  and  the  aliens  who  would  '  be  d — d  if  they'd  do  any  thing  of  the 
sort ; '  to  the  mild-mannered  men  who  '  couldn't  understand  it,'  and  to 
those  rough-spoken  people  who  '  know  all  about  it,'  —  to  those  and  to  all 
of  them  he  bids  a  fond  and  affectionate  farewell.  We  presume  they  are 
all  pleased  with  the  change.  He  certainly  is." 

A  draft  was  ordered  for  the  fifth  day  of  September.  The 
energy  of  the  State  was  given  unreservedly  to  the  work 
of  recruiting.  "  Before  the  time  for  the  draft,  the  quota  of 
the  State  was  considerably  more  than  filled ;  but  a  few 
of  the  sub-districts  had  failed  to  furnish  the  required  num 
ber.  In  these  a  draft  was  made  ;  but  in  most  cases,  before 
the  date  at  which  the  drafted  men  were  ordered  to  report, 
the  towns  filled  the  quota  by  volunteers ;  and  the  drafted 
men  were  not  held  to  service."  ' 

The  inducements  held  out  to  all  persons  who  were  liable 
to  be  drafted,  to  obtain  substitutes  in  advance,  at  once 
created  a  large  demand  for  substitutes ;  and  very  many 
of  the  recruits  were  of  this  class.  During  the  year,  three 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-nine  (3,849)  substitutes 
for  enrolled  men  were  mustered,  and  paid  their  bounty. 
More  than  one-half  deserted  before  reaching  the  front. 

Of  this,  the  adjutant-general  says  in  his  report  for  1865, — 

"  I  here  allude  to  this  fact  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  disgrace 
of  this  should  not  be  charged  upon  Connecticut.  These  were  not  Connecticut 
men.  I  have  before  referred  to  the  demand  for  substitutes  which  sprang 
up  immediately  upon  the  passage  of  the  act  paying  a  bounty  of  three 
hundred  dollars  to  each  man  who  would  furnish  a  substitute  before  being 
drafted.  During  the  greater  part  of  this  time,  no  bounties  were  being 
paid  by  the  neighboring  large  cities  ;  and  as  a  consequence  of  this,  and 
to  meet  the  demand  for  substitutes  here,  large  numbers  of  worthless  char 
acters  and  professional  bounty-jumpers,  who  only  entered  the  service  to 
desert  and  enlist  again,  found  their  way  into  the  State  from  these  cities, 
from  Canada  and  elsewhere,  were  presented  at  the  offices  of  provost- 
marshals,  mustered  into  service,  and  sent  to  the  rendezvous.  Either 
there,  or  after  leaving  for  the  field,  they  deserted,  receiving  assistance 
from  confederates  outside,  who  furnished  them  with  citizens'  clothing, 
and  facilitated  their  escape. 

"  After  a  thorough  investigation,  I  am  satisfied,  that,  of  the  substitutes 
who  have  enlisted  and  thus  deserted,  not  one  in  a  hundred  was  a  citizen  of 
Connecticut." 

On  Dec.  19,  the  President  issued  another  call  for  three 
hundred  thousand,  to  fill  the  deficiency  caused  by  deserters 

2  Adjutant-General's  Report  for  1865. 


ENLISTMENT  OF   VAGABONDS.  635 

under  the  previous  requisition.  The  quota  of  Connecticut 
under  this  call  was  not  announced  from  Washington,  for 
the  reason  indicated  in  the  following 'communication,  after 
wards  received :  — 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  PROVOST-MARSIIAL-CENERAL'S  BUREAU, 
WASHINGTON,  D.C.,  March  1,  1866. 

GEN.  HORACE  J.  MORSE,  Adjutant- General,  Hartford,  State  of  Connecticut. 

GENERAL,  —  In  reply  to  your  communication  of  the  27th  ultimo,  re 
questing  to  be  informed  the  quota  assigned  to  the  State  of  Connecticut 
under  the  call  of  Dec.  19,  1864,  without  any  additions  or  deductions  on 
previous  calls,  I  am  directed  by  the  provost-marshal-general  to  inform 
you  that  there  was  no  quota  assigned  to  the  State  of  Connecticut,  from 
the  fact  that  there  was  no  deficiency.  .  .  . 

I  am,  general,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  E.  SCOTT, 

Major  Vet.  Bes.  Corps. 

The  quota  of  Connecticut  was  full,  and  more  than  full, 
at  least  on  paper.  She  had  gone  into  the  fashionable  compe 
tition  as  to  which  State  could  soonest  expunge  its  debt  on 
the  books  of  the  provost-marshal-general's  office  ;  and,  enlist 
ing  all  her  enterprise  and  energy,  had  come  out  among  the 
first. 

Yet  the  substitutes  and  recruits  of  this  period,  obtained 
at  a  high  bid,  were  generally  worthless  vagabonds,  who  in 
tended  to  desert  at  the  first  opportunity,  and  enlist  again. 
A  few  unselfish  patriots  protested  that  the  method  was  in 
herently  vicious,  tending  to  bestow  money  on  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  scoundrels,  without  materially  strengthening 
the  army.  Gen.  Hawley,  from  the  front,  denounced  the 
"  reckless,  cowardly,  quota-filling  madness ; "  and  wrote, "  The 
very  best  men  are  needed  in  soldiering,  as  in  any  other 
serious,  great,  and  dangerous  work.  The  idea  that  material 
of  the  sort  now  sent  us,  though  inexpressibly  vile  and  pi 
ratical,  is  the  best  timber  for  soldiers,  I  often  hear  intimated 
or  suggested ;  and  nothing  but  the  knowledge  that  it  is  not 
so  intended  prevents  me  receiving  and  resenting  it  as  a 
stinging  personal  insult.  This  is  the  most  trying  period  of 
the  war  by  all  odds;  yet  the  men  you  send  now  do  not 
intend  to  go  into  battle  !  " 


636  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

Chaplain  H.  C.  Trumbull  wrote  with  equal  earnestness 
in  August,  1864, — 

"Do  you  know  what  it  is  that  to-day  tends  more  to  dishearten  New- 
England  soldiers  in  the  field  than  all  other  causes  combined?  It  is  not  the 
situation  at  the  front,  but  the  public  sentiment  at  home.  ...  I  can  not 
keep  silence  if  I  would.  I  see  a  perishing  army  the  sole  safeguard  of  a 
tottering  nation  ;  and  I  must  cry  out  in  the  hour  of  that  army's  and  that 
nation's  need  against  the  ruinous  theory,  that  an  able-bodied  citizen  has 
performed  'his  whole  duty  to  his  government  and  to  himself,  when  he  has 
given  to  a  substitute-broker  a  check,  large  or  small,  while  refusing  the 
help  of  his  own  right  arm  to  the  brother  who  dies  for  him.  What !  Is  a 
professed  Christian  to  receive  commendation  for  hiring  a  proxy  to  keep 
the  sabbath  for  him,  while  he  goes  on  a  squirrel-hunt?  .  .  .  Out  on  such  a 
standard!  This  season  of  the  war  is  the  nation's  sacred  holy  day.  Our 
government,  of  more  than  parental  claim  and  preciousness,  is  struggling  in 
agony  for  life  this  hour.  None  are  exempt  from  the  duty  of  doing  their 
utmost  while  there  is  still  such  peril  to  all." 

Capt.  Samuel  Fiske,  scarcely  more  given  to  ambiguity  of 
speech  than  the  two  other  soldiers  above  quoted,  exclaimed, 
"  Shades  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans !  I  suppose  Quintus 
Curtius,  if  he  had  lived  in  these  times,  instead  of  plun 
ging  with  his  gallant  steed  into  the  yawning  gulf,  would 
have"  pitched  in  a  bag  of  brazen  asses,  and  —  avoided  the 
draft."  These  fierce  remonstrances,  doubtless,  reflected  the 
sentiment  of  the  soldiers.  The  writers  were  charged  with 
u  rashness "  and  "  indiscretion "  by  their  friends  at  home ; 
but  the  sequel  amply  justified  the  protests.  The  whole  of 
this  extravagant  bounty-system  tended  to  ruin.  It  dis 
couraged  and  disgusted  the  veterans  in  the  field,  stimulated 
desertions,  degraded  patriotism,  and  filled  the  quota  without 
filling  the  army.  A  few  of  the  substitutes  were  good  and 
faithful  men ;  but  nine-tenths  of  them  were  never  under  fire, 
and  a  large  majority  deserted  before  they  reached  the 
front.  But  the  Confederacy  had  begun  to  lose  its  spirit; 
and  even  "  filling  the  quota  "  seemed  to  give  momentum  to 
its  downfall. 

The  presidential  canvass  of  1864  was  conducted  vigor 
ously  by  both  parties  in  Connecticut.  The  Democrats  again 
appealed  for  peace;  the  Republicans  insisted  on  a  more 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  Democrats  made  con 
spicuous  the  fact  that  the  Union  had  not  yet  been  restored 


THE    TWENTY -NINTH  IN  CAMP  AT  BEATJFOKT.  637 

by  the  armed  hand ;  the  Republicans  took  notice  of  the 
specious  claim  only  to  show  how  much  of  the  rebel  territory 
had  been  overrun,  and  to  resolve  anew  that  the  rest  should 
be  so  reclaimed.  The  struggle  brought  forth  all  the  "  peace- 
men,"  —  those  who  had  opposed  the  war  from  the  beginning, 
—  more  numerous  in  Connecticut  than  in  any  other  North 
ern  State.  The  war-party  was  strengthened  by  its  aggressive 
attitude ;  and  again  the  State  was  hotly  contested  and  close. 
The  official  majority  for  Lincoln  over  McClellan  was  2,406  : 
J.  Hammond  Trumbull,  Secretary  of  State,  declared  the 
whole  number  of  votes  received  by  commissioners  from  sol 
diers  in  the  field  to  be  2,898.  He  estimated  that  the  whole 
number  that  arrived  in  time  to  be  deposited  "in  the  ballot- 
boxes  did  not  exceed  2,400.3 


On  April  7,  the  Twenty-ninth  (colored),  under  Col.  Wil 
liam  B.  Wooster,  was  armed  with  the  best  Springfield  rifles 
at  Annapolis,  and  next  day  received  orders  to  proceed  to 
South  Carolina.  The  regiment  disembarked  at  Hilton 
Head  after  a  comfortable  voyage,  and  went  thence  to  Beau- 

\r  <_J          / 

fort,  where  it  arrived  on  the  loth.  A  fine  camp  was  laid 
out;  and  the  work  of  converting  the  raw  material  of  the 
regiment  into  good  soldiers  was  vigorously  and  systemati 
cally  commenced.  The  men  learned  rapidly,  and  were 
faithful  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  While  here, 
although  the  utmost  attention  was  paid  to  all  that  pertained 
to  the  health  of  the  regiment,  much  sickness  prevailed ;  the 
change  of  climate  telling  severely  upon  the  untried  soldiers. 
In  less  than  two  months,  a  decided  improvement  in  drill  and 
discipline  had  been  effected;  and  the  dress-parades  began 
to  attract  marked  attention.  Here,  and  in  these  duties,  the 
regiment  remained  through  the  spring  and  early  summer, 
until  the  stress  in  Virginia  required  its  transfer  to  that 
point. 


8  The  New-Haven  Register,  commenting  on  these  figures,  said,  "  So  that  by  official 
figures  it- is  seen,  that,  on  the  home  vote,  the  voice  of  Connecticut  was  for  McClellan." 
In  this  conclusion,  it  is  conceded  that  the  soldiers  voted  unanimously  for  Lincoln,  which 
is  not  quite  true. 


638         CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

After  a  pleasant  winter  in  Martinsburg,  Va.,  the  Eight 
eenth  Regiment  was  ordered  on  March  7  (1864)  to  proceed 
to  Harper's  Ferry.  Here  it  was  encamped  for  a  time  on 
Bolivar  Heights ;  detached  companies  doing  provost-duty  in 
Maryland.  The  weather  was  very  disagreeable,  and  the  sol 
diers  sighed  for  their  cosy  quarters  at  Martinsburg.  Soldiers 
are  a  privileged  class :  they  may  grumble  as  much  as  they 
please  if  they  continue  to  obey  orders. 

On  March  28,  the  regiment  was  given  a  furlough  ;  and  the 
men  started  for  Connecticut  in  high  glee.  The  fact  that 
the  State  election  was  on  the  tapis  at  this  precise  time,  and 
that  a  majority  of  the  members  were  voters,  was  suspected 
to  have  some  influence  in  procuring  the  visit  home.  A  few 
pleasant  days  in  Norwich,  almost  a  solid  vote  for  Bucking 
ham,  another  good-by,  and  back  to  Bolivar  Heights  on 
April  9.  After  a  harmless  scout  up  the  Loudon  Valley,  they 
arrived  at  Martinsburg  on  the  28th. 

Next  day  the  regiment,  now  numbering  ten  officers  and 
six  hundred  men,  still  under  Major  Henry  Peale,  started 
with  a  large  force  under  Gen.  Sigel.  This  officer  had  not 
been  uniformly  successful ;  and  the  phrase,  "  I  fights  mit  Si- 
gel,"  had  lost  some  of  its  talis manic  power.  The  Eighteenth, 
too,  remembered  the  Winchester  of  a  year  before ;  but  they 
turned  their  faces  hopefully  southward,  and  marched  away, 
bandying  jokes  suggestive  of  the  past  and  future.  Long 
before  this  time,  many  tender  relationships  had  sprung  up 
between  the  gallant  fellows  of  the  regiment  and  the  ladies 
of  the  city ;  and  the  repeated  partings  had  grown  more  and 
more  affectionate. 

A  rapid  move  to  Bunker  Hill  and  Winchester,  and  the 
regiment  marched  over  the  ground  where  so  many  were 
captured  a  year  before  :  there  the  gallant  Porter  fell ;  there 
the  charges  were  made ;  there  the  surrender ;  there  the  cap 
tivity  in  the  fort.  They  encamped  two  miles  below  town, 
and  tarried  nine  days ;  while  Sigel  reviewed  his  troops, 
and  the  rebels  counted  them,  and  reported  to  Richmond. 
Before  moving  again,  it  was  doubtless  definitely  known  at 
the  rebel  capital  about  how  many  men  and  guns  Sigel  had, 
and  how  many  would  suffice  to  crush  him.  On  May  9,  they 


RETREAT  OF  SIGEL'S  TROOPS.  639 

pushed  forward  towards  New  Market ;  the  Eighteenth  being 
detached  on  the  14th,  and  sent  to  Edinburgh  to  support  the 
28th  Ohio,  where  they  had  a  slight  skirmish.  At  three 
o'clock,  next  morning,  these  regiments  were  pushed  for 
ward  to  New  Market,  and  arrived  at  ten,  A.M.,  in  a  drenching 
rain.  The  Eighteenth  was  marched  into  a  piece  of  woods 
north-west  of  the  town ;  and,  while  partaking  of  a  breakfast 
of  coffee  and  hard-tack,  the  men  were  ordered  into  line  of 
battle  to  the  support  of  a  battery.  The  enemy  was  shelling 
the  position  from  a  wooded  eminence.  After  an  hour's  can 
nonading,  the  three  regiments  that  had  come  up  advanced  a 
short  distance  in  line,  the  Eighteenth  on  the  right,  and  came 
to  a  halt.  Companies  A  and  B  of  the  Eighteenth  were 
deployed  as  skirmishers  under  Capt.  William  L.  Spaulding. 
Firing  began  briskly.  The  skirmishers  of  the  enemy  ad 
vanced  rapidly,  driving  ours  back  to  the  lines.  At  this  time, 
Capt.  Spaulding  was  mortally  wounded  in  the  abdomen,  and 
died  an  hour  later  in  an  ambulance  at  the  rear. 

The  rebels  soon  came  down  in  three  strong  lines  of  battle, 
with  a  reserve  of  seven  thousand  men.  Sigel's  main  force 
was  still  far  behind.  The  enemy  took  advantage  of  this,  rush 
ing  in  with  great  vigor,  and  driving  the  regiments  back  to  an 
eminence.  Here  a  stand  was  made.  The  official  report  of 
Major  Peale  says,  — 

"  The  skirmishers  of  the  enemy  now  appeared'  on  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
aud  rapid  firing  ensued,  in  which  Capt.  J.  Matthewson,  Company  D,  was 
wounded,  as  also  several  men  of  his  company.  As  our  skirmishers  retired 
around  our  flank,  the  line  fired  several  volleys  ;  when,  it  being  apparent  that 
the  line  of  the  enemy  greatly  outnumbered  our  own,  aud  that  further  stay 
in  that  position  was  worse  than  useless,  the  commanders  of  regiments  on 
left  of  brigade  gave  the  order  to  retreat,  which  movement  was  followed  by 
the  Eighteenth.  The  regiment  marching  by  the  flank  at  double-quick,  on 
emerging  from  the  lane,  found  itself  some  distance  in  rear  of  the  retreating 
line,  and  was  thereby  thrown  into  some  confusion  ;  but,  with  some  exceptions, 
the  men  were  rallied  and  were  re-formed  with  the  rest  of  the  first  line  in 
i-ear  of  the  second  line,  which  now  awaited  the  shock.  The  cannonading 
was  at  this  time  extremely  rapid,  the  rebels  shelling  our  position  with  great 
accuracy;  while  the  batteries  of  our  first  and  second  lines  poured  grape  and 
canister  into  their  infantry,  which  came  on  in  splendid  line.  As  they  drew 
near,  our  second  line  fired  and  charged,  partially  checking  their  advance, 
but,  having  suffered  severely,  was  forced  to  retire.  For  the  same  reason, 
the  enemy  contented  himself  with  sending  forward  strong  lines  of  skir 
mishers  to  harass  our  now  retreating  force ;  himself  advancing  very 
slowly. 


640  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

"  Desultory  fighting  was  continued  for  three  hours  by  our  firsi  ana  sec 
ond  lines  alternately  ;  when,  two  fresh  regiments  arriving,  the  broken  forces 
were  assembled  in  rea'r  of  them,  and  marched  on  the  pike  to  the  north  bank 
of  the  Shenandoah,  from  whence  it  continued  to  march  until  within  two 
miles  of  Woodstock,  where  it  halted  at  five,  A.M.  ;  having  inarched  nearly 
thirty-five  miles  in  twenty-six  hours,  in  addition  to  that  incident  to  its  par 
ticipation  in  the  action." 

The  retreat  was  continued  by  Sigel  until  he  reached  the 
east  side  of  Cedar  Creek,  where  the  Eighteenth  went  into 
camp  on  May  17. 

The  regiment  had  lost  one  killed,  thirty-six  wounded,  and 
nineteen  missing,  as  reported  by  Adjutant  E.  B.  Culver 
from  Strasburg ;  but  several  of  the  missing  were  dead  in 
the  enemy's  hands.  In  Capt.  William  L.  Spaulding,  East- 
ford  had  another  martyr.  He  was  a  son  of  Reuben  Spaul 
ding  of  that  town.  Early  in  life  he  resolved  to  obtain  a 
liberal  education ;  and,  wishing  to  be  thoroughly  prepared 
for  college,  he  took  a  course  of  study  at  Wesleyan  Academy, 
Wilbraham,  Mass.  He  graduated  at  Middletown  in  1860, 
bearing  off  the  highest  honors  of  the  institution.4  He  studied 
law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Elisha  Carpenter,  who  says,  "  1 
never  knew  any  young  man  who  possessed  such  aptness  to 
learn  with  such  quick  perceptions  and  sound  judgment.  He 
had  natural  abilities  of  the  very  first  order,  and  must  have 
attained  a  high  place  at  the  bar."  While  the  battle  was 
raging,  after  expressing  satisfaction  and  confidence  in  the 
future  life,  he  asked  Chaplain  Walker,  "  Are  they  driving 
us  ?  "  and  soon  after  expired. 

At  this  point,  Col.  William  G.  Ely,  after  a  long  imprison 
ment,  returned  to  the  regiment,  and  resumed  command.  He 
was  very  warmly  welcomed,  and  responded  to  the  demon 
strations  of  his  men  in  a  pleasant  address.  Capt.  G.  W. 
Warner,  and  Lieuts.  M.  B.  V.  Tiffany,  J.  T.  Maginnis,  I.  N. 
Kibbe,  and  others,  returned  at  the  same  time.  Lieut.-Col. 
Monroe  Nichols,  on  being  released  from  his  terrible  captiv 
ity,  resigned  on  account  of  protracted  ill  health.5 

4  Wesleyan  University  maintained   during  the   war  its  well-earned   reputation    for 
loyalty.     One  hundred  and  fifty-one  students  and  alumni  enlisted  in  the  war,  and  served 
with  great  credit.     Major-Gen.  George  W.  Cole,  and  Brig.-Gens.  A.  J.  Kdgertou  and  John 
B.  Van  Pelton,  were  graduates  of  this  institution.     A  score  of  her  officers  and  men  died 
in  service. 

5  Lieut.-Col.  Nichols  died  in  January,  1868,  at  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  whither  he  had  gone 


HUNTEH  ADVANCES  UP  THE   SHENANDOAH.  641 

Sigel  was  now  succeeded  by  Gen.  Hunter,  who  put  the 
army  in  snug  fighting  trim,  cutting  down  baggage  to  the 
minimum,  and  sending  the  surplus  to  the  rear ;  so  that  during 
the  next  month  any  officer  who  wished  to  indulge  in  the 
luxury  of  a  clean  shirt  was  obliged  to  sit  in  garments  of  the 
same  texture  as  "  the  emperor's  new  clothes  "  while  his  single 
shift  was  going  through  the  "  laundry." 

On  May  27,  the  little  army  started  again  up  the  Shenan- 
doah,  which  a  waggish  soldier  with  the  Virginia  dialect  now 
wrote  of  as  "  the  back  '  doah '  of  the  Union."  They  waded 
through  Woodstock  in  the  mud,  ate  supper  in  the  mud,  slept 
in  the  mud,  rose  and  set  out  again  in  the  mud ;  remained  in 
New  Market  four  days,  and  advanced ;  crossed  the  Shenan- 
doah  at  Port  Republic  on  a  pontoon-bridge,  May  4 ;  marched 
two  miles  towards  Staunton  in  the  evening,  and  bivouacked, 
the  enemy  making  demonstrations  in  the  front.  Next  morn 
ing,  the  column  was  early  on  its  march;  but  the  rebels 
skirmished  spiritedly,  and  on  arrival  at  Piedmont  they  were 
found  posted  advantageously  on  elevations  prepared  to  re 
ceive  battle.  Hunter  passed  his  regiments  in  rapid  review, 
and  said  to  the  Eighteenth,  that  he  "expected  them  to  sustain 
the  honor  of  Connecticut.  Here  was  an  opportunity  to  wipe 
out  New  Market." 

Strong  lines  of  skirmishers  were  thrown  out  from  both 
armies.  Our  line  advanced  under  a  severe  fire  of  shell  and 
musketry,  and  drove  back  the  rebel  skirmishers  towards  their 
main  force.  It  was  all  open  ground ;  and  the  rebels  had  the 
advantage  of  cover,  and  fired  rapidly :  but  the  Union  skirm 
ishers  never  wavered.  Soon  the  order,  "Forward,  double 
quick,  march ! "  was  given,  and  was  followed  by  an  impetuous 

to  reside  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  He  was  materially  strengthened  in  the  exhilarating 
air  of  that  beautiful  young  State  ;  hut  over-exertion  induced  a  fatal  relapse.  Col.  Nichols 
was  born  in  Thompson,  Conn.  He  graduated  at  Middletown  in  1857,  and  after  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run  raised  a  company,  and  was  made  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eighteenth.  After 
he  resigned,  and  returned  to  Connecticut,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assem 
bly  if  1865,  and  served  with  distinction.  The  St.  Paul  Press  says  of  him,  "  Col.  Nichols, 
during  a  brief  residence  of  two  years  in  this  city,  had  won  for  himself  by  his  brilliant  talents, 
his  fine  attainments,  and  attractive  personal  qualities,  a  high  position  in  the  esteem  of  the 
community  and  in  the  regards  of  many  admiring  friends.  To  the  graces  of  the  scholar 
and  the  purity  of  the  Christian  gentleman,  he  added  the  generous  enthusiasm  and  devotion 
of  the  Christian  patriot.  He  was  one  of  those  knightly  souls  who  went  forth  from  our 
colleges  and  schools  to  do  battle  for  freedom  and  the  Union  against  the  hosts  of  treason ; 
and  he  died,  in  fact,  a  martyr  to  the  barbarity  of  the  rebel  jailers  into  whose  hands  by  the 
fortunes  of  war  he  fell." 

81 


642  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

charge  by  Hunter's  whole  force.  The  rebels  stood  a  few 
moments,  straggled,  turned,  and  fled  to  their  principal  breast 
works  just  in  the  rear.  The  ground  thus  gained  gave  our 
men  much  encouragement.  But  repeated  attempts  to  dis 
lodge  the  enemy  again  were  not  so  successful.  Finally,  a 
battery  was  ordered  up,  which  fired  rapidly  and  accurately  ; 
driving  the  rebels  from  a  portion  of  their  works. 

The  Eighteenth  was  on  the  right,  fighting  most  gallantly 
under  Col.  Ely,  giving  and  taking  a  severe  fire.  Lieut.  Magin- 
nis  had  received  a  bullet  in  his  brain,  and  fallen,  his  face  to 
the  foe.  Adjutant  Culver  was  dying.  Enlisted  men  lay  on 
every  hand.  About  five,  P.M.,  the  regiment  was  ordered  for 
ward  simultaneously  with  a  charge  by  a  flanking  force  at  the 
left,  and  moved  calmly  up  to  a  last  furious  attack.  The  rebels 
fought  desperately  for  a  few  minutes,  but  finally  broke  in  a 
total  rout.  Several  pieces  of  artillery  were  captured,  and 
fifteen  hundred  prisoners,  exclusive  of  wounded.  The  Eigh 
teenth  had  conducted  itself  splendidly  this  day,  and  was 
thanked  by  Gens.  Hunter  and  Sullivan.  The  bearing  of  Col. 
Ely  and  Major  Peale  was  calculated  to  inspire  the  men  with 
courage.  Col.  Ely,  in  his  report,  said,  — 

"  Our  troops  fought  with  undaunted  bravery,  and  at  five, 
P.M.,  routed  the  rebels,  captured  two  thousand  prisoners  and 
five  thousand  stands  of  arms,  and  found  a  large  number  of 
severely  wounded  among  the  rebel  dead.  The  Eighteenth 
Connecticut  Volunteers  was  on  the  right  of  Gen.  Hunter's 
line  of  battle :  its  colors  took  the  lead  in  the  first  charge, 
and  floated  defiant  till  we  triumphed.  All  of  the  color-guard 
were  wounded  except  one.  Our  banner  riddled  by  Minie- 
balls  and  cannon-shot,  and  a  loss  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  in  killed  and  wounded,  tell  our  story.  Officers  and 
all  men  behaved  most  gallantly ;  obeying  orders  with  alacrity, 
even  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight." 

The  regiment  had  lost  nineteen  killed  and  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  wounded.  Among  the  wounded  were  Lieuts. 
E.  S.  Hinckley,  J.  P.  Rockwell,  and  John  Lilley,  —  the  last 
severely.  Among  the  killed,  were  Lieuts.  Culver  and  Magin- 
nis,  and  such  men  as  Charles  T.  Fanning,  W.  H.  Paine, 
W.  L.  Adams,  Jerome  B.  Cahoone,  J.  T.  Bradley,  and  John  B. 
Scott. 


HUNTER  DRIVING  THE  ENEMY  UP  THE  VALLEY.  643 

Lieut.  John  T.  Maginnis  was  a  native  of  Stamford.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  a  printer,  and  was  for  some  time  foreman 
of  the  New- York  Herald  office,  and  afterwards  proof-reader 
there.  In  1849,  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business.  When 
the  war  broke  out,  he  wras  dissuaded  from  enlisting ;  but  he 
helped  to  raise  a  company  for  the  Eighteenth,  and  with  noble 
modesty  declined  to  receive  a  commission  until  he  should 
earn  it.  He  was  soon  promoted,  and  was  constantly  with 
his  regiment.  Captured  at  Winchester,  he  was  kept  in  prisdn 
for  nine  months.  He  suffered  from  cold,  privation,  and  ex 
posure,  and  contracted  a  cough  from  which  he  never  recov 
ered.  He  received  a  furlough  on  being  released ;  but  he  was 
restive  at  home,  and  insisted  on  going  back  to  the  front. 
His  lungs  were  perceptibly  affected  ;  but  he  could  not  be  re 
strained.  "  The  boys  are  in  the  field,"  he  said,  "  the  country 
needs  the  help  of  every  arm :  of  what  account  is  my  poor 
life,  or  a  million  such,  if  thereby  our  nation  is  saved  ?  "  He 
hurried  back,  and  wrote  from  Woodstock  in  his  last  letter, 
"I  regret  that  my  health  is  not  good  enough  to  justify  much 
exposure ;  but,  poor  as  it  is,  I  shall  not  shirk  my  duty  in  the 
hour  of  trial.  If  I  am  to  fall,"  said  he,  "  let  it  be  on  a  vic 
torious  battle-field,  amid  the  cheers  of  the  '  boys  in  blue ' ! " 
His  prayer  was  answered. 

Lieut,  E.  Benjamin  Culver  of  Norwich,  adjutant,  was  severe 
ly  wounded  in  the  head,  and  died  next  morning.  Before 
going  into  the  battle,  he  said, "  I  am  prepared  to  receive 
my  death-wound  to-day."  He  was  an  officer  of  great  merit, 
brave  to  a  fault,  and  a  universal  favorite.  He  fell  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight  in  the  first  charge. 

The  Eighteenth,  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  and  much 
exhausted,  made  its  bivouac  in  the  rear  of  the  rebel  posi 
tion  ;  and  next  morning,  sad  at  thought  of  the  losses,  but 
elated  by  the  victory,  the  column  pushed  on  to  Staunton. 
On  .the  10th,  Hunter  was  re-inforced  by  the  commands  of 
Crook  and  Averill ;  and,  now  pushing  resolutely  southward, 
he  passed  through  Lexington  next  day,  destroying  much 
public  property.  The  soldiers  captured  a  Confederate  flag 
over  Stonewall  Jackson's  grave,  and  split  up  for  trophies 
the  black-walnut  memorial  slab  at  its  head.  Rations  began 


644  CONNECTICUT  DUKING   THE   REBELLION. 

to  grow  scarce ;  and  the  army  was  two  hundred  miles  from 
its  base.  The  column  arrived  on  the  14th  at  Buchanan,  a 
town  on  the  James  River  twenty  miles  west  of  Lynchburg, 
where  for  the  first  time  the  old  flag  was  hailed  by  the  cheers 
of  the  citizens;  and  the  ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs 
from  the  windows.  The  army  crossed  the  James  in  canal- 
boats  and  on  the  ruins  of  the  •  old  bridge.  A  wet  night ; 
and  the  men  slept  with  empty  stomachs. 

June  15  was  a  tiresome,  exciting  day,  marked  by  the 
ascent  of  the  Blue  Ridge  near  its  highest  point,  —  the  peaks 
of  Otter.  Night  was  passed  upon  the  mountain  with 
little  to  eat.  Next  morning,  the  grand  scenery  was  left  be 
hind  ;  the  force  descended,  destroyed  the  railroad,  and 
pushed  towards  Lynchburg.  The  Eighteenth  lay  on  its  arms 
all  night,  while  the  advance  skirmished  sharply  with  the 
enemy  within  four  miles  of  the  city.  It  was  evident  that 
the  rebels  meant  to  contest  further  advance.  On  the  18th, 
an  artillery  duel  continued  through  the  day  ;  and  the  enemy 
made  two  unsuccessful  charges  on  our  line.  Col.  Ely  had  a 
narrow  escape  here  :  he  was  wounded  in  the  throat,  and 
was  temporarily  disabled.  Eight  others  in  the  regiment 
were  wounded. 

Gen.  Early  had  now  re-inforced  the  rebels ;  and  Hunter, 
his  rations  and  ammunition  nearly  exhausted,  after  an  in 
decisive  battle,  fell  back  north  of  the  James,  and  retired 
through  West  Virginia. 

Surgeon  J.  V.  Harrington  of  Sterling  was  left  behind 
when  the  Eighteenth  moved.  His  consumptive  tendency 
had  long  been  apparent,  and  crossing  the  mountains  pro 
duced  a  hemorrhage.0  His  absence  from  his  post  at  this 
time  imposed  great  additional  care  upon  Surgeon  Lowell 
Holbrook,  whose  labors  had  been  increasing  every  day. 

The  next  ten  days  brought  the  severest  trials  the  regi 
ment  ever  experienced,  —  tedious  marches  with  little  sleep 
and  less  food  ;  the  whole  army  hurrying  forward  to  escape 

0  Dr.  Harrington  was  taken  as  prisoner  to  Charleston,  and  held  until  October,  when 
he  was  exchanged  and  went  home,  completely  broken  down  in  health.  He  died  in 
December,  —  another  on  the  long  roll  of  martyrs.  He  had  fought  a  good  fight.  When 
he  was  left  at  Lynchburg,  Chaplain  AV.  C.  Walker  wrote,  "  He  is  sadly  missed  in  the 
regiment.  His  kind  and  gentlemanly  deportment  and  faithful  attention  to  his  duties 
render  him  very  popular,  and  make  his  loss  the  greater." 


THE  SIXTH  AND  NINETEENTH  COEPS  IN  THE  VALLEY.     645 

starvation  in  the  mountains.  "The  scenes  of  that  terrible 
march  will  never  be  recalled  by  any  survivor  without  a 
shudder.  The  Eighteenth  conducted  themselves  with  sol 
dierly  manliness  and  propriety." 7  The  retreat  was  from 
Liberty,  back  through  Salem,  across  the  Alleghanies,  thence 
to  Newcastle,  Loui^burg,  Meadow  Bluff,  Gauley  Bridge,  and 
Camp  Piatt  on  the  Kanawha  ;  arriving  very  much  exhausted 
on  July  3.  Next  morning,  the  Eighteenth  went  to  Parkers- 
burg,  via  the  Kanawha  and  Ohio  Rivers,  and  thence  to 
Cumberland,  Md.,  and  marched  back  to  Martinsburg ;  arriv 
ing  there  jaded,  ragged,  dispirited,  and  broken  down,  with 
a  total  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  officers  and  men.  Hunter 
had  made  a  bold  dash  on  Lynchburg,  had  gone  far  from  his 
base  of  supplies,  and  had  met  with  failure  ;  but  the  indi 
vidual  regiments  are  entitled  to  great  credit. 

Lee  eagerly  took  this  opportunity  to  relieve  his  army 
from  investment  at  Petersburg.  The  Shenandoah  Valley 
was  again  open  to  the  North ;  and  he  flung  through  it  his 
choice  corps  of  twelve  thousand  men  under  Early,  to  sweep 
Hunter's  shattered  army  out  of  Virginia,  and  swoop  down 
on  defenseless  Washington.  Hunter,  Crook,  and  Sigel  re 
tired  precipitately  across  the  Potomac. 

Grant  immediately  met  the  movement,  not  by  raising 
the  siege,  but  by  detaching  Wright's  6th  Corps,  and  sending 
it  on  transports  to  Washington.  The  Second  Connecticut 
Artillery,  still  serving  as  infantry,  was  in  this  force.  "  We 
disembarked  at  Washington  on  the  12th,"  says  Capt. 
Theodore  F.  Vaill  of  Litchfield  in  his  diary,  "  and  marched 
straight  through  the  city  on  Seventh  Street  to  Tenallytown, 
where  the  pickets  were  engaging  the  rebels,  now  in  plain 
sight.  At  ten,  A.M.,  we  were  marched  out  some  two  miles, 
and  remained  till  morning."  Early  had  hesitated  too  long, 
and  lost  his  opportunity;  and,  finding  that  the  6th  and  19th 
Corps  were  up,  he  withdrew,  and  recrossed  the  Potomac,  the 
6th  Corps  in  hot  pursuit.  Capt.  E.  W.  Whitaker  was  here 
in  command  of  a  squadron  of  cavalry. 

On  July  14,  the  Eighteenth,  in  Crook's  column,  passed 
from  Harper's  Ferry  down  the  left  bank  of  the  Potomac,  and 

7  Narrative  of  Chaplain  William  C.  Walker. 


646  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

next  day  recrossed,  and  pushed  southward  through  the 
London  Valley;  Early  crossing  at  the  same  time  at  Point 
of  Rocks.  The  two  corps  were  again  in  close  proximity. 
Crook's  cavalry  made  a  successful  raid  upon  the  enemy's 
trains ;  and  the  infantry  pushed  on  towards  Snicker's  Gap, 
which  was  reached  and  passed  on  the  18th.  In  the  after 
noon,  the  enemy  was  found  posted  across  the  Shenandoah 
to  hold  the  ferry,  and  resist  the  passage  of  the  river. 
Crook  posted  a  battery  so  as  to  command  the  position,  and 
then  began  crossing  by  the  ford,  two  miles  below.  The 
Confederates  permitted  one  brigade  (including  the  Eigh 
teenth)  to  cross  without  molestation  ;  and  then  made  a  vigor 
ous  onset  from  the  woods,  rapidly  driving  the  whole  line 
towards  the  river.  The  order  was  given  to  retreat  by  the 
ford  ;  but  great  confusion  prevailed.  "  The  Eighteenth  held 
its  position  on  the  right  until  flanked,  and  was  the  last  regi 
ment  to  recross;  suffering  a  loss  of  six  killed  and  twenty- 
five  wounded.  .  .  .  The  regiment  acquitted  itself  creditably. 
It  was  exposed  to  a  cross-fire,  but  did  not  waver,  nor  retreat 
until  ordered."8  Orderly-Sergeant  Thomas.  J.  Aldrich  of 
Thompson  was  drowned.  Capt.  Joseph  Mathewson  was 
wounded  in  the  thigh.  Lieuts.  M.  V.  B.  Tiffany  and  F.  G. 
Bixby  were  also  wounded. 

After  being  thus  disgracefully  entrapped,  Crook  drew  off, 
and  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  6th  and  19th  Corps,  which 
came  up  next  day.  The  Eighteenth  Regiment,  now  num 
bering  less  than  a  hundred  rank  and  file,  passed  slowly  west 
ward  to  Winchester,  and  camped  on  the  night  of  the  22d  in 
familiar  ground.  Next  morning,  they  moved  out  two  miles 
on  the  Romney  Road,  and  lay  all  day  in  line  of  battle ;  the 
enemy  being  not  far  off.  On  the  24th,  the  Eighteenth  was 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Strasburg  Pike,  and  found  the  rebels 
advancing  in  force.  They  soon  furiously  attacked  the  left 
of  our  line,  which  gave  way ;  exposing  the  extreme  right 
held  by  the  Eighteenth,  and  compelling  it  to  fall  back.  It 
retreated  in  good  order  over  the  ridge  west  of  Winchester, 
halting  twice,  and  forming  in  line  of  battle  to  check  the  pur 
suing  force.  On  the  left,  our  cavalry  had  been  driven  back 

8  Diary  of  Chaplain  W.  C.  Walker. 


THE   EIGHTEENTH  NEAE   HAEPER'S   FEREY.  647 

in  confusion  upon  the  infantry ;  and  the  Eighteenth  narrowly 
escaped  capture  within  a  short  distance  of  the-  fatal  disaster 
of  the  year  previous.  The  whole  army  was  again  in  full 
retreat ;  and  the  Eighteenth  reached  Martinsburg  early  next 
morning  with  a  loss  of  ten  or  twelve  men,  prisoners,  and 
arrived  at  Williamsport,  and  forded  the  Potomac  with  the 
army  at  dawn  of  the  26th.  For  several  days,  the  regi 
ment  remained  along  the  Potomac  in  the  vicinitv  of  Har- 

o  «/ 

per's  Ferry,  where  a  force  now  gathered  to  intercept  the 
raid  of  Early  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  had  already  burned 
Chambersburg. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 


The  Dead-Lock  at  Petersburg.  —  Flank  Movement  on  the  Right.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh, 
Tenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Twenty-ninth  Connecticut,  and  the  First  Battery  engaged.  — 
Four-mile  Run.  —  Battle  of  Deep  Run.  —  Charge  by  Terry's  Division.  — 'Strawberry 
Plains.  —  Withdrawal.  —  Casualties.  —  The  Fourteenth  at  Rcams's  Station.  —  Casu 
alties.  —  Incidents  along  the  Line. 


ICHMOND  and  Petersburg  were  still  under  the 
rebel  flag.  The  terrific  struggles  of  the  sum 
mer  of  1864  had  resulted  in  a  dead-lock  of  the 
opposing  armies.  For  thirty  miles,  the  parallel 
lines  of  earthworks,  batteries,  and  forts,  bristling 
with  cannon,  and  well-manned  by  tried  and  veteran  troops, 
overlooked  the  hostile  camps  but  a  few  rods  distant.  Expe 
rience  had  taught  that  the  attempt  to  take  the  rebel  lines 
by  direct  assault  was  too  expensive  for  frequent  repetition. 
Every  shock  seemed  only  to  settle  and  strengthen  the 
defenses. 

The  mine^/zasco  had  left  no  alternative  but  flanking;  and 
the  plan  now  was  to  strike  the  rebel  arrny  upon  the  extreme 
right  and  left  simultaneously,  and  so  confuse  and  bewilder 
the  enemy  as  to  cause  him  to  leave  some  point  exposed. 
Two  corps,  the  2d  and  10th,  were  selected  to  operate  against 
Richmond  from  Deep  Bottom,  under  Hancock;  while  Warren 
struck  for  the  possession  of  the  Weldon  Railroad  on  the  left. 

Gen.  Gilmore  had  been  relieved  from  the  command  of  the 
10th  Corps;  and  Gen.  A.  H.  Terry  succeeded  him  for  a  time, 
showing  great  ability  in  discharging  the  duties  of  the  posi 
tion.  Major-Gen.  Birney  was  soon  appointed- by  the  rule 
of  seniority ;  and  Terry  returned  to  his  gallant  division. 
The  Twenty-ninth  Connecticut  (colored),  under  Col.  William 
B.  Wooster,  was  now  ordered  up  from  Beaufort,  and  joined 
Hinks's  (colored)  division. 


648 


THE   TENTH   BRISKLY   ENGAGED.  649 

On  Aug.  13,  the  movement  on  the  right  commenced ;  the 
troops  being  embarked  on  transports,  as  a  feint,  and  landed 
at  Deep  Bottom.  The  Connecticut  regiments  present  at 
this  point  were  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  Tenth,1  Fourteenth,  and 
Twenty-ninth,  and  the  First  Light  Battery. 

Foster's  brigade  still  occupied  the  little  semicircle  on  the 
bluffs  projected  into  rebel  territory ;  and  Col.  Wooster  was 
put  in  command  of  a  brigade  to  hold  the  ground,  while  the 
rest  of  the  force  attacked.  A  short  distance  below,  a  small 
tributary  called  Four-mile  Run  joins  the  James ;  and  up  this 
(towards  Richmond)  the  advance  was  made  at  daylight  on 
the  14th,  the  10th  Corps  on  the  north  side,  and  the  2d  Corps 
on  the  south  side,  of  the  creek.  This  was  a  movement 
against  the  rejpel  left. 

Foster's  brigade  made  a  successful  charge  on  the  enemy's 
line,  maintaining  its  position  until  recalled.  Of  this  advance 
of  Sunday,  Adjutant  H.  W.  Camp  of  the  Tenth  wrote,  "  We 
formed  line,  threw  out  skirmishers,  and  advanced,  connecting 
with  other  regiments  on  the  right  and  left.  A  very  few  min 
utes,  and  the  fight  was  brisk.  The  main  body  of  the  regi 
ment  was  halted,  and  the  men  lay  down;  while  officers  moved 
up  and  down  the  line,  skirmishers  dodged  from  tree  to  tree, 
and  bullets  pattered  fast  in  all  directions.  Going  down  the 
line,  I  stopped  to  deliver  an  order  to  Lieut.  A.  F.  Sharp. 
We  stood  for  a  moment  talking;  and  I  had  hardly  turned 
away,  when  a  bullet  passed  through  his  head  just  behind  the 
eyes.  Officers  went  down  fast.  Capt.  H.  F.  Quinn  had  charge 
of  the  skirmishers.  Two  of  his  men,  stepping  in  succession 
behind  a  large  tree  that  seemed  to  offer  excellent  shelter, 
fell,  —  one  dead,  the  other  severely  wounded.  He  moved  to 

1  In  accepting  the  resignation  of  Licut.-Col.  Leggett  at  this  time,  Gen.  Butler  issued 
the  following  well-merited  order  :  — 

HEADQUARTERS  DEFT.  OF  VIRGINIA  AND  NORTH  CAROLINA, 
«  IN  THE  FIELD,  VIRGINIA,  Aug.  17,  1864. 

SPECIAL  ORDERS,  No.  225.  .  .  .  15.  —  Lieut.-Col.  Robert  Leggett,  Tenth  Connecti 
cut  Volunteers,  having  tendeifjd  his  resignation,  it  is  accepted,  with  regrets  that  so  gallant 
an  officer,  with  honorable  wounds  received  in  the  service,  is  obliged  to  leave  it.  Col.  Leg- 
gett's  patriotic  endeavors  to  remain  in  the  service,  notwithstanding  his  partial  disability- 
in  the  loss  of  a  limb,  arc  appreciated  by  the  commanding  general,  who  desires  to  thank 
him  for  the  example  of  courage  and  endurance  he  has  set  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
his  command. 

By  order  of  Major-Gen.  Butler,  K.  S.  DAVIS, 

Assistant  Adjutant-  General. 


650  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

the  same  place,  and  was  instantly  shot  dead, — all  three  within 
two  minutes.  Capt.  W.  M.  Webb  was  wounded,  and  carried 
back ;  and  presently  we  saw  two  men  helping  Lieut.  G.  H. 
Brown  to  the  rear,  with  a  bullet  through  his  leg.  A  moment 
after  I  left  Sharp,  I  came  upon  one  of  our  men  lying  on  the 
ground  with  the  blood  pouring  from  a  wound  in  the  shoul 
der.  Asking  his  name  of  those  who  stood  by,  I  was  told  it 
was  Cornelius  Dwyer  of  Sprague.  He  looked  up  as  I  in 
quired.  'I  am  a  dead  man,  adjutant.'  —  'I  hope  not,'  said  I; 
but  he  knew  too  well.  He  did  not  live  to  be  carried  from  the 
field. 

"  There  was  a  yell  from  the  rebels  in  front ;  a  louder  crash 
of  musketry.  Our  skirmishers  stood  fast,  and  drove  back  the 
advancing  enemy.  .  .  .  This  had  lasted  morq  than  an  hour, 
when  the  24th  Massachusetts,  which  had  been  held  in  re 
serve,  came  marching  up  in  double  column :  they  were  to 
charge  through  the  dense  wood,  upon  the  rifle-pits  beyond. 
We  had  orders  to  follow  and  support  them.  They  moved  for 
ward  splendidly,  with  well-closed  lines  and  steady  step.  They 
passed  us  a  few  rods,  and  the  undergrowth  hid  them  from 
sight.  We  came  after  in  line  of  battle.  Two  or  three  minutes 
passed.  The  same  irregular  fire  in  front,  and,  with  a  long,  tre 
mendous  cheer,  the  24th  made  their  rush.  Our  boys  needed 
no  orders  :  a  shout  burst  from  every  throat,  and  the  whole 
line  dashed  on.  But,  instead  of  the  fierce  volleys  we  ex 
pected  to  meet,  there,  on  reaching  open  ground,  was  the 
line  of  works  deserted.  The  yell  and  the  charge  had  been 
too  much  for  the  nerves  of  our  friends  in  gray ;  and  almost 
without  another  shot  they  had  turned,  and  made  the  best  of 
their  way  to  the  rear." 

Col.  J.  P.  Rockwell  commanded  the  Sixth  ;  and  Capt.  John 
Thompson  of  Middletown,  the  Seventh.  These  regiments 
proceeded  across  the  James  with  their  brigade  (Hawley's), 
and  advanced  against  the  rebel  position  simultaneously  with 
the  Tenth,  but  were  less  heavily  engaged.  Lieut.  John  B. 
Young  commanded  companies  B  and  G  of  the  Seventh  on 
the  skirmish-line.  The  Confederates  showed  such  a  stub 
born  front,  that  it  became  evident  that  the  attack  was  not 
far  enough  on  the  flank.  With  this  conviction,  the  troops 


TEEEY'S  DIVISION  IN  THE  BATTLE  OF  DEEP  ET7N.        651 

were  withdrawn  at  nightfall ;  ground  gained  in  the  partial 
success  was  abandoned ;  and  during  the  night  and  next 
morning  the  whole  force  moved  four  miles  farther  to  the 
right.  The  report  of  Capt.  Thompson  says,  "  Directly  in 
front  of  us  was  a  corn-field,  and  beyond  that  a  deep  ravine 
and  mill-pond,  which  separated  us  from  the  enemy's  main 
works.  The  following  officers  were  present  for  duty  at  this 
time ;  viz.,  Assistant  Surgeon  E.  C.  Hine ;  Lieut.  J.  I.  Hutch- 
inson,  acting  adjutant ;  Lieuts.  C.  E.  Barker,  H.  B.  Lee,  and 
M.  A.  Taintor.  Capt.  E.  S.  Perry,  and  Lieuts.  T.  C.  Wild- 
man,  John  B.  Young,  and  Byron  Bradford,  were  sick  and 
unfit  for  duty ;  and  Lieut.  Henry  B.  Gill  had  received  a 
slight  wound  two  days  previous,  from  which  he  had  not  re 
covered.  Surgeon  George  C.  Jarvis  was  detached  from  the 
regiment,  being  senior  medical  officer  of  the  brigade.  Ow 
ing  to  the  excessive  heat,  an  unusual  number  of  the  enlisted 
men  were  compelled  to  fall  out  of  the  ranks  while  on  the 
march,  from  sun-stroke  and  excessive  fatigue,  being  bur 
dened  with  their  knapsacks ;  so  that,  on  the  morning  of  the 
16th,  they  numbered  but  161  men." 

On  the  16th  was  fought  the  battle  of  Deep  Run  by 
Terry's  division  ;  resulting  in  carrying  the  enemy's  intrench- 
ments,  and  capturing  two  hundred  prisoners  and  a  stand  of 
colors.  Col.  Hawley's  brigade  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
work  of  this  day.  At  three,  A.M.,  Hawley  ordered  his  men  to 
throw  up  some  sort  of  protection  in  front  as  a  guard  against 
the  enemy's  sharpshooters.  Rails  were  collected ;  and  the 
position  rendered  more  safe.  At  eight,  A.M.,  the  brigade 
moved  half  a  mile  by  the  right  flank,  and  marched  on  the 
Confederate  works.  After  approaching  about  four  hundred 
yards,  the  men  lay  down  in  line  of  battle. 

Capt.  Thompson,  in  his  report,  thus  outlines  the  fight  of 
the  brigade :  "  Col.  Hawley  informed  his  whole  brigade  that 
a  brigade  in  front  of  us  was  to  charge  the  enemy's  works, 
and  cautioned  the  whole  command  to  remain  firm,  and,  i?i 
case  the  leading  brigade  was  repulsed,  to  allow  them  to  pass 
over  us  to  the  rear ;  and  then  to  hold  our  position  at  all 
hazards.  The  brigade  in  front  of  us  then  rose  up,  and 
rushed  forward  through  the  woods,  towards  the  enemy's 


652  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

works ;  when  a  galling  fire  of  musketry  greeted  us  from 
the  enemy.  When  they  had  proceeded  about  fifty  yards, 
I  heard  Col.  Hawley  give  the  command,  '  Forward,  second 
brigade  ! '  when  my  regiment  rose  up  instantly,  and  rushed 
forward  at  a  double-quick,  cheering  loudly,  and  following 
the  leading  brigade  in  as  good  line  of  battle  as  the  dense 
woods  and  the  nature  of  the  ground  generally  would  permit. 

"  On  arriving  within  about  fifty  yards  of  the  works,  we 
came  upon  a  slashing  of  fallen  trees,  very  difficult  to  pass ; 
but  through  it  we  went  with  a  will,  and  over  the  works,  driv 
ing  the  enemy  before  us.  On  crossing  the  enemy's  works, 
without  halting,  I  moved  the  regiment  by  the  left  flank,  to 
avoid  a  dense  thicket  of  young  trees,  in  order  to  reach  an 
open  field  about  a  hundred  yards  to  the  left.  We  then 
formed  in  line  of  battle,  and  moved  forward  across  an  open 
field  about  four  hundred  yards,  and  halted  in  the  edge  of  a 
piece  of  woods,  in  order  to  guard  against  the  approach  of 
the  enemy  on  our  right  flank.  Other  regiments  coming  up 
to  our  support,  a  severe  and  general  engagement  with  the 
enemy  ensued.  During  the  engagement,  I  perceived  the 
enemy  coming  down  through  the  woods  on  my  right  flank. 
I  changed  my  line  of  battle  accordingly,  so  as  to  front 
the  enemy,  and  opened  on  them  vigorously  with  the 
Spencer  carbines,  and  soon  succeeded  in  driving  them  from 
before  us. 

"  I  soon  received  orders  from  Col.  Hawley  to  fall  back  to 
the  enemy's  works,  which  we  had  passed  over.  Here  I 
formed  the  regiment  in  line  of  battle,  fronting  the  enemy. 
I  then  received  orders  from  Gen.  Terry  to  march  my  regi 
ment  to  the  rear ;  our  ammunition  being  very  nearly  ex 
hausted.  Of  the  six  officers  who  were  engaged  in  battle, 
four  were  either  killed  or  wounded  ;  and,  myself  being  very 
ill  from  the  effects  of  sunstroke  a  few  days  previous,  I 
turned  over  the  command  to  Lieut.  Morton  A.  Taintor  of 
Colchester,  the  only  remaining  officer." 

The  Sixth  participated  in  the  charge  ;  and  the  Tenth 
joined  with  a  will  farther  to  the  left.  "  We  knew  that 
Hawley's  brigade  was  charging.  The  Massachusetts  24th 
took  it  up.  Our  boys  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  joined  in  the 


HANCOCK   WITHDKAWS  TO   STRAWBERRY  PLAINS.         653 

shout.  Col.  Otis  gave  the  word ;  and  the  line  rushed  on 
over  the  brow  of  the  hill,  through  the  undergrowth  where 
the  skirmishing  had  been  so  sharp,  straight  on  without  halt 
or  hesitation ;  while  the  rebel  skirmishers  vanished  from 
before,  until  the  main  line  of  rifle-pits  was  reached  and 
occupied." 2 

While  this  was  going  on,  Col.  Wooster  received  orders 
from  Gen.  Butler  to  push  forward  cautiously  with  a  strong 
line  towards  a  body  of  troops  advancing  from  Dutch  Gap 
above  ;  and  at  about  five,  P.M.,  he  moved  out.  Company  C 
of  the  Twenty-ninth,  under  Capt.  Thomas  G.  Bennett,  was 
thrown  out  to  skirmish.  The  enemy's  pickets  gave  ground, 
firing  briskly  ;  and  shortly  the  right  flank  of  the  regiment 
became  warmly  engaged  near  the  Kingsland  Road.  The 
rebels  were  soon  driven,  and  fell  back.  The  force  from 
Dutch  Gap  failing  to  come  up,  Col.  Wooster  withdrew  at 
dark  to  the  defenses. 

Terry's  division  held  their  hastily-constructed  breastworks 
for  forty-eight  hours,  but  were  attacked  in  front  and  flank 
by  the  heavy  re-inforcements  which  Lee  had  transferred  to 
this  side  of  the  river.  The  rebels  showed  much  vigor  and 
strength  in  these  repeated  assaults  ;  and,  the  movement  on 
the  Weldon  Road  having  succeeded,  Hancock  withdrew  his 
forces  to  Strawberry  Plains  on  Thursday,  followed  closely 
and  hotly  by  the  flushed  and  confident  foe.  Skirmishing 
was  constant ;  there  was  little  sleep ;  and  these  were  days 
and  nights  of  weariness  and  exhausting  effort.  As  usual, 
the  Tenth  was  the  rear-guard ; 3  and,  after  fighting  and 
marching  in  rain  and  mud,  the  whole  of  the  two  corps  had 
recrossed  the  James  before  daybreak  of  the  following 
Sunday,  Aug.  21.  The  Twenty-ninth,  in  the  mean  time, 

2  Extract  from  a  full  narrative  in  the  Knightly  Soldier,  p.  271. 

8  Gen.  E.  I).  S.  Goodyear,  writing  of  this  battle,  thus  refers  to  the  chaplain  of  the 
Tenth,  "  Chaplain  Trumbnll  displayed  an  amount  of  personal  courage  and  efficiency 
which  people  at  home  would  hardly  have  conceived  possible  in  a  minister  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  A  battery  opened  a  rapid  fire,  and  exploded  their  shells  and  spherical  case 
exactly  over  our  line ;  wounding  several  of  our  men.  One  shell  exploded  a  few  feet  over 
Mr.  Trumbull's  head,  knocking  him  down  ;  and  we  supposed  him  to  be  dead.  As  soon  as 
the  smoke  rose  and  the  dirt  settled,  he  rose  np,  partially  stunned,  and  shook  the  dirt  off 
his  clothes.  Just  at  this  moment,  three  or  four  shells  burst  in  the  ranks  of  a  couple  of 
the  regiments  on  our  left,  and  they  broke,  panic  struck,  for  the  rear.  In  an  instant,  the 
chaplain,  pistol  in  hand,  sprang  into  the  midst  of  the  disordered  mass  of  flying  men  ;  and 
no  officer  ever  exerted  himself  with  more  energy  or  firmness  in  a  like  disaster  than  he 
did  on  that  occasion." 


654  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  KEBELLION. 

had  rejoined  the  10th  Corps,  and  returned  with  it  to  the 
Bermuda  Hundred  front. 

Nothing  directly  had  been  accomplished,  and  the  losses  on 
both  sides  had  been  heavy.  Of  Connecticut  troops,  the 
Sixth  had  lost  six  killed,  sixty-four  wounded,  and  eleven 
missing.  Among  the  wounded  were  Capts.  Bennett  S.  Lewis, 
John  Stottlar,  and  D  wight  A.  Woodruff  (severely),  and  Lieuts. 
John  Waters,  Joseph  Miller,  and  George  Bellows.  Capt. 
Woodruff  suffered  the  amputation  of  his  arm,  and  died  after 
a  few  weeks  of  pain.  He  was  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier. 
He  entered  the  army  as  a  private,  and  was  steadily  pro 
moted  for  good  conduct.  When  told  that  death  was  near, 
he  said,  "  That  is  a  small  wound,  —  a  slight  hurt  to  take  a 
man's  life.  But  I  received  it  in  a  noble  cause,  —  the  cause 
of  my  country."  His  remains  were  taken  home  to  West 
Avon,  and  buried  with  Masonic  honors. 

The  Seventh  had  lost  seven  killed,  thirty-one  wounded, 
and  seven  missing.  Among  the  wounded  were  Lieuts.  Edwin 
J.  Merriam,  Charles  E.  Barker,  Henry  B.  Lee,  John  I.  Hutch- 
inson,  and  Henry  B.  Gill,  the  first  three  severely.  The 
wounds  of  Lieut.  H.  B.  Lee  and  Lieut.  C.  E.  Barker  (both  of 
Derby)  were  mortal,  and  they  died  in  the  enemy's  hands. 
Capt.  Thompson  says  in  his  report,  — 

"  Lieut.  Hutchinson  was  wounded  and  disabled  during  the  assault  on 
the  enemy's  works,  while  gallantly  performing  his  duty,  and  compelled  to 
retire.  Lieut.  Merriam  had  been  wounded  in  the  engagement  of  the  14th, 
but  resumed  his  command,  and  was  again  wounded  while  nobly  dischar 
ging  his  duty  ;  and  too  mucli  praise  can  not  be  awarded  him.  Lieuts.  Bar 
ker  and  Lee,  I  regret  to  say,  were  wounded  in  the  latter  part  of  the  engage 
ment  (supposed  mortally),  and  of  necessity  were  left  on  the  field  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  They  displayed  great  coolness  and  courage 
throughout  the  entire  engagement. 

"  Surgeon  George  C.  Jarvis  and  Assistant  Surgeon  E.  C.  Hine  were 
deserving  of  great  praise  for  their  efficient  and  untiring  efforts  in  caring  for 
the  wounded  of  the  command. 

"  The  men  displayed  unusual  zeal  and  bravery  during  the  whole  engage 
ment  ;  and,  where  all  who  were  with  me  have  done  so  nobly,  it  is  difficult 
to  mention  any  particular  individual  as  worthy  of  most  praise.  I  will  take 
the  liberty,  however,  to  give  the  names  of  Sergeant  S.  W.  W.  Plumb  of 
Merideu,  Lewis  A.  Cook  of  Stamford,  W.  G.  Smith,  Benjamin  Starr, 
Charles  M.  Shailer,  W.  W.  Whaples,  Willard  Austin,  William  Cook,  and 
Corporal  Edwin  W.  Clark." 

Lieut.  Merriam's  wound  soon  proved  mortal;  and  the  State 
lost  no  more  devoted  son.  He  enlisted  from  Durham,  and, 


LIEUT.   HENBY  B.   LEE.  655 

after  three  years  of  service  as  a  private,  re-enlisted  as  a 
veteran.  He  was  a  Christian  soldier,  following  with  equal 
fidelity  the  cross  and  the  flag.  When  his  time  expired,  he 
said,  "  I  have  determined  to  re-enlist  in  order  that  I  may, 
during  the  three  years  to  come,  try  to  do  good  to  the  souls 
of  my  fellow  soldiers."  Chaplain  Wayland  says,  "  He  was 
the  best  man  I  ever  knew  anywhere,  uniting  more  virtues 
with  fewer  weaknesses."  And  to  Chaplain  Eaton  he  said, 
"  I  am  willing  to  give  up  all  my  worldly  interests  and  enjoy 
ments,  if  I  can  thereby  secure  the  invaluable  blessings  of 
universal  justice  and  freedom  to  those  who  shall  live  after 
me." 

Lieut.  Henry  B.  Lee  was  the  oldest  of  five  brothers,  born 
in  Pleasant  Valley,  Conn.  Four  of  them  were  in  the  army 
at  one  time ;  and  the  fifth  offered  himself,  and  was  rejected. 
The  youngest  was  Capt.  E.  R  Lee  of  the  Eleventh,  killed 
at  Antietam.  Henry  was  a  citizen  of  Derby  when  the 
mad  appeal  to  arms  was  made ;  a  member  of  the  company 
whence  Col.  Kellogg,  Col.  Chatfield,  and  Col.  Russell  grad 
uated.  He  was  a  thorough  soldier,  but  did  not  ask  for  a 
commission.  It  came  to  him,  however.  When  the  veterans 
were  re-enlisting,  his  brother  at  home  wrote  him,  saying, 
"  You  ought  not  to  re-enlist :  your  family  need  you  at  home. 
If  more  are  needed  from  our  circle,  let  the  government  give 
me  a  place.  If  I  am  disabled,  I  can  do  a  man's  work  in  some 
place."  His  reply  was,  "  I  have  re-enlisted ;  I  will  fight  the 
enemies  of  my  country  while  I  live  ;  I'll  see  the  end  of  this, 
or  it  shall  see  the  end  of  me."  'Lieut.  Lee  was  a  brave,  faith 
ful,  uncomplaining  soldier ;  an  honest,  conscientious,  devoted 
patriot ;  a  kind,  loving,  tender  husband  and  father.  He  left 
a  family  of  four  little  ones,  and  gave  his  life  for  the  land  he 
loved.  He  was  buried  by  the  enemy,  and  sleeps  in  an  un 
known  grave. 

The  casualties  of  the  Tenth  had  been,  Capt.  Horace  F. 
Quinn,  killed ;  Lieut.  A.  F.  Sharp,  mortally  wounded ;  Capt. 
Selleck  L.  White  and  Lieuts.  H.  A.  Peck  and  George  H. 
Brown  severely,  and  Capt.  M.  M.  Webb  and  Lieut.  W. 
L.  Savage  slightly  wounded :  four  enlisted  men  killed  and 
twenty-two  wounded. 


656  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Capt.  Selleck  L.  White  died  Sept.  11,  of  wounds  received 
in  this  action.  He  was  born  in  Danbury,  Conn.,  and  entered 
the  service  at  the  organization  of  his  company,  Oct.  1,  1861, 
as  a  sergeant;  was  in  command  as  first  sergeant  during 
the  summer  of  1862 ;  and  rose  rapidly,  by  superior  merit, 
through  all  intermediate  grades  to  that  of  captain.  He  fell, 
severely  wounded,  while  gallantly  leading  his  men  in  a 
charge  on  the  enemy's  rifle-pits.  Adjutant  Camp  wrote, 
"  Capt.  White  was  one  of  the  finest  officers  in  the  regiment." 
He  was  buried  at  home  with  military  honors. 

Capt.  Horace  F.  Quinn,  killed  in  action  here,  entered  the 
service  in  the  Second  Regiment  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and 
served  as  a  private  through  the  three-months'  campaign. 
On  the  organization  of  the  Tenth,  he  joined  it  as  first  lieu 
tenant  of  Company  H,  under  Capt.  Leggett.  Said  Col. 
Greeley,  "No  more  brave  or  daring  officer  ever  led  a  com 
pany  than  Capt.  Quinn.  Although  young  in  years,  he  was 
a  veteran  soldier :  twenty  years  of  age  at  his  death,  he  had 
seen  more  than  three  years'  active  service." 

Lieut.  Albert  F.  Sharp,  mortally  wounded,  was  born  in 
Providence,  R.I. ;  entered  the  service  as  a  private  in  the 
Second  (three-months')  Regiment,  and  again  as  a  sergeant 
in  the  Tenth  upon  its  organization.  Col.  Greeley  wrote, 
"He  early  distinguished  himself  by  his  bravery,  and  was 
finally  promoted  for  gallant  and  meritorious  services  in  the 
la&t  campaign.  In  him  the  regiment  lost  one  of  its  most 
promising  and  faithful'  officers,  and  the  State  one  of  its  most 
patriotic  citizens." 

Lieut.  Sharp  had  received  a  medal  from  Gen.  Gilmore,  and 
had  been  complimented  for  gallantry  by  Gen.  Butler.  He 
died  from  the  effects  of  a  ball  which  tore  out  both  of  his  eyes. 
Chaplain  Trumbull  wrote  of  him,  "Lieut.  Sharp  was  as  brave 
a  man  as  ever  lived ;  as  prompt  and  as  efficient  in  the  per 
formance  of  duty  as  any  soldier  I  ever  knew.  He  was 
always  ready  to  do  any  thing  by  which  he  could  help  for 
ward  the  cause  to  which  he  had  joined  himself;  and  he  lived 
prepared  for  every  emergency.  His  record  is  a  noble  one." 

In  the  battle  of  the  16th,  Col.  Otis  was  hit  again,  —  the 
third  bullet  or  shell  contusion  which  he  had  received  in  battle. 


EFFECT   OF  THE  MOVEMENT  ACROSS  THE   JAMES.  657 

Here,  also,  Cyrus  A.  Green  of  South  Coventry  was  killed. 
He  was  a  brave  and  faithful  soldier.4 

"  Poor  Dennis  Mahoney  was  shot  through  the  body  early 
in  the  day.  It  was  he  who  sent  for  Henry  [Chaplain  Trurnbull] 
to  come  to  the  hospital  and  see  him.  He  was  the  ideal  of  a 
private  soldier.  Tall  and  fine-looking;  always  neat  and 
soldierly  in  dress  and  equipments;  always  cheerful  and 
prompt  in  duty;  brave  to  recklessness;  never  missing  a  chance 
to  volunteer  for  an  expedition,  a  scout,  or  any  service  of 
danger ;  full  of  fun  and  dash  and  spirit :  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  match  him  in  the  regiment."5 

Sergeant  Charles  H.  Clock  of  Darien  received  his  death- 
wound  on  this  day.  He  had  borne  a  gallant  part  in  nearly 
every  important  battle  in  which  his  regiment  (noted  for  its 
high  character)  had  been  engaged  —  from  that  of  Roanoke 
Island  to  those  of  this  summer  before  Richmond.  At 
Kinston,  N.C.,  he  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder,  and  for  a 
time  disabled.  For  his  meritorious  conduct  while  on  Morris 
Island,  under  the  hot  fire  of  the  enemy's  batteries,  he  re 
ceived  from  Gen.  Gilmore  a  medal  and  certificate  of  honor. 

The  Fourteenth  had  been  held  as  a  reserve ;  and  its  loss 
was  but  one  killed  and  six  wounded. 

The  10th  Corps,  on  returning,  relieved  the  18th  Corps  on 
the  Petersburg  line,  on  Aug.  26  ;  and  the  latter  took  position 
again  along  the  Bermuda-Hundred  defenses. 

If  the  movement  across  the  James  had  not  accomplished 
much  directly,  it  had  been  of  the  greatest  service  in  com 
pelling  Lee  to  withdraw  troops  from  his  right,  and  enabling 
Warren  to  strike  there  an  effective  blow.  He  advanced 
boldly  ;  seized  the  Weldon  Railroad,  a  chief  avenue  of  supply 

4  Cyrus  A.  Green  was  one  of  six  sons  of  William  A.  Green  of  South  Coventry  (form 
erly,  of  Norwich),  Conn.,  all  of  whom  were  in  the  service,  and  had  an  honorable  record. 
One  of  the  brothers,  Thomas  L.,  was  killed  in  the  charge  at  Cold  Harbor;  another, 
Chnrles  A.,  was  a  member  of  the  15th  Massachusetts,  fought  in  several  battles,  was  cap- 
tuivd.  and  languished  for  nine  months  in  as  many  rebel  prisons  ;  William  II.  was  in  both 
the  Eighth  and  Eighteenth,  but  was  discharged  for  disability ;  George  H.  was  in  the 
Twentieth,  but  his  health  was  soon  impaired,  and  he  served  less  than  a  year;  Nelson  H. 
enlisted  without  his  parents'  consent,  and  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  First  Artillery 
through  four  years'  service,  and  was  among  the  first  to  enter  the  eity  of  Richmond.  As  if 
the  martial  record  of  the  family  was  incomplete,  the  father  himself  desired  to  enlist ;  but  his 
age  barred  his  admission.  Four  of  his  sons  lived  to  see  freedom  vindicated  and  the  nation 
saved. 

6  Mahoney  was  a  young  Irishman,  and  enlisted  from  Manchester. 
83 


658  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

for  the  rebel  army ;  and  stubbornly  held  it  at  the  end  of  a 
series  of  desperate  encounters.  No  Connecticut  regiment 
participated  in  this  advance  of  the  5th  and  9th  Corps. 

On  returning  from  Deep  Bottom,  Hancock  marched  his 
corps  immediately  to  the  extreme  left  of  the  line ;  taking 
position  in  Warren's  rear  along  the  Weldon  Railroad.  On 
Aug.  24,  the  Fourteenth  Connecticut,  commanded  by  Lieut- 
Col.  S.  A.  Moore,  was  engaged  in  destroying  the  railroad- 
track  in  the  vicinity  of  Reams's  station.  During  the  night, 
the  brigade  was  massed  in  a  sugar-cane  field,  awaiting  attack, 
and  at  eleven  next  morning  advanced  to  ascertain  the 
strength  of  the  enemy.  Four  companies  of  the  Fourteenth 
were  out  as  skirmishers,  under  Capt.  John  C.  Broatch.  The 
brigade  advanced  in  line  of  battle,  under  a  heavy  fire  of 
musketry  and  artillery ;  driving  the  rebel  skirmishers  more 
than  half  a  mile.  As  they  were  moving  steadily  forward, 
Capt.  William  H.  Hawley  was  killed. 

The  brigade  commander,  suspecting  that  he  had  advanced 
far  enough,  sent  back  for  orders.  Before  these  reached  him, 
however,  the  sound  of  heavy  firing  almost  directly  in  the 
rear  induced  him  to  return  towards  the  station  to  prevent 
being  cut  off  from  the  main  body  of  the  corps.  This  was 
done  under  an  artillery-fire.  We  quote  from  Col.  Moore's 
report :  — 

"  We  found  the  main  body  of  the  corps  drawn  up  in  order 
of  battle  in  the  form  of  two  sides  of  a  square ;  one  of  the 
sides  west  of  the  railroad,  and  parallel  to  it,  and  the  other  side 
running  at  a  right  angle  to  it,  and  from  west  to  east.  In  this 
form  they  had  already  successfully  repelled  two  attacks  made 
by  the  enemy. 

"  Our  brigade  was  ordered  to  throw  up  a  breastwork  run 
ning  in  an  oblique  direction  across  the  same  field  in  which 
we  had  been  massed  in  the  morning,  to  connect  the  ends  of 
these  two  lines;  thus  forming  an  irregular  triangle,  in  which 
the  troops  stood  behind  slight  breastworks  facing  outwards. 
Before  we  could  complete  our  slight  barricade  of  rails  and 
earth,  the  cavalry  skirmishers  in  our  front  were  driven  in. 
At  the  same  time,  a  heavy  artillery-fire  was  opened  upon  us 
from  our  right  flank  and  rear.  This  was  followed  by  a  third 


THE  FOURTEENTH  IN  ACTION  AT  PETERSBURG.  659 

attack  by  the  enemy,  made  in  heavy  force  upon  that  portion 
of  the  line  directly  in  our  rear.  The  troops  who  occupied  this 
position  of  the  line  being  principally  heavy  artillery  regi 
ments  belonging  to  the  1st  Division,  and  composed,  to  a 
great  extent,  of  raw  recruits,  broke,  and  that  admitted  the 
rebels  into  our  inclosure. 

"The  Fourteenth  was  now  faced  by  the  rear  rank,  and 
formed  in  line  of  battle  on  the  reverse  side  of  our  breastwork. 
We  were  then  ordered  by  Gen.  Gibbon,  our  division  com 
mander,  and  Gen.  Hancock  in  person,  to  charge,  and  try  and 
recover  a  portion  of  the  lost  ground.  We  went  forward  at 
a  double-quick,  exposed  to  a  heavy  fire  of  both  musketry  and 
artillery.  The  left  wing,  with  the  lieutenant-colonel  and 
Major  James  B.  Coit,  succeeded  in  retaking  a  portion  of  the 
line  left  by  the  troops  which  had  broken.  This  position  they 
held  until  after  dark,  firing  all  the  time,  when  they  were 
ordered  by  Col.  Smyth,  the  brigade  commander,  to  withdraw, 
which  they  did ;  hauling  off,  and  thereby  saving  from  fall 
ing  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  one  brass  cannon  and  one 
limber  belonging  to  McKnight's  battery,  and  one  caisson 
and  one  limber  belonging  to  the  3d  New-Jersey  battery. 
The  right  wing,  after  losing  heavily  both  in  killed  and  pris 
oners,  was  compelled  to  fall  back  to  its  original  position. 
This  it  held  until  about  dark,  when  the  heavy  fire  poured 
into  it  from  front,  rear,  and  one  flank,  forced  it,  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  the  division,  to  fall  back  a  short  distance  to 
a  better  position,  where  it  commenced  throwing  up  a  new 
line  of  breastworks.  During  the  night,  however,  the  corps 
was  withdrawn  to  the  line  of  the  defenses  around  Peters 
burg." 

The  Fourteenth  went  into  this  fight  with  seventeen  offi 
cers  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  enlisted  men ;  of  whom  it 
lost  five  killed,  eighteen  wounded,  and  twenty-seven  missing. 

Capt.  William  H.  Hawley  of  Bridgeport  was  one  of  the 
best  officers  in  the  regiment.  He  enlisted  as.  a  private,  and 
.was  promoted  to  a  captaincy  for  efficiency  and  gallantry. 
The  officers  assembled,  and  adopted  the  following :  — 

Resolved,  That  in  all  the  varied  experience  of  the  service,  we  have  ever 
found  Capt.  Hawley  fully  equal  to  every  emergency ;  in  camp,  the  trusty 


660  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

counsellor,  the  agreeable  companion,  the  faithful  friend  ;  on  the  march, 
while  a  strict  disciplinarian,  not  without  mercy ;  in  action  always  com 
posed,  and  brave  to  a  fault.  He  had  the  respect,  and  love  of  all  who  knew 
him ;  and  his  manifold  virtues  will  ever  be  remembered." 

u  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  filled  the  office  of  brigade-inspector,  and 
was  acting  upon  the  staff  of  the  colonel  commanding  the  brigade.  This 
responsible  and  difficult  station  he  filled  alike  with  credit  to  himself  and 
his  regiment,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
His  loss  is  deeply  felt,  not  only  in  this  regiment,  but  throughout  the  en 
tire  brigade."  6 

Among  the  wounded  were  Capt.  George  N.  Brigham, 
Capt.  James  F.  Simpson,  and  Capt.  James  R  Nichols,  and 
Assistant  Surgeon  Levi  Jewett,  who  had  fearlessly  exposed 
himself  in  the  performance  of  his  duty.  Capt.  Henry  Lee 
and  Lieut.  James  M.  Moore  were  taken  prisoners. 

Capt.  Nichols,  dangerously  wounded  after  a  gallant  fight, 
was  also  left  for  a  time  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  They 
robbed  him  of  his  purse,  revolver,  and  papers ;  and  it  was 
not  until  after  dark  that  he  was  found  by  his  fellow-soldiers, 
and  brought  within  our  lines.  He  was  sent  to  hospital  at 
Washington,  where  he  suffered  for  six  months  in  a  remark 
able  spirit  of  patience,  and  made  for  himself  many  friends. 
At  last,  the  next  February,  he  joined  the  great  army  of 
martyrs.  In  his  regiment,  —  a  regiment  of  gallant  officers 
and  men,  —  his  reputation  for  gentlemanly  conduct  and 
soldierly  valor*  was  second  to  none.  He  was  greatly  re 
spected  and  sincerely  beloved. 

Among  the  bravest  men  who  fell  here  was  Sergeant 
Junius  E.  Goodwin  of  Hartford.  He  had  been  among  the 
foremost  in  all  the  battles  of  the  regiment,  and  was  the  first 
to  mount  the  Confederate  works  on  the  North  Anna.  A 
comrade  wrote  of  him  after  Reams's  Station,  "  I  need  not 
tell  you  of  Sergeant  Goodwin's  noble  and  gallant  conduct 
while  engaged  in  that  terrible  battle ;  for  you  have,  doubt 
less,  heard  it  many  times.  He  was  badly  wounded  in  the 
thigh ;  the  ball  crushing  the  bone,  and  entering  the  other 
leg.  I  assisted  in  the  last  effort  that  was  made  to  get  him 
off.  He  was  very  weak  from  loss  of  blood.  We  carried  him. 
with  great  difficulty  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  a  terrific  thunder 
storm.  We  had  to  pick  our  way  in  the  darkness  by  the 

6  Eeport  of  Lieut.-Col.  Moore. 


CONNECTICUT  EEGIMENTS  IN  THE  EIFLE-PITS.  661 

flashes  of  lightning ;  and,  as  we  had  no  stretcher,  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  carry  him.  His  wound  was  so  painful, 
that  he  begged  to  be  put  down ;  but  we  cheered  him  up  as 
well  as  we  could  till  we  reached  the  spot  where  we  had 
left  the  regiment,  and  found  it  gone.  There  was  no  means 
of  conveyance  at  hand,  and  we  were  obliged  to  leave 
him.  His  mind  appeared  to  be  wandering,  and  he  seemed 
to  be  saying  something  of  home.  We  did  not  think  he 
would  survive  the  night.  We  covered  him  with  an  over 
coat,  and  placed  a  pillow  beneath  his  head,  and  left  him  to 
his  fate.  He  was  a  noble  and  patriotic  young  man.  We 
all  loved  him." 

This  recoil  did  not  loosen  Warren's  hold  upon  the  Welclon 
Railroad.  He  strengthened  his  position,  and  formed  a  line 
of  redoubts  connecting  himself  with  the  former  left  of  the 
army. 

For  more  than  a  month  did  the  10th  and  18th  Corps  lie 
in  the  trenches  at  the  east  and  north  of  Petersburg,  with 
.nothing  to  break  the  monotony.  There  was  artillery  firing 
on  both  sides ;  and  the  sharpshooters  kept  up  an  intermit 
tent  crackle :  but  even  fighting  had  by  this  time  become 
monotonous.  The  siege  was  little  less  than  one  constant, 
prolonged  battle ;  and  half  the  time  the  men  were  under 
fire.  The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  and  Twenty-first  were  still 
along  the  Bermuda-Hundred  front.  A  soldier  of  the  Eighth 
wrote,  — 

"  We  are  in  the  pits  two,  and  sometimes  four,  days  at  a  time,  through 
night  and  day,  rain  and  sun,  mud  and  water.  When  a  shell  comes  bowl 
ing  along,  down  we  all  go  with  a  jerk.  There  is  nothing  lost,  I  notice, 
by  being  polite.  We  have  to  lie  low,  of  course  :  and  when  we  are  relieved, 
and  get  behind  our  breastworks,  it  is  not  much  better  ;  for,  if  a  head  or 
hand  is  lifted  in  sight,  fifty  bullets  are  sent  after  it.  The  enemy's  guns 
have  good  range  upon  our  camps,  and  sometimes  open  upon  us  about  mid 
night,  supposing  us  sound  asleep  after  our  fatigue  in  the  trenches,  and  keep 
us  awake  all  night,  and  many  times  drive  us  into  our  gopher-holes.  Thus 
we  stand  the  storm ;  our  works  growing  stronger  day  by  day,  and  our 
faith  strengthening  with  our  works." 

An  officer  of  the  Twenty-first  wrote  afterwards,  — 

"  The  greatest  praise  is  due  our  noble  soldiers  for  the  patience  and  for 
titude  with  which  they  endured  the  almost  intolerable  heat  during  this 
period.  The  line  held  by  the  regiment,  being  in  the  open  field,  was  fully 
exposed  to  the  scorching  rays  of  the  sun,  which  poured  down  with  the 


662  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

utmost  intensity.  The  men  were  obliged  to  lie  under  ground,  as  it  were, 
where  no  circulation  of  the  air  could  be  obtained  ;  and  one  could  do  nought 
but  lie  still  and  swelter  in  the  sultry  air.  Any  appearance  of  a  head  above 
the  breastwork  was  sure  to  secure  attention  of  some  hard-hearted  Southron 
with  a  crack  and  a  whistling  ball  by  no  means  pleasant  to  hear.  The 
advent  of  the  company  cooks  was  always  hailed  with  delight :  a  commo 
tion  was  at  once  visible.  Tin  cups  joined  in  a  lively  chorus  ;  and  hungry 
stomachs  began  to  grow  ravenous.  The  usual  amount  of  grumbling  must 
be  bestowed  upon  these  devoted  sons  of  the  cuisine,  who  finally  retired 
from  the  field  abashed,  ducking  their  heads  around  each  corner,  calling 
forth  roars  of  laughter  ;  and  then  the  usual  quiet  resumed  its  sway." 

Chaplain  DeForest  of  the  Eleventh  wrote,  "  We  lived  in 
ditches  and  holes  of  the  earth,  exposed  to  the  sun  and  dog- 
star  by  day,  the  dew  by  night,  and  both  rebel  fire  and  diar 
rhoea  at  all  times." 

The  Sixth,  Seventh,  Tenth,  and  Twenty-ninth  were  in 
front  of  Petersburg-,  next  the  Appomattox.  "  On  the  picket- 
line,  in  the  trenches,  in  camp,  there  Was  constant  danger  of 
death.  Rifle-bullets  went  whizzing  past,  or  striking  near 
one,  wherever  he  went.  ...  A  sharp  cry  at  dead  of  night 
more  than  once  gave  indication  that  some  one  had  been, 
wounded  while  asleep  in  his  tent ;  and  casualties  came  to  be 
so  frequent,  that  officers  and  men  moved  about  with  an  ever- 
present  consciousness  that  they  might  fall  the  next  minute."7 
Here  Capt.  Francis  G.  Hickerson  from  Derby,  of  the  Tenth, 
was  severely  wounded  in  the  face  by  a  rebel  bullet,  and 
Henry  Lyman  of  Saybrook,  one  of  the  most  tried  and  re 
liable  soldiers,  was  shot  and  died  on  the  skirmish-line. 

Occasionally  there  was  a  friendly  truce  between  the  Union 
and  Confederate  pickets.  "  One  afternoon,  while  the  Tenth 
was  on  picket,  there  was  a  rest  from  active  hostilities.  Then 
a  rebel  soldier  showed  himself  on  the  parapet  of  his  works, 
and,  shaking  a  newspaper  as  a  sign  of  truce,  sprang  over 
into  the  cornfield.  At  once  a  hundred  men  from  either  side 
were  over  their  lines,  and  side  by  side,  exchanging  papers 
and  coffee  and  tobacco,  and  renewing  old  acquaintances  or 
forming  new  ones."  * 

While  the  Tenth  lay  in  the  trenches  here,  Adjutant  Henry 
W.  Camp  received  his  well-earned  commission  to  be  major. 

A  detail  of  twenty-five  men  from  the  Eighth  was' sent  to 

7  Chaplain  Trumbull  in  the  Knightly  Soldier.  8  Ibid. 


DEATH  OP  CAPT.  ISAAC  D.  KENYON.          663 

establish  a  line  of  telegraph  from  City  Point  to  Fort  Pow- 
hattan ;  when  sixteen  were  captured  by  Wade  Hampton  in 
a  raid  within  our  lines  after  beef. 

The  Twenty-first  had  been  almost  constantly  exposed,  and 
during  these  weeks  had  lost  six  killed  and  thirty  wounded. 
Among  the  wounded  were  Capt.  Isaac  D.  Kenyon  and  Lieut. 
Walter  P.  Long.  The  former  was  struck  in  the  shoulder ; 
and  the  hurt  proved  mortal  a  few  days  thereafter.  He  was 
young,  ardent,  and  enterprising  ;  and,  when  the  war  began, 
was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  Voluntown.  "  His 
young  comrades  called  on  him  to  lead  them ;  and  he  closed 
his  business  and  accepted  the  call ;  and  thenceforth,  on  every 
battle-field  and  in  every  camp,  he  was  the  same  courteous, 
brave,  and  humane  soldier,  having  a  tender  care  for  the  com 
fort  of  his  men ;  an  excellent  disciplinarian,  who  inspired 
them  with  a  pride  of  subordination,  and  at  the  same  time 
taught  them  to  think ;  and  a  patriotic  citizen,  who  instilled 
into  their  minds  the  principles  of  freedom  and  love  of  coun 
try,  and  set  them  an  heroic  example  in  the  sacrifice  of  even 
life  itself.  Peace  to  his  ashes ! " 

9  Narrative  by  Dr.  Harvey  Campbell  of  Voluntown. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

Still  in  Front  of  Petersburg.  —  Demonstration  on  the  Left.  —  The  Fourteenth.  — Advance 
of  Butler.  —  Chaffin's  Bluff.  —  Capture  of  Fort  Harrison.  —  The  Eighth  and  Twen 
ty-first.  —  The  Sixth,  Seventh,  Tenth,  and  Twenty-ninth  on  the  Eight.  —  Rebel 
Repulse.  —  Casualties.  —  Attack  on  Terry's  Line.  —  Repulse.  —  Counter  -  Attack.  — 
Death  of  Major  H.  W.  Camp.  —  Hawley's  Brigade  on  the  Darbytown  Road.  —  The 
Twenty-ninth  as  Skirmishers.  —  The  Second  and  Fourteenth  on  Hatcher's  Run  — 
Hawley's  Division  at  New  York.  —  The  First  Artillery.  —  Butler  fails  to  capture 
Fort  Fisher.  —  Terry  takes  it  by  Storm. 

EN.  GRANT  resolved,  towards  the  end  of  Sep 
tember,  on  a  further  advance  in  the  direction 
of  Richmond  from  Butler's  front ;  and,  in  order 
to  cause  the  weakening  of  forces  on  the  rebel 
left,  he  ordered  another  demonstration  by  War 
ren  and  Hancock.  This  was  successful,  and  the  enemy  gave 
ground.  The  Fourteenth  Connecticut  was  in  a  brigade  of 
observation,  stationed  at  Prince  George's  Court  House.  Here 
it  remained  until  Sept.  26,  when  the  2d  Corps  moved  to  the 
right  to  relieve  the  10th  and  18th  Corps. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  28th,  Butler  faced  his  army  to 
the  right,  and  moved  in  the  evening  towards  the  James. 
At  nine  in  the  evening,  the  18th  Corps  had  arrived  at  Aiken's 
Landing,  and  the  10th  had  crossed  the  Appomattox,  and  was 
hurrying  forward.  At  two  in  the  morning,  the  18th  Corps 
began  moving  over  the  pontoon-bridge ;  and  by  four  they 
were  all  over,  massed  in  column  by  division,  and  moving  up 
the  Varina  Road,  on  familiar  ground.  The  Eleventh  Connec 
ticut,  being  detached, for  artillery-service,  remained  at  Ber 
muda  Hundred.  Lieut,  W.  P.  Long  of  the  Twenty-first  wrote, 
"  The  gallant  1st  Division  of  the  18th  Corps  swept  up  the 
hill,  which  brought  them  in  contact  with  the  enemy's  skir 
mishers.  These,  however,  were  pressed  steadily  back  about 


664 


THE   EIGHTH   HEAD   A   STORMING    COLUMN.  665 

four  miles,  to  their  main  line  of  works,  thrown  up  along  the 
crest  of  a  hill,  —  a  strong  position  by  nature,  —  where  they 
had  a  large  square  fort  mounting  about  eight  guns,  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  ditch  ten  feet  deep,  with  perpendicular  sides. 
From  this,  on  either  side,  stretched  a  heavy  rifle-pit,  intersect 
ed  with  small  redoubts  mounting  one  or  two  guns,  and  which 
enfiladed  our  approach  in  every  direction.  Just  before  our 
line  of  battle  was  formed,  seven  companies  of  the  regiment, 
with  our  commanding  officer,  then  Capt.,  now  Lieut.-Col., 
J.  F.  Brown,  were  sent  out  as  skirmishers  on  the  left  of  the 
line,  where,  gallantly  led  by  Capt.  Brown,  they  pressed  the 
enemy  back  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire  even  to  their  strong 
hold.  The  remaining  three  companies,  with  our  colors,  kept 
on  with  the  column." 

The  Eighth  furnished  two  companies  for  skirmishers,  while 
the  rest  of  the  regiment  headed  the  storming  column.  This 
was  a  gallant  charge  across  nearly  a  mile  of  open  field  to 
Chaffin's  Bluff!  The  new  recruits  vied  with  veterans.  Now 
the  muzzles  of  the  rebel  guns  frowned  from  Fort  Harrison 
directly  in  the  front ;  now  little  puffs  of  smoke  revealed  an 
alert  foe,  and  the  batteries  showered  destruction  upon  the 
advancing  column  ;  now  the  Eighth  deployed  in  line  of  bat 
tle,  and,  closely  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  division,  dashed 
away  over  the  field.  It  was  a  fearful  distance  to  traverse 
such  a  field  under  such  a  fire.  "  Without  a  moment's  delay, 
the  brigade  moved  to  the  position  assigned  it,  and  advanced 
through  a  dense  slashing,  and  under  a  heavy  artillery-fire, 
to  the  assault.  The  enemy's  gunboats,  in  the  mean  time, 
dropped  down  the  James,  and  threw  a  heavy  cross-fire  into 
the  assaulting  columns.  No  halt  was  made,  however,  until 
the  troops  reached  a  slight  cover  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  on 
which  was  situated  the  main  work  of  the  enemy,  and  less 
than  a  hundred  yards  from  it.  A  moment  was  spent  here 
in  resting  and  re-forming  the  men  ;  and  then  with  a  shout 
they  rushed  into  the  ditch,  and  over  the  parapet ;  and  Fort 
Harrison,  with  its  garrison,  and  armament  of  twenty-two 
pieces  of  heavy  ordnance,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  1st 
Division  of  the  18th  Corps."  1 

1  Official  Report  of  Lieut.-Col.  Brown. 


666  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

The  Eighth  and  the  three  companies  of  the  Twenty-first 
led  the  way  over  the  ramparts ;  and  at  eight  o'clock  the 
standard  of  Connecticut  replaced  the  Confederate  flag. 
Chaplain  Moses  Smith  wrote,  "  We  had  really  surprised  the 
rebels.  Ten  minutes'  delay  would  have  lost  the  battle,  and 
sacrificed  whole  hecatombs  of  precious  lives.  It  was  a  race 
for  the  prize.  Re-inforcements  were  coming  down  at l  double- 
quick.'  Our  men  saw  them  approaching,  but  were  soon 
enough  to  snatch  from  them  the  otherwise  impregnable 
hights."  feoth  the  color-sergeants  of  the  Eighth  —  William 
S.  Simmons  of  Plainfield  and  Jacob  Bishop  of  Wilton  —  re 
ceived  commissions  "  for  meritorious  daring ; "  and  Sergeant 
Nathan  E.  Hickok  of  D anbury,  the  choice  of  a  commission, 
or  thirty  days'  furlough.2  The  following  is  an  extract  from 
the  order  issued  by  Gen.  Butler :  — 

"  Acting  Adjutant  P.  Long,  Twenty-first  Connecticut,  is  recommended 
to  his  Excellency  the  Governor  of  Connecticut  for  promotion  for  gallantly 
planting  his  colors  among  the  first  on  the  rebel  fortifications.  Corporal 
F.  Clarence  Buck,  Twenty-first  Connecticut,  is  recommended  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  for  a  medal  for  courage.  Although  wounded  in  the  arm,  he 
refused  to  leave  the  field  until  the  engagement  closed.  In  addition,  he  will 
have  his  warrant  as  sergeant."  8 

Col.  Brown  says,  "  Justice  requires  me  to  state  that  others 
performed  their  duty  with  equal  gallantry  and  distinction 
on  that  occasion."  A  soldier  of  the  Twenty-first,  writing  of 
this  day,  speaks  of  others  who  conducted  themselves  nobly, 
"  Among  the  first,  then,  Corporal  Howard  A.  Camp  of  Com 
pany  I,  although  severely  wounded  before  reaching  the 
summit,  stood  by  the  flag  he  carried  till  safely  transferred  to 
Corporal  Rix  of  Company  G,  who  bore  it  on  till  just  as  we 
were  scaling  the  parapet.  He,  too,  was  wounded,  but  careful 
to  see  it  again  safe  in  other  hands.  Lieut.,  now  Capt.,  E.  P. 
Packer  of  Company  G,  while  gallantly  leading  his  division  in 
the  charge,  was  seriously  wounded  in  the  head  by  a  frag 
ment  of  shell,  and  fell  senseless  a  short  distance  from  the 
fort.  Sergeant  George  P.  Edwards  of  Company  A  received 
a  serious  wound  in  the  arm  just  as  he  leaped  over  the  para 
pet.  And  then  a  little  band  of  nine  rallied  round  the  dear 

2  He  declined  the  commission,  and,  before  receiving  a  furlough,  was  wounded  in  a 
subsequent  action,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

3  Long  was  promoted  to  be  captain,  and  Buck  first  lieutenant. 


GALLANT   CHARGE   OF   THE   TWENTY-NINTH.  667 

old  flag  in  the  moment  of  victory.  George  F.  Curtis  of 
Company  C,  John  Coon.  Noah  Wilcox,  James  S.  Tucker,  and 
Ransom  Colgrove  of  G,  L.  M.  Maynard  and  Isaac  G.  Fardon 
of  I,  and  Willis  D.  Rouse  of  K,  were  the  first  inside  of  the 
fort  A  gallant  color-guard,  and  worthy  of  their  colors  !  " 

The  following  is  also  an  extract  from  Gen.  Butler's  order: 
"First  Lieut.  C.  W.  Cook,  Twenty-first  Connecticut,  aide  to 
Brig.-Gen.  Stannard,  has  special  mention  for  distinguished 
gallantry,  and  is  recommended  for  promotion."  The  recom 
mendation  was  concurred  in. 

Meantime,  the  10th  Corps  pushed  out  on  the  extreme 
right,  along  Four-mile  Creek,  and  advanced  vigorously  up 
the  New-Market  Road.  A  soldier  who  witnessed  the  gallant 
charge  of  the  Twenty-ninth  (colored)  writes,  "  Dashing 
across  the  space  beyond  the  Kingsland  Road,  the  line  of 
breastworks  are  carried  in  one  vigorous  charge ;  the  enemy 
retreating  to  a  stronger  line  a  short  distance  in  the  rear. 
The  troops  pause  for  a  moment  before  this  line ;  and  silence 
intense  and  penetrating  succeeds  to  the  clamor  of  battle. 
This  lasts  for  a  few  moments,  that  seems  an  age.  Again 
Col.  Wooster  gives  the  order  to  charge;  and  the  leveled  bayo 
nets  press  forward,  at  first  steadily  and  in  order ;  but,  mad 
dened  by  the  fire  from  the  breastworks,  the  steady  tramp 
becomes  a  double-quick,  and  the  double-quick  a  run,  increas 
ing  until  the  line  is  reached :  here  the  advance  is  for  a 
moment  checked,  and  a  fierce  struggle  ensues.  Musketry 
rattles  briskly,  and  shells  explode  in  the  ranks.  Away  at 
the  left,  where  the  18th  Corps  is  fighting,  comes  the  thunder 
of  cannon  and  the  faint  echo  of  victorious  cheers ;  and  now, 
above  cannon  and  musketry,  rise  the  ringing  hurrahs  of 
the  negroes,  as  they  leap  with  their  leader  over  the  works." 
Without  delay,  they  push  quickly  forward ;  and  pursued  and 
pursuers  reach  a  third  line  of  works  almost  simultaneously. 
Giving  the  foe  no  time  to  rally,  the  10th  Corps  rushes  along 
in  the  direction  of  Richmond,  and  effects  a  junction  with  the 
18th  Corps  towards  Fort  Harrison. 

Then  the  whole  line  from  right  to  left  advanced.  On  the 
left,  the  18th  Corps  moved  rapidly  forward,  and  confronted 
Fort  Gilmer,  where  it  received  a  check.  On  the  right,  Ter- 


668  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

ry's  division,  including  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  and  Tenth  Con 
necticut,  advanced  during  the  afternoon  up  the  Darbytown 
Road  towards  Richmond ;  the  head  of  the  column  reaching  a 
point  within  three  miles  of  the  city,  of  which  the  roofs  and 
spires  were  in  full  view.  The  incompleteness  of  the  success 
on  other  parts  of  the  line  rendered  it  inexpedient  to  press 
forward  into  Richmond ;  and  at  night  Terry  retired  to  the 
new  line  now  being  intrenched.  Battery  Harrison  was  a 
position  too  valuable  to  be  tamely  surrendered.  The  fol 
lowing  day,  Gen.  Lee  brought  up  three  brigades  of  veterans 
from  Petersburg  to  retake  the  fort.  The  occupants  had  im 
proved  the  night  in  constructing  temporary  defensive  works, 
and  the  men  waited  behind  them  in  the  utmost  confidence. 

The  Twenty-ninth  (colored)  had  been  moved  to  this 
point.  A  single  shot  from  Fort  Gilmer  passed  over  the  regi 
ment,  followed  by  heavy  cannonading  along  the  lines.  In 
trenching  tools  were  quickly  thrown  down,  and  the  troops 
rushed  to  arms.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  point  of 
attack  was  Fort  Harrison.  A  powerful  rebel  force,  screened 
from  view  by  the  trees  and  by  the  inequalities  of  the  ground, 
had  been  massed  in  front ;  and,  when  the  fierce  artillery-fire 
had  somewhat  slackened,  the  column  of  attack  swept  into 
view,  and  with  the  well-known  yell  came  forward  at  double- 
quick.  The  Twenty-ninth  had  a  position  just  on  the  right 
of  the  fort,  connecting  with  the  left  of  the  colored  troops 
of  the  18th  Corps:  in  the  fort  itself  were  the  Eighth  and 
Twenty-first.  From  rampart  and  breastwork  waved  our  old 
State  flag,  amid  the  deadliest  storm  of  battle  ;  and  beneath 
its  folds  that  day  two  widely  different  races  bravely  main 
tained  its  honor  with  their  lives.  The  musketry-fire  was 
now  perfectly  terrific ;  but  the  attacking  column  soon  ex 
hausted  its  fire,  and  prepared  to  rely  on  the  bayonet.  Our 
men  had  generally  retained  their  fire,  waiting  for  this  mo 
ment.  Just  as  the  gray  column  reached  the  crest  of  a  neigh 
boring  knoll,  the  whole  line  opened  fire  —  one  unbroken 
blaze  and  crash.  The  head  of  the  column  seemed  to  sink  to 
the  earth :  the  rest  tottered  for  a  moment,  and  rolled  back 
in  confusion  to  the  valley.  Two  more  charges  followed, 
more  determined  than  the  first ;  but  we  held  the  position. 


LOSSES  IN   CAPTURING   BATTERY   HARRISON.  669 

Lieut.  W.  P.  Long  of  the  Twenty-first  tells  of  the  sequel, 
"  Most  of  the  rebel  column  turned  and  fled.  The  rest 
dropped  to  the  ground,  and  took  shelter  behind  the  bushes 
and  any  thing  they  could  find,  unable  to  retreat  or  advance. 
Here  and  there  a  dirty  handkerchief  raised  above  the  bushes 
indicated  the  owner's  desirfe  to  surrender.  Then  the  order, 
'  Cease  firing! '  was  given  ;  and  the  air  resounded  with, ( Come 
in,  Johnnies,  come  in ! '  of  wh'ich  invitation  a  large  number 
took  advantage,  and  found  refuge  and  safety  behind  the 
works  of  the  detested  Yankees.  Our  picket-lirie  was  quickly 
re-established,  and,  being  sent  out  by  the  flank,  completely 
surrounded  those  who  had  not  already  given  themselves  up, 
and  gathere.d  them  in.  Nearly  two  hundred  were  thus 
secured,  while  the  ground  in  our  front  was  thickly  strewn 
with  killed  and  wounded.  As  we  fought  behind  breast 
works,  our  losses  were  comparatively  light.  Yet  a  num 
ber  received  honorable  scars,  though  but  one  was  mortally 
wounded.  The  regiment  here,  as  everywhere,  did  honor  to 
its  native  State.  I  think  the  men  never  fought  with  more 
enthusiasm." 

The  capture  of  Battery  Harrison  had  not  been  effected 
without  severe  loss  to  Connecticut  troops.  The  casualties,  of 
the  Eighth  were  eight  killed  and  sixty-five  wounded.  Among 
the  killed  were  Lieut.  James  B.  Kilbourne,  Lieut.  Charles 
N.  Irwin,  Sergeant  Seth  F.  Plumb,  William  H.  Durfee,  Gil 
bert  G.  Reynolds,  William  H.  Peterson,  William  A.  Smith,  and 
other  brave  men. 

Lieut.-Col.  Martin  B.  Smith,  leading  the  regiment,  was 
wounded  severely  in  the  leg.  Among  the  wounded  were  also 
Capt.  William  J.  Roberts,  Capt.  Andrew  M.  Morgan,  and 
Lieuts.  Samuel  S.  Foss,  John  A.  Rathburn,  Amos  L.  Keables, 
and  Thomas  S.  Weed.  Chaplain  Moses  Smith  wrote,  - 

"Among  the  lost  were  two  lieutenants,  —  Charles  N.  Irwin  of  New  Mil- 
ford,  whose  term  of  service  had  jnst  expired,  and  who  was  expected  home 
each  train  when  the  melancholy  tidings  arrived  ;  and  James  B.  Kilbourne 
of  Hartford,  who  had  but  recently  been  commissioned.  One  other  name  I 
must  mention  among  our  honored  dead.  Our  rolls  record  him  only  as  an 
enlisted  man,  with  rank  of  sergeant ;  for,  although  having  been  commis 
sioned,  he  had  never  been  mustered  as  lieutenant.  But  fairer  character  never 
graced  a  soldier's  uniform,  and  he  lives  embalmed  in  the  affections  of  home 
and  in  the  hearts  of  his  comrades.  He  led  in  the  closing  prayer  of  that  last 


670  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

meeting  an  hour  before  the  march  ;  and  his  last  words  as  the  column  moved 
for  the  charge  were  respecting  '  that  good  meeting.'  Even  the  casket  in 
which  such  a  jewel  has  been  carried  is  prized  ;  and,  as  we  write  here  in 
camp,  weeping  friends  are  preparing  in  the  burying-ground  of  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  the  grave  of  our  dear  comrade,  Seth  F.  Plumb." 

The  Twenty-first  had  lost  four  killed  and  twenty-four 
wounded.  Among  the  latter  were  Lieuts.  W.  S.  Hubbell, 
George  P.  Edwards,  and  E.  Perry  Packer. 

Capt.  Henry  E.  Jennings  "of  Stonington  was  mortally 
wounded  in  the  breast.  He  died  a  month  afterwards.  Lieut.- 
Col.  Brown  wrote,  "  No  truer  patriot  or  braver  soldier  than 
he  has  fallen  in  defense  of  the  nation's  life.  He  fell  as  a 
soldier  would  wish  to  fall,  in  the  hour  of  victory ;  leaving  a 
noble  record  for  his  comrades  to  emulate." 

The  Sixth,  Seventh,  and  Tenth  had  met  with  slight  loss. 

The  Twenty-ninth,  thus  far,  had  lost  four  killed  and  forty 
wounded.  Among  the  killed  was  Lieut.  Thomas  H.  McKin- 
ley,  a  brave  and  efficient  young  officer.  Among  the  wound 
ed  were  Capt.  E.  A.  Thorp,  and  Lieuts.  Thomas  G.  Bennett 
and  Eugene  S.  Bristol. 

On  Oct.  1,  Gen.  Hawley's  brigade  advanced  towards  Rich 
mond  with  the  division,  and  was  for  a  short  time  under  a 
severe  fire  on  the  Darbytown  Road.  The  Tenth  moved  out 
on  the  New-Market  Road  to  Laurel  Hill,  as  a  diversion^  going 
beyond  the  picket-line  and  beyond  all  flank-supports  with  a 
battalion  of  only  a  hundred  and  fifty  rifles;  Col.  Otis  com 
manding.  There  was  but  one  line-officer  present,  Lieut. 
Benjamin  Wright,  the  rest  being  sick  or  excused. 

The  next  week  was  full  of  exposure  and  privation.  The 
troops  stood  to  arms  much  of  the  time,  and  were  frequently 
under  fire.  The  Connecticut  regiments  had  left  Deep  Bot 
tom  in  light  marching  order,  and  were  now  without  tents, 
and  many  even  without  blankets.  The  utmost  activity  and 
vigilance  were  demanded.  Heavy  fatigue-parties  were  kept 
at  work  night  and  day. 

On  Oct.  7,  the  enemy  made  a  vigorous  attack  on  the  part 
of  the  line  held  by  Terry's  division.  The  cavalry  came  rush 
ing  in,  and  the  infantry  immediately  sprang  to  arms.  The 
Tenth  moved  from  the  left  around  to  the  right  of  Hawley's 
brigade  to  strengthen  that  part  of  the  line  where  Kautz's 


BKAVEEY  OF  THE  TENTH.  671 

position  had  been  turned.  The  principal  force  of  the  enemy 
came  down  from  their  right ;  and  the  Sixth  was  the  first 
Connecticut  regiment  engaged.  Major  H.  W.  Camp  wrote  of 
the  action  of  the  Tenth,  — 

"  When  the  brigade  next  to  us  became  engaged,  including  t,he  Seventh 
Connecticut  with  its  seven-shooting  rifles,  the  crash  was  beyond  any  thing 
I  had  ever  heard.  We  shook  our  heads,  and  listened  :  ammunition  could 
hold  out  but  very  few  minutes  at  that  rate  ;  and  we  knew  that,  as  always, 
nine  shots  out  of  ten  must  be  wasted.  Yet,  as  it  afterwards  proved,  that 
tenth  shot  did  fearful  execution. 

"  We  had  not  long  to  wait  and  comment.  A  rattling  volley  in  our  own 
front  showed  that  the  skirmishers  were  engaged  ;  and,  in  a  moment  more, 
they  came  hurrying  back  through  the  dense  pine-woods  before  us  —  the 
rebels  close  upon  them.  While  the  bullets  of  the  rebel  skirmishers  flew 
among  us,  their  main  body  was  forming  line  just  behind  for  the  attack, 
their  feet  plainly  to  be  seen  beneath  the  low-growing  foliage,  which  con 
cealed  their  bodies  as  they  dressed  their  ranks.  .  .  .  We  opened  fire.  The 
rebels  opened  in  return,  and  bullets  flew  fast.  Col.  Otis  stood  near  the  right 
of  the  line  ;  I  at  the  left.  We  had  hardly  a  hundred  men  in  the  ranks  ;  and 
the  regiment  looked  like  a  single  company,  with  a  captain  and  lieutenant 
to  manage  it.  The  men  needed  little  in  the  way  of  orders  or  instruction: 
they  knew  just  what  to  do,  and  they  did  it.  At  the  first  fire,  the  regiment 
on  our  right  [100th  New-York]  turned  and  ran.  Our  men  saw  it;  knew 
that  their  flank  was  now  exposed  ;  nothing  there  to  hinder  the  immediate 
advance  of  the  enemy.  Nothing  is  so  apt  to  strike  men  with  panic.  Our 
men  paid  no  other  attention  to  it  than  to  give  a  rousing  cheer  just  to  show 
the  enemy  that  they  had  no  thought  of  giving  ground ;  then  turned  steadily 
to  their  work.  Each  man  stood  fast.  Where  a  comrade  fell,  they  gave  him 
room  to  lie,  —  no  more.  There  was  no  random  firing  in  air,  but  rapid 
loading,  cool  aim,  and  shots  that  told.  It  was  good  to  see  such  fighting. 
Those  whom  we  met  were  no  raw  recruits.  They  fought  well.  For  a  while, 
though  unable  to  advance,  they  stood  their  ground.  Broken  once,  they 
rallied  again  at  the  appeal  of  their  officers,  and  once  more  tried  to  move 
forward  through  the  fire  that  mowed  them  down.  It  was  of  no  use  :  again 
thrown  into  confusion,  they  fell  back,  leaving  their  dead  and  wounded  on 
the  field." 

Gen.  Plaisted  said  of  the  Tenth  in  this  engagement,  "  The 
Tenth  Connecticut,  Col.  Otis  commanding,  held  the  vital 
point  of  the  position ;  and  its  splendid  behavior  when  the 
regiment  on  its  right  gave  way  saved  us  from  disaster.  In 
this  connection,  I  can  not  fail  to  mention  Chaplain  H.  C. 
Trumbull,  who  was  constantly  at  the  front  with  his  regi 
ment,  as  is  his  wont  at  all  times.  He  was  conspicuous  on 
this  occasion,  with  revolver  in  hand,  in  his  efforts  to  stay  the 
crumbling  (New-York)  regiment.  An  hour  later  he  offici 
ated  at  the  burial  of  our  dead,  while  the  skirmish-line  was 
still  engaged,  and  every  moment  a  renewal  of  the  attack  was 


672  CONNECTICUT  DUI1INQ  THE  REBELLION. 

expected.  The  sound  of  prayer  mingled  with  the  echoes  of 
artillery  and  musketry,  and  the  crash  of  falling  pines  for 
hastily-constructed  breastworks.  His  services  to  the  bri 
gade,  not  only  on  this,  but  on  many  other  like  occasions, 
are  gratefully  acknowledged." 

The  Sixth,  commanded  by  Col.  A.  P.  Rockwell,  and  the 
Seventh,  led  by  Capt.  S.  S.  Atwell,  had  a  similar  experience ; 
and  the  enemy,  repulsed  at  all  points,  withdrew  to  his  old 
line  of  works.  Terry's  division  strengthened  the  position  it 
had  defended.  The  Twenty-ninth  arrived  in  time  to  assist 
in  restoring  the  original  picket-line,  which  it  held  till  mid 
night. 

Gen.  Terry  was  now  placed  in  command  of  the  corps.  An 
attack  upon  the  rebel  right  was  planned ;  and  at  four  in  the 
morning  of  the  13th  the  regiments  were  on  the  march. 
They  passed  beyond  the  works,  by  the  Cox  Farm,  through 
the  woods,  across  the  ravine,  thence  over  the  Darbytown 
Road  to  the  plains  beyond.  The  skirmishers  opened  fire, 
and  advanced.  The  enemy's  advanced  line  was  pressed 
back  to  his  intrenched  position.  The  desultory  fighting 
was  brisk  for  several  hours.  Four  companies  of  the  Tenth 
were  out  as  skirmishers  under  Lieut.  James  H.  Lindsley. 

About  noon,  Major  Camp  was  sent  to  the  right  on  a  mis 
sion  from  the  corps  commander.  Before  he  returned,  the 
Tenth  had  joined  Pond's  brigade,  and  was  moving  rapidly 
to  the  desperate  assault  on  the  rebel  fortifications.  Those 
works  were  strong  intrenchments,  with  slashing  in  their 
front.  The  advance  to  them  must  be  for  several  hundred 
yards  by  a  dense  thicket  of  scrub-oaks  and  tangled  laurels 
and  vines,  through  which  men  could  force  their  way  but 
slowly,  even  if  otherwise  unimpeded;  and  which  was  raked 
by  a  deadly  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  on  both  front  and 
flank.  Camp  hurried  back,  and  joined  the  regiment  as  it 
went  in.  "  Col.  Otis  led  the  right  and  front,  Lieut-Col. 
Greeley  led  the  right  of  the  second  line,  the  left  of  which 
was  assigned  to  Major  Camp.  '  May  1  not  as  well  take  the 
left  of  the  front  line,  colonel  ? '  Camp  asked  in  his  quiet 
way ;  believing  that  lie  could  thus  do  most  in  encouraging 
the  men  in  their  terrible  trial." ' 

*  The  Knightly  Soldier,  pp.  314,  315. 


DEATH  OF  MAJOR  HENRY  W.  CAMP.          673 

The  peerless  regiment  leaped  eagerly  forward,  though  it 
seemed  like  a  hopeless  rushing  to  destruction,  —  forward, 
undaunted  by  the  shower  of  bullets,  or  the  crash  of  grnpe 
and  canister ;  and  to  all  that  charging  brigade,  Camp  set  a 
splendid  example.  He  forced  his  way  on  up  to  the  far  front 
of  the  bloody  advance,  and  there,  in  full  view  of  the  enemy's 
works,  sought  to  rally  the  scattered  remnant  of  his  little 
band  as  he  stood  right  before  the  bristling  parapet  in  the 
face  of  open-mouthed  artillery,  and  over  against  the  double 
battle-line  of  the  defiant  foe.  His* tall  form  was  the  target 
for  a  score  of  hostile  rifles.  "Waving  his  sword,  he  called 
out  cheerily,  'Come  on,  boys!  come  on!'  then  turned  to  the 
color-sergeant  just  emerging  from  the  thicket,  that  he  might 
rally  the  men  on  the  regimental  standard.  As  he  did  so, 
a  bullet  passed  through  his  lungs ;  and.  as  he  fell  on  his  side, 
he  was  pierced  again  and  yet  again  by  the  thick-corning 
shot.  His  death  was  as  by  the  lightning's  stroke.  His  eyes 
scarce  turned  from  their  glance  at  the  tattered,  dear  old  flag, 
ere  they  were  closed  to  earth,  and  opened  again  beyond  the 
stars,  and  their  field  of  blue."5 

The  Tenth,  after  a  stubborn  fight,  retired  with  the  line  of 
the  brigade.  The  Sixth  and  Seventh  also  fell  back,  and  the- 
assault  was  abandoned.  The  Seventh  lost  twenty  killed  and 
wounded.  The  Twenty-ninth  was  on  the  skirmish-line,  but 
was  not  involved  in  the  charge.  The  Tenth  had  lost  five 
killed  and  thirty-five  wounded.  Among  its  slain  were  Ser 
geants  George  G.  Bradley,  Caleb  M.  Holmes,  and  Orlando  S. 
Goff. 

Col.  Otis,  in  his  report,  said,  — 

"  My  regiment  has  taken  part  in  more  than  forty  battles  and  skirmishes, 
—  never  before  fell  back  under  fire,  and  never  behaved  better  than  on 
this  occasion.  I  have  no  apologies  to  make  for  it.  I  have  not  seen  so 
hopeless  a  task  undertaken  since  I  entered  the  service,  as  that  attempted  by 
the  assaulting  column  to-day.  Assistant  Surgeon  Hart  was,  as  usual,  con 
stantly  near  the  regiment,  rendering  prompt  and  efficient  aid  to  our  wounded. 

u  The  memory  of  Major  Henry  W.  Camp,  the  gallant  officer  lost  in  this 
affair,  is  deserving  of  more  than  a  passing  notice.  The  country  has  never 
suffered  a  heavier  loss  in  an  oifioer  of  his  grade.  Brave  and  cool  in  every 
emergency,  of  spotless  character  and  refined  intellectual  culture,  he  was 
one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  volunteer  service,  —  a  soldier 
'  without  fear  and  without  reproach.'" 

5  The  Knightly  Soldier,  pp.  314,  315. 


85 


674  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEEELLION. 

A  life  of  rare  symmetry  and  of  high  promise  was  closed 
to  earth  when  this  young  officer  lay  down  to  die.  He  was 
a  fine  scholar,  of  clear  head,  close  reasoning  powers,  and 
mature  judgment.  His  correctness  of  taste  and  delicacy  of 
sentiment  were  as  marked  as  the  vigor  of  his  intellect  and 
the  strength  of  his  character.  He  seldom  uttered  an  idle 
word.  His  sentences  were  full,  forcible,  arid  polished.  His 
purity  of  speech  was  proverbial ;  yet  he  had  the  keenest 
appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  humor,  and  his  wit  was  of 
the  sharpest  edge.  He  "was  as  graceful  and  attractive  as  he 
was  manly  and  dignified.  His  unbending  integrity,  his  strict 
conscientiousness,  his  high  sense  of  honor,  were  well  known, 
and  remarkable.  None  ever  knew  him  to  do  a  mean  or 
ungenerous  act,  or  heard  from  his  lips  an  ungentlemanly 
expression.  And  above  all,  his  retiring  modesty  was  as 
marked  as  his  ability. 

"My  impression  of  him  is,"  says  Rev.  Dr.  Bushnell,  "  that  I 
have  never  known  so  much  of  worth  and  beauty  and  truth 
and  massive  majesty,  —  so  much,  in  a  word,  of  all  kinds  of 
promise.  —  embodied  in  any  young  person.  Whatever  he 
might  undertake,  whether  to  be  a  poet,  or  a  philosopher,  or 
a  statesman,  or  a  preacher,  or  a  military  commander,  or,  in 
deed,  an  athlete,  he  seemed  to  have  every  quality  on  hand 
necessary  to  success.  When  he  fights  a  college  boat-race  at 
Worcester,  or  the  sea  at  Hatteras  Inlet,  or  the  enemy  at 
Newberne,  or  the  dreary  rigors  of  a  prison,  or  the  impossible 
rigors  of  an  escape,  it  makes  little  difference  whether  he 
is  successful  or  not;  everybody  sees  that  he  ought  to  be." 
Gen.  Plaisted  said  of  the  young  officer,  "Our  cause  can  not 
boast  a  nobler  martyr  than  Henry  W.  Camp." 

As  winter  approached,  Grant  made  a  last  effort  to  turn 
the  Confederate  right;  and,  to  cover  the  movement,  dis 
patched  the  Army  of  the  James  on  Oct.  27  to  demonstrate 
in  force  against  Richmond.  This  movement  was  made  along 
the  Darbytown  Road,  and  was  led*by  Gen.  Butler  in  person. 
All  the  available  troops  were  engaged.  The  Twenty-ninth 
was  attached  to  Hawley's  brigade,  and  was  deployed  on  the 
skirmish-line  of  its  entire  front,  commanded  by  Capt.  F.  E. 


DARING   OP  THE   COLORED   SOLDIERS.  675 

Camp  of  Middletown.  There  is  no  part  of  battle  more  full 
of  intense  excitement  than  that  enacted  on  the  skirmish- 
line  previous  to  the  encounter  of  lines  of  battle.  Skir 
mishing  is  more  a  duel  than  a  battle.  Each  man  seems 
opposed  to  a  single,  personal  enemy ;  and  these  two  aim  and 
fire,  deliberately  and  purposely,  at  each  other;  and  they 
take  a  deeper  interest  in  the  result  of  the  contest  than  when 
they  are  atoms  in  a  huge  mass.  There  is  none  of  the  con 
fusion  and  dense  smoke  of  battle ;  nothing  to  distract  the 
thoughts,  or  obstruct  the  vision.  You  plainly  see  the  charge 
rammed  home,  which,  the  next  instant,  may  seek  your  life. 

Stubbornly  was  the  advance  contested ;  but  from  tree  to 
tree,  from  bush,  rock,  and  rifle-pit,  the  rebel  skirmishers 
were  driven,  until  they  broke,  and  fled  into  the  works. 
The  brigade  remained  in  the  woods  while  the  Twenty-ninth 
pushed  forward,  nearly  six  hundred  strong,  until  they  had 
made  their  way  close  up  to  the  breastworks,  from  which 
poured  a  heavy  fire.  At  this  time,  the  enemy  opened  upon 
the  Twenty-ninth  from  a  battery  in  an  angle  of  the  works ; 
sweeping  the  line  with  shot  and  shell,  and  threatening  to  ren 
der  it  untenable.  A  well-directed  rifle-fire  silenced  it.  The 
gunners  fell  at  their  guns.  Comrades  attempted  to  crawl 
up ;  but  they  were  shot  down  or  forced  back,  and  the  guns 
remained  as  silent  as  if  spiked.  The  blacks  exhausted  their 
ammunition,  but  replenished  their  supply  from  the  dead  or 
wounded.  They  vied  with  each  other  in  deeds  of  daring. 
In  a  lull  of  battle  they  would  call  out,  "  How  about  Fort 
Pillow  to-day  ? "  "  Look  over  here,  Johnny,  and  see  how 
niggers  can  shoot ! "  They  exposed  themselves  with  the 
utmost  recklessness  and  indifference;  and  Capt.  Camp  was 
obliged  to  restrain  them  from  useless  exhibitions  of  their 
courage. 

During  the  afternoon,  various  points  of  the  rebel  works 
were  assaulted,  but  without  success.  The  Twenty-ninth 
remained  in  front;  firing  until  the  muskets  became  so  foul 
that  the  charge  could  not  be  rammed  home.  Nightfall 
found  the  regiment  still  engaged  with  unwearied  enthusiasm 
where  they  had  been  for  fifteen  hours.  By  eight  o'clock, 
the  firing  gradually  slackened,  and  finally  ceased ;  and  the 


676  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

regiment  remained  on  the  skirmish-line  till  daylight.  A  vio 
lent  storm  drenched  the  men  completely;  but  they  were 
vigilant  until  relieved. 

By  this  time,  our  negroes  had  showed  that  they  could 
fight,  if  anybody  had  sincerely  doubted  it.  On  the  skir 
mish-line  this  day,  the  Twenty-ninth  had  lost  twelve  killed 
and  sixty-seven  wounded.  Among  the  latter  was  Capt. 
James  C.  Sweetland.  During  the  advance  of  the  morning, 
Sergeant  Jacob  F.  Spencer  of  Clinton  ran  far  ahead  of  the 
line,  and  captured,  single-handed,  two  armed  rebels,  and 
brought  them  back  prisoners.  They  afterwards  declared 
that  they  would  never  have  surrendered  to  him  if  they  had 
known  he  was  a  "  nigger."  Gen.  Weitzel  presented  Spencer 
with  a  medal  for  gallantry. 

Adjutant  H.  H.  Brown  said  in  the  regimental  report, 
"Though  twenty-three  hours  on  the  skirmish-line,  and  the 
men  excessively  fatigued,  I  beg  to  call  especial  attention  to 
the  fact  that  there  are  none  missing.  When  we  returned 
to  camp  yesterday  afternoon,  we  brought  every  man  we 
took  out,  excepting  those  killed  and  wounded."  Sergeant 
James  B.  Johnson  of  Sharon,  killed,  was  mentioned  for  cool 
ness  and  bravery. 

Sergeant-Major  George  A.  Gesner  of  the  Sixth,  and  Ser 
geants  William  H.  Haynes,  Benjamin  A.  Hill,  and  Lewis  A. 
Cooke  of  the  Seventh,  were  recommended  by  Gen.  Butler 
for  promotion  for  gallant  service. 

Capt.  Charles  M.  Coit  of  the  Eighth,  serving  on  the  staff 
of  the  commander,  received  a  severe  wound,  which  it  was 
feared  would  be  mortal ;  but,  after  a  doubtful  struggle  be 
tween  life  and  death,  he  rallied,  and  recovered.  He  was  an 
accomplished  and  fearless  officer,  and  had  often  led  the  regi 
ment  in  battle. 

On  the  same  morning,  Warren  and  Hancock  struck  Lee's 
right  vigorously.  The  work  assigned  to  the  latter  was  to 
swing  to  the  west  side  of  Hatcher's  Run,  and  advance  to 
seize  the  Southside  Railroad.  Hancock  advanced  rapidly, 
and  crossed  the  run.  The  direct  attack  of  Warren  and 
Parke  failed  ;  and  the  enemy  fell  on  the  right  and  left  flanks 


THE  FOURTEENTH  ENGAGED  AT  HATCHEE'S  RUN.         677 

of  Hancock  with  great  fury,  and  not  inferior  numbers. 
They  met  a  bloody  reception.  Here  the  Fourteenth  Con 
necticut  was  engaged. 

Early,  in  the  morning,  the  regiment,  under  Lieut-Col. 
S.  A.  Moore,  had  left  its  camp  near  the  Vaughn  House  on 
the  Weldon  Railroad,  and  marched  westward  until  day 
light  ;  when  Col.  Moore  deployed  four  companies  on  the  right, 
under  Lieut.  William  Murdock,  as  flankers  to  cover  the 
brigade.  Three  companies  were  also  detached  on  the  left, 
under  Major  John  C.  Broatch.  Advancing  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  the  force  came  in  sight  of  the  Confederate  works  on 
Hatcher's  Run.  Here  the  regiment  formed  in  line  of  bat 
tle,  and  charged  across  the  run,  and  up  the  hill  into  the 
enemy's  works  ;  taking  some  prisoners.  Major  Broatch  was 
severely  wounded  in  the  thigh  in  this  charge.  Sergeant 
.Albert  DeForest  of  Stratford,  being  at  the  head  of  the  flank 
ers  on  the  right,  was  the  first  to  observe  the  telegraph-wire 
running  in  rear  of  the  enemy's  works,  which  he  promptly 
cut. 

The  regiment  then  re-formed,  and  marched  by  a  road 
running  in  a  northerly  direction  about  two  miles,  where  it 
halted,  and  was  joined  by  the  companies  which  had  been 
acting  as  flankers  on  the  right,  under  command  of  Lieut. 
Murdock ;  they  having  been  relieved.  After  a  rest  of  half 
an  hour,  the  column  again  proceeded,  the  regiment  having 
two  companies,  under  command  of  Capt.  Frank  E.  Stough- 
ton  of  Vernon,  deployed  as  flankers  on  the  left,  and  another 
company,  led  by  Lieut.  Robert  Russell  of  Middletown,  on 
the  right.  Near  the  plank-road,  the  Confederates  attacked  ; 
and  the  regiment  deployed  in  line  of  battle  with  the  brigade, 
and  advanced  across  an  open  field  to  the  right,  facing  the 
enemy's  works.  Lieut.-Col.  Moore  in  his  official  report 
says,— 

"  At  this  point  we  lay  under  a  shell  fire,  directed  from  the  front  and 
right  flank,  for  about  one  hour ;  when  we  were  ordered  forward  to  and 
across  the  plank-road,  crossing  a  brook  on  its  westerly  side,  and  were 
formed  facing  to  the  south,  under  cover  of  a  bank.  Firing  being  heard 
on  our  right  flank,  we  were  ordered  to  file  to  the  right,  under  cover 
of  a  hill.  This  was  done  on  the  double-quick  ;  and,  the  cavalry  being 
driven  in  at  this  point,  we  charged  over  the  hill,  and  drove  the  enemy  from 
their  works.  Our  loss  was  small.  The  regiment  occupied  the  works  thus 


678    •  CONNECTICUT  DUBING  THE  REBELLION. 

vacated,  remaining  in  them  till  nearly  five  o'clock,  P.M.  ;  when  I  was  ordered 
to  take  the  regiment  from  the  works,  and  deploy  it  on  the  road  on  the  left 
flank  of  the  brigade.  Before  this  could  be  done,  however,  the  enemy 
attacked  us  in  front.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Lieut.  Perkins  Bartholomew 
of  Company  I  received  the  wound  of  which  he  soon  after  died.  I  at  once 
sent  a  sergeant  to  the  general  commanding  the  brigade  for  further  orders, 
and  was  directed  to  hold  the  position  then  occupied.  The  enemy,  being 
repulsed  in  this  attack,  fell  back  to  their  Avorks.  We  remained  in  the 
works  till  about  eleven  o'clock,  when,  pursuant  to  orders,  Ave  Avithdrew ; 
leaving  a  strong  picket-line.  Throughout  the  Avhole  day,  the  conduct  of 
both  officers  and  men  was  deserving  of  praise.  Lieut.  Bartholomew,  who 
Avas  killed,  Avas  one  of  our  most  promising  young  officers.  Surgeon  Fred 
erick  A.  Dudley  of  New  Haven  was  left  behind  with  medical  supplies  to 
take  charge  of  the  wounded  who  could  not  be  moved." 

The  losses  of  the  regiment  in  this  engagement  were  two 
killed,  thirteen  wounded,  and  fourteen  prisoners. 

Next  morning,  the  whole  force  returned  to  the  original 
lines  before  Petersburg  ;  the  expedition  having  resulted  in 
failure,  though  Hancock  had  repulsed  the  Confederates,  and 
inflicted  on  them  terrible  losses,  much  heavier  than  his  own. 

The  Fourteenth  returned  to  winter-quarters  on  the  Wei- 
don  Railroad.  It  was  now  armed  throughout  with  Sharp's 
rifles,  reported  one  hundred  and  eighty  men  for  duty,  and 
was  pronounced  second  best  in  the  division.  The  regiment 
was,  in  fact,  one  of  the  best  in  the  army ;  spirited,  brave, 
proud  of  its  name,  always  prompt  and  ready.  In  practical 
fighting  efficiency,  it  had  few  equals. 

On  Dec.  1,  the  Second  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery 
returned  to  Petersburg  with  the  6th  Corps,  from  the  She- 
nandoah,  and  on  the  5th  went  into  camp  near  Meade's  head 
quarters  at  Parke's  Station.6  The  locality  was  precisely 
the  same  where  the  regiment  had  skirmished  with  the 
enemy,  and  lost  twenty  men,  on  the  22d  of  the  previous 
June  ;  and  the  works  which  it  had  improvised  under  fire,  in 
an  unbroken  forest,  had  grown  to  be  permanent  defenses, 
prepared  with  consummate  engineering  skill.  Here  the 
regiment  lay  until  the  re-opening  of  active  operations. 

On  Sunday  morning,  Feb.  5,  1865,  the  Fourteenth  was 
again  called  out  to  participate  in  an  advance  of  the  2d 

6  Lewis  Luddington  of  the  Second  Connecticut  Artillery  died  Oct.  20,  at  the  hos 
pital  in  Baltimore,  and  was  buried  from  his  home  in  Bethlem  This  is  the  first  time 
since  the  commencement  of  the  Rebellion,  that  the  citizens  of  that  place  have  been  culled 
to  follow  to  the  grave  a  deceased  soldier,  native  of  the  town. — Norwich  Courier. 


THE   FOURTEENTH   AND  THE   SECOND   AETILLERY.         679 

Corps,  now  under  Humphreys.  The  regiment  marched  down 
the  Vaughn  Road  to  Hatcher's  Run,  and  before  noon  reached 

O 

its  position  on  Armstrong  Hill,  in  support  of  the  10th  Massa 
chusetts  Battery. 

About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  rebel  artillerists 
commenced  throwing  shot  and  shell  into  the  position,  but 
did  not  continue  the  fire  long.  About  four  o'clock,  the 
rebel  infantry  commenced  an  attack.  Its  main  force  was 
directed  against  the  3d  Division,  with  the  evident  inten 
tion  of  breaking  through  our  lines,  and  cutting  off  the  2d 
Division.  Five  times  the  charge  was  made  and  repulsed. 
The  3d  Division  was  en  echelon  in  reference  to  the  2d,  in 
consequence  of  the  conformation  of  the  ground.  When 
the  firing  commenced,  the  Fourteenth  changed  front  on  the 
first  company,  which  brought  it  to  face  the  rebel  flank.  But 
as  the  enemy  were  in  thick  woods,  and  could  not  be  seen, 
this  regiment  did  not  actively  participate,  though  several 
shots  were  fired  into  them  by  sharpshooters,  and  the  bat 
tery  which  they  were  supporting  did  good  service. 

The  first  division  of  the  6th  Corps,  containing  the  Second 
Connecticut  Artillery,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  opened  fire 
on  the  Confederates  with  good  effect.  After  the  enemy  was 
repulsed,  the  Second  was  engaged  in  throwing  up  breast 
works,  which  thenceforth  became  a  part  of  the  permanent 
advanced  line.  The  regiment  had  lost  seven  wounded  and 


two  missing. 


The  Fourteenth  had  lost  one  killed  (Lieut.  Franklin  Bart- 
lett  of  Bridgeport)  and  seven  wounded.  Among  these  was 
Lieut.  Ira  A.  Graham  of  Durham,  severely.  He  was  an 
excellent  officer.  Lieut.  Bartlett  was  an  officer  of  great 
promise,  had  been  recommended  for  a  captaincy,  and  was 
highly  esteemed  by  officers  and  men.  He  was  acting  as 
adjutant.  The  regiment  was  under  command  of  Lieut.-Col. 
Moore,  whose  bearing  and  promptness  gave  courage  to  the 
new  recruits  on  this  day,  the  first  time  they  had  come  under 
fire.  Lieut.  Murdock  of  Company  A  captured  three  armed 
rebels. 

At  this  juncture,  the  Confederates  put  in  execution  their 
counter  flanking  movements,  by  the  Vaughn  Road,  against 


G80  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Crawford's  division  ;  and  the  usual  result  followed,  —  a  check 
ing  of  the  Union  advance.  But  the  important  position  was 
held.  Grant's  left  was  extended  to  Hatcher's  Run. 

During  this  severe  service  of  the  autumn,  the  Connecticut 
regiments  at  this  point  had  been  partially  re-organized.  The 
men  who  had  served  the  three  years  for  which  they  origi 
nally  volunteered  went  home,  materially  reducing  the 
strength  of  the  regiments  raised  in  1861.7  These  men 
were  received  in  Connecticut  with  enthusiastic  demonstra 
tions  of  gratitude  for  their  patriotic  and  honorable  services. 

Col.  A.  P.  Rockwell  commanded  the  Sixth  ;  Lieut.-Col. 
Lorenzo  Meeker  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  Major 
Daniel  Klein  ;  Capt.  Hiram  L  Grant  being  promoted  to  be 
major.  Again  the  regiment  received  a  chaplain,  —  Rev. 
Charles  C.  Tiffany,  formerly  pastor  of  the  church  at  Derby, 
a  young  man  of  high  character,  finished  scholarship,  and 
genuine  sympathy  for  the  cause  and  the  soldiers.  He  proved 
a  capable  and  enthusiastic  assistant. 

Col.  J.  R.  Hawley   of  the  Seventh  was  promoted   to  be 

.brigadier-general,  Sept.  17;  Lieut.-Col.  D.  C.  Rodman,  still 

disabled   from  his  wound,  resigned ;  and  Seager  S.  Atwell, 

who  came  into  the  regiment  as  second  lieutenant,  was  made 

lie  utenan  t-colonel. 

Col.  John  E.  Ward  of  the  Eighth  frequently  commanded 
a  brigade.  Capt.  William  M.  Pratt  was  made  major ;  the 
position  having  been  declined  by  Capt.  Charles  M.  Coit. 

The  regiment  at  this  time  lost  the  services  of  Surgeon 
Melancthon  Storrs  of  Hartford,  who  resigned  and  returned 
home,  after  three  years  of  devotion  to  the  good  of  the  sol- 

7  Lieut.  II.  H.  Lincoln  of  the  Tenth  died  at  his  home  in  Sonth  Coventry  in  November. 
He  had  risen  from  a  private  soldier  1'or  good  conduct  in  every  battle.  lie  led  his  com 
pany  in  many  sharp  engagements  with  till  enemy  ;  and.  during  Lieut.  Camp's  imprison 
ment,  he  was  adjutant  of  the  regiment.  He  reached  home,  on  furlough,  so  exhausted  from 
the  stress  of  constant  service,  that  his  mind  was  already  wandering  in  the  first  delirium  of 
fever.  In  a  week,  he  was  dead  ;  not  having  had  an  hour  of  consciousness  for  intelligent 
converse  with  the  dear  ones  who  had  waited  so  anxiously  for  his  coming. 

Capt.  Frederick  B.  Osborn  of  the  Sixth,  from  New  Haven,  was  honorably  discharged 
at  this  time;  and  within  a  year  met  his  death  by  accident  on  the  New-York  and  New- 
Haven  Railroad.  He  was  born  in  Derby  in  1825  ;  and,  during  the  four  years  preceding 
the  war,  had  cruised  twenty -one  thousand  miles  as  a  marine.  lie  was  on  the  frigate 
Niagara  when  it  was  engaged  in  laying  the  Atlantic  cable.  He  enlisted  in  the  three- 
months'  service.  lie  afterwards  joined  the  Sixth  as  a  private,  and  was  steadily  promoted 
to  a  captaincy  for  efficiency.  Through  his  great  bravery,  the  colors  of  the  regiment  were 
saved  at  the  bloody  assault  on  Fort  Wagner.  lie  was  buried  with  honors  from  his  resi 
dence  in  New  Haven,  his  coffin  draped  in  the  flag  which  he  had  carried  on  Morris 
Island. 


NUMEROUS   CHANGES  AMONG  OFFICERS.  681 

diers.  He  had  showed  himself  diligent,  quietly  faithful, 
skillful,  cool  in  peril,  quick  to  see,  and  steady  and  calm  in 
executing.  He  was  often  summoned  from  his  regiment  to 
positio'ns  requiring  ability  and  reliability  at  corps  and  gen 
eral  hospitals.  So  manifest  was  his  excellence,  that,  when  he 
was  sent  for  a  special  purpose  to  Washington,  Dr.  McMellan, 
a  surgeon  of  the  regular  army,  in  charge  of  the  mammoth 
hospital  near  Fort  Monroe,  in  indorsing  his  orders,  added 
the  statement  that  Dr.  Storrs  was  "  the  most  efficient  sur 
geon  ever  on  duty  at  this  hospital." 

Col.  John  L.  Otis  of  the  Tenth  resigned,8  and  Lieut.-Col. 
E.  S.  Greeley  was  promoted  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Capt.  E,  D. 
S.  Goodyear  became  lieutenant-colonel. 

Col.  John  II.  Burnham  of  Hartford  declined  a  commission 
as  colonel  of  the  Eleventh ;  and  the  regiment,  having  no  field- 
officers,  was  commanded  by  Capt.  Randall  H.  Rice,  who  had 
received  a  wound  at  Petersburg,  which,  it  was  feared,  would 
be  mortal.  He  had  been  promoted  from  the  ranks.  Major 
John  Kies  of  Killingly  had  been  compelled  to  leave  the  ser 
vice  from  continued  ill-health,  incurred  by  continued  expos 
ure  in  the  field. 

Col.  Hiram  B.  Crosby  of  the  Twenty-first,9  being  prostrated 
with  intermittent  fever,  resigned ;  and  the  regiment  was 
commanded  by  Lieut-Col.  James  F.  Brown.  Capt.  William 
Spittle  was  promoted  to  the  majority. 

Many  line-officers  resigned  at  this  time,  having  served 
three  years ;  until  a  majority  of  the  officers  of  every  regi 
ment  had  been  promoted  from  the  ranks.  In  such  regiments 

8  Col.  Otis  was  a  merchant  before  the  war,  but  left  bis  lucrative  business  and  bis  quiet 
homo  in  Manchester  to  volunteer  in  his  country's  service.  lie  sought  no  prominence, 
but  accepted  the  humblest  commission  an  officer  can  receive,  —  a  second  lieutenancy. 
His  practical  efficiency  could  not  remain  unnoticed,  and  even  before  leaving  Annapolis  he 
commanded  a  company.  His  services  were  always  timely  and  valuable;  and  bis  promo 
tion  was  steady,  lie  did  his  whole  duty  in  the  Carolinas  and  Florida,  and  was  hardly 
out  of  a  fight  during  the  months  of  battle.  At  Drury's  Bluff  be  made,  at  imminent 
peril,  a  personal  reeonnoissaiice  of  the  Confederate  works,  which  saved  a  brigade  from 
repulse  and  slaughter.  At  Bermuda  Hundred,  as  general  officer  of  the  day,  he  conduct 
ed  several  sharp  fights  ;  repelling  the  enemy's  assault  at  one  time,  and  recovering  a  lost 
position  at  another.  At  Deep  Bottom,  Strawberry  Plains,  White's  Tavern,  on  Darby- 
town  Road,  and  before  Petersburg,  he  performed  distinguished  service.  His  regiment 
had  implicit  trust  in  him,  and  deeply  regretted  his  loss  when  he  resigned  at  the  end  of 
his  three-years'  service. 

IJ  Lieut.  F.  W.  H.  Buell  died  of  fever  during  the  winter.     He  was  a  son  of  William 
G.  Buell  of  Chatham.     He  enlisted  in  the  ranks  in  1862,  shared  all  the  toils  and  perils  of 
his  regiment,  and  was  promoted  for  excellent  conduct.     Ho  was  a  young  man  of  high 
promise  and  worth,  of  good  personal  appearance,  and  noble  bearing. 
66 


682  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

as  the  Tenth  and  Fourteenth,  indeed,  there  was  not  one  of 
the  original  officers  left  in  the  line. 

Our  regiments  along  the  hostile  front  now  hastily  built 
for  themselves  winter-quarters,  and  awaited  the  opening  of 
another  campaign.  The  works  were  strengthened,  and 
sharpshooters  were  busy  along  the  line.  Chaplain  Henry 
Clay  Trurnbull  wrote  at  this  time,  "  The  manner  in  which 
the  skill  of  the  sharpshooter  is  criticised  in  the  army  might 
strike  a  civilian  with  surprise.  If  he  does  his  work  well,  a 
soldier  gives  him  credit  for  it.  I  have  heard  many  a  com 
pliment  to  a  rebel  marksman,  even  from  those  whose  escapes 
from  him  were  most  narrow,  or  whose  dearest  comrades  he 
had  recently  picked  off.  '  What  admirable  range  ! '  '  How 
capitally  they  fire  ! '  l  Isn't  their  shooting  excellent  ? '  and 
other  similar  remarks  were  freely  uttered  in  the  picket  rifle- 
pits  in  front  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  while -the  enemy  were  pour 
ing  in  an  artillery-fire  upon  us  on  an  afternoon  in  June, —  and 
that  while  limbs  were  being  mangled  or  brains  scattered 
wide  by  the  death-dealing  fragments  of  the  spherical  case. 
After  a  prolonged  skirmish-fire  on  the  edge  of  Strawberry 
Plain  a  few  weeks  ago,  a  brave  and  faithful  private  of  the 
llth  Maine  was  commenting  on  the  work  of  the  day.  in 
which  he  had  borne  an  active  and  honorable  part.  (  They've 
got  some  good  fellows  out  here,'  he  said,  referring  to  the 
rebel  sharpshooters  — '  picked  men.  They've  given  us  a  bully 
good  shootin'.  They  gave  us  first-rate  shootin'  t'other  day 
when  we  were  here.  And  they've  given  us  a  good  shootin' 
to-day.  There  was  one  of  our  fellows!  they  put  a  ball  right 
into  one  of  his  cheeks  under  the  eye,  and  it  came  out  under 
his  t'other  ear.  Killed  him  dead.  And  he  was  behind  a 
good  tree,  too.  But  they  brought  a  flank  fire  on  him,  and 
they  dropped  him.  Now  thaat's  what  I  call  good  shootin'.' ' 

On  Nov.  3,  threats  of  violence  at  the  polls  being  made  by 
the  peace-men  of  the  North,  and  alarming  frauds  being  dis 
covered  having  for  their  object  a  stuffing  of  the  ballot-boxes 
of  New- York  State  with  forged  votes,  Gen.  Butler  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  command  of  that  department;  and  he  was 
accompanied  by  a  division  of  troops  under  Gen.  Joseph  R. 


EEGIMENTS  INCREASED  BY   UNTRIED  RECRUITS.  683 

Hawley.  The  division  consisted  of  two  brigades  of  three 
thousand  men.  In  the  first  brigade  were  the  Sixth  Con 
necticut  Volunteers  under  Lieut.-Col.  Daniel  Klein,  Seventh 
under  Lieut.-Col.  Atwell,  and  Tenth  under  Col.  Creeley. 
Col.  Rockwell  of  the  Sixth  commanded  the  2d  Brigade. 
Chaplain  Jacob  Eaton  of  the  Seventh  wrote, — 

"  The  expedition  was  attended  with  great  hardships  to  both  officers  and 
enlisted  men.  Many  brave  men  who  have  served  faithfully  for  three  years 
have  assured  me  that  their  privations  and  sufferings  during  the  past  week, 
on  board  government  transports,  and  in  the  unfinished  works  on  Stateu 
Island,  have  been  greater  than  their  privations  and  sufferings  during  any 
previous  week,  of  their  army-life.  The  troops  were  not  landed  in  the  city 
at  all.  Officers  and  enlisted  men  were  not  allowed  to  go  on  shore,  or  even 
communicate  with  their  friends,  who  had  come  many  miles  to  see  them. 
The  soldiers  were  kept  on  small  vessels  :  they  were  crowded  and  huddled  to 
gether,  exposed  to  cold,  drenching  storms,  and  subsisted  fora  time  on  half- 
rations  ;  so  that  the  enemies  of  the  government  who  had  riot,  murder,  and 
treason  in  their  hearts,  could  have  no  excuse  for  an  outbreak.  Many  were 
aware  that  their  parents  or  wives  were  in  the  city,  only  a  few  rods  off,  hav 
ing  come  many  miles  and  waited  many  days  to  see  them  ;  and  yet  they  must 
return  disappointed  and  sad  to  the  homes  they  left.  The  boats  were 
anchored,  —  some  in  the  North  River,  and  some  in  the  East,  and  there 
remained  for  a  few  days,  guardians  of  liberty  and  justice.  Gen.  Haw- 
ley's  headquarters  were  on  the  fast  steamer  Moses  Taylor,  at  the  foot  of 
Twenty-third  Street." 

Immediately  after  the  presidential  election,  the  troops 
returned  to  the  front,  and  resumed  their  places  in  the  line. 
The  Tenth,  finding  its  former  cabins  pre-occupied,  was 
obliged  to  rebuild  its  log-village.10 

As  the  Connecticut  regiments  were  at  this  time  reduced 

o 

in  size  by  the  muster-out  of  tried  soldiers,  they  were  soon 
increased  again  to  a  minimum  by  the  muster-in  of  large 
numbers  of  untried  recruits.  An  officer  of  the  Eleventh 
wrote  at  this  time,  "  Two  hundred  and  sixty  recruits  have 
arrived,  '  substitutes '  for  patriots  who  stay  at  home.  Of 
these  five  have  put  down  their  names  as  having  been  born 
in  the  United  States  of  America.  The  rest  represent  twenty- 
one  different  nationalities." 

10  Lieut.  George  Northrop  of  the  Tenth  died  Nov.  10,  of  wounds  received  in  action  on 
the  Darbytown  Road,  Oct.  13. 

"  He  was  Lorn  in  ilic  tuwn  of  Bethel,  Conn. ;  served  as  a  private  in  the  Third  Regi 
ment  during  the  three-months'  campaign  ;  enlisted,  and  was  appointed  sergeant  in  Com 
pany  D  of  this  regiment.  Oct.  1,  1861,  and  re-enlisted  as  veteran  volunteer.  He  was 
promoted  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  while  commanding  his  company  in  the 
charge  on  the  enemy's  works  on  the  Darbytown  Road.  Lieut.  Northrop  died  regretting 
only  that  he  had  but  one  life  to  give  for  his  country."  —  Report  of  Col.  Grteley. 


684  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

The  white  troops  of  the  10th  Corps  were  consolidated 
with  those  of  the  18th,  in  a  new  corps  known  as  the  24th; 
and  the  Eighth  Connecticut  was  detailed  to  guard  headquar 
ters.  The  Twenty-ninth  and  Thirtieth  Connecticut  Volun 
teers  (colored)  were  now  in  the  25th  Corps,  where  all  the 
colored  regiments  were  gathered  under  Gen.  Weitzel. 

The  First  Connecticut  Artillery  still  manned  the  defenses. 
Col.  Abbot  had  thirty-three  guns  and  mortars  in  position  at 
Bermuda  Hundred,  and  twenty-nine  in  front  of  Petersburg. 
The  following  changes  of  ordnance  were  made  during  Au 
gust,  September,  and  October :  Lieut.  L.  W.  Jackson  with 
a  mortar  stationed  on  railroad  at  Petersburg  front ;  Lieut. 
T.  D.  Cashin  with  two  howitzers  sent  to  Battery  Burpee  ; 
Capt.  E.  C.  Dow  with  three  30-pound  Parrotts  sent  to 
Petersburg  front;  Lieut.  J.  H.  Cummings  with  one  100- 
pounder  Parrott  sent  to  Dutch  Gap;  Capt.  E.A.Gillette 
with  four  mortars  and  two  guns  sent  to  Petersburg  front ; 
Capt.  F.  A.  Pratt  with  eight  guns  sent  to  Fort  Sedgwick, 
Petersburg;  Capt.  A.  F.  Brooker  with  two  Coehorns  and 
three  mortars  sent  to  Dutch  Gap  ;  Lieut.  L.  W.  Jackson 
with  one  mortar  to  Battery  No.  4,  Petersburg ;  Lieut.  L.  G. 
Logan  with  three  30-pound  Parrotts,  four  Coehorns,  and  one 
20-pound  Parrott,  respectively  to  Battery  5,  Redoubt  Dutton, 
and  Battery  Drake ;  Capt.  F.  A.  Pratt  with  four  guns  to 
Battery  17  ;  Lieut.  E.  P.  Mason  with  two  mortars  to  Battery 
20 ;  Capt.  H.  H.  Pierce  with  one  100-pounder  Parrott  and 
three  30-pounder  Parrotts  to  Fort  Brady ;  Lieut.  E.  P.  Ma 
son  with  four  mortars  to  Fort  Sedgwick;  Major  Thomas  S. 
Trurabull  with  eight  guns  and  two  30-pound  Parrotts  sent  to 
the  City-Point  lines;  Lieut.  C.  R.  Barman  with  one  12-pound- 
er  to  redoubt  at  Broadway  Landing.  Capt.  H.  H.  Pierce 
took  charge  of  Battery  Burpee.  Capt.  Wilbur  F.  Osborne 
was  transferred  to  Battery  No.  1 1 .  Capt.  John  H.  Burton 
was  stationed  at  Fort  Converse.  Major  T.  S.  Trumbull  was 
in  command  of  all  the  siege-artillery  in  front  of  Petersburg. 

Col.  Abbot  reported  as  follows  :  "  Since  the  battle  of  the 
Mine,  the  firing  in  front  of  Petersburg  and  near  the  James 
River  has  been  heavy.  The  average  weight  of  iron  thrown 
daily  has  been,  during  August,  5.2  tons ;  during  September, 


IMPORTANT   SERVICE   OF  THE  FIRST  ARTILLERY.  685 

7.8  tons;  during  October,  4.5  tons;  during  November,  2.7 
tons;  during  December,  2.1  tons;  during  January,  1.6  tons; 
during  February,  1.1  tons.  The  aggregate  number  of  rounds 
fired  during  this  period  has  thus  been  37,264,  amounting  to 
about  793  tons  of  iron.  The  total  expenditures  of  ammuni 
tion  from  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  to  March  1,  1865, 
has  been  55,325  rounds,  amounting  to  1,118  tons  of  iron. 
Upon  the  Petersburg  lines  the  firing  has  been  so  frequent  as. 
to  render  it  difficult  to  select  special  instances  for  mention. 
At  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night  sudden  artillery  battles 
have  occurred,  often  involving  the  entire  line,  and  demand 
ing  the  expenditure  of  many  tons  of  ammunition." 

"  After  the  advance  upon  Fort  Harrison,  the  rebel  fleet  habitually  lay 
in  the  reach  near  the  graveyard,  in  plain  sight  of  our  lines,  occasionally 
firing  upon  them.  A  surprise  was  planned  for  them  by  Gen.  Butler,  whose 
chief  engineer,  Major  Michie,  erected  a  battery  commanding  their  position. 
During  the  night  of  Oct.  21,  three  30-poumler  Parrotts,  served  by  Com 
pany  C,  and  Ashby's  battery  of  four  20-pounder  Parrotts,  the  whole  under 
command  of  Capt.  II.  II.  Pierce,  were  placed  in  position,  and  at  daylight 
opened  suddenly  upon  the  fleet  at  a  range  of  about  fifteen  hundred  yards. 
The  effeot  was  excellent.  The  rebel  papers  admit  that  a  gun-carriage  was 
hit  on  the  gunboat  Drury,  by  a  shell,  which  wounded  five  men ;  that  the 
smoke-stack  of  the  ram  Fredericksburg  was  considerably  perforated,  and 
six  men  on  her  wounded  ;  and  that  a  plate  was  started  on  one  of  the  iron 
clads.  It  is  believed,  from  the  number  of  times  the  wooden  boat  was  hit 
(sixteen),  that  her  injuries  were  more  serious  than  admitted.  Certain  it  is, 
that  the  fleet  all  steamed  away  as  fast  as  possible,  and  that  the  wooden 
boats  have  not  again  exposed  themselves  in  this  reach.  .  .  . 

"  The  most  important  event  during  January,  on  these  lines,  was  the 
attempt  of  the  rebel  fleet  to  pass  the  obstructions  in  James  River,  on  the 
night  of  Jan.  23,  when  I  think  it  may  fairly  be  claimed  that  the  First  Con 
necticut  Artillery  prevented  a  serious  disaster.  Three  rebel  rams,  the 
wooden  gunboat  Drury,  a  small  steam  torpedo-boat,  and  perhaps  more, 
passed  Fort  Brady  about  eight,  P.M.,  under  cover  of  the  darkness." 

These  gunboats  created  great  alarm  and  consternation, 
as  their  purpose  was  to  reach  and  destroy  the  Union  trans 
ports,  laden  with  ammunition  and  sup'plies,  in  the  river  below. 
In  this  they  were  foiled.  The  boats  were  shelled  furiously 
from  Fort  Brady,  and  Batteries  Parsons,  Wilcox,  SpofFord, 
and  Sawyer.  At  daylight,  two  rams  and  the  Drury  were  dis 
covered  aground  near  the  left  bank,  some  fifteen  hundred 
yards  above  Parsons.  Fire  was  at  once  opened  from  that  bat 
tery  with  long  percussion-shell  from  the  hundred-pounder. 
The  second  shot  struck  the  Drury  ;  and  the  third  exploded 


686  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

her  magazine,  completely  destroying  her.11  The  rest  escaped 
up  the  river  about  noon.  Col.  Abbot  says,  "  During  the 
firing,  my  batteries,  especially  Forts  Brady  and  Parsons  and 
Wilcox,  were  under  a  very  heavy  fire  from  the  rebel  land- 
batteries.  Three  men  were  killed  in  the  former,  and  a  large 
number  slightly  injured  from  fragments.  Too  much  com 
mendation  can  not  be  given  to  Capt.  H.  H.  Pierce,  command- 
.  ing  Fort  Brady,  and  to  Lieuts.  Henry  A.  Pratt,  E.  P.  Mason, 
and  Charles  N.  Sillirnan,  commanding  the  other  batteries, 
for  their  excellent  conduct." 

The  regiment  had,  long  before  this  time,  accquired  an 
enviable  reputation  ;  and  the  most  penetrating  eye  would 
not  have  detected  in  it  any  resemblance  to  the  Fourth  Con 
necticut,  which,  three  years  before,  had  wandered  through 
Maryland,  inefficient  and  insubordinate.  The  New- York 
Journal  of  Commerce  now  declared  that  this  model  artillery 
regiment  had  been  of  more  service  to  the  government  than 
any  other,  regular  or  volunteer,  in  the  field. 

• 
In  December,  an  effort  was  made  to  reduce  and  capture 

Fort  Fisher,  at  the  mouth  of  Cape-Fear  River,  N.C.,  in  order 
to  supress  the  immense  amount  of  rebel  blockade-running  at 
the  port  of  Wilmington.12  To  this  end  Gen.  Butler  was  dis 
patched  with  sixty-five  hundred  men,  assisted  by  Admiral 
Porter  with  seventy-three  vessels,  carrying  in  all  six  hundred 
and  fifty-five  guns.  The  fort  was  of  very  formidable  con 
struction,  and  heavily  armed  and  manned.  An  assault  was 
feebly  made  and  repulsed,  when  Butler  concluded  to  leave, 
"  finding  that  nothing  but  the  operations  of  a  regular  siege 
would  reduce  the  fort,  and  in  view  of  the  threatening  aspect 
of  the  weather."  The  whole  force  returned  to  Hampton 
Roads. 

Porter  was  not  satisfied  with  the  effort ;  and  Grant  im 
mediately  decided  to  make  a  more  resolute  attempt,  "It 
was  necessary  that  the  confidence  of  the  armies  in  their 
commander  should  be  confirmed.  It  was  necessary  that 

11  The  firing  from  Fort  Brady  was  mainly  conducted  by  Lieut.  Sterling  A.  Woodruff, 
of  Company  C. 

1-2  The  total  value  of  cargoes  sent  into  this  port  by  English  capitalists  between  Janu 
ary,  1863,  and  December,  1864,  was  estimated  at  sixty-six  millions  of  dollars. 


GEN.    TERRY   DIRECTED   TO   TAKE  FORT  FISHER.  687 

Grant,  by  taking  Fort  Fisher,  should  demonstrate  that  it 
could  be  taken.  It  was  necessary  that  he  should  prove  that 
he  was  no  butcher,  who  dashed  his  men  against  impregnable 
battlements,  and  slaughtered  them  in  hopeless  enterprises. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Grant  cast  his  eyes  upon  that 
brilliant  galaxy  of  generals  by  whom  he  was  surrounded, 
and  looked  for  one  who  would  have  the  courage  to  attempt, 
and  the  skill  and  tenacity  to  execute,  the  great  work  which 
needed  to  be  done.  He  looked  for  one  to  whom  he  could 
intrust  the  hopes  of  the  nation  and  the  army,  and  into  whose 
keeping  he  might  safely  deliver  his  own  great  reputation. 
His  choice  fell  upon  Alfred  Howe  Terry."  13 

He  had  known  Terry,  and  marked  his  skill  and  sagacity  as 
leader  of  a  division,  and  occasional  commander  of  the  10th 
Corps,  and  did  not  hesitate  in  the  selection.  Eight  thousand 
infantry  were  given  him ;  and  he  went  down  the  James 
with  Porter  and  his  fleet,  not  knowing  whither  he  was 
bound.  During  the  night,  Grant  came  aboard,  and  directed 
him  to  "  take  Fort  Fisher  —  by  storm  if  practicable ;  if  not, 
by  siege."  Included  in  the  force,  at  Terry's  request,  were 
the  Sixth  and  Seventh  Connecticut,  in  Hawley's  brigade, 
now  commanded  by  Col.  J.  C.  Abbott,  flawley  being  left  with 
the  remainder  of  the  corps.  Col.  H.  L.  Abbot  of  the  First 
Artillery  also  accompanied  the  expedition,  with  twenty  offi 
cers,  five  hundred  and  sixty-eight  men,  and  a  siege-train  of 
sixteen  30-pound  mortars,  twenty  Coehorns,  and  fourteen 
thousand  rounds  of  ammunition. 

"  Fort  Fisher  consists  of  one  inclosed  fort  or  bastion,  from  the  opposite 
angles  of  which  spread  out  at  right  angles  to  each  other  high'  parapets,  or 
curtains  of  earthwork  ;  the  sea-face  to  a  distance  of  sixteen  hundred  yards, 
and  the  north  face  to  about  a  third  of  this  distance.  At  regular  intervals, 
these  curtains  are  crossed  by  high  traverses,  which  at  the  same  time 
serve  as  bomb-proofs  ;  and  between  which  are  mounted,  sometimes  one,  and 
at  others  two,  heavy  guns.  On  the  north  face  are  fifteen  of  these  traverses  ; 
and,  should  an  assailant  succeed  in  capturing  the  first  of  these,  the  second 
is  an  earthwork  behind  which  the  rebels  could  retreat ;  and  so  on,  succes 
sively,  until  our  men  reach  the  bastion,  which  is  inclosed  on  all  sides." 

On  the  morning  of  Jan.  13,  1865,  Porter  opened  the  bom 
bardment  from  his  iron-clads ;  again  showering  the  fort,  as  he 

13  Speech  of  Henry  B.  Harrison  in  the  General  Assembly,  on  a  resolution  of  thanks  to 
Gen.  Terry. 


688  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

had  done  a  few  weeks  before,  with  shot  and  shells  at  the  rate 
of  four  a  minute  for  eight  hours.  In  the  mean  time,  the  in 
fantry  had  landed  ;  and  intrenchments  were  speedily  thrown 
up  across  the  sand-spit,  cutting  off  the  fort  from  any  relief 
from  Wilmington.  In  these  wrorks,  Abbot's  brigade  was 
posted  ;  while  Ames's  division  moved  up  to  within  a  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  of  the  fort  by  daybreak  of  Sunday  the  10th, 
and  prepared  for  immediate  attack. 

The  cannonade  had  been  furious.  "I  was  told  by  the  sec 
retary  of  Col.  Lamb  commanding,  that  the  concussion  within 
the  fort  from  exploding  shell  and  solid  shot  was  terrible  and 
deafening  beyond  description.  It  seemed  as  if  volcanic  fires 
were  leaping  and  thundering  from  the  ground.  The  air 
hissed,  quivered,  and  flamed  with  missiles  of  destruction  :  one 
unceasing  thunder  of  artillery  shook  the  earth.  Shot  and 
shell  fell  either  upon  or  within  the  fortress  to  the  number  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty  in  a  minute,  or  twenty-one  thou 
sand  and  six  hundred  an  hour.  Probably  a  more  concen 
trated  and  powerful  naval  fire  was  never  witnessed  ;  probably 
it  was  never  equaled."  H 

Some  guns  had  been  dismounted,  stockades  broken,  and 
barracks  shivered  to  kindling  wood.  Yet  the  fort  was  not 
breached,  nor  its  defensive  strength  seriously  impaired. 
Within  its  walls  were  two  thousand  and  two  hundred  men, 
brave  and  vigilant. 

At  three,  P.M.,  two  storming  columns  advanced,  —  one  of 
two  thousand  marines  and  sailors,  led  by  Capt.  Porter  against 
the  sea-face  ;  the  other,  Ames's  division,  of  about  three  thou 
sand  and  three  hundred  veterans,  against  the  north-western 
face,  —  the  most  difficult  point.  The  navy  column  made  a 
desperate  dash,  fought  with  great  valor,  but  were  quickly 
driven  back  in  disorder,  with  heavy  loss.  The  enemy,  doubt 
less,  mistook  the  seamen's  attack  for  that  of  the  main  body, 
and  poured  into  them  a  terrible  fire.  The  diversion  was 
favorable  to  the  advance  of  Ames's  column,  which  Terry  was 
pushing  down  upon  the  land-face.  On  they  came  rapidly. 

The  defiant  cheer  of  the  rebels  as  the  sailors  sullenly  re 
tired  had  hardly  died  away,  when  another  cheer  was  heard. 

14  Narrative  by  Chaplaiu  Jacob  Eaton. 


CAPTURE   OF  FOET  FISHEE.  689 

The  rebels  met  it  with  a  yell  and  a  simultaneous  fire.  On 
rushed  the  three  brigades  of  Ames's  division.  The  fighting 
was  at  close  quarters.  The  carnage  became  terrible.  The 
leader  of  each  brigade,  and  the  commanders  of  half  the  regi 
ments,  went  down  in.  the  storm.  No  man  turned  his  face  to 
the  rear.  Terry  led  them  gallantly.  The  Pennsylvania  regi 
ments  were  first  in  the  fort.  At  five  o'clock,  after  the  most 
desperate  fighting,  foot  by  foot,  we  had  possession  of  half  the 
land-front.  The  division  was  almost  exhausted.  Terry  sent 
for  Abbot's  brigade,  with  the  Sixth  Connecticut,  and  his  old 
regiment  the  Seventh.  Its  place  in  the  defensive  line  was 
filled  by  the  naval  brigade,  and  it  moved  splendidly  forward 
to  re-inforce  the  weary  and  shattered  ranks. 

There  is  brief  consultation.  Ames's  division  is  ordered  to 
keep  the  rebels  busy.  The  fresh  column  is  moved  in  the 
deep  shadow  of  the  frowning  parapet  —  noiselessly  but  swift 
ly  along  the  entire  land-front  to  the  very  point  where  the 
fierce  assault  of  the  navy  boys  had  failed. 

Gen.  Terry  and  Gen.  Arnes  are  with  the  brigade  —  all 
cool,  but  anxious.  Minutes  now  are  worth  ordinary  years. 

When  the  brigade  reaches  the  sally-port,  the  Seventh  is 
thrown  forward  to  form  a  skirmish-line  near  the  center  of 
the  work.  Capt.  John  Thompson  is  wounded,  and  borne  to 
the  rear ;  and  his  place  is  taken  by  Capt.  William  S.  Marble 
of  North  Manchester,  who  leads  the  regiment,  with  equal 
coolness,  to  its  post  of  peril.  Here  it  remains  during  the 
hours  of  evening,  while  the  other  regiments  close  in  and 
press  forward,  returning  the  fearful  fire,  and  seizing  point 
after  point.  Spencer  rifles  and  veteran  bayonets  are  irre 
sistible.  The  rebels  are  driven  from  their  foot-hold :  Fort 
Fisher  is  won ! 

Terry  springs  to  the  head  of  the  column,  leads  it  through 
the  fort  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebels,  pushes  them 
along  the  sea-front  to  the  last  corner  into  Fort  Buchanan,  and 
compels  instant  and  unconditional  surrender. 

The  result  was  a  capture  of  seventy-two  guns,  two  thou 
sand  men,  with  garrison  equipage  and  ammunition  ;  and  suc 
ceeding  captures  swelled  the  number  of  guns  to  a  hundred 
and  sixty,  and  included  seven  valuable  blockade-runners. 

87 


690  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   REBELLION. 

The  Sixth  was  commanded  by  Col.  A.  P.  Rockwell.  The 
Seventh  lost  two  killed  and  five  wounded. 

Lieut.  Edward  K.  Wightman  of  the  3d  New-York,  a  native 
of  Middletown  in  this  State,  was  killed  while  leading  his  men 
to  the  charge.  He  graduated  at  the  Free  Academy  in  New 
York,  in  1854 ;  became  a  contributor  to  several  of  the  jour 
nals;  and  contributed  one  article  to  the  Shoe  and  Leather 
Reporter,  which  was  republished  in  Great  Britain,  Germany, 
and  France,  and  was  used  by  the  Home  Department  of  the 
United  States.  He  enlisted  in  the  9th  New- York  Volunteers, 
in  1862,  and  served  with  them  until  they  were  mustered 
out,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  3d  New-York.  He 
thrice  declined  commissions,  and  the  last  one  did  not  reach 
his  regiment  till  his  death. 

After  taking  possession  of  the  fort,  the  great  magazine 
exploded,  and  buried  more  than  a  hundred  men  —  rebel  and 
loyal  entombed  together.  The  disaster  was  probably  the 
result  of  carelessness ;  though  many  believed  that  some  mor 
tally  wounded  Confederate  prisoner  had  applied  the  match. 
The  men  from  Connecticut  were  mostly  at  some  distance,  and 
escaped.  Paymaster  Robert  H.  Gillette,  a  son  of  Hon.  Francis 
Gillette  of  Hartford,  had  obtained  permission  to  go  ashore 
with  some  other  officers,  and  was  examining  the  fort  when 
the  explosion  took  place.  He  was  instantly  killed.  His  was 
a  noble,  manly,  generous  nature ;  and  not  only  to  his  own 
kindred,  but  to  thousands  of  others  the  intelligence  of  his 
death  came  to  imbitter  the  cup  of  victory. 

The  capture  of  a  work  that  had  been  declared  to  be 
impregnable  startled  the  country;  and  Terry  became  imme 
diately  "  the  hero  of  Fort,  Fisher."  President  Lincoln  at 
once  nominated  him  to  be  major-general  of  volunteers,  and 
brigadier -general  in  the  regular  army;  and  the  Senate 
hastened  to  confirm  the  appointment.15 

Admiral  Porter  telegraphed,  "  The  troops  have  covered 
themselves  with  glory."  "  These  works,"  wrote  the  admiral 
afterwards,  "  are  tremendous.  I  was  in  Fort  Malakoff  a  few 
days  after  its  surrender  to  the  French  and  the  British.  The 

15  At  the  close  of  the  war,  Gen.  Terry  was  made  a  major-general  by  brevet  in  the  regu 
lar  army ;  the  highest  promotion  received  by  any  volunteer  officer  in  the  country. 


CONGEESS  THANKS   GEX.   TEREY.  691 

combined  armies  of  those  two  nations  were  many  months 
capturing  that  stronghold,  and  it  did  not  compare  in  size  or 
strength  with  Fort  Fisher." 

"  I  have  spoken  of  Gen.  Terry  as  a  soldier.  Let  me  speak 
of  him  also  as  a  man.  In  person  he  is  tall,  —  over  six  feet 
in  hight,  —  with  light  hair,  blue  eyes,  and  a  grave  but  gentle 
expression  of  countenance.  He  possesses  an  intellect  strong 
and  remarkably  versatile ;  and  few  men  surpass  him  in  vari 
ety,  extent,  and  precision  of  information.  In  temperament, 
he  is  ardent,  impetuous,  quick,  and  sometimes  rash  in  his 
prepossessions.  He  is  modest,  generous,  tender-hearted,  apt 
to  bend  down  to  little  children  and  caress  them ;  a  good 
son,  a  kind  brother,  an  unflinching  friend.  Porter  evidently 
appreciated  him  when  he  so  enthusiastically  pronounced  him 
the  (  beau  ideal  of  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman.'  " 16 

Gen.  Grant  expressed  in  very  strong  terms  his  admiration 
of  the  achievement ;  and  both  houses  of  Congress  enthusias 
tically  passed  the  following  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  Congress  are  hereby  presented  to  Major- 
Gen.  Alfred  II.  Terry,  and  to  the  officers  and  men  under  his  command,  for 
the  unsurpassed  gallantry  and  skill  exhibited  by  them  in  the  attack  upon 
Fort  Fisher,  and  the  brilliant  and  decisive  victory  by  which  that  important 
work  has  been  captured  from  the  reb*el  forces,  and  placed  in  the  possession 
and  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States ;  and  for  their  long  and  faith 
ful  service,  and  unwavering  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  country,  in  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  difficulties  and  dangers. 

Butler  still  went  on  insisting  that  Fort  Fisher  could  not 
be  captured,  or  rather  that  no  man  had  a  right  to  capture 
it  after  competent  officers  had  declared  it  to  be  impregnable. 
Thereupon,  he  was  relieved  of  his  command  ;  and  he  retired 
to  Lowell,  leaving  few  friends  and  no  admirers  in  the  armies 
before  Richmond.  From  his  retreat  he  fulminated  a  series 
of  ill-tempered  dispatches,  arraigning  his  great  commander; 
but  every  word  came  back  upon  him  like  a  boomerang. 

16  Speech  of  Henry  B.  Harrison. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  in  Tennessee.  —  Guarding  the  Railroad. — Fight  with  Guer 
rillas.  —  Retaliation.  —  Advance  of  the  Spring.  —  The  Twentieth  at  Boyd's  Trail.  — 
Battle  of  Resaca.  —  Amusing  Incidents.  —  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  at  Peach-tree 
Creek.  —  Sherman's  Flank  Movement.  —  Atlanta  occupied.  —  Casualties  in  the  Con 
necticut  Regiments.  —  A  Rest.  —  The  March  to  the  Sea.  —  At  Savannah.  —  Second 
Connecticut  Battery.  —  In  Louisiana  and  at  Mobile.  —  "  The  Bay  Fight." 

REPARATIONS  were  made  in  the  East  and  West, 
as  early  as  the  spring  of  1864,  to  move  forward 
simultaneously  and  give  the  coup  de  grace  to 
the  wavering  Confederacy.  The  enemy  was 
bankrupt  in  men  and  means,  and  his  military 
spirit  was  declining ;  but  the  momentum  of  three  years  of 
war  enabled  his  armies  still  to  show  a  stubborn  front  where- 
ever  assailed. 

Connecticut  was  to  be  worthily  represented  in  the  victo 
rious  column  of  Sherman.  The  llth  and  12th  Corps  were 
transferred  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  Tennessee 
in  September,  1863,  to  meet  Longstreet's  army,  already 
thrown  into  the  western  scale  in  aid  of  Bragg.  Rosecrans 
had  been  pushed  into  the  fortifications  around  Chattanooga; 
and  Bragg  was  investing  the  place,  while  operating  on  the 
Union  communications  with  strong  detachments.  The  ene 
my  occupied  Lookout  Mountain,  and  the  railroad  and  river 
back  to  Bridgeport,  Ala.  The  Union  army  was  on  half- 
rations.  Every  day  their  provision-trains  were*  attacked  and 
wagons  captured. 

The  12th  Corps  traveled  night  and  day  from  Virginia, 
westward.  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth  Connecticut  were 
stowed  away  in  freight-cars.  Dispatch  was  indispensable. 
Comfort  could  not  be  considered.  On  they  sped,  through 

692 


THE  FIFTH  AND  TWENTIETH  IN  TENNESSEE.  693 

Harper's  Ferry,  Martinsburg,  Hancock,  Piedmont,  over  the 
wild  Alleghanies,  past  Bellaire,  Zanesville,  Columbus,  Day 
ton,  Richmond,  Indianapolis,  Jefferson,  to  Louisville,  Ky. 
The  commissary  had  preceded ;  and  at  regular  intervals  the 
train  stopped  for  sandwiches  and  coffee  for  the  soldiers.  All 
through  Ohio  and  Indiana,  the  troops  were  greeted  with  an 
ovation.  Thousands  turned  out  at  every  stopping-place  ; 
and  ladies  brought  to  the  veterans  bouquets  and  wreaths  of 
flowers,  and  articles  of  utility.  Haversacks  were  seized,  and 
filled  with  fruit,  cake,  baked  meat,  pies ;  and  the  pork  and 
hard-bread  came  to  be  despised.  From  Louisville  to  Nash 
ville,  thence  to  Murfreesborough  and  to  Tullahoma.  The  rebel 
guerrillas  infested  the  whole  country ;  and  they  now  cut  the 
railroad  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  re-inforcements.  A 
division  of  the  12th  Corps  was  ordered  to  guard  the  track 
from  Bridgeport  back  towards  Nashville  ;  and  the  guerrillas 
became,  for  a  time,  more  timid,  and  their  raids  less  frequent. 
The  Fifth  Connecticut  under  Col.  W.  W.  Packer,  and  the 
Twentieth  under  Col.  Samuel  Ross  (now  released  from  cap 
tivity),  went  through  Tennessee  to  Stephenson,  Ala.,  where 
they  arrived  on  Oct.  4.  Here  the  12th  Corps  had  its  head 
quarters,  and  was  occupied  in  guarding  the  lines  of  commu 
nication  for  the  army  at  Chattanooga.  Lieut.  Edward  A. 
Doolittle,  of  the  Twentieth,  from  New  Haven,  died  at  Stephen- 
son,  in  December,  of  typhoid  fever.  He  enlisted  as  a  private, 
and  was  promoted  for  good  conduct  and  efficiency.  "  His  per 
sonal  gallantry  at  Chancellorsville  and  Gettysburg  forms  a 
proud  memoir  in  our  history,"  wrote  Col.  Ross.  And  his 
brother  -  officers  said  of  him,  "Noble  without  ostentation, 
faithful  beyond  any  influence  of  fear  or  favor,  and  patriotic 
without  desire  of  praise,  he  had  endeared  himself  to  us  all." 

The  Fifth  started  immediately  north  again,  and  chased  the 
rebel  cavalry  for  two  weeks ;  maintaining  the  reputation  for 
celerity  which  they  won  at  the  East.  The  regiment  at  last 
went  to  Cowan,  Tenn.,  via  Decherd  and  Tantallore,  and 
arrived  on  Oct.  2.6  ;  being  soon  joined  by  the  Twentieth. 

Grant  was  now  in  command,  and  had  an  army  of  one 
hundred  thousand  veterans  in  and  around  Chattanooga. 
During  the  succeeding  weeks,  he  moved  on  Lookout  Moun- 


694  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

tain  and  Mission  Ridge ;  defeated  the  rebel  army  with  great 
slaughter ;  captured  six  thousand  prisoners,  seven  thousand 
stand  of  arms,  and  scores  of  cannon;  and  pursued  the  shat 
tered  hosts  of  Bragg  to  Dalton.1  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth 
Connecticut  were  still  guarding  the  lines  of  communication. 
In  December,  a  member  of  the  Fifth  wrote,  "  The  location 
of  the  regiment  is  at  present  very  agreeable,  on  the  Nash 
ville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad,  near  Cumberland  Tunnel, 
the  safety  of  which  is  intrusted  to  our  care.  Col.  Packer  is 
in  command  of  the  post."  Yet  before  the  winter  was  over 
the  position  proved  to  be  no  sinecure.  In  March,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Twentieth  wrote  from  Cowan,  from  which  town 
the  regiment  was  scattered  now  along  the  railroad  in  squads 
for  forty  or  fifty  miles,  — 

"  Our  duties  the  past  winter  have  been  very  arduous  ;  and  twice  within 
a  few  weeks  have  we  suffered  from  guerrilla  raids.  At  Tracy  City,  in  Jan 
uary,  Company  B  stationed  at  that  place  was  surprised  by  about  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  mounted  land  pirates,  who  dashed  into  our  lines,  and  attempted 
to  capture  or  murder  our  boys.  David  B.  Rowell  of  Derby,2  a  guard,  was 
shot  dead  from  the  first  fire.  Capt.  Andrew  Upson  of  Southington,  com 
mander  of  the  post,  was  murdered  in  cold  blood.  While  he  was  trying  to 
join  his  company,  only  a  few  rods  distant,  he  was  shot  twice  through  his 
body  after  his  surrender,  and  has  since  died  from  the  effects  of  his  wounds. 
He  was  one  of  our  finest  and  most  gallant  officers,  beloved  by  all,  a  Chris 
tian  gentleman,  and  a  most  honorable  and  high-minded  man.  Peace  to  his 
ashes !  Lieut.  Theodore  Jepson  showed  the  genuine  Yankee  pluck  in 
bravely  defending  his  little  band  of  soldiers  against  the  one  hundred  and 
fifty  rebels  who  tried  in  vain  to  drive  them  from  their  stockade. 

A  part  of  this  same  force  of  guerrillas,  on  the  IGth  of  March,  attacked 
a  freight-train  of  eleven  cars,  about  seven  miles  from  Tullahoma.  A  rail 
had  cautiously  been  displaced  from  the  track,  which  threw  off  the  approach 
ing  train  with  a  terrible  crash.  Instantly  a  gang  of  rebels  jumped  from 
behind  trees  and  ledges,  and  commenced  the  work  of  bloodshed  and  plunder 
upon  the  passengers  ;  simultaneously  firing  the  train,  which  was  loaded 
with  hay,  lumber,  &c.  Capt.  Ambrose  E.  Bcardsley  of  Derby,  our  brigade 
inspector,  who  is  sometimes  unlucky,  then  agaiu  lucky,  happened  unfortu 
nately  to  be  on  board.  Three  soldiers  were  shot  down  by  his  side  ;  and  a 
musket  was  leveled  and  fired  at  him,  which  missed  its  mark,  just  grazing 
his  neck.  Beardsley,  in  company  with  two  lieutenants  and  three  negroes, 
brakemen  on  the  train,  was  then  taken  under  a  guard,  and  run  off  three 
miles  into  a  dense  wood.  The  poor  negroes  were  shot.  Beardsley  ex 
pected  the  same  fate ;  but  was  finally  simply  robbed  of  his  watch,  three 
hundred  and  eighty  dollars  in  money,  his  coat,  hat,  and  boots  ;  and  then 
asked  to  sign  a  parole.  He  refused  ;  and,  after  stripping  the  two  lieu- 

1  Douglass  Bushnell,  a  native  of  New  London,  was  killed  in  the  battle  near  Chatta 
nooga.     He  was  major  of  the  13th  Michigan. 

2  Rowell  was  a  quiet,  unassuming  young  man,  devoted  to  the  cause  for  which  he  so 
bravely  gave  his  life. 


MALIGNITY   OF  GUERRILLAS.  095 

tenants  who  were  with  him  of  all  they  had,  they  were  then  left  by  their 
cut-throats  to  grope  their  way  back  through  the  woods,  barefooted,  which 
they  did,  guided  by  the  light  of  the  burning  cars." 

The  Unionists  had  learned  prompt  and  bloody  retalia 
tion.  Next  morning,  a  squadron  of  the  Tennessee  Union 
Cavalry  went  in  pursuit,  overtook  them,  defeated  them,  killed 
eleven,  and  captured  seventeen.  None  of  the  prisoners  were 
brought  into  camp.  The  captors  reported  that  they  "  lost  " 
them. 

The  Twentieth  Regiment  maintained  good  health,  having 
received  a  supply  of  esculents  from  the  soldiers'-aid  societies 
of  Bridgeport  and  Derby. 

In  Cowan  and  Tracy  City,  as  elsewhere  in  the  South,  the 
women  were  more  violently  disloyal  than  the  men.  A 
story  is  told  of  one  of  these,  who,  besilked  and  befeathered, 
sheered  off  in  passing  the  Union  headquarters  one  day,  and 
gave  her  skirts  the  usual  flirt  to  show  her  contempt  for  the 
drooping  flag;  when  a  soldier  retorted  with  the  following 
bit  of  torture  :  — 

"  0  marm !  how  dirty  your  stockings  are !  Just  look 
at  'em ! " 

Female  skirts  and  female  pride  went  down  together,  while 
the  irrepressible  roars  of  his  comrades  winged  the  sarcastic 
shaft,  and  sent  it  home. 

Bushwhackers  and  guerrillas  abounded ;  scarcely  a  day 
passed  without  damage  being  done  to  the  railroad  at  some 
point.  The  utmost  vigilance  was  exercised.  Squads  were 
stationed  at  every  depot,  bridge,  orwatertank;  and  redoubts 
and  stockades  were  erected  along  the  whole  route.  Guards 
patrolled  the  road. 

Yet  the  rebels  plied  their  ingenuity.  "  Torpedoes  were 
placed  on  the  track.  Rails  were  loosened  so  as  to  launch 
the  next  train  off  an  embankment.  The  timbers  of  bridges 
were  sawed  nearly  through.  Rocks  were  rolled  down  the 
mountain  upon  the  rails.  With  infernal  malignity  they 
watched  and  waited  for  trains  laden  with  soldiers,  on  which 
to  practice  their  schemes  of  destruction.  Union  Soldiers 
caught  alone  were  robbed  and  murdered."3 

8  Col.  Buckingham's  MS.  History  of  the  Twentieth. 


696  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

An  order  of  terrible  retaliation  was  immediately  issued 
by  Gen.  Grant,  which  made  bushwhacking  dangerous  and 
unpopular.  Ten  thousand  Union  refugees  were  provided  for 
by  large  levies  upon  the  property  of  secessionists.  Guer 
rillas  were  hunted  down,  tried  by  court-martial,  and  shot. 

As  the  spring  of  1864  approached,  the  veterans  of  the 
Fifth  took  their  furlough ;  and  the  non-veterans  were  tem 
porarily  transferred  to  the  Twentieth,  commanded  at  this 
time  by  Capt.  Ezra  D.  Dickerman.  Col.  Ross  commanded  the 
brigade.  Rev.  A.  L.  Frisbie  of  Ansonia  here  joined  the  regi 
ment  as  chaplain,  and  he  made  himself  of  great  service. 

Gen.  Sherman  now  succeeded  Grant4  in  command  of  the 
armies  of  the  West;  and  the  different  corps  were  re-organ 
ized  and  mobilized.  The  llth  and  12th  Corps  were  consoli 
dated,  and  became  the  20th  Corps.  The  Twentieth  Connecti 
cut  Volunteers  was  placed  in  the  2d  Brigade,  3d  Division. 

An  immense  depot  of  supplies  had  been  gathered  at 
Chattanooga  prior  to  April,  1864.  The  roads  rearward  had 
been  rebuilt ;  the  defenses  strengthened  ;  the  veteran  guards 
relieved  by  hundred-day  men,  and  recalled  to  the  front. 
Sherman  gathered  his  host  in  Lookout  Valley. 

On  April  27,  the  Twentieth  took  its  place  in  the  20th 
Corps,  and  again  the  regiment  was  led  by  Lieut.-Col.  Buck 
ingham. 

The  veterans  of  the  Fifth  had  returned  from  their  fur 
lough  home,  and  the  non-veterans  had  resumed  their  places 
in  the  ranks. 

The  veterans,  after  passing  Indianapolis  on  the  return, 
exchanged  the  doubtful  comforts  of  second-class  cars  for  the 
certain  discomforts  of  freight-cars.  That  jolly  soldier,  Isaac 
B.  Rogers  of  Danbury,  wrote  the  next  week  from  Decherd, 
Tenn.,  "  It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  a  description  of  the 
thumps,  bumps,  contusions,  jams,  knocks,  whacks,  cracks, 
pokes,  and  jars  experienced  by  the  ( soldier  patriots  of  Con 
necticut'  while  in  process  of  transportation  as  government 
freight.  One  thing  is  certain,  —  we  found  plenty  of  exercise 
in  jumping  from  the  cars,  and  pushing  the  train  up  each 
successive  grade  from  Indianapolis  to  Decherd ;  the  locomo- 

4  Gens.  Grant  and  Sherman  are  both  of  Connecticut  ancestry. 


THE  FIFTH  AND  TWENTIETH  UNDER  GEN.    SHERMAN.     697 

tive  having  been  constructed  for  the  government  by  con 
tract." 

At  Decherd,  they  crept  under  shelters,  and  had  few 
conveniences  of  any  kind.  The  weather  was  unseasonably 
cold  and  wet,  and  much  disease  was  engendered.  Sergeant 

'  O  O 

J.  W.  Burley  of  Woodstock  died  of  small-pox  in  April ;  but 
the  case  was  isolated.  Chaplain  Moses  C.  Welch  of  Hart 
ford  wrote  of  him,  "  He  possessed  an  uprightness  of  charac 
ter  that  secured  him  the  respect  of  all.  He  was  intelligent, 
thoughtful,  and  independent." 

While  it  is  true  that  the  exposure  incident  to  soldiers 
is  often  destructive  to  life,  yet  in  many  instances  its 
effects  are  favorable  to  the  health  of  men.  This  is  strik 
ingly  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Capt.  William  Spencer5  of 
Cheshire,  who  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Twentieth  Regi 
ment.  He  was  of  a  delicate  constitution ;  but  three  years 
and  a  half  of  service  in  the  field  —  during  which  he  never 
received  a  furlough,  and  never  was  absent  from  his  regi 
ment  —  rather  improved  than  impaired  his  health. 

On  April  30,  the  Fifth  had  again  removed  to  Bridgeport, 
Ala.,  whence  it  marched,  and  joined,  in  Gen.  Knipe's  brigade, 
the  forces  under  Gen.  Sherman. 

The  armies  of  the  Ohio,  Tennessee,  and  Cumberland, 
advanced  by  different  routes  upon  Dalton.  The  20th  Corps 
moved  clown  to  the  right,  then  marched  westward  towards 
the  town,  crossing  Taylor's  Ridge.  After  an  unsuccessful 
effort  (May  8)  to  break  through  the  fortified  passes,  Col. 
Ross  was  directed  to  take  and  hold  Boyd's  trail  in  the 
mountains,  to  keep  the  enemy  from  coming  through  into 
the  valley.  Col.  Ross's  command  consisted  of  the  Twen 
tieth  (Lieut.-Col.  Buckingham  commanding)  and  the  19th 
Michigan,  —  in  all  about  a  thousand  men.  He  started  a 

O          " 

little  after  midnight,  and  moved  in  the  dark  four  miles, 
arriving  at  the  trail  at  four,  A.M.  The  pass  was  held  by  two 
Virginia  regiments.  Col.  Ross  threw  out  a  double  line  of 
skirmishers  under  Capt.  E.  D.  Dickerman.  The  advance 
was  so  rapid  and  vigorous,  that  the  enemy's  picket-reserve 

6  He  participated  in  eleven  general  battles,  and  escaped  without  the  slightest  injury. 
Capt.  Spencer  was  educated  in  France,  and  is  a  high  type  of  the  patriotic  soldier. 


698  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

barely  escaped  capture.  By  eight  o'clock,  the  enemy  were 
driven  from  the  trail  to  the  top  of  the  mountain.  Col.  Ross 
says  in  his  report,  "  I  then  established  a  picket-line  in  a 
circular  form,  from  the  rocky  face  of  the  mountain  on  one 
side  of  the  trail,  around  and  across  it  to  the  same  on  the 
other  side.  I  next  established  the  main  body  on  a  'hog 
back'  hill  commanding  the  main  road  (where  the  trail  con 
nects  with  it)  and  much  of  the  trail,  and  fortified  my  po 
sition  so  as  to  hold  it  against  large  numbers.  I  remained 
in  this  position,  undisturbed  by  the  enemy,  save  occasional 
shots  from  sharpshooters  from  the  top  of  Rocky  Face,  until 
noon  on  the  llth  instant,  when  I  was  relieved.  From 
thence  my  command  marched  to  Snake-creek  Gap,  where 
it  joined  the  brigade.  I  desire  to  thank  and  commend  the 
officers  and  men  under  my  command  for  their  uniform 
promptness  and  bravery.  Not  an  officer  or  man  faltered." 

Meantime,  Johnston's  rebel  army  fell  back  rapidly  on 
Resaca,  and  Sherman  pressed  forward.  The  Fifth  and 
Twentieth  moved  in  the  column ;  though,  of  the  particulars 
of  the  movements  of  the  Fifth,  we  find  no  adequate  record. 
The  colonel  furnished  a  report  of  only  three  lines  from  time 
to  time,"  submitting  a  list  of  casualties.  The  Twentieth  was 
in  line  of  battle  during  May  14  and  15,  and  was,  with 
the  Fifth,  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Resaca.  Col.  Ross  says 
in  his  report,  "  In  passing  the  open  ground,  after  crossing 
the  first  hill  under  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry,  grape,  and 
canister,  the  color-bearer  was  hit,  and  fell  out  of  line :  there 
upon  Adjutant  C.  Jay  Du  Bois  seized  the  colors,  and  gal 
lantly  carried  them  forward  ;  holding  them  until  our  line  was 
re-formed  on  a  new  front,  when  he  surrendered  them  to  the 
sergeant  designated  to  carry  them." 

Immediately  in  front  of  our  line  at  this  point,  and  just 
behind  the  rebel  intrenchments,  was  a  battery  of  four  guns, 
from  which  the  gunners  had  been  driven  during  the  charge 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  15th.  The  Union  troops  had 
charged  up  to  the  very  muzzles  of  these  guns,  but  had  been 
compelled  to  leave  them,  and  fall  back  a  few  rods,  behind  a 
slight  elevation.  The  pieces  were  now  on  disputed  territo 
ry;  and  both  Union  and  Confederate  soldiers  had  striven  in 


THE   TWENTIETH  ASSIST  IN   CAPTUKING   CASSVILLE.      699 

vain  to  drag  them  off  during  the  daylight.  The  ground 
about  the  battery  was  strewn  with  the  dead  of  both  sides. 
In  the  evening,  Lieut.-Col.  P.  B.  Buckingham  was  directed 
to  take  a  detachment  of  men,  and  get  the  guns.  He  soon 
reached  the  low  ground  in  front ;  when  he  and  Capt.  John 
II.  Doolittle  of  Derby,  and  Capt.  Oliver  R.  Post  of  Hartford, 
crept  up  to  reconnoiter.  The  result  was,  that  the  men  were 
quietly  set  at  work  digging  broad  trenches  straight  up  to 
the  muzzles:  ropes  were  carefully  attached ;  and  before  day 
break  the  four  new,  brass  12-pounders  had  been  safely  re 
moved  to  our  lines.  Not  a  man  was  lost,  though  a  fierce 
attack  broke  out  about  midnight,  during  which  the  working 
party  was  subjected  to  a  hot  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry 
from  both  sides.  Lieut.-Col.  Buckingham  was  commended 
for  this  exploit  in  general  orders. 

Of  a  movement  on  Cassville  on  the  19th,  Col.  Ross 
reports,  "  About  two,  P.M.,  the  division  made  a  demonstration 
on  the  enemy  with  infantry  and  artillery.  In  this  move 
ment,  the  19th  Michigan  and  Twentieth  Connecticut,  under 
my  command,  covered  the  right  flank,  and  supported  our 
artillery.  The  division  advanced  about  half  a  mile,  and 
swung  around  on  Cassville  (the  enemy  retiring);  when  these 
regiments  under  my  command  were  posted  on  the  right  of 
the  division,  my  left  connecting  with  the  right  of  the  3d 
Brigade. 

"  The  formation  for  a  general  advance  of  the  division 
being  completed,  these  two  regiments,  thus  posted  on  the 
right,  advanced  with  the  division  in  good  order  to  the  road 
near  the  seminary.  Officers  and  men  acted  promptly  and 
bravely.  The  Twentieth  was  then  advanced  a  few  rods  to 
support  our  artillery  batteries ;  sending  skirmishers  to  the 
front  to  drive  back  the  enemy's  sharpshooters.  About 
eight,  P.M.,  these  two  regiments,  —  the  Twentieth  Connecticut 
and  19th  Michigan,  —  assisted  by  no  other  troops,  in  line  of 
battle,  with  fixed  bayonets,  assaulted  and  captured  Cassville, 
and  occupied  it  until  the  morning  of  the  20th  instant;  when 
we  marched  to  the  present  camp. 

"  I  desire  to  mention  the  following  company  commanders 
for  promptness  and  good  conduct  throughout  these  opera- 


700  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

tions :  Capt.  Ezra  D.  Dickerman  of  Hamden,  Capt.  Samuel 
S.  Woodruff  of  Southington,  Capt.  Wilbur  W.  Smith  of  Sey 
mour,  Capt.  Oliver  R.  Post  of  Hartford,  Capt.  John  II.  Doo- 
little  of  Derby,  Capt.  Ezra  Sprague  of  Derby,  Capt.  Horace 
G.  H.  Tarr  of  Hartford,  Lieut.  John  E.  Royce  of  Derby." 

The  Fifth  Connecticut  Volunteers  entered  Cassville  imme 
diately  afterwards,  from  another  direction,  and  assisted  in 
holding  the  village  through  the  night.  The  citizens  fled  in 
terror,  leaving  their  aged  and  invalids  in  an  utterly  helpless 
condition,  to  be  taken  care  of  by  "the  Yankee  Vandals." 
Col.  Buckingham  says,  "  At  a  house  found  tenantless,  and 
occupied  for  the  headquarters  of  the  Twentieth  Regiment, 
a  table  waited,  already  spread  with  strawberries,  warm 
biscuit,  and  a  nice  boiled  ham,  smoking  hot,  which  furnished 
the  officers  of  the  regiment  with  a  supper  after  their  hard 
day's  work." 

Col.  Buckingham  wrote  in  May,  — 

"  Here  is  some  of  the  finest  land  in  Northern  Georgia.  The  people 
have  obeyed  the  behests  of  Jen0  Davis ;  and,  instead  of  the  cotton  and 
tobacco  formerly  raised,  all  the  arable  land  is  planted  with  corn,  or  some 
with  wheat.  It  is  said  that  rebel  soldiers  were  detailed  in  the  spring  to 
assist  in  planting  the  crops  ;  but  in  the  track  of  the  armies  not  much  will 
be  reaped ;  for,  spreading  over  the  land  like  a  swarm  of  locusts,  the  troops 
eat  up  and  destroy  every  green  thing.  The  droves  of  cattle  driven  along 
to  furnish  beef  for  the  army  are  pastured  in  the  fields  of  waving  wheat ; 
outlying  troops  of  cavalry  feed  their  horses  upon  the  young  corn  ;  and 
cavalry  and  infantry  tread  down  all  that  is  left." 

The  same  officer  thus  tells  of  the  passage  of  the  formid 
able  gap  at  Alatoona  by  the  20th  Corps,  by  a  ruse  of  its 
commander,  — 

"  Yesterday,  on  arriving  at  the  gap,  we  found  strong  rebel  works  ;  but 
they  were  abandoned.  The  officer  in  command  had  moved  to  another  point 
on  the  order  of  Gen.  Hooker.  It  occurred  in  this  way  :  At  daylight  in  the 
morning,  Hooker  and  staff,  accompanied  by  his  body-guard,  started  from 
near  Raccoon  Creek,  and,  moving  on  three  or  four  miles  in  advance,  halted 
for  breakfast  by  the  roadside.  While  sitting  here,  a  rebel  courier  rode  in 
among  them,  bearing  a  dispatch  from  Geu.  Johnston  to  the  officer  in  com 
mand  at  the  gap,  directing  him  to  hold  it  at  all  hazards,  and  saying  it 
was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  delay  the  advance  of  the  Federal  troops 
for  a  day,  or  until  he  could  reach  Dallas.  Hooker  pocketed  the  dispatch  ; 
directed  one  of  his  own  orderlies  to  exchange  uniforms  with  the  rebel 
courier ;  gave  him  the  pass  from  Gen.  Johnston  ;  and  wrote  a  new  order 
(from  '  Gen.  Johnston')  to  the  officer  at  the  gap,  directing  him  to  remove 
his  troops  to  another  point  some  miles  distant.  The  new  courier  mounted 
a  captured  '  C.  S.'  horse,  and  rode  away  with  the  order.  He  found  the 


A   SOUTHERN  LADY'S   OPINION   OF   FLANKING.  701 

officer  on  the  gui  vive,  with  his  troops  drawn  up  ready  to  repel  the  Yankees. 
He  delivered  the  bogus  message,  showed  the  genuine  pass,  and,  after  being 
thoroughly  questioned,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  rebel  army  move 
off  iu  obedience  to  the  commands  of  Joe  Hooker.  The  officer  said  he 
must  obey  orders,  he  supposed  ;  but  Gen.  Johnston  was  either  crazy,  or  a 
d fool.  The  brave  orderly  made  a  detour ;  and,  after  several  adven 
tures  with  rebel  scouting  parties,  was  at  last  captured  by  our  own  cavalry." 

The  women  were  intensely  "  rebel "  in  their  feelings  and 
conversation.  An  officer  rode  up  to  a  house  one  day,  to  get 
a  drink  of  water.  While  obtaining  the  beverage,  the  lady 
of  the  house  appeared,  with  the  inevitable  pine-splinter  in 
her  mouth  (most  of  the  women  of  this  locality  are  snuff- 
dippers),  and  accosted  the  colonel  with,  "  I  don't  see  what 
you  uns  comes  down  heah  to  fight  we  uns  for.  We  uns  hain't 
done  you  uns  any  harm;  and  you  uns  can't  never  beat  we 
uns  neither." -—"  Well,  madam,"  rejoined  the  colonel,  "we 
came  down  here  to  compel  the  people  to  submit  to  the 
authority  of  the  United-States  Government.  As  to  our  not 
succeeding,  I  think  we  make  pretty  fair  progress.  We  have 
driven  your  army  down  to  this  point,  and  have  defeated  it 
every  time  it  stopped."-— '"But  you  uns  don't  fight  we  uns 
fair,"  persisted  the  lady.  "When  we  get  all  fixed,  with  a  row 
of  dirt  in  front,  Mister  Hooker  he  takes  his  regiment  and 
comes  down  on  the  eend  of  our  men,  and  that's  the  way  he 
doos  all  the  while.  And,"  continued  the  lady  after  a  pause, 
"  hain't  you  got  a  man  o'  the  name  o'  Sherman  long  o'  you 
uns?" — "Yes,"  confessed  the  officer.  "Wall,  he  doosjes'  so 
too,  with  his  regiment ;  and  rny  man  —  he's  in  the  army —  he 
writ  home,  and  says,  if  'twa'n't  for  Mister  Hooker  and  Mister 
Sherman  with  their  regiments,  we  uns  should  beat  you  uns 
all  the  while."  The  officer  acknowledged  that  it  was  proba 
ble,  and  rode  on. 

During  the  succeeding  three  months,  Col.  Ross  was  de 
tached  from  the  Twentieth,  and  placed  in  command,  first  of 
Cassville,  then  of  Marietta,  while  the  column  advanced  on 
Atlanta.  About  dark  of  June  17,  the  Fifth  and  Twentieth 
crossed  the  Chattahoochie,  and,  after  advancing  four  miles, 
bivouacked  in  column  by  division.  A  line  of  battle  was 
formed  the  next  forenoon ;  and  an  advance  was  made,  the 
enemy's  skirmishers  retiring  rapidly. 


702  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

On  the  20th,  the  column  again  moved  forward,  and  about 
noon  crossed  Peach-tree  Creek,  in  front  of  Atlanta,  and  halted 
in  column  by  division.  After  a  rest  of  an  hour,  the  army 
was  deployed  in  line  of  battle,  and  assailed  Hood's  intrench- 
ments.  The  Twentieth  Connecticut  was  in  the  front  line, 
on  the  extreme  left  of  the  division  adjoining  the  4th  Corps. 
Col.  Buckingham  reported, — 

"After  being  formed  in  proper  order,  the  command  was  given  to  ad 
vance  to  a  ravine  about  a  hundred  rods  in  our  front.  This  was  accom 
plished  under  a  heavy  fire  from  the  skirmishers  of  the  enemy,  who  were 
driven  back,  our  line  advancing  in  excellent  order.  Here  we  again  rested 
for  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  until  other  dispositions  were  made  ; 
when,  in  connection  with  the  4th  Corps,  our  whole  line  was  advanced  to 
the  crest  of  a  hill  in  our  front.  On  arriving  at  this  point,  the  enemy,  who 
was  concealed  in  a  ravine,  made  a  desperate  charge  along  the  entire  front 
of  the  20th  Corps  and  the  right  of  the  4th.  This  was  received  with  a 
steady  and  terribly  destructive  fire  from  our  front  line,  which  stood  firmly, 
determined  not  to  give  a  single  inch  of  ground. 

u  The  brigade  of  the  4th  Corps  on  our  immediate  left  was  compelled, 
after  a  short  but  severe  struggle,  to  fall  back  some  twenty  or  thirty  rods, 
in  considerable  confusion  ;  but  soon  re-formed,  charged,  and  drove  the 
enemy  back,  recovering  the  lost  ground.  When  this  brigade  fell  back, 
the  enemy  followed  closely  ;  and  thus  not  only  threatened  the  left  flank  and 
rear  of  my  regiment,  but  actually  opened  fire  upon  us  from  that  position. 
I  immediately  threw  back  five  companies  on  my  left,  so  as  to  face  the 
enemy,  and  opened  fire  in  that  direction  ;  thus  contributing  not  a  little  in 
repulsing  the  enemy  on  the  front  of  the  right  of  the  4th  Corps.  After  that 
corps  had  recovered  its  position  in  line,  we  were  again  ordered  to  advance 
through  a  ravine,  and  to  the  top  of  a  high  ridge  in  our  front,  which  we 
were  to  take  and  hold  at  all  hazards.  Our  skirmishers  had,  before  this, 
been  compelled  to  take  refuge  within  our  lines,  and  we  were  again  ad 
vanced,  drove  the  enemy  out  of  his  ravine,  up  and  over  the  hill ;  punishing 
him  severely  as  his  scattered  regiments  retired  over  the  rising  ground, 
as  the  numerous  dead  and  wounded  in  our  front  bore  witness.  On  arriving 
at  the  top  of  the  ridge,  we  halted,  formed  the  line  in  perfect  order,  arid 
held  the  ground  firmly  until  the  battle  was  over.  The  right  of  the  4th 
Corps,  on  account  of  the  determined  opposition  received,  was  not  able  to 
advance  up  to  our  line,  but  held  their  line  some  twenty-five  rods  to  our 
left  and  rear.  The  enemy  was  soon  discovered,  not  only  advancing  at  a 
charge  in  our  front,  but  also  to  our  left,  against  the  4th  Corps  ;  and  two 
companies  on  my  left  were  ordered  to  face  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  and  open 
fire  in  that  direction,  while  the  remaining  companies  maintained  a  deter 
mined  fire  against  the  three  lines  of  the  enemy  advancing  in  our  front. 
The  attack  was  repulsed,  and  the  enemy  fell  back  in  confusion ;  and, 
although  repeated  charges  were  made  during  the  afternoon,  our  lines 
remained  firm  and  immovable.  The  regiment  stood  for  four  hours  in  the 
open  field,  and  fought  with  most  determined  courage  ;  and  both  officers  and 
men  are  entitled  to  praise  for  their  coolness  and  steadiness  during  this  most 
obstinate  battle.  The  regiment  was  relieved  by  the  136th  New- York,  at 
about  sundown,  after  having  fired  one  hundred  and  fifty  rounds  of  ammu- 


THE  FIFTH  IN  A  SEVERE  ENGAGEMENT.  703 

nition  per  man,  and  after  the  muskets  had  become  so  foul  from  use  as  to 
be  almost  entirely  unserviceable.  On  being  relieved,  we  fell  back  a  short 
distance,  and  remained  under  fire,  supporting  the  136th  New-York,  until 
the  enemy  retired.  Soon  after  dark,  the  enemy  fell  back,  leaving  his  dead 
and  wounded  on  the  field. 

"Wounded  rebel  officers  belonging  to  the  3d,  33d,  55th,  and  144th 
Mississippi  Regiments,  left  on  the  field  in  front  of  the  Twentieth,  remarked 
that  they  had  lost  more  men  during  this  engagement,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
than  they  had  before  during  the  war.  During  our  advance,  a  rebel  color- 
bearer  in  front  of  the  right  of  my  regiment  was  killed  ;  and  a  rebel  officer 
who  sprang  forward  and  seized  the  colors  to  bear  them  off  was  also  shot 
dead  ;  but  a  soldier  from  the  26th  Wisconsin  Infantry  succeeded  in  obtain 
ing  the  flag.  During  the  action,  our  division  captured  seven  stand  of 
colors." 

A  soldier  writes  from  the  field  the  following  account  of 
the  honorable  part  taken  by  the  Fifth  :  "  On  the  morning 
of  July  20,  we  crossed  the  creek,  and,  advancing  about 
half  a  mile,  halted  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  the  line,  and 
other  details  incidental  to  a  change  of  position.  The  1st 
Division  had  no  formation  for  battle ;  when  suddenly,  and  as 
unexpectedly  as  an  earthquake,  the  storm  of  battle  broke 
out  upon  the  left,  and  rolled  rapidly  down  from  the  2d 
Division  upon  the  left,  through  the  3d,  and  speedily  en 
veloped  the  1st  in  its  uproar. 

"  It  was  almost  a  complete  surprise ;  but  the  men  who 
formed  the  line  of  July  20  were  too  familiar  with  the 
rattle  of  musketry  and  odor  of  powder  to  yield  to  panic,  or 
flee  without  being  driven :  and  as  the  enemy  came  shouting 
and  yelling  from  the  woods  within  twenty  yards,  flaunting 
their  flags  in  the  assurance  of  an  easy  victory,  the  old 
division  closed  sternly  in,  and  the  answer  to  their  yells 
was  Union  bullets  and  Union  cheers.  For  three  hours,  the 
battle  raged,  the  enemy  being  repeatedly  repulsed,  and  as 
often  returning  to  the  charge,  only  to  find  the  wall  of  fire 
and  steel  more  impenetrable  than  before,  and  to  lose  in 
creased  numbers  of  their  misguided  soldiers  upon  the  field. 
At  a  little  before  sunset,  the  battle  ceased.  The  returns  of 
the  Fifth  exhibit  a  loss  of  sixty  men  killed  and  wounded, 
out  of  less  than  two  hundred  who  went  into  action  ;  among 
whom  were  many  of  the  best  and  most  valued  men  of  the 
regiment." 

Hood  was  now  in  command  of  the  rebel  army.     Several 


704  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

successive  desperate  assaults  were  repulsed  by  Sherman,  and 
again  the  Union  forces  crept  forward  and  encircled  Atlanta. 
To  avoid  a  direct  assault  on  the  intrenchments,  Sherman 
extended  his  line  rapidly  to  the  right,  and  reached  around 
to  the  south-eastward  of  the  city.  The  Fifth  and  Twentieth 
Connecticut  Volunteers  were  constantly  active.  Col.  Buck 
ingham  relates  the  following :  — 

"  A  day  or  two  after,  as  our  division  was  on  a  reconnoissance  beyond 
our  right,  we  rode  up  to  a  house  occupied  by  a  half-dozen  of  the  feminine 
portion  of  the  Confederacy,  —  an  old  lady  and  her  daughters.  The  phiz  of 
the  old  lady  was  adorned  with  a  clay  pipe ;  and  three  of  the  daughters 
closed  their  teeth  upon  delicious  pine  sticks,  and  the  pink  of  their  pretty 
lips  was  blended  with  the  brown  of  moistened  snuff.  We  inquired  if 
there  had  been  any  rebel  troops  in  that  vicinity  in  the  morning.  '  'Deed 
they  has  ! '  replied  the  old  lady.  '  How  many  ? '  — '  Oh  !  a  right  smart  of 
'em,'  she  answered.  '  Some  o'  you  uus  come  along  here  about  sun  up,  and 
they  formed  a  streak  of  fight  right  through  my  garden.'  — '  Were  the  rebel 
troops  you  saw  infantry  or  cavalry  ? '  asked  the  officer.  '  Dunno,'  was  the 
reply.  'Were  they  on  horseback,  or  on  foot?'  he  explained.  'No,' 
briskly  responded  the  dame.  '  They  was  all  critter  men,  you  tins  and  we 
uns  both.'  So  we  learned  that  there  had  been  a  cavalry  skirmish." 

The  hostile  lines  were  now  pressed  closely  together.  In 
trenchments  were  advanced  and  strengthened.  Every  can 
non-shot  fired  by  Sherman's  army  went  into  Atlanta.  Col. 
Buckingham  wrote  of  sharp-shooting,  "  There  are  many 
excellent  shots  in  almost  every  regiment,  and  there  are 
companies  of  sharpshooters,  so  called ;  but  the  genuine 
sharpshooter  is  an  institution  by  himself.  Though  nomi 
nally  attached  to  some  regiment,  he  acknowledges  obedience 
to  no  organization.  He  is  detached,  and  reports  only  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  division  or  corps.  He  goes  to  the  front 
when  there  is  any  chance  for  game,  and  hunts  rebels  as  he 
would  deer, — for  the  fun  of  it.  Armed  with  a  rifle  that  would 
break  down  any  ordinary  man,  with  telescopic  sights  upon 
it,  and  a  patent  muzzle,  he  is  a  dead-shot  at  six  hundred  to 
a  thousand  yards.  He  loads  his  piece  with  as  much  precision 
as  if  he  were  shooting  for  a  wager ;  and  just  at  daylight  goes 
out  to  the  skirmish-line  to  hunt  rebels  for  the  day.  His 
particular  business  is  to  pick  off  the  rebel  artillerymen;  but 
he  doesn't  object  to  draw  a  bead  upon  any  vertical  piece  of 
gray  cloth.  He  comes  in  at  night  with  a  long  stick  in  his 
hand,  with  a  row  of  notches  cut  in  it,  indicating  the  number 
'  certainly  killed/  '  probably  killed/  and  '  winged.' " 


LOSSES   IN  THE   FIFTH  AND  TWENTIETH.  705 

Very  deliberate  murder  this,  —  cold-blooded,  atrocious,  re 
minding  of  the  Indian  who  takes  the  scalp.  But  all  war 
is  barbarous  and  horrible ;  and  perhaps  that  which  kills  the 
surest,  and  ends  the  quickest,  is  least  inhuman  after  all. 

The  20th  Corps  remained  north  of  Atlanta,  while  Sher 
man  gradually  stretched  his  right  away  to  the  south,  then 
closed  suddenly  in  on  the  Macon  Eailroad.  Hood  met  him 
stubbornly :  there  was  another  great  battle,  and  another 
Union  victory.  Hood  evacuated  Atlanta,  and  withdrew 
southward;  while  the  20th  Corps  leaped  over  the  breast 
works,  and  rushed  into  the  city.  Here  Sherman  paused; 
and  the  army,  which  had  been  in  an  almost  constant  battle 
for  four  months,  took  breath,  rested,  and  re-organized. 

The  Connecticut  regiments  had  both  suffered  heavily. 
In  the  battle  near  Resaca,  May  15,  the  veteran  Fifth  lost 
eight  killed  and  forty-three  wounded.  Among  the  wounded 
was  Lieut.  George  W.  Titus  in  the  head,  severely,  and  Lieut. 
John  H.  Brewster.  In  the  fight  near  Dallas,  the  Fifth  lost 
two  killed  and  twenty-nine  wounded.  In  June,  the  regi 
ment  suffered  three  killed  and  twenty-five  wounded.  Among 
the  wounded  were  Lieut.  Perry  P.  Wilson  of  Woodstock,  who 
lost  both  legs ;  and  Lieut.  James  Stewart,  wounded  severely 
in  the  thigh.  In  the  battle  of  Peach-tree  Creek,  the  Fifth 
was  in  the  hottest  of  the  fight,  and  lost  from  its  now  feeble 
line  fifteen  killed  and  forty-four  wounded.  Among  the 
wounded  were  Lieut,  and  Adjutant  William  A.  Daniels,  As 
sistant  Surgeon  Andrew  I.  Gilson,  Lieut.  L.  M.  Snow,  Lieut. 
Isaac  N.  Weldon,  Lieut.  Albert  L.  Gavitt.  In  a  skirmish  of 
July  31,  the  Fifth  also  lost  three  killed  and  seven  wounded. 

The  losses  of  the  Twentieth  had  been  scarcely  less.  On 
May  15,  it  had  lost  one  killed  and  thirteen  wounded  ;  on 
the  19th,  one  killed,  three  wounded,  three  missing;  July  20, 
Peach-tree  Creek,  ten  killed  and  forty-five  wounded ;  and 
during  the  succeeding  week  three  killed  and  six  wounded. 
In  the  battle  of  Peach-tree  Creek,  among  the  wounded  were 
Capt.  Ezra  D.  Dickerman,  Capt.  Horace  G.  H.  Tarr,  Capt. 
Oliver  K  Post,  Lieut.  Theodore  Jepson,  Lieut.  Wellington 
Barry,  Lieut.  Ebenezer  B.  Fenton,  Lieut.  Edward  J.  Murray 
and  Lieut.  Edward  Root.  Capt.  Dickerman  and  Lieut.  Jep- 


706  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

son  were  wounded  very  severely  in  the  head ;  and  the 
injuries  of  the  former  ultimately  proved  mortal.6 

Capt.  Oliver  R.  Post  of  Hartford  died  next  day  of  his 
wound,  in  the  hospital  at  Atlanta.  He  was  a  native  of 
Essex,  and  a  son  of  Capt.  Ambrose  W.  Post  of  that  town. 
At  the  time  of  his  enlistment,  he  was  assistant  editor  of  the 
Hartford  Press.  He  had  served  with  great  acceptance  in 
the  regiment ;  being  seldom  absent  from  his  company  for 
any  reason.  His  body  was  embalmed  by  his  comrades,  and 
sent  home  for  burial. 

From  Atlanta,  a  soldier  of  the  Fifth  wrote,  — 

"  In  a  hundred  days,  the  division  to  which  this  regiment  is  attached 
has  been  engaged  in  four  pitched  battles,  in  all  of  which  the  command  has 
borne  its  part,  and  left  its  traces  in  fresh  mounds  and  rudely-carved  head 
boards  upon  every  field  and  skirmish-line  for  a  hundred  miles.  The  regi 
ment  started  upon  this  campaign  with  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  men 
for  duty,  and  at  this  writing  has  one  hundred  and  thirty :  of  the  first 
number,  nearly  two  hundred  have  fallen  in  battle,  and  are  either  buried  on 
the  field  of  battle  and  victory,  suffering  with  wounds  in  hospitals,7  or 
enjoying  the  soothing  influence  of  home  and  its  ministrations." 

6  Ezra  Day  Dickerman  of  Hamden  entered  the  service  as  a  private  soldier  in  the 
Tenth;  was  in  the  expedition  to  the  North-Carolina  coast,  and  wounded  in  the  chin  at 
the  battle  of  Roanoke  Island.  He  attracted  much  notice  by  his  bravery,  promptness, 
soldierly  appearance  and  conduct,  and  studious  habits.  When  the  Twentieth  was  organ 
izing,  he  was  promoted  to  a  second  lieutenancy,  and  sent  home  to  recruit  a  company  for 
that  regiment,  which  was  composed  largely  of  his  personal  friends  and  acquaintances. 
He  was  immediately  chosen  captain.  This  company  was  known  as  the  Whitney  Rifles, 
being  under  the  patronage  of  the  generons  founder  of  Whitneyville,  near  New  Haven. 
At  Chancellorsville,  he  was  again  wounded,  receiving  a  bullet  in  his  hip.  While  at  home 
on  a  furlough,  before  he  had  fully  recovered  from  this  wound,  and  before  his  furlough  had 
expired,  rumors  were  heard  of  a  coming  battle;  and  he  at  once  started  to  join  his  regi 
ment  at  the  front,  near  Washington,  which  place  he  visited  for  information  as  to  its- 
position.  Failing  to  get  definite  directions,  he  jumped  upon  a  supply-train,  which  carried 
liim  to  Westminster,  the  nearest  railroad  point,  and  yet  twenty-five  miles  distant  from 
the  field  of  Gettysburg.  This  distance  he  walked,  with  halting  step,  and  presented  him 
self  before  Col.  Wooster  for  duty  about  five  minutes  before  the  commencement  of  the 
great  battle  of  July  3.  At  Peach-tree  Creek,  near  Atlanta,  July,  1864,  he  received  a  bul 
let  in  his  head  ;  was  reported  mortally  wounded,  and  by  the  surgeons  on  the  field  was 
passed  as  a  hopeless  case.  A  faithful  friend  and  comrade  attended  him,  and  procured  his 
removal  to  the  officers'  hospital  at  Nashville,  where,  after  a  period  of  thirteen  days  of 
almost  entire  unconsciousness,  the  ball  was  with  great  difficulty  extracted  from  a  depth 
of  three  inches.  Possessing  a  vigorous  constitution  and  perfect  health,  promoted  by 
strictly  temperate  habits,  he  soon  rallied,  but  witB  the  loss  of  the  sight  of  one  eye ;  and 
was  able  to  visit  his  home  in  Connecticut.  After  some  months,  he  was  detailed  for  duty 
at  the  conscript  camp  at  New  Haven,  in  charge  of  the  commissary  department,  where  he 
remained  until  March,  1865;  when  he  was  promoted  to  be  major  of  the  Twentieth,  and 
ordered  to  join  his  regiment,  which  he  did  at  Richmond,  Va.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he 
was  mustered  out  with  the  regiment,  after  four  years  of  service.  He  lived  nearly  three 
years  thereafter,  with  occasional  periods  of  intense  suffering,  arising  (as  since  ascertained) 
from  the  formation  of  an  abscess  in  the  head.  In  December,  1867,  in  one  of  these  ago 
nizing  attacks  of  pain,  he  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  years.  The  key  of  his  excel 
lent  military  record  is  found  in  the  words  Christian  patriot.  He  shrank  from  no  duty, 
however  perilous ;  and  has  left  the  reputation  of  a  gallant,  faithful  soldier,  and  a  most 
estimable  man. 

7  Private  Gilbert  M.  Stocking  died  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  Mo.,  Jan.  24,  1865.     He 
was  a  native  of  Waterbury,  and  graduated  at  Yale  in  1861 ;  standing  sixth  in  a  class 


THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA.  707 

From  the  first  of  August  up  to  the  first  of  October,  a 
tacit  armistice  prevailed.  At  this  latter  period,  Hood, 
who,  though  impetuous  and  imprudent,  had  succeeded  John 
ston  in  command  of  the  Confederate  army,  struck  northward 
past  the  flanks  of  the  Union  army,  crossed  the  Chattahoo- 
chee,  and  moved  rapidly  on  Sherman's  communications. 
Sherman  sent  Thomas  along  the  road  to  Nashville  with 
three  corps  of  his  army,  but  maintained  his  position  at 
Atlanta.  About  Dec.  1,  Hood  menaced  Thomas  in  front  of 
Nashville,  swearing,  foolishly  as  profanely,  that  he  "  would 
water  his  horse  in  the  Cumberland  River  or  in  hell."  Three 
weeks  later,  he  was  flying  from  the  battle-field  with  an 
army  defeated  and  utterly  ruined.8 

On  Nov.  16  began  the  wonderful  march  to  the  sea. 
Sherman's  army  moved  in  two  divisions,  with  four  corps,  of 
which  the  20th  Corps  was  on  the  left  flank.  The  great 
commander  abandoned  his  rearward  communications,  as 
Cortez  burned  his  ships,  and  fixed  his  eye  on  Savannah.  ^ 

Col.  W.  W.  Packer  of  the  Fifth  commanded  the  brigade 
for  a  few  weeks  as  the  successor  of  Gen.  Knipe,  in  which 
office  he  showed  zeal  and  ability ;  and  soon  afterwards 
resigned,  having  served  faithfully  more  than  three  years. 
Lieut.  -  Col.  Henry  W.  Daboll  commanded  the  regiment, 
assisted  by  Major  William  S.  Cogswell.  Col.  Daboll,  in  his 
report  of  the  march,  said  of  the  condition  of  the  regiment 
when  it  left  Atlanta,  "There  were  present  with  the  regi 
ment  but  six  line-officers ;  and  one  of  these  was  acting  as 
adjutant.  Notwithstanding  this,  and  though  the  nature  of 
3ur  marches  (depending  almost  entirely  upon  the  country 
for  supplies,  and  regiments  and  companies  being  broken  up 
to  guard  and  assist  trains  stretched  over  long  intervals)  was 
necessarily  such  as  would  try  the  morale  and  discipline  of 
a  command,  I  am  happy  to  state,  that,  during  the  entire 
campaign,  the  regiment  behaved  in  a  manner  not  only 
gratifying  to  myself,  but  eliciting  the  commendation  of  my 
superiors." 

of  ninety-seven.     He  enlisted  in  1863  in  the  Twentieth.     The  severe  duties  of  the  At 
lanta  campaign  proved  disastrous  to  his  health,  and  he  retired  to  a  hospital  to  die. 
b  The  following  epigram  was  current  at  this  time  :  — 

"  Where  Hood  is,  'twere  not  difficult  to  tell. 
He  swore  he'd  go  to  Nashville  or  to  hell; 
And  hasn't  gone  to  Nashville  —  very  wel]  1 " 


708  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

What  need  to  describe  in  detail  the  colossal  stride  from 
the  mountains  of  Georgia  to  the  sea?  There  was  little 
in  the  experience  of  the  Connecticut  regiments  that  was 
peculiar.  They  remember  the  sublime  illumination  of  the 
heavens  over  burning  Atlanta;  the  clamor  and  clatter  of 
the  setting-out ;  the  steady  progress  and  constant  resistance  ; 
the  frightened  rebels  hiding  while  the  hurricane  passed  ;  the 
negroes  gathering  along  the  rear,  a  black  triumphal  escort ; 
the  liberal  foraging ;  the  burning  of  houses,  mills,  and  towns, 
and  the  desolation  of  the  broad  track  of  the  army,  almost 
as  complete  as  the  wasting  of  the  Palatinate  by  Turenne ; 
the  occasional  skirmish  ;  the  private  campaign  of  the  "  bum 
mer"  astride  his  mule,  hovering  along  the  flanks,  and 
dragging  in  his  ill-assorted  plunder;  the  construction  of 
corduroy  roads  over  hundreds  of  miles  for  the  artillery ;  the 
wonderful  panorama  of  the  march,  and  the  quaint  tableaux 
of  the  nightly  bivouac  ;  the  sombre  caravan  of  ambulances ; 
the  ponderous  cannon  with  the  fighting-cock  mounted  atop ; 
the  weary  toil,  beguiled  each  day  by  new  scenes  and  fresh 
encounters  as  the  old  flag  was  borne  from  county  to  county 
and  from  State  to  State  in  the  grand  pageant.  In  January 
of  1865,  the  army  —  "Sherman's  iron-clads  "  as  they  were 
called  by  the  Confederates  —  rested  for  a  few  weeks  in  and 
about  Savannah,  after  one  of  the  most  remarkable  cam 
paigns  in  the  wars  of  the  world. 


The  Second  Connecticut  Light  Battery,  Capt.  John  W. 
Sterling  commanding,  left  Brashear  City,  La.,  on  June  17, 
1864,  and  moved  to  Algiers,  and  pitched  tents.  On  July 
30,  the  battery  was  embarked  on  board  transports,  and 
moved  down  the  Mississippi,  and  through  the  Gulf,  landing 
in  the  rear  of  Fort  Gaines,  at  the  mouth  of  Mobile  Bay.  It 
here  went  into  position,  and  was  engaged  with  other  forces 
in  the  bombardment  and  capture  of  the  fort  after  the 
passage  of  Farragut's  fleet.9  No  other  field-battery  parti- 

9  Connecticut  had  still  other  participation  in  the  fight  for  Mobile.     Lieutenant -com 
manding  Edward  Terry  of  Hartford,  was  in  command  of  Farragut's  flagship,  the  Hart 
ford.     Lieut.  J.  C.  Kinney,  son  of  Kev.  E.  D.  Kinney  of  Westford,  was  Farragut's  signal 
,  officer  on  the  flagship,  and  sat  on  the  cross-trees  of  the  fore-topmast.      Both  showed  great 
efficiency  throughout  the  terrible  battle.      On  the  different  vessels  of  the  fleet  were  many 


THE   SECOND   BATTEKY   IN  FLOEIDA  AND  ALABAMA.      709 

cipated.  On  Aug.  19,  two  sections  of  the  battery,  under 
Lieut.  Frank  H.  Whiting  (Lieut*  W.  S.  Hotchkiss  being  ill 
at  the  time),  were  transferred  to  the  rear  of  Fort  Morgan, 
across  the  entrance  to  the  bay,  and  opened  fire  upon  the 
fort  at  a  distance  of  three  hundred  yards.  The  cannonad 
ing  was  continued  at  brief  intervals  for  four  days,  when  the 
fort  surrendered. 

The  battery  remained  in  this  vicinity  until  Sept.  3 ; 
when  it  was  re-embarked  and  returned  to  Algiers,  remaining 
there  a  few  days,  and  then  going  into  excellent  barracks  in 
New  Orleans.  Here  the  men  tarried  two  months.  Capt. 
John  W.  Sterling  resigned  in  October,  after  a  severe  and 
creditable  service  of  three  years,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Capt.  Hotchkiss.  Nov.  13,  the  battery  proceeded  up  the 
Mississippi  to  White-house  Landing,  Ark.,  where  it  went 
into  winters-quarters  on  the  island  formed  near  the  conflu 
ence  of  the  White  River  with  the  Arkansas.  The  quarters 
were  not  tempting ;  but  the  men  had  ample  time  to  construct 
huts  of  logs  and  clay.  A  droll  and  philosophical  member 
wrote  at  this  time,  "  We  are  only  supplied  with  shelter-tents 
in  this  department;  but  a  veteran  will  not  sleep  cold  or  wet 
a  second  night,  with  a  shelter-tent,  a  hatchet,  and  a  mud- 
hole  to  start  with." 

Early  in  February,  1865,  the  battery  arrived  at  Green 
ville,  La.,  via  Kennerville ;  where  it  remained  a  short  time, 
and  was  ordered  to  Florida.  It  reached  Fort  Barancas  on 
the  26th,  and  parked  where  the  Twenty-eighth  Connecticut 
Volunteers  encamped  in  1862-63.  On  March  11,  a  division 
of  Union  troops,  in  which  was  the  battery,  left  Barancas,  and 
marched  to  Pensacola ;  thence  slowly,  through  swamps  on 
corduroyed  roads,  to  Pine-barren  Creek  ;  thence,  after  figh1> 
ing  and  dispersing  a  large  Confederate  force,  to  Blakely,  Ala. 
Here  the  enemy  was  met,  intrenched  and  prepared  for 
battle.  The  batteries  went  into  position,  and  shelled  the 
rebels  fiercely ;  when  the  Union  infantry  charged,  and  swept 

Connecticut  men  in  service ;  among  them,  Henry  Howard  Brownell  of  East  Hartford,  a 
nephew  of  Bishop  Brownell,  who  served  on  Farragut's  staff.  Mr.  Brownell  described 
"  The  Bay -Fight  "  in  the  most  stirring  epic  which  the  war  inspired ;  writing  some  of  the 
most  vigorous  stanzas  on  deck  in  the  hottest  moments  of  the  combat.  He  has  pub 
lished  his  war-poems  in  a  volume  that  is  received  with  much  favor. 


710  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

away  the  whole,  taking  many  prisoners.  John  S.  Mills  of 
Bridgeport  was  killed  by  a«  torpedo.  This  was  on  April  9, 
and  was  one  of  the  last  battles  of  the  war.  Mobile  immedi 
ately  capitulated ;  and  there  the  Second  Battery  went  into 
camp,  until  it  was  transferred  for  a  few  weeks  to  Selma. 
This  battery  was  in  arduous  service  more  than  three  years. 
It  never  lost  a  gun  or  a  flag ;  and  so  well  had  its  property 
been  taken  care  of  that  it  returned  home  with  the  same 
harnesses  with  which  it  was  first  equipped  —  never  having 
drawn  even  a  bridle.10 


Meantime,  the  Fifteenth  remained  in  Newberne ;  and  Sur 
geon  Mayer,  being  speedily  exchanged,  reported  there. 
During  the  summer  of  1864,  the  yellow  fever  broke  out. 
The  first  cases  occurred  in  the  Fifteenth,  during  the  latter  part 
of  September.  Then  it  came  out  in  the  United-States  Gen 
eral  Hospital  Foster  in  fall  violence.  At  that  time,  Surgeon 
Mayer  was  in  charge  of  this  hospital;  and  Assistant  Surgeon 
Eli  F.  Hendrick  of  the  Fifteenth,  from  Danbury,  was  one  of 
the  resident  surgeons.  The  epidemic  increased  rapidly.  It 
was  some  time  before  efficient  means  could  be  devised  for  sav 
ing  any  of  those  attacked.  Surgeon  Hendrick  labored  nobly 
and  fearlessly.  Surgeon  Mayer  wrought  with  zeal  and  emi 
nent  success.  With  the  management  of  a  large  hospital, 
the  nurses  and  cdoks  of  which  had  to  be  replaced  by  new, 
inexperienced  men  as  frequently  as  once  in  four  days,  be 
cause,  on  an  average,  they  sickened  with  the  fever  after  serv 
ing  that  length  of  time ;  with  the  machinery  of  the  hospital 
loose,  and  the  clerks  who  kept  record  dying  one  after  the 
other ;  with  new  patients,  often  men  that  had  ventured  into 
town,  and,  being  suddenly  attacked,  were  brought  into  the 
hospital  speechless,  to  die  there,  —  with  all  this  to  man 
age  and  superintend,  Dr.  Mayer  also,  on  account  of  the 
dearth  of  surgeons,  had  medical  charge  of  five  wards;  and  in 
those,  during  the  entire  yellow-fever  epidemic,  he  succeeded 
in  saving  seventy  men  above  the  percentage  of  recoveries 

10  This  result  was  due  not  more  to  the  attention  of  the  officers  than  to  the  practical 
vigilance  of  the  saddler,  Daniel  W.  Hawley. 


YELLOW  FEVEE  IN   KEWBEKKE.  711 

under  other  hands.  The  doctor  was  himself  seized  with  the 
epidemic  on  the  3d  of  October,  and,  expecting  to  die,  made  his 
arrangements  for  the  future  calmly ;  requesting  that  his  body 
might  be  dressed  in  the  uniform,  and^  "  plenty  of  roses  be 
put  in  the  coffin,"  for  Newberne  was  then  aglow  with  flowers. 
He  recovered,  however,  and  took  charge  o£  the  hospital 
again  on  the  20th  of  October;  keeping  that  position  until  the 
end  of  the  year,  when  he  was  made  medical  purveyor  of  the 
District  of  North  Carolina.  Assistant  Surgeon  Hendrick  was 
also  atacked  by  the  fever  after  the  most  faithful  and  Christian 
discharge  of  his  difficult  duties,  riot  only  in  the  hospital,  but 
also  caring  for  many  of  the  poor  citizens  of  Newberne,  as  he 
found  opportunity.  The  chief  clerk  of  the  Foster  Hospital, 
W.  Chester  Case  of  Bloomfield,  a  private  of  the  Sixteenth 
Connecticut,  labored  unceasingly  to  keep  the  machinery  of 
the  hospital  in  order,  and  to  secure  data  for  ascertaining  the 
heirs  of  the  deceased  soldiers.  "After  the  epidemic  had 
passed,  there  remained  two  trunks  of  gold  and  silver  watches, 
and  a  safe  containing  thirty  thousand  dollars  left  by  these 
poor  victims."  These  were  restored  to  relatives.  At  that 
time,  Surgeon  D.  W.  Hand,  the  medical  director,  transmitted 
Surgeon  Mayer  an  official  letter  from  which  we  quote  the  fol 
lowing  passage  :  "  I  shall  never  forget  your  manly  conduct 
during  this  epidemic,  and  how  nobly  you  did  God's  work  in 
that  time." 

When  North  Carolina  became  a  department,  under  Gen. 
Schofield,  Surgeon  Mayer  was  made  medical  purveyor  of  the 
department.  He  provided  medical  stores  for  Schofield's  and 
Sherman's  armies,  and  received,  and  took  an  official  inven 
tory  of,  a  half-million  of  dollars'  worth  of  captured  property 
which  fell  into  his  hands ;  leaving  the  office,  when  the  Six 
teenth  went  out  of  service,  with  the  thanks  of  his  superior 
officers.  Gen.  Harland  and  staff  resided  at  Newberne  during 
the  epidemic ;  and  the  general,  being  in  charge  of  the  city, 
did  the  utmost  to  prevent  any  spreading  of  the  disease. 

He  sent  most  of  the  Northern  troops  out  of  the  city  into 
camp,  substituting  colored  troops  who  were  acclimated.  Only 
surgeons,  and  officers  of  the  quartermaster's  and  commissary's 
department,  were  retained.  The  general  even  sent  away 


712  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  HEBELLION. 

members  of  his  own  staff;  permitting  none  to  remain  with 
him  more  than  a  few  days  at  a  time.  Believing  that,  if 
he  himself  left,  panic  or  confusion  might  ensue,  he  quietly 
staid  in  the  city.  He  was  ill  much  of  the  time,  and  his 
surgeons  insisted  upon  his  departure,  especially  when  three 
died  of  the  temble  malady  at  his  own  house ;  but,  resolute 
in  purpose,  he  remained  at  his  post,  and  survived. 

Soldiers  and  citizens  died  at  the  rate  of  thirty  to  forty  a 
day.  Not  a  church  or  store  was  opened  for  weeks.  The 
pestilence  raged  malignant  and  uncontrollable.  Everybody 
fled  that  could  get  away.  Only  six  Northern  men  who 
remained  in  the  city  were  spared  the  visitation;  and  one 
of  the  six  was  Gen.  Harland. 

The  Fifteenth  Connecticut,  which  had  been  relieved  from 
provost-duty  on  the  approach  of  the  disease,  and  encamped 
outside  of  the  city,  yet  suffered  fearfully.  Almost  every  clay 
there  were  some  deaths.  Chaplain  John  B.  Doolittle  of  New 
Haven,  the  faithful  chaplain  of  the  regiment,  attended 
thirty-two  funerals  of  soldiers  and  citizens  during  the  week 
ending  with  Sunday,  Oct.  2.  On  Oct.  6,  Capt.  Septimus 
S.  Smith  of  New  Haven,  and  six  enlisted  men  of  the  Fif 
teenth,  died.  During  the  pestilence,  the  regiment  lost  fifty- 
eight  men,  including  Capt.  Smith,  and  Lieut.  (Quartermaster) 
Marshall  C.  Anger  and  Lieut.  William  W.  Thompson,  both 
of  Meriden.  Capt.  Smith  was  a  brave  soldier,  and  a  capable 
officer. 

At  the  news  of  the  death  of  Lieut.  Anger,  the  flags  in 
Meriden  were  displayed  at  half-mast,  and  there  was  profound 
sorrow.  Probably  no  officer  of  the  regiment  was  more  highly 
esteemed.  Surgeon  H.  V.  C.  Holcomb  of  Branford  wrote, 
"  As  a  man  he  was  one  of  the  truest-hearted,  most  genial,  and 
obliging  souls  that  ever  lived.  I  believe,  without  any  ex 
ception,  he  was  the  most  popular  man  in  the  regiment ; 
esteemed  alike  by  officers  and  men.  There  was  in  his  com 
position  a  vein  of  genuine  wit  and  good  humor  which  often 
enlivened  the  sometimes  gloomy  hours  of  a  soldier's  life  ;  and 
a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous  took  off  the  edge  of  many  a 
hard  service.  He  never  lacked  for  friends.  I  see  not  how 
he  could  ever  have  had  an  enemy.  As  I  think  of  his  noble, 


SURGEON   MAYEE  MEDICAL  PURVEYOR.  713 

manly  traits,  his  heart  overflowing  with  kind  and  generous 
feeling,  it  is  difficult  to  realize  that  I  shall  feel  the  warm 
grasp  of  his  hand  no  more." 

Towards  the  end  of  October,  the  fever  began  rapidly  to 
abate.  The  Fifteenth  was  temporarily  divided  between 
Slocum's  Creek  and  Evans's  Mills,  —  outposts  a  few  miles 
distant. 

When  North  Carolina  became  a  department,  under  Gen. 
Schofield,  Surgeon  Mayer  was  made  medical  purveyor  of  the 
department.  He  provided  medical  stores  for  Schofield's  and 
Sherman's  armies,  and  took  an  official  inventory  of  a  half- 
million  dollars'  worth  of  captured  property. 

90 


CHAPTER    XL! 

Sheridan  takes  Command  in  the  Shcnandoah.  —  The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry,  Second 
Artillery,  and  Ninth,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  and  Eighteenth  Infantry.  —  At  Winchester. 
—  Kearney sville.  —  Skirmishes.  —  Battle  of  Opequan  Creek.  —  Casualties.  —  Spring 
Hill.  —  Cedar  Creek. — Defeat  and  Victory.  —  Heavy  Losses. — The  Pursuit. — 
Roll  of  Honor  of  Yale  College  and  Wesleyan  University.  —  The  Seventeenth  in 
Florida.  —  Battles  and  Raids.  —  Successes  and  Disasters.  —  Incidents.  —  Casualties. 


ESOLVED  to  push  the  enemy  at  all  points, 
Grant  ordered  aggressive  movements  in  the 
Shenandoah.  On  Aug.  1,  1864,  Gen.  Hunter 
was,  at  his  own  request,  relieved  of  the  com 
mand  of  that  army;  and  Sheridan  was  appointed 
his  successor.  The  new  commander  was  given  three  infantry 
corps, —  the  6th,  8th,  and  19th,  —  and  ten  thousand  cavalry. 
Of  Connecticut  regiments,  there  were  the  Second  Artillery, 
still  fighting  as  infantry  in  Wright's  6th  Corps ;  the  Eight 
eenth  in  Crook's  8th  Corps ;  the  First  Cavalry  in  Wilson's 
division;  the  Ninth,  Twelfth,  and  Thirteenth  (which  had 
joined  the  army  again),  from  the  Department  of  the  Gulf, 
in  the  19th  Corps.  The  Second  was  commanded  by  Col. 
Mackenzie,  assisted  by  Lieut-Col.  James  Hubbard,  and 
Majors  William  B.  Ells,  James  Q.  Rice,  and  Jeffrey  Skinner. 
The  Eighteenth  was  commanded  by  Capt.  M.  V.  B.  Tiffany. 
The  First  Cavalry  was  under  Col.  E.  Blakeslee.  The 
Twelfth  was  commanded  by  Lieut.-Col.  Frank  II.  Peck,  who 
became  colonel  Aug.  26,  vice  Ledyard  Colburn  resigned  ; 
Major  George  N.  Lewis  succeeding  him  as  lieutenant-colonel, 
and  Capt.  Sidney  E.  Clark  becoming  major.  The  Thirteenth 
was  still  commanded  by  Col.  Charles  D.  Blinn.  Homer  B. 
Sprague  was  lieutenant -colonel;  and  Apollos  Comstock, 
major.  The  Ninth  was  led  by  Capt.  John  G.  Healey. 


714 


SKILLFUL  MANEUVER  OF  THE  .FIRST  CAVALRY.  715 

Brig.-Gen.  Henry  W.  Birge  commanded  a  division.  Col. 
William  G.  Ely  commanded  a  brigade,  including  the  Eight 
eenth,  under  Crook. 

Early  was  posted  at  or  near  Winchester :  Sheridan  had 
headquarters  towards  Harper's  Ferry ;  and  for  weeks  the 
two  armies  advanced  and  receded,  each  making  feints,  but 
hesitating  to  bring  on  a  general  engagement. 

On  Aug.  16,  Sheridan  had  pushed  forward  to  Winchester ; 
and  a  brigade  of  Wilson's  cavalry  was  stationed  south  of  the 
town.  The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry  was  dismounted,  and 
in  the  extreme  front.  About  dusk,  the  rebels  issued  from 
the  woods  in  double  lines,  and  charged  heavily  all  along  the 
left  of  the  position,  driving  in  our  pickets,  and  advancing  on 
the  east  towards  the  town.  The  First  was  just  west  and 
south  of  a  fort;  and  into  this  the  enemy  charged  on  a  run, 
as  the  Union  guard  vacated  it.  The  regiment  held  its  post 
behind  a  stone  wall,  not  knowing  that  the  rebels  had 
attacked  on  the  west  simultaneously,  and  driven  in  our 
forces  there  also.  At  last,  they  pressed  forward  to  the  stone 
wall  in  heavy  force ;  and  Col.  Blakeslee  withdrew  his  men 
up  the  hill.  It  was  too  dark  for  the  enemy  to  distinguish 
whether  they  were  friends  or  foes ;  and  the  silence  was  not 
disturbed.  By  the  time  the  cavalry  had  reached  their 
horses,  posted  in  a  little  valley  just  back  of  the  fort,  the 
rebels  had  swung  round  on  the  fort  as  a  pivot,  until  their 
line  extended  far  towards  the  town,  in  which  direction  fight 
ing  was  brisk.  In  this  hollow,  Col.  Blakeslee  found  detach 
ments  of  the  1st  New -Jersey  and  18th  Pennsylvania 
Cavalry ;  and  at  their  request  assumed  command.  The 
enemy's  infantry  were  within  pistol-range ;  and  his  men 
could  not  mount.  The  colonel  immediately  made  his  ar 
rangements.  Major  George  0.  Marcy  concealed  the  men 
in  some  bushes ;  while  Major  Brayton  Ives  withdrew  the 
horses  carefully  over  the  brow  of  the  hill.  By  this  time, 
the  Confederates  and  "  Yankees  "  had  struck  up  a  wordy 
war.  "  Who's  in  them  bushes  ?  "  demanded  a  rebel.  "  First 
Connecticut  Cavalry,"  shouted  Capt.  John  B.  Morehouse ; 
while  others  added  the  names  of  a  dozen  other  regiments. 

The  horses  were  promptly  got  in  line  ;  the  men,  at  the 


716  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

whispered  word  of  command,  stole  out  of  the  bushes ;  the 
rebels  followed  like  shadows.  This  would  not  do :  Col. 
Blakeslee  posted  a  squadron  of  his  men  behind  a  stone 
\tall,  while  the  rest  mounted.  They,  in  turn,  were  then 
defended  by  the  horsemen  wheeled  to  the  front ;  arid  the 
force  took  a  hasty  retreat  across  the  fields.  The  enemy  had 
advanced  from  the  east  and  west,  and  was  now  fio-htina-  our 

O  O 

infantry  in  the  very  streets  of  Winchester.  The  regiment 
took  a  circuitous  route,  passed  to  the  west,  and,  without  the 
loss  of  a  man,  joined  the  column  in  retreat  north  of  the 
town.  Gen.  Mclntosh  was  surprised  and  delighted  at 
the  apparition ;  for  he  supposed  the  force  was  cut  off  and 
captured.  There  was  much  comment  on  both  the  skill  and 
good  fortune  of  the  escape.  The  whole  brigade  fell  back 
towards  Harper's  Ferry. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  Aug.  25,  Wilson's  cavalry  divis 
ion  marched  from  Halltown  towards  Winchester  in  column 
by  brigade.  Near  the  railroad  station  of  Kearneysville,  the 
advance  met  the  rebel  outposts.  Col.  Blakeslee  of  the  First 
said  in  a  narrative  at  the  time,  "  As  the  head  of  the  regi 
ment  rose  over  a  little  hill,  a  scene  presented  itself  more 
like  the  book-fights  than  any  other  I  ever  saw.  In  fro.nt 
was  a  large  plain,  without  fences,  one-third  of  a  mile  across ; 
a  large  tract  of  tall,  old  woods  beyond  the  farther  edge. 
The  wood  was  ringing  with  the  sharp  crack  of  muskets ;  and 
out  of  it  our  mounted  skirmishers  were  skurrying  across 
the  field  towards  us.  The  plain  was  fall  of  mounted  men 
surging  backwards,  followed  by  the  sharp  '  ping'  of  musket- 
balls.  On  our  right,  Custar's  brigade  battery,  six  guns,  was 
showering  shot  and  shell  into  the  woods.  His  fine  brigade- 
band  was  arrayed  on  white  horses,  playing  'The  Star- 
spangled  Banner '  at  the  loudest ;  and  his  men  stood  with 
sabers  drawn  and  colors  flying,  ready  to  charge." 

The  regiments  were  now  dismounted,  and  moved  forward 
to  fight  on  foot.  The  men  of  the  First  were  all  eager  excite 
ment.  Across  the  plain  they  charged,  into  and  through 
the  woods,  close  on  the  heels  of  the  flying  enemy.  The 
latter  made  a  slight  stand  in  a  cornfield,  but  broke  when 
down  the  line  rolled  out  a  terrible  volley  from  the  Spencer 


EESIGXATION  OF  COL.   ELY.  717 

carbine.  They  rallied  no  more  until  reaching  their  reserves, 
—  Early's  main  force,  —  when,  the.  object  of  the  reconnois- 
sance  being  effected,  the  cavalry  retired. 

During  the  next  few  weeks,  the  regiment  was  in  the  saddle 
almost  constantly,  reconnoitering  and  skirmishing  daily  in 
the  vicinity  of  Berryville,  Millwood,  White  Post,  and  Win 
chester;  the  most  important  affair  being  on  the  14th  of 
September,  on  the  Winchester  Pike,  where  Capt.  Joab  B. 
Rogers's  squadron  assisted  a  detachment  of  the  3d  New- 
York  and  2d  Ohio  in  surrounding  and  capturing  an  entire 
regiment  of  South-Carolina  infantry  with  their  colors.  Ser 
geant  Charles  Griggs  of  Woodstock  was  killed  at  this  time. 

The  Eighteenth  continued  with  the  8th  Corps  until  Sept. 
12 ;  when,  after  the  sharp  and  successful  skirmish  at  Berry 
ville,  it  was  detached  to  recuperate.  Its  recent  severe  ser 
vice  under  Hunter  had  sadly  diminished  its  numbers  and. 
impaired  its  efficiency ;  and  it  was  ordered  to  Martinsburg, 
and  was  not  engaged  in  the  succeeding  battles  of  the 
autumn.  Col.  William  G.  Ely,  who  had  been  a  brave  and 
skillful  officer,  and  who  had  retained  in  a  marked  degree  the 
confidence  of  the  regiment,  here  resigned,  and  received 
the  compliment  of  promotion  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general  by  brevet.  He  had  served  more  than  three  years 
faithfully.  Capt.  M.  V.  B.  Tiffany,  commanding  the  regi 
ment  in  the  temporary  absence  of  Major  Peale,  wrote  of 
Gen.  Ely,  — 

"  I  can  not  but  express  in  behalf  of  the  regiment  the  sincere  regret  we 
feel  in  parting  from  one  who  has  so  long  been  our  champion  leader,  and 
endeared  himself  to  us  by  his  many  ennobling  qualities.  On  the  long, 
weary  march  ;  in  the  sanguinary  engagement ;  when  the  enemy  surrounded, 
and  danger  on  every  side  threatened,  —  he  has  ever  been  present  with  us. 
He  has  been  most  faithful  to  his  trust ;  strict  in  discipline  ;  firm,  resolute, 
but  just,  in  the  exercise  of  his  authority.  By  his  imdaunted  courage,  by 
his  calm  and  deliberate  judgment,  by  his  own  patient  endurance  of  hard 
ships  and  sufferings,  and  his  ever-cheerful  willingness  to  comply  with  the 
requirements  of  his  position,  he  has. won  for  himself  the  entire  confidence, 
respect,  and  esteem  of  his  command;  in  a  word,  we  have  always  been 
proud  of  our  colonel.  It  has  filled  us  with  admiration,  strengthened  our 
courage,  and  inspired  us  with  renewed  confidence,  as  we  have  seen  him  in 
the  impetuous  charge,  dashing  forward  on  the  leading  flank,  and  cheering 
on  his  men  by  his  own  enthusiastic  bravery.  During  the  latter  part  of 
his  term  of  service,  he  has  been  in  command  of  the  2d  Brigade,  1st  Divis 
ion,  Army  of  West  Virginia ;  in  the  exercise  of  which  command  he  has 


718        CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

acquitted  himself  with  that  ability,  efficiency,  and  characteristic  bravery 
which  ever  distinguished  him  as  a  regimental  commander,  and  thus  gained 
for  himself  the  deserving  conlmendations  of  his  superiors  in  command." 

About  the  middle  of  September,  Grant  visited  Sheridan, 
and,  being  assured  by  the  latter  that  he  could  defeat  Early, 
permitted  him  to  advance.  Before  daybreak  on  the  19th, 
the  whole  force  was  in  motion.  The  rebel  army  lay  on  the 
Winchester  side  of  the  Opequan  Creek. 

On  the  previous  night,  the  First  Connecticut  Cavalry, 
under  Major  George  0.  Marcy,  had  struck  the  first  blow ; 
advancing  five  miles,  routing  the  rebel  pickets,  and  taking 
possession  .of  Limestone  Ridge,  —  a  strong  position  com 
manding  the  ford.  The  ridge  was  held  until  three,  A.M., 
when  the  rest  of  the  brigade  came  up;  and  the  First  joined 
in  a  charge  across  the  creek.  They  chased  the  enemy  two 
miles,  and  charged  and  carried  the  first  line  of  intrench- 
ments ;  holding  them  till  the  infantry  came  up.  For  this 
exploit,  the  brigade  was  commended  by  Gen.  Sheridan. 

The  plan  seemed  to  be  to  advance  with  the  6th  Corps  on 
the  left,  and  the  19th  on  the  right;  and  then  to  strike  the 
enemy's  left  with  the  8th  Corps,  and  follow  with  cavalry. 
The  6th  Corps  crossed  the  creek  passed  through  a  long,  nar 
row  gorge,  debouched  from  the  road,  and  deployed  opposite 
Early's  right.  Grover's  division  of  the  19th  Corps  assumed 
the  same  position  nearly  opposite  the  rebel  center.  From 
its  first  station,  it  was  ordered  to  advance  to  make  room  for 
the  8th  Corps  and  Dwight's  division  of  the  19th  Corps  com 
ing  through  the  gorge.  The  Thirteenth  was  in  its  place, 
commanded  by  Lieut-Col.  Sprague ;  Col.  Blinn  being  pros 
trated  with  a  fever.  Forward  they  went  with  a  will,  many 
mistaking  it  for  the  final  charge.  The  line  was  raked  by  a 
direct  and  oblique  fire  from  hostile  batteries ;  while  the  rebel 
infantry  poured  from  their  concealment  incessant  volleys. 
The  steady  advance  became  a  rapid  charge.  A  tremendous 
fire  was  now  tearing  up  every  portion  of  the  field.  Col. 
Sprague's  horse  was  here  shot  under  him,  and  he  led  his 
regiment  on  foot.  The  enemy's  first  line  bent  back  before 
the  swift  advance ;  but  his  batteries  kept  up  a  furious  fire. 
A  halt  was  ordered.  Both  lines  were  blazing  with  mus 
ketry. 


BATTLE  OF  OPEQUAN  CREEK.  719 

Early  now  struck  a  terrible  blow,  determined  to  over 
whelm  Grover's  division,  take  possession  of  the  exit  to  the 
gorge,  cut  Sheridan's  army  in  two,  and  then  defeat  it  in 
detail.  This  plan  of  vivisection  nearly  succeeded.  By  some 
unexplained  blunder,  when  Early  plunged  forward  an  order 
to  retreat  ran  down  Grover's  lines;  and  sullenly  back  the 
regiments  marched,  pursued  and  fiercely  beset  by  the  Con 
federates,  sweeping  down,  an  avalanche  of  steel.  Sheridan 
sent  word  that  the  point  must  be  held  at  all  hazards ;  and 
a  few  made  a  desperate  stand  ;  while  the  enemy,  flushed 
and  eager,  surged  about  and  ingulfed  them.  Here  Col. 
Sprague  and  Lieut.  William  C.  Gardner,  standing  to  hold  the 
position,  with  a  handful  of  brave  men  who  had  heard  Sheri 
dan's  orders,  were  captured,  after  delaying  for  a  few  minutes 
the  rebel  charge. 

Dwight's  division  in  which  was  our  Ninth  and  Twelfth, 
Upton's  brigade  in  which  was  the  Second  Artillery,  and  the 
8th  Corps,  were  now  in  sight,  and  rapidly  advancing.  The 
retreat  of  Grover's  division  had  become  precipitate.  Capt. 
John  W.  DeForest  of  the  Twelfth  describes  the  scene  in 
Harper's  Magazine,  — 

"  Grover's  and  Rickett's  divisions  reached  the  base  from  which  they 
had  advanced,  iu  a  state  of  confusion  that  threatened  wide-spread  disaster. 
The  Gth-Corps  men  and  19th-Corps  men  Avere  crowding  together  up  the 
line  of  the  Berryville  Pike  ;  while  to  the  right  and  left  of  it  the  fields 
were  dotted  with  fugitives,  great  numbers  of  them  wounded,  bursting  out 
of  the  retiring  ranks,  and  rushing  towards  the  cover  of  the  forest.  Some 
regiments  disappeared  for  the  time  as  organizations.  Early's  veterans 
advanced  steadily  with  yells  of  triumph  and  constant  volleys  of  musketry, 
threatening  to  sweep  away  our  center,  and  render  our  struggle  a  defeat 
almost  before  it  became  a  battle.  It  was  the  bloodiest,  the  darkest,  the 
most  picturesque,  the  most  dramatic,  the  only  desperate  moment  of  the 
day." 

Dwight's  division  now  came  steadily  up ;  Grover's  divis 
ion  rallied ;  and  both  moved  forward  more  deliberately  to 
recover  the  lost  ground.  The  Twelfth  Connecticut  Volun 
teers  advanced  slowly  at  first,  then  on  the  double-quick,  to 
the  position  formerly  held  by  the  Thirteenth :  and  in  this 
advance  Col.  Peck  was  mortally  wounded.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Capt.  S.  E.  Clark,  who  nobly  led  the  regiment  in 
the  charge.  The  Ninth  was  also  in  the  front.  The  Thir- 


720  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

teenth,  under  Capt.  William  E.  Bradley,  again  moved  up. 
The  Second  Artillery  was  at  the  left,  fighting  as  resolutely 
as  at  Cold  Harbor,  and  again  suffering  terribly. 

The  8th  Corps  formed  in  dense  column  on  the  extreme 
right,  and  at  four,  P.M.,  started  on  that  brilliant  charge  which 
turned  the  Confederate  left.  The  three  corps  and  the  cav 
alry  advanced  simultaneously ;  and  Early's  line  was  broken, 
and  his  forces  swept  through  Winchester  closely  pursued  ; 
those  in  the  rear  throwing  away  arms  and  equipments,  and 
running  for  their  lives.  The  First  Cavalry  was  hanging  upon 
their  left  flank.  The  victory  of  Opequan  was  complete. 

The  losses  of  the  First  Cavalry  were  light,  although  they 
had  been  almost  constantly  in  the  saddle  and  near  the  left 
front. 

The  Second  Artillery  had  been  five  hours  in  battle,  and 
had  again  lost  fearfully,  —  no  less  than  twenty-five  killed  and 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  wounded.  Among  the  killed 
were  six  officers,  —  Major  James  Q.  Rice  of  Goshen,  Capt. 
Fred.  M.  Berry  of  Kent,  Lieut.  Franklin  J.  Cauclee  of 
Plymouth,  Lieut.  James  P.  McCabe  of  Goshen,  Lieut.  Wil 
liam  II.  Cogswell  of  Cornwall,  and  Lieut.  Horace  Hubbard 
of  Plymouth.  Col.  Mackenzie  and  Major  Jeffrey  Skinner 
were  among  the  wounded. 

Major  Rice  had  been  a  faithful  soldier.  He  was  a  native 
of  Sullivan  County,  New  York,  and  a  resident  of  Litchfield 
County  for  ten  years  before  the  war.  He  had  graduated 
with  honors  at  Middle'town,  and  had  been  obliged  to  abandon 
the  study  of  the  law  on  account  of  impaired  eyesight.  The 
call  of  18G2  found  him  conducting  a  flourishing  academical 
school  at  Goshen,  assisted  by  his  accomplished  wife,  a  daugh 
ter  of  Gen.  Cook  of  that  town.  He  raised  a  company  of 
intelligent  and  worthy  young  men,  and  joined  the  Nine 
teenth.  The  next  month  he  was  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Slough  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  captain  of  the  picket  and  patrol 
of  the  city.  He  gave  the  highest  satisfaction.  In  the 
spring  of  1863,  he  was  on  the  staff  of  Col.  Leverett  W. 
Wessells,  commanding  the  2d  Brigade  in  the  south  defenses ; 
and  the  succeeding  fall  he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of 
Fort  Ellsworth,  an  important  post  covering  the  city  of 


DEATH   OF  COL.   PECK.  721 

Alexandria.  In  the  carnage  of  Cold  Harbor,  he  issued 
orders  to  the  men  in  the  midst  of  the  storm,  in  the  same 
clear,  unruffled  voice  they  used  to  hear  on  their  brilliant  dress- 
parades  at  Fort  Ellsworth.  In  the  battle  of  Winchester,  he 
was  struck  by  a  grape-shot,  and  instantly  killed.  His 
remains  received  a  soldier's  burial  on  the  field,  but  were 
afterwards  removed  to  Goshen,  and  committed  to  earth 
with  Masonic  honors. 

Lieut.  William  Cogswell  was  a  half-blood  Indian  of  the 
Scoticoke  tribe  ;  and  there  was  united  in  him  the  cunning, 

'  C57 

endurance,  strength,  courage,  and  elasticity  of  spirit,  that 
belong  to  both  races.  It  is  related  of  him  that  he  would 
often  carry  the  muskets  of  five  or  six  of  his  weary  men  on 
his  own  broad  shoulders.  In  fleetness,  he  was  unsurpassed 
in  the  State.  His  comrades  -tell  many  stories  of  his  exploits. 

The  Twelfth  had  also  lost  very  heavily,  —  eleven  killed 
and  sixty  wounded.  Among  the  killed  were  Col.  Frank  H. 
Peck  of  New  Haven,  Lieut.  William  S.  Buckley  of  Hart 
ford,  and  Lieut.  George  W.  Stedman  of  Stonington.  Among 
the  wounded  were  Capt.  A.  C.  Hendricks,  Lieut.  Edward 
Bushnell,  Lieut.  A.  D.  McCall,  and  Lieut.  Smith  Canfield. 

Col.  Peck  was  struck  in  the  midst  of  the  charge.  "As 
the  command,  '  Forward,  double-quick ! '  was  on  his  lips,  a 
shell  exploded  within  a  very  few  feet  of  his  head :  a  piece 
nearly  two  inches  long  passed  through  his  right  knee,  stop 
ping  in  the  stirrup-strap,  and  wounding  his  horse.  He  was 
taken  to  the  division  hospital,  where  every  attention  was 
paid  him  by  sympathizing  friends  and  surgeons;  but  the 
shock  and  loss  of  blood  was  so  great,  that  he  died  the  next 
morning  at  half-past  seven  o'clock."  1 

Col.  Peck  was  born  in  New  Haven  in  1836.  He  entered 
Yale  College  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  graduated  with 
credit  in  the  class  of  1856.2  He  studied  law  with  fine 

1  Narrative  of  Chaplain  James  H.  Bradford. 

2  The  roll  of  honor  of  Yale  College  in  connection  with  the  war  for  the  Union  is  one 
which  that  venerable  institution  may  well  exhibit  with  pride.     Of  graduates  and  under 
graduates,  the  whole   number  of  those  who   served    against   the   Rebellion  was   seven 
hundred  and  fifty-eight.     Of  these  one  hundred  and  six  were  killed  in  battle,  or  died  of 
disease  while  in  service.     Of  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty-eight  in  service,  six  hundred  and 
forty  held  commissions.     Of  these,  seventy-six  were  chaplains,  one  hundred  and  forty- 
three  surgeons,  and  one  hundred  and  eighteen  colonels,  lieutenant-colonels,  and  majors. 
Yale  furnished  to  Connecticut  regiments  alone  no  less  than  twenty  chaplains  and  fifty- 
seven  surgeons  and  assistant  surgeons ;  and  her  proportion  of  the  other  officers  was  equally 

91 


722  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

promise  ;  and  in  1861  went  out  with  the  Twelfth,  as  major. 
Col.  Peck  was  the  only  regimental  commander  that  the 
Twelfth  ever  intimately  knew  :  Cols.  Deming  and  Colburn 
having  been  almost  constantly  on  detached  service.  At 
Port  Hudson,  he  was  severely  wounded,  but  led  the  regiment 
to  the  last  At  New  Iberia,  he  commanded  a  brigade. 
When  the  regiment  came  home  on  veteran  furlough,  four 
hundred  and  fifty  having  re-enlisted,  Col.  Peck  responded  to 
the  address  of  Mayor  Morris  Tyler.  From  the  response  we 
quote  :  — 

••Two  years  ago  this  month,  we  left  this  city  to  join  the  army  of 
Gen.  Butler.  Since  that  time,  we  have  been  in  active  service  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy :  how  active  that  service  has  been  four  hundred 
vacancies  on  our  roll?  to-day  show.  But  discouragements  and  failures 
have  never  yet  appalled  us.  we  assure  you.  On  the  contrary,  not  to  have 
re-enlisted  would  have  seemed  like  abandoning  the  principles  which  actuated 
us  in  entering  the  service.  At  a  proper  time,  we  shall  be  readv  to  take 
the  field  again.  And  let  me  say,  it  depends  upon  you  who  remain  at  home. 
as  much,  if  not  more,  than  upon  us.  what  the  result  of  this  contest  will  be. 
You  who  remain  enjoying  the  blessings  of  peace  should  see  to  it  that  you 
are  loyal  in  your  legislation,  loyal  in  your  conversation,  loyal  in  all  things  ; 
and  tee  pledge  you  our  Jives  to  carry  your  flag  and  our  flag  with  honor  into 
the  face  of  the  enemy." 

That  pledge  was  gloriously  redeemed. 
As  ha?  appeared  in  the   course  of  this   record,  he  was 
constantlv  at  the  front,  and  was  a  great  favorite  with  his 

•/  o 

command.  He  had  been  a  Democrat  in  politics,  but  now 
insisted  that  the  war  must  be  settled  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  His  last  message  to  his  family  was,  u  Tell  them  I 
die  cheerfully  in  the  performance  of  my  duty  at  the  front." 

Capt.  S.  E.  Clark,  in  his  report,  says,  "  Lieuts.  Buckley  and 
Steadman  were  brave  and  efficient  officers,  and  men  of 
unimpeachable  moral  character." 

The  Thirteenth  had  lost  six  killed,  thirtv-seven  wounded, 

•/ 

and  thirty-one  prisoners. 

Among  the  trophies  of  this  victory  were  twenty-five  hun 
dred  prisoners,  five  pieces  of  artillery,  and  nine  battle-flags. 

The  losses  on  both  sides  were  heavv.     During  the  next  two 

* 

remarkable.  The  Union  general  officers,  alumni  of  the  college,  were  Major-Gens. 
Alfred  H.  Terry,  Cassias  M.  Clay,  H.  W.  Benham,  A.  S.  Williams,  Frank  P.  Blair,  and 
T.  Rnnyon ;  and  Brigadier-Gens.  James  S.  Wadsworth,  W.  II.  Noble,  L.  B.  Parsons, 
William  Birney.  O.  S.  Ferry,  C.  H.  Crane,  W.  B.  Woods,  J.  A.  Wikox,  J.  W.  Noble, 
A.  W.  Bishop.  Edward  Harland,  J.  C.  Rice,  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  Wager  Swayne, 
J.  T.  Croxton,  C.  L.  Fitzhngh,  C.  C.  Dodge,  Horatio  Jenkins,  and  L.  M.  Dayton. 


SHEBIDAX  LNT  PUESUIT  OF  EAELY.  723 

days,  the  pursuit  was  eagerly  pushed ;  and,  wherever  the  dis 
pirited  rebels  bivouacked  to  get  a  little  food  and  rest,  they 
found  Sheridan's  victorious  host  upon  them.  Early  did  not 
pause  in  his  retreat  until  he  reached  Fisher's  Hill,  near  Stras- 
burg,  thirty  miles  from  Winchester.  Here  he  seized  a  very 
defensible  position,  and  fortified  it.  Sheridan  arrived  in  front 
on  the  morning  of  the  22d,  and  prepared  for  immediate  attack. 
The  First,  under  Major  Marcy,  went  around  to  the  rear  of 
the  position,  with  two  divisions  of  cavalry.  The  infantry 
corps  were  maneuvered  for  some  hours ;  and  the  Twelfth  and 
Thirteenth,  and  Second  Artillery,  were  brought  under  heavy 
fire  several  times  during  the  early  part  of  the  day.  At  last 
an  attack  of  cavalry  was  made  upon  the  right,  under  cover 
of  which  the  8th  Corps  crept  up,  and  at  a  dash  plunged  over 
the  works,  and  drove  the  rebels  out.  An  impetuous  attack 
along  the  line  completed  the  victory  ;  and  again  Early  fled, 
leaving  sixteen  pieces  of  artillery  and  several  hundred 
prisoners. 

Sheridan  pushed  on  after  the  disorganized  fugitives. 
Roads  and  fields  were  strewn  with  muskets,  provisions,  bro 
ken  wagons,  wounded  and  exhausted  men.  The  flight  and 
pursuit  were  continued  through  Hawkinstown,  Woodstock, 
Edinburgh,  Mount  Jackson,  New  Market,  Harrisonburg,  and 
Mount  Crawford.  Early  had  lost  half  his  army ;  and  Sheri 
dan  retired  at  his  leisure  to  a  position  behind  Cedar  Creek, 
near  Strasburg,  less  distant  from  his  base  of  supplies.  On 
his  return,  he  laid  waste  the  valley,  so  as  to  render  it 
untenable  for  the  rebel  army.  He  destroyed  over  two 
thousand  barns  filled  with  hay,  wheat,  and  farming  imple 
ments  ;  burned  more  than  seventy  mills  of  flour  and  grain ; 
and  killed  or  drove  away  over  seven  thousand  head  of  cattle 
and  sheep.3 

These  were  weeks  of  hard  service  for  the  First  Connecticut 
Cavalry.  They  had  ridden  to  Harrisonburg,  where  rebel 
recruits  had  been  ordered  to  rendezvous ;  had  fought  and 
been  driven  at  Waynesborough  ;  had  fought  and  driven  the 
enemy  at  Bridgewater ;  had  escorted  a  train  to  Martins- 
burg  ;  enjoyed  an  interview  with  the  paymaster  j  and  sent 

8  Vide  Sheridan's  dispatch  from  the  field. 


724  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   EEBELLION. 

home  to  Connecticut  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  On  Oct. 
17,  the  regiment  met  with  misfortune.  Chaplain  Holmes 
thus  narrates  it,  "  While  a  squadron  were  on  picket  at  a 
place  called  Spring  Hill,  they  were,  just  before  daybreak, 
surrounded  and  attacked  by  a  force  of  over  two  thousand 
rebels,  two  brigades  of  infantry,  and  one  of  cavalry  under 
Gen.  Rosser.  Of  course,  resistance  to  such  a  body  was  vain  ; 
and  the  whole  squadron  —  two  officers,  Capt.  Uriah  N.  Par- 
melee  and  Lieut.  William  H.  Havens,  with  forty  men  —  were 
compelled  to  surrender.  Unfortunately,  Major  George  0. 
Marcy  was  with  them  at  the  time,  and  was  taken  with  the 
rest.  He  has,  in  the  absence  of  Col.  Blakeslee,  commanded 
the  regiment  since  Sept.  16,  through  the  severest  part  of 
this  Shenandoah  campaign.  He  will  be  greatly  missed  as 
a  beloved  comrade  and  an  esteemed  commander.  He  and 
many  of  the  others  taken  with  him,  after  three  years  of 
faithful  service,  were  about  to  leave  the  army  for  home." 

For  three  weeks,  Sheridan's  army  rested  at  Cedar  Creek. 
The  men  were  so  inspirited  by.  repeated  victory,  that  Early 
was  not  inclined  to  force  further  fighting  in  open  field.  But 
he  resolved  on  retrieving  his  fortunes,  and  selected  the  night 
of  Oct.  18-19  for  an  attack  on  the  flank  under  cover  of 
darkness.  Sheridan  had  gone  to  Washington,  leaving  Gen. 
Wright  in  command.  The  8th  Corps  was  on  the  Union  left ; 
the  19th  in  the  center ;  and  the  6th  on  the  right.  Early, 
re-inforced  by  twelve  thousand  fresh  troops,  was  supposed 
to  be  at  Fisher's  Hill. 

He  now  gave  orders,  for  a  division  of  his  army  to  divert 
our  right  wing;  while,  before  midnight  of  the  18th,  he  had 
begun  a  flank  march  around  our  left,  which  was  admirable 
alike  for  the  boldness  of  its  plan  and  the  rapidity  and  suc 
cess  of  its  execution. 

The  division  of  the  rebel  Gen.  Gordon  was  marched  a 
short  distance  along  the  Manassas-gap  Railroad,  then  turned 
westwardly  around  the  furthest  extension  of  the  Union  flank ; 
when  it  crept  cautiously,  with  light  steps  and  whispered 
orders,  straight  up  to  the  rear  of  the  8th  Corps !  A  heavy  fog 
aided  the  movement  as  at  Drury's  Bluff.  Artillery  was 
wheeled  noiselessly  into  position ;  Gordon's  division  extended 


THE  SURPRISE  AT  CEDAR  CREEK.  725 

its  right  to  overlap  the  rear  of  the  19th  Corps ;  and  other 
divisions  of  Early's  twenty  thousand  closed  silently  in  upon 
the  left  and  front.  The  movement  was  a  sublime  stroke  of 
genius,  recalling  the  brilliant  exploits  of  Stonewall  Jack 
son. 

At  a  given  signal,  they  rushed  in  and  captured  the  Union 
pickets,  and  sprang  upon  the  sleeping  host.  Across  the  vast 
encampment  swept  the  rebel  line,  hedging  in  and  turning  to 
the  rear  masses  of  prisoners,  capturing  battery  after  battery, 
and  wheeling  the  guns  upon  the  terrified  and  retreating 
masses.  The  surprise  and  triumph  was  complete.  As  many  of 
the  hapless  soldiers  as  had  escaped  instant  capture  charged 
through  the  camp  of  the  19th  Corps,  where  the  sleepers 
dropped  the  thread  of  their  dreams,  and  sprang  bewildered 
from  their  tents.  Those  who  were  not  overwhelmed  and 
borne  away  in  the  torrent  got  into  line.  The  Twelfth  Con 
necticut,  under  Lieut-Col.  George  N*.  Lewis,  was  one  of  the 
first  regiments  to  rally,  in  a  brigade  which  almost  imme 
diately  thereafter  was  struck  by  the  masses  of  Gordon's 
division  in  the  rear.  Col.  Sprague  says,  K  Most  .gallantly 
did  that  noble  sister  regiment  uphold  the  honor  of  the  State 
on  this  as  on  every  other  occasion.  They  fired  three 
volleys ;  but  the  far  superior  weight  of  the  enemy  crushed 
them,  as  an  elephant  would  trample  down  a  bull-dog." 
Other  brigades  and  divisions  shared  the  same  fate.  Moli- 
neux'  brigade,  containing  the  Thirteenth,  rallied  in  the 
trenches,  and  made  a  brief  resistance ;  but  they  were  soon  a 
part  of  the  general  chaos.  The  Ninth  had  turned  out  early, 
and  reported  at  the  breastworks ;  but  the  battalion  was  soon 
ordered  clown  the  hill.  "As  we  reached  the  foot  of  the 
hill,"  says  Col.  Healy  "  an  aide  of  Col.  Birge  ordered  us  back 
up  the  hill,  and  we  returned  in  good  order,  and  delivered 
another  volley  at  the  advancing  enemy."  To  stand  long 
was  impossible ;  and  the  surging  masses  fell  back  fighting. 

Wright  was  now  pushing  the  6th  Corps  towards  the  Win 
chester  Pike  to  secure  the  line  of  retreat.  Early  struck  the 
pike  about  the  same  time ;  and  a  brief  and  desperate  strug 
gle  ensued  for  the  right  of  way.  Says  the  narrative  of 
Capt.  T.  F.  Vaill  of  the  Second  Connecticut  Artillery  (in  the 


726  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

6th  Corps),  "  Our  brigade  was  formed  in  line,  filed  to  the 
left,  and  moved  on  a  double-quick  to  a  position  where  we 
were  posted  to  check  the  victorious  advance  of  the  enemy, 
now  in  full  pursuit  of  the  routed  Sth  and  19th  Corps.  We 
lay  down  for  shelter  behind  the  remnants  of  a  fence  ;  but  it 
afforded  next  to  no  protection,  and  many  of  our  men  were 
killed  and  wounded  while  thus  Ivina;  down.  Col.  Mackenzie 

»/          o 

was  wounded  in  the  foot,  and  his  horse  was  shot  dead  under 
him.  Some  of  our  men,  and  other  portions  of  the  brigade, 
began  to  fire  ;  but  it  was  worse  than  useless,  for  we  were 
surrounded  on  three  sides,  and  the  rebels  were  marching 
upon  our  left,  not  more  than  thirty  rods  distant,  with  firm 
and  unbroken  line.  In  three  minutes  more,  they  would  have 
been  in  our  rear.  Col.  Mackenzie  gave  the  order  to  retreat ; 
and  it  was  made  at  first  in  tolerably  good  order,  but  soon 
broke  into  an  utter  rout." 

Day  began  at  this  time  to  dawn.  The  shattered  frag 
ments  of  the  dismembered  army  surged  back  five  miles 
to  Micldletown.  Here  the  pursuit  lost  much  of  its  vigor. 
Wright  was  everywhere  active,  directing  movements  of  de 
fense,  and  evoking  order  from  the  confusion.  The  rebels 
stopped  to  ravish  the  abandoned  camps  and  to  plunder  the 
dead.  The  8th  Corps  had  attained  the  rear;  and  portions  of 
the  6th  and  19th  Corps  rallied  at  a  road  running  across  the 
valley,  where  the  fugitives  collected  and  re-organized.  Early 
found  some  difficulty  in  rousing  his  men  from  their  pil 
laging  ;  and,  before  he  was  ready  to  charge  the  new  position, 
Wright,  resolved  to  contest  the  passage,  had  established 
a  firm  line,  and  thrown  skirmishers  to  the  front.  The 
Twelfth  was  here  in  order  again ;  and  the  two  wings  of  the 
Thirteenth  united,  and  went  to  the  skirmish-line  under  Col. 
Blinn.  The  Ninth  and  the  Second  Artillery  had  also  gath 
ered  compactly. 

At  this  pivotal  moment,  Sheridan,  alarmed  by  the  firing, 
came  dashing  in  from  Winchester,  his  black  horse  flecked 
with  foam ;  and,  as  he  rode  down  the  ready  lines,  he  was 
hailed  with  cheers  and  screams  of  welcome.  At  last,  a  part 
of  Early's  army  paused  in  their  depredations,  and  advanced 
in  solid  columns  to  the  charge.  They  came  on  impetuously. 


CASUALTIES  AT  CEDAE  CKEEK.  727 

They  were  beaten,  broken,  routed,  and  driven  wildly  back 
ward  in  a  terrible  stampede.  The  victors  became  the  fugi 
tives.  The  pursued  were  now  the  pursuers.  Down  the 
road  to  Cedar  Creek,  through  the  camps  of  the  morning, 
the  Confederates  were  driven  by  the  angry  army  of  Sheri 
dan  ;  Gen.  Birge  leading  his  division  in  the  advance, 
and  moving  quickly  upon  the  heels  of  the  foe.  The  rout 
was  total. 

The  casualties  of  the  Second  Connecticut  Artillery  had 
been  very  heavy  again ;  footing  up,  —  killed,  seventeen ; 
wounded,  one  hundred  and  twelve ;  and  missing,  sixty.  The 
latter  were  mostly  comprised  in  Company  L,  captured  entire 
while  on  picket  at  the  right  front.  Many  of  the  wounded 
died  of  their  injuries.  Capt.  B.  F.  Ilosford  of  West  Winsted 
was  among  the  killed ;  Capt.  A.  H.  Fenn  and  Lieut.  J.  M. 
Gregory  lost  each  an  arm ;  and  four  other  officers  were 
wounded. 

The  Ninth  had  lost  two  killed,  eighteen  wounded,  and  ten 
missing.  Among  the  wounded  were  two  officers.  Capt. 
Healy  said  in  his  report, — 

"  J  desire  to  make  particular  mention  of  Sergeant  W.  Perry  and  Pri 
vate  John  J.  Morrow,  who,  after  the  color-sergeant  had  been  wounded, 
seized  the  colors,  and  pushed  forward.  These  men  were  always  in  the 
advance,  few  if  any  color-bearers  being  able  to  keep  up  with  them. 
The  colors  of  my  battalion  were  the  first  on  the  recaptured  works  from 
where  the  8th  Corps  were  driven  in  the  morning.  In  less  than  five 
minutes,  no  less  than  a  dozen  stands  of  colors  were  around  us." 

The  losses  of  the  Twelfth  had  been  terrible ;  no  less  than 
twenty-two  being  killed  outright,  fifty-five  wounded,  and 
ninety-two  made  prisoners;  total,  one  hundred  and  seventy.4 
The  casualties  were  mostly  suffered  in  the  attack  at  day 
break,  when  it  changed  front,  and  plunged  into  the  thickest 
of  the  fight  to  defend  the  assailed  position.  During  the 
repulse,  the  regiment  was  exposed  to  an  enfilading  fire,  caus 
ing  many  to  seek  refuge  in  a  ditch,  where  they  were  made 

4  "In  the  course  of  a  few  days,  the  bodies  of  all  the  men  of  the  Twelfth  who  had  fallen 
on  the  field  were  collected,  and  decently  buried  within  a  neat  little  inclosure,  —  a  substan 
tial  head-board  at  each  grave,  the  whole  sodded  smoothly,  and  inclosed  by  a  cedar  rail- 
fence,  and,  a  little  later,  by  young  trees  planted  along  the  fence.  We  could  do  no  more  for 
them.  That  little  mound  has  been  visited  by  thousands,  attracted  to  the  spot  to  honor 
the  regiment  that  honor  their  dead.  Every  company  is  represented  there,  — a  monument  to 
the  valor  and  courage  of  the  Twelfth  Connecticut, — two  officers  and  twenty  men,  who 
heroically  gave  their  lives  for  their  country." — Narrative  by  Chaplain  J.  H.Bradford. 


728  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

prisoners.  Among  the  killed  were  Capt.  John  P.  Lowell  of 
New  Haven,  and  Lieut.  Horace  E.  Phelps  of  Windsor  Locks. 
Among  the  wounded  were  Lieut.  George  M.  Benton,  Lieut. 
William  Berry,  Lieut.  E.  W.  Bushnell,  Lieut.  John  Mullen, 
Lieut.  Francis  Smith,  and  Lieut.  Alexander  Cohn.  Lieut. 
Benton  suffered  amputation  of  a  leg,  and  died  two  weeks 
thereafter.  He  was  a  generous,  noble-hearted,  brave  man, 
and  was  sincerely  and  widely  mourned. 

Capt.  Lowell  was  a  very  efficient  officer.  He  had  been 
promoted  from  a  lieutenant.  In  Louisiana,  after  eight  hours' 
labor,  he  put  in  running  order  a  locomotive  which  the  rebels 
thought  they  had  entirely  disabled.  He  and  Lieut.  Phelps 
led  their  companies  fearlessly  at  Cedar  Creek,  and  died  "  in 
the  high  places  of  battle." 

Sergeant  Charles  E.  McGlaflin  of  Hartford  received  a  mor 
tal  wound  in  this  campaign.  A  Minie-ball  entered  near  his 
left  eye,  and  lodged  in  his  head,  beyond  reach  of  the  surgeon. 
He  returned  home  ;  but  the  wound  induced  a  paralytic  shock, 
of  which  he  died.  He  was  a  member  of  Hawley's  three- 
months'  company,  and  one  of  the  first  volunteers  of  the 
war. 

The  Thirteenth,  under  Col.  Blinn,  had  lost  two  killed, 
eighteen  wounded,  and  nine  missing.  "Among  the  killed," 
says  Col.  Sprague,  "  was  our  brave  color-sergeant,  George  A. 
Winslow  of  Killingly.  He  fell,  pierced  through  the  fore 
head  by  a  rifle-ball,  beneath  the  folds  of  the  flag  he  bore  so 
gallantly  and  loved  so  well."  Among  the  wounded  was 
Major  .Comstock,  whose  hand  was  badly  cut  by  a  fragment 
of  shell.  Capt.  Frank  Welles  of  Litchfield  received  honor 
able  notice  for  his  conduct  at  the  battle. 

The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry  had  an  honorable  part  in 
the  battle  of  Cedar  Creek.  The  regiment  participated  in 
the  disaster  of  the  morning  and  the  subsequent  successes ; 
and  at  four  o'clock,  under  Capt.  E.  W.  French,  was  ordered  by 
Custar  to  charge  the  rebel  cavalry  on  the  flank  of  the  retreat 
ing  artillery.  Chaplain  Holmes  says,  "  The  regiment  charged 
up  the  hill,  with  an  ardor  and  a  spirit  that  were  warmly  com 
mended  by  the  general  and  his  staff,  who  watched  with  some 
anxiety  the  result ;  but  when  they  reached  the  top,  and  drove 


LIFE   OF  THE   SEVENTEENTH  IN  FLOEIDA.  729 

the  enemy  flying  before  them,  their  shout  of  exultation  was 
taken  up  by  the  division  waiting  below."  Ouster  instantly 
wheeled  his  division  over  the  hill,  and  captured  the  rebel 
battery,  which  was  thus  uncovered. 

During  the  pursuit,  the  artillery  lost  in  the  morning  was 
recaptured,  and  twenty-three  pieces  in  addition.  The  Con 
federates  lost  two  thousand  killed  and  wounded,  and  fifteen 
hundred  prisoners.  Our  cavalry  followed  the  victory  with 
rapid  steps  and  ready  sabers  ;  and  Early,  in  despair,  fled  from 
the  Shenandoah,  with  the  wreck  of  an  army,  never  to  re 
turn. 


After  Col.  Joseph  R  Hawley  left  Florida  with  his  brigadev 
for  the  Army  of  the  James,  in  April,  1864,  Col.  William  H. 
Noble  moved  down  from  Jacksonville,  and  took  command  of 
the   post  at  St.  Augustine,  supported  by  the  Seventeenth, 
and  the  rest  of  his  brigade. 

Already  Major  Allen  ,G.  Brady  of  Torrington  (lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Third  in  the  three-months'  service)  had  been 
transferred  from  the  Seventeenth  to  the  Invalid  Corps,  and 
Capt.  Henry  Allen  of  Norwalk  had  succeeded  him ;  while 
Capt.  Albert  H.  Wilcoxson  of  Norwalk,  who  served  as  first 
adjutant  of  the  regiment,  was  promoted  to  be  the  third 
lieutenant-colonel,  in  place  of  the  'gallant  Douglass  Fowler. 
The  appointments  proved  the  very  ones  to  be  made. 

The  Seventeenth  led  no  holiday  life  in  Florida.  Most  of 
the  troops  of  the  department  had  gone  North ;  and  the  few 
that  remained  had  increased  burdens  in  picket  and  fatigue- 
duty.  On  April  25,  Col.  Noble  started  on  a  foraging  raid 
with  a  large  part  of  his  brigade,  including  the  Seventeenth, 
to  Yolusia,  seventy-five  miles  up  the  St.  John's  River. 
Straight  south  through  the  State  they  went,  through  the 
picturesque  scenery  of  the  everglades,  through  vast  piney 
woods  and  immense  cypress-swarnps  and  lagoons  all  day. 
They  marched  twenty  miles,  and  bivouacked  as  the  yellow 
light  of  sunset  played  through  the  oaks,  and  turned  to  gold 
the  changeful  foliage  and  the  swaying  tassels  of  long  moss. 
Ten  minutes  after  the  halt,  officers  and  men  were  uproarious 


730  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  KEBELLION. 

with  excitement  over  the  discovery  of  shad  in  the  river. 
Squads  went  eagerly  at  the  pastime  of  angling,  and  through 
the  evening  plied  their  seductive  arts.  There  was  more 
fishing  than  fish;  but  the  boys  caught  an  appetite  if  not 
a  supper,  and  retired  with  somewhat  modified  merriment  to 
their  banquet  of  pork  and  coffee. 

The  next  day,  by  a  forced  march,  they  arrived  at  their 
destination,  captured  a  large  amount  of  property,  and  re 
turned  to  St.  Augustine  in  three  days  more  ;  driving  before 
them  a  thousand  head  of  cattle,  and  bearing  much  other 
valuable  spoil. 

The  officers  and  men  cultivated  amicable  relations  with 
the  citizens  of  the  ancient  town  of  St.  Augustine.  Col. 
Noble  won  the  esteem  and  respect  of  the  people,  while  per 
forming  his  duty  strictly  and  faithfully. 

Early  in  May,  there  was  another  memorable  raid  under 
Gen.  William  Birney,  commanding  the  district,  in  which  six 
thousand  cattle  were  brought  in.  Picket-posts  were  estab 
lished  by  Birney  at  Walaka  and  Saunders,  on  the  St.  John's, 
about  eighty  miles  from  St.  Augustine ;  and  Capt.  Charles 
A.  Hobbie  of  Darien,  and  Lieut.  John  Harvey  of  Stamford, 
with  a  portion  of  Company  B,  were  placed  there  on  duty. 
The  rebel  cavalry  soon  dashed  down  upon  them,  and  cap 
tured  the  whole,  after  a  short  fight,  —  thirty-nine  men  in  all. 
Another  picket  had  been  established  at  Volusia,  under  Capt. 
Enos  Kellog  of  New  Canaan,  and  Lieuts.  Albert  W.  Peck  of 
Bridgeport  and  George  B.  Ruggles  ;  and  it  was  supposed  to 
be  lost:  but  communications  were  re-opened.  The  picket 
owed  its  safety  to  the  precaution  of  the  officers  in  setting 
the  camp  on  an  open  field  where  they  could  not  be  sur 
prised.  They  were  soon  withdrawn,  leaving  many  Union 
citizens  without  protection. 

Although  the  regiment  was  nominally  in  garrison  at 
St.  Augustine,  a  raid  somewhere  was  made  almost  every 
week. 

On  June  1,  Col.  Noble,  with  his  brigade  of  about  twelve 
hundred  men,  marched  from  Jacksonville  towards  St.  Mary's, 
to  attack  the  formidable  rebel  earth-works  on  McGisto  Creek. 
The  force  crossed  quietly  in  boats ;  and  the  position  was  as- 


A  COMPANY  OF  FLORIDIAN  CAVALRY.  731 

saulted  in  the  rear.  The  men  were  led  to  the  attack  in 
column  by  companies,  and,  on  coming  near,  were  deployed 
in  double  lines  of  battle.  A  few  of  the  skirmishers  were 
wounded,  and  the  rebel  skirmish-line  was  driven  in.  The 
enemy,  taken  in  flank  and  rear,  fled  without  firing  a  gun 
from  the  fort,  leaving  many  arms,  and  extensive  earth-works 
three  miles  long.  The  works  never  could  have  been  taken 
by  attack  in  front,  except  by  a  very  large  force  or  a  regular 
siege.  The  bridges  in  the  vicinity  were  destroyed ;  the  cap 
tured  property  gathered,  and  sent  to  the  rear ;  the  buildings 
burned  ;  and  the  place  evacuated  next  day.  The  brigade 
returned  to  Jacksonville  greatly  fatigued  with  the  long 
march  and  considerable  privation.  "  I  do  not  think,"  says 
Col.  Noble  in  a  letter,  "  that  our  whole  march  for  a  month 
after  Lee  was  more  exhausting  and  enervating  than  the  six- 
days'  raid  of  last  week." 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  duly  celebrated :  the  bells  were 
rung,  a  cannon  was  fired  upon  the  plaza,  and  the  national 
flag  floated  from  the  ramparts  of  Fort  Marion,  the  oldest 
fortress  in  the  United  States,  —  the  ancient  Spanish  "  Cas 
tillo  de  San  Marco."  Citizens  and  soldiers  assembled ;  and 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  read  by  Lieut-Col. 
Wilcoxsou. 

On  July  18,  Capt.  William  L.  Hubbell  of  Bridgeport,  with 
three  companies,  marched  to  Picolata,  on  the  St.  John's, 
eighteen  miles  from  St.  Augustine,  and  remained  until  Aug. 
29,  when  he  returned  with  Company  D  to  headquarters; 
leaving  C  and  K  under  Capt.  Wilson  French  of  Stratford. 
On  July  22,  Lieut.-Col.  Wilcoxson  went  to  Jacksonville  with 
Companies  A,  E,  F,  and  H,  and  joined  an  expedition  organ 
izing  under  Gen.  Birney.  Col.  Noble  commanded  the  entire 
infantry  force,  and  a  light  battery,  and  a  company  of  home 
cavalry,  in  the  expedition.  "  The  cavalry,"  said  Col.  Noble 
in  a  letter,  "  were  a  body  of  mounted  Floridians,  commonly 
called  'crackers; '  and  FalstafPs  men  in  buckram  could  form 
no  comparison  to  them  in  appearance.  They  were  of  all  sorts 
and  sizes,  and  arrayed  in  all  kinds  of  homespun  disuniforrn, 
from  gray-back  to  butternut,  and  all  intervening  shades, 
mounted  on  horses  ranging  from  the  pony,  weighing  about  as 


732  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

much  as  his  rider,  up  to  a  sizable  animal.  Modern  times  have 
seen  few  such  cavalcades."  Moving  up  the  St.  John's  and 
Black  Creek,  the  force  landed  near  Middlebury ;  and  by 
three  days'  rapid  marching  reached  a  point  in  rear  of 
Baldwin,  a  stronghold  of  the  rebels.  The  enemy  fled 
on  the  approach  of  the  Union  troops,  after  a  short  skirmish 
between  the  cavalry.  The  detachment  of  the  Seventeenth 
remained  at  Baldwin,  without  tents  or  a  change  of  clothing, 
until  Aug.  5 ;  and  then  returned  to  Jacksonville,  and  went 
by  boat  to  Magnolia,  a  point  twenty-five  miles  up  the  river, 
where  Col.  Noble  assumed  command. 

On  Sept.  1,  Companies  A,  C,  I,  and  K,  constituted  the  gar 
rison  at  Picolata,  commanded  by  Major  Allen.  Lieut.-Col. 
Wilcoxson  was  with  the  rest  of  the  regiment  at  St.  Augus 
tine. 

Early  in  December,  Col.  Noble,  hearing  that  the  rebel 
conscription  officers  had  headquarters  at  Enterprise,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  south,  determined  on  capturing  the 
place.  He  made  a  rapid  raid,  dashed  on  them  in  the 
evening,  and  captured  them  assembled  in  a  militia  meeting. 
Twenty-nine  rebels  were  taken  prisoners,  including  the  bold 
guerrilla  chief,  Col.  Watson.  Forty  horses  and  other  spoils 
were  also  taken  back  to  camp.  But  the  rebels  had  speedy 
revenge  for  the  audacious  achievement. 

On  Dec.  22,  Cql.  Noble  left  Jacksonville,  where  he  had 
been  attending  a  general  court-martial,  to  return  over 
land  to  St.  Augustine..  He"  refused  to  take  a  guard,  on 
account  of  the  supposed  safety  of  the  route.  When  he 
had  ridden  about  half  the  distance,  three  rebels  dashed  out 
of  the  woods  in  front  and  rear,  and  made  him  prisoner.  He 
was  taken  to  Andersonville  and  other  prisons,  and  finally 
released  in  March,  1865.  He  was  deeply  impressed  by  the 
horrors  of  that  place ;  and,  on  the  way  home,  he  lectured  in 
\ricksburg,  Miss.,  on  behalf  of  the  tortured  prisoners  re 
leased  with  him. 

It  was  now  proposed  to  send  the  Seventeenth  to  Hilton 
Head ;  but  at  the  earnest  request  of  Gen.  Hatch,  then  com 
manding  the  district  of  Florida,  it  remained. 

On   Feb.  3,  1865,  the   rebel   guerrilla,  Capt.   Dickinson, 


CAPTURE   AND  DEATH   OF  LIEUT.-COL.  WILCOXSON.         733 

dashed  across  the  St.  John's  River,  and  captured  an  out 
post  nine  miles  from  St.  Augustine,  and  made  prisoners 
of  Capt.  Henry  Quien  and  Lieut.  George  B.  Haggles,  and 
eleven  enlisted  men  of  the  Seventeenth,  near  the  house  of 
one  Salana. 

Of  another  unfortunate  affair  next  day,  Major  Henry 
Allen  reports  to  the  adjutant  general  from  St.  Augus 
tine  :  — 

"  An  expedition  under  command  of  Lieut.-Col.  A.  H.  Wilcoxson 
started  from  this  post  on  the  3d  of  February,  with  four  officers,  including 
himself  and  thirty-six  men  (all  belonging  to  the  Seventeenth  Connecticut 
Volunteers),  and  ten  wagons,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  some  cotton 
belonging  to  a  rebel  colonel,  which  was  stored  in  a  house  near  Dunn's 
Lake,  about  seventy-five  miles  from  here. 

"  He  had  got  the  cotton,  and  was  about  seven  miles  from  there  on  his 
return,  when  he  was  attacked  by  Capt.  Dickinson,  with  some  eighty  men. 
The  colonel  was  wounded,  and  taken  prisoner  ;  the  adjutant,  Lieut.  H. 
Whitney  Chatfield,  was  instantly  killed  in  a  hand-to-hand  encounter  with 
the  enemy  ;  and  Capts.  Wilson  French  and  Frederick  C.  Betts,  and  thirty- 
two  of  the  men,  were  taken  prisoners.  The  brave  young  Chatfield  fell, 
shot  through  and  through  the  body.  He  was  in  the  act  of  cutting  his  way 
through  the  rebels  when  he  received  the  mortal  wound.  He  died  as  he 
had  lived,  a  courageous  soldier,  and  an  honor  to  the  State  and  our  country." 

It  appears,  that,  when  Wilcoxson  was  ordered  by  the 
general  commanding  to  send  a  force  for  the  cotton,  he 
regarded  it  as  an  imprudent  and  hazardous  expedition,  and 
so  resolved  to  lead  it  himself.  The  attack  was  so  sudden, 
and  by  such  an  overwhelming  force,  that  little  effective  re 
sistance  could  be  made.  The  mounted  officers  in  the  rear 
were  first  attacked.  Lieut.-Col.  Wilcoxson  fought  with  his 
pistols,  and  received  two  severe  wounds.  He  would  not 
surrender ;  but,  when  his  horse  was  shot  dead  and  fell  upon 
him,  he  was  captured.  The  brave  man  could  not  walk ;  but 
was  taken  to  a  rebel  hospital  in  Tallahassee,  where,  away 
from  friends,  and  lacking  the  presence  of  his  loving  wife, 
who  waited  for  him  at  St.  Augustine,  he  died  alone,  and  in 
the  night.  There  seems  to  have  been  avarice  and  possibly 
cruelty  practiced  towards  him  in  his  last  hours.  He  is 
believed  to  have  had  money  about  him;  and  the  rebel 
surgeon,  Dr.  Miner,  still  sports  a  valuable  Masonic  ring  taken 
from  the  finger  of  his  deceased  patient,  and  refuses  to  sur 
render  it  to  the  afflicted  widow. 


734  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Albert  H.  Wilcoxson  was  born  in  Huritington,  in  1834, 
and  passed  his  youth  in  the  rough  country  near  the  bounda 
ries  of  Seymour  and  Oxford.  He  was  athletic  and  vigorous 
—  first  in  all  boyish  games.  He  was  also  an  apt  scholar, 
and  was  studying  for  the  ministry  when  the  war  called  him 
to  the  field.  He  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier;  was  made 
adjutant,  then  captain,  of  Douglass  Fowler's  company  ;  then 
lieutenant-colonel  over  all  officers  intervening.  He  had  ease, 
self-command,  and  dignity  as  an  officer ;  and  was  enthusiastic 
in  the  performance  of  every  duty.  He  was  cheerful  and 
genial  in  his  disposition,  fluent  and  often  witty  in  conversa 
tion,  in  character  upright  and  honorable,  firm  in  conviction, 
prompt  and  energetic  in  action.  When  the  second  call  for 
three-years'  troops  came,  he  quietly  said,  "  That  call  is  for 
me;"  and  straightway  ended  the  course  of  theological  study 
he  was  pursuing  with  Rev.  Dr.  Mead  of  Norwalk,  bade  adieu 
to  his  wife,  and  went  at  once.  Before  leaving  the  State,  he 
prepared  a  brief,  frank,  and  half-playful  but  truthful  auto 
biography,  in  which  he  made  grateful  recognition  of  the 
loving-kindness  of  God  in  keeping  him  from  being  "  the 
slave  of  appetite  or  of  any  vice  or  licentiousness." 

Adjutant  Henry  Whitney  Chatfield  of  Bridgeport,  went 
out  as  a  private  in  the  Seventeeth  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
Being  a  young  man  of  education,  he  was  detached  for  service 
under  Adjutant  Wilcoxson,  and  afterwards  at  the  head 
quarters  of  Adjutant-Gen.  Meisenburg,  where  he  was  a  great 
favorite.  He  was  promoted  to  be  adjutant  for  his  distin 
guished  gallantry  at  Chancellorsville.  At  Gettysburg,  Lieut.- 
Col.  Fowler  was  shot  dead  by  his  side :  Chatfield's  horse  was 
killed,  his  haversack  torn  in  pieces,  and  a  Revolutionary 
sword  at  his  side  broken  into  fragments ;  yet  he  was  un 
harmed.  While  on  Morris  Island,  he  volunteered  with  the 
other  officers  of  the  brigade  to  storm  Fort  Sumter,  when 
its  defenders  were  bewildered  under  the  first  crash  of  Gil- 
more's  batteries.  In  Florida,  he  was  adjutant  of  the 
brigade.  Gen.  Noble  writes  of  him,  "  The  loss  of  young 
Chatfield  was  sadly  felt  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  in  and 
out  of  the  army.  .  He  was  a  true  man  and  a  brave  soldier, 
who  served  from  convictions  of  duty  and  patriotic  devo- 


THE   SEVENTEENTH  IN   GARRISON  AT   ST.   AUGUSTINE.     735 

tion.  With  a  heart  as  true  as  steel,  and  brave  as  the  brav 
est,  there  was  a  charm  of  genial  gentleness  which  attracted 
all,  and  made  him  friends  wherever  he  went." 

Albert  0.  Seeley  of  Darien  died  Jan.  5,  1865.  He  was 
captured  at  Gettysburg,  released,  captured  again  in  Florida, 
and  dragged  out  long  and  dismal  months  at  Andersonville. 
No  rations  whatever  were  issued  to  his  party  for  three  days 
after  release  from  prison;  and  the  privation  brought  .him 
very  low.  Notwithstanding  the  care  he  afterwards  received, 
he  sank  steadily,  and  died.  He  was  a  man  of  correct  habits 
and  high  character,  and  a  faithful  and  uncomplaining 
soldier. 

From  the  1st  of  March,  1865,  until  the  7th  of  June,  the 
headquarters,  and  the  largest  portion  of  the  Seventeenth, 
remained  at  St.  Augustine  ;  the  regiment  having  garrisoned 
the  town  and  its  fort  more  than  a  year.  About  the  middle 
of  May,  Companies  G  and  I,  under  Lieut.  Charles  Smith  of 
Ridge  field  and  Lieut.  Henry  North  of  Bridgeport,  were 
ordered  to  garrison  Tallahassee,  the  capital  of  the  State. 
At  the  same  time,  Companies  C,  F,  and  H,  under  Capt.  Enos 
Kellogg  of  New  Canaan,  were  detailed  to  hold  Lake  City, 
a  considerable  place  near  the  Olustee  battle-ground ;  the 
second  in  command  being  Lieut.  William  L.  Daniels  of  Dan- 
bury.  "  The  conduct  of  these  companies,"  says  Col.  Noble 
in  his  final  report,  "  separated  so  far  from  the  regiment,  at 
towns  lately  captured  from  the  enemy,  was  most  admirable 
for  discipline,  military  bearing,  and  decorum ;  while  they 
commanded  good  order  in  these  communities,  and  respect 
for  the  authority  of  the  Union  and  her  soldiers.  The  de 
portment  of  these  detachments  is  but  another  proof  of  the 
good  character  of  the  regiment." 

Major  Allen  had  now  become  lieutenant-colonel,5  and 
Capt.  William  L.  Hubbell  was  promoted  to  be  major.  On 
June  9,  the  regiment  was  relieved  at  St.  Augustine,  and 

5  Lieut.-Col.  Allen  was  born  in  Norwalk  in  1842.  He  served  in  the  three  -  months' 
campaign  as  a  private  in  the  71st  New- York,  and  re-entered  the  service  as  lieutenant  in 
the  Seventeenth  Connecticut  Volunteers.  On  transmitting  his  promotion  to  lieutenant- 
colonel,  Col.  Noble  said,  "  Your  good  conduct  and  soldierly  bearing  alone  have  secured 
your  advancement."  His  only  brother  was  killed  in  front  of  Petersburg,  and  his  father 
commanded  the  steamer  Hussar  during  the  war.  On  muster-out,  Col.  Allen  was  exam 
ined  by  a  board  of  officers,  and  recommended  for  a  captaincy  in  the  regular  army,  a  posi 
tion  which  he  declined. 


736  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

ordered  to  Hilton  Head,  via  Jacksonville.  Arriving  at  the 
latter  place,  it  was  detained  by  Gen.  Vodges,  and  kept  at 
work  for  weeks  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  Tallahassee 
Railroad.  About  the  7th  of  July,  Lieut-Col.  Allen  succeeded 
in  getting  all  but  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  recruits 
transported  to  Hilton  Head.  Col.  Noble  received  the  brevet 
rank  of  brigadier-general. 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

Prison  Experience  of  our  Soldiers.  —  Testimony  of  a  Confederate  Surgeon.  —  Experience 
of  Weston  Ferris  on  Belle  Isle.  —  Great  Privation  and  Suffering.  —  Condition  of  Pris 
oners  at  Carnp  Ford,  Tex.  —  Gen.  E.  M.  Lee  in  Libby.  —  Capture  of  Major  Sanford 
and  Men  of  the  Seventh.  — Adventures  of  Three  Officers  of  the  Sixteenth.  —  Fidelity 
of  Surgeon  Nickerson.  —  Thrilling  Narrative  of  Lieut.  Bailey.  — Deaths  at  Anderson- 
villc.  —  Incidents  of  Martyrdom. 

E  have  already  narrated  something  of  the  prison- 
experience  of  the  soldiers  of  Connecticut.  They 
occupied  at  one  time  or  another  every  military 
dungeon  and  stockade  of  the  South,  and  shared, 
as  has  been  seen,  their  starvation,  exposure,  and 
death-laden  atmosphere.  The  world  has  shuddered  at  these 
pictures  of  wretchedness,  —  the  hopeless  prisoners  wandering 
wearily  across  the  dead-line,  and  asking  to  be  shot  rather 
than  longer  endure  the  torture  ;  the  invalids,  their  feeble 
bodies  made  the  home  of  thousands  of  writhing  worms,  while 
yet  the  tenement  of  an  immortal  soul ;  the  skeletons  crawling 
northward  to  Annapolis  like  so  many  graveyard  specters. 

Shocking  to  contemplate,  all  this,  even  when  we  remember 
the  utter  exigencies  of  the  rebels  themselves !  It  is  probably 
true,  that  while  these  prisoners  were  on  half-rations,  or  less, 
the  rebel  soldiers  were  on  half-rations,  and  came  flocking 
through  our  lines  by  thousands, — a  squalid  throng, — because 
they  could  not  get  enough  to  eat ;  that  the  Confederate  armies 
were  always  in  such  a  strait,  that  so  few  soldiers  were  left  to 
guard  the  prisons,  that  a  discipline  inhumanly  rigid  seemed 
to  them  the  only  resource  ;  that  starvation  resulted  as  much 
from  the  coarse  quality  as  from  the  meager  quantity  of  the 
food  served. 

Many  will  believe  that  the  destruction  of  prisoners  entered 
into  the  Confederate  plan  of  warfare  for  the  reduction  of  the 

93  737 


738  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Union  army  ;  that  starvation,  killing  without  cause,  and  the 
introduction  of  fatal  diseases,  was  the  deliberate  purpose  of 
the  leaders ;  and  that  this  unexpressed  wish  was  instinctively 
excuted  by  the  subordinates.  Many  others  will  now  and 
always  hesitate  to  believe  any  thing  so  diabolical  of  Ameri 
cans, —  a  complication  of  dastardly  and  cowardly  crimes,  from 
which  even  the  most  barbarous  nations  would  recoil. 

We  have  only  to  deal  with  facts.  Prof.  Ellerslie  Wallace 
of  Philadelphia  has  made  an  official  report  of  the  condi 
tion  of  Southern  prisoners,  in  which  he  states  that  the  maxi 
mum  average  amount  of  solid  food  given  per  day  was  eigh 
teen  ounces,  and  the  minimum  average  five  ounces:  whereas, 
it  requires  thirty  to  forty  ounces  to  keep  the  system  of  an 
adult  male  in  proper  condition.  Prof.  Joseph  Jones  of 
Augusta,  Ga.,  made  to  the  Confederate  authorities  an  official 
report,  dated  Oct.  19,  1864,  presenting  a  loathsome  picture 
of  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  prisoners  at  Andersonville. 
From  this  we  extract :  "  More  than  thirty  thousand  men 
crowded  upon  twenty-seven  acres  of  land,  with  little  or  no 
shelter  from  the  intense  heat  of  a  Southern  summer,  or  from 
the  rain  and  dew;  with  coarse  corn-bread,  from  which  the 
hull  had  not  been  removed  ;  with  scant  supplies  of  fresh 
meat  and  vegetables ;  with  little  or  no  attention  to  hygiene ; 
with  festering  masses  of  filth  at  the  very  doors  of  their  rude 
dens  and  huts ;  with  the  greater  portion  of  the  banks  of  the 
stream  flowing  through  the  stockade,  a  filthy  quagmire  of 
human  excrements,  alive  with  working  maggots  generating 
by  their  own  filthy  exhalations  and  excretions  an  atmosphere 
that  so  deteriorated  and  contaminated  their  solids  and  fluids, 
that  the  slightest  scratch  on  the  surface,  even  the  bites  of 
small  insects,  were  frequently  followed  by  such  rapid  and  ex 
tensive  gangrene  as  to  destroy  the  extremities,  and  even  life 
itself.  ...  In  this  state,  the  muscular  strength  was  rapidly 
diminished,  the  tissues  wasted ;  and  the  thin,  skeleton-like 
forms  moved  about  with  the  appearance  of  utter  exhaustion 
and  dejection." 

Major  Charles  Farnsworth  and  twenty-four  of  his  men, 
captured  in  Virginia  on  July  14,  1863,  were  detained  for 


CRUEL  TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS.  739 

many  months  in  prison  at  Richmond.  One  of  these,  Weston 
Ferris  of  New  Canaan,  has  furnished  us  with  a  record  of  his 
experience,  some  extracts  of  which  we  subjoin  :  — 

"The  rebels  hurried  us  on  to  Charlestown,  fearing  that 
our  cavalry  would  recapture  us.  We  here  turned  over  our 
horses,  each  rebel  claiming  the  one  he  captured  as  his 
private  property.  After  a  disagreeable  march  of  six  miles 
through  the  mud  to  Gen.  Jones's  headquarters,  we  were  all 
ordered  to  lie  down  as  closely  as  possible  on  the  ground. 
The  major  and  I  shared  our  small  blankets,  and  the  rebels 
lent  us  another.  The  major  took  a  quart  cup  for  a  pillow; 
I  a  canteen.  It  rained  hard  almost  all  night.  We  made 
a  breakfast  of  the  rations  we  still  had.  In  the  morning,  we 
walked  to  Winchester,  eighteen  miles.  Here  we  were  quar 
tered  in  the  old  Court  House,  and  staid  a  week,  until  it  was 
crowded  with  prisoners.  By  this  time,  there  were  three 
hundred  of  us;  one-half  being  sick  or  wounded.  Our 
rations  were  a  pound  of  flour  and  a  pound  of  fresh  beef 
a  day.  We  made  the  flour  into  dough,  and  cooked  it  in  the 
ashes.  This  was  the  programme  for  the  rest  of  the  way,  — 
march  all  day,  and  cook  all  night  or  go  hungry. 

"  Arrived  at  Culpeper,  we  were  put  into  cattle-cars,  with 
out  any  thing  to  eat  that  day,  and  hurried  forward. 
At  Gordonsville,  we  each  received  five  pieces  of  hard-tack 
and  one-third  of  a  pound  of  bacon,  and  sped  to  Richmond. 
On  our  arrival,  boys  came  around  with  cakes,  pies,  &c.,  which 
the  guard  would  not  let  us  purchase  ;  but  demanded  our 
watches  and  money,  and  threatened  that  if  any  thing  was 
kept  it  would  be  confiscated.  Much  was  given  up ;  but 
considerable  money  was  concealed  and  retained.  They 
even  robbed  us  of  most  of  our  cups  as  we  passed  over  to 
Belle  Isle. 

"  Belle  Island  is  in  the  James  River,  opposite  Richmond. 
It  is  approached  from  Manchester  by  a  bridge ;  from  Rich 
mond,  by  a  scow  pushed  with  poles.  The  upper  part  of  the 
island  is  broken  and  rocky :  the  lower  part  comprises 
about  twenty-five  acres  of  sandy  plain ;  and  here  the  famous 
prison-pen  was  set.  This  was  merely  a  patch  of  ground 
inclosed  by  an  embankment  of  earth,  with  a  ditch  inside  of 


740  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

it.  At  this  time,  the  inclosure  was  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  yards  long,  and  eighty-five  yards  wide.  About  four 
hundred  old  tents  and  eighty  Sibley  tents  were  pitched  here. 
We  were  all  counted  off  into  squads  of  ninety  men  in  a 
mess.  I  was  placed  in  charge  of  mess  No.  40.  We  found 
the  tents  all  full ;  so  we  had  to  occupy  the  streets,  where 
we  were  alternately  soaked  by  the  rain,  and  blistered  by  the 
hot  sun.  The  nights  were  always  damp  and  chilly.  In  the 
daytime,  the  sand  was  like  an  oven.  The  shades  along 
the  bank  were  forbidden  us. 

"  We  drew  rations  twice  a  «day.  Our  breakfast  was  for 
each  a  quarter  of  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  two  ounces  of  fresh 
beef;  and  for  supper  we  had  the  same  quantity  of  bread, 
and  half  a  pint  of  bean  or  rice  soup.  This  last  consisted 
of  a  few  table-spoonfuls  of  beans  or  rice  to  a  pailful  of 
water;  and  the  men  used  to  call  their  soup  'James- 
river  water.'  The  cooking  was  all  done  outside  by  detailed 
prisoners ;  and  those  who  had  kept  any  money  gave  it  to  the 
officers  for  the  privilege  of  going  to  cook.  About  the  first 
of  August,  a  thousand  of  the  sick  were  exchanged,  and 
there  was  much  plotting  to  get  upon  the  sick-list  that  day. 
Next  day,  we  were  all  driven  out,  and  again  searched  for 
money.  A  rebel  sergeant  of  the  name  of  Samuel  Hyatt 
had  immediate  charge  of  the  prisoners.  He  was  a  fiend  in 
human  shape,  and  spent  much  of  his  time  contriving  means 
of  torture.  Commissary  Roe  was  also  a  mean  and  cruel 
man.  I  have  seen  him  knock  men  down  for  picking  up 
crumbs  from  the  flour  of  the  cook-house.  He  used  to 
sweep  up  the  crumbs,  and  sell  to  the  prisoners. 

"  What  we  received  seemed  only  to  aggravate  our  hunger  ; 
and  even  then,  if  we  were  not  there  at  the  moment,  the 
whole  squad  would  lose  their  rations.  Men  would  stand 
for  hours  and  watch  the  cook-house,  so  painfully  were  the 
pangs  of  hunger  felt.  We  were  at  last  driven  to  extremities. 
Hunger  haunted  our  dreams.  Men  would  often  lie  down  at 
night  naming  over  the  choice  dishes  they  would  have 
when  they  got  home  again.  Alas !  how  few  of  them  ever 
reached  home  —  except  that  home  where  hunger  never 
comes. 


IN  PRISON  AT  BELLE  ISLAND.  741 

"  We  counted  the  hours  before  the  next  scanty  allowance. 
Nothing  was  wasted.  Men  would  chew  up  the  bones 
like  dogs.  If  a  bone  was  by  any  chance  flung  into  the  street, 
it  would  be  greedily  seized  by  some  hungry  man,  who  would 
crush  it  with  a  stone,  and  suck  it  to  extract  more  nourish 
ment.  Some  would  keep  the  corpse  of  a  dead  comrade  in 
their  tents  for  several  days  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  his 
rations. 

"  Dogs  we  came  to  consider  a  luxury.  If  one  visited 
the  inclosure,  he  was  a  gone  dog.  The  lieutenant  had  a 
nice,  fat  bull-dog  which  he  prized  highly.  One  morning  all 
that  could  be  found  of  the  dog  was  his  hide.  The  owner 
said,  if  he  could  find  out  who  ate  it  he  would  shoot  him. 

'•'  There  were  now  three  thousand  of  us  on  the  island.  We 
suffered  greatly  for  water.  Our  only  supply  was  from  bar 
rels  sunk  in  the  sand  of  the  prison-pen.  These  were  fed 
very  slowly ;  and  sometimes  I  have  seen  twenty  at  each 
barrel,  the  foremost  waiting  for  the  water  to  run.  in,  and  the 
rest  waiting  their  turn.  We  used  to  get  up  in  the  night 
when  the  barrels  were  full,  and  pour  water  on  each  other 
to  wash.  In  the  same  way,  we  washed  our  clothes.  Soap 
was  a  luxury  not  often  indulged  in.  We  bought  all  we  had. 

"After  a  while,  a  brisk  trade  was  carried  on  with  the 
guard.  They  stealthily  brought  food  across  in  boats  at  night, 
landing  on  the  back  part  of  the  island  ;  then  watched  their 
chance  to  bring  it  over  to  us.  If  they  were  caught,  they  lost 
their  goods,  and  were  punished.  There  were  some  houses 
on  the  island,  and  they  drove  a  business  in  making  pies  and 
biscuit  for  us.  The  pies  were  made  of  dried  apples,  and  the 
crust  without  shortening ;  so  they  were  not  liable  to  smash 
by  being  flung  over  the  fence.  They  cost  about  a  dollar 
apiece.  The  rebel  sergeant,  Hyatt,  caught  a  fellow  trading 
with  the  guard  one  day,  and  took  him  out  to  search  him  for 
his  money.  The  prisoner  had  a  ten-dollar  bill,  which  he  put 
in  his  watch-pocket,  and  crammed  a  wet  quid  of  tobacco  in 
atop  of  it.  The  sergeant,  when  he  came  to  the  fresh  quid, 
searched  no  farther,  but  snapped  his  fingers,  and  said,  'Go 
into  camp,  you  nasty  rascal!'  Rations  grew  worse  and 
scantier.  Our  numbers  increased.  Thomas  Carver,  a  tent- 


742  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

mate,  and  myself,  drove  for  a  time  a  thriving  trade  with 
a  gold  ring  and  set  of  studs ;  but  these  gave  out,  and  our 
last  resource  was  gone.  I  grew  weak  from  want  of  food,  so 
that  I  could  walk  with  difficulty.  Men  died  rapidly.  At 
last,  new  clothing  came  from  our  government;  and  again  we 
were  protected  from  the  weather.  But  many  would  ex 
change  their  clothes  for  food,  then  die  for  want  of  clothing. 
A  few  boxes  came  from  home ;  but  the  rebels  finally  refused 
to  deliver  them,  and  hundreds  lay  in  storehouse. 

"By  January  of  1864,  the  whole  number  in  prison  was 
swelled  to  nine  or  ten  thousand ;  and  the  camp  was  packed 
full.  The  small  bundle  of  wood  that  had  been  allowed  to 
each  squad  was  now  cut  off;  and  a  great  many  had  their 
feet  frozen,  while  several  froze  to  death. 

"  About  this  time,  Major  Farnsworth,  confined  in  Libby, 
sent  me  five  dollars,  which  was  a  great  relief.  I  bought 
bread,  and  distributed  to  the  members  of  the  First  Cavalry. 
He  afterwards  sent  us  two  boxes  containing  coffee,  sugar, 
tea,  crackers,  cheese,  codfish,  fruit,  books,  and  soap.  The 
box  was  sent  him  from  home,  and  he  generously  transferred 
it  to  us.  That  unselfishness,  doubtless,  saved  some  of  our 
lives.  Major  Farnsworth  came  over  on  Jan.  27  with  the 
officers,  dealing  out  clothing.  How  much  good  it  did  us  to 
look  again  upon  his  cheerful,  kindly  face !  He  told  me  se 
cretly  of  the  tunnel  they  were  digging,  and  gave  me  a  map 
of  the  route  to  our  lines,  in  case  I  should  get  a  chance  to 
escape.  Occasional  attempts  were  made,  and  many  poor 
fellows  were  shot  or  drowned. 

"  About  the  1st  of  February,  our  meat-rations  —  three  or 
four  mouthfuls  a  day  —  were  stopped.  The  men  grew  weak 
very  fast  in  consequence.  I  felt  the  change  very  sensibly. 
Considerable  of  our  time  was  occupied  every  day  in  search 
ing  our  clothes  for  the  natives  of  the  island.  The  cold  did 
not  seem  to  trouble  them  much.  The  ground  of  the  prison 
was  alive  with  them.  Examining  our  cldthing  for  these 
'gray-backs,'  as  the  boys  named  them,  was  called  going 
skirmishing.  If  brisk  skirmishing  was  not  kept  up  every  day, 
they  increased  very  fast.  I  have  seen  men  completely 
covered  with  them ;  so  that  you  could  not  put  your  finder 
on  them  without  touching  vermin." 


TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  IN  TEXAS.  743 

During  February,  these  men  were  most  of  them  (includ 
ing  the  Connecticut  men)  taken  to  Andersonville,  where 
they  shared  the  starvation,  exposures,  and  tortures  of  that 
horrible  pen. 

Some  facts  have  already  been  given  concerning  the  cap 
ture  of  a  part  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Twenty-third, 
and  their  imprisonment  at  Camp  Ford,  Tex.  A  few  of 
the  Twelfth  and  Twenty-fifth  were  confined  at  the  same 
place.  A  correspondent  writes  from  New  Orleans,  on  the 
return  of  the  prisoners,  — 

"  The  stockade  at  Tyler,  or  rather  at  Camp  Ford  which  is  somewhere 
about  four  miles  from  Tyler,  consists  of  an  inclosure  made  of  pine-trees, 
cut  some  seventeep  feet  in  length,  split  in  half,  and  set  upright  in  the 
ground  ;  making  a  stockade  some  fifteen  feet  in  Light.  The  size  originally 
was  an  area  of  about  two  acres,  which  was,  however,  enlarged  after  the 
Red-river  expedition  to  embrace  some  seven  acres  in  extent.  There,  in 
that  pen,  some  four  thousand  five  hundred  of  our  men  have  been  cooped  in 
hunger,  nakedness,  filth,  and  wretchedness,  for  months  past ;  and  until  the 
last  of  June  no  means  were  allowed  to  the  men  for  removing  the  filth 
which  had  during  the  time  accumulated  inside  their  inclosure. 

"  During  all  last  winter,  our  men  were  barefooted  almost  to  a  man ; 
many  had  no  shirts  ;  scarcely  any  one  had  any  blanket  at  all  in  which  to 
wrap  his  shivering  limbs  from  the  winds  ;  wood  was  doled  out  in  quantities 
insufficient  even  to  cook  their  scant  rations  of  corn-meal  and  hard  corned 
beef.  To  be  explicit,  two  sticks  of  cord-wood  were  issued  per  week  to 
cook  the  rations  of  a  mess  of  twelve  men  ;  and  this  was  packed  in  on  the 
men's  back,  from  the  adjacent  forests,  under  strict  guard.  Not  even  straw 
was  permitted  to  the  shivering  men. 

"  It  would  be  absolutely  impossible  in  words  to  express  to  your  readers 
the  abject  squalor,  destitution,  and  wretchedness  of  these  noble  soldiers,  as 
they  filed  up  past  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Canby,  on  St.  Charles  Street, 
on  their  way  from  the  boat,  to  the  quarters  assigned  them  in  the  Alabama 
and  Factors'  cotton-presses.  With  scarcely  an  exception,  they  were  bare 
footed  ;  ragged  to  a  degree  that  can  not  be  conceived  of;  many  were  abso 
lutely  destitute  of  sufficient  rags  to  fulfill  the  requirements  of  common 
decency  ;  large  numbers  Avere  without  shirts  or  hats  of  any  kind,  infested 
with  vermin,  their  dingy  rags  fluttering  in  the  wind,  and  bound  upon  their 
persons  with  strips  of  bark  and  strings ;  but  they  marched  into  New 
Orleans  proudly,  in  spite  of  their  squalor  ;  and  with  stout  loyal  hearts 
cheered  the  old  flag  in  defense  of  which  they  have  so  cruelly  and  need 
lessly  suffered." 

Gen.  E.  M.  Le,e  of  the  Michigan  cavalry,  a  native,  and  now 
a  jesident,  of  Guilford,  Conn.,  wrote  from  Lib  by  Prison  in 
December,  1863,  "The  authorities  here  have  ceased  to  re 
ceive  stores  from  associations  or  private  individuals  at  the 


744  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

North,  so  I  am  now  reduced  to  the  inconsiderable  rations  is 
sued  by  the  South  to  its  soldiers  and  prisoners.  Hunger  stares 
us  in  the  face,  but  does  not  frighten  me.  Better  men  than  I 
have  suffered ;  better  men  than  I  have  died.  The  last  fate 
may  not  necessarily  be  mine,  however ;  for  the  rations  sup 
plied  will  keep  soul  and  body  together.  My  health,  too,  is 
excellent;  so  you  see  I  am  well  qualified  for  the  experience 
which  will  go  to  make  up  a  part  of  the  great  problem  of 
life  we  are  all  trying  to  solve.  Never  believe  that  I  am  dis 
heartened  ;  for '  none  of  these  things  move  me.'  No  human 
misfortune  can  swerve  me  from  the  purpose  to  live  or  die 
for  the  Union." 

Major  0.  S.  Sanford  was  captured  with  a  company  of  the 
Seventh,  in  the  summer  of  1864.  A  correspondent  relates 
some  incidents  that  followed :  — 

"  Col.  Rutledge,  of  one  of  the  North-Carolina  regiments,  ordered  the 
guard  to  take  off  Major  Sanford's  overcoat,  and  bring  it  to  him.  There 
being  no  alternative,  the  major  gave  it  up  ;  but,  upon  arriving  at  the  head 
quarters  of  Gen.  Bushrod  Johnston,  they  stated  the  case  to  Major  Watts, 
Gen.  Johnston's  adjutant-general,  a  very  gentlemanly  officer,  and  a  former 
graduate  of  West  Point,  whom  they  had  met  several  times  by  flag-of-truce. 
He  reported  it  to  Gen.  Johnston,  whereupon  the  general  sent  down  to 
Col.  Rutledge,  and  ordered  the  coat  given  up  immediately  ;  and  it  was 
brought  back  and  returned  to  the  major.  About  one  hundred  of  the 
enlisted  men  of  the  regiment  were  captured  at  the  same  time  they  were ; 
and  on  the  march  from  Bermuda  Hundred  to  Petersburg,  as  they  were 
resting  by  the  side  of  a  brook,  Gen.  Wise  (Ex-Gov.  Wise)  rode  along  and 

stopped  to  give  his  horse  a  drink,  and  accosted  the  men  with,  '  You  d d 

white  niggers  and  d d  black  abolitionists,  don't  you  think  you  ought 

to  be  ashamed  of  yourselves,  down  here  fighting  to  get  our  niggers  away 

from  us?    D n  you  !  every  one  of  you  ought  to  be  sold  like  niggers,  and 

sent  into  the  field  !  " 

The  escape  and  recapture  of  several  officers  of  the  Six 
teenth,  including  Capts.  Thomas  A.  Burke,  T.  B.  Robinson, 
and  A.  A.t  Dickerson,  has  been  referred  to ;  also  their  final 
escape  from  Camp  Sorghum,  near  Columbia,  S.C.  Of  this 
last  adventure,  Capt.  Dickerson  writes, — 

"  Upon  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  November,  18G4,  a  large  number  of 
officers  were  paroled  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  wood  for  cooking  and 
building  purposes.  Three  of  us —  Capts.  Burke,  Robinson,  and  myself  — 
finished  getting  wood,  saw  our  paroles  destroyed,  returned  to  camp,  and, 
after  a  short  time,  recrossed  the  guard-line,  and,  unsuspected,  made  our 
way  to  the  woods.  We  kept  slowly  through  the  woods,  until  we  were 


ESCAPING  FEOM  CAPTIVITY.  745 

safely  beyond  tlie  reach  of  the  rebels.  Night  coming  on,  we  traveled 
through  the  fields  and  woods,  until  we  struck  a  road  which  ran  parallel 
with  the  Congaree  River  ;  and  traveled  southward  about  twelve  miles.  We 
then  left  the  public  road,  and  traveled  through  the  woods,  toward  the 
river,  which  was  about  eight  miles  distant.  Upon  the  afternoon  of  the 
4th,  we  fell  in  with  five  other  of  our  escaped  prisoners  from  the  same 
camp,  who  escaped  two  nights  previous  to  ourselves  by  bribing  the  guard. 
They  had  been  in  the  swamp  two  days,  and  had  made  an  arrangement 
with  the  negroes  for  provisions,  and  information  where  two  boats  could  be 
found.  We  joined  our  parties  ;  and  in  the  evening  the  negroes  met  us,  and 
furnished  us  with  the  promised  necessaries.  Proceeding  to  the  river, 
which  was  about  two  miles  distant,  we  found  the  boats,  which  accommodated 
all  of  us.  At  about  eleven  o'clock,  all  things  being  ready,  we  embarked 
in  our  boats,  and  paddled  down  the  river.  Early  in  the  morning,  we  landed, 
having  secured  a  hiding-place  for  our  boats  and  ourselves,  and  devoted  the 
day  to  cooking  and  sleep.  Darkness  again  found  us  upon  the  river ;  and 
we  soon  passed  the  bridge  of  the  South-Carolina  Railroad,  which  was 
guarded  by  sentries ;  paddled  all  night ;  and  again  secured  ourselves  for 
the  day. 

"  While  engaged,  some  in  cooking,  others  in  sleep,  our  attention  was 
attracted  by  loud  talking ;  and  soon  we  discovered  a  boat  below  us,  upon 
the  river,  being  poled  up  the  river  by  negroes.  One  of  our  party  posted 
himself  upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  he  could  hail  the  boat  without 
discovering  the  presence  of  the  rest  of  the  party,  and,  hailing  the  negro  in 
charge  of  the  boat,  informed  him  that  he  was  in  want  of  provisions.  The 
negro  replied  that  he  had  no  time  to  stop,  and  persisted  in  keeping  on  his 
course.  When  all  entreaty  failed,  the  captain  told  him  that  he  was  a 
'Yankee'  officer,  escaped  from  rebel  prison,  making  his  way  North,  and 
needed  provisions,  and  information  regarding  obstructions  in  the  river. 
The  negro  no  sooner  learned  his  true  character  than  he  immediately 
landed,  secured  his  boat,  staid  with  us  all  day,  cooking  rations,  and  giving 
very  valuable  information.  He  claimed,  in  return  for  his  service,  a  sight 
of  the  rest  of  the  party,  whom  he  had  instinctive  shrewdness  to  know  were 
concealed  close  by.  Night  again  found  us  upon  the  river  ;  and  after  a  few 
hours'  sail  we  landed  at  a  farm,  of  which  we  had  been  informed  by  the 
negroes,  where  we  succeeded  in  capturing  a  goat,  which  supplied  us  with 
meat  to  our  journey's  end. 

"  Monday  and  Tuesday  nights  nothing  occurred  to  delay  our  progress 
toward  the  desired  goal.  Wednesday  evening,  we  had  been  going  down 
the  river  but  a  short  time,  when  we  reached  a  ferry,  where  we  made 
the  acquaintance  of  four  negroes,  who  furnished  us  with  a  large  quan 
tity  of  sweet-potatoes,  salt,  and  meat.  Upon  parting  with  them,  they 
bade  us  God-speed  and  a  safe  joiu-ucy.  Elated  and  happy  with  our  suc 
cess,  we  kept  steadily  forward ;  and  soon  after  we  landed  to  again  consult 
the  negroes,  who  told  us  we  were  but  five  miles  from  a  battery,  mounting 
two  pieces,  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  guarded  by  rebel  soldiers. 
After  receiving  other  information  and  provisions,  we  parted  company  with 
the  last  of  our  negro  friends,  and  proceeded  down  the  river,  passed  the 
battery  in  safety,  and,  landing,  waited  for  the  darkness  of  the  night  to 
finish  our  journey  to  the  coast.  Thursday  night,  full  of  hope,  we  again 
took  to  our  boats,  and,  meeting  no  interference,  reached  the  coast  safely. 

'"The  light  of  Friday  morning,  Nov.  11,  revealed  to  us  the  spars  of  a 
ship,  which  we  soon  made  out  to  be  one  of  the  United-States  blockade. 
94 


746  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE   REBELLION. 

It  was  the  Canandaigua,  Capt.  Harrison  ;  and  after  sundry  attempts  we 
succeeded  iu  getting  safe  on  board,  under  the  protection  of  the  star- 
spangled  banner.  We  came  North  on  the  Fulton." 

When  the  Sixteenth  was  captured  at  Plymouth,  Dr.  Nehe- 
miah  Nickerson  of  Saybrook  stood  by  his  comrades  in  their 
extremity,  and  rendered  great  service.  The  officers  of  the 
regiment,  in  prison  and  camp,  united  in  resolutions  from 
which  we  extract, — 

"  With  a  constitution  weakened  by  a  long  sickness,  from  the  effects  of 
which  he  was  still  suffering,  and  while  other  surgeons,  availing  themselves 
of  the  opportunity  for  immediate  exchange,  left  for  the  North,  Dr.  Nick 
erson  voluntarily  remained  with  our  suffering  wounded,  laboring  night  and 
day  for  a  month,  until  nearly  worn  out  himself,  arriving  at  Macon,  Ga., 
some  time  after,  only  to  suffer  an  extended  imprisonment  of  five  months. 
But  here  also  were  his  professional  services  cheerfully  rendered,  with  skill 
and  success,  amidst  the  greatest  difficulties. 

"  While  we  claim  that  a  soldier  should  do  his  duty  under  all  circum 
stances,  we  can  not  but  admire  the  noble  self-sacrifice  which  prompts  him 
to  volunteer  and  render  his  services,  when,  if  disposed,  he  might  shrink 
from  those  duties,  to  his  own  advantage,  and  without  incurring  censure ; 
and  we  take  this  method  of  acknowledging  with  pride  and  admiration  the 
manliness  of  character,  professional  skill,  and  patriotic  zeal  which  he  has 
exhibited  in  discharging  his  duties  to  his  country  and  to  his  suffering  fellow- 
soldiers." 

Lieut.  G.  W.  Bailey,  aide-de-camp  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
M.  L.  Smith,  was  captured  in  the  battle  of  Peach-tree  Creek, 
and  escaped  from  rebel  hands  after  several  weeks'  wan 
dering  through  the  Southern  States.  He  was  a  native  of 
Bridgeport,  Conn. ;  and  gave  to  the  Standard  a  graphic  ac 
count  of  his  experience,  a  portion  of  which  we  subjoin  :  — 

UI  was  taken  to  Atlanta,  where  the  utmost  joy  existed  at  what  they 
termed  a  '  Confederate  victory.'  Some  of  the  rebel  soldiers  amused  them 
selves  and  the  citizens  of  Atlanta  by  trailing  our  captured  banners  —  the 
old  '  stars  and  stripes'  —  through  the  streets  behind  their  horses.  Every 
rebel  was  jubilant.  The  troops  going  to  or  from  either  flank,  passing 
through  the  city,  were  cheered  lustily.  The  women  tantalized  us  with 
'Ah,  boys  !  you've  got  into  Atlanta  at  last,  haven't  you?  '  &c.  We  were 
marched  through  Atlanta  on  exhibition,  and  the  same  night  to  East  Point, 
some  six  miles  below  Atlanta.  During  the  march,  a  major  and  myself 
attempted  to  escape  ;  but  we  narrowly  escaped  being  shot,  as  we  were  de 
tected.  At  East  Point,  we  were  corralled,  like  mules,  iu  an  open  place, 
without  rations,  or  blankets  to  sleep  upon.  We  Avere  without  food  for  over 
twenty-four  hours ;  and,  when  we  were  furnished  with  some,  few  could  eat 
it.  Being  very  hungry,  I  ate  my  twenty-four  hours'  allowance  at  once. 
I  put  my  bacon  down  to  break  my  unbolted  wheat-flour  '  hard-tack,'  and 
brush  away  the  worms  and  cobwebs  from  it ;  and,  after  clearing  my  bacon 
in  like  manner,  I  shut  my  eyes,  and  ate  a  hearty  meal. 


ESCAPING  FROM  CAPTIVITY.  747 

"  I  closely  watched  every  possible  chance  to  escape  ;  but  found  it  would 
be  certain  death  to  attempt  it  there :  so  I  anxiously  bided  my  time.  At 
last  it  came.  We  were  corralled  near  Griffin,  Ga.  I  found  a  favorable 
gully  in  a  blackberry-patch  ;  and  two  hours  before  day  lay  in  the  narrow 
place,  and  got  some  of  the  officers  to  cover  me  with  pine-boughs,  grass, 
&c.,  and  cut  blackberry -briers,  and  stick  into  the  ground  around  me.  This 
was  nicely  done,  as  I  discovered  upon  my  exit.  My  friends  put  some 
'  hard-tack  '  at  the  head  of  my  hiding-place.  Every  thing  was  lively  :  at 
length  the  '  fall  in '  was  ordered  ;  and  the  k  Yankees  '  marched  out  into  the 
road,  en  route  for  Anderson ville.  I  was  stepped  upon  twice  ;  but  was  not 
discovered.  The  lot  being  clear  of  Yankees  and  rebels,  the  negroes,  and 
some  white  children  from  a  near  plantation,  wandered  about  me  ;  and  a 
hog  discovered  my  hidden  '  hard-tack,'  and  coolly  ate  it  above  my  head. 
I  dared  not  make  known  my  serious  objections  to  such  proceedings.  At 
last  a  shower  of  rain  cleared  the  coast  for  me  ;  and  after  carefully  peeping 
in  every  direction  I  ventured  forth  ;  and  although  my  right  arm  was 
much  paralyzed  (as  it  is  at  present),  caused  by  lying  upon  it,  I  immedi 
ately  struck  upon  a  double-quick  for  the  woods  near  by.  Here  I  fell  in 
with  a  soldier,  —  a  cavalry  "boy,  — who  had  also  escaped  in  the  same  man 
ner  ;  and,  as  '  misery  loves  company,'  I  consented  to  his  accompanying  me 
on  my  journey  through  Dixie  northward.  The  rain  now  fell  in  torrents  ; 
and  the  swamp  I  had  chosen  to  be  our  hiding-place  was  overflowed :  so 
there  we  stood  ankle-deep  in  water,  like  two  drowned  rats.  .  .  .  Night 
came  at  length  ;  and  we  approached  the  road,  just  dodging  a  patrol  of 
rebel  cavalry.  We  stealthily  went  near  a  plantation-residence  ;  passed 
around  to  the'  negro-quarters,  avoiding  the  dogs  ;  stopped  at  a  fence  near 
one  of  the  huts  ;  and  threw  a  small  stone  against  the  door.  It  was  slowly 
opened  with,  '  Who  dar  ? '  — '  Me,  aunty,'  said  I ;  '  come  out  here  ! '  After 
some  hesitation,  she  came  out ;  and  I  told  her  who  we  were.  *  We  are 
Yankees,'  said  I.  '  Is  you,  sah?  De  Lord  bress  you  !  '  Telling  her  we 
were  hungry,  she  gave  us  some  wheat-bread ;  and  when  it  became  late  we 
went  into  her  hut,  dried  ourselves  nicely  ;  and,  filling  our  haversacks,  she 
bade  us  God  speed.  Soon  we  were  off  again.  Avoiding  roads,  and  going 
north-eastward,  we  traveled  until  daylight.  The  rain  had  made  the  corn 
fields  through  which  we  had  to  pass  almost  impassable  ;  but,  encouraging 
each  other  by  turns,  we  trudged  slowly  along  through  the  dark,  dreary 
forests,  ascertaining  the  direction  by  letting  lightning-bugs  crawl  on  my 
little  pocket-compass,  which  I  had  procured,  with  maps  of  the  country, 
from  some  of  the  officers  among  the  prisoners.  By  day,  we  took  turns  on 
watch.  I  consulted  my  maps,  intending  to  round  Stone  Mountain,  and 
follow  the  Northern  Georgia  Railroad  into  Decatur.  Finding  the  fields 
impassable,  after  two  or  three  nights'  journeys,  I  resolved  to  try  the  roads. 
We  made  better  time,  of  course  ;  but  had  to  be  continually  on  the  qui  vive; 
hiding  several  times  behind  trees  or  bushes  to  let  rebel  cavalry  pass  us, 
squads  of  which  were  incessantly  hunting  conscripts  and  deserters.  We 
passed  several  picket-posts  with  much  danger. 

"  The  roads  being  traveled  considerably,  I  again  took  the  fields,  mak 
ing  northward  slowly,  living  on  blackberries,  and  the  bread  always  cheer 
fully  furnished  by  the  negroes.  Occasionally  a  meal  was  made  from  some 
old  planter's  melon-patch.  We  could  easily  tell  where  plantations  were  at 
early  morn  by  the  crowing  of  chickens.  We  were  always  warmly  wel 
comed  by  the  negroes,  who,  most  of  them,  never  saw  a  Yankee  before, 
and  who  were  our  means  of  escape.  They  would  come  from  their  huts, 


748  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

each  laden  with  some  good  things  for  us.  Of  course,  the  first  point  of 
inquiry  was  regarding  their  freedom,  which  I  explained  to  them  as  best  I 
could.  .  .  .  Twice  did  we  hear  hounds  yelping  on  our  track  ;  but  we 
avoided  them  by  running  through  swamps,  down  streams,  &c.  Over  two 
weeks  we  were  thus  making  very  slow  headway  through  deep  swamps  and 
almost  impenetrable  forests,  wet  through  every  night,  drying  out  our 
clothing  every  day.  I  became,  I  must  acknowledge,  very  down-hearted 
for  the  first  time  ;  was  taken  sick  twenty-five  miles  from  Atlanta,  and  lay 

in  the  woods  near  Mr.  S 's  plantation  ;  the  negroes  taking  excellent 

care  of  me.  '  Aunt  Mary,'  an  experienced  nurse  in  the  sick-room,  took 
especial  interest  in  me,  insisting  upon  my  remaining  there,  and  recovering 
from  my  fatigues  and  hardships.  I  did  so  ;  and  under  her  kind  care  soon 
recovered  my  strength  and  spirits.  '  Aunt  Mary '  brought  our  meals  to 
us  as  regular  as  clock-work.  About  this  time,  our  cavalry  was  raiding 

through   the   country  near  S 's   plantation  ;  and,   after  I  recovered,  I 

was  induced  to  remain  there  over  a  month,  in  hopes  that  our  raiders  would 
reach  me.  Three  times  they  came  near  me  ;  once  within  three  miles,  but 
in  broad  daylight ;  and  the  rebel  cavalry  were  too  thick  for  me  to  under 
take  to  reach  our  forces. 

u  While  waiting  here  for  the  blue-coats  to  make  their  appearance,  we 
amused  ourselves  by  fishing  in  Cotton  River,  near  by ;  and,  by  setting 
fish-baskets,  we  obtained  frequent  messes  of  fish,  which  were  very  accepta 
ble  after  passing  through  '  Aunt  Mary's  '  hands.  At  last  my  companion 
started  with  a  uegro  guide  for  our  lines ;  but  his  awkwardness  was  fatal 
—  he  was  retaken. 

"I  now  determined  to  try  it  myself;  and,  in  company  with  the  negro 
Jim,  pulled  out  on  my  journey.  We  crossed  South  River,  in  a  dugout, 
safely ;  replenished  our  haversacks  at  a  plantation  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river ;  and  the  next  night  struck  Conger  Station  on  the  Northern  Georgia 
Railroad  ;  passed  through  it  at  midnight,  resting  at  daylight  on  the  railroad 
between  Congers  and  Lithouia.  I  disguised  myself  in  Jim's  clothes  as  a 
rebel  soldier,  and  went  to  a  citizen  in  a  neighboring  cornfield,  represented 
that  I  was  taken  by  the  Yankee  raiders,  but  escaped ;  and  was  trying  to 
reach  the  Confederates,  but  was  afraid  of  Yankees.  He  sympathized 

with  me  hugely  ;  said  there  was  '  not  a  d d  Yankee  east  of  Atlanta  : ' 

they  had  all  left,  and  gone  west,  preparatory  to  falling  back  to  Chatta 
nooga.  I  thought  it  was  one  of  Sherman's  tricks  ;  but  our  rations  had 
given  out,  and  the  negroes  had  all  fled  to  the  Union  lines :  so  I  concluded 
to  wait  at  a  neighboring  plantation.  I  resolved  to  try  the  whites;  and 

made  myself  known  to  a  white  man,  F ,  said  to  be  loyal.     I  found  it 

safe,  and  tarried  two  weeks.  Rebels  often  took  meals  at  the  house  ;  and 
relatives  of  the  family  often  stopped  over  night  in  an  adjoining  room  to 
mine.  I  was  never  introduced  to  them,  but  saw  them  all  from  my  hiding- 
place,  lie  was  a  member  of  the  30th  Georgia,  but  declared  that  he 
would  never  fire  upon  the  old  flag.  I  wrote  him  an  extension  of  his  fur 
lough,  which  was  accepted  by  the  conscripting  officer  as  genuine. 

"The  roads  being  clear,  I  resolved  to  go  again  for  the  Yankee  lines. 
Having  secured  a  carbine  left  in  South  River  by  one  of  our  raiding  parties, 
and  making  some  cartridges,  filling  the  large  haversack  the  girls  made  for 
me,  and  taking  a  change  of  underclothing  which  I  confiscated  from  an  old 
rebel's  trunk,  and  my  rifle,  I  bade  an  affectionate  farewell  to  those  who 
had  risked  their  lives  and  property  for  me.  Fulling  out  for  Lithonia,  on 
the  Northern  Railroad,  we  marched  partly  through  fields  the  same  night, 


ESCAPING  FROM  CAPTIVITY.  749 

within  three  miles  of  the  place  ;  halting  at  daylight.  We  went  to  a  poor 
woman's  house  :  she  was  Union,  and  welcomed  me,  but  had  heard  so  much 
about  the  Yankees  being  such  horrible  creatures,  she  hardly  believed  I  was 
a  '  Yank,'  even  after  I  had.  removed  my  gray  cape,  and  exposed  my  uni 
form  to  view.  We  safely  passed  several  rebel  cavalry  posts. 

"When  within  a  mile  of  Decatur,  we  selected  a  spot  by  the  side  of  a 
small  stream  as  headquarters  during  the  day ;  and  Jim  and  I  watched  and 
slept  alternately.  My  feet  were  so  sore,  I  could  hardly  remove  my  boots 
from  them.  As  we  had  marched  nearly  thirty  miles,  we  were  very  tired. 
Jim  went  to  sleep  '  on  picket.'  .  .  .  When  I  awoke,  a  man  stood  over 
Jim,  and  another  over  me,  demanding  surrender  ;  taking  care  before  this 
to  remove  my  carbine  beyond  my  reach.  I  inquired  if  I  was  to  be  treated 
as  a  prisoner  of  war.  He  replied,  '  most  assuredly  '  I  should.  I  saw  no 
alternative  (but  instant  death)  ;  so  I  surrendered.  We  talked  and  chatted 
gayly  about  matters  and  things  in  general.  My  captor  was  the  spokesman  ; 
the  other  said  little.  He  proceeded  to  search  me,  omitting  to  find  a  small 
ring  and  my  comp'ass,  which  were  concealed  on  my  person.  My  maps 
being  on  cloth,  I  easily  presented  the  wrong  side,  and  passed  them  as  hand 
kerchiefs.  I  had  given  my  watch  and  other  valuables  away  to  those  who 
took  care  of  me.  He  then  marched  us  off '  to  turn  me  over  to  the  cavalry.' 
Going  through  the  woods,  I  remarked  that  my  feet  were  completely  raw. 
He  coolly  replied,  I  wouldn't  want  to  use  them  much  longer.  .  .  . 

'•  We  halted.  The  spokesman,  setting  my  carbine  against  a  stump,  and 
coolly  cocking  his  rifle,  remarked  to  me,  '  My  friend,  this  is  as  good  a 
place  to  die  as  any  man  could  wish.  Soon,  sir,  you  will  be  no  more. 
You  have  done  all  the  damage  to  our  cause  you  ever  can.'  .  .  .  '  Well,' 
continued  the  spokesman,  '  if  you  wish  to  say  any  thing,  or  to  pray  a  little, 
you  have  just  exactly  two  minutes  to  do  it.  I  shall  then  put  you  out  of 
the  world  without  any  more  ceremony.' 

"  Just  then  a  thought  struck  me  :  it  was  to  take  the  last  chance  for  my 
life, —  to  run. 

"  They  said  my  two  minutes  were  about  up,  and  I  must  hurry.  I  bent 
my  knees  as  if  to  kneel  again  ;  but,  instead,  I  gave  a  sudden  spring  back 
wards,  turned,  and  was  fairly  flying  from  them.  Of  course,  my  spring 
was  the  signal  for  them  to  fire.  They  did  so.  The  three  rifles  were  fired 
in  rapid  succession  ;  and  one  of  them  was  reloaded  and  fired.  The  first 
shot  missed  me ;  but  I  imagine  the  bullet  came  very  near  my  head.  The 
second  shot  took  effect  in  the  right  shoulder,  passing  through  the  shoulder- 
blade,  and  shattering  the  upper  rib  in  passing  out.  The  ball  knocked  me 
flat ;  and  a  deadly  quiver  passed  over  my  right  side  as  my  arm  fell  useless- 
by  my  side.  No  sooner  down  than  up.  As  I  rose,  the  third  shot  took  my 
cap  from  my  head.  It  being  an  old  one,  1  didn't  stop  to  pick  it  up.  Away 
I  went  like  the  wind,  holding  my  right  arm  up  with  the  left  one.  The 
fourth  shot  scattered  the  leaves  beside  me,  evidently  intended  to  hit  me  in 
the  le«-s.  As  soon  as  the  villains  emptied  their  pieces  at  me,  the  negro 
followed  after  at  double-quick.  The  traitors  followed  a  very  little  way, 
and  gave  it  up,  concluding,  no  doubt,  that  I  was  an  '  iron-clad  '  Yankee. 
I  ran  over  a  mile,  the  blood  spirting  out  fitfully  at  every  pulsation.  Not 
feeling  safe  so  near  the  villains,  I  continued  at  a  walk  two  miles  and  a 
half  further  south,  Jim  helping  me  over  the  fences.  All  this  while  the 
blood  was  flowing  freely,  literally  filling  my  boots.  I  now  sank  down  ex 
hausted,  hardly  expecting  to  recover  ;  but  thankful  to  die  away  from  such 
blood-thirsty  fiends.  As  I  grew  dizzy  and  weaker,  I  felt  as  though  ray 


750  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

moments  on  this  earth,  were  few.  I  told  Jim  who  I  wished  to  have 
written  to  ;  and  fell  asleep,  hardly  doubting  that  it  was  to  be  the  sleep  of 
death. 

"  But  I  lived  ;  and  Jim  took  my  compass,  and  succeeded  in  reaching 
Atlanta,  whence  a  body  of  Kilpatrick's  cavalry  was  dispatched,  and  I  was 
taken  within  the  Union  lines." 

The  general  experience  of  Connecticut  soldiers  in  Ander- 
sonville  has  already  been  given.  Almost  every  regiment 
was  represented  there.  We  add  some  accounts  of  personal 
experience  :  — 

Edward  T.  Abbott  of  the  Twentieth  was  captured  before 
Atlanta.  In  his  narrative,  he  speaks  of  having  witnessed  the 
escape  from  the  gang  of  prisoners  of  Lieut.  Bailey,  whose 
story  is  given  above.  Abbott  shared  for  two  months  the 
horrible  experience  of  Andersonville.  He  writes,  "  The 
drinking  water  is  got  as  near  the  dead-line  as  the  prisoners 
dare  go ;  and  some,  venturing  too  far  for  clear  water,  get 
shot.  One  instance  I  saw.  A  man  was  reaching  after  the 
water  when  a  guard  fired  at  him,  missing  him,  but  hitting 
another  man  farther  back,  in  the  head.  He  fell  backwards 
into  the  water,  his  blood  mingling  with  the  stream ;  while 
hundreds  were  near  by  washing,  and  thousands  of  men  in 
sight,  unable  to  avenge  his  death.  I  tell  you  it  made  my 
blood  boil ;  and  I  should  certainly  have  shot  that  guard  as 
he  stood  coolly  loading  his  gun  afterwards,  had  I  had  my 
rifle  in  hand.  Day  after  day  we  waited,  watched,  and  prayed 
for  deliverance  ;  and  at  last  thought  our  prayers  were  heard, 
for  we  learned  that  Stoneman  was  on  the  way  to  set  us  free. 
We  had  some  reason  to  believe  the  story ;  for  the  rebels  imme 
diately  began  strengthening  their  works,  setting  three  hun 
dred  slaves  at  work  to  build  another  stockade  around  the 
one  already  built.  But  we  were  soon  discouraged  again  by 
hearing  of  Stoneman's  capture." 

Edward  Smith  and  Elbert  Sutliff,  members  of  the  Bristol 
company  of  the  Sixteenth,  survived  their  Andersonville 
captivity,  were  exchanged,  and,  when  returning,  both  per 
ished  ;  the  former  when  the  Black  Diamond  went  down, 
and  the  latter  at  the  burning  of  the  ill-starred  vessel,  Gen. 
Lyon.  There  were  many  Bristol  soldiers  in  Anderson 
ville. 


CRUEL  TREATMENT  OF  PRISONERS  IN  ANDERSONVILLE.     751 

Among  those  who  escaped  from  Andersonville  was 
Andrew  J.  Spring  of  the  Sixteenth,  from  Collinsville.  He 
and  two  comrades  were  five  days  in  reaching  our  lines; 
living  on  sugar-cane,  green  corn,  and  persimmons.  They 
traveled  in  the  woods  mostly,  guiding  themselves  by  the 
moss,  which  always  grows  heaviest  on  the  north  side  of  trees. 
They  had  to  pass  three  lines  of  rebel  pickets.  The  first  one 
they  passed  without  difficulty.  The  next  line  they  came 
upon  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  hid  in  the 
woods  until  evening,  when  a  thunder-shower  came  on ;  and 
in  the  thick  darkness,  and  by  crawling  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  the  wet  grass  on  their  hands  and  knees,  between  the 
picket-posts,  they  got  safely  through.  The  next  line  was 
a  cavalry  picket;  and  the  fugitives  got  through  by  caution 
and  some  smart  "  flanking"  operations.  They  soon  struck 
the  railroad,  and  afterwards  our  picket-line,  and  were  safe 
once  more-  under  the  flag  of  the  Union.  He  said  of  the 
prison,  — 

"  Before  Stoneman's  raid,  the  rebels  had  a  chain-gang  in  the  stockade, 
made  up  of  such  as  had  attempted  to  escape.  Thirteen  poor  fellows  were 
chained  together  by  the  ankles  in  a  line  on  one  side  ;  each  man  having  a 
32-pound  ball  attached  by  a  chain  to  the  leg.  A  short  chain  ran  from  one 
leg  to  the  other,  giving  each  man  a  step  of  eight  inches.  On  the  other  leg, 
every  fourth  man  had  a  G4-pound  ball  chained  to  his  leg.  When  the  gang 
moved,  each  man  carried  his  32-pounder  on  one  side  ;  and  on  the  other  side 
a  rod  was  run  through  rings  in  the  balls,  and  four  men  carried  each  of  the 
G4-pounders.  And  so  the  poor  soldiers  wei'e  kept  day  after  day.  When 
one  must  go  to  the  swamp,  among  the  filth  of  that  horrible  place,  all  must  go, 
in  their  eight-inch  step,  and  lugging  the  terrible  weight  of  iron  with  which 
they  Avere  encumbered.  This  chain-gang  was  released  when  Stoueman 
was  making  his  raid ;  the  rebels  not  caring  to.  have  that  general  find  such 
an  evidence  of  barbarity,  in  case  he  surprised  them  at  Andersonville." 

Peter  J.  Smith,  on  being  released,  made  affidavit  that  the 
following  barbarity  was  practiced  upon  himself  and  others 
by  Major  Allen  of  the  2d  Virginia  Cavalry :  — 

"  At  one  time  he  took  eight  of  us,  myself  amongst  the  number,  all  non 
commissioned  officers  ;  and  upon  our  refusing  to  take  the  oath,  and  to 
persuade  the  privates  to  do  so,  tied  each  of  us,  our  hands  and  arms  to  our 
sides,  and  our  feet  together,  so  that  we  could  not  use  them  ;  laid  us  on  our 
sides  ;  and  then  took  a  loaded  pistol,  and,  resting  it  on  our  ears,  fired  it  off, 
causing  us  the  greatest  agony,  and  the  blood  to  flow  from  our  ears.  lie 
caused  the  pistol  to  be  thus  fired  on  my  car  twelve  times,  saying,  '  I  will 
make  you  so  you  can't  hear  the  command  of  another  Yankee  general' or 


752  CONNECTICUT  DTJEING  THE  REBELLION. 

commander.'     The  hearing  of  my  right  ear  has  been  destroyed  in  conse 
quence  of  this  treatment." 

Color-Corporal  Charles  E.  Lee  of  Guilford  was  one  of  three 
sons  of  James  E.  Lee,  all  of  whom  enlisted  in  the  army. 
Charles  was  captured  with  the  Sixteenth,  and  taken  to 
Andersonville.  The  following  are  extracts  from  his 
diary  :  — 

May  9.  —  Our  rations  to-day  are  reduced  ;  the  whole  being  only  enough  for 
a  very  scanty  meal.  In  the  evening  sang  together  till  nine  o'clock. 

June  5,  Sunday.  —  Spent  the  day  principally  in  reading  my  Testament. 
For  rations,  some  bread  so  sour  that  we  could  not  eat  it. 

July  4.  —  To-day  is  the  anniversary  of  our  National  Independence,  and 
instead  of  celebrating  it  in  old  Connecticut,  as  I  have  been  wont  to  do,  I 
am  held  in  the  most  disgusting  captivity  ;  yet  I  am  perfectly  willing  to 
suffer  ft  all,  if  I  am  thereby  doing  any  thing  towards  saving  our  glorious 
Union. 

Aucf.ll.  —  Two  years  ago  to-day,  I  enlisted  in  the  glorious  cause  of 
freedom  ;  and,  though  I  am  now  suffering  so  much  for  my  country,  I  still 
rejoice  that  I  enlisted  when  and  where  I  did. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,  reviewing  his  sad  experience 
during  the  months  of  imprisonment  that  had  passed,  he 
writes  as  follows,  "  Again  I  am  called  to  bid  adieu  to  the 
passing  year ;  but  under  very  different  circumstances  from 
any  in  which  I  have  ever  been.  During  the  year  1864,  I 
have  passed  eight  months  in  the  most  degrading  imprison 
ment.  In  that  time,  our  inhuman  captors  have  not  furnished 
shelter  of  any  kind ;  and  we  have  repeatedly  been  for  two 
and  three  days  at  a  time  without  a  morsel  of  food ;  and  even 
that  we  have  received  would  at  home  have  been  generally 
thought  unfit  for  swine.  We  have  not  had  a  particle  of 
meat  for  forty-two  days,  and  but  little  molasses,  or  any 
thing  to  take  the  place  of  it.  Our  rations  chiefly  consist  of 
about  a  pint  and  a  half  of  coarse  corn-meal,  and  half  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  salt  daily.  Now  and  then  we  receive  a  few 
beans  or  sweet-potatoes.  Many  a  night  have  I  lain  awake 
because  I  was  so  hungry  that  I  could  not  sleep."  At  last, 
emaciated  from  exposure  and  lack  of  food.,  he  was  exchanged  ; 
and  arrived  at  Washington,  N.C.,  only  to  die  under  the  flag 
for  which  he  had  fought  and  suffered. 

Sergeant  Frederick  Beardsley  of  Orange  narrates  the 
trials  of  himself  and  Corporal  P.  M.  Barnum  of  Middlebury 


SERGEANT  JOHN  S.  JAMESON.  753 

at  Andersonville.  Beardsley  says  of  his  comrade,  "  Like  the 
rest  of  us,  he  became  thin  and  weak  ;  our  only  rations  being 
one  pint  of  coarse  cob-meal  per  day,  with  occasionally  a 
small  piece  of  rusty  bacon.  We  had  no  shelter  whatever : 
our  clothes  were  very  poor,  the  bare  ground  our  couch,  and 
the  cold  dews  of  heaven  our  only  blanket.  About  the  first 
of  August,  1864,  poor  Barnum  was  taken  sick  with  scurvy. 
Could  he  have  had  a  small  quantity  of  vegetables  daily, 
with  which  the  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  stock 
ade  abounded,  he  might  have  been  spared ;  but,  as  it  was, 
his  disease  stole  rapidly  upon  him  in  its  very  worst  form. 
His  teeth  became  so  loose,  he  could  take  them  from  his 
mouth  with  his  fingers  ;  and  his  lower  limbs,  from  gangrene, 
became  useless.  He  was  not  removed  to  the  hospital,  had 
no  medicines,  and  no  addition  or  change  of  diet,  —  nothing,' 
in  fact,  did  he  have  to  put  into  his  mouth  but  what  made 
him  absolutely  worse.  On  the  twenty-third  day  of  August, 
Mr.  Barnum  died,  —  died  like  thousands  of  others  in  the 
stockade,  as  no  brute  in  a  civilized  land  would  be  permitted 
to  die." 

Sergeant  John  S.  Jameson  was  another  worthy  martyr  to 
the  cause  of  nationality.  Family  restraints  withheld  him 
from  entering  the  war  at  an  early  period  ;  and  it  was  1864 
when  he  entered  in  the  First  Cavalry  as  a  recruit  from  West 
Meriden.  In  all  the  subsequent  engagements  of  that  regi 
ment  he  fought,  and  was  finally  captured  in  the  battle  at 
Reams's  Station.  He  was  kept  at  Libby  till  midsummer, 
when  he  was  transferred  to  Andersonville,  where  he  died  on 
Aug.  31  in  the  prison  hospital,  in  the  dawn  of  early  man 
hood,  and  with  a  love  of  country  that  knew  no  abatement. 
He  was  a  native  of  Hartford,  and  a  young  man  of  high 
attainments  and  unusual  promise.  He  was  a  protege  of  the 
artist  Church,  who  often  spoke  of  his  rare  qualities,  and  pre 
dicted  for  him'  great  success  as  an  artist.  His  talents 
were  highly  versatile  ;  for  he  was  proficient  in  music,  and 
possessed  a  poetic  turn  of  mind.  A  friend  wrote,  "  He  was 
honored  by  all  who  knew  him,  for  his  intelligence,  generous 
impulses,  and  cheerful  performance  of  duty ;  was  beloved  as 


95 


754  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

a  companion ;  and  was  tenderly  thoughtful  and  affectionate 
as  a  son." 

Among  others  from  Connecticut  who  died  at  Anderson- 
ville,  almost  literally  starved  to  death,  were  James  M.  Kieth 
of  Manchester,  C.  Wallace  Woodford  of  West  Avon,  John 
W.  Crabtree  of  Hartford,  and  Robert  K.  Reid  of  Waterbury. 
The  last-named  died  in  the  arms  of  his  father,  a  fellow- 
soldier,  and' a  prisoner  at  the  same  time  and  place.  A  full 
roll  of  our  Andersonville  martyrs  will  be  found  in  the 
appendix. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

Affairs  before  Richmond.  —  Grant  and  Sherman  of  Connecticut  Stock.  —  Genealogy.  — 
Location  and  Organization  of  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  The  First  Cavalry  returns 
to  Petersburg.  —  Whitakcr  captures  Major  Gilmor.  —  Twelfth  and  Eighteenth  Regi 
ments. —  First  Artillery. — Death  of  Lieut.-Col.  Trumbull.  —  Second  Artillery. — 
First,  Second,  and  Third  Batteries.  —  Sixth  and  Seventh.  —  Death  of  Chaplain 
Eaton.  —  Eighth,  Eleventh,  Twenty-first,  and  Twenty-ninth.  — Ninth  and  Thirteenth. 
—  Tenth  and  Fourteenth.  —  Sherman's  Great  March  Northward.  —  The  Fifth  and 
Twentieth.  —  Incidents  of  the  Campaign.  -1-  Battles  and  Victories.  —  Casualties. — 
Disaster  of  the  Fifteenth  Connecticut.  —  The  Sixteenth. 

LYSSES  GRANT  was  not  the  man  to  relax  his 
grip  on  Richmond.  When  the  spring  of  1865 
stirred  among  the  sentient  roots  of  grasses, 
and  woke  the  beauty  latent  in  the  hills,  he  had 
strengthened  his  chain  of  redoubts,  tightened 
his  cordon  of  rifles,  and  reached  farther 'outward  and  for 
ward  with  his  armored  left,  in  the  death-clasp  that  was  to 
encircle  the  enemy's  citadel.  The  materiel  of  war  was  re 
newed.  Every  regiment  was  put  in  the  best  fighting-trim. 
He  felt  that  this  was  the  head  of  the  Rebellion ;  and,  with 
Sherman  and  Terry  working  steadily  at  the  giant's  limbs, 
he  knew  that  his  adversary  would  soon  become  an  amor 
phous  monster,  —  a  mere  torso,  easily  enough  dispatched. 
As  the  people  of  our  State  looked  on  at  the  struggle,  they 
recalled  with  pardonable  pride  the  fact  that  these  three 
soldiers,  —  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Terry,  —  who  had  become 
the  supreme  hope  of  the  nation  in  its  hour  of  agony,  had 
all  sprung  from  a  long  line  of  ancestors,  who  were  born 
upon  the  soil,  and  trained  in  the  district-schools,  of  Connec 
ticut.1 

1  J.  Hammond  Trumbull  of  Hartford,  and  Richard  A.  Wheeler  of  Stonington,  have 
ascertained  and  arranged  the  genealogical  record  of  Gen.  Grant.  He  is  descended  from 
an  ancient  and  worthy  Connecticut  family.  The  immigrant  ancestor  was  Matthew  Grant, 
who,  with  his  wile  Prise-ilia,  came  over  in  the  ship  Mary  and  John  to  Dorchester,  Mass., 

755 


CONNECTICUT  DUKING   THE  REBELLION. 

Lee  was  on  the  defensive ;  but  he  was  weak,  and  appealed 
earnestly  for  re-inforcements.  Mr.  Davis  saw  the  peril  of 
the  situation,  and  again  he  roweled  with  fiercer  spur  the 
flanks  of  the  jaded  Confederacy.  No  response  came. 
The  South  was  utterly  exhausted,  —  not  in  men,  but  in 
motive ;  not  in  strength,  but  in  effective  will.  Its  master 
passion  was  worn  out ;  for  a  majority  of  the  promoters  of 
secession  were  dead.  Its  body  was  rent  sore ;  and  the 
devils  of  State  supremacy  and  slave  chivalry  had  been 
expelled.  Lee  in  front  of  Grant,'  and  Johnston  again  in  the 
path  of  Sherman,  had  barely  eighty  thousand  soldiers ;  while 
a  hundred  thousand  men  hid  in  the  mountains,  avoiding  the 
officers  of  conscription.  From  the  regiments  of  Lee,  a  hun 
dred  men  deserted  every  day.  The  end  was  drawing  nigh. 

The  location  of  most  of!  the  Connecticut  regiments  was 
essentially  the  same  as  at  the  beginning  of  winter.  The 

in  1630.  He  and  his  neighbors  came  in  1635  to  Connecticut,  and  founded  a  town,  which 
for  the  first  year  they  called  Dorchester,  and  subsequently  Windsor.  Grant  became  an 
active  and  prominent  citizen  of  Windsor;  being  for  many  years  town-clerk,  and  surveyor 
of  lands,  and  also  deacon  of  the  church.  Says  Dr.  Stiles  in  the  history  of  ancient  Wind 
sor  (published  before  Gen.  Grant  had  attained  any  distinction),  "Few  men  filled  so  large 
a  place  in  the  early  history  of  Windsor,  or  filled  it  so  well,  as  honest  Matthew  Grant.  His 
name  figures  in  almost  every  place  of  trust."  In  the  diagram  of  the  "  palisado  plot,"  a 
fortification  which  inclosed  the  first  houses  of  the  settlement  for  defense  against  the 
Indians,  the  residence  of  Matthew  Grant  is  posted,  like  a  sentry-box,  at  the  single  gate 
of  entrance.  In  Windsor,  Priscilla  died,  leaving  four  children ;  and  Deacon  Grant  after 
wards  married  widow  Susanna  Rockwell. 
The  following  is  the  family  pedigree  :  — 

1.  MATTHKW  GRANT  m.  Priscilla ,  Nov.  16,  1625;  he  d.  Dec.  1C,  1681.     Chil.:  Priscilla; 

(2)  Samuel,  b.  Nov.  1',',  1631;  Tahan;  John. 

2.  SA.MUKL  GRANT  of  Windsor  m.  Mary  Porter,  May  27,  1658.    Chil. :  (3)  Samuel,  jr.,  b.  April 
30,  1059;  John;  Matthew)  Josiah;  Nathaniel;  Mary;  Sarah;  Abigail. 

3.  SAMUKL  GRANT,  .Ir.,  of  Windsor,  m.,  1st,  Hannah  Filley,  Dec.  0,  1083,  by  whom  lie  had  a 
dau.,  Hannah,  who  d.  young;  m.,  2d,  Grace  Miner,  dau.  of  John  of  Woodbury.  April  11,  1088. 
Their   chil.  were:  Hannah;  Samuel;  (4)  Noah,  b.  Dec.  16,  161)2;  Abigail ;   Ephraimi    Grace; 
David ;  Ebeneser. 

4.  NOAH  GRANT  located  in  Tolland,  Conn.,  soon  after  that  town  was  settled.    lie  m.  Martha 
Huntington,  dim.  of  John  of  Norwich,  and  a  descendant  of  the  second  wife  of  Matthew  Grant. 
They  hud  the  following  chil. :  (5)  Noah,  b.  July  12,  1718;  Adoniram;  Solomon  ;  Mirtha. 

5.  NOAH  GRANT  removed  from  Tollund  to  Coventry  about  1750.    He  and  his  brother  Solomon, 
who  was  also  a  resident  of  Coventry,  joined  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point  in  1765,  and  were  both- 
killed  the  same  year.    He  m.  Susannah  Delano,  Nov.  5,  1746;  and  had  chil. :  (6)  JSoah,  b.  June  20, 
1748;  Peter. 

6.  NOAH  GRANT  was  a  captain,  and  served  with  distinction  in  the  Revolutionary  War.    He 
removed  from  Coventry  to  Pennsylvania  about   1787.     He  m.,  1st,  Mrs.  Anna  Richardson  in 
Coventry;  she  d.  before  he  emigrated;  he  m.,  2d,  in  Pennsylvania,  Rachel  Kelley  in  1791.    Chil. 
by  1st  wife,  b.  in  Coventry:  Peter;    Solomon.     Chil.  by  2d  wile,  b.  in  Pennsylvania:  Susan; 
(7)  Jesse  Root,  b.  Jan.  171)4;  Margaret;  Noah;  John;  Roswell;  Rachel. 

7.  JESSE  ROOT  GRANT,  father  of  Gen.  Grant,  was  named  for  Hon.  Jesse  Root  of  Coventry, 
the  learned  and  able  Chief  Justice  ot  Connecticut  during  a  former  generation.    He  settled  in 
Ohio;  and  m.  Miss  Hannah  Simpson,  June  24,  1821.     Their  cbil.  were :  Gen.  Ulysses  Simpson, 
born  April  27,  1822,  and  others. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  above  record,  that  Gen.  Grant  is  a  descendant  in  the  eighth  gene 
ration  from  Matthew  Grant  of  Windsor;  the  line  being  as  follows,  —  1,  Matthew;  2, 
Samuel ;  3,  Samuel,  jr. ;  4,  Noah  ;  5,  Noah  ;  6,  Noah  ;  7,  Jesse  Root ;  8,  Ulysses  Simpson. 

Besides  the  Grant  blood,  there  is  intermingled  in  the  veins  of  the  genera"!,  by  suc 
cessive  marriages,  die  blood  of  some  of  the  best  Connecticut  families,  —  the  Hunting- 
tons,  the  Lathrops,  the  Porters,  the  Miners,  the  Putnams, —  all  strong  names,  and 
significant  of  good  training  and  sturdy  growths. 


THE  FIRST  CAVALRY   UNDER   SHERIDAN.  757 

First  Cavalry  was  still  under  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah. 
The  regiment  had  been  engaged  in  raids  and  skirmishes  all 
winter.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1864,  under  Major  E.  W. 
Whitaker,  it  formed  a  part  of  the  division  of  Gen.  Ouster, 
bivouacked  at  Lazy  Springs,  Va.  Before  daybreak,  a  divis 
ion  of  rebel  cavalry  dashed  in  among  the  slumberers. 

Major  E.  W.  Whitaker  says,  "Though  some  regiments 
did  not  stand  firmly  under  the  excitement  of  the  sudden 
charge,  and  a  temporary  confusion  ensued,  the  First  Connecti 
cut  was  firm  among  dazzling  camp-fires,  facing  the  flashes  of 
the  enemy's  rifles.  The  enemy  was  driven  from  our  bivouac 
by  the  dawn  of  light;  and  we  were  assigned  the  important 
duty  of  covering  the  rear  and  left  flank  in  the  retrograde 
movement  decided  upon  by  Gen.  Ouster.  In  this  affair, 
the  officers  and  men  of  the  regiment  deserve  especial  credit 
for  the  remarkable  coolness  and  firmness  with  which  they 
stood  the  charge  of  the  enemy  under  the  peculiar  disad 
vantages.  Neither  the  recent  arousing  from  an  icy  bivouac, 
the  dazzling  of  fires  in  the  darkness  of  the  storm,  the 
demoralization  witnessed  in  other  commands,  nor  the 
fiendish  yell  of  the  enemy,  nor  all  combined,  could  shake 
for  a  moment  the  solid  ranks  of  the  First  Connecticut, 
formed  and  moving  to  a  charge  under  the  enemy's  fire." 

Col.  E.  Blakeslee  resigned  at  the  end  of  three  years' 
distinguished  service,  and  received  the  brevet  rank  of 
brigadier-general.  Lieut-Col.  Brayton  Ives  became  colonel; 
Major  E.  W.  Whitaker,  lieutenant-colonel ;  and  Capt  John  B. 
Morehouse,  major. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  -Lieut-Col.  Whitaker,  promoted 
vice  Ives  appointed  colonel,  achieved  a  brilliant  exploit. 
The  famous  rebel  raider,  Harry  Gilmor,  had  charged 
through  Maryland,  destroyed  the  Baltimore  and  Washing 
ton  Railroad,  captured  a  major-general  and  many  officers  on 
the  train,2  and  escaped  across  the  Potomac.  Col.  Whitaker 
was  designated  by  Sheridan's  chief  of  staff  to  lead  three 

2  Among  the  passengers  on  the  train  that  was  stopped  and  burned  by  Gilmor  was 
Lieut.-Col.  M.  B.  Smith  of  the  Eighth.  He  slipped  his  watch  and  pocket-book  into  his 
boot-leg ;  and,  when  a  soldier  demanded  his  boots,  he  saved  them  by  appealing  to  an 
officer.  Col.  Smith  was  made  prisoner ;  but,  while  the  raiders  were  busy  with  plunder,  he 
sauntered  off  to  a  neighboring  house,  'concealed  himself,  and  escaped  that  night  to  our 
lines. 


758  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  EEBELLION. 

hundred  picked  men,  and  capture  the  bold  rider.  He 
straightway  chased  and  captured  Gilmor,  and  delivered  him 
over  to  the  Federal  authorities.  Of  this  adventure,  we  only 
learn  the  following  from  his  report :  "  A  difficult  march  of 
all  day  and  night  over  the  Alleghanies,  of  seventy  miles, 
thirty  of  which  were  within  the  enemy's  line,  enabled  me  to 
reach  and  surprise  Major  Gilmor  in  vicinity  of  his  camp.  I 
returned  successfully,  having  accomplished  the  object  of  the 
expedition ;  making  a  march  of  one  hundred  and  forty  miles 
in  a  little  over  forty-eight  hours." 

Col.  Whitaker  acknowledged  his  great  indebtedness  to 
Lieut.  Elias  S.  Brown  of  Ledyard,  and  Lieut.  Lester  W. 
Cowles  of  Hartford ;  also  to  surgeon  George  A.  Hurlburt 
of  Glastenbury,  who  accompanied  the  expedition.  In 
February,  Lieut-Col.  Whitaker  was  detached  as  division 
inspector  to  Gen.  Custer;  and  Col.  Ives  took  a  short  fur 
lough. 

About  the  first  of  March,  Sheridan  started  to  return  to 
Grant's  army, '  v,id  the  valley  and  Lynchburg.  The  First 
Connecticut  started  from  Winchester,  commanded  by  Major 
Leonard  P.  Goodwin.  The  enemy  was  met  at  Waynes- 
borough.  March  2.  Says  Col.  Ives  in  his  report,  — 

"  The  First  Connecticut,  with  two  other  regiments,  was  dismounted  by 
Gen.  Custer,  and  put  upon  the  rebel  flank  [the  three  regiments  being  led 
by  Col.  Whitaker].  Although  the  men  could  move  but  slowly,  owing  to 
the  depth  of  mud,  still  they  advanced  with  so  much  enthusiasm,  that  the 
enemy  broke  ;  when  the  rest  of  the  division  charged,  mounted,  and  put  them 
completely  to  rout.  In  this  affair,  our  side  lost  but  nine  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing ;  while  our  captures  consisted  of  thirteen  hundred  prisoners, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  wagons,  eight  hundred  horses  and  mules,  eleven 
guns,  and  eighteen  battle-flags  !  " 

It  was  evident  that  the  Rebellion  was  waning ;  that  the 
soldiers  had  lost  their  spirit  and  hope.  The  column  moved 
to  Charlotteville,  when  Sheridan  abandoned  his  plan  of 
crossing  the  James,  and  pushed  eastward,  via  New  Market, 
Columbia,  King  William's  Court  House,  to  the  north  of  Rich 
mond.  Lieut-Col.  Whitaker  says,  — 

"March  13,  as  Gen.  Sheridan  neared  Richmond,  I  was  given  the 
command  of  my  regiment  in  advance,  and  routed  Gen.  Early  with  his 
escort  of  two  hundred  and  forty  men,  scattering  all  not  taken  prisoners 
to  the  woods.  Passing  to  within  nine  miles  of  Richmond,  we  moved  north- 


DOINGS   OF  THE  FIRST  ARTILLERY.  759 

ward  to  Ashland,  when  the  2d  New- York  Cavalry  was  sent  to  re-inforce 
me  while  destroying  railroad  depot,  &c.  On  the  next  day,  the  regiment 
was  in  line,  confronting  the  enemy,  who  was  feeling  us  at  Ashland.  Gen. 
Sheridan,  desiring  to  learn  the  force  of  the  enemy  about  to  intercept  his 
column,  ordered  an  attack  to  develop  his  strength.  Gen.  Custer  directed 
me  to  charge  his  lines  to  discover,  if  possible,  any  infantry.  Leaving  a 
greater  portion  of  the  regiment  as  reserve,  and  taking  Capt.  E.  M. 
Neville's  squadron,  I  succeeded  in  pressing  in  the  enemy's  cavalry  to  their 
reserve,  and  on  to  a  strong  infantry  command  of  Longstreet's  corps.  I 
regret  to  report  the  loss,  in  this  last  charge,  of  Lieut.  J.  W.  Clark,  killed  ; 
a  brave  and  faithful  officer,  who  was  loved  and  respected  equally  by  subor 
dinates  and  superiors."  Sergeant  Frank  Newbold  and  John  Geiger, 
valued  soldiers,  also  fell  here  at  the  extreme  front  of  danger. 

When  the  army  crossed  the  James,  Col.  Ives  returned,  and 
resumed  command  of  the  regiment. 

The  First  Artillery  still  manned  the  long  line  of  guns  in 
front  of  Petersburg.  The  casualties  of  the  regiment  during 
the  year  had  been  one- officer  and  twent}r-nine  enlisted  men 
killed,  and  four  officers  and  forty-four  enlisted  men  wounded. 
Sixty-eight  had  died  of  disease  and  exposure. 

Col.  Abbot's  report  says,  — 

"  To  Lieut.-Col.  Nelson  L.  White  I  am  indebted  for  cordial  support  and 
gallant  service.  Acting  as  inspector-general  on  my  staff,  and  for  a  time 
as  commanding  officer  of  the  batteries  in  front  of  Petersburg,  he  has  been 
the  model  of  a  high-toned  gentleman.  After  serving  until  the  end 'of  the 
campaign,  about  six  months  beyond  his  original  term,  he  left  the  army 
regretted  by  all.  Lieut.-Col.  Thomas  S.  Trumbull  has  highly  distinguished 
himself  for  ability,  courage,  and  devotion  to  duty.  Entering  upon  the  cam 
paign  with  health  much  impaired,  and  placed  at  first  in  command  of  Fort 
Anderson,  where  he  was  under  fire  night  and  day,  he  seemed  to  throw  off 
disease  by  determined  will.  Transferred  to  the  command  of  the  most  im 
portant  line  of  batteries  in  front  of  Petersburg,  his  only  fault  was  in  labor 
ing  beyond  his  strength.  In  October,  when  recovering  from  a  severe  attack 
thus  engendered,  he  gave  energetic  attention  to  getting  into  position,  and 
organizing  the  artillery  on*  the  lines  of  City  Point.  Few  officers  have  the 
energy  and  ability  to  accomplish  what  he  has  done.  Major  G.  B.  Cook, 
during  most  of  the  campaign,  has  been  in  charge  of  the  artillery  on  the  lines 
of  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  has  well  performed  his  duties.  Major  Albert 
F.  Brooker  and  Major  George  Ager,  after  gallant  and  distinguished  ser 
vices  during  the  summer  as  battery  commanders,  have  been  promoted,  and 
have  energetically  entered  upon  their  new  duties. 

"  Where  all  the  company  commanders  have  so  faithfully  done  their  duty, 
it  seems  almost  invidious  to  select  names  for  special  mention.  Almost  all 
have  at  different  times  had  command  of  independent  batteries  ;  and  none 
have  failed  to  efficiently  serve  them.  Some,  however,  have  been  more 
fortunate  than  others  in  having  rare  opportunities  for  performing  conspicu 
ous  services :  of  this  number  are  especially  Capts.  II.  II.  Pierce,  Wilbur 
F.  Osborne,  and  William  G.  Pride,  also  E.  C.  Dow,  F.  A.  Pratt,  E.  A. 
Gillette,  C.  O.  Brigham,  John  H.  Burton,  W.  A.  Lincoln,  John  A.  Twiss, 


760  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

G.  D.  Sargeant,  C.  ,R.  Barman,  and  George  Dimock,  and  Lieuts.  L. 
W.  Jackson,  II.  A.  Pratt,  E.  P.  Mason,  H.  D.  Patterson,  John  O'Brien, 
T.  D.  Cashin,  John  Odell,  G.  F.  Bill,  S.  A.  Woodruff,  T.  J.  Beers,  and 
C.  N.  Silliman.  Surgeon  S.  W.  Skinner,  Assistant  Surgeons  John  S. 
Delavan  and  Nathaniel  Matson,  and  Chaplain  Samuel  F.  Jarvis,  all  merit 
my  thanks  for  their  faithful  care  of  our  sick. 

"  Lieut.  Eben  P.  Hall  was  killed  by  a  sharpshooter,  while,  regardless  of 
personal  safety,  he  was  skillfully  directing  the  fire  of  his  mortar  battery. 
Lieut.  J.  H.  Cummings  and  Lieut.  G.  L.  Turner,  refusing  to  leave  their 
exhausting  labors  under  fire  until  too  late,  died  in  consequence  of  their 
devotion  to  duty.  The  regiment  may  well  be  proud  that  these  names 
appear  upon  its  rolls." 

Major-Gen.  W.  F.  ("Baldy")  Smith  wrote  to  Col.  Abbot 
at  this  time, — 

"  I  saw  much  of  the  services  of  the  First  Connecticut  Artillery  during 
the  campaign  of  1862,  and  was  then  delighted  with  the  skill  and  gallantry 
of  the  officers  and  men.  During  the  time  I  commanded  the  18th  Corps 
before  Petersburg,  I  called  heavily  upon  you  for  siege  guns  and  mortars ; 
and  never  before  during  the  war  have  I  witnessed  such  artillery  practice  as 
I  saw  with  your  regiment.  The  practicability  of  holding  my  position  there 
after  the  21st  of  June  was  due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  skill  displayed  by 
your  regiment.  I  trust  every  effort  will  be  made  to  fill  up  a  regiment 
which  has  not  its  equal  in  artillery  firing,  and  which  can  not  be  dispensed 
with  without  great  injury  to  the  service." 

The  organization  of  the  siege  artillery  brigade,  command 
ed  by  Col.  Abbot,  remained  unchanged  ;  consisting  of 
eighteen  companies,  with  an  aggregate  of  twenty-seven 
hundred  men  and  two  hundred  and  six  guns.  Eight  com 
panies  were  serving  on  the  lines  in  front  of  Richmond,  and 
ten  in  front  of  Petersburg.  This  command  constituted  the 
entire  siege  artillery  of  the  two  armies.  On  March  3,  Col. 
Abbot  received  the  brevet  rank  of  major-general. 

Lieut.-Col.  Thomas  S.  Trumbull  died  at  Washington,  March 
3,  1865,  of  disease  contracted  in  the  Cliickahommy  swamps. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  he  was  practicing  law  in  New- 
York  City,  and  immediately  volunteered  to  join  the  Seventh ; 
but  that  regiment  was  full.  He  telegraphed  to  join  Haw- 
ley's  company  in  the  First ;  but  was  again,  too  late.  He 
declined  a  commission  in  a  New-York  regiment,  and  came 
home  to  Hartford  in  time  to  enlist  as  a  private  in  the  Third. 
When  Col.  Woodhouse  was  transferred  to  the  Fourth,  he 
took  young  Trumbull  along  as  his  .adjutant ;  and  the 
officer  made  such  rapid  progress  in  the  attainment  of  mili 
tary  knowledge  and  practice,  that  Col.  Tyler,  on  being 


LOCATION  OF  BATTERIES  AND   REGIMENTS.  761 

4 

appointed  colonel,  procured  his  promotion  to  the  majority. 
It  was  a  long  step  from  adjutant  to  major;  but  Col.  Tyler 
said  he  made  the  recommendation  solely  for  the  good  of 
the  service,  as  Adjutant  Trumbull  exhibited  extraordinary 
capacity  as  an  artillery  officer.  Major  Trumbull  shared  the 
perils  and  honors  of  his  regiment,  as  is  seen  in  its  history. 
Before  Petersburg,  he  acted  as  Gen.  Baldy  Smith's  chief  of 
artillery.  So  high  was  his  reputation,  that,  before  being 
promoted  to  the  lieutenant-colonelcy,  he  was  offered  the 
position  of  chief  of  artillery  in  two  corps  of  the  army.  Before 
his  constitution  was  broken  down  by  the  insidious  fevers  of 
the  Peninsula,  he  was  noted  for  his  strength  and  his  athletic 
accomplishments  ;  few  excelling  him  in  those  manly  sports 
requiring  cool  nerves,  trained  muscle,  and  a  quick  eye.  He 
was  a  man  of  geniality  and  ready  wit  in  society,  of  unusual 
promise  in  his  profession,  and  of  ardent  patriotism.  To  this 
were  added  a  high  sense  of  honor,  purity,  sincerity,  a 
straightforward  manliness,  and  a  tone  of  refinement  that 
impressed  all  society  in  which  he  moved.  Col.  Abbot  said 
of  him,  "  Brave  to  excess  ;  possessed  of  an  energy  which 
seemed  able  to  overcome  not  only  outward  obstacles,  but 
even  disease  itself  when  danger  called ;  well  qualified  by 
natural  ability,  by  a  fine  education,  and  by  studious  habits, 
to  perform  the  responsible  duties  of  his  high  rank  in  the 
artillery,  —  Lieut.-Col.  Trumbull  was  every  thing  that  I 
could  desire  as  an  assistant  and  as  a  friend." 

The  Second  Artillery  had  returned  to  the  Petersburg 
front  after  the  decisive  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  and  now  lay 
with  the  6th  corps'  towards  the  left.  Col.  Mackenzie  had 
been  promoted  to  be  brigadier-general ;  and  Lieut.-Col. 
James  Hubbard  accepted  the  commission  of  colonel,  which 
he  had  previously  declined.  Major  Ells  had  resigned  ;  Major 
Jeffrey  Skinner  had  become  lieutenant-colonel ;  and  Capts. 
Edward  W.  Jones,  Chester  D.  Cleveland,  and  Augustus  H. 
Fenn  were  promoted  to  the  majority. 

The  First  Battery  was  in  front  of  Richmond,  the  Second 
Battery  in  the  Department  of  the  South,  the  Third  Battery 
before  Petersburg. 

The  Sixth  and  Seventh  Regiments  had  participated  in  the 


762  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

advance  on  Wilmington  from  Fort  Fisher.  On  the  promo 
tion  of  Col.  Hawley  to  be  brigadier-general,  Capt.  Seager  S. 
Atwell 3  was  promoted  to  be  colonel  of  the  Seventh.  Gen. 
Hawley,  left  in  command  of  a  division  north  of  the  James 
when  Terry  moved  on  Fort  Fisher,  had  been  ordered  to 
resume  command  of  his  brigade  under  Terry. 

As  soon  as  the  fort  had  fallen,  Gen.  Terry  threw  out 
Payne's  division  of  colored  troops  towards  Wilmington  ;  and 
withdrew  it  on  finding  the  enemy  strongly  intrenched. 
Schofield  now  arrived  with  his  23d  Corps.  On  Feb.  11, 
Terry  moved  forward  with  his  whole  force  from  his  works, 
which  stretched  across  the  island,  drove  in  the  enemy's 
pickets,  and  selected  and  intrenched  a  new  advanced  posi 
tion,  so  close  as  to  hold  Hoke  in  force  at  that  point ;  while 
Gen.  Cox  took  two  divisions  of  Schofield's  corps,  and  made 
a  rapid  flank  movement  by  land  south-west  of  the  city, 
driving  the  enemy  everywhere  before  him.  On  the  22d, 
our  forces  entered  Wilmington4  in  triumph;  and  Terry 
drove  the  Confederates  in  confusion  across  North-east  River. 

In  the  Seventh,  Lieut.  Austin  of  New  Haven  was  wounded. 
Capt.  Thompson  reports, — 

"  I  take  pleasure  in  commending  Adjutant  Albert  M.  Holden,  who  per 
formed  his  duties  on  this  trying  occasion  with  marked  ability  and  courage. 
Adjutant  Holden  is  a  young  officer  of  much  promise,  and  deserves  honor 
able  mention  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in  this  as  well  as  previous 
engagements.  Justice  to  the  deserving  leads  me  also  to  commend  the 
action  of  Lieut.  Willard  Austin  of  my  command,  who  performed  with 
greatest  acceptance  a  most  difficult  and  dangerous  duty  ;  being  instructed 
by  Gen.  Abbott  to  advance  with  a  detachment  of  men  considerably 
beyond  our  main  line,  in  order  to  draw  the  enemy's  fire." 

The  Union  losses  had  been  slight,  while  the  Confederates 
had  lost  at  least  a  thousand  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners ; 

3  Chaplain  Jacob  Eaton  wrote  at  this  time  in  the  Meridcn  Recorder,  "  Meriden  is 
honored  in  the  promotion  of  Sealer  S.  Atwell  to  the  position  to  which  his  gallantry, 
good  conduct,  and  efficiency  entitle  him.     He  served  with  credit  to  himself,  and  with 
acceptance  to  his  superior  officers,  in  the  three-months'  campaign.     He  enlisted  as  a  pri 
vate  soldier  in  Capt.  Byxbee's  company.     He  re-entered  the  service  for  three  years  as 
second  lieutenant  in  Capt.  Sanford's  company  of  the  Seventh.     He  has  taken  part  in 
thirty  battles  and  skirmishes,  and  has  been    slightly  wounded  three   times.      He   has 
always  borne  himself  with  great  coolness  and  credit  under  fire,  and  is  beloved  for  his 
manly  qualities  and  true  benevolence.     He  commanded  the  Seventh  in  the  fiercely-con 
tested  battle  of  Chaffin's  Farm ;  ami  for  his  gallantry  and  good  judgment  in  handling 
the  regiment  in  that  action  was  highly  commended  in  a  letter  from  Major-Gen.  Terry. 
He  is  much  esteemed  by  both  the  officers  and  enlisted  men  of  his  regiment ;  and  we  all 
rejoice  in  his  promotion  " 

4  The  first  Union  flag  raised  in  Wilmington  was  unfurled  over  his  store  by  J.  F. 
Neff,  formerly  of  Rocky  Hill.     He  had  been  expelled  for  his  "  Northern  "  sentiments,  and 
returned  in  the  fleet  of  Admiral  Porter. 


CHAPLAIN  JACOB  EATON.  763 

and,  since  Terry  first  landed  above  Fort  Fisher,  there  had 
fallen  into  our  hands  two  hundred  and  twelve  pieces  of 
artillery. 

Chaplain  Jacob  Eaton  of  the  Seventh  died  on  March  20 
at  his  post, —  one  of  the  most  fearless  and  devoted  men  the 
State  furnished  to  the  war.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harford 
University  in  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  Yale  Theological 
School.  His  first  and  only  pastorate  was  over  the  Hanover 
Congregational  Church ;  and  there  he  labored  four  years 
with  zeal  and  much  success.  He  was  an  earnest  antislavery 
man ;  and,  when  the  challenge  of  secession  came,  he  saw 
that  civilization  on  this  continent  was  at  stake.  In 
September,  1861  (after  Bull  Run),  Tie  wrote  on  the  records 
of  his  church,  "  The  darkest  hour  has  come.  .  .  .  After 
mature  reflection,  I  have  asked  of  my  people  leave  of 
absence  for  one  year,  that  I  may  enlist  in  the  grand  army 
of  freedom.  May  God  be  with  those  whom  I  shall  leave 
behind !  may  he  save  me  through  his  grace !  and  may  he 
save  our  beloved  country,  our  government,  from  anarchy 
and  dissolution!"  The  leave  was  granted;  and  he  immedi 
ately  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Eighth.  He  shared  the 
fortunes  of  the  regiment  at  Roanoke  Island  and  Newberne, 
and  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy.  He  was  wounded  on 
the  bloody  field  of  Antietam,  and  resigned  to  recover  from 
his  injuries.  Again  he  preached  to  his  people,  earnest  in 
kindling  brighter  the  fires  of  patriotism.  But  again  the  stir 
of  battle  was  in  his  ears ;  his  heart  was  at  the  front ;  and 
after  preaching  a  year  he  again  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
Seventh,  and  was  made  chaplain.  Here  he  did  valiant  ser 
vice.  For  more  than  two  years,  through  failing  health,  he 
still  pressed  on  to  do  all  that  might  be  done  for  the  brave 
men  whom  he  had  bound  to  himself  as  brothers  in  a  com 
mon  cause.  His  health  was  at  last  fatally  impaired ;  and: 
his  friends  besought  him  to  resign,  and  save  himself.  No: 

o  O     J 

he  shared  all  the  perils  and  exposures  of  the  Fort-Fisher 
and  Wilmington  campaign,  where  new  scenes. opened  before 
him,  and  new  work  taxed  his  strength.  Our  poor,  starved, 
dying  prisoners  were  brought  in  by  thousands,  and  ex 
changed  ;  and  he  could  not  see  their  sufferings  unmoved. 


764  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

Warned  by  a  friend  not  to  sacrifice  himself,  he  said,  "  They 
ought  to  be  and  must  be  cared  for  by  some  one  ;  and  I  will 
do  all  that  lies  in  my  power  for  the  poor,  emaciated,  and 
helpless  creatures."  He  died  in  their  midst.  Chaplain 
Eaton  was  a  true  soldier  and  a  model  chaplain.  He  was 
tender  in  sympathy,  firm  in  conviction,  bold  and  impulsive 
in  action,  and  was  respected  as  a  man,  and  beloved  as  a 
friend,  both  at  home  and  in  the  army.  He  fell  with  his 
armor  on,  in  the  midst  of  the  strife,  just  as  the  day  was 
breaking ;  but  he  saw  the  end  by  faith,  and  gave  his  life 
joyfully  in  exchange  for  the  life  of  the  republic. 

The  Eighth,  Eleventh,  Twenty-first,  and  Twenty-ninth 
still  held  the  lines  north  of  the  James.  Capt.  William  M. 
Pratt  of  Meriden  was  now  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eighth ; 
and  Capt.  Charles  M.  Coit  was  again  commissioned  to  be 
major,  and  again  declined,  as  he  had  done  the  previous  year. 
Lieut.-Col.  Randall  H.  Rice  had  become  colonel  of  the 
Eleventh;  Major  Charles  Warren  had  succeeded  him  as 
lieutenant-colonel ;  and  Capt.  Henry  J.  McDonald  of  Dan- 
bury  was  commissioned  major.  All  these  officers  had 
mounted,  by  their  own  merit,  from  the  ranks. 

On  March  1,  the  Eleventh  was  formally  presented,  by 
Miss  Julia  A.  Beach  of  Wallingford,  with  a  stand  of  hand 
some  and  richly-wrought  national  colors,  "  in  memory  of  the 
pure  and  valorous  commander,"  Col.  Griffin  A.  Stedman, 
killed  before  Petersburg.  It  bore  upon  its  folds  the  names 
of  eleven  battles ;  and  upon  a  silver  ferrule  was  inscribed 
the  memorial  dedication. 

Lieut-Col.  J.  F.  Brown,  in  command  of  the  Twenty-first, 
thus  reports  an  expedition  in  which  his  regiment  was  en 
gaged  at  this  time :  "  March  4,  the  3d  Brigade,  in  which  my 
regiment  still  remained,  was  detached  under  command  of 
Gen.  S.  H.  Roberts,  and,  embarking  at  Deep  Bottom,  pro 
ceeded  down  the  James,  and  up  the  Rappahannock  River,  as 
far  as  Fredericksburg,  which  we  reached  without  opposition 
on  the  morning  of  the  7th.  Here  were  captured  a  number  of 
the  enemy's  scouts  and  pickets,  and  a  large  quantity  of  tobac 
co,  cars,  wagon-train,  &c.  After  destroying  such  of  the  cap 
tured  property  as  could  not  be  brought  away,  the  expedition 


LOCATION  OF  THE  REGIMENTS.  765 

returned  to  Fortress  Monroe,  and  thence  proceeded  on  a 
raid  into  Westmoreland  County,  which  was  attended  with 
few  incidents  of  importance.  Returning1,  via  Point  Lookout, 
we  received  orders  to  proceed  up  the  York  and  Pamunkey 
Rivers  to  White  House,  which  we  reached  on  the  14th,  and 
established  a  base  of  supplies  for  the  command  of  Gen. 
Sheridan,  who  soon  joined  us.  Waiting  here  a  few  days, 
we  proceeded  across  the  Chickahominy,  via  Harrison's  Land 
ing  and  Malvern  Hill,  and  rejoined  the  Army  of  the  James 
on  the  25th." 

In  January,  the  Ninth  and  Thirteenth  Battalions  (reduced 
from  regiments)  were  transferred  from  the  Shenandoah  Val 
ley  to  the  Department  of  the  South,  —  headquarters  at  Sa 
vannah,  which  had  been  captured  by  the  grand  army  of 
Sherman.  On  the  8th  of  March,  the  Thirteenth  moved 
northward  to  Morehead  City  and  Newberne  to  guard  pro 
visions  to  Sherman's  army.  Col.  Blinn  had  resigned ;  and 
the  battalion  was  commanded  by  Lieut-Col.  Homer  B. 
Sprague.  It  now  formed  a  part  of  the  10th  Army  Corps, 
commanded  by  Major-Gen.  Terry.  The  Ninth  remained  in 
Savannah  under  command  of  Lieut.-Col.  John  G.  Healy. 
Almost  all  of  the  other  officers  had  resigned  ;  Col.  Thomas 
W.  Cahill  leaving  the  service  with  the  same  rank  he  held  at 
first,  after  three  years  of  honorable  and  arduous  service, 
two-thirds  of  the  time  in  command  of  a  brigade,  and  once 
leading  a  division  in  battle. 

The  Tenth  remained  in  the  trenches  north  of  the  James. 
Its  field-officers  were  now  Col.  Edwin  S.  Greeley,  Lieut.-Col. 
E.  D.  S.  Goodyear,  and  Major  Frank  Hawkins  of  Derby. 

Lieut.  George  Northrop  of  Bethel  died  at  Fortress  Mon 
roe  on  Friday,  March  11,  of  wounds.  He  was  in  the  three- 
months'  service,  then  enlisted  in  the  Tenth,  and  re-enlisted. 
His  commission  reached  him  after  he  was  prostrated  with 
four  wounds.  He  was  a  faithful,  brave,  and  patriotic  sol 
dier,  unspotted  in  character,  honored  and  beloved  through 
out  the  regiment. 

The  Fourteenth  was  with  the  2d  Corps  upon  the  left  of 
Grant's  line.  Col.  Theodore  G.  Ellis  was  still  detained  as  a 
member  of  a  general  military  court  at  Washington,  organ 
ized  by  Judge-Advocate-General  Holt.  Capt.  John  C.  Broatch 


766  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

had  been  promoted  to  be  major.  The  Thirtieth  was  also  on 
the  left  flank. 

The  Twelfth  battalion  was  at  Summit  Point,  under  Col. 
George  N.  Lewis  and  Lieut.-Col.  Sidney  E.  Clark.  Capt. 
L.  A.  Dickinson  declined  a  major's  commission.  The  Eight 
eenth  had  headquarters  at  Hall  town ;  and  the  men  were 
never  more  comfortably  .situated.  Two  companies  were  on 
detached  duty  at  Duffield  Station,  and  one  company  at  Har 
per's  Ferry.  Lieut.-Col.  Henry  Peale  was  again  in  command 
of  the  regiment,  after  an  unpleasant  absence,  arid  was  a 
great  favorite  with  the  men.  He  labored  zealously,  and  not 
in  vain,  to  sustain  the  previous  reputation  of  the  regiment. 
Surgeon  Lowell  Holbrook  was  faithful  and  efficient  in  his 
department;  and  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  regiment 
was  never  better. 

The  Fifteenth  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  Newberne. 
On  Dec.  9,  1864,  Col.  Upham  started  at  the  head  of  a  bri 
gade  of  fifteen  hundred  men;  the  object  of  the  expedition 
being  to  ford  the  Neuse  River,  and  capture  Kinston,  and  de 
stroy  the  rebel  ram  lying  in  the  river  at  that  point ;  also  to 
make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  an  attempt  by  Grant  to  extend 
his  left  towards  Weldon.  The  command  started;  but  a  heavy 
rain  came  on,  swelled  the  river,  and  rendered  a  Crossing  im 
possible.  Col.  Upham  drove  the  rebels  from  the  crossings 
at  Jackson's  Creek  ;  and,  when  the  enemy  advanced  from 
Goldsborough,  he,  retired  to  Newberne.  The  men  suffered 
terribly  ;  the  cold  storm  terminating  in  freezing  weather. 

In  February,  several  thousand  recruits  for  Sherman's  army 
arrived,  and  five  hundred  of  them  were  temporarily  assigned 
to  the  Fifteenth.  By  this  time,  the  following  members  had 
left  to  accept  commissions  in  colored  regiments,  —  Henry  G. 
Marshall,  John  B.  Willett,.  George  W.  Allen,  George  W.  Bun- 
nell,  Edwin  A.  Thorp,  Edwin  A.  Kinney,  Augustus  Bod  well, 
John  Hill,  Richard  K.  Woodruff,  Thomas  Dunlap,  jr. 


Gen.  Sherman 5  had  learned  before  he  started  on  his  great 
march,  that  moderation  in  war  is  imbecility.  He  did  not 

5  Gen.  William  Tccumseh  Sherman  is  a -descendant  of  the  family  to  which  the  Revo 
lutionary  statesman,  Roger  M.  Sherman,  belonged.  His  grandfather,  Hon.  Taylor  Sher 
man,  was  for  a  long  time  a  judge  in  Connecticut;  and  his  father,  Hon.  Charles  R. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA  SWEPT.  767 

rest  long  at  Savannah.  lie  touched  the  ocean,  received 
some  necessary  supplies,  and  began  another  campaign, 
equally  memorable,  through  South  and  North  Carolina,  to 
wards  the  center  of  the  Confederate  power. 

The  Fifth  Connecticut  was  in  the  1st  Brigade 'of  the  1st 
Division,  and  the  Twentieth  in  the  3d  Brigade  of  the  3d 
Division,  20th  Corps.  Henry  W.  Daball  had  become  colonel 
of  the  Fifth,  and  William  S.  Cogswell,  major.  The  Twen 
tieth  was  commanded  by  Lieut.-Col.  P.  B.  Buckingham. 

The  column  left  the  vicinity  of  Savannah  about  the  mid 
dle  of  January,  and  pushed  northward  in  the  face  of  diffi 
culties  which  the  rebels  proclaimed  to  be  insurmountable. 
During  the  first  week,  the  Fifth  was  in  charge  of  the  supply- 
trains  of  the  division.  On  Feb.  5,  the  Twentieth  was 
deployed  in  line  of  battle  ;  and,  after  brief  skirmishing,  the 
enemy  retired  precipitately,  and  the  division  bivouacked  jn 
line  of  battle.  For  six  weeks,  the  army  pressed  forward, 
constantly  menaced  and  harassed,  but  constantly  advancing 
across  swollen  rivers,  through  almost  impenetrable  swamps 
and  wide-growing  rice-fields  crossed  by  dikes  and  cause 
ways,  through  the  inland  towns  of  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina;  the  soldiers  foraging  with  peculiar  unction  after 
they  crossed  the  boundaries  of  the  fiery  Palmetto  State.  In 
South  Carolina,  they  reveled,  indulging  a  terrible  joy  at  the 
thought  that  the  Rebellion  was  in  its  last  gasp,  and  resolved 
to  collect  principal  and  interest  of  the  debt  long  due  to  jus 
tice.  The  pestilent  State  was  swept  with  a  besom  of  flame  ; 
little  was  left  that  could  be  used  ;  and  tall  blackened  chim 
neys,  where  plantation-houses  had  been,  became  monuments 
to  mark  the  track  of  the  broad  scourge.  Every  few  miles, 
our  army  came  upon  long  intrenchments  of  the  enemy, 
which  the  occupants  deserted,  and  the  pursuers  overran. 
Sometimes  the  men  marched  in  cold  and  stiffening  mud ; 
sometimes  they  waded  for  miles  through  water  a  foot  or 

Sherman,  was  a  lawyer,  practicing  in  Norwalk.  After  the  British  desolated  Fairfield 
County,  the  family  removed  to  Ohio,  and  settled  the  town  of  Sherman.  Judge  Taylor 
Sherman  was  one  of  the  original  commissioners  of  the  Tire  Lands  ;  and  Charles  R  Sher 
man,  during  the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  occupied  a  seat  on  thel>ench  of  the  superior 
court  of  Ohio.  He  died  in  1829;  and  of  his  eleven  children  Charles  T.,  a  prominent 
lawyer  in  Washington,  was  the  eldest,  William  Tccumseh  was  the  sixth,  and  Senator 
John  Sherman  the  seventh. 


768  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

two  deep ;  sometimes  they  pushed  on  all  day,  many  bare 
and  sore  feet  tracking  frozen  ground.  Sherman  shared  the 
hardships  of  his  soldiers.  "  His  staff  is  smaller  than  that  of 
any  brigade  commander  in  the  army.  He  has  fewer  ser 
vants  and  horses  than  the  military  regulations  allow ;  his 
baggage  is  reduced  to  the  smallest  possible  limit ;  he  sleeps 
in  a  fly-tent  like  the  rest  of  us,  rejecting  the  effeminacy  of  a 
house ;  and  the  soldier  in  the  ranks  indulges  in  luxuries 
which  his  chief  never  sees." c 

From  every  group  of  cabins  and  on  every  crossroad,  the 
negroes  came  with  their  wild  shouts  of  welcome.  Uncouth 
but  significant  were  their  salutations,  "Tank  the  Lord 
Almighty,  Mister  Sherman  has  come  wid  his  company ! " 
"  I  bin  a  prayin'  fo'  ye  boys ;  de  blessin'  ob  Jesus  is  on  ye. 
I  know'd  ye'd  come.  Bress  de  Lord,  you  uns  '11  have  a  place 
in  heaben  :  you  go  dar,  sure  ! "  All  the  regiments  were 
engaged  from  time  to  time  in  laying  pontoon-bridges  and 
corduroying  the  roads  through  swamps.  By  the  middle  of 
February,  the  head  of  the  column  struck  Columbia ;  and 
Beauregard  retreated  northward,  falsifying  a  thousand  sav 
age  prophecies.  Charleston  had  fallen,  and  the  stars  and 
stripes  waved  over  Sumter.  Again  forward  pushed  the 
irresistible  "  iron-clads  "  into  North  Carolina. 

Rev.  Charles  N.  Lyman  of  Canton  Center,  chaplain  of  the 
Twentieth  on  this  march,  wrote,  "  For  two  or  three  days  in 
succession,  our  march  has  been  through  pine-forests  which 
were  on  fire,  sending  up  huge  masses  of  thick,  black  smoke, 
which  the  winds  would  take  and  waft  into  our  faces,  cover 
ing  us  all  with  a  thick  coat  of  lampblack ;  so  that  we 
appeared  like  a  vast  army  of  chimney-sweeps  inarching 
through  the  land.  During  this  time  also,  we  have  known, 
like  the  apostle  Paul,  'both  what  it  was  to  abound,  and  to 
be  in  need.'" 

On  March  13,  the  20th  Corps  crossed  the  Cape-Fear  River ; 
and  next  morning  the  Twentieth  Connecticut  was  out  upon  * 
a  reconnoissance,  the  enemy  being  reported  in  front.     After 
marching  five  miles,  the  command  was  divided;  Lieut-Col. 
Buckingham  taking  three  regiments,  and  advancing  towards 

6  Nichols's  Story  of  the  Great  March. 


THE  FIFTH  AND  TWENTIETH  AT  AVEKYBOKOUGH.        769 

Raleigh,  while  the  rest  of  the  force  turned  off  to  the  right. 
Buckingham  pushed  on  'five  miles  farther,  and  drove  the 
rebel  skirmishers  and  a  piece  of  artillery  into  works,  where 
they,  made  a  stand.  Having  exhausted  instructions,  Col. 
Buckingham  rejoined  his  brigade,  and  marched  back  to  camp 
that  night.  During  this  expedition,  Capt.  Ezra  Sprague  com 
manded  the  regiment.  Lieut.  Edward  J.  Murray  of  New 
Britain,  a  promising  young  officer  lately  promoted  from 
sergeant,  was  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh  on  the  skir 
mish-line. 

It  now  became  evident  that  the  Confederates  were  con 
centrating  in  front.  Kilpatrick  had  a  sharp  fight  with  Wade 
Hampton,  in  which  he  wrested  victory  from  defeat,  and 
swept  the  field.  Sherman  had  communicated  with  Terry, 
who  now  commanded  the  -10th  Corps  at  Wilmington,  and 
who  started  immediately  northward  to  join  the  great  expe 
dition  at  Goldsborough.  Sherman's  men  felt  the  approach 
ing  battle.  They  knew  of  it  by  a  sort  of  military  instinct, 
as  soldiers  always  foresee  a  fight.  When  they  stopped  at 
night,  they  threw  up  a  slight  breastwork  against  the  menace. 
Rebel  infantry  and  cavalry  now  pressed  everywhere  in  front. 

On  March  16,  the  enemy  was  found  in  line  of  battle  near 
Averyborough.  The  1st  Division  of  the  20th  Corps  was 
in  the  advance.  The  Fifth  Connecticut  relieved  a  force 

of  cavalry,  and  dashed  forward  to  the  rebel  works.     The 

«/  * 

fighting  was  severe ;  but  the  Confederates  were  driven  from 
their  position,  and  they  retired  to  heavier  intrenchments  in 
the  rear.  The  Twentieth  was  also  sharply  engaged  at  this 
point,  the  3d  Division  having  hurried  forward  to  participate. 
Both  regiments  were  deployed  as  skirmishers  along  the 
advanced  front,  and  continued  under  fire  until  after  dark. 
The  enemy  was  defeated  at  all  points ;  and  many  prisoners 
and  some  guns  were  captured.  The  Fifth  had  lost  four 
killed,  eleven  wounded,  and  eleven  missing.  Among  the 
killed  was  First  Lieut.  Jarnes  P.  Henderson.  He  had  but 
recently  been  promoted,  and,  during  his  brief  career  as  an 
officer,  had  .proved  himself  fully  worthy  of  the  position  he 
filled  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Surgeon  Andrew  J.  Gilson  of  Bridgeport  wrote  of  him, 

9T 


770  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

"  He  had  recently  been  promoted  from  orderly  sergeant  to 
first  lieutenant,  and  recommended  for  captain.  He  was  gener 
ous,  brave,  and  noble-hearted,  gallant,  and  patriotic.  When 
assured  by  me  that  his  wound  was  mortal,  and  that  he  could 
not  live  but  a  few  moments,  he  turned  to  me,  and  said, 
'Tell  my  mother  I  die  like  a  soldier.'  He  had  become 
endeared  to  me.  I  had  learned  to  respect  him  and  to  love 
him,  and  now  I  am  called  to  mourn  him."  The  Twentieth 
lost  two  (Sergeant  Seymour  N.  Smith  and  John  Gossman) 
killed,  and  nineteen  wounded.  Of  the  latter,  three  died, 
among  whom  was  Lieut.  Wellington  Barry  of  Haddam. 
Adjutant  C.  Myron  Talcott  of  New  Britain,  and  Lieut.  W. 
H.  H.  Johnson  of  New  Haven,  were  wounded,  the  latter 
severely. 

Next  morning,  the  inarch  was  resumed ;  Johnston  having 
fallen  back  on  Bentonville.  On  the  19th,  he  massed  his 
forces,  and  made  a  vigorous  assault  on  Sherman's  exposed 
left,  held  by  Slocum.  The  Fifth  Connecticut  went  into 
position,  and  constructed  works,  but  was  not  engaged.  The 
Twentieth  was  called  to  participate.  Lieut.-Col.  Bucking 
ham  reported,  "  We  were  ordered  to  advance,  and  relieve 
a  brigade  of  the  14th  Corps,  supposed  to  be  in  our  imme 
diate  front.  The  regiment  advanced  with  the  brigade-line 
through  the  woods  for  twenty  or  thirty  rods,  then  across  a 
swamp,  when  we  emerged  into  an  open  wood  of  heavy  pine- 
timber  ;  and  some  twenty  rods  from  the  swamp  was  a  thick 
growth  of  underbrush  directly  in  our  front.  After  moving 
forward  nearly  to  the  edge  of  the  heavy  pine-forest,  we  re 
ceived  a  tremendous  volley  from  the  enemy  (whose  lines  lay 
concealed  not  more  than  a  dozen  rods  from  us,  behind  the 
underbrush),  which  we  immediately  returned. 

"  Our  line,  was  established,  and  held  till  after  dark  without 
assistance.  Although  the  enemy  brought  up  another  line  of 
battle  against  us,  and  made  the  most  determined  efforts  to 
drive  us  from  the  field,  yet  the  men  stood  as  firm  as  a  rock, 
never  flinching  under  the  murderous  fire,  or  giving  an  inch 
of  ground.  Soon  after  dark,  the  enemy  retiped,  leaving 
his  dead  and  many  of  his  wounded  in  our  hands;  when  we 
threw  up  a  temporary  line  of  works,  and  bivouacked  on 


DISASTER  TO  THE  FIFTEENTH.  771 

the  battle-field,  after  assisting  in  removing  our  dead  and 
wounded. 

"  The  regiment  in  this  engagement,  remarkable  both  for 
the  obstinacy  with  which  the  rebels  fought  and  for  the 
terrible  fire  which  they  maintained,  kept  its  reputation  for 
courage  and  valor,  which  it  had  already  established  on  many 
a  hard-fought  battle-field." 

The  regiment  had  lost  ten  killed  and  thirty  wounded. 
Among  the  slain  were  Sergeant  Edward  W.  Stan  wood,  and 
Corporals  Abner  C.  Smith  and  Elliott  W.  Nettleton.  During 
the  battles  of  the  succeeding  days,  the  Connecticut  regiments 
were  not  engaged.  Terry  with  the  10th  Corps  had  now 
come  up. 

Schofield  had  gone  to  Newberne,  whence  he  advanced, 
March  6,  with  the  23d  Corps,  on  Kinston  and  Goldsborough. 
Gen.  Edward  Harland  commanded  a  division  on  the  right. 
The  Fifteenth  Connecticut  was  divided  into  two  battalions, 
under  Lieut.-Col.  Tolles  and  Major  K  W.  Osborn,  and  was 
in  a  brigade  commanded  by  Col.  Charles  L.  Upham.  This 
brigade  was  placed  in  the  advance,  on  the  Dover  Road, 
to  the  left.  The  road  most  of  the  way  lay  through  swamps, 
and  was  heavily  blockaded  by  felled  trees,  which  had  to  be 
cut  through  to  allow  the  passage  of  the  artillery  and  trains. 
Of  the  disaster  that  befell  the  Fifteenth,  Col.  Upham  gives 
the  following  account  in  his  report :  — 

"  No  enemy  was  found  until  near  South-west  Creek,  when 
it  was  evident  that  they  intended  to  dispute  the  passage 
of  that  stream ;  and  held  the  crossings  with  artillery  and 
infantry  well  intrenched.  About  two,  P.M.,  of  the  7th,  I  was 
ordered  to  the  left  to  relieve  a  portion  of  the  2d  Brigade,  1st 
Division,  then  at  Jackson's  Mills.  Arriving  there,  Companies 
A  and  I  of  the  1st  Battalion  were  deployed  as  skirmish 
ers;  the  remainder  of  the  battalion  furnishing  the  supports 
and  the  picket-line  connecting  with  the  troops  on  our  right, 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  distant.  The  other  brigades  of  our 
division  went  into  camp  at  Wise's  Forks,  a  mile  and  a  half 
in  our  rear.  Our  left  was  covered  by  cavalry,  who  were 
directed  to  picket  as  far  as  the  Upper-Trent  Eoad,  which 


772  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

would  preclude  the  possibility  of  the  enemy's  passing  our 
left  unknown  to  us.  There  were  .occasional  firings  on  both 
sides,  from  artillery  and  on  the  skirmish-line,  until  dark. 
During  the  night,  the  skirmish-line,  under  Lieut-Col.  Tolles, 
was  pushed  forward  to  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the 
enemy's  works,  and  intrenched.  About  ten,  A.M.,  of  the  8th, 
the  enemy  opened  upon  us  with  artillery,  which  was  returned 
by  our  guns ;  and  the  skirmishers  became  briskly  engaged. 
Receiving  informati6ri  that  a  body  of  the  enemy  were  mov 
ing  upon  a  road  on  our  left,  I  ordered  the  27th  Massachusetts 
Volunteers  into  the  woods  to  our  left,  forming  across  the 
British  Road,  with  skirmishers  thrown  out  on  both  flanks. 
About  noon,  the  enemy  made  a  sudden  and  impetuous  attack 
upon  the  27th  Massachusetts.  Directing  that  the  2d  Battalion 
of  the  Fifteenth  change  front  to  meet  it,  and  the  artillery 
report  to  me  at  the  crossing  of  the  British  Road,  I  proceeded 
in  that  direction,  and  found  the  enemy  to  have  possession  of 
that  part  of  the  field-;  and,  advancing  rapidly,  gained  the 
roads,  thereby  preventing  communications  with  Lieut.-Col. 
Tolles  and  Major  Osborn.  At  the  same  time,  the  enemy 
advanced  on  our  right,  and,  cutting  our  picket-line  in  two, 
almost  completely  surrounded  the  troops,  who  were  soon 
compelled  to  surrender.  The  only  [line]  officer  escaping  was 
Lieut.  Charles  F.  Bowman,  who  with  a  few  men  ran  the 
gantlet  of  a  hot  fire  to  make  their  escape.  From  an 
aide-de-camp  of  Gen.  Bragg,  who  was  present  on  the  8th,  and 
afterward  taken  prisoner,  I  learn  that  the  rear  attack  was 
made  by  Hoke's  (rebel)  division,  six  thousand  strong." 

About  nine  hundred  men  were  captured. 

The  Fifteenth  did  not  surrender  without  an  earnest  strug 
gle  ;  and  in  this  fell  some  of  its  noblest  officers  and  men. 
Major  Osborn  was  struck  down  at  the  head  of  his  battalion, 
receiving  a  wound  that  proved  mortal.  Capt.  Julius  Bas- 
sett  dropped  upon  the  skirmish-line,  —  a  bullet  through  his 
body  from  hip  to  hip.  Lieut.  E.  W.  Bishop  fell  in  the  midst 
of  the  fight.  Capt  George  W.  White,  Capt.  Robert  0.  Brad 
ley,  and  others,  were  also  wounded.  No  official  list  of 
casualties  was  published ;  but  it  is  estimated  that  at  least  a 
hundred  of  the  regiment  were  killed  or  wounded.  Corporals 


THE  DEAD  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH.  773 

Matthew  Brown,  F.  Phillips,  G.  W.  Manville,  and  Charles 
Beardsley  were  killed. 

Major  Eli  Walter  Osborn  was  born  in  New  Haven,  and 
was  thirty  years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death.  At  an  early 
age,  he  had  a  fondness  for  military  life,  and  was  with  diffi 
culty  dissuaded  from  entering  at  West  Point.  He  was  for  sev 
eral  years  captain  of  the  "Grays;"  and  at  all  times  was  an 
enthusiastic  and  active  member  of  that  popular  organization, 
which  he  commanded  at  the  first  battle*  of  Bull  Run,  in  the 
Second  Regiment,  Col.  Terry.  When  -the.  Fifteenth,  or 
"  Lyon  Regiment,"  was  formed,  he  accepted  the  position  of 
major,  in  which  capacity  he  had  nearly  served  out  the  three 
years  of  enlistment.  His  equable  and  generous  temperament, 
his  unselfishness,  and  his  kindly  manner,  joined  with  high 
manly  attributes,  attracted  the  love  and  confidence  of  his 
comrades;  and  his  death  was  sincerely  mourned  by  the  brave 
men  who  had  known  him  in  battle  and  bivouac.  He  was 
on  detached  service  when  the  regiment  moved  to  battle,  and 
applied  for  and  obtained  leave  to  join  his  command.  He 
died  at  Danville,  after  being  one  month  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

Capt.  Bassett  of  Meriden  died  on  the  field.  He  was  a  son 
of  Jared  Bassett,  and  was  born  in  Humphreysville  in  1818. 
His  educational  advantages  were  limited ;  but  he  studied 
industriously,  and  became  a  ready  writer  and  speaker.  He 
early  developed  the  characteristics  which  marked  his  man 
hood,  —  an  unbending  will,  great  courage,  utter  truthful 
ness,  strong  personal  attachments,  and  hatred  of  cant  and 
affectation.  In  1862,  he  raised  a  company  in  Meriden,  and 
led  it  in  the  Fifteenth,  and  was  the  senior  captain  in  the 
regiment  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Lieut.  Edwin  W.  Bishop  of  New  Haven  died  ten  days  after 
the  battle,  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Private  Enoch  E. 
Rogers  of  Orange  says  of  him,  "  His  genial,  jovial  nature,  and 
kind  treatment  of  the  men,  made  him  a  universal  favorite 
in  the  regiment." 

The  prisoners  were  marched  to  Kinston,  thence  taken  by 
cars  to  Goldsborough,  thence  to  Weldon.  The  officers  went 
to  Libby  Prison.  The  enlisted  men  were  marched  around 


774  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

the  State  a  few  weeks,  and  then  exchanged,  and  sent  to 
Annapolis. 

The  portion  of  the  regiment  not  captured  —  a  hundred 
men  in  the  aggregate,  including  Company  K  absent  from 
the  fight  —  was  under  Col.  Upham  in  the  succeeding  action 
of  the  10th,  where  the  assault  of  the  enemy  was  repulsed 
most  signally.  Subsequently,  when  Kinston  was  captured, 
the  Fifteenth  was  a  part  of  the  provost-guard. 

Lieut.  William  A.  Bowns  of  New  Haven,  acting-quarter 
master,  was  killed  by  an  accident  on  May  21.  Endeavoring 
to  get  on  board  a  railroad-train  at  Newberne,  his  foot  slipped, 
and  the  cars  ran  over  both  his  legs.  He  was  a  capable 
officer,  and  was  buried  in  New  Haven  with  military  honors. 

Schofield  advanced  successfully  on  Kinston,  and  thence 
to  Goldsborough,  where  his  corps  and  Terry's  joined  the 
army  of  Sherman.  Gen.  Harland  was  left  in  command  of 
the  post  at  Kinston ;  and  when  the  war  was  ended  he 
resigned,  after  more  than  four  years  of  trying  and  copstant 
service  in  the  field. 

The  Sixteenth,  as  has  been  seen,  suffered  a  long,  dismal, 
terrible  imprisonment.  The  remnant  that  escaped  capture 
remained  on  Roanoke  Island  under  Capt.  Barnum,  re-inforced 
now  and  then  by  a  few  officers,  or  a  squad  of  men  ex 
changed.  Lieut.-Col.  John  H.  Burnham  was  exchanged 
during  August  of  1864  ;  and  about  the  1st  of  September 
he  started  for  his  command,  and  on  the  9th  was  recaptured 
while  on  the  steamer  Fawn,  passing  through  the  Chesapeake 
and  Albemarle  Canal,  and  in  sight  of  the  steamer  that  ran 
to  Roanoke  Island.  The  rebel  force  consisted  of  seventy 
men.  The  colonel  was  soon  after  again  paroled.  During 
December,  the  detachment  of  the  Sixteenth  proceeded  to' 
Plymouth,  and  went  thence  on  an  expedition  to  Foster's 
Mills,  about  ten  miles;  destroying  the  mills  and  a  large 
quantity  of  grain,  and  returning  with  various  spoil.  In 
March,  when  Schofield  moved  out  from  Newberne,  the  de 
tachment  evacuated  the  snug  camp  on  Roanoke,  and  went 
across  to  the  city,  where  it  was  quartered  as  provost-guard 
until  the  end  of  the  Rebellion. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

Spring  of  1865.  —  The  Beginning  of  the  End. — Petersburg.  —  Rebel  Assault  on  Fort 
Stcdman. —  Repulse. —  Service  of  the  First  Connecticut  Artillery. —  The  Second 
Artillery  and  the  Fourteenth  on  the  Left.  —  The  Tenth  and  Thirtieth.  —  The  First 
Cavalry  at  Five  Forks. — The  Tenth  at  Fort  Gregg.  —  Unsurpassed  Gallantry. — 
Advance  of  the  Whole  Line.  —  Lee  evacuates  Petersburg  and  Richmond.  —  The 
Retreat  and  Pursuit. — First  Cavalry  at  Sailor's  Creek. — Lee  surrounded.  —  The 
Surrender.  —  In  North  Carolina.  —  The  Capitulation  of  Johnston's  Army. 

VERY  sign  was  ominous  of  the  speedy  downfall 
of  the  Confederacy,  when  in  March,  1865,  Grant 
and  Sherman  met  President  Lincoln  at  City 
Point;  and  the  three  chiefs  decided  to  launch 
the  final  blows  fast  and  heavy,  and  make  short 
work  of  it. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  month,  Lee  had  determined  to 
abandon  Richmond  and  Petersburg.  The  Union  lines  had 
been  constantly  strengthened,  while  his  own  army  had  become 
weaker  and  weaker  every  month.  Moreover,  his  right  was 
hard  pressed  by  Warren  'and  Hancock,  who  had  gradually 
extended  their  works  so  near  the  Cox  and  Boydton  roads 
as  to  make  them  unsafe  as  a  line  of  retreat. 

In  this  dilemma,  Lee  ordered  a  sudden  and  impetuous 
assault  on  Fort  Stedman  near  the  Appomattox  (where  the 
gallant  Gen.  Stedman  had  fallen) ;  hoping  thereby  at  least 
to  relieve  his  menaced  right.  On  March  25,  the  blow  was 
struck.  The  system  of  fortifications  to  be  attacked  consisted 
of  a  series  of  field-works,  each  capable  of  containing  a  battery 
of  artillery  and  an  infantry  garrison  of  two  or  three  hundred 
men.  These  works  were  closed  at  the  gorge  ;  well  protected 
with  abatis  and  palisading ;  supplied  with  numerous  bomb- 
proofs  ;  and  placed,  at  intervals  of  about  six  hundred  yards, 

775 


776  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

on  such  ground  as  to  sweep  the  line  in  front  with  artillery- 
fire.  They  were  connected  by  strong  infantry  parapets,  and 
had  obstructions  in  front.  Gen.  Abbot  of  the  First  thus 
reported  the  situation,  "  Hare  Hill  was  located  near  the  right 
of  our  Petersburg  line,  about  a  mile  from  the  Appomattox 
River.  It  was  protected  by  Fort  Stedman>  with  Battery  No. 
10  on  its  right,  and  Batteries  Nos.  11  and  12  QJI  its  left.  The 
next  work,  closed  at  the  gorge  on  the  side  of  the  Appomat 
tox  River,  was  Battery  No.  9,  situated  near  the  foot  of  the 
hill.  The  next  work  on  the  left  of  Hare  Hill  and  its  collec 
tion  of  batteries  was  Fort  Haskell,  situated  on  another  hill, 
with  a  small  creek  between.  Fort  Stedrnan  was  one  of  the 
weakest  and  most  ill-conditioned  works  of  the  line ;  being 
unprotected  by  abatis  in  rear ;  being  masked  on  its  right  — 
just  in  rear 'of  Battery  No.  10  —  by  numerous  bomb-proofs, 
rendered  necessary  by  the  terrible  fire  which  habitually  took 
place  in  this  vicinity ;  and  being  only  about  two  hundred 
ya-rds  distant  from  the  enemy's  main  line.  The  parapet  had 
settled  greatly  during  the  winter;  and,  in  fine,  the  work  was 
much  exposed  to  sudden  assault.  Company  K,  First  Con 
necticut  Artillery,  served  mortar  batteries  in  Batteries  9  and 
10 ;  and  Company  L  of  the  same  regiment,  in  Battery  12 
and  in  Fort  Haskell." 

Fort  Stedman  was  commanded  by  Major  Randall  of  the 
14th  New-Jersey  Artillery,  acting  as  infantry  with  a  light 
battery.  Batteries  8  and  9  were  commanded  by  Lieut.  Azro 
Drown  of  East  Haddam ;  Battery  10  by  Capt.  Joh-n  M. 
Twiss  of  Hartford;  Batteries  11  and  12  by  Lieut.  Robert 
Lewis  of  East  Berlin  —  all  of  the  First  Connecticut.  The 
9th  Corps  was  in  the  rear  as  supports. 

At  about  four  o'clock,  A.M.,  three  divisions  of  the  enemy, 
under  Gen.  Gordon,  made  a  desperate  and  well-arranged 
attack  upon  these  defenses.  It  was  a  complete  surprise,  and 
was  successful.  Their  columns  simultaneously  swept  over  the 
parapet  between  Stedman  and  Battery  9,  over  Battery  10 
and  over  Battery  11,  joined  in  rear  of  the  fort,  and  carried  it 
almost  without  opposition.  From  that  time  to  daylight,  a 
hand-to-hand  fight  raged  among  the  bomb-proofs,  and  on  the 
flanks  of  the  enemy's  position.  As  the  rebels  swarmed  over 


DESPEKATE   REBEL  -ASSAULT.  777 

the  parapet  of  Battery  No.  10,  First  Lieut.  John  Oclell  of 
New  London  shouted  out,  "  Fall  in  to  the  guns,  boys  !  "  when 
a  rebel  shot  him  dead.  He  was  a  young  officer,  and  noted  for 
his  bravery  and  good  soldierly  qualities,  much  loved  and  re 
spected  by  all.  Gen  Abbot  says,  &  Lieut.  Odell  was  a  natural 
soldier  ;  possessed  of  bravery  of  the  highest  character,  enthu 
siastic  devotion  to  duty,  and  a  fine  power  of  command  over 
men.  He  died  as  he  would  have  wished,  with  his  face  to  the 
enemy,*  bravely  rallying  his  men  to  meet  overwhelming 
odds."  "It  was  so  dark  that  a  man  could  hardly  distinguish 
friend  from  foe,  and  the  enemy  had  nearly  gained  possession 
of  the  batteries  before  the  men  knew  of  the  movement.  At 
one  time,  the  rebels  were  firing  part  of  the  mortars  in 
Battery  No.  10,  and  our  men  firing  the  rest.  The  enemy' 
made  a  spirited  charge  on  Batteries  8  and  9 ;  but  Lieut. 
Drown  used  his  mortars  with  such  effect,  that  they  had  to 
retreat,  losing  heavily.  At  one  time,  the  rebels  were  within 
two  hundred  yards  of  Battery  No.  9,  and  five  hundred  yards 
of  Battery  No.  8.  Their  loss  at  this  point  was  very  heavy, 
while  our  loss  was  slight." 

Gen.  Abbot  reported,  "  The  Confederates  assaulted  Fort 
Haskell  again  and  again,  but  failed  to  carry  it  .or  Battery 
No.  9.  As  soon  as  the  light  would  admit,  all  my  own  artil 
lery  from  Batteries  4,  5,  8,  9,  and  Fort  Haskell,  and  all  the 
light  artillery  which  Gen.  Tidball,  chief  of  artillery,  9th  Corps, 
could  concentrate  upon  the  position,  opened  and  maintained 
a  terrible  fire  upon  the  enemy.  No  re-inforcements  could 
join  him  from  his  own  line,  owing  to  this  fire.  His  captured 
position  was  entailing  deadly  loss  upon  him.  Our  reserves 
were,  rapidly  assembling;  and  finally,  about  eight,  A.INI.,  they 
made  a  gallant  charge,  which  resulted  in  the  recovery  of 
our  works,  of  all  our  artillery  (even  including  my  Coehorn 
mortars),  and  in  the  capture  of  over  eighteen  hundred 
prisoners.  The  following  extracts  from  the  rebel  papers 
show  the  effects  of  our  artillery-fire.  '  It  was  found  that  the 
inclosed  works  in  the  rear,  commanding  the  enemy's  main 
line,  could  only  be  taken  at  a^great  sacrifice.'  'The  enemy 
massed  his  artillery  so  heavily  in  the  neighboring  forts,  and 

1  Narrative  of  Private  Walter  F.  Sage  of  Berlin. 
98 


778  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

was  enabled  to  pour  such  a  terrible  enfilading  fire  upon 
our  ranks,  that  it  was  deemed  best  to  withdraw.'  '  The 
enemy  enfiladed  us  from  right  and  left  in  the  captured 
works  to  such  an  extent,  that  we  could  no  longer  hold  them 
without  the  loss  of  many  men/  &c." 

"  The  rebels  did  not  have  time  to  spike  or  otherwise  harm 
any  of  the  guns  or  mortars.  They  now  commenced  retreat 
ing  towards  their  own  lines  ;  but  this  was  not  so  easy  a 
matter  for  them,  as  some  of  our  forces  had  got  between  them 
and  their  lines.  Now  commenced  the  real  work  of  the 
fight.  Onr  troops  charged  them,  and  they  broke  and  scat 
tered  like  sheep.  They  finally  succeeded  in  their  escape, 
but  with  only  a  remnant  of  their  forces.  A  heavy  and  con 
tinuous  fire  was  kept  up  on  their  columns  as  they  retreated, 
doing  great  execution."  'i 

Gen.  Abbot  continues :  "  The  loss  in  the  two  companies  of 
the  First  Artillery  was  heavy,  amounting  to  sixty-five  men. 
Company  L,  after  bravely  fighting  in  Battery  No.  12  (open 
at  the  gorge)  until  nearly  surrounded,  was  then  marched  by 
Lieut.  Lewis,  commanding,  to  Fort  Haskell,  where  it  partici 
pated  in  the  gallant  defense  of  that  work.  When  the  charge 
was  made  .to  recover  our  lines,  this  company  was  the  first  to 
re-enter  Battery  No.  12  ;  capturing  one  lieutenant  and  twelve 
privates  of  the  26th  Georgia,  with  their  battle-flag.  The 
latter  was  taken  by  Private  G.  E.  McDonald,  who  has  received 
a  medal  of  honor  for  its  capture.  Lieut.  Lewis  deserves  great 
credit  for  handsomely  commanding  his  company.  He  speaks 
in  high  terms  of  Lieut.  Ansel  H.  Couch  of  Danbury,  and 
Sergeant  James  B.  McNamara  of  Killingworth,  for  coolness 
and  decision  during  the  engagement.  Lieut.  W.  1^.  H. 
Bingham  of  East  Haddam,  commanding  a  detachment  of 
the  company  permanently  stationed  in  Fort  Haskell,  also 
merits  commendation.  I  have  received  a  letter  from  Capt. 
J.  M.  Deane,  29th  Massachusetts  Veteran  Volunteers,  written 
to  call  attention  to  the  gallant  conduct  of  Private  James  T. 
Murphy  of  Company  L,  who  volunteered  to  serve  a  light 
gun  in  Fort  Haskell  when  its  officer  and  all  but  two  of  its 
detachment  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  gun  was 

2  Narrative  of  Private  Walter  F.  Sage  of  Berlin. 


GALLANT  DEEDS  OF  ARTILLERYMEN.          779 

silenced.  Private  Murphy  served  at  the  piece  with  gal 
lantry  during  the  rest  of  the  fight.  The  loss  of  the  com 
pany  was  two  enlisted  men  killed,  five  wounded,  and 
thirteen  missing.3  The  portion  of  Company  K  stationed  in 
Battery  No.  10  suffered-  severely.  Capt.  Twiss  was  wound 
ed,  and  Lieut.  Odell  killed,  while  gallantly  fighting  against 
overwhelming  odds.  The  command  of  the  company  de 
volving  on  Lieut.  James  H.  Casey  of  East  Haven,  he 
bravely  led  the  remnant  forward  with  the  charging  column, 
arid  recovered  his  mortars.  The  loss  of  the  company  was 
one  officer  and  four  enlisted  men  killed,  one  officer  and  two 
enlisted  men  wounded,  and  thirty-six  enlisted  men  missing. 
Lieut.  Drown,  commanding  a  detachment  of  the  company  in 
Battery  No.  9,  served  his  pieces  with  skill,  causing  great 
havoc  among  the  columns  of  the  enemy,  distant  about  two 
hundred  yards.  Lieut.  Frank  D.  Bangs  of  Derby,  with 
Company  E  in  Battery  5,  maintained  a  well-directed  fire 
upon  the  enemy  in  Fort  Stedman,  although  himself  sub 
jected  to  a  very  severe  concentric  fire  from  the  batteries 
around  him.  One  shell  exploded  in  the  magazine,  killing 
Private  James  Smith,  but,  fortunately,  not  igniting  the 
barrels  of  powder." 

Capt.  William  C.  Faxon  of  Stonington,  commanding  in 
Fort  Avery,  Lieut.  H.  D.  Patterson  of  Naugatuck,  command- 
ing'in  Fort  Morton,  and  Sergeant  Collins  Richmond  of  Glas- 
tenbury,  commanding  in  Battery  No.  8,  are  mentioned  for 
creditable  participation  in  the  fight.  -i 

The  Third  Connecticut  Battery,  Capt.  Thomas  S.  Gilbert  of 
Derby,  occupied  the  following  fortifications :  Craig,  two  guns, 
Lieut.  Henry  Middlebrook  commanding ;  Lewis  0.  Morris, 
two  guns,  Lieut.  Nelson  B.  Gilbert  commanding ;  .Gould,  two 
guns,  Lieut.  William  C.  Beecher  commanding ;  Porter,  two 
guns,  Lieut.  Richard  E.  Hayden  commanding.  Capt.  Gil 
bert  was  instructed  by  Gen.  Benham  to  hold  all  the  redoubts 
in  readiness  to  open  fire  in  case  the  enemy  made  an  irrup- 

8  "  Two  men  of  Company  L,  seeing  that  the  guns  of  Battery  Haskell  were  silent,  took 
sole  possession  of  the  battery,  and  commenced  firing  one  of  the  guns.  They  kept  up  a 
fire  on  the  rebels  all  through'the  action  ;  firing  in  allonc  hundred  and  twenty-five  shots. 
When  it  is  considered  that  it  takes  six  men  to  work  a  gun,  the  difficulty  of  this  feat  will 
be  seen.  Their  names  are  James  Murphy  and  William  Huntington,  the  latter  from 
Hartford."  —  Narrative  of  Private  W.  F.  Sage. 


780  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

tion  through  our  main  lines,  and  attempted  to  destroy  our 
base  of  supplies. 

When  the  assault  was  made,  the  brigade  which  included 
the  Second  Connecticut  Artillery  was  hurriedly  aroused,  and 
moved  to  the  point  of  danger,  three  miles  to  the  right ;  but 
by  the  time  it  arrived  the  works  had  been  recaptured,  and 
it  marched  back. 

Lee's  assault  had  not  only  been  wholly  unsuccessful,  but 
had  entailed  a  loss  of  at  least  four  thousand  men  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  captured, —  a  loss  which  he  could  illy  afford. 
Moreover,  its  effect  upon  his  right  had  been' just  the  reverse 
of  what  he  had  anticipated  :  instead  of  recoiling,  Grant  had 
sprung  suddenly  forward  upon  the  left,  crowding  his  antago 
nist  still  nearer  to  the  Appomattox. 

When  the  -Second  Artillery  was  recalled  from  the  right, 
instead  of  returning  to  camp,  it  was  sent  directly  against 
the  enemy's  weakened  front.  Capt.  Theodore  F.  Yaill 
wrote,  "  We  were  immediately  marched  to  the  front  of  Fort 
Fisher,  the  largest  work  on  the  Petersburg  line,  and  about 
a  mile  west  of  our  camp,  and  there  formed  near  the  Tight 
of  the  line  of  attack,  composed  of  the  1st  and  2d  Divisions 
of  our  corps,  except  such  parts  as  were  on  picket,  or  in  sup 
port  of  batteries.  We  had  about  one  hundred  men  on 
picket  that  day  in  front  of  the  camp.  The  attack  was  made 
at  half-past  four,  P.M.  ;  and  little  trouble  was  experienced  in 
accomplishing  our  object.  The  rebel  picket-line  was  cap 
tured  almost  entire ;  and  our  own  line  was  established  a 
long  distance  in  advance  of  its  original  position.  The  detail 
oh  picket  had  its  share  in  the  work  and  success  of  the  day ; 
occupying  the  rebel  pits  that  night,  ancl  capturing  more  than 
their  numbers  in  prisoners.  The  regiment  was  relieved  at 
midnight,  and  returned  to  camp." 

The  loss  of  the  regiment  during  the  engagement  was  five 
killed  and  sixteen  wounded.  Among  the  killed  was  Ser- 
geant-Major  E.  Goodwin  Osborn,  shot  'through  the  heart; 
and  among  the  wounded  were  Capt.  Vaill,  severely,  in  the 
thigh,  and  Lieut.  Admatha  Bates  in  the  foot. 

The  Fourteenth  had  participated  in  the  advance  still  far 
ther  to  the  left.  Lieut.-Col.  S.  A.  Moore,  commanding,  re- 


THE  FOURTEENTH  IN  A  SKIRMISH.  781 

ported  as  follows :  "  I  have  the  honor  to  report,  that,  upon 
the  25th  instant,  I  was  detailed  by  Gen.  William  Hayes,  com 
manding  the  2d  Division,  2d  Corps,  to  take  a  force  of  live 
hundred  men,  and  make  a  demonstration  near  the  left  of 
the  line  held  by  the  corps,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the 
attention  of  the  enemy  from  movements  which  were  taking 
place  farther  to  the  right.  The  regiments  assigned  to  me 
for  this  purpose  were  the  Fourteenth  Connecticut,  the  12th 
New-Jersey,  and  69th  and  106th- Pennsylvania  Volunteers. 

"  On  our  way  out  to  the  picket-line,  several  shells  were 
thrown  at  the  column  by  the  enemy,  without,  however, 
doing  any  harm.  Upon  reaching  the  picket-line  near  the 
Armstrong  House,  I  deployed  four  companies  of  the  Four 
teenth  as  skirmishers,  under  the  command  of  Capt.  Mur- 
*dock.  One  company,  under  Lieut.  Russell,  was  also  de 
ployed  upon  the  left  as  flankers.  The  remainder  of  the 
command  being  formed  in  line  of  battle,  we  advanced  for 
about  half  a  mile,  most  of  the  way  through  thick  woods; 
when  we  found  an  intrenched  skirmish-line  of  the  enemy 
strongly  posted  on  the  opposite  side  of  Hatcher's  Run. 

"  We  attacked  them ;  but  for  a  time  it  seemed  impossible 
for  the  men  to  ford  the  run,  it  being  wide  and  'deep,  and  the 
trees  from  both  banks  being  felled  into  the  stream,  so  that 
their  branches  presented  a  very  serious  obstacle  to  crossing. 
At  length,  kowcver,  our  skirmishers  effected  a  passage,  cap- 
'  turing  the  enemy's  works,  with  about  seventy  prisoners,  one 
of  whom  was  a  commissioned  officer.  Another  commis 
sioned  officer  was  taken  at  a  house  about  half  a  mile  far 
ther  on.  At, about  eleven  o'clock,  P.M.,  the  object  for  which 
we  were  sent  out  having  been  accomplished,  we  returned  to 
camp,  after  having  destroyed  the  bridge  across  the  run." 

The  casualties  of  the  regiment  were  six  wounded,  — 
Lieut.  John  T.  Bradley  severely  in  the  arm,  and  Sergeant 
Russell  Glenn  severely  in  the  breast.  Capt.  William  Mur- 
dock  of  Middletown,  Capt.  J.  Frank  Morgan  of  Mid'dletown, 
and  Adjutant  William  B.  Hincks  of  Bridgeport,  received 
complimentary  mention.  Like  all  the  other  line-officers  of 
the  regiment  they  had  been  promoted  from  the  ranks. 

The  following  enlisted  men  distinguished  themselves,  being 


'  782  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

the  first  to  cross  the  run  under  a  heavy  fire;  some  of  them 
wading  in  water  up  to  their  necks :  — 

Sergeant  Russell  Glenn,  Sergeant  Everett  L.  Dudley,  Cor 
poral  Hiram  H.  Fox,  Privates  Pierce  Barren,  Edward  Riley, 
George  W.  Smith,  Patrick  Moore,  James  Kerns,  George  W. 
Sanford,  and  Pierre  Morell. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  two  divisions  of  the  24th  Corps, 
including  the  Tenth  Connecticut  under  Lieut-Col.  E.  D.  S. 
Goodyear,  and  the  Thirtieth  (colored)  under  Col.  Henry  C. 
Ward,  crossed  the  James  to  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  the  Ap- 
pomattox  at  Point  of  Rocks,  and  pushed  around  to  the  left 
of  the  army.  On  the  30th,  about  noon,  they  advanced  with 
the  army,  closing  in  upon  the  right  of  Lee.  The  Fourteenth 
was  also  in  this  movement.  The  rain  was  falling  heavily  ; 
and  roads  and  streams  were  flooded.  Three  hundred  and' 
fifty  men  of  the  Tenth  were  detailed  for  picket,  under  Capt, 
Henry  A.  Peck  of  Bristol.  Brisk  skirmishing  ensued  all 
day ;  and  the  reserves  slept  on  their  arms  at  night  behind  a 
log  breastwork. 

The  Tenth  was  destined  to  important  service  within  the 
next  three  days.  On  the  morning  of  the  31st,  the  regiment 
advanced  wifh  the  brigade,  and  after  a  severe  skirmish 
drove  the  erfemy  within  his  works.  It  pressed  forward  to  a 
point  within  four  hundred  yards  of  the  hostile  fortifications, 
and  was  constantly  engaged  until  dark.  Its  losses  during 
the  day  were  Capt.  George  H.  Brown,  killed  at  the  head  of 
his  company ;  Lieut.  Julius  Neidhart  and  eight  enlisted  men 
wounded. 

•  Intrenchments  were  now  commenced ;  and  before  three 
o'clock,  A.M.,  a  formidable  line  of  defense,  without  abatis, 
stretched  along  the  front,  rifle-pits  being  also  dug  for  the 
pickets.  The  posts  of  the  latter  were  thirty  yards  in  ad 
vance  of  the  main  line,  and  on  the  edge  of  a  deep  ravine,  the 
opposite  side  of  which  was  occupied  by  the  enemy.  The 
position  was  such  as  to  render  any  further  direct  advance  im 
practicable  without  a  severe  engagement;  but  the  command 
was  shortly  turned  out  under  arms,  and  ordered  to  the  left 
of  the  brigade,  to  follow  the  llth  Maine.  During  some  de 
lay  of  that  regiment,  the  rebels  charged  our  outposts ;  and 


THE   FIRST  CAVALRY   AT  FIVE  FORKS.  783 

the  Tenth  was  advanced  again  to  the  works,  where  it  ar 
rived  just  as  the  enemy  came*  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
parapet.  A  short  but  sharp  fight  took  place  on  the  parapet 
of  the  work,  which  resulted  in  a  complete  repulse  of  the 
enemy,  who  was  compelled  to  fall  back  in  confusion.  The 
picket-line,  which  had  been  driven  in,  was  promptly  re 
established  ;  and  the  enemy  was  forced  back  to  his  old  posi 
tion  with -severe  loss.  The  casualties  in  the  Tenth  were  only 
one  enlisted  man  killed  and  five  wounded  ;  while  it  had 
inflicted  severe  loss  on  the  enemy,  and  captured  fifty  pris 
oners.  During  the  day,  an  attempt  was  made  to  strengthen 
the  line  of  works,  and  construct  abatis ;  but,  as  the  working- 
parties  suffered  severely  from  the  enemy's  sharpshooters,  it 
was  deemed  best  to  discontinue  the  work  until  after  dark, 
at  which  time  the  line  was  materially  strengthened,  and  a 
good  abatis  constructed  in  front. 

On  the  same  day,  April  1,  Sheridan  fought  the  great  bat 
tle  and  won  the  decisive  victory  of  Five  Forks.  The  First 
Connecticut  Cavalry  was  here  heavily  engaged.  At  sunrise, 
the  regiment  started  out  under  Col.  Brayton  Ives,  with  Cus- 
ter's  division.  The  force  was  dismounted,  and  advanced 
against  the  enemy.  The  Confederates  retired  slowly  until 
they  reached  that  junction  of  roads  known  as  Five  Forks, 
where  they  made  a  desperate  stand.  The  First  was  on  the 
extreme  right  of  the  division.  About  noon,  the  regiment 
halted,  in  line  of  battle,  at  a  ravine  in  a  narrow  belt  of 
woods,  just  in  front  of  which  lay  a  broad  open  field,  and 
beyond  that  a  large  peach-orchard  with  its  trees  in  full 
bloom.  Every  thing  was  quiet ;  not  a  shot  had  been  fired 
for  some  time.  The  enemy  was  near,  and  maintained  a  sus 
picious  silence.  In  a  few  minutes,  one  of  Custer's  staff 
dashed  up  in  front  of  the  3d  New-Jersey,  which  was  on  the 
left,  and  shouted,  "  There's  a  rebel  battery  over  in  that  or 
chard,  entirely  unsupported  ! "  The  Jerseymen  gave  a  shout, 
and  dashed  ahead  pell-mell.  Col.  Ives  restrained  the  First ; 
but  they  were  clamorous  to  charge. 

Col.  Ives  says,  "  Officers  and  men  entreated  me  by  looks 
and  words  to  allow  them  to  go  forward  ;  and  I  think  I  was 
persuaded  by  Capt.  Parmelee.  I  sat  on  my  horse  near  him  ; 


784  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE  REBELLION. 

and  I  never  shall  forget  his  eagerness  to  advance,  nor  the 
appealing  look  he  gave  me.  -  Unable  to  resist  longer,  I  cried, 
•'Forward!'  and  with  a  yell  the  First  Connecticut  charged 
'on  the  run.'  But  no  sooner  had  we  reached  the  outer 
edge  of  the  woods  than  the  peaceful-looking  peach-orchard 
assumed  a  different  character.  The  bright  pink  blossoms 
were  blown  into  the  air  by  bullets,  shells,  canister,  and  grape- 
shot.  Every  man  who  had  gone  into  the  open  field  was 
shot  down.  Fortunately,  another  staff-officer  rode  up  with 
an  order  for  the  line  to  retire.  Just  at  this  moment,  a  shell 
struck  Capt.  Parmelee  in  the  breast,  killing  him  instantly." 

In  his  official  report,  Col.  Ives  gives  an  account  of  the 
succeeding  battle,  "During  the  afternoon,  our  line  charged 
the  enemy's  breastworks  three  successive  times.  Twice  we 
were  repulsed.  The  thick  woods,  the  long  march,  the  lack 
of  rations  (we  had  been  -without  food  for  thirty-six  hours), 
the  heavy  and  incessant  fire  to  which  we  were  exposed,  all 
united  to  test  severely  the  bravery  and  discipline  of  our 
troops.  But  they  bore  all  without  flinching,  and  charged 
for  the  third  time  so  vigorously,  that  the  rebels  threw  down 
their  arms,  and  Heel  or  surrendered.  In  addition  to  many 
prisoners  taken  by  the  First  Connecticut  at  this  time,  two 
guns  were  captured  by  Major  Leonard  P.  Goodwin  and  Lieut. 
Aaron  S.  Lanfare.  These  were  the  only  pieces  of  artillery 
taken  by  Custer's  division  in  the  battle  Of  Five  Forks.  After 
a  short  pursuit  of  the  flying  enemy,  we  went  into  bivouac 
for  the  night." 

The  regiment  had  lost  one  of  its  most  valued  officers  in 
Capt.  Uriah  N.  Parmelee.  He  was  a  native  of  Guilford,  and 
entered  Yale  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  Rev.  II.  II.  Murray,  a 
college-mate  of  the  deceased,  says  of  him,  "  I  always  regard- 
^d  him  as  the  most  promising  of  all  my  friends  of  his  age. 
His  scholarship  was  good,  his  reading  had  been  varied  and 
extensive,  his  memory  tenacious,  his  understanding  clear. 
His  mind  was  of  a  high  order.  His  candor  and  love  of  truth 

c 

were  remarkable.  I  do  not  think  he  could  equivocate." 
But  he  asked,  "  What  is  knowledge  worth  to  me  without  a 
country?"  and  in  his  junior  year  he  left  college,  and  volun 
teered  in  the  New -York  6th  Cavalry.  He  was  an  orderly 


DEATH  OF  CAPT.  PARMELEE.  785 

to  Gen.  John  C.  Caldwell  at  Chancellorsville,  and  received 
the  rare  compliment  of  the  following  mention:  — 

"  I  can  not  close  my  report  without  at  least  a  passing  notice  of  my 
orderly,  Corporal  U.  N.  Parmelee.  When  a  new  regiment  (148th  New- 
York)  broke  under  the  first  deadly  fire,  he  rendered  efficient  and  timely  service 
in  rallying  the  men,  and  urging  them  on.  I  think  him  worthy  of  promotion, 
both  for  his  gallantry  and  other  high  qualities." 

In  the  spring  of  .1864,  Gov.  Buckingham  commissioned 
him  second  lieutenant  in  the  First ;  and  he  was  promoted,  over 
all  intermediate  officers,  to  be  captain,  for  gallantry  at  Ash 
land.  In  October,  1864,  his  squadron,  while  on  picket,  was 
surrounded  by  a  brigade  of  rebels,  and  Compelled  to  sur 
render.  The  captain  was  abused  ;  robbed  of  money,  clothing, 
and  even  of  personal  effects  of  no  use  to  his  captors ;  and 
forced  to  march  barefoot  over  a  stony  road  for  many  miles : 
but  he  succeeded  in  two  days,  by  his  adroitness  and  pluck, 
in  effecting  an  escape,  and  rejoined  the  regiment  to  enter 
more  heartily  into  the  work  than  ever. 

Col.  Ives  wrote  of  him  subsequently,  "  His  body  was  car 
ried  to  the  rear,  and  laid  under  a  tree  till  after  the  battle, 
when  the  men  buried  it ;  placing  a  wreath  of  flowers  upon  the 
grave,  and  marking  the  spot  with  a  head-board,  upon  which 
was  written  the  name  and  rank  of  the  deceased.  Without 
injustice  to  any  of  the  faithful  officers  who  followed  me 
through  that  severe  closing  campaign,  and  without  undue 
laudation  of  the  dead,  I  can  say  that  I  regarded  Capt. 
Parmelee  as  the  most  valuable  line-officer  in  my  regiment. 
We  all  loved  him ;  and  our  hearts  were  sad  that  pleasant 
Sunday  morning  as  we  marched  past  his  grave  in  pursuit 
of  the  flying  enemy." 

Sheridan,  by  a  most  rapid  and  skillful  combination,  had 
surrounded  the  Confederates  at  Five  Forks,  beaten  them, 
and  captured  more  than  five  thousand.  At  midnight,  a  ter 
rific  cannonade  was  opened  by  the  First  Connecticut  Artil 
lery  from  all  the  guns  bearing  on  the  enemy;  and  Grant 
ordered  a  simultaneous  advance  on  the  morning  of  the  2d, 
by  the  corps  of  Wright,  Parke,  and  Orel.  At  one  point,  the 
rebels  were  to  make  a  most  stubborn  resistance,  —  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Gregg,  which  inclosed  the  Weldon  Railroad. 

89 


786  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  2d,  Lieut-Col.  Goodyear, 
commanding  the  Tenth,  was  directed  "to  strengthen  his  skir 
mish-line,  and  make  a  demonstration  in  connection  with  the 
skirmishers  of  the  llth  Maine  and  100th  New -York  upon 
the  enemy's  works  in  front,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
the  strength  of  the  enemy.  The  advance  was  immediately 
made,  but  was  met  by  so  destructive  a  fire  from  the  enemy's 
line  of  battle,  that  farther  advance  of  the  skirmish-line  in 
that  direction  was  impossible.  At  about  nine  o'clock,  the  bri 
gade  was  moved  by  direction  of  Brig.-Gen.  Foster  towards 
the  right,  leaving  the  skirmish-line  in  position.  A  march 
of  less  than  two  Ijours  brought  the  command  in  sight  of  a 
formidable  line  of  earthworks,  defended  by  two  lines  of  pali 
sading  and  abatis.  Beyond  and  in  sight  of  these  fortifica 
tions,  the  inner  defenses  on  the  right  of  Petersburg  were 
visible ;  the  tall  spires  of  the  city  looming  up  in  the  back 
ground.  In  front  of  the  inner  line,  and  equidistant  from 
each  other,  were  inclosed  forts  armed  with  artillery,  and  the 
parapet  manned  with  strong  lines  of  infantry.  From  these 
works,  the  enemy  commenced  shelling  our  men  as  they 
advanced  to  take  their  position  in  front.  The  Tenth  was 
deployed  in  line  of  battle  on  the  right  of  the  brigade.  A 
portion  of  the  llth  Maine  Volunteers  were  deployed  as  skir 
mishers  ;  and,  the  skirmishers  of  the  1st  and  4th  Brigades 
being  in  position,  the  order  to  advance  was  given,  and  the 
enemy  was  driven  within  his  works.  The  1st  and  4th  Bri 
gades  being  in  line,  and  connecting,  Gen.  Foster  ordered  the 
works  in  front  to  be  carried  by  assault. 

Capt,  Francis  G.  Hickerson,  commanding  the  Tenth  after 
•the  engagement,  thus  reports,  "  The  Tenth,  supported  by  the 
100th  New- York,  advanced  in  quick  time  to  the  assault  of 
the  work  in  its  front  (Fort  Gregg).  It  was  a  completely  in 
closed  work,  stockaded  in  rear,  with  loop-holes  for  musketry 
through  the  stockade,  and  manned  by  a  full  garrison  with 
two  pieces  of  artillery.  The  regiment  arriving  at  a  dis 
tance  of  four  hundred  yards  from  the  works,  the  troops, 
taking  the  double-quick,  pushed  on  without  a  halt,  under 
one  of  the  most  terrific  fires  of  musketry  and  artillery  ever 
witnessed.  Many  of  our  brave  men  went  down  ;  but  the  fort 


GALLANTRY  OF  THE  TENTH  AT  FORT  GREGG.      787 

was  reached  without  -  faltering.  Lieut-Col.  Goodyear  fell 
severely  wounded  in  the  face  and  shoulder,  while  gallantly 
leading  his  men  in  the  charge  ;  and,  although  wounded  early 
in  the  engagement,  he  would  not  allow  himself  to  be  carried 
to  the  rear,  but  remained  where  he  fell  until  the  fort  was 
surrendered.  The  flag  of  Connecticut  was  the  first  on  the 
parapet;  and  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  fight  took  place 
there  for  the  possession  of  the  fort,  lasting  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  minutes.  A  portion  of  the  1st  Brigade  arriv 
ing  about  this  time,  our  line  entirely  inclosed  the  fort ;  but 
the  garrison,  although  surrounded,  still  refused  to  surrender, 
and  continued  to  defend  the  work;  while  from  Fort  Baldwin 
a  destructive  fire  was  poured  in  upon  the  backs  of  such  of 
our  men  as  were  exposed  in  that  direction.  Further  re-in- 
forcements,  however,,  coming  up  at  this  juncture,  the  fort 
was  at  last  surrendered. 

"  The  record  of  modern  warfare  rarely  shows  a  more  des 
perate  encounter  than  that  upon  the  parapet  of  Fort  Gregg. 
Union  and  rebel  soldiers  were  found  dead  in  each  other's 
grasp.  Thirteen  rebels  were  found  inside  the  fort,  killed  by 
bayonet-thrust;  and  scores  were  wounded  by  the  same 
weapon.  The  new  State  colors,  never  before  in  a  fight, 
were  pierced  by  twenty-three  bullets,  while  the  Ostaff  was 
struck  three  times." 

Chaplain  Trumbull  wrote  of  the  assault  and  the  attendant 
casualties,  — 

"  The  blue  flag  of  Connecticut  was  the  first  on  the  parapet  of  the  fort. 
Nothing  very  strange  in  that !  The  Tenth  maintained  its  former  good 
name  in  the  hand-to-hand  struggle  ;  losing  well-nigh  one-half  of  all  it  sent 
in,  but  never  lowering  its  flag  for  an  instant,  or  giving  back  an  inch  once 
gained.  Col.  Greeley  being  at  the  North,  Lieut.-Col.  E.  D.  S.  Goodyear 
—  well  known  as  from  North  Haven  —  was  in  command.  Cheering  the 
men  by  encouraging  words  and  courageous  bearing,  he  led  them  across  the 
*  plain  in  the  face  of  the  deadly  fire  of  grape,  canister,  and  musketry,  until  he 
was  struck  in  the  face,  and  knocked  down  by  a  glancing  bullet.  Rallying 
again,  he  once  more  pressed  forward  ;  but  the  second  time  he  fell,  wounded 
severely  by  a  shot  through  the  shoulder  ;  and  during  the  remainder  of  the 
engagement  he  lay  near  the  ditch,  watching  with  closest  interest  the  prog 
ress  of  the  fight,  and  feeling  just  pride  in  his  brave  boys  who  were  doing 
their  work  so  nobly.  Capt.  J.  II.  Liudsley  of  Northford  was  wounded,  as 
twice  before,  having  a  ball  in  his  hip,  and  narrow  escapes  from  three  bul 
lets  which  passed  through  his  clothing.  Capt.  Brainard  Smith  of  Milford 
was  shot  through  the  body,  and  died  on  his  way  to  hospital.  Coming  out 


788  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

as  a  private,  Capt.  Smith  had  worked  his  way  up  to  the  command  of  a 
company,  and  was  a  gallant  officer  of  character  and  promise.  Lieut. 
Walter  P.  Hovey  of  North  Haven  was  hit  in  the  leg  by  a  grape-shot. 
Lieut.  Julius  Neidhart  of  New  Haven  lost  his  left  leg.  Lieut.  Edward  L. 
Smith  of  Branford  received  three  wounds  ;  one  in  the  head,  and  two  in 
the  left  arm.  Other  officers  who  escaped  injury  were  not:  less  exposed  or 
courageous  than  those  whose  wounds  testify  to' their  valor. 

"  Neither  were  officers  the  only  brave  ones.  There  were  many  enlisted 
men  whose  deeds  were  worthy  of  special  mention  and  praise.  "When 
Sergeant  Smith  dropped  exhausted  on  the  march,  the  State  colors  were 
taken  by  Corporal  Charles  E.  Northrup,  and  carried  on  in  the  charge  until 
he  fell  wounded  in  the  shoulder.  Corporal  Northrup  is  of  Darien,  a  patri 
otic  young  soldier  .of  a  patriotic  household.  His  father  and  older  brother 
both  died  in  the  service  ;  the  former  while  a  prisoner  in  the  gloomy  stockade 
at  Columbia,  S.C.  The  care  of  his  widowed  mother's  household  thus  de 
volving  on  this  son;  application  was  made  for  his  discharge  from  the  army, 
which  would  have  been  doubtless  speedily  successful ;  but,  the  battle 
coming  on,  he  would  not  leave  his  post,  and  was  stricken  down  while 
pressing  forward  in  the  extreme  advance. 

"  Young  George  Phillips,  a  New-Haven  boy,  was  also  conspicuous.  He 
is  but  nineteen  now,  yet  he  has  been  nearly  three  years  in  service.  He  was 
twice  taken  out  of  the  army  by  his  father  on  the  score  of  his  age  ;  but  the 
third  time  he  managed  to  stay  in.  He  was  made  a  corporal,  and  put  on  the 
color -guard.  When  Corporal  Northrup  was  wounded,  Corporal  Phillips 
took  tlie  State  colors,  and  pressed  forward  in  the  advance.  Into  the  ditch, 
through  the  water,  up  the  steep  bank,  on  to  the  top  of  the  parapet,  he  made 
his  way  ;  and  there  he  stood  a  target  for  rebel  bullets,  holding  up  the  flag, 
and  counting  his  life  as  nothing  in  its  defense.  The  new  flag,  never  before 
in  a  fight,  had  twenty-six  bullet-holes  in  it,  and  three  more  were  in  its  staff. 
Young  Phillips  was  made  a  sergeant  before  he  left  the  field  that  day. 
Has  he  not  won  his  chevrons  fairly  ?  When  questioned  about  it,  and 
praised  for  his  gallantry  by  Lieut. -Col.  Goodyear,  who  was  witness  to 
his  bravery,  he  said  dryly,  '  I  worried  'em  with  the  flag.  I'd  shake  it  in 
their  faces  ;  and  then,  when  they'd  grab  at  it,  Parmelee  would  shoot  'em.' 
Joseph  E.  Parmelee  was  another  color-corporal,  a  brave  boy  from  Guil- 
ford.  He  stood  defending  the  colors  ;  and  Phillips  says  he  saw  him  shoot 
five  rebels  through  the  head  as  rapidly  as  he  could  load  and  fire  again. 
He  was  finally  wounded,  but  not  dangerously.  Phillips  Avas  hit  with  a 
brick ;  missiles  of  that  kind  being  freely  used  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
struggle.  His  escape  from  bullets  was  wonderful. 

u  Corporal  Samuel  Bennett,  one  of  the  new  substitutes,  an  Englishman, 
was  wounded  in  the  thigh.  He  had  seen  some  service  in  the  English 
marine  force,  and  was  firm  and  true  in  the  thickest  of  the  battle.  Cor 
poral  Oscar  Allen  of  New  Haven,  whose  step-father  was  killed  last  August  * 
while  on  the  same  color-guard,  and  whose  mother  has  died  since  his  re-en 
listment,  received  a  wound  which  would  have  proved  fatal  but  for  the  bul 
let's  being  checked  by  his  breastplate.  Corporal  Dutton  of  Company  B, 
who  was  one  of  the  very  first  men  on  the  parapet  of  the  fort,  was  so 
delighted  when  he  saw  the  blue  colors  come  up,  that,  even  in  the  excite 
ment  of  the  battle.,  he  caught  the  hand  of  one  of  the  color-guard,  and  called 
out  cheerily,  '  Oh  !  I'm  so  proud  to  see  that  flag  the  first  here  ! "  and  then 
turned 'to  his  work  of  fighting,  with  all  his  heart  in  it.  In  a  few  minutes, 
he  fell  wounded,  and  was  afterwards  reported  dead  ;  but  he  was  taken  to 
the  hospital,  and  is  in  a  fair  way  to  recover." 


FLIGHT  OF  LEE.  789 

Three  companies  of  the  Tenth,  under  Capt.  Hickerson, 
being  on  the  skirmish-line  in  front  of  Fort  Baldwin,  ad 
vanced  under  a  severe  fire  from  that  and  other  works  ;  and, 
after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Gregg,  Fort  Baldwin  was  carried, 
the  skirmishers  of  the  Tenth  being  also  the  first  to  enter 
that  work.  The  regiment  had  never  fought  more  gallantly 
than  this  day ;  and  that  is  superlative  praise.  It  had  lost 
one  officer  and  ten  enlisted  men  killed,  and  seventy-nine 
wounded.  For  its  conduct  in  this  engagement,  the  Tenth 
was  presented  with  an  eagle  of  rich  gilt  bronze,  represented 
with  extended  wings  and  open  beak,  grasping  in  his  talons 
arrows  and  olive-branch,  and  resting  on  a  globe  which  was 
supported  on  a  handsome  cap  to  fit  the  staff  of  the  State 
colors.  The  globe  bears  the  inscription,  "  Presented  to  the 
Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteers  by  Major-Gen.  John  Gibbon, 
commanding  24th  Army  Corps,  for  gallant  conduct  in  the 
assault  on  Fort  Gregg,  Petersburg,  April  2,  1865." 

The  assault  at  this  point  had  not  been  isolated.  Upon  the 
right  the  9th  Corps  had  moved  forward,  and  upon  the  left 
the  6th  and  2d ;  and  each  advance  had  been  crowned  with 
partial  or  complete  success.  Wright  with  his  6th  Corps 
had  pierced  the  rebel  line  near  Fort  Gregg,  overborne 
all  opposition,  and  made  his  way  straight  across  the  South- 
side  Railroad  to  the  Appomattox,  south  of  Petersburg.  Here 
the  Second  Artillery  was  again  hotly  engaged  in  obtaining 
the  final  success. 

Lee  was  beaten  at  every  point.  Scarcely  anywhere  did 
his  troops  retain  a  hold  upon  their  intrenchments ;  and  flight 
was  the  only  alternative.  Once  more  our  jaded  heroes  sprang 
forward.  The  enemy's  retreat  lay  up  the  Appomattox ;  but 
Sheridan  was  already  in  his  path,  and  had  swung  the  5th 
Corps  up  to  Sutherland's,  ten  miles  west  of  Petersburg,  and 
stationed  his  cavalry  ten  miles  still  farther  west.  All  day  (the 
2d,  Sunday),  preparations  for  retreat  went  forward  rapidly ; 
while  Grant's  host  closed  sternly  in  upon  the  east  and  south. 
All  night,  the  evacuation  went  silently  forward.  Richmond 
was  fired ;  thousands  of  the  panic-stricken  people  fled  with 
the  army ;  and  by  dawn  of  the  next  day  Lee  was  sixteen 
miles  west,  headed  for  the  arrny  of  Johnston,  which  was  still 
facing  Sherman  defiantly  in  North  Carolina. 


790  CONNECTICUT  DUEING   THE   EEBELLION. 

Weitzel,  pressing  near  Richmond  north  of  the  James,  with 
one  division  of  the  24th  Corps,  and  one  division  of  the  25th 
(colored)  Corps,  was  attracted  by  the  conflagration,  and  in 
early  morning  hurried  forward  over  the  vacated  Confederate 
breastworks  towards  the  city. 

Lieut.-Col.  David  Torrance  reported,  "  At  sunset  of  April 
2,  we  witnessed  the  last  rebel  dress-parade  in  Virginia,  from 
the  magazine  of  Fort  Harrison.  Early  on  Monday  morning, 
April  3,  1865,  the  picket-fires  of  the  enemy  began  to  wane, 
and  an  ominous  silence  to  prevail  within  his  lines.  Very 
soon,  deserters  began  to  come  within  our  lines,  who  reported 
that  the  works  in  our  front  were  being' evacuated.  In  a  little 
while,  we  saw  the  barracks  of  Fort  Darling  in  flames ;  and 
tremendous  explosions  followed  each  other  in  rapid  succes 
sion.  The  earliest  dawn  revealed  to  us  the  deserted  lines, 
with  their  guns  spiked  and  their  tents  standing.  We  were 
ordered  to  advance  at  once,  but  cautiously.  The  troops 
jumped  over  the  breastworks,  and,  avoiding  the  torpedoes, 
filed  through  the  rebel  abatis;  and  then  began  the  race  for 
Richmond. 

"  No  words  can  describe  the  enthusiasm  of  the  troops  as 
they  found  themselves  fairly  within  the  rebel  lines,  and 
tramping  along  the  bloody  roads  leading  to  the  capital.  The 
honor  of  first  entering  that  city  was  most  earnestly  contested. 
Many  regiments  threw  away  every  thing  but  their  arms, 
while  this  regiment  '  double-quicked  '  in  heavy  marching 
orders.  Two  companies  of  this  regiment,  G  and  C,  that  had 
been  sent  forward  as  skirmishers,  reached  the  city  close  on 
the  heels  of  our  cavalry,  and  were,  without  the  slightest 
doubt,  the  first  companies  of  infantry  to  enter  the  city. 
Through  the  heat  and  dust  the  troops  struggled  on ;  and  at 
last,  as  we  came  in  full  view  of  the  city,  the  air  was  rent  with 
such  cheers  as  only  the  brave  men  who  had  fought  so  long 
and  so  nobly  for  that  city  could  give." 

The  Eleventh  Connecticut  was  also  here,  under  Major 
Charles  Warren,4  and  immediately  pushed  forward.  Major 

4  Charles  Warren  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Stafford,  and  joined  the  service  as  a 
private  in  Company  B,  Eleventh  Eeg-imcnt,  in  October,  1861.  He  uas  promoted  to  be 
sergeant  before  leaving  the  State  ;  became  iirst  sergeant  in  March,  18G2  ;  first  lieutenant, 
Octobcr,418C2 ;  and  captain,  July,  1863.  Here-signed  in  December,  1864,  at  the  expira- 


THE  TROOPS   ENTER"  RICHMOND   IN  TRIUMPH.  791 

Warren  reported,  "The  brigade  (1st  Brigade,  3d  Division, 
24th  Army  Corps)  of  which  this  regiment  forms  a  part  was 
formed  in  mass  on  the  New-Market  Road,  and  immediately 
advanced  towards  the  rebel  capital,  preceded  by  a  line  of 
skirmishers.  The^  first  line  of  rebel  works  was  cautiously 
passed  without  opposition.  Lines  of  rebel  works  were  passed 
at  double-quick,  until  the  spires  of  the  city  of  which  we 
had  read  for  four  years  came  in  view  :  the  national  banners 
were  unfurled ;  bands  struck  up,  i  Rally  round  the  Flag,' 
when  cheer  upon  cheer  from  our  soldiers  rent  the  air ;  and 
the  city  of  Richmond  was  entered  in  triumph  by  the  national 
army  about  half-past  eight  o'clock,  A.M.  The  men  were 
received  by  the  white  people  with  a  good  deal  of  enthu 
siasm  ;  but  our  reception  by  the  colored  people  was  a  per 
fect  ovation.  The  rear-guard  of  the  enemy  passed  up  Main 
Street  just  ahead  of  our  advance.  Many  prisoners  have  been 
picked  up  in  the  city.  After  stationing  guards  over  maga 
zines,  arsenals,  and  other  important  places,  the  Eleventh  was 
sent  to  aid  in  putting  out  the  lire  which  the  rebels  had 
kindled,  and  which  was  fast  sweeping  the  city  to  destruc 
tion.  The  fire  being  checked,  the  regiment  was  detailed  as 
provostrguard  for  the  city,  which  duty  they  continue  to 
perform." 

Chaplain  DeForest  wrote,  "  Our  reception  was  grander 
and  more  exultant  than  even  Roman  emperor  leading  back 
his  victorious  legions  with  the  spoils  of  conquest  could  ever 
know.  We  brought  government,  order,  and  heaven-born  lib 
erty.  The  slaves  seemed  to  think  that  the  day  of  jubilee 
had  fully  come.  How  they  danced,  shouted,  waved  their  rag- 
banners,  shook  our  hands,  bowed,  scraped,  laughed  all  over, 
and  thanked  God  for  our  corning  !  Many  heroes  have  fought 
for  this  day,  and  died  without  the  sight.  The  heroes  of  this 
battle  are  those  who  broke  the  rebel  lines  yesterday,  and 
forced  Lee  to  send  a  telegram  to  Jeff.  Davis,  which  cut  short 
his  devotions,  and  called  him  out  of  church  to  begin  his 
flight.  But  by  the  fortunes  of  war  we  are  permitted  to  see 

tion  of  his  term  of  service  ;  having  participated  in  every  battle  and  march  of  his  regiment. 
Two  weeks  later  he  was  commissioned  from  civil  life  to  be  major,  and  thereafter  led  the 
•regiment ;  being  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-colonel  in  May,  and  colonel  in  December,  1865. 
lie  left  the  service  with  a  record  untarnished. 


792  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

and  feel  the  long-expected  day.     It  is  a  day  never  to  be  for 
gotten  by  us  till  days  shall  be  no  more." 

The  First  Connecticut  Battery  and  the  Eighth  and  Twenty- 
first  Regiments  were  also  in  this  advance  to  the  capital. 

Meantime  the  pursuit  was  pressed  with  unparalleled  vigor. 
Swinton  says  that  Lee,  at  the  head  of  his  twenty-five  thou 
sand  fugitives,  expected  to  be  able  to  join  Johnston,  and  "  his 
spirits  were  unusually  light  and  cheerful  on  the  morning  of 
the  3d."  He  was  probably  thinking  of  his  escape  from  York- 
town  and  Antietam;  but  he  was  beset  by  a  different  adver 
sary  now. 

The  pursuit  was  conducted  along  two  lines,  —  Ord  with  ,the 
Army  of  the  James,  in  which  was  the  Tenth  Connecticut, 
proceeding  by  the  Southside  or  Lynchburg  Railroad ;  and 
Sheridan  with  the  cavalry  and  the  5th  Corps,  followed  by 
Meade  with  the  2d  and  6th,  along  the  northerly  roads 
nearer  to  the  Appomattox.  Lee's  retreat  lay  north  of  both ; 
but  he  must  cross  both  at  Amelia  Court  House  and  Burkes- 
ville,  to  make  sure  of  escape.  With  Sheridan  was  the  First 
Connecticut  Cavalry,  and  with  Meade  the  Second  Artillery, 
and  the  Tenth,  Fourteenth,  and  Thirtieth  Infantry. 

Before  Lee  could  pass  Amelia  Court  House,  Sheridan  was 
before  it  at  Jetersville.  Lee  declined  battle ;  abandoned  the 
hope  of  reaching  Danville,  except  by  detour,  and  moved 
rapidly  westward  towards  Detonsville.  Sheridan  flung  his 
cavalry  forward :  and  early  on  the  6th,  Custer  attacked  the 
wagon-train  of  the  Confederate  army  at  Sailor's  Creek. 

The  First  Connecticut  was  in  the  advance  of  the  division, 
and  was  the  first  to  charge.  The  guard  of  the  train  was 
routed,  and  many  prisoners  taken.  The  regiment  then  be 
came  divided.  Col.  Ives  led  the  right  battalion  into  a  piece 
of  woods  near  the  rear  of  the  train,  where  the  rebels  had  a 
number  of  guns  supported  by  infantry.  The  dash  of  Col. 
Ives  resulted  in  a  capture  by  him  of  five  pieces  of  artillery 
with  their  caissons,  besides  a  hundred  and  forty  prisoners  and 
two  battle-flags.  These  were  the  first  captures  of  the  day. 
One  of  the  flags  was  taken  from  the  color-bearer  of  the  1st 
Florida  by  Lieut.  A.  S.  Lanfare  of  Branford.  Major  John  , 
B.  Morehouse,  with  the  left  battalion,  charged  upon  the 


SUEEENDEE  OF  EWELL'S   COEPS.  793 

head  of  the  train,  took  possession,  and  burned  wagons,  and 
captured  men  and  horses. 

The  rebel  infantry  soon  came  up,  and  after  a  spirited 
engagement  forced  the  cavalry  to  retire ;  after  which  they 
threw  up  intrenchments,  and  awaited  a  renewal  of  the 
attack.  About  three,  P.M.,  Pennington's  cavalry  brigade 
was  directed  to  charge  the  enemy's  works.  Col.  Ives  says, 
"•It  was  a  rash  order.  Not  more  than  a  third  of  the  brigade 
was  present ;  men  and  horses  had  been  on  the  move  since 
daylight;  the  enemy  was  strongly  intrenched;  and  we  could 
reach  the  works  only  by  advancing  over  an  open  field.  I 
had  but  a  handful  of  my  regiment  with  me  ;  the  balance 
being  in  charge  of  captured  guns,  prisoners,  &c.,  and  other 
wise  detached.  However,  at  the  sound  of  the  bugles,  our 
men  galloped  forward  bravely.  When  we  got  within  easy 
range  of  the  intrenchments,  we  received  such  terrible  vol 
leys,  that  both  men  and  horses  were  cut  down  in  squads. 
It  was  impossible  to  withstand  the  storm  of  lead ;  and  we 
were  driven  back.  In  less  than  three  minutes  after  the 
'  charge '  was  sounded,  one-fifth  of  the  men  and  horses  I  led 
in  were  killed  outright  (my  own  horse  among  them),  —  all 
lying  in  one  spot  that  could  be  covered  by  a  radius  of  a  rod. 
It  is  but  just  to  say,  that,  when  we  subsequently  went  over 
the  field  to  bury  the  dead,  none  were  found  lying  so  near 
the  hostile  works  as  those  who  belonged  to  the  First  Con 
necticut." 

The  6th  and  2d  Corps  soon  came  up ;  and  about  sunset 
the  works  were  carried  :  and  Ewell,  finding  himself  sur 
rounded,  surrendered  his  whole  corps.  In  this  engagement, 
the  Second  Connecticut  Artillery  and  the  Fourteenth  In 
fantry  had  honorable  part. 

On  the  night  of  the  6th,  Lee  crossed  the  Appomattox  by 
bridges  near  Farrnville ;  and  in  the  morning  was  again 
closely  pursued  by  the  2d  Corps.  The  Confederates  had 
but  one  ration  on  leaving  Richmond ;  and  now  lived  as  they 
could  by  foraging  within  the  narrow  limits  allowed  them  by 
the  Union  cavalry.  **  Those  men  were  fortunate  who  had 
in  their  pockets  a  few  handfuls  of  corn  which  they  might 

parch  by  the  wayside ;  but  many  had  nought  wherewithal  to 

100 


794  CONNECTICUT  DUKING  THE  REBELLION. 

assuage  the  pangs  of  hunger,  save  the  buds  and  twigs  of 
spring,  that,  with  its  exuberant  bourgeon,  seemed  to  mock 
the  desolate  winter  of  their  fortunes.  The  misery  of  these 
famished  troops  during  the  4th,  5th,  6th,  7th,  and  8th  of 
April,  passes  all  experience  of  military  anguish  since  the 
retreat  from  the  banks  of  the  Beresina."5  Grant's  troops 
were  also  on  diminished  and  irregular  rations ;  but  they 
were  sustained  by  that  which  supplemented  scanty  food  and 
rest,  —  the  flush  of  success,  and  the  assurance  of  final 
victory. 

On  the  7th,  Grant  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia.  Lee  asked  for  a  meeting  looking  to 
"  the  restoration  of  peace ; "  but  refused  to  surrender,  and 
pushed  on.  Grant  declined  to  confer  for  diplomatic  pur 
poses.  The  2d  and  6th  Corps  pursued  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Appomattox ;  while  Sheridan,  with  his  cavalry  and 
the  Army  of  the  James  and  the  5th  Corps,  pushed  straight 
across  the  country,  forty  miles,  to  Appomattox  Station. 
Here  he  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  8th,  in  advance  of 
'Lee ;  captured  four  trains  of  cars  with  food  for  the  famished 
Confederates;  and  flung  his  command  across  the  narrow 
neck  of  land  between  the  James  and  Appomattox,  directly 
in  their  front.  The  First  Connecticut  Cavalry  and  the  Tenth 
were  present  at  this  point,  a  hundred  miles  west  of  Peters 
burg. 

Lee  resolved  to  cut  his  way  through,  and  at  dawn  of  the 
9th  hurled  Gordon's  division  impetuously  upon  Sheridan's 
horse.  The  latter  gave  ground,  retiring  to  the  line  of  the 
infantry.  Then  the  rebels,  in  turn,  recoiled.  Sheridan 
instantly  mounted  his  cavalry,  and  wheeled  it  along  the 
enemy's  left  flank  ;  when,  just  as  he  was  ready  to  sound  the 
"  charge,"  a  letter  from  Gen.  Lee  was  brought  through  the 
lines,  appointing  a  meeting  for  surrender.  A  truce  followed. 

About  noo^,  on  Sunday,  April  9,  in  a  farm-house  at 
Appomattox  Court  House,  sat  the  rival  chiefs,  and  signed 
the  death-warrant  of  the  Confederacy.  The  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  which  had  been  so  potential  for  harm, 
was  no  more.  The  following  were  — 

5  The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  p.  614. 


SUEEENDEE  OF  LEE.  795 

THE   TERMS. 

APPOMATTOX  COURT  HOUSE,  April  9. 
GEN.  R.  E.  LEE,  COMMANDING  C.  S.  A. 

In  accordance  with  the  substance  of  my  letter  to  you  of  the  8th 
instant,  I  propose  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit :  — 

Rolls  of  ail  the  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy 
to  be  given  to  an  officer  designated  by  me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such 
officers  as  you  may  designate.  The  officers  to  give  their  individual 
paroles  not  to  take  arms  against  the  United  States  until  properly  ex 
changed  ;  and  each  company  or  regimental  commander  sign  a  like  parole 
for  the  men  of  their  commands. 

The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property  to  be  parked  and  stacked, 
and  turned  over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.  This  will 
not  embrace  the  side-arms  of  the  officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  bag 
gage.  This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  their 
homes,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  United-States  authority  so  long  as  they 
observe  their  parole  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside. 

Very  respectfully 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-General. 

THE  SURRENDER. 

HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 

April  9,  1865. 
LIEUT.-GEN.  U.  S.  GRANT,  U.  S.  A. 

GENERAL, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date,  containing  the 
terms  of  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  as  proposed  by 
you.  As  they  are  substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed  in  your  letter 
of  the  8th  instant,  they  are  accepted.  I  will  proceed  to  designate  the 
proper  officers  to  carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

Very  respectfully 

Your  obedient  servant, 

R.  E.  LEE,   General. 

Connecticut  troops  witnessed  the  capitulation.  The  First 
Cavalry,  under  Col.  Ives,  acted  as  an  escort  to  Gen.  Grant 
when  he  went  forward  to  the  conference  with  Lee.  The 
Fourteenth,  under  Col.  Moore,  was  hard  by,  within  sight  of 
the  memorable  house.  The  Second  Artillery,  under  Col. 
James  Ilubbard,  was  with  the  6th  Corps,  a  short  distance 
north ;  and  the  Tenth  was  a  mile  west,  where  it  had  helped 
to  resist  and  turn  back  the  desperate  charge  of  Gordon. 

The  armies  were  foes  no  longer ;  arid  the  victors  shared 
their  rations  with  the  vanquished.  Among  the  paroled, 
there  was,  besides  the  mortification  of  defeat,  a  feeling  of 
relief  from  a  terrible  and  sanguinary  combat.  Among  the 
Union  troops  there  was,  superadded  to  the  delight  of  victory 


796  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  KEBELLION. 

and  the  joyful  foreshadowing  of  peace,  an  exultant  con 
sciousness  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  often  censured 
and  always  disparaged,  had  at  last  won  a  title  to  the  nation's 
gratitude. 

Grant  turned  quickly  towards  North  Carolina,  where 
Johnston  still  held  out,  and  whence  Jefferson  Davis  was 
flying  southward  to  be  captured  in  ambiguous  apparel, — 
the  baffled  leader  of  a  lost  cause. 

While  Grant  and  Lee  were  conferring  at  Appomattox, 
Sherman's,  army  was  resting  and  refitting  at  Goldsborough. 
Twenty  thousand  men  were  furnished  with  shoes,  and  a 
hundred  thousand  with  clothing.  The  two  corps  of  Terry 
and  Schofield  joined  the  column ;  and  on  April  10,  Sher 
man  moved  out  from  Goldsborough,  at  the  head  of  the 
strongest  army  ever  marshaled  on  the  continent.  North 
westward  he  eagerly  pushed,  after  Johnston's  fugitive 
command.  Next  day,  the  Fifth  and  Twentieth  Connecticut, 
with  the  20th  Corps,  entered  Smithfield  in  the  advance  of 
the  army.  On  the  13th,  while  moving  rapidly  upon 
Raleigh,  the  soldiers  were  thrilled  with  the  news  of  the  sur 
render  of  Lee's  army.  "  Our  troops  gave  cheer  after  cheer 
to  express  their  joy;  and  then,  when  cheers  became  too 
feeble  an  expression,  uttered  yell  upon  yell,  until  they  waked 
the  echoes  for  miles  around.  Then  the  bands  burst  forth  in 
swelling  strains  of  patriotic  melody,  which  the  soldiers  caught 
up  and  re-echoed  with  their  voices." 6  They  joyfully  saw 
the  end. 

No  other  great,  battle  was  to  be  fought.  Raleigh  was 
occupied ;  and  the  pursuers  had  moved  out  of  the.  city  but 
a  short  distance  on  the  track  of  the  fugitives,  when  Sherman 
received  from  Johnston  a  proposition  of  surrender.  On  the 
17th,  a  conference  was  had:  terms  of  capitulation  were 
drawn,  and  sent  to  Washington  for  .approval  while  an 
armistice  reigned. 

On  this  day  came  down  upon  the  waiting  army,  like  a 
thunderbolt,  the  intelligence  of  the  brutal  tragedy  in  the 
Washington  theatre,  wherein  Wilkes  Booth  played  his  role 

6  The  Story  of  the  Great  March,  p.  293. 


ASSASSINATION  OF  PEESIDENT  LINCOLN.  797 

of  atrocity.7  The  blow  that  convulsed  the  country  nerved 
every  soldier's  arm  with  a  strange  anger ;  and  they  prepared 
to  leap  upon  the  foe  in  front,  the  only  accessible  represen- 
tativ.e  of  a  conspiracy  which  had  showed  itself  capable  of 
such  a  cowardly  crime.  But  the  armistice  was  practically 
unbroken.  Grant  came,  and  the  amended  stipulations  were 
approved  and  executed ;  and  Johnston's  army  of  fifty  thou 
sand  men  laid  down  their  arms. 

National  restoration  was  at  hand ;  and  the  great  martyr 
who  on  Good  Friday  had  laid  down  his  life  for  republican 
liberty  was  honored  anew,  the  olive-wreath  of  peace  shin 
ing  like  a  crown  above  the  laurel-wreath  of  victory. 

7  It  is  a  notable  coincidence  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  great  martyr  of  liberty  was  on 
Good  Friday,  the  anniversary  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Great  Martyr  of  Christianity ;  and 
that  Grant  and  Sherman  received  the  propositions  of  surrender  from  Lee  and  Johnston 
respectively,  on  Palm  Sunday  and  Easter  Sunday,  the  most  prominent  triumphal  days 
in  the  life  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 


Matters  at  Home.  —  General  Assembly  of  1865.  —  The  Governor's  Message.  —  Legisla 
tion. —  Number  of  Soldiers  sent  from  the  State.  —  Our  Regiments  after  the  Close  of 
the  War.  —  Two  Pictures  from  Richmond.  —  Terry  and  Hawley  in  Virginia.  — Presen 
tations. —  Muster-out  of  Connecticut  Regiments.  —  The  Fourteenth.  —  Twentieth. 
—  First,  Second,  and  Third  Light  Batteries. — Twenty-first.  —  Eighteenth.  —  Six 
teenth.  —  Fifteenth.  —  Fifth.  —  Seventeenth.  —  First  Cavalry.  —  Sixth.  —  Seventh.  — 
Twelfth.  —  Second  Artillery.  —  Ninth.  —  Tenth.  —  First  Artillery.  —  Twenty-ninth 
and  Thirtieth.  —  Eighth  and  Eleventh.  —  Thirteenth.  —  Thanks  of  the  Legislature. 

HE  foreshadowing  of  peace  was  as  cordially 
hailed  by  the  patriotic  citizens  at  home  as  by 
the  soldiers  in  the  field ;  and  neither  inclined  to 
ignore  the  fact  that  the  hope  was  borne  upon 
the  point  of  victorious  bayonets.- 
On  the  first  Monday  of  April,  1865,  the  troops  of  the 
nation  entered  Richmond ;  and  before  noon  the  telegraph 
had  conveyed  the  glad  tidings  to  almost  every  voting 
district  of  Connecticut.  Gen.  Buckingham  was  re-elected 
that  day  by  eleven  thousand  and  thirty-five  majority  over 
0.  S.  Seymour.  The  four  members 'of  Congress  and  every 
State  Senator  were  Republicans ;  and  that  party  had  chosen 
nearly  three-fourths  of  the  members  of  the  House. 

When  the  General  Assembly  met,  on  the  first  Wednesday 
of  May,  every  rebel  army  was  crushed  ;  and  nothing  remained 
of  the  Confederacy  but  a  band  of  traitors,  fleeing  for  their 
lives  through  the  forests  of  Georgia. 

O  O 

The  House  elected  E.  K.  Foster  of  New  Haven,  speaker, 
and  John  R.  Buck  and  John  M.  Morris,  clerks.  The  Senate 
clerk  was  William  T.  Elmer.  The  payments  during  the  year 
from  the  State  Treasury  had  amounted  to  $4,705,685.  The 
total  indebtedness  of  the  State  was  $10,523,000. 

In   his   Annual  Message,   Gen.    Buckingham   said,  after 


RATIFICATION  OF  AMENDMENT  TO   CONSTITUTION.        799 

expressing  gratitude  to  God  for  the  promise  of  peace  restored 
and  a  government  preserved,  — 

"  It  is  gratifying  that  our  volunteers,  from  the  gallant  major-general, 
who  distinguished  himself  by  storming  and  capturing  Fort  Fisher,  down 
through  the  various  grades  of  heroic  officers,  to  the  less  conspicuous  but 
equally  meritorious  privates,  have  not  been  surpassed  by  any  soldiers  in 
the  service  of  any  government,  in  patient  endurance  on  the  field  and  in 
the  hospital,  in  fortitude  under  imprisonment  and  starvation,  and  in 
valor  and  intrepidity  in  battle.  Their  record  furnishes  strong  .evidence 
that  they  entered  the  service  under  a  deep  conviction  that  it  was  a  duty 
they  oycd  to  tfieir  country,  to  humanity,  and  to  God." 

In  the  following  language,  he  urged  the  immediate  rati 
fication  of  the  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  sla 
very  :  — 

"  As  slavery  has  been  the  cause  of  our  woes  and  our  burdens,  it  is  our 
duty  to  labor  for  its  abolition.  An  institution  antagonistic  to  liberty, 
and  opposed  to  the  first  elements  of  Christianity  ;  an  institution,  which,  in 
its  barbarous  tendency,  planned  and  perpetrated  a  cowardly,  brutal,  and 
murderous  assault  upon  freedom  of  speech,  and  upon  fidelity  to  truth,  in 
the  person  of  a  scholarly  and  accomplished  statesman  in  the  American 
Senate  ;  an  institution  which  instigated  the  Rebellion,  which  seized  and 
imprisoned  our  sons,  and  sent  them  by  tens  of  thousands  to  the  grave  by 
starvation,  and  which,  to  crown  its  work  of  infamy,  assassinated  the  Presi 
dent, —  has  forfeited  all  right  to  protection  and  life,  and  merits  our  vigorous 
and  undying  opposition.  ...  If,  during  this  struggle,  we  shall  sustain 
the  General  Government  in  the  performance  of  its  proper  functions,  abolish 
the  inhuman  system  of  slavery,  punish  traitors,  and  adhere  perpetually  to 
the  demands  of  truth,  righteousness,  and  justice,  we  may  hope  that  through 
out  an  undivided  nation  our  prosperity  will  be  increased,  our  peace  be 
uninterrupted,  and  our  liberties  be  eternal." 

On  the  4th  of  May,  H.  K.  W.  Welch  of  Hartford  introduced 
into  the  House  a  resolution  adopting  and  ratifying  the  13th 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  abolish 
ing  and  prohibiting  slavery. 

The  Democratic  leaders  promised  that  no  opposition  should 
be  made  to  the  passage  of  the  resolution,  provided  the  yeas 
and  nays  were  not  called.  Under  this  agreement,  the  re 
solution  was  passed  nem.  con. ;  the  Republicans  voting  "aye," 
and  the  Democracy  maintaining  the  stipulated  silence.  In 
the  Senate,  the  roll  was  called^  and  the  twenty-one  Republi 
can  senators  voted  "  yes."  So  Connecticut  cast  her  voice  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery  without  a  dissentient  vote. 

A  day  was  set  apart  by  each  House  early  in  May  for 
speeches  and  eulogies  upon  the  death  of  President  Lincoln ; 


800  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

and  by  invitation  of  the  Assembly,  Col.  Henry  C.  Deming, 
on  the  eighth  day  of  June,  delivered  an  eloquent  and  im 
pressive  oration  upon  the  same  subject  at  Allyn  Hall. 

But  little  legislation  was  needed  on  war-matters  ;  and  the 
time  of  the  Assembly  was  almost  wholly  occupied  by  meas 
ures  of  local  interest.  Provision  was  made  for  funding  the 
floating  indebtedness  of  the  State  by  authorizing  the  issue 
of  three  millions  of  twenty-year  six-per-cent  bonds,  which 
should  be  free  Xrom  all  State  and  municipal  taxation. 

Laws  were  passed  validating  and  confirming  all  votes, 
acts,  and  proceedings  of  towns,  or  their  agents,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  aiding  volunteers  or  drafted  men,  or  for  the  purpose 
of  filling  the  quota  of  the  several  towns. 

By  the  exertions  of  Gens.  W.  H.  Russell  and  Stephen  W. 
Kellogg,  and  Cols.  Francis  Wayland,  F.  St.  John  Lockwood, 
and  others,  the  militia  law  of  the  State  was  further  amend 
ed,  so  that  the  quartermaster-general  was  authorized  to 
furnish  uniforms  to  all  members  of  the  militia  force  except 
commissioned  officers.  The  time  for  the  annual  encamp 
ment  was  extended  to  six  days;  and  thus  the  legislature 
finally  ingrafted  upon  the  statute-book  the  proposed  law  of 
1863.  The  militia  force  was  rapidly  organized  after  the 
adoption  of  this  law,  which  passed  into  successful  operation ; 
and,  unless  altered  by  some  ignorant  legislature,  it  will  prob 
ably  secure  to  the  State  for  many  years  to  come  a  suffi 
ciently  large,  well-disciplined  force  of  men,  who  will  at  all 
times  be  in  condition  to  take  the  field  for  active  service 
upon  twenty-four  hours'  notice. 

The  legislature  adjourned  sine  die  on  Friday  the  twenty- 
first  day  of  July. 

When  the  war  ceased,  and  it  was  ordered  that  no  more 
men  be  enlisted,  it  was  found  that  Connecticut  had  fur 
nished  a  large  excess  over  all  the  calls  of  government,  and 
had  sent  into  the  field  more  men,  in  proportion  to  her  popu 
lation,  than  any  other  State  except  Iowa  and  Illinois. 

The  whole  number  of  soldiers  enlisted  was  54,882 ;  and 
these,  reduced  to  the  standard  of  three  years,  left  the  ac 
count  of  the  State  as  follows :  — 


STATE  GOVERNMENT  DURING  THE  WAR. 


801 


Three-months'  men, 
Nine-mouths'  men, 
One-y.ear  men, 
Two-years'  men, 
Three-years'  men, 
Four-years'  men, 
Not  known, 


2,340, 

5,602, 

529, 

25, 

44,556, 

26, 

1,804, 

54,882 


equal  to 


say, 


48,181 


In  giving  this  result,  Adjutant-Gen.  Morse  says,1  — 

"  It  will  be.  noticed,  that  in  the  above  statement  are  given  eighteen  hun 
dred  and  four  men,  term  of  service  not  known.  This  is  the  credit  allowed 
by  the  Naval  Commission  ;  and  the  term  of  service  is  to  be  determined  by 
the  Navy  Department.  In  the  statement,  these  men  are  counted  as  three- 
years'  men.  Should  the  average  term  of  service  prove  to  be  for  a  less 
period  than  this,  the  credit  to  the  State  will  be  reduced  in  proper 
proportion. 

"  Thus  the  State  has  furnished  equal  to  48,181  three-years'  men,  from 
which  deduct  the  total  quota,  also  reduced  to  the  three-years'  standard,  — 
viz.,  41,483,  —  and  the  State  has  a  surplus  of  6,G98  in  three-years' men, 
without  reference  to  its  quota  under  the  call  of  December,  1864.  Under 
this  last  call,  no  troops  were  required  to  be  furnished  from  this  State.  In 
fact,  no  quota  was  assigned.  Your  Excellency  was  informed  that  the 
surplus  under  former  calls  more  than  filled  the  demand  under  this,  and  the 
State  was  exempt." 

If  Connecticut  was  eminently  blessed  in  having  her  affairs 
directed  throughout  the  whole  period  of  the  war  by  an 
officer  so  able,  skillful,  conciliatory,  patriotic,  and  energetic  as 
Gov.  Buckingham,  His  Excellency  was  also  fortunate  in  his 
official  associates.  His  personal  staff  was  filled  as  follows  : 
Adjutant-General,  HORACE  J.  MORSE  of  Hartford ;  Quarter 
master-General,  WILLIAM  A.  AIKEN  of  Norwich;  Commissary- 
General,  THOMAS  FITCH  of  New  London ;  Surgeon-General, 
HENRY  A.  GRANT  of  Enfield ;  Paymaster-General,  WILLIAM 
1'iTCii  of  New  Haven. 

Roger  Averill  of  D anbury  was  lieutenant-governor  from 
1862  to  1865  inclusive  ;  and  he  brought  to  the  chair  of  the 
Senate  an  old-school  urbanity,  and  a  rare  combination  of 
impartiality,  dignity,  and  decision.  He  engaged  in  con 
stant  and  unwearied  service  of  the  State  far  beyond  the 
technical  duties  of  his  office  ;  and  his  heart  and  purse  were 
always  open  to  the  calls  of  patriotism. 

J.  Hammond  Trumbull  as  Secretary  of  State  gave  through 

,  1  Report  of  18GG. 

101 


802  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

the  entire  war  the  aid  of  his  ripe  culture,  varied  scholarship, 
and  zeal  in  t 
at  the  front. 


and  zeal  in  the  cause  for  which  his  brothers  were  struggling 


When  the  main  Confederate  armies  had  surrendered,  and 
the  war  was  deemed  substantially  ended,  the  troops  were  sta 
tioned  for  a  time  in  prominent  cities  and  at  strategic  points 
to  maintain  the  authority  of  government ;  while  a  consid 
erable  force  was  dispatched  to  Texas  and  Mississippi  to  over 
throw  Kirby  Smith  and  Dick  Taylor,  who  still  maintained  a 
warlike  attitude  in  those  States.  The  25th  Corps  (colored) 
embarked  for  Texas  on  June  10,  and  included  the  Twenty- 
ninth  Connecticut  under  Col.  Wooster,  and  the  Thirtieth 
under  Col.  II.  C.  Ward.  They  landed  at  Brazos  de  Santiago, 
July  3,  and  marched  to  Brownsville  on  the  Rio  Grande. 

The  Ninth,  under  Lieut.-Col.  John  G.  Healy,  embarked  at 
Savannah  in  April,  and  proceeded  to  Dawfuskie  Island,  and 
drove  off  some  guerrillas  who  were  oppressing  and  mur 
dering  the  blacks.  On  May  "2,  the  battalion  returned  to 
Savannah,  and  on  the  24th  was  ordered  to  Hilton  Head, 
where  there  was  a  large  mustering  of  regiments  "  homeward 
bound." 

The  Thirteenth,  about  Jan.  1,  was  reduced  from  a  regi 
ment  to  a  battalion  of  five  companies ;  and,  Col.  C.  D.  Blinn 
being  among  the  supernumerary  officers  mustered  out  after 
long  and  gallant  service,  Capt.  William  E.  Bradley  assumed 
command.  Early  in  January,  the  battalion  was  transferred 
from  the  bleak  hills  of  Northern  Virginia  to  warmer  quarters 
in  Savannah,  Ga.  Here  Capt.  Bradley  enforced  the  dis 
cipline  and  exhibited  the  admirable  traits  of  a  command 
er.  On  March  12,  troops  were  transferred  to  North 
Carolina  to  co-operate  with  Sherman ;  and  the  Thirteenth 
was  included.  They  arrived  at  Newberne  on  March  14,  and 
steamed  up  the  river  to  Kinston.  Next  day,  the  Thirteenth 
returned  to  Newberne,  and  went  into  camp.  Here  they  had 
a  brief  experience  in  guarding  rebel  prisoners,  and  in  pro 
vost-duty.  Gen.  Henry  W.  Birge,  the  first  colonel  of  the 
Thirteenth,  here  commanded  a  division.  He  had  received  a 


CONDITION  OF  LEE'S  AKMY.  803 

brevet  commission  as  major-general,  —  a  promotion  recom 
mended  by  Sheridan  for  conspicuous  gallantry  at  Cedar 
Creek.  On  April  8,  the  battalion  proceeded  to  Morehead 
'City;  and  four  days  later,  Lieut.-Col.  Homer  B.  Sprague, 
captured  at  Winchester,  returned  from  a  long  and  painful 
imprisonment,  and  resumed  command.  Early  in  May,  the 
battalion  returned  to  Savannah,  and,  after  the  capture  of 
Jeff.  Davis,  proceeded  to  Augusta,  where  the  men  found 
comfortable  quarters  in  buildings  which  had  been  used  as 
Confederate  barracks.  Capt.  Frank  Welles  of  Litchfield 
was  still  detached  as  aide  of  Gen.  Birge.  Capt.  N.  W. 
Perkins  of  New  Britain  was  acting  inspector-general  on 
Molineux'  staff.  Capt.  Louis  Beckwith  of  New  London 
wras  detailed  as  ordnance  officer.  Dr.  George  Clary  of  Hart 
ford  was  surgeon-in-chief  in  charge  of  the  post  hospital. 
Lieut.-Col.  Sprague,  in  addition  to  other  duties,  was  appoint 
ed  superintendent  of  schools  and  educational  matters,  —  a 
position  which  he  filled  with  conspicuous  ability. 

The  Connecticut  regiments  in  the  armies  of  Grant  and 
Sherman  gradually  made  their  way  northward,  via  City 
Point  on  the  James.  Those  which  had  entered  Richmond 
when  the  rebels  evacuated  it  remained  in  possession.  Lee's 
army  swarmed  over  the  impoverished  country,  or  helplessly 
wandered  back  in  the  path  of  their  conquerors  to  be  fed. 
Chaplain  Trumbull  wrote  home  at  this  time  from  Rich 
mond,  "Lee's  broken  army  presents — judging  from  the 
large  number  of  its*  members  now  here  —  one  of  the  most 
wretched  sights  that  could  be  looked  upon.  The  lowest 
creatures  in  the  vilest  dens  of  our  Northern  cities,  and  the 
forlorn  and  semi-barbarous  isolated  dwellers  in  the  most 
shamefully-neglected  border  district  of  any  rural  community 
in  our  Eastern  States,  even  the  degraded,  half-idiotic  chil 
dren  of  incest  in  some  of  our  country  almshouses,  seern 
superior,  in  all  that  goes  to  indicate  true  manhood,  to  very 
many  of  the  poor  beings,  who,  with  sallow,  dirt-begrimed 
faces,  dull,  fishy  eyes,  long,  yellow,  uncombed  hair,  and  mean 
ingless  expression  of  countenance,  clad  in  rags,  and  at  home 
in  filth,  wallow  on  the  ground  near  the  provost-marshal's, 
while  their  comrades  are  having  their  paroles  stamped  for 


804  CONNECTICUT   DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

transportation.  I  have  often  seen  'the  rebel  soldiers  on  the 
picket-line;  in  battle,  as  prisoners,  and  in  the  streets  of 
the  cities  of  rebeldom ;  therefore  it  is  not  the  strangeness 
of  the  motley  attire,  or  the  peculiar  Southern  complexion 
of  these  men,  which  impresses  me  :  but  it  is  the  depth  which 
was  reached  when  Davis's  conscription  gathered  up  these 
caricatures  upon  humanity,  not  merely  '  from  the  cradle  and 
the  grave,'  but  from  the  idiot  asylums  and  the  hitherto  un 
explored  regions  of  slave  barbarism,  that  is  startling  in  this 
exhibition." 

The  following  is  the  companion-picture  from  the  same 
free  pencil,  "  Richmond  darkys  are  on  all  sides,  telling  of 
their  joy  at  the  capture  of  the  city.  'I  was  jus'  so  happy 
wen  I  kriowed  it,'  said  one, '  dat  I  couldn't  do  nuffin  but 
jus'  lay  right  down  and  larf.  I  could  jus'  roll  up  an'  larf. 
I  declar,  I  felt  jus'  as  happy  as  a  man's  got  religion  in  his 
soul.'  *  Some  folks  says  a  man  carn't  tote  a  bar'l  flour,' 
chimed  in  another;  '  but  I  could  tote  a  bar'l  flour  dat  day,— 
or  a  bar'l  sugar.'  '  I  seed  a  rebel  gwine  down  de  street  dat 

O  S3 

mawnin','  said  a  third,  with  an  evident  appreciation  of  the 
privileges  of  a  freedman, '  wid  a  big  haam  ;  an'  I  jus'  took 
dat  haam  from  him,  an'  run  right  down  de  street !  An'  he 
holler  to  me  to  stop;  but  I  jus'  keep  dat  haam.'  Then 
follows  some  touching  recital  of  the  sufferings  in  slavery. 
And  the  colored  soldiers  move  about,  telling  of  their  ex 
ploits  with  great  gusto.  —  lions  among  their  later  released 
brethren.  Describing  the  advance  on  th6  New-Market  Road, 
one  said, (  We  waited  for  de  daylight,  'caus  ob  de  tarpeeders ; 
an'  den  we  had  de  rebel  soldiers  show  us  de  way.  Whew  ! 
de  tarpeeders  was  jus'  as  thick  dar  as  de  wool  on  de  top 
ob  my  head  ! ' : 

The  change  of  scene  was  as  total  as  it  was  sudden,  and 
nothing  more  dramatic  ever  transpired  upon  the  stage 
of  war.  Major-Gen.  Alfred  II.  Terry  was  now  placed  in 
command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia;  and  Brig.-Gen. 
Joseph  R.  Hawley  was  called  from  the  command  of  the 
forces  in  and  about  Wilmington,  N.C.,  to  be  his  chief-of-staff. 
Headquarters  were  at  Richmond ;  and  there  the  two  soldiers, 
who  wore  honors  worthily  won  in  the  front  of  battle,  strove, 


GEN.   TEREY   IX   COMMAND   AT  RICHMOND.  805 

during  the  months  of  1865,  to  bring  peace  out  of  hostility, 
evolve  order  from  chaos,  and  construct  a  broad  base  on 
which  might  be  upreared  a  genuine  democracy  in  place  of 
the  false  and  effete  aristocracy  that  had  met  its,  doom.  The 
work  was  enormous  ;  and  its  proper  performance  required 
a  high  order  of  executive  skill,  fidelity,  military  vigor  and 
promptness,  and  patient,  unwearied  industry.  Terry  and 
Hawley  combined  those  qualities  as  they  are  rarely  found 
united  in  a  commander  and  his  chief  adviser ;  and  they  were 
rendered  more  efficient  by  a  mutual  feeling  of  admiration 
and  cordial  confidence. 

The  following  order  indicates  the  spirit  in  which  the 
department  was  administered  :  — 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA. 

RICHMOND,  Va.,  June  23,  1865. 
GENERAL  ORDER,  No.  77.  * 

The  laws  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  the  ordinances  of  the  different 
cities  within  the  State,  having  especial  reference  to,  and  made  to  restrain, 
the  personal  liberty  of  free  colored  persons,  were  designed  for  the  govern 
ment  of  such  persons  while  living  amid  a  population  of  colored  slaves : 
they  were  enacted  in  the  interests  of  slave-owners,  and  were  designed  for 
the  security  of  slave-property ;  they  were  substantially  part  of  the  slave 
code. 

Slavery  has  been  abolished  in  Virginia  ;  and  therefore,  upon  the  principle 
that  where  the  reason  of  the  law  ceases  the  law  itself  ceases,  these  laws 
and  ordinances  have  become  obsolete.  People  of  color  will  henceforth 
enjoy  the  same  personal  liberty  that  other  citizens  and  inhabitants  enjoy  : 
they  will  be  subject  to  the  same  restraints  and  to  the  same  punishments 
for  crime  that  are  imposed  upon  whites,  and  to  no  others. 

Vagrancy,  however,  will  not  be  allowed.  Neither  whites  nor  blacks  can 
be  allowed  to  abandon  their  proper  occupations,  to  desert  their  families,  or 
roam  in  idleness  about  this  department ;  but  neither  whites  nor  blacks  will 
be  restrained  from  seeking  employment  elsewhere  when  they  can  not  obtain 
it  with  just  compensation  at  their  homes,  nor  from  traveling  from  place 
to  place  on  proper  or  legitimate  business. 

Until  the  civil  tribunals  are  re-established,  the  administration  of  criminal 
justice  must,  of  necessity,  be  by  military  courts :  before  such   courts,  the 
evidence  of  colored  persons  will  be  received  in  all  cases. 
By  command  of  Major-Gen.  A.  II.  Terry. 

ED.  W.  SMITH,  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

The  State  and  city  were  governed  with  "  an  iron  hand  in 
a  glove  of  velvet,"  firmly  and  evenly.  While  the  generals 
were  civil,  polite,  and  kind  to  all,  there  was  not  the  slightest 
yielding  to  the  demands  of  the  haughty  secessionists ;  and  no 
conciliation  or  compromise  with  their  crime  was  allowed.  . 


806  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE  REBELLION. 

All,  both  white  and  black,  were  assured  their  rights ;  but 
every  attempt  to  obtain  any  thing  by  bluster  was  at  once 
suppressed.  The  commander  ruled  in  the  spirit  that  would 
give  all  rights,  to  all,  —  even  to  the  weakest,  freedom;  even 
to  the  poorest,  education;  even  to  the  humblest,  opportunity. 
An  administration  so  combining  humanity  with  power,  so 
rigorous  and  yet  so  beneficent,  had  never  before  been  given 
to  the  people  of  Virginia. 

The  pleasant  custom  of  making  presentations  to  worthy 
officers  had  not  yet  become  obsolete  :  on  the  contrary,  as 
the  war  approached  its  close,  it  became  more  in  use 
than  ever.  Swords,  badges  of  elaborate  design,  horses, 
money,  houses,  deeds  of  land,  almost  every  thing  acceptable, 
was  lavished  by  the  grateful  citizens  at  home  upon  the  men 
who  had  stoutly  stood  between  them  and  ruin.  Officers 
also  exchanged  mementoes,  sometimes  of  great  value. 

A  very  elegant  lOth-Ccfrps  badge  was  presented  to  Major- 
Gen.  Terry  by  a  large  number  of  the  officers  of  that  organi 
zation.  The  badge  represents  a  bastion  fort,  and  is  orna 
mented  by  five  diamonds  in  the  center  and  bastions;  the 
whole  surrounded  by  a  laurel-wreath  of  green  enamel.  It  is 
suspended  from  a  general's  baton  held  in  the  claws  of  an 
eagle,  beneath  which  appear  various  military  symbols,  all  of 
solid  gold  and  exquisite  workmanship. 

Gen.  Terry  also  received  from  New  Haven  a  handsome 
sword,  accompanied  by  a  letter,  recounting  his  battles  and 
his  deeds,  from  Mayor  Tyler.  The  following  are  the  clos 
ing  paragraphs : — 

Upon  a  beautiful  winter's  day,  we  were  startled  with  the  glad  tidings 
that  Fort  Fisher  had  been  stormed  and  carried  by  Major-Gen.  Terry.  You 
can  picture  to  your  owu  mind  far  better  than  I  can  convey  to  you  in  words 
the  feelings  of  joy  that  filled  every  loyal  heart,  and  the  thanks  that  were 
offered  to  God,  when  those  bells,  whose  tones  have  been  familiar  to  you 
from  your  boyhood,  rang  out  the  glad  news,  and  the  booming  cannon  upon 
yonder  park  proclaimed  to  our  city  and  to  the  State  that  one  of  the  strong 
est  gates  to  ^the  so-called  Confederacy  had  been  broken  down  and  entered 
by  the  courage  and  perseverance  of  a  son  of  Connecticut,  and  an  honored 
citizen  of  New  Haven. 

Gen.  Terry,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  eminent  services  you  have  ren 
dered  in  suppressing  the  unholy  Rebellion  which  has  desolated  our  country 
the  past  four  years,  and  of  the  many  noble  traits  of  the  Christian  soldier 
and  gentleman  you  possess,  I  am  directed  by  the  city  council  of  the  city  of 
New  Haven  to  present  to  you  this  sword  as  a  testimonial  of  their  regard  and 


PRESENTATION  OF  A  SWORD  TO   GEN.   HAWLEY.  807 

consideration  ;  and,  in  presenting  to  you  this  emblem  of  the  profession  you 
have  adopted,  we  wish  you  a  long  and  happy  life,  and  hope  that  your  ser 
vices  may  be  as  effectual  in  maintaining  and  perpetuating  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  our  beloved  land  as  they  have  been  with  your  associates  in 
arms  in  restoring  the  old  flag  to  every  State  in  the  Union. 

I  feel  it  a  high  honor,  general,  to  act  as  the  medium  through  whom 
the  city  of  New  Haven,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  bestows  her  honors 
upon  one  of  her  own  citizens. 

In  behalf  of  the  city  of  New  Haven, 

I  am  most  respectfully  yours, 

MORRIS  TYLER,  Mayor. 

The  general  responded, — 

NEW  HAVEN,  June  6,  1865. 
HON.  MORRIS  TYLER,  MAYOR  OF  THE  CITY  OP  NEW  HAVEN. 

Dear  Sir.  — It  is  with  the  highest  gratification  that  I  receive  the  beau 
tiful  gift,  which,  through  you,  the  city  of  New  Haven  has  presented  to  me. 

The  approbation  of  his  fellow-citizens  must  ever  be  the  greatest  and 
best  reward  of  one  who  endeavors  to  serve  his  country  ;  and  to  know  that 
those  among  whom  my  life  from  childhood  upward  has  been  spent  look 
with  approbation  upon  my  efforts  to  be  of  use  in  the  great  struggle  which 
is  now  so  happily  drawing  to  a  close,  to  feel  that  they  are  satisfied  with 
the  little  which  I  have  been  able  to  do  in  defense  of  the  liberty  and  integ 
rity  of  our  country,  gives  me  a  degree  of  pleasure  which  I  should  vainly 
attempt  to  express.  I  shall  cherish  and  preserve  the  gift  which  is  the  token 
of  their  approbation  as  one  of  the  proudest  mementoes  of  my  military  life. 

I  thank  you  for  the  very  kind  and  complimentary  terms  in  which  you 
have  spoken  of  my  career  as  a  soldier ;  and  I  beg  you  to  convey  to  those 
whom  you  represent  my  most  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  honor  which 
they  have  conferred  upon  me. 
"With  the  highest  respect, 

I  am  very  sincerely  yours, 

ALFRED  H.  TERRY,  Major- General. 

The  citizens  of  Hartford  who  had  witnessed  the  military 
career  of  Gen.  Hawley,  desiring  to  attest  their  appreciation 
of  his  conduct  and  their  admiration  of  his  character,  pro 
cured  a  general  officer's  regulation-sword,  at  an  expense  of 
$1,150.00,  to  present  to  him  while  on  duty.  The  sword  was 
of  rare  richness  of  design,  with  a  blade  of  the  best  material, 
a  grasp  and  guard  of  solid  silver,  and  all  the  ornaments  of 
solid  gold.  The  grasp  is  a  figure  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty 
with  a  drawn  sword  in  one  hand  and  broken  shackles  in  the 
other.  The  guard  is  the  American  flag,  furled,  and  tied  with 
a  gold  cord,  surmounted  by  a  spread  eagle.  The  thrust- 
guard  is  inscribed  in  raised  letters  of  solid  gold,  "  Presented 
by  the  citizens  of  Hartford  to  Gen.  Joseph  R.  Hawley,"  under 
which  are  the  monograms,  in  the  same  material,  "  JRH  7C  V." 


808  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   EEBELLION. 

A  heavy  wreath  of  laurel  and  oak  borders  the  guard,  and 
the  projection  in  rear  of  the  hilt  is  the  head  of  a  Roman 
warrior.  The  scabbard  is  of  solid  silver,  heavily  mounted 
with  gold  in  bass-relief.  Between  the  two  upper  rings  is  a 
spirited  representation  of  an  infantry  charge.  On  ornament 
al  scrolls  and  shields  are  engraved  Bull  Run,  Siege  of  Pulaski, 
James  Island,  Pocotaligo,  Olustee,  Wagner  and  Sumter,  Siege 
of  Petersburg,  Drury's  Bluff,  Deep  Bottom,  Deep  Run,  and 
Darbytown  Road.  Beneath  this  are  the  arms  of  Connecticut 
and  of  the  United  States.  Under  the  arms  is  a  heavy  vine 
with  leaves  and  flowers  crossed  by  a  sash,  which  runs  through 
eight  rings  on  the  sides  of  the  scabbard.  The  lower  end  of 
the  scabbard  is  incased  in  a  heavy  chased  socket  of  solid 
gold.  Accompanying  the  sword  are  a  Russia-leather  sword- 
belt  heavily  embroidered  in  gold,  and  the  buff-silk  sash  of  a 
general  officer.  These  costly  trappings  are  inclosed  in  a  box 
made  of  black-walnut  knots  exquisitely  grained,  lined  with 
red  velvet,  and  with  the  monogram  "  JRH  "  in  silver  letters 
on  the  lid.  Only  three  more  expensive  swords  had  been 
manufactured  in  the  country. 

Marshall  Jewell,  Col.  George  P.  Bissell,  and  J.  G.  Rathbun, 
a  committee  of  the  donors,  went  to  Richmond,  where  the  for 
mal  presentation  took  place,  Aug.  1,  in  the  mansion  formerly 
occupied  by  Jefferson  Davis,  already  become  the  residence 
of  Gens.  Terry  and  Hawley  with  their  families.  There  was 
a  large  and  brilliant  assembly  of  army  officers  of  distinguished 
rank,  with  ladies,  and  the  loyal  governor  of  Virginia  and 
staff,  to  witness  the  ceremony.  Col.  Bissell  addressed  Gen. 
Hawley  in  behalf  gf  the  donors,  rehearsing  briefly  the  mili 
tary  career  of  the  soldier  who  had  won  the  applause  of  his 
neighbors,  and  reminding  him  that  the  State  had  been  an 
admiring  witness  of  his  deeds.  Gen.  Hawley  replied,  — 

GENTLEMEN,  —  I  beg  that  you  will  convey  to  your  friends  and  my  own 
expressions  of  my  profound  gratitude.  If  they  wished  to  make  me  happy, 
tell  them  they  have  done  so  ;  if  they  wished  to  reward  nge  for  any  thing  I 
have  done  or  tried  to  do  in  the  service  of  my  country,  tell  them  I  am  a  thou 
sand  times  rewarded  beyond  what  I  deserved.  I  know  how  humble  my 
true  merits  have  been,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  overvalue  them.  I  see  among 
the  list  of  names  of  those  who  sent  you  the  names  of  dear  friends,  old 
schoolmates,  the  companions  of  my  early  years.  I  see  also  the  names  of 
persons  with  whom  in  former  years  I  have  widely  differed  in  politics,  and 


u 


T 


THE  TENTH  REGIMENT  AT  RICHMOND.  809 

who  have  doubtless  heard  from  me  in  hot  political  contests  language  not 
always  measured  as  it  would  have  been  had  I  been  an  older  and  a  wiser 
man.  Other  names,  like  yours,  are  those  of  neighbors  with  whom  I  have 
sympathized  in  all  things.  These  facts  affect  me  deeply. 

When  I  look  at  the  list  of  engagements  there  inscribed,  I  think  of  the 
men  in  the  ranks,  the  private  soldiers,  who  never  wished  to  be  any  thing 
but  private  soldiers,  who  died  private  soldiers,  and  whose  thousands  of 
graves  scattered  over  the  hillsides  of  the  South  give  the  highest  and  deepest 
proof  of  their  devotion  to  their  country,  and  without  whose  patriotism  and 
heroism  to  back  us,  neither  I  nor  any  officer  in  the  service  could  have  done 
any  thing.  In  the  name  of  these  men,  I  receive  your  gifts,  and  for  them 
only,  as  without  them  I  could  have  done  nothing.  When  Gen.  Terry  and 
myself  left  Connecticut  three  years  ago  last  September,  with  the  Seventh 
Connecticut,  we  carried  with  us  a  noble  band  of  such  men  of  the  old  New- 
England  stamp  ;  and  it  is  to  them,  and  to  such  men,  the  country  owes  its 
success,  and  the  officers  owe  their  rank  and  honor.  The  bones  of  many  lie 
scattered  all  over  the  country,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  ask  that  the  coun 
try  shall  remember  them  ;  for,  as  was  well  said  at  the  grand  review  at 
Washington,  theirs  is  the  only  debt  we  can  never  pay,  —  the  debt  we  owe 
to  the  men  who  in  the  darkest  hours  have  cheerfully  laid  down  their  lives 
for  liberty  and  their  country.  We  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of  these  men  ; 
a  right  to  be  proud  of  the  result  of  their  efforts,  not  only  in  a  restored 
Union,  but  in  this  also,  —  that  we  have  utterly  and  for  ever  removed  the 
one  great  obstacle  left  by  our  ancestors  in  the  path  of  our  prosperity  and 
true  glory.  Hereafter,  all  over  our  land,  every  being  to  whom  God  has 
given  a  soul  shall  be  truly  free  as  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness. 

And  to  the  outside  Avorld,  for  the  benefit  of  all  peoples  and- all  times,  we 
have  demonstrated  the  tremendous  inherent  strength  and  self-perpetuating 
power  of  a  republican  form  of  government. 

If  here  on  this  spot,  within  these  walls,  we  are  not  proud  of  all  this, 
what  shall  satisfy  us?  Thank  God  that  we  have  lived  in  this  country! 
thank  God  that  we  have  shared  in  these  glorious  labors,  and  again  bless 
the  Lord  for  their  wonderful  termination  J 

In  the  following  month,  Gen.  Hawley  received  a  promotion 
to  be  major-general  of  volunteers  by  brevet. 

When  the  Tenth  returned  to  Richmond  from  the  capture 
of  Lee's  army,  the  regiment  encamped  in  a  beautiful  grove 
on  the  plantation  of  Dr.  Powell,  on  the  Brooktown  Pike,  two 
miles  from  the  city.  Col.  E.  S.  Greeley,  who  had  resumed 
command  of  the  regiment  at  Farmville,  was  here  placed  in 
command  of  a  large  brigade.  "  The  Tenth  was  reported  best 
in  order  at  each  and  all  of  the  inspections  of  the  troops  of 
the  division  during  the  months  of  May  and  June,  when  in 
spections  were  discontinued." 2  At  this  time,  the  following 
letter  was  signed  by  all  the  officers  of  the  third  brigade :  — 

2   Col.  Grceley's  last  report. 
102 


810  CONNECTICUT  DTJEING  THE   EEBELLION. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  Aug.  25, 1865. 
MAJOK.-GEN.  TERRY,  COMMANDING  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA. 

Sir,  —  We,  the  officers  of  the  3d  Brigade-,  1st  Division,  24th  Army 
Corps,  have  the  honor  to  request  that  Rev.  II.  Clay  Trumbull,  chaplain 
of  the  Tenth  Connecticut  Volunteer  Infantry,  receive  the  rank  of  major 
of  volunteers  by  brevet,  for  distinguished  services  in  camp  and  on  the  field. 
Mr.  Trumbull  has  not  confined  his  labors  to  his  own  regiment,  but  has, 
in  reality,  been  the  chaplain  of  the  brigade  ;  and  as  such  has  won  the  love 
and  confidence  of  all.  No  man,  certainly,  could  be  more  faithful  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  ;  none,  AVC  believe,  more  successful. 

But  the  fidelity  and  efficiency  of  Mr.  Trumbull  in  the  performance  of 
his  legitimate  duties  as  chaplain  is  not  the  only  ground  upon  which  our 
request  is  based.  Always  at  his  post  in  time  of  danger,  he  has,  on  two 
occasions  at  least,  displayed  marked  and  conspicuous  gallantry  ;  dashing 
into  the  thickest  of  the  fight  to  rally  and  encourage  the  wavering  line. 

We  earnestly  hope  that  our  request  may  be  favorably  considered. 
We  have  the  honor  to  be,  general, 

With  great  respect  [signatures]. 

The  above  paper  was  indorsed  as  follows :  — 

HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA. 

RICHMOND.  Aug.  28,  1865. 
Respectfully  forwarded. 

The  3d  Brigade  referred  to  within  was  for  a  long  time  a  part  of  the 
division  which  I  commanded ;  and  I  am  personally  cognizant  of  the  ser 
vices  of  Chaplain  Trumbull.  No  officer  of  his  regiment  has  displayed  more 
gallantry  in  action,  or  done  more  to  animate  the  men  to  do  their  duty,  than 
he ;  and,  if  the  recognition  of  service  asked  for  within  can  be  made,  it 
could  not  be  bestowed  on  a  man  more  worthy. 

He  is  a  brave,  high-minded,  Christian  gentleman  and  patriot. 
(Signed)  ALFRED  II.  TERKY, 

Major-General  Commanding. 

Gen.  Hawley  wrote  of  the  subject  of  the  request,  "  He 
goes  habitually,  and  from  principle,  into  every  fight ;  not  in 
the  rear  with  the  surgeon,  but  with  the  line  of  battle.  He 
has  shared  all  the  dangers  of  the  Tenth  as  faithfully  as  any 
soldier,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief." 

The  War  Department  decided  that  a  chaplain  was  not  in 
the  line  of  promotion,  that  his  rank  was  rather  religious 
than  military  ;  sp  the  recommendation  was  not  concurred  in. 

The  Connecticut  soldiers  were  generally  mustered  out  of 
service  in  the  summer  of  1865;  and  the  people  of  the  State 
gathered  with  spontaneous  enthusiasm  at  the  centers,  and 
gave  them  uproarious  greeting.  In  recording  their  discharge, 
we  follow  somewhat  the  order  of  time. 


RETURN  AND  MUSTEK-OUT  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH.         811 


MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   FOURTEENTH. 

The  Fourteenth,  which  had  always  represented  the  State 
nobly  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  which  had  had 
more  opportunities  to  display  its  fighting-qualities  than  any 
other  of  our  regiments,  and  had  never  flinched  from  duty 
in  battle,  was  first  permitted  to  lay  down  its  burden.  When 
the  2d  Corps  passed  through  Richmond,  May  5,  en  route  for 
Washington,  the  Fourteenth  led  the  column  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  and  won  many  encomiums.  On  May  23,  it 
participated  in  the  grand  review  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States.  The  regiment  arrived  at  Hartford,  on  the 
steamer  Granite  State,  on  Saturday,  June  8,  and  was .  re 
ceived  with  every  demonstration  of  applause.  The  men, 
forming  a  mere  skeleton  of  the  former  regiment,  were  for 
mally  received  by  Adjutant-Gen.  Morse,  Mayor  Stillman, 
and  David  Clark,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  arrange 
ments  ;  and  marched  up  State  Street,  waving  their  shreds  of 
tattered  flags,  none  of  which  the  regiment  had  ever  lost. 
At  the  State  House,  they  were  welcomed  home  in  a  stirring 
speech  by  Col.  George  P.  Bissell ;  and  Col.  Ellis  responded; 
after  which  the  companies  were  marched  to  the  hotels,  and 
provided  with  an  ample  breakfast.  They  were  soon  paid 
and  discharged.  Adjutant  William  B.  Hincks  of  Bridgeport 
had  been  promoted  to  be  major ;  and  Col.  T.  G.  Ellis  had 
received  the  brevet  rank  of  brigadier-general.  In  his  final 
report,  Gen.  Ellis  wrote,  — 

"  There  are  some  members  of  the  regiment  whose  names  have  figured 
but  little  in  official  reports,  who  have  had  much  to  do  with  making  it  what 
it  was.  Quartermaster  C.  F.  Dibble,  who  remained  with  the*  regiment 
from  its  organization  to  its  muster-out,  deserves  the  highest  praise,  and 
the  thanks  of  every  man  in  the  regiment,  for  his  efficient  management  of 
his  department.  lie  waived  promotion  to  retain  his  position.  Had  he 
left  us,  his  place  could  not  have  been  satisfactorily  filled. 

"  Surgeon  F.  A.  Dudley  was  likewise  an  able  and  efficient  officer ;  and 
though  his  abilities  were  the  means  of  taking  him  away  from  the  regiment 
much  of  the  time,  to  take  charge  of  the  division  hospital,  yet  in  battle  he 
was  always  at  hand  to  attend  to  the  wounded.  He  was  wounded  at  Get 
tysburg,  and  taken  prisoner  at  Hatcher's  Hun,  October,  1864,  voluntarily, 
through  his  zeal  for  our  wounded. 

"  Dr.  Levi  Jewett,  assistant  surgeon,  was  also  very  seriously  wounded 
at  Reams's  Station,  Aug.  25,  18G4,  while  attending  to  the  wounded.  A 
shell  exploded  near  him,  and  badly  shattered  the  bones  of  his  face  and 
head. 


,^'ICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 


"Assistant  Surgeon  Charles  Tomlinson  is  also  deserving  of  great  credit 
for  the  fearlessness  with  which  he  followed  the  regiment  into  many  of  the 
hottest  engagements  to  attend  to  the  immediate  wants  of  the  wounded." 

The  record  of  the  regiment  had  been  unsurpassed.  It 
had  been  in  thirty-three  battles  and  skirmishes ;  and  of  the 
1,726  men  who  had  been  members  of  the  organization,  there 
'was  a  record  of  more  than  eight  hundred  killed  and  wounded, 
besides  the  many  "missing."  It  had  captured  five  colors 
and  two- guns  from  the  enemy  in  fair  fight,  and  more  prison 
ers  than  the  original  number  of  the  regiment ;  and  at  Reams's 
Station  drew  off  part  of  McKnight's  and  part  of  the  3d  New- 
Jersey  batteries,  which  had  been  left  to  the  enemy. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .....  .       132 


Died  of  wounds        .         .  ,  . 

Died  of  disease        ..... 
Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment 
Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment     . 


MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   TWENTIETH. 


65 

169 

416 

6 


On  the  30th  of  April,  the  Twentieth  started  northward 
from  Raleigh  by  land,  accompanying  Sherman's  army. 
They  passed  through  Richmond,  May  11,.  and  marched  for 
Washington,  where  they.arrived  on  the  20th.  The  tegiment 
took  part  in  the  great  review  by  the  President  and  cabinet, 
after  which  it  encamped  near  Fort  Lincoln  on  the  Bladens- 
burg  Road.  On  June  13,  it  embarked  on  the  cars  for 
New  Haven,  which  was  reached  on  the  15th.  The  regiment 
was  received  with  honors  due  its  service,  by  the  State  author 
ities,  Major-Gen.  Russell,  and  the  people ;  and  escorted  by 
the  local  military,  amid  the  ringing  of  bells,  the  firing  of 
cannon,  and  the  cheers  of  thousands,  to  a  collation  waiting 
at  the  State  House.  The  men  were  promptly  paid,  and 
dispersed  to  their  waiting  homes.  Col.  Samuel  Ross  had 
received  the  brevet  rank  of  brigadier-general  "  for  distin 
guished  gallantry  at  Chancellorsville,"  on  recommendation 
of  Gen.  Hooker.  Lieut.-Col.  P.  B.  Buckingham  became 
colonel,  and  Capt.  William  W.  Morse  major,  by  brevet.  The 
regiment  had  mustered  in  1,281  officers  and  men,  and  had 


TWENTY-FIRST,   AND  FIKST  AND  THIRD  BATTERIES.       813 

fought   under  Gens.  McClellan,   Burnside,  Hooker,  Meade, 
Rosecrans,  Thomas,  Grant,  and  Sherman. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action       .......  50 

Died  of  wounds       .......  37 

Died  of  disease       .......  77 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .          .  264 

Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment  ....  2 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   FIRST    LIGHT    BATTERY. 

The  First  Battery,  Capt.  James  B.  Clinton,  was  mustered 
out  of  service  at  Manchester,  opposite  Richmond,  on  June 
11 ;  and  on  the  loth  reached  New  Haven.  A  cordial  im 
promptu  reception  was  tendered.  The  battery  was  escorted 
to  the  State  House  amid  a  maze  of  flags,  and  there  invited 
to  a  collation  by  Major  B.  F.  Mansfield,  .who  also  addressed 
to  the  men  a  speech  of  welcome.  They  had  had  no 
opportunity  to  renew  their  uniforms,  and  came  home  in 
those  which  they  had  worn  so  worthily  in  battle.  They  had 
been  engaged  twenty-five  times. 

CASUALTIES. 

Died  of  Avounds      .  1 

Died  of  disease       ...  ...         21 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  battery          .         .         98 

MUSTER-OUT    OF    THIRD    LIGHT    BATTERY. 

The  Third  Battery  was  raised  by  Capt.  T.  S.  Gilbert  in 
the  fall  of  1864,  for  one  year,  and  was  attached  to  Gen. 
H.  L.  Abbot's  artillery  brigade,  doing  good  service.  It  was 
mustered  out  on  June  23,  and  was  warmly  received  in 
New  Haven  on  the  25th,  and  entertained  at  one  of  the 
hotels.  The  men  were  soon  afterwards  paid  and  discharged. 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   TWENTY-FIRST. 

The  Twenty-first  was  among  the  fortunate  regiments; 
receiving  its  muster-out  as  e/irly  as  June.  Its  stay  in  Rich 
mond  was  brief;  and  on  April  28.  Lieut.-Col.  James  F. 
Brown  was  ordered  to  proceed  with  his  regiment  to  Colum 
bia,  Va,,  a  village  on  the  James  fifty  miles  west,  to  establish 
a  military  post,  protect  the  inhabitants,  and  preserve  order. 


814  CONNECTICUT  DUEING  THE   REBELLION. 

It  arrived  on  May  1.  Several  companies  were  detached 
to  do  provost-duty  in  other  towns :  Company  D,  Capt.  A. 
M.  Crane,  was  stationed  at  Palmyra;  Company  H,  Lieut. 
0.  D.  Glazier,  at  Bremo  Bluff;  Company  K,  Capt.  P.  F. 
Talcott,  at  Goochland,  —  these  officers  acting  as  provost- 
marshals.  Capt.  Charles  Fenton  as  commissary,  and  Lieut. 
Ransom  Jackson  as  quartermaster,  were  very  efficient.  The 
regiment  was  mustered  out  June  1C,  and  ordered  home, 
where  it  arrived  on  the  21st.  At  New  Haven,  the  men 
were  received  with  an  ovation,  welcomed  by  Major  Mans 
field,  and  entertained  at  the  State  House.  At  Norwich  also, 
the  local  headquarters,  the  regiment  was  received  with  a 
great  jubilee,  introductory  to  the  other  welcomes  in  towns, 
villages,  and  homes.  The  regiment  brought  home  the  fol 
lowing  testimony  to  its  efficiency  :  — 

HEADQUARTERS  3r>  DIVISION,  24xn  ARMY  CORPS. 
RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  17,  1865. 

His  EXCELLENCY  WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM,  GOVERNOR  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

Governor,  —  The  connection  which  has  existed  between  this  division  and 
the  21st  Connecticut  Volunteers  is  to-day  dissolved  by  its  departure  for  the 
State  which  sent  it  forth.  It  is  fully  entitled  to  the  Iftmor  of  having  served 
most  faithfully  and  as  long  as  it  services  were  needed,  and  of  having  done 
its  duty  nobly  under  many  most  trying  and  dangerous  circumstances.  Its 
soldiers  deserve  the  reward  of  those  who  have  continued  faithful  to  the  end 
of  that  Rebellion  whose  writhings  are  yet  visible. 

It  has  worthily  maintained  the  honor  of  the  State  of  Connecticut,  her 
loyalty  to  the  Union  of  our  fathers,  her  deep  and  stern  attachment  to  the 
principles  of  popular  government  and  of  civil  liberty.  Many  brave  officers 
and  men  have  sealed  with  their  lives  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the 
country,  prominent,  especially,  among  whom  are  Col.  Arthur  II.  Dutton, 
the  most  accomplished  among  gentlemen  and  soldiers,  who  fell  mortally 
wounded  in  a  skirmish  at  Fort  Walthall,  in  May,  1864,  and  Col.  Burpee, 
who  was  killed  at  Cold  Harbor,  in  June,  1864.  The  memory  of  these 
gallant  and  distinguished  soldiers  and  all  their  brave  comrades  will  be 
gratefully  embalmed  in  the  memory  of  the  people  of  Connecticut,  as  well  as 
in  that  of  their  more  fortunate  companions  who  return  to  you  in  triumph 
to-day. 

The  trials  and  dangers  which  this  regiment  has  passed  through  will  only 
have  made  them  more  fit  for  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizens,  to 
which  they  now  return  ;  and  their  conduct  hereafter  will  show,  I  sincerely 
believe,  that  the  fame  they  have  won  *by  valor  and  intrepidity  abroad  in 
the  field  will  be  maintained  by  industry,  energy,  and  perseverance  at 
home.  I  am  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

CUAS.  DEVENS,  Jr., 
Brigadier  and  Brevet  Major-General  Commanding. 


THE  EIGHTEENTH  AND   SIXTEENTH.  815 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .....  26 


Died  of  wounds       ..... 
Died  of  disease        ..... 
Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment 
Missing  at  date  of  muster-out  of  rejnmeut 


33 

108 

313 

2 


MUSTER-OUT    OF    THE   EIGHTEENTH. 

On  June  27,  the  Eighteenth  was  mustered  out  at  Har 
per's  Ferry,  having  been  for  three  months  on  provost-duty 
at  Martinsbnrg.  Capt.  Joseph  Mathewson  of  Pomfret  had 
been  promoted  to  be  major.  Its  losses  had  been  heavy,  its 
service  difficult.  For  two  years,  it  had  formed  a  part  of  the 
uneasy  shuttle  that  had  been  whirled  back  and  forth 
through  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  as  Sigel,  Ewell,  Hunter, 
Jubal  Early,  or  Sheridan  put  a  hand  to  the  loom.  Its  efforts 
had  not  always  been  crowned  with  visible  success ;  but  suc 
cess  had  come  at  last,  and  no  regiment  could  say  how  much 
or  how  little  had  been  its  real  part  in  weaving  the  perfect 
garment  of  final  Victory.  The  regiment  returned  to  Con 
necticut  immediately,  and  arrived  at  Hartford,  on  the  boat, 
at  half-past  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  29th.  The 
men  were  escorted  up  State  Street,  and  formed  in  line  on 
Central  Row,  where  they  were  received  with  speeches  by 
Gov.  Buckingham  for  the  State,  Col.  G.  P.  Bissell  for  the  'City, 
Hon.  John  T.  Wait  and  Representative  George  Pratt  of 
Norwich  for  New-London  County,  and  Senator  Bugbee  for 
Windham  County.  The  soldiers  then  breakfasted  at  the 
hotels,  and  eagerly  departed  for  their  homes. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        ....  52 


Died  of  wounds       ..... 
Died  of  disease        . 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment 
Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment    . 


MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   SIXTEENTH. 


14 
72 

323 
12 


While  the  Eighteenth  was  being  applauded  at  the  State 
House,  intelligence  came  that  the  Sixteenth  was  at  the 
de*pot,  having  been  mustered  out  of  service  at  Newberne  on 


816      •        *      CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

June  24.  Another  reception  was  immediately  improvised  ; 
and  the  regiment,  now  re-united  under  Lieut.-Col.  J.  H. 
Burnham,  was  duly  welcomed  by  Ezra  Hall.  The  men  re 
ceived  a  good  breakfast,  and  their  share  of  the  applause  of 
their  old  friends  and  neighbors ;  after  which  they  returned 
gladly  to  their  homes  to  exchange  applauding  words  and 
the  army  blue  for  the  garb  of  peaceful  citizenship.  This 
regiment  saw  little  but  misfortune.  It  was  hurled  upon  the 
overreached  flank  of  the  hottest  battle  before  it  had  ever 
had  a  regimental  parade,  or  knew  any  thing  of  army  move 
ments  ;  and,  finally,  after  hovering  for  a  year  upon  the  edge 
of  the  Confederacy,  was  captured  bodily  at  Plymouth,  after 
a  short  contest,  and  thenceforth  reported  only  to  rebel 
guards.  The  Sixteenth  lost  more  at  Andersonville  and  other 
prisons  than  any  other  Connecticut  regiment,  —  as  honor 
able  dead  as  they  who  fall  in  the  fiercest  fight  at  the  mo 
ment  of  victory. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action       .......  46 

Died  of  wounds       .......  24 

Died  of  disease        .......  224 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .         .  386 

Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment  ....  27 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE    FIFTEENTH. 

« 

The  Fifteenth,  under  Col.  Charles  L.  Upham,  was  mustered 
out  at  Newberne,  June  27.  Officers  and  men  had  returned 
from  their  short  imprisonment;  and  the  "  Lyon  Regiment" 
came  home  on  the  30th,  reaching  New  Haven  on  July  4,  and 
receiving  there  a  most  enthusiastic  reception  by  thousands 
of  patriotic  citizens  assembled  to  celebrate  the  national  an 
niversary.  The  Fifteenth  was  composed  of  true  and  brave 
men;  but  they  felt  justly,  that  beset  by  calamity,  and 
stricken  by  yellow-fever,  they  never  had  had  an  opportunity 
to  show  what  they  could  do. 

.     CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .......  15 

Died  of  wounds       .......  15 

Died  of  disease        .......  143 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .         .  327 

Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment   .  57 


THE  FIFTH  AND   SEVENTEENTH.  817 


MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   FIFTH. 

Two  days  later,  June  29,  the  veteran  Fifth  was  mustered 
out  of  service,  after  taking  a  prominent  part  in  the  grand 
review  at  Washington.  Brevet  commissions  had  been  issued 
to  Lieut.-Col.  Daboll  as  colonel,  and  to  Major  William  S.  Cogs 
well  as  lieutenant-colonel.  Two  thousand  and  sixty-one 
men  had  been  credited  to  the  regiment,  and  it  had  been 
engaged  in  some  of  the  sharpest  fighting  of  the  war;  while 
it  had  marched  much  farther  than  any  other- regiment  from 
this  State,  generally  towards  the  enemy.  The  regiment 
had  lost  Lieut.-Col.  Stone  and  Major  Blake,  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  other  gallant  officers  and  men.  Gen.  Ferry,  Gen. 
Stedman,  and  Col.  Brayton  Ives  were  its  graduates.  Lieut. 
Henry  L.  Johnson  of  .Jewett  City  went  out  as  commissary ; 
was  promoted  to  be  chief  of  Gen.  Heintzelman's  signal- 
corps,  and  distinguished  himself  for  bravery  in  McClellan's 
battles  of  the  Peninsula :  the  Secretary  of  War  presented  him 
with  two  captured  battle-flags  in  token  of  his  bravery.  The 
regiment  arrived  home  on  Sunday ;  and  the  day  imposed 
the  necessity  of  a  quiet  reception.  A  portion  of  the  regi 
ment  was  afterwards  enthusiastically  welcomed  in  Danbury. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        ...         .         .         .         .  .  73 

Died  of  wounds       .         .         .         .         .         .  .  29 

Died  of  disease        .          .         .          .          ...  .  81 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .  .  600  • 

MUSTER-OUT    OF  THE   SEVENTEENTH. 

On  July  19,  the  Seventeenth  was  mustered  out  at  Hilton 
Head,  and  embarked  immediately  for  home.  It  had  had 
little  leisure  during  its  term  of  service,  and  brought  home 
an  honorable  record.  Three  brave  lieutenant-colonels  — 
Charles  Walter,  Douglass  Fowler,  and  Albert  H.  Wilcoxson  — 
were  on  the  list  of  its  slain.  The  regiment,  under  Lieut.-Col. 
Henry  Allen,  arrived  at  New  Haven  on  Aug.  3,  and  was  re 
ceived  with  music  and  banners,  a  procession,  and  a  bountiful 
collation.  Hon.  E.  C.  Scranton,  the.  patriotic  mayor,  wel 
comed  the  soldiers;  after  which  Gov.  Buckingham  and  Rev. 

103 


818  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  further  addressed  them  in  cheering  and 
grateful  words.  Private  Elias  Howe,  jr.,  of  Bridgeport,  char 
tered  a  special  train ;  and  they  proceeded  to  that  city,  where 
they  were  enthusiastically  received.  Rev.  A.  R.  Thompson 
made  the  welcoming  speech,  as  follows :  — 

"  Veterans  of  the  Connecticut  Seventeenth,  — 

"  Three  years  ago,  amid  these  late  summer-blooms,  and  amid  the  bene 
dictions  and  with  the  prayers  of  loving,  throbbing  hearts,  you  went  forth 
to  roll  back  the  tide  of  armed  treason.  The  hosts  of  evil  had  arrayed  them 
selves  in  deadly  strife  to  disrupt  this  glorious  Union.  Then,  fresh  and  raw, 
you  took  your  place  in  the  solid,  living  walls,  which  defied  its  onward 
sweep.  In  letters  of  blood  you  wrote  your  names  at  Chaucellorsville,  under 
that  gallant,  Christian  soldier,  —  the  Ilavclock  of  this  Avar,  —  Gen.  Howard  ; 
and  at  Gettysburg,  —  the  hilltop  of  this  struggle, — then  on  the  coasts  of 
the  Carolinas  and  on  the  shores  of  Florida,  have  you  left  the  impress  of 
your  valiant  deeds.  .  .  .  You  have  gallantly  helped  to  rescue  the  country 
from- her  peril.  Well  done  !  Greeting  of  welcome  we  give  you  to-day.  la 
the  name  of  these  homes,  where  you  have  been  faithfully  remembered  in 
love  and  prayer  ;  in  the  name  of  these  Christian  churches,  whose  sabbath- 
bells  are  pealing  forth  their  Avelcome  ;  in  the  name  of  your  brave  asso 
ciates,  themselves  sharers  of  the  heat  and  burdens  of  the  day  ;  in  the  name 
of  our  thrice-beloved  and  delivered  land;  in  the  name  of  God,  —  1  bid 
you,  brave  and  faithful  soldiers,  welcome  home  !  The  work  you  went  to 
do  you  have  done.  You  have  returned  wiser,  doubtless,  than  you  went ; 
and  you  have  left  men  behind  you  wiser  because  you  went.  The  valor  of 
the  true  sons  of  the  Republic  has  not  only  lifted  to  its  place  again  the  flag 
which  sacrilegious  hands  dared  to  drag  to  the  dust,  but  has  nailed  it  there, 
—  never  to  come  down  while  we  live,  or  our  children,  or  our  children's 
children." 

Norwalk  also  gathered  to  welcome  her  heroes ;  and  ad 
dresses  were  made  by  Judge  Butler  and  Gen.  0.  S.  Ferry. 

MUSTEK-OUT    OF   THE   FIRST   CAVALRY. 

Our  cavalry  had  been  first  in  the  fight,  and  it  was  not 
last  in  muster-out.  About  June  1,  Col.  Ives  took  his 
command  to  Washington,  where  it  participated  in  the  great 
review.  It  was  then  stationed  in  the  city  on  provost-duty 
until  Aug.  2,  when  it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  and 
ordered  home.  Its  muster-rolls  had  borne  2,611  men.  Lieut- 
Col.  E.  W.  Whitaker  received  a  brevet  commission  as  briga 
dier-general;3  and  Second  Lieut.  Thomas  G.  Welles  of  Hart- 

8  Major-Gens.  Sheridan,  Kilpatrick,  Davies,  and  Kautz  recommended  Gen.  Whitaker 
cordially  for  an  appointment  in  the  regular  cavalry  ;  but  he  made  no  application.  Kil 
patrick  wrote,  "  As  a  cavalry  officer,  I  know  no  superior  of  his  rank." 


THE   FIRST   CAVALRY    AND   SECOND   BATTERY.  819 

« 

ford,  breve tted  captain  for  gallantry  in  September,  1864, 
was  brevetted  major  in  April,  1865.  Col.  Ives  arrived  in 
New  Haven  with  his  regiment  on  Aug.  5,  where  it  was  for 
mally  welcomed  by  Major-Gen.  William  H.  Russell,  and  then 
entertained  at  a  banquet  at  the  State  House.  The  men 
soon  after,  dispersed  to  their  homes.  This  was  the  last  regi 
ment  remaining  in  Sheridan's  renowned  cavalry  corps ;  and 
it  had  been  detained  in  Washington  by  Gen.  Augur,  on  ac 
count  of  its  orderly  and  soldierly  appearance,  as  exhibited  at 
the  review.  Well  might  the  men  who  had  fought  with  Lyon, 
Fish,  Blakeslee,  Brayton  Ives,  Whitaker,  and  Morehouse, 
with  Backus,  Warner,  and  Parmelee,  be  proud  of  their  record, 
and  well  might  the  State  be  proud  of  them !  Gen.  Ouster's 
official  order  states  that  his  single  division  had  captured  from 
the  enemy,  within  the  ten-days'  campaign,  forty-six  pieces  of 
artillery,  thirty-seven  battle-flags,  and  over  ten  thousand 
prisoners,  including  seven  generals ;  that  it  had  taken,  within 
the  past  six  months,  a  hundred  and  eleven  pieces  of  artillery 
and  sixty-five  battle-flags  ;  that  it  had  never  lost  a  gun  or 
a  color,  and  had  never  been  defeated ! 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action  24 


Died  of  wounds       .          .          .         .         . 
Died  of  disease        ..... 
Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment 
Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment    . 


MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE    SECOND    BATTERY 


8 

125 

436 

59 


The  Second  Battery,  Capt.  Walter  S.  Hotchkiss,  arrived  at 
New  Haven  July  31,  from  New  Orleans,  and  was  officially 
welcomed  by  Mayor  Scranton,  and  entertained  in  a  manner 
required  by  its  valuable  services.  The  men  were  furnished 
with  quarters,  and  mustered  out  on  Aug.  9. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .......  1 

Died  of  wounds       .......  1 

Died  of  disease        .          .          .          .         .         .         .  18 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  battery          .         .  37 


820  CONNECTICUT  DURING   THE   REBELLION. 


MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE    SIXTH. 

The  veteran  Sixth,  commanded  by  Lieut.-Col.  Daniel  Klein, 
arrived  at  New  Haven  on  July  28,  and  was  escorted  to  the 
banquet  at  the  State  House  by  military  and  citizens.  Ex- 
Mayor  Moses  Tyler  addressed  a  welcome  to  the  returned 
soldiers,  and  Col.  Klein  briefly  responded.  The  regiment 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service  on  Aug.  21.  Its  rolls  account 
ed  for  1,813  officers  and  men ;  and  they  were  also  accounted 
for  in  battles  fought,  privations  endured,  and  victories  won. 
Less  had  been  known  of  this  regiment  by  our  citizens  than 
of  most  of  the  others,  partly  because  Col.  Chatfield  had  in 
structed  officers  and  men  that  it  was  unmilitary  to  write 
historical  letters  for  the  press.  All  became  ambitious  that 
it  should  not  be  known  as  "a  newspaper  regiment."  Its 
history  is  less  full  on  this  account;  but  the  Sixth  always 
did  its  whole  duty  in  the  field.  The  Sixth  and  Seventh 
fought  side  by  side ;  and,  as  the  Sixth  had  left  the  State  a 
day  earlier,  it  returned  a  day  earlier  to  its  home. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action  .  43 


Died  of  wounds       ..... 
Died  of  disease        ..... 
Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment 
Missing  at  date  of  muster-out  of  regiment 


46 
119 
663 

23 


MUSTER-OUT  OF  THE    SEVENTH. 


The  Seventh,  Col.  S.  S.  Atwell,  arrived  at  New  Haven  on 
the  evening  of  July  29,  and  was  received  by  the  committee 
at  the  wharf,  and  escorted  with  the  usual  triumphal  display, 
through  illuminated  streets,  to  a  supper  at  the  State  House. 
Mayor  Scran  ton  welcomed  the  soldiers  to  the  hospitalities  of 
home,  and  Col.  Atwell  briefly  responded.  The  regiment  was 
mustered  out  on  Aug.  11.  In  the  mean  time,  the  jnen 
made  their  way  speedily  to  their  homes.  The  regiment 
had  borne  upon  its  rolls  2,090  men.  It  had  been  commanded 
successively  by  Terry,  Hawley,  Rodman,  and  Atwell :  it  had 
been  in  twenty-one  battles;  and  the  memories  evoked  by 
such  service  as  was  indicated  by  its  flag  were  enough  to  stir 


THE   TWELFTH  AND   THE   SECOND   ARTILLERY.  '§21 

the  blood  of  any  soldier,  and  excite  the  grateful  emotions 
of  any  citizen. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .         ...         ..'....        .  90 

Died  of  wounds       .......  44 

Died  of  disease              •  .          .         •"*.""»         •         •  179 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .         .  587 

Missing  at  date  of  muster-out  of  regiment         .         .  40 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   TWELFTH. 

The  veteran  Twelfth,  under  Lieut-Col.  G.  N.  Lewis,  went 
from  Winchester  to  Washington,  and  participated  in  the 
great  review ;  and  then  received  orders  to  proceed  to  Savan 
nah,  Ga.,  where  it  arrived  on  June  5,  and  encamped  outside 
of  the  fortifications.  The  battalion  was  detailed  on  patrol- 
duty  for  two  months.  On  Aug.  12,  it  was  mustered  out, 
and  ordered  home.  It  was  not  loth  to  obey,  and  on  Aug.  18 
it  reached  Hartford  in  the  morning.  Mayor  Allen  Stillman 
made  a  brief  speech  of  welcome  in  State-house  Square,  and 
introduced  Hon.  Henry  C.  Deming,  first  .commander  of  the 
Twelfth,  who  greeted  his  old  comrades  eloquently ;  and  they 
were  soon  dismissed.  The  service  of  the  regiment  had  been 
severe  and  singularly  varied..  Wherever  fighting  was  to  be 
done,  it  never  shrank ;  and  was  repeatedly  in  the  front  of 
battle  under  Butler,  Banks,  and  Sheridan.  Only  328  men 
came  back  at  muster-out,  of  1,826  who  had  been  borne  upon 
the  rolls. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .......         *         50 

Died  of  wounds       .         .         .         .         .         .         .16 

Died  of  disease        ........       188 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .          .       501 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE    SECOND    ARTILLERY. 

•  When  the  rebels  were  driven  from  Petersburg,  the  Second 
Artillery  entered  it  in  advance  of  the  9th  Corps.  Col.  James 
Hubbard  became  provost-marshal  of  the  city ;  and  the  regi 
mental  flag  floated  from  the  top  of  the  Court  House.  When 
the  regiment  was  relieved,  it  marched  out,  and  again  took 
possession  of  its  old  camp  to  the  south.  In  this  vicinity  the 
regiment  remained  for  weeks.  It  was  finally  returned  to 


822  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

,  duty  in  the  forts  around  Washington.  It  was  mustered  out 
of  service  on  Aug.  18,  and  reached  New  Haven  on  the  20th, 
where  it  was  greeted  with  a  patriotic  display  and  a  bountiful 
repast.  Col.  Ilubbard  had  received  the  brevet  of  brigadier- 
general.  The  organization  had  borne  upon  its  muster-rolls 
2,719  men,  and  had  lost  more  than  a  hundred  killed  in 
battle.  In  Litchfield  County,  the  home  of  the  regiment,  the 
most  cordial  welcome  awaited  them ;  and  on  Aug.  1  Litch 
field  celebrated  their  arrival.  Welcoming  addresses  were 
made  by  Hon.  John  H.  Hubbard  and  Col.  Nathaniel  Smith. 
From  that  of  the  latter,  we  extract  some  passages :  — 

"  The  place  of  Rice  is  vacant  in  your  lines.  Brave  man  !  stainless  of 
ficer  !  faithful  friend  !  The  elegant  form  of  gentlemanly  Berry,  gallant 
Wadhams,  soldierly  Hosford  —  but  I  fear  lest,  if  spirits  are  conscious  of 
earthly  things,  these  noble  men  rebuke  me  sternly  in  their  thoughts  for  dar 
ing  thus  to  single  out  their  names  from  those  of  hundreds  of  others  just 
as  self-sacrificing,  just  as  brave,  just  as  deserving  of  our  gratitude  and 
honor,  whom  time  forbids  us  to  mention.  O  sacred  brotherhood  of  noble 
men  dead  for  our  sakes !  —  how  shall  we  ever  pa^  the  debt  of  gratitude 
that  is  your  due? 

"  Tell  us,  ye  bards  in  whose  verse  Achilles  and  ./Eneas  live,  in  what  im 
mortal  numbers  shall  we  consecrate  their  story  to  eternal  fame?  His 
torians  who  sleep  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  classic  ilex  and  oleander, 
what  honor  shall  we  pay  to  patriots  purer  than  they  who  fell  at  Thermopylte 
and  Marathon?  Sculptors  that  raised  the  Parthenon,  on  what  monument 
or  miracle  of  art,  cloud-piercing,  shall  we  engrave  the  names  of  our  half- 
million  dead,  to  be  read  of  men  so  long  as  beauty's  tears  and  valor's  blood 
are  symboled  by  the  wild  flower  and  the  rose? 

u  Alas  !  art,  able  to  embellish  the  castles  of  nobles,  kings,  and  conquerors, 
is  all  unequal  to  their  deserts :  it  dwindles  to  artifice  before  the  simple 
grandeur  of  their  deeds.  These  that  we  miss  from  among  you  were  our 
neighbors,  acquaintances,  and  friends,  —  unambitious  men,  free  to  remain 
at  home,  careful  of  dependent  families,  yet  so  intelligently  and  truly  lov 
ing  liberty,  that,  when  they  saw  it  in  danger,  they  freely  weutto  the  rescue. 
They  found  subjection  to  arbitrary  military  rule  a  hard  thing  for  citizens  ; 
but,  for  the  sake  of  their  country,  they  obeyed.  In  the  dull,  uncomfortable 
quarters,  weary  witli  routine,  sick,  discouraged,  they  longed  for  home,  but 
from  principle  remained  steadfast.  On  the  march,  under  the  pitiless  sun, 
amid  the  stifling  dust,  the  musket  weighing  like  a  cannon  on  the  shoulder, 
knapsack  and  cartridge-box  an  intolerable  load,  weary  and  faint,  knowing 
*  the  agony  of  thirst,  they  never  came  late  to  battle  under  the  rain  of  death, 
amid  the  howling  shot,  the  rushing,  bursting  shell,  the  hissing  storm  of 
deadly  musket-balls  :  in  that  most  trying  moment,  when  one  after  another 
of  their  comrades  began  to  drop  silently  by  their  side,  they  were  steadfast 
and  true.  There  they  fell,  and  were  buried  hastily  ;  or,  after  hours  of 
patient  agony,  carried  to  a  hospital  amid  unnoticed  thousands,  unmurmur 
ing,  and  faithful  to  the  last,  they  died  ! 

"  The  beneficent  Father,  mindful  of  their  sacrifice,  has  decreed  peace 
throughout  the  land,  liberty  and  union  throughout  all  our  boundary ;  has 


MUSTER-OUT  OF  THE  NINTH.  823 

* 

bade  his  messengers  lay  the  railroad,  stretch  the  telegraph  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  from  the  equator  to  the  pole  ;  has  bade  them  plant  the  schoolhouse, 
establish  the  printing-press,  and  build  the  church,  —  that  a  land  filled  with 
the  murmur  of  schools  and  the  hum  of  industry  ;  a  land  of  plenteous  fields 
and  happy  homes,  echoing  the  sweet  clangor  of  sabbath-bells  ;  a  land 
wherein  there  neither  is  nor  shall  for  ever  be  aught  to  molest  or  make 
afraid,  —  shall  stand  before  the  ages,  their  heaven-erected  monument. 

"  Comrades  of  the  fallen  !  survivors  of  the  storm  !  the  very  homes  made 
desolate  by  their  loss  will  gladden  at  the  sound  of  your  footsteps.  Your 
native  county  rejoices  to  hear  of  your  return.  All  bid  you  enter  into  the 
soldier's  rest.  The  screaming  fife  and  rattling  drum  shall  break  your 
slumbers  with  their  reveille  no  more.  No  more  at  evening  the  lingering 
bugles  blow  the  signal  of  repose.  Enjoy  henceforth  the  freedom  you  have 
earned  for  all.  Enter,  soldiers  of  the  Union,  enter  into  possession  of  the 
honors  due  to  citizens  that  have  saved  the  Republic.  The  assembled  mul 
titude  greets  you  !  Children  that  now  look  up  wonderingly  in  your  faces, 
grown  to  be  men  and  women,  shall  prolong  the  tribute  of  grateful  praise. 
Long  may  the  day  be  absent,  when,  bowing  venerable  gray  hairs  to  your 
only  conqueror,  the  villages  shall  mourn  your  loss,  and  youth  and  beauty 
strew  your  graves  with  flowers  !  Then  succeeding  generations,  happier 
than  this  of  ours,  children  of  long  peace  and  heaven-blessed*  liberty,  shall 
hand  down  the  story  of  your  battles  and  triumphs.  They  of  that  blissful 
era,  it  is  reasonable  to  hope,  will  know  no  more  personal  interest  in  war 
like  actions  than  that  they  trace  their  ancestry  to  you.  Treasuring  every 
memento  of  your  times,  interested  in  hearing  the  minutest  incidents  of  your 
lives,  they  would  charge  me  with  neglect  did  I  fail  to  speak  to  you  in  their 
name  to-day.  They  bid  me  greet  you  by  the  title  the  future  will  assign  you  ; 
and,  by  an  authority  that  history  shall  ratify,  proclaim  you  her  HEROES 
OF  LIBEUTY." 

The  soldiers  of  Woodbtiry  were  afterwards  welcomed  by 
William  Cothren  and  P.-  M.  Trowbridge. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .         .  »                .         .                   .  143 

Died  of  wounds       .......  80 

Died  of  disease        .......  186 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .          .  907 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   NINTH. 

The  veteran  Ninth  was  mustered  out  of  service  in 
Savannah,  on  Aug.  4,  and  immediately  proceeded  north 
ward.  The  battalion,  under  the  valiant  Col.  John  G.  Ilealy, 
arrived  in  New  Haven  on  the  morning  of  the  8th,  where  it 
was  cordially  welcomed  by  Mayor  Scranton,  escorted  to  the 
State  House  amid  every  demonstration  of  patriotic  joy,  and 
properly  entertained.  The  achievements  of  the  Ninth  had 
found  little  publicity ;  but,  as  this  record  has  disclosed,  its 
services  were  of  marked  value  in  conquering  a  peace  for 


824  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  EEBELLION. 

»• 

the  re-united  Republic :  and  the  gallant  Irish-Americans  who 
stood  faithfully  by  its  standard  share  the  gratitude  of  the 
State  and  the  Nation. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action       .......  5 

Died  of  wounds       .......  1 

Died  of  disease        .......  240 

,  Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  battalion       .         .  376 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE    TENTH. 

The  veteran  Tenth,2  too,  at  last  came  to  the  end  of  its 
fighting.  Oir  Aug.  25,  the  regiment  was  mustered  out  of 
the  United-States  service,  and  returned  to  Connecticut.  It 
arrived  at  Hartford  by  steamer  on  Aug.  30,  under  Col.  E.  S. 
Greeley,  now,  like  Lieut.-Col.  Goodyear,  brevet  brigadier- 
general.  There  were  the  usual  demonstrations,  —  music, 
cheers,  speeches,  and  an  escort,  —  in  which  were  Cols.  Otis 
and  Pettibone,  and  other  former  officers  of  the  regiment, 
bearing  the  tattered  flag  under  which  they  had  fought.  A 
bountiful  repast  was  then  provided  at  the  hotels,  and  the 
men  had  leave  of  absence  for  two  days ;  when  they  re-as 
sembled  and  received  their  pay,  and  said  their  final  good-bys. 
The  regiment  had  borne  upon  its  rolls  2,124  men,  had  been 
in  twenty-three  battles,  and  had  won  a  reputation '  for  re 
markable  bravery,  coolness,  persistence,  and  reliability  on 
trying  occasions,  that  was  always  recognized  even  by  troops 
of  other  States.  Its  services  herein  recorded  are  its  highest 
praise. 

CASUALTIES.  » 

Killed  in  action 57 

Died  of  wounds       .......  59 

D'ied  of  disease 152 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .          .  692 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   FIRST    ARTILLERY. 

On  July  11,  the  First  Artillery  returned  to  the  defenses 
of  Washington,  and,  on  Sept,  25,  was  mustered  out  after 

2  Major  Frank  Hawkins  of  the  Tenth,  from  Derby,  inspector-general  on  the  staff  of 
Gen.  G.  B.  Dandy,  died  suddenly  on  June  22.  in  one  of  the  military  hospitals  of  New- 
York  City.  The  Herald  said,  "  Some  days  since  Major  Hawkins  was  exposed  to  a 
severe  rain-storm  while  attending  a  review  of  the  troops.  Congestion  of  the  brain  set  in 
with  fatal  results.  This  is  a  sad  instance  of  the  intervention  of  death  in  the  midst  of 
human  hopes.  Major  Hawkins  had  been  in  the  war  for  more  than  four  vears,  throughout 
all  which  time  he  had  been  noted  for  his  bravery  and  dash.  After  participating  most 
honorably  in  the  late  closing  campaign,  he  parts  with  life  in  an  unexpected  moment." 


THE  FIRST  ARTILLERY  AND  THE  COLORED  TROOPS.   825 

a  service  of  four  years  and  four  months.  The  following 
brevet  commissions  were  issued :  Col.  H.  L.  Abbot  to  be 
major-general;  Major  George  Ager  to  be  lieutenant-colonel; 
Capts.  Henry  H.  Pierce,  John  M.  Twiss,  Charles  0.  Brigham, 
Charles  R.  Bannan,  George  Dimock,  William  C.  Faxon, 
Samuel  P.  Hatfield,  Bela  P.  Learned,  William  A.  Lincoln, 
Glenroy  P.  Mason,  George  D.  Sargeant,  and  William  G. 
Pride,  to  be  majors;  First  Lieuts.  Frank  D.  Bangs,  Robert 
E.  Lewis,  E.  P.  Mason,  H.  A.  Pratt,  George  F.  Bill,  Thomas 
D.  Cashin,  Cornelius  Gillette,  John  O'Brien,  William  H. 
Rogers,  S.  A.  Woodruff,  and  H.  D.  Patterson,  to  be  captains ; 
and  Second  Lieuts.  A.  Drown,  C.  W.  Smith,  W.  H.  H.  Bing- 
ham,  G.  H.  Couch,  G.  Reynolds,  J.  II.  Casey,  and  C.  N.  Silli- 
man,  to  be  first  lieutenants.  Col.  Abbot  says  in  his  report,  — 

"  Notwithstanding  the  fine  material  of  which  the  regiment  is  composed, 
it  would  have  been  impossible,  without  such  officers,  to  have  maintained 
strict  discipline  during  the  last  campaign,  when,  for  more  than  a  year,  the 
regiment  was  scattered  over  a  front  often  exceeding  seventeen  miles  in 
extent,  frequently  subdivided  into  small  fragments  of  companies,  and  con 
stantly  receiving  raw  recruits.  When  it  was  collected  after  the  evacua 
tion,  I  was  surprised  myself  to  see  how  it  had  borne  this  test ;  the  men  pre 
serving  almost  the  same  cleanliness  and  soldierly  appeai'ance  which  had 
so  distinguished  them  in  garrison.  This  result  can  only  be  attrbuted  to 
the  high  character  of  the  officers  of  all  grades,  which  naturally  follows 
from  the  wise  and  patriotic  course  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor  in 
appointing  them." 

Major-Gen.  Barry,  the  ablest  artillery  officer  in  the  United- 
States  service,  paid  the  following  tribute  to  the  superiority 
of  this  regiment :  — 

"  As  chief  of  artillery  successively  of  the  two  principal  armies  of  the 
United  States  during  the  four  years  of  war  now  happily  ended,  I  have 
enjoyed  personal  opportunities  for  observation.  You  will  on  this  account 
value  my  opinion  when  I  assure  you  that  the  First  Connecticut  Artillery,  in 
intelligence  and  the  acquirements  and  services  of  its  special  arm,  stands 
unrivaled  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States." 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action 26 

Died  of  wounds       .......  23 

Died  of  disease        ..:....  161 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .         .  1,071 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   TWENTY-NINTH   AND    THIRTIETH. 

Our  colored  regiments  remained  in  service  in  Texas  during 
the  summer  and  autumn,  performing  garrison  and  provost 

104 


826  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE   REBELLION. 

duty,  and  helping  to  reduce  that  fractious  State  to  order. 
Early  in  October,  they  embarked  for  home.  The  Twenty- 
ninth  was  cordially  received  at  Hartford,  "on  Oct.  22,  with 
cheers,  a  procession,  and  a  banquet.  Gov.  Buckingham  made 
an  address  of  welcome,  from  which  we  extract :  — 

"  For  all  your  services,  I  tender  you,  both  officers  and  men,  my  grateful 
acknowledgments  and  the  -thanks  of  my  fellow-citizens.  In  their  name  I 
greet  you  with  a  cordial  welcome.  I  welcome  you  from  sleepless  watchings. 
from  fatiguing  marches,  from  the  privations  of  the  camp,  and  from  the  clan 
gers  of  the  battle-field,  to  the  rest,  the  pleasures,  and  the  duties  which  per 
tain  to  peace,  to  home,  and  civil  life.  The  revolution  in  which  we  have 
been  engaged,  and  in  which  you  have  taken  such  an  active  and  interesting 
part,  has  removed  one  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  advancement  of 
liberty,  and  enables  me  to  welcome  you  to  higher  hopes  of  future  good. 

"  And  although  Connecticut  now  denies  you  privileges  which  it  grants 
to  others,  for  no  other  apparent  reason  than  because  God  has  made  you  to 
differ  in  complexion,  yet  justice  will  not  always  stand  afar  off.  Be  patient ; 
be  true  to  yourselves.  Remember  that  merit  consists  not  in  color  or  in 
birth,  but  in  habits  of  industry,  in  intellectual  ability  and  moral  character. 
Cultivate  these  characteristics  of  true  worth.  Show  by  your  acquirements, 
and  your  devotion  to  duty  in  civil  life,  that  you  are  as  true  to  virtue  and  the 
interests  of  government  and  country  as  you  have  been  while  in  the  army, 
and  soon  the  voice  of  a  majority  of  liberty-loving  freemen  will  be  heard 
demanding  for  you  eve.ry  right  and  privilege  to  which  your  intelligence  and 
moral  character  shall  entitle  you.  Again  I  ask  you  to  accept  my  thanks 
for  your  patriotic  services,  and  my  best  wishes  for  your  prosperity  and 
happiness." 

Col.  Wooster  of  the  Twenty-ninth  spoke  in  reply,  testify 
ing  to  the  bravery  of  his  men  in  battle,  even  when  they 
knew  that  captivity  was  certain  death.  Lieut.-Col.  Torrance 
said,  in  his  report,  "The  poor  rights  of  a  soldier  were  denied 
to  them.  Their  actions  were  narrowly  watched,  and  the 
slightest  faults  severely  commented  upon.  In  spite  of  all 
this,  the  negro  soldier  fought  willingly  and  bravely ;  and  with 
his  rifle  alone  he  has  vindicated  his  manhood,  and  stands 
confessed  to-day  as  second  in  bravery  to  none." 

Col.  H.  C.  Ward  of  the  Thirtieth,  in  his  report,  says,  «  Be 
fore  closing  this  report,  I  beg  leave  to  speak  briefly  as  to  the 
character  of  the  troops  I  have  had  the  honor  to  serve  with. 
I  entered  the  '  colored  service'  in  January,  1864,  and  have 
commanded  either  a  battalion  or  larger  body  of  colored 
troops  for  most  of  the  time  since  that  date ;  and  I  am  con 
vinced,  that,  in  all  the  essential  qualities  of  good  soldiers,  they 
fully  meet  all  requirements,  and  are  equal  to  the  standard  of 
any  service  I  ever  saw." 


THE  EIGHTH,   ELEVENTH,   AND  THIRTEENTH.  827 

CASUALTIES  OF   THE   TWENTY-NINTH  REGIMENT. 

Killed  in  action        .         .         .         .         . '                  •  15 

Died  of  wounds       .         ,                  ...         *         .  ,       4 

Died  of  disease       .......  47 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .         .  47 

Missing  at  muster-out  of  regiment   ....  13 

CASUALTIES  OF    THE    THIRTIETH    REGIMENT. 

Killed  in  action        .......  23 

Died  of  wounds       .......  22 

Died  of  disease        .......  153 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment      '.;'"      .  135 

MUSTER-OUT    OF   THE   EIGHTH   AND    ELEVENTH. 

The  veteran  Eighth  and  Eleventh  went  to  Lynchburg  after 
Richmond  was  captured,  and  did  a  semi-military,  semi-police 
duty  in  that  vicinity  for  several  months.  They  came  home 
in  Dec'ember,  had  a  reception  in  Hartford  befitting  their  long 
and  arduous  service,  and  were  mustered  out.  Rowland 
Swift  addressed  the  Eighth,  and  Ezra  Hall  addressed  the 
Eleventh,  in  terms  of  grateful  welcome ;  and  the  companies 
and  soldiers  departed  to  find  more  personal  greetings  in  glad 
hearts  and  homes.  The  regiments  had  generally  marched, 
camped,  and  fought  side  by  side,  and  shared  a  twin-chronicle 
of  heroic  deeds,  and  a  long  list  of  gallant  dead. 

CASUALTIES  OF  THE  EIGHTH  REGIMENT. 

Killed  in  action        .......  72 

Died  of  wounds       .......  40 

Died  of  disease        .......  132 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .          .  610 

Missing  at  date  of  muster-out  of  regiment         .          .  11 

CASUALTIES  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  REGIMENT. 

Killed  in  action        .......         4  85 

Died  of  wounds       .......  41 

Died  of  disease        .......  165 

Discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  regiment       .         .  579 

MUSTER-OUT    OF    THE   THIRTEENTH. 

The  veteran  Thirteenth,  the  last  of  the  levy  of  1861, -was 
detained  in  service  more  than  a  year  after  the  war  was  ended. 
In  July,  Col.  Sprague  was  appointed  president  of  a  military 
board  in  Augusta  to  examine  officers  for  promotion  or  dis 
charge.  The  battalion  soon  after  proceeded  to  Athens,  and 


828  CONNECTICUT  DURING  THE  REBELLION. 

therice  to  Gainesville ;  and  Col.  Sprague  assumed  command 
of  the  district  of  Athens,  comprising  fourteen  counties  of 
Northern  Georgia.  Afterwards,  headquarters  were  removed 
to  Augusta.  In  January,  1866,  the  battalion  was  relieved 
from  duty,  and  ordered  to  garrison  the  district  of  Alatoona, 
comprising  one-fourth  of  the  State.  The  men  were  anxious 
to  go  home  ;  and  at  last,  after  numerous  appeals  for  muster- 
out,  setting  forth,  that,  according  to  the  terms  of  their  re-in- 
listment,  they  could  not  properly  be  detained  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  they  rendezvoused  at  Fort  Pulaski,  and  were 
mustered  out  on  April  25,  1866.  Three  days  later,  they  took 
a  government  transport,  and  proceeded  to  New  York;  whence 
they  quietly  dispersed  to  their  homes  to  enjoy  in  civil  life 
the  union  and  peace  for  which,  through  four  and  a  half  years, 
they  had  toiled  and  fought. 

CASUALTIES. 

Killed  in  action        .......         32 

Died  of  wounds       .......          13 

Died  of  disease        . 129 

Discharged  prior  to  March  31,  1866         .         .         .705 

Gov.  Buckingham  issued  the  following:  — 

A    PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas  the  General  Assembly  at  its  recent  session : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  heartfelt  thanks  and  lasting  gratitude  of  the  people 
of  this  State  are  due  and  are  hereby  tendered  to  all  Connecticut  officers 
and  soldiers,  of  every  rank  and  grade,  who  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  have 
gallantly  borne  the  flag  and  nobly  sustained  the  honor  of  our  State,  and 
who,  by  long  years  of  faithful  service,  and  on  many  a  hard-fought  field, 
have  aided  in  preserving  to  us  our  institutions,  and  in  demonstrating  to  the 
world  that  no  government  is  so  strong  as  that  which  rests  in  the  will  of  a 
free  and  enlightened  people,  and  that  no  armies  are  so  invincible  as  citizen- 
soldiers  battling  for  their  own  liberties  and  the  rights  of  man. 

u  That  this  State  will  ever  gratefully  cherish  and  honor  the  memories  of 
those  victims  of  war  and  rebel  barbarities  who  went  forth  from  us  for  our 
defense,  but  who  come  not  back  to  participate  in  the  blessings  of  that 
peace,  which,  through  their  efforts  and  sacrifices,  a  just  God  has  vouch 
safed  to  us. 

"  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be  requested  by  suitable  proclama 
tion  tp  publish  the  foregoing  resolutions." 

Therefore  I,  William  A.  Buckingham,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Connecti 
cut,  in  order  to  effect  the  object  designed  by  the  General  Assembly,  hereby 
issue  this  proclamation,  and  call  upon  the  citizens  of  this  Commonwealth 
to  manifest  by  expressions  of  gratitude  and  by  acts  of  kindness,  both  to  the 
living  and  to  the  families  of  the  honored  dead,  their  high  appreciation  of 
the  sacrifices  made  by  each  of  the  fifty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 


CONCLUSION.  829 

thirty  men,  who  from  this  State  have  entered  the  military  service  of  the 
nation  during  our  recent  struggle  with  rebellion  ;  and  to  impress  upon  their 
children  and  children's  children  the  duty  of  holding  such  patriotic  services 
in  honor  and  perpetual  remembrance,  and  thus  prove  the  enduring  gratitude 
of  the  Republic. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  the  State,  at  the  city  of  Hartford,  this 
the  seventh  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 

hundred  and  sixty-five.  r       ., 

[L.S.]  WM.  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 

By  his  Excellency  the  Governor. 
J.  HAMMOND  TRUMBULL,  Secretary  of  State. 

Connecticut,  that  went  to  the  war  with  such  promptness  • 
and  lusty  energy,  had  acquitted  herself  nobly  in  it.  Refer 
ring  to  her  part  in  nurturing  and  coloring  the  royal  blood 
that  finally  lifted  up  the  two  most  illustrious  captains  of  the 
war,  Rev.  Dr.  Bushnell  has  said,3  "  Nay,  it  is  not  quite  enough, 
if  we  will  know  exactly  who  is  entitled  to  a  part  in  these 
honors,  that  we  remember  only  these  dead  of  the  war. 
Buried  generations  back  of  them  were  also  present  in.  it 
almost  as  truly  as  they.  Thus,  if  we  take  the  two  most 
honored  leaders,  —  Grant  and  Sherman,  —  who,  besides  the 
general  victory  they  have  gained  for  the  cause,  have  won 
their  sublime  distinction  as  the  greatest  living  commanders 
of  the  world,  it  will  be  impossible  to  think  of  them  as  having 
made  or  begotten  their  own  lofty  endowments.  All  great 
heroic  men  have  seeds  and  roots,  far  back,  it  may  be,  out  of 
which  they  spring,  and  apart  from  which  they  could  not 
spring  at  all, —  a  sublime  fatherhood  and  motherhood,  in 
whose  blood  and  life,  however  undistinguished,  victory  was 
long  ago  distilling  for  the  great  day  to  come  of  their  people 
and  nation.  They  knew  it  not :  they  sleep  in  graves,  it  may 
be,  now  forgot ;  but  their  huge-grown,  manful  temperament ; 
the  fights  they  waged  and  won  in  life's  private  battle;  the 
lofty  prayer-impulse  which  made  inspiration  their  element ; 
their  brave,  self-retaining  patience,  and  the  orderly  vigor  of 
their  household  command,  —  were  breeding  in  and  in,  to  be 
issued  finally  in  a  hero  sonship,  and,  by  that,  fight  themselves 
out  into  the  grandest  victory  for  right  and  law  the  future 
ages  shall  know.  So  that,  if  we  ask  who  are  the  dead  that 

8  Commemorative  Celebration  at  Yale  College. 


830  CONNECTICUT   DURING   THE   REBELLION. 

are  to  be  counted  in  our  victory,  we  must  pierce  the  sod  of 
Wethersfield  and  Stratford,  of  Woodbury  and  Norwalk,  and 
find  where  the  Honorable  Sherman,  the  Deacon  Sherman, 
the  Judge  Sherman,  and  all  the  line  of  the  Shermans,  and 
their  victor  wives  and  mothers,  lie  ;  and  then,  if  we  can  guess 
who  they  were  and  how  they  lived,  we  shall  know  who 
fought  the  great  campaigns  of  Atlanta,  Savannah,  and 
Raleigh.  So  again,  if  we  begin  at  the  good  Deacon  Grant, 
in  Mr.  Warham's  church  at  Windsor,  descending  to  the 
historic  Noah  Grant  of  Tolland,  fellow-scout  with  Putnam, 
'  and  captain  of  a  French-war  company ;  then  to  the  now 
living  Jesse  Root  Grant,  who  removed  to  Ohio,  afterwards 
finally,  I  believe,  to  Illinois,  whose  wanderings  appear  to 
be  commemorated  in  the  classic  name  of  Ulysses,  —  we  shall 
see  by  what  tough  flanking  processes  of  life  and  family  the 
great  general  was  preparing,  who  should  turn  the  front  of 
Vicksburg,  and  march  by  Lee  and  Richmond,  and  cut  off  -by 
the  rear  even  the  Great  Rebellion  itself.  Oh,  if  we  could  see 
it,  how  long  and  grandly  were  the  victories  of  these  great 
souls  preparing !  The  chief  thing  was  the  making  of  the 
souls  themselves;  and  when  that  was  done  the  successes 
came,  of  course." 

Not  the  living  chiefs  alone  are  of  our  maturing :  we  name, 
also,  with  reverent  pride,  a  long,  deep  phalanx  of  departed 
heroes  who  stepped  out  eagerly  from  our  homes ;  leaders  on 
field  and  staff;  leaders  in  line  and  rank,  who  fell  before  the 
gaunt  wolf  in  rebel  prisons,  or  leaped  into  the  blazing  vortex 
of  battle,  and  passed  triumphant  from  their  heavy  shrouds 
of  blue  to  the  Pleasant  Fields  where  their  loved  leader  was 
so  soon  to  greet  them  again. 

The  first  great  martyrs  of  the  war  —  Ellsworth,  'Winthrop, 
Ward,  and  Lyon  —  were  of  Connecticut  stock.  A  Connec 
ticut  general,  with  Connecticut  regiments,  opened  the  battle 
of  Bull  Run,  and  closed  it ;  and  a  Connecticut  regiment  was 
marshaled  in  front  of  the  farm-house  at  Appornattox,  when 
Lee  surrendered  to  a  soldier  of  Connecticut  blood.  A  Con 
necticut  flag  first  displaced  the  palmetto  upon  the  soil  of 
South  Carolina;  a  Connecticut  flag  was  first  planted  in 
Mississippi ;  a  Connecticut  flag  was  first  unfurled  before  New 


CONCLUSION.  831 

Orleans.  Upon  the  reclaimed  walls  of  Pulaski,  Donelson, 
Macon,  Jackson,  St.  Philip,  Morgan,  Wagner,  Smnter,  Fisher, 
our  State  left  its  ineffaceable  mark.  The  sons  of  Connecti 
cut  followed  the  illustrious  grandson  of  Connecticut,  as  he 
swung  his  army,  with  amazing  momentum,  from  the  fast 
nesses  of  Tennessee  to  the  Confederacy's  vital  center.  At 
Antietam,  Gettysburg,  and  in  all  the  fierce,  campaigns  of 
Virginia,  our  soldiers  won  crimson  glories ;  and  at  Port 
Hudson  they  were  the  very  first  and  readiest  in  that  val 
iant  little  band,  —  every  man  a  Winkelried,  resolved  to 
gather  the  shafts  of  flame  into  their  bosoms  to  make  a  path 
for  Liberty  to  tread. 

On  the  banks  of  every  river  of  the  South,  and  in  the 
battle-smoke  of  every  contested  ridge  and  mountain-peak, 
the  sons  of  Connecticut  have  stood  and  patiently  struggled. 
In  every  ransomed  State,  we  have  a  holy  acre  on  which  the 
storm  has  left  its  emerald  waves,  —  two  thousand  indistin 
guishable  hillocks .  on  lonely  lake  and  stream,  in  field  and 
tangled  wildwood,  where  the  long  mosses  of  the  Florida  for 
ests  sweep,  where  the  magnolia  flowers  along  the  Carolina 
coast,  where  the  cotton  sheds  its  snowy  wealth,  where  the 
holly  of  the  James  drops  its  ruby  berries,  where  the  pines 
of  the  Gulf  States  chant  their  dirge ;  and  in  every  bloom 
ing  grave  lie  buried  beneath  the  sacred  dust  of  our  heroes 
the  broken  shackles  of  bondage  and  the  rusting  weapons  of 
rebellion. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  SONS  OF  CONNECTICUT  RESIDING  IN  NEW  YORK. 


NE' 


THE  sons  of  Connecticut  residing  in  other  States,  whom  business  or  personal  circum 
stances  kept  from  actual  army  service,  were  active  and  faithful  as  our  best  citizens  in  the 
State. 

In  New  York  and  in  Washington,  Connecticut  men  had  frequent  opportunity  to  aid 
and  encourage  the  soldiers  of  Connecticut,  and  formed  organizations  for  the  purpose. 

It  is  proper  to  say  at  the  outset,  that  the  Sons  of  Connecticut  rendered  these  services  to 
their  native  State  in  addition  to  doing  their  full  share  of  what  belonged  to  the  community 
in  which  they  resided. 

Mr.  Robert  II.  McCurdy,  the  honored  president  of  the  society  in  New  York,  a  native 
of  Lymc,  was  active  in  originating  and  giving  practical  effect  to  the  first  patriotic  move 
ment  in  that  city,  —  the  great  meeting  of  the  people  at  Union  Square  on  the  20th  of  April, 
18G1  ;  a  meeting,  which,  speaking  so  grandly  the  voice  of  the  great  commercial  metropo 
lis,  exerted  an  influence  perhaps  as  powerful  as  that  of  any  public  meeting  ever  held  on 
the  globe. 

Air.  McCurdy  was  at  that  meeting  appointed  a  member  of  the  well-known  Union- 
Defense  Committee,  and  thereafter  gave  time  and  money,  without  stint,  to  the  great  cause. 

Mr.  Simeon  B.  Cliittenden,  a  native  of  Guilford,  whose  name  appears  on  the  first  sub 
scription-list  in  New  York  for  the  equipment  of  the  New- York  7th  Regiment,  was  untir 
ing  and  generous  throughout  the  war.  As  a  single  instance,  we  quote  from  a  letter  written 
by  him  to  Hon.  Moses  F.  Odcll,  then  a  member  of  Congress,  in  October,  1863,  when  the 
war  had  become  a  dread  and  a  burdensome  business  :  "It  is  my  conviction  that  it  is  the 
solemn  duty  and  the  high  privilege  of  all  who  love  their  country,  instantly  to  lend  their 
cheerful,  willing,  and  effective  aid  to  the  great  and  noble  effort  to  which  the  President  now 
summons  the  nation ;  and  I  ask  you,  sir,  to  co-operate  with  me  in  such  ways  as  your  knowl 
edge  of  the  condition  of  the  regiment  (Brooklyn  14th)  may  suggest.  I  propose  to  raise 
two  hundred  men  for  the  Brooklyn  14th  as  my  share  of  the  work,  and  will  contribute  ten 
thousand  dollars  to  be  divided  among  them  ;  fifty  dollars  to  each  man  in  addition  to  all 
national,  state,  and  municipal  bounties  which  may  be  available  to  such  volunteers."  The 
two  hundred  men  were  enlisted,  the  bounties  paid,  and  recruiting  further  stimulated  by 
this  prompt  arid  liberal  action. 

Equallv  prompt  and  efficient,  according  to  their  means,  unto  the  very  close  of  the  war, 
were  hundreds  of  natives  of  Connecticut  located  in  New  York.  Indeed,  out  of  the  gen 
eral  patriotic  work  grew  the  special  efforts  for  Connecticut  soldiers. 

Gen.  Prosper  M  Wctmore  (of  what  town?),  also  a  member  of  the  Union-Defense 
Committee,  had  labored  night  and  day  in  recruiting  the  Harris  Light  Cavalry,  in  which 
two  companies  from  Connecticut  were  enlisted.  He  learned  to  esteem  and  admire  among 
others  the  noble  face  and  soldierly  bearing  of  Sergeant  Edward  F.  Lyoii,  who  was  killed  on 
the  cars  while  passing  to  the  front,  in  a  brave  attempt  to  save  the  lives  of  his  fellow-soldiers. 
Gen.  Wetmorc,  learning  that  the  body  had  reached  New  York  on  the  way  home,  after 
a  long  search,  found  a  rude  pine  coffin  containing  the  remains,  in  the  open  air,  watched  by 
105  633 


834  •    APPENDIX. 

two  faithful  comrades,  —  Sergeants  Daniel  "Whitaker  and  P.  0.  Jones.  An  appropriate 
guard  of  honor  was  promptly  secured,  entertainment  provided  for  the  two  sergeants,  and 
every  facility  freely  furnished. 

Gen.  Wetmorc  at  once  resolved  that  there  should  not  again  be  such  an  apparent  neglect 
of  proper  respect  to  the  heroic  dead  and  due  attention  to  "the  comforts  of  the  brave  living 
soldiers  of  his  native  State. 

He  conceived  the  design  of  an  organization  of  the  Sons  of  Connecticut  in  New  York,  to 
extend  fitting  courtesies  and  all  needed  aid  to  regiments  passing  to  and  from  the  front 
through  New  York,  to  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  to  the  noble  dead  of  our  gallant  regi 
ments.  The  plan  was  heartily  approved  by  Mr.  McCurdy,  who  had,  at  intervals  of  his 
pressing  duties,  been  contemplating  something  of  the  sort.  Others  fell  in  promptly  and 
cordially. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  at  the  Astor  House,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1861'.  Rob 
ert  II.  McCurdy,  Pelatiah  Perit,  Jonathan  Sturgcs,  Prosper  M.  Wetmorc,  David  Hoadlcy, 
R.  M.  Blatchford,  S.  Baldwin,  I.  N.  Phclps,  W.  C.  Wetmore,  Henry  Chauncey,  F.  Bron- 
son,  John  E.  Fo:  bes,  Rufus  L.  Lord,  Samuel  D.  Babcock  , Charles  W.  Elliott,  Thomas 
Lord,  George  Gj^wold,  Henry  H.  Elliott,  J.  W.  Alsop,  W.  E.  Dodge,  W.  C.  Gilman, 
Charles  Gould,  Simeon  B.  Chittenden,  Waldo  Hutchins,  A.  II.  Almy,  Elias  Howe,  jr., 
Joseph  Battell,  and  others  among  the  most  eminent  business-men  of  New  York,  partici 
pated  in  the  organization. 

A  permanent  organization  was  effected  by  electing  as  officers,  — 

President,  Robert  H.  McCurdy ;  Vice-President,  Prosper  M.  Wetmorc ;  Secretary, 
Charles  Gould  ;  Treasurer,  William  C.  Gilman;  Standing- Committee,  Robert  H.  McCurdy, 
Waldo  Hutchins,  Prosper  M.  Wetmorc,  Charles  W.  Elliott,  Elias  Howe,  jr.,  Joseph 
Battell,  Jonathan  Sturges,  A.  H.  Almy,  J.  J.  Phelps,  S.  B.  Chittenden,  and  Charles  Gould. 

The  duties  of  the  secretary "  were  so  arduous,  that  Richard  A.  McCurdy  was  soon 
appointed  assistant  secretary. 

Gov.  Buckingham  was  immediately  notified  of  the  organization  and  purposes  of  the 
society,  and  assured  them  of  his  hearty  gratification  and  co-operation.  He  soon  after 
appointed  John  II.  Almy  as  agent  to  act  for  the  State,  in  connection  with  the  Sons  of 
Connecticut,  to  forward  the  interests  and  aid  the  soldiers  of  Connecticut. 

The  active  work  of  the  society  at  once  began.  Of  this  work,  Gen.  P.  M.  Wetmorc, 
<i  genuine  and  an  accomplished  Son  of  Connecticut,  the  vice-president  of  the  society, 
has  furnished  a  lengthy  and  carefully-written  sketch,  which  has  been  reluctantly 
abridged  to  conform  to  the  space  allotted;  and  we  desire  to  acknowledge  our  indebtedness 
while  we  gratefully  take  from  it  the  main  facts. 

Mr.  Wetmore  modestly  refrains  in  his  sketch  from  self-praise ;  but  the  remaining 
officers  unite  in  saying  that  he  was,  from  the  outset,  the  chief  intellectual  life  and  motor  of 
the  society.  He  was  so  situated  that  he  could,  or  at  any  rate  did,  give  more  time  and 
effort  than  any  other  man.  He  is  genial  and  eloquent;  "knows  everybody,"  and  is  a 
general  favorite ;  is  a  sterling  and  tireless  patriot ;  and  thus  in  all  respects  eminently 
adapted  to  the  noble  work  to  which  he  gave  the  greater  part  of  his  valuable  time  for  four 
years. 

The  Eighth  Regiment  was  the  first  to  receive  the  courtesy  and  attention  of  the  Sons  of 
Connecticut.  A  warm  breakfast  was  furnished  on  the  morning  of  Oct.  18;  and  on 
the  25th  the  Sons  of  Connecticut  visited  their  temporary  camp  at  Jamaica,  L.I.,  to  pre 
sent  the  regiment  with  a  superb  stand  of  colors.  We  have  already  adverted  briefly  to  this 
•event,  and  also  to  the  organization  of  the  society,  in  one  of  the  early  chapters  of  this 
volume,  as  it  naturally  connects  itself  with  the  history  of  the  regimerft  at  that  time. 

The  delegation  of  Sons  of  Connecticut  was  quite  large.  Col.  J.  H.  Almy  with  a  few 
earnest  words  introduced  Gen.  Wetmore,  who  rose  in  response,  and  delivered  a  most  elo 
quent  and  touching  address,  worthy  of  his  high  reputation  and  marked  abilities.  Few 
men,  however  privileged  their  life  or  gifted  their  tongue,  can  speak  to  the  heart,  or  stir  the 
souls  of  men,  with  more  effect  than  he. 

Col.  Harland  in  a  few  graceful  words  accepted  the  beautiful  banner,  and  pledged  his 
command  to  guard  and  protect  it. 

The  Tenth  Regiment  was  provided  with  a  substantial  and  agreeable  breakfast,  addressed 
by  Col.  Almy  and  Gen.  Burnside,  and  presented  with  the  national  colors  by  S.  B.  Chit- 


SONS   OF  CONNECTICUT  IN  NEW  YORK.  835 

tcnden.     The  regiment  was  escorted  through  the  city  by  a  delegation  of  the   Sons  of 
Connecticut,  marshaled  by  Gen.  Wetmore.     Music  was  furnished  by  Dodsworth's  Band. 

Next  came  the  Eleventh.  The  enlisted  were  provided  with  a  warm  and  bountiful 
breakfast  at  the  Park  Barracks.  The  Sons  of  Connecticut  gave  a  complimentary  break 
fast  at  the  Astor  House  to  Gov.  Buckingham  and  staff  and  the  officers  of  the  regiment. 
The  company  gathered  was  large  and  choice.  The  dining-room  was  elegantly  decorated. 
No  expense  was  spared  to  make  the  occasion  truly  complimentary,  both  to  the  distinguished 
governor  and  the  officers  of  the  Eleventh. 

Mr.  Charles  Gould  presided.     In  the  opening  address,  lie  said,  — 

"If  ever  kind  and  cordial  welcome  was  due,  the  Sons  of  Connecticut  in  New  York 
owe  such  greeting  to-day.  If  warm  and  grateful  hearts  ever  gave  a  cordial  welcome,  we, 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  Connecticut,  now  give  that  welcome  to  you,  Gov.  Buck 
ingham,  whose  considerate  and  unwearied  care  has  so  completely  provided  for  the  Con 
necticut  troops  ;  and  to  you,  Col.  Kingsbury  and  your  fellow-soldiers,  who  are  going  to 
join  the  great  army  of  Freedom,  and  stand  in  the  '  breach  between  our  loved  homes  and  the 
war's  desolation.' 

"  Soldiers  of  Connecticut,  it  is  not  alone  a  welcome  that  we  give  you.  Our  sympa 
thies  and  blessings  will  follow  your  march  ;  and  if  each  earnest  wish  for  your  safety  and 
triumph  could  but  advance  your  regiment  a  hair's-brcadth  towards  the  battle-field  and  the 
shout  of  victory,  so  many  are  those  wishes,  that  our  words  of  farewell  would  scarcely  be 
uttered  before  this  flag  of  yours  would  float  in  triumph  over  the  broad  field  now  desolated 
by  Rebellion,  announcing  that  the  conflict  was  over,  and  the  victory  for  freedom  won,  and 
won  for  ever. 

Gov.  Buckingham  was  received  with  prolonged  and  hearty  applause.  He  gave  a  suc 
cinct  r&umtf  of  the  recruiting  and  legislation  for  the  war  in  Connecticut,  and  affirmed  that 
neither  in  patriotism  nor  efficiency  was  she  surpassed  by  any  State. 

Speeches  were  made  by  Gen.  Wetmore,  Rev.  II.  W.  Bcechcr,  Parkc  Godwin,  and  oth 
ers.  At  three  and  a  half,  a  beautiful  flag  was  presented  to  the  regiment  by  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph 
P.  Thompson.  The  regiment  was  escorted  to  the  boat,  at  the  foot  of  Canal  Street,  by  the 
Sons  of  Connecticut,  with  Dodsworth's  Band.  In  the  evening,  a  brilliant  reception  was 
tendered  to  Gov.  Buckingham  at  the  Fifth-avenue  Hotel.  A  distinguished  company  of 
men  and  a  goodly  array  of  beautiful  women  graced  the  occasion. 

The  death  of  Col.  Russell  and  Lieut.  Stillman  at  Roanoke  Island,  so  soon  after  the 
public  reception  of  the  Tenth  by  them,  called  forth  resolutions  of  sympathy  and  patriotic 
eulogy. 

The  remains  of  thesa  gallant  officers  were  taken  in  charge  by  a  committee  of  the  Sons 
of  Connecticut,  of  which  John  H.  Almy  was  chairman,  and  reverently  cared  for,  and  escort 
ed  to  New  Haven.  Thenceforward,  but  with  less  formality,  no  less  care  was  taken  of  the 
remains  of  our  Connecticut  martyrs. 

As  the  struggle  deepened,  the  faith  and  the  zeal  of  the  Sons  of  Connecticut  wavered  not. 
Their  efforts,  both  as  citizens  of  New  York  and  as  sons  of  Connecticut,  became  matters 
of  calm  daily  duty.  They  did  what  they  could  of  whatever  they  deemed  to  be  necessary 
to  win  the  great  conflict.  The  officers  of  the  association  were  faithful  and  efficient  from 
first  to  last.  We  have  already  spoken  of  Mr.  McCurdy  and  Gen.  Wetmore. 

The  secretary,  Mr.  Charles  Gould,  was  a  native  of  Litchfield,  and  a  son  of  the  eminent 
Judge  Gould  of  that  town.  By  his  earnest  and  resolute  spirit,  his  administrative  ability,  and 
his  wide  acquaintance,  he  added  vigor  and  directness  to  the  efforts  of  the  society.  He  was 
equally  constant,  faithful,  and  efficient  in  all  that  he  did  to  aid  in  upholding  the  nation's 
cause. 

Mr.  William  C.  Oilman,  the  treasurer  of  Norwich,  was  greatly  respected  for  his  integ 
rity,  his  usefulness,  and  his  public  spirit.  His  agreeable  manners,  his  intelligent  and 
faithful  performance  of  his  duties,  won  the  warm  regards  of  his  associates  in  the  organ 
ization.  He  died  on  the  6th  of  June,  1864,  deeply  regretted  in  business-circles  and  society 
by  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  enjoy  his  acquaintance. 

The  active  exertions  of  the  officers  and  Standing  Committee  were  gradually  superseded 
by  the  untiring  and  judicious  labors  of  the  State  Agent;  and,  before  the  close  of  the  war,    , 
the  principal  function  of  the   society  was  to  supply  means  to  execute  what  was  wisely 
planned  by  him. 


836  APPENDIX. 

THE  CONNECTICUT  AGENCY  IN  NEW  YORK. 

The  closing  paragraph  of  the  preceding  section  serves  to  introduce  the  co-ordinate  and 
beneficent  work  done  in  New  York  by  Col.  John  II.  Almy,  a  native  of  Thompson. 

.  Col.  Almy,  in  October,  1861,  with  the  unanimous  approval  of  the  Sons  of  Connecticut, 
then  just  organized,  was  authorized  by  Gov.  Buckingham  to  act  as  agent  to  transact  any 
business  of  the  State,  and  to  serve  the  State  and  its  soldiers  in  any  practicable  way.  He 
served  up  to  June,  1862,  entirely  without  compensation,  even  for  the  most  part  paying 
his  own  expenses,  although  the  business  had  for  months  absorbed  nearly  his  Avhole  time. 
From  June  to  November,  he  received  a  small  salary  and  his  expenses.  In  November,  de 
ciding  Jo  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  work,  he  was  regularly  commissioned  as  assistant 
quarter-master  of  the  State,  with  the  rank  and  pay  of  lieutenant-colonel  of  cavalry. 

He  was  of  great  service  to  our  inexperienced  officers  in  aiding  them  to  supply  and  for 
ward  their  regiments. 

The  receptions  given  to  the  Eighth,  Tenth,  and  Eleventh  Regiments,  have  been  de 
scribed  in  the  preceding  section. 

The  services  of  Col.  Almy  went  to  much  more  minute  and  practical  details.  The  care 
of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment,  bound  to  New  Orleans,  will  serve  to  illustrate  his  work.  He 
visited  the  ship  chartered  for  their  transportation,  and  learned  that  the  terms  of  contract 
did  not  require  the  owners  to  furnish  any  conveniences  for  the  men.  While  on  one  of  these 
tours  of  inspection,  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  regiment  in  New  York,  he  noticed  several 
drav-loads  of  oil-casks  were  being  delivered  to  the  ship,  and,  inquiring,  ascertained  they  were 
to  be  employed  in  conveying  water  for  the  use  of  the  regiment.  The  contractor  was 
sought ;  and,  intimidated  by  the  fear  of  exposure  of  the  villainous  deed,  other  casks  werp 
procured,  according  to  the  terms  of  contract.  He  found  the  ship  entirely  destitute  of  the 
needful  requirements  for  a  voyage  to  Ship  Island,  and  provided  such  as  were  essential 
to  the  comfort  and  health  of  the  men.  He  also  secured  the  shipment  of  heavy  ordnance 
and  ammunition,  that  the  regiment  might  successfully  resist  the  numerous  privateers  then 
depredating  in  Southern  waters.  The  contract  for  towing  the  ship  out  of  the  harbor 
beyond  Sandy  Hook  was  given  to  a  tug  for  two  hundred  dollars.  The  owner  sub-let  it 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty ;  the  second  sub-let  it  for  one  hundred ;  and  the  third  again  for 
forty. 

The  captain  of  the  tug  took  the  ship  as  far  as  Sandy  Hook,  but  not  over  the  bar,  and 
left  her  there  ;  declaring  that  he  had  done  forty  dollars' worth.  After  remaining  there 
with  adverse  winds  for  two  days,  Col.  Almy  was  apprised  of  the  situation,  procured 
another  tug,  and  got  the  vessel  out  to  sea.  Vouchers  for  all  his  -expenditures  were  made 
out  in  official  form,  which  the  General  Government  subsequently  paid. 

In  like  manner,  according  to  the  varying  circumstances  of  the  regiments,  he  accelerated 
the  departure  and  ministered  to  the  comfort  of  each.  Familiar  with  the  docks  and  mar 
kets,  acquainted  with  the  ship;owners,  and  soon  on  good  terms  with  the  United-States 
officials,  he  could  meet  almost  any  want  promptly. 

A  collation  more  or  less  substantial  was  served  to  every  regiment,  going  from  the  State 
or  returning,  which  remained  for  an  hour  in  the  city.  These  dinners  were  generally  ready 
Mid  served  immediately  after  the  regiments  arrived.  The  well-filled  soldiers  were  good- 
natured  and  docile  ;  and  it  was  seldom  that  any  quarrel  or  difficulty  of  any  sort  occurred. 

The  funds  for  these  collations  were  cheerfully  contributed  by  the  Sons  of  Connecticut 
in  New  York  :  the  care  and  responsibility  of  providing  fbll  upon  the  agent. 

When  the  sick  and  wounded  were  brought  from  Roanoke  Island,  he  aided  to  send  them 
all  from  New  York  to  their  homes  in  circumstances  as  comfortable  as  possible;  advan 
cing  the  amount  of  their  transportation  from  his  private  funds,  but  afterwards  re-imbursed  by 
the  General  Government,  lie  then  made  personal  application  to  Secretary  Stanton,  and 
obtained  for  each  of  the  sick  and  wounded  two  months'  pay. 

Through  April,  May,  and  June  of  1862,  he  was  busy  night  and  day  in  receiving  and 
caring  for  the  sick  and  wounded  of  all  States,  as  they  arrived  from  the  deadly  Peninsula 
and  from  other  points.  Nine  hundred  and  eight  men  sick  with  typhoid-fever,  some  in  a 
horrible  condition,  came  sweltering  in  on  one  crowded  steamer.  Hundreds  of  men,  with 
wounds  slight  and  wounds  ghastly,  arrived  by  every  steamer  for  a  time.  The  worst 
cases  of  fever  and  wounds  were  provided  for  in  New- York  and  the  adjacent  hospitals. 


SONS  OF   CONNECTICUT  IN  NEW  YORK.  837 

But  there  was  then  no  well-organized  hospital-system ;  and  every  man  able  to  endure 
travel  was  foovarded  to  his  home  as  speedily  and  as  well  provided  for  as  possible. 

The  name,  regiment,  and  destination  of  every  soldier  he  aided,  and  his  papers,  show, 
that,  in  those  three  months,  he  furnished  transportation  for  more  than  twenty  thousand 
persons,  and  for  many  of  them  much  more  than  transportation. 

Col.  Almy  was  'offered  the  New- York  agency  of  several  States,  but  accepted  that  of 
Rhode  Island  only,  being  adjacent  to  Connecticut;  and  declined  the  others. 

His  watchful  care  of  the  wounded  and  sick  continued.  The  minute  and  thorough 
manner  in  which  his  work  was  done  is  illustrated  by  the  case  of  William  Ingraham  of  the 
Twelfth  Connecticut  Volunteers.  Ingraham  arrived  by  steamer  from  New  Orleans  at  the 
point  of  death  with  a  chronic  disorder.  His  absorbing  desire  was  to  get  home  to  die. 
Almy  sent  him  on  the  first  train  to  Mystic,  Conn.,  where  he  left  the  cars.  He  sent  a  sol 
dier  attendant  with  him,  and  paid  his  fare.  The  sick  man  had  ninety-six  dollars  in  cash 
with  him.  Almy  informed  the  conductor  of  all  the  facts,  and  the  destination  of  the  soldier. 
He  telegraphed  to  trusty  patriots  in  Mystic  the  time  when  the  man  would  arrive,  and  the 
money  he  had  with  him.  Thus  every  precaution  was  taken  to  see  that  both  the  soldier 
and  his  earnings  were  safely  transported  and  promptly  and  properly  cared  for. 

His  disbursements  in  case  of  needy,  sick,  and  wounded,  were  large ;  and,  though 
not  regarded  as  legitimate  State  expenditures,  were  necessary  for  the  comfort  of  the  men. 
These  outlays  far  exceeded  his  salary ;  but  he  was  often  helped  out  by  generous  con 
tributions,  never  solicited,  but  given  by  the  friends  of  some  whom  he  had  assisted.  Such 
were  checks  for  two  hundred  dollars  from  the  citizens  of  Ansotiia  by  Charles  Durand,  a 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  from  Joseph  Ripley  and  son,  and  others. 

After  large  military  hospitals  were  established  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  Almy  was 
constantly  alert  to  secure  the  transfer  of  Connecticut  soldiers  from  hospitals  about  New 
York  to  the  Knight  Hospital  in  New  Haven. 

The  sick  and  wounded  men  whom  he  had  aided  did  not  forget  him.  Thev  applied  to 
him  for  furlough  and  bounty,  and  appealed  to  him  in  every  sort  of  difficulty. 

The  daily  general  business  of  the  agency  was  wonderful  in  extent  and  variety.  The 
collection  of  bark-pay,  bounties;  correcting  errors  in  passes  and  descriptive-lists;  obtain 
ing  of  furloughs ;  the  reception  of  boxes  of  sanitary  goods,  and  dispatching  the  same  to 
their  several  destinations  ;  care  of  baggage  ;  procuration  of  regimental  flags,  guidons,  to 
gether  with  musical  instruments  for  various  bands  and  small-arms  for  officers,  and  even 
clothing  for  individual  soldiers,  and  discharges  for  sick  and  disabled  soldiers;  permits  for 
citizens  to  visit  the  front ;  responses  to  scores  of  letters  inquiring  for  missing  and  dead 
soldiers,  —  were  among,his  constantly-recurring  duties. 

The  Thanksgiving  dinner  to  the  nine-months'  troops  at  Centreville,  L.I.,  in  1863,  was 
a  very  successful  affair,  in  consequence  of  his  promptness  and  efficiency.  The  Sons  of  Con 
necticut  contributed  on  the  occasion  nearly  eleven  hundred  'dollars,  besides  delicacies  for 
the  table.  Almy  telegraphed  and  wrote  to  Connecticut  for  turkeys  and  pumpkin-pies.  It 
is  amusing  to  read  the  following  telegram  to  a  grave  and  dignified  public  man  *  "  Hon. 
Benjamin  Douglas,  can  Middletown  send  down  five  hundred  pumpkin-pies  on  Wednesday 
night  ? "  t 

The  pics  came,  turkeys  and  "fixin's"  with  them;  and  so  from  many  other  towns. 
More  than  fifteen  hundred  turkeys  and  three  thousand  pies  were  distributed,  besides  barrels 
of  apples,  cakes,  and  large  quantities  of  other  toothsome  edibles. 

In  these  absorbing  duties,  months  passed  swiftly  by.  At  the  end  of  four  years,  his 
records  showed  that  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  of  Connecticut  and  other 
States,  sixty  thousand  of  them  sick  or  wounded,  had  passed  through  his  hands;  all 
receiving  transportation,  many  being  otherwise  assisted. 

He  had  answered  thousands  of  letters  on  every  conceivable  subject  pertaining  to  mili 
tary  life  or  service.  The  copies  of  the  more  important  ones  fill  six  large  volumes. 

The  average  number  of  daily  calls  at  his  office  in  18G3,  1864,  and  the  first  half  of  1865, 
for  information  and  aid,  was  upwards  of  a  hundred  and  seventy-five ;  the  average  number 
of  letters  for  similar  purposes,  forty-five;  the  average  of  telegrams  on  important  matters, 
twenty. 

The  plan  of  furnishing  a  bountiful  collation  to  our  regiments  passing  through  the 
city  was  carried  out  during  the  entire  war,  both  in  going  and  returning.  The  delicacies 


838  APPENDIX. 

of  the  season  were  often  supplied  them;  thus  giving  the  weary  soldier  on  his  return 
agreeable  token  of  gratitude  for  their  services,  and  pleasant  foretastes  of  thg  comforts  of 
home. 

No  characterization  of  the  energy  and  efficiency  of  the  New- York  Agency  need  be  add 
ed  ;  for  no  eulogy  is  so  eloquent  as  facts. 

THE   AGENCY  IN  WASHINGTON. 

Early  in  the  war,  the  citizens  of  Connecticut  in  Washington  organized  a  Soldiers'- 
akl  Society,  —  a  sort  of  central  reservoir  to  receive  and  disburse  supplies  to  the  soldiers 
from  the  State  in  the  vicinity.  Admiral  A.  II.  Foote  was  its  first  president ;  A.  II.  Bying- 
ton  and  Charles  E.  Dailcy  were  among  the  most  active  members.  An  immense  amount 
of  relief  was  furnished  to  Connecticut  soldiers  who  languished  in  the  various  hospitals. 
During  the  last  year,  the  Agency  was  directed  by  Rev.  W.  A.  Benedict,  a  zealous  friend 
of  the  soldier.  The  Palladium  said  of  him,  "  Under  his  administration,  hundreds  and 
thousands  can  bear  witness  to  its  value  in  relieving  those  needing  its  service  ;  and  not  a 
few  owe  their  lives  to  the  protecting  and  ministering  spirit  of  this  wise  provision  of  State 
benevolence."  Towards  the  close  of  the  Rebellion,  Mr.  Benedict  undertook  the  gratui 
tous  collection  of  soldiers'  claims  under  State  authority.  During  the  first  year,  three 
hundred  and  thirteen  claims  were  collected,  involving  upwards  of  fifty  thousand  dollars, 
and  without  a  cent  to  the  claimant ;  saving  to  the  soldiers  interested,  at  least  seven 
thousand  dollars,  which  they  would  have  paid  to  the  professional  claim-agents. 


GEN.   AIKEN'S   VISIT   TO   WASHINGTON. 

BRIG. -GEN.  WILLIAM  A.  AIKEX,  quartermaster-general  of  Connecticut, 
had  a  most  unusual  experience  in  the  spring  of  1861,  in  performing  the  jour 
ney  to  Washington  and  back.  He  left  Boston,  Mass.,  for  Norwich,  on  the 
same  day  that  the  Massachusetts  6th  left  for  the  national  capital.  Every 
town  and  city  was  excited  by  the  warlike  attitude  of  the  South.  The  tele 
graph  was  thrilled  with  strange  rumors.  On  Friday  evening,  April  19, 
news  reached  Norwich  of  the  bloodshed  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore.  Gov. 
Buckingham  desired  Gen.  Aikeu  to  test  the  possibility  of  reaching  Wash 
ington  with  official  dispatches  conveying  assurances  of  speedy  relief. 

He  started  early  on  Monday  the  22d,  while  the  young  men  of  the  State 
were  rising  in  arms.  All  trains  beyond  Philadelphia  were  suspended. 
On  arriving  there,  Gen.  Aiken  found  another  gentleman  at  the  Continental 
Hotel  with  the  same  journey  in  view  ;  and  in  the  morning  they  pushed  on 
together  with  a  Pennsylvania  regiment.  At  the  Susquehanna,  the  regiment 
halted  ;  Butler  having  taken  the  ferry-boats,  with  the  New-York  7th,  around 
to  Annapolis.  The  air  was  full  of  stories  of  bridges  burned  and  rails  re 
moved  farther  on.  The  general  and  his  companion  obtained  an  old  flat- 
boat,  and  crossed  to  Havre  de  Grace,  where  rebel  spies  were  plenty,  and 
traitors  were  brawling  about  their  anxiety  to  meet  the  "  d d  Yankees." 

Here,  after  much  effdrt,  the  travelers  hired  a  man  to  carry  them  in  a 
wagon  to  Baltimore,  persuading  him  by  an  extra  pecuniary  request  to  drive 
within  the  limits  of  the  city.  Gen.  Aiken,  in  a  narrative  which  has  been 
furnished  us,  says,  "  The  brilliantly  illuminated  streets  were  alive  with 
people  ;  some  in  uniform,  and  generally  wearing  the  rebel  badge  upon  their 
coats.  On  arriving  at  a  hotel,  we  retired  almost  immediately  to  onr  room, 
and  there  remained  till  morning.  AYhat  I  saw  and  heard  in  the  crowded 
halls  convinced  me  that  no  avowed  Union  man  could  be  safe  there  for  a 
moment. 

"  Through  the  politeness  of  the  proprietor,  we  were  enabled  to  obtain 
passes  (signed  by  Gen.  Winder,  and  countersigned  by  Marshal  Kane,  both 
bitter  rebels)  permitting  us  to  pass  out  of  the  city  limits.  By  paying  fifty 
dollars,  we  engaged  a  carriage  to  convey  us  to  Washington  ;  our  number 
having  been  increased  by  three.  We  might  not  have  been  so  fortunate 
about  the  passes,  had  it  not  been  that  the  proprietor  was  a  personal  friend 
of  my  companion,  and  also  a  sympathizer  with  the  distinguished  officials 
wielding  temporary  power." 

The  travelers  stopped  to  bait  horses  half-way  between  Baltimore  and 
Washington  ;  and  this  furnished  an  opportunity  to  a  knot  of  low-bred 
traitors  to  insult  and  abuse  them,  and  obliquely  to  threaten  their  lives. 
Gen.  A&en  proceeds,  "  The  rumor  having  just  been  received  that  Butler 
had  landed  his  'Yankees '  at  Annapolis,  that  officer  was  made  the  subject 
of  various  invitations  to  '  come  on,'  with  the  hint,  expressed  in  gentle 
Southern  phrase,  that  he  and  his  '  Yankees'  would  be  summarily  sent  to  a 
certain  hot  locality,  the  name  of  which  they  seemed  to  reiterate  with  the 
relish  of  a  delicious  foretaste. 

uWe  arrived  at  Washington   at   ten,  P.M.,  on  Wednesday  the   24th. 

839 


840  APPENDIX. 

The  unbroken  silence  of  its  hotels,  and  apparent  desolation  of  its  streets, 
brought  vividly  to  mind  the  contrasting  scenes  of  the  evening  previous. 
Half  a  dozen  persons  crowded  around  me  in  the  hall  to  ask  questions  about 
the  North  ;  and  I  then 'realized  the  complete  isolation  of  the  city.  I  has 
tened  to  the  headquarters  of  Gen.  Scott  to  deliver  a  dispatch.  It  was 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  I  found  the  general  attended  only  by  two  mem 
bers  of  his  personal  staff. 

"  After  reading  the  governor's  paper,  he  rose,  and  said  excitedly,  '  Sir, 
you  are  the  first  man  I  have  seen  with  a  written  dispatch  for  three  days. 
I  have  sent  out  men  every  day  to  get  intelligence  of  the  Northern  troops : 
not  one  of  them  has  returned.  Where  are  the  troops?'  His  excited  man 
ner,  and  the  number  and  rapidity  of  the  questions  that  followed,  impressed 
ine  fully  with  the  critical  nature  of  the  situation. 

"  I  afterwards  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Cameron,  secretary  of  war, 
who  at  once  admitted  me  into  an  audience  in  his  bed-chamber.  His  inqui 
ries  were  of  the  same  nature,  and  conveyed  a  sense  of  great  insecurity. 
The  situation  was  indeed  alarming.  The  District  was  surrounded  by 
hostile  territory  ;  the  spirit  of  rebellion  being,  during  these  few  days,  as 
rampant  in  Maryland  as*in  Virginia  or  South  Carolina.  A  friend  in  the 
Treasury  Department  advised  very  strongly  against  my  return  by  the  same 
route,  as  my  arrival  was  already  marked,  and  the  general  nature  of  my 
business  suspected,  by  the  rebel  spies  that  lurked  in  every  street,  hotel,  and 
department. 

"  At  ten  o'clock  next  morning,  I  called  upon  the  President,  and  saw  him 
for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  —  an  interview  I  can  never  forget.  No  office- 
seekers  were  besieging  the  presence  that  day.  I  met  no  delay.  Mr.  Lin- 
'colu  was  alone,  seated  in  his  business-room,  up  stairs,  looking  towards 
Arlington  Heights  through  a  wide-open  window.  Against  the  casement 
stood  a  very  long  spy-glass,  or  telescope,  which  he  had  obviously  just  been 
using.  I  gave  him  all  the  information  I  could  from  what  I  had  seen  and 
heard  on  my  journey. 

u  He  seemed  depressed  beyond  measure  as  he  asked  slowly  and  with 
measured  emphasis,  '  What  is  the  North  about  ?  Do  they  know  our  con 
dition?' —  'No,'  I  answered:  '  they  certainly  did  not  when  I  left;'  He 
spoke  of  the  non-arrival  of  the  troops  under  Gen.  Butler,  and  of  having 
had  no  intelligence  from  them  for  two  or  three  days.  Having  delivered 
my  dispatch  and  the  governor's  words  of  encouragement,  and  having  en 
joyed  an  interview  protracted,  by  desire  of  the  President,  beyond  ordinary 
length,  I  took  my  leave. 

'k  The  sense  of  the  insecurity  of  the  capital,  and  of  that  good  man's  life, 
has  never  again  come  over  my  spirit  with  such  weight  as  then.  '  From  the 
President's  words  and  looks,  I  saw  what  a  moment  of  golden  opportunity 
that  was  to  the  conspirators.  Only  a  handful  of  regulars,  a  regiment  of 
volunteers,  and  Clay's  baud  of  brave  men,  —  these  were  all  the  loyal  forces 
at  hand.  Foes  were  without,  and  their  descent  from  Arlington  over  Long 
Bridge  was  the  probability  of  any  momeat.  Foes  were  within,  equally 
bitter,  jostling  the  friends  of  the  government  on  every  pavement»and  in 
every  office.  Mutual  confidence  seemed  dead,  and  suspicion  had  usurped 
its  place. 

"  I  have  referred  to  the  entire  separation  of  the  city  from  the  North. 
In  no  one  of  many  ways  was  it  brought  home  more  practically  to  my  mind 
than  in  this  :  The  funds  in  my  possession  were  in  New- York  city  bank-notes, 
'yet  their  value  had  suddenly  departed.  They  were  worth  their  weight  in 


GEN.   AIKEN'S   VISIT  TO   WASHINGTON.  841 

paper,  —  no  more.  During  the  interview  with  the  President,  my  financial 
dilemma  was  referred  to  :  I  remarked  that  I  hadn't  a  cent,  though  my 
pocket  was  full.  He  instantly  understood  me,  and  kindly  put  me  in  pos 
session  of  such  an  amount  of  specie  as  I  desired.  Re-imbursemeut  was 
made  on  my  return,  with  many  thanks. 

"  Proceeding  to  the  State  Department,  I  was  informed  that  the  expected 
troops  were  heard  from,  and  would  soon  be  in  the  city.  A  white  flag  on 
the  Capitol  would  be  the  signal  of  their  arrival.  A  few  minutes  afterwards, 
it  was  run  up  ;  and  such  a  stampede  of  humanity,  loyal  and  rebel,  as  was 
witnessed  at  that  hour  towards  the  Baltimore  depot,  can  be  appreciated 
only  by  one,  who,  like  myself,  took  part  in  it.  One  glance  at  the  gray 
jackets  of  the  New-York  7th  restored  hope  and  confidence.  On  Thursday 
the  25th,  I  started  northward  with  a  small  party  thither  bound.  We  trav 
eled  on  an  unfrequented  route,  and  crossed  the  Pennsylvania  line,  south-east 
of  Gettysburg,  once  more  in  the  region  of  telegraphs,  railroads,  and  loyalty. 
Only  on  the  Capitol,  at  Washington,  had  I  seen  the  stars  and  stripes  since 
entering  Maryland. 

"  The  successful  accomplishment  of  my  journey  was  to  me  a  matter  of 
more  than  ordinary  satisfaction  ;  for  I  believe  there  has  been  no  hour  since, 
when  messages  of.  sympathy,  encouragement,  and  aid  from  the  loyal  gov 
ernor  of  a  loyal  State  were  more  truly  needed,  or  more  effective  in  the  mind 
of  our  late  President,  than  those  I  had  the  honor  to  deliver." 

106 


CONNECTICUT    IN   THE   NAVY. 

HON.  ISAAC  TOUCEY  of  Hartford  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  during  the  Presidential  term  of 
James  Buchanan.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1861,  a  committee  of  the'House  of  Representatives 
was  raised  to  examine  into  the  location  and  condition  of  the  vessels  of  the  navy.  All  the  rep 
resentatives  from  Connecticut  voted  for  the  committee.* 

On  the  21st  of  February.  Mr.  Dawes  of  Massachusetts,  for  a  majority  of  the  committee, 
reported  that  the  entire  naval  force  available  for  the  defense  of  the  whole  Atlantic  coast,  on 
the  9th  of  January,  consisted  of  the  steamer  Brooklyn,  twenty-five  guns,  and  the  storeship  Relief, 
two  guns,  while  the  former  was  of  too  great  draught  to  enter  Charleston  Harbor  with  safety,  except 
at  spring-tides,  and  the  latter  was  under  orders  to  the  coast  of  Africa  ;  that  the  vessels  which 
might  have  been  available  for  protection  or  defense  had  been  retained  at  or  ordered  to  distant 
stations  ;  that  on  the  13th  of  October,  "  after  these  unhappy  difficulties  had  broken  out  at 
home,"  the  Richmond  sailed  for  the  Mediterranean,  and,  even  as  late  as  the  21st  of  December, 
the  Vandalia  left  to  join  the  East-India  squadron,  the  Saratoga  to  join  the  African  squadron,  and 
others  to  join  the  Home  squadron  at  Vera  Cruz  ;  that  not  one  of  the  twenty-eight  vessels  dis 
mantled  in  our  own  ports  had  been  refitted,  and  this,  too,  "  while  §640,039.74  of  the  appropriation 
for  repairs  for  the  present  year  remained  unexpended." 

The  committee  declared  that  the  Secretary  could  at  any  time,  with  the  existing  naval  force, 
and  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  foreign  service,  have  stationed  at  anchor,  within 
reach  of  his  own  orders,  a  force  equal  to  the  protection  of  all  the  property  and  all  the  rights  of 
the  government  and  the  citizen,  as  well  as  the  flag  of  the  country,  from  any  outrage  or  insult  at 
any  point  on  the  entire  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  committee  said,  "  The  failure  to  do  this  is 
without  justification  or  excuse." 

Concerning  resignations  in  the  navy,  they  further  said,  that,  since  the  election,  twenty-nine 
resignations  had  been  tendered  to  the  Secretary  by  officers  of  the  Southern  States,  and  "  forth 
with,  and  without  inquiry,  accepted  by  him;  "  that  E.  Farrand,  executive  officer  of  the  Navy 
Yard  at  Pensacola,  met  the  rebel  assailants  at  the  gates  of  the  yard,  by  previous  understanding, 
admitted  them,  "  participated  in  the  formal  capitulation,  and  immediately  engaged  in  service 
under  the  new  commandant  of  the  yard"  (and  this  while  he  still  held  his  commission  as  a 
commander  in  the  United-States  navy);  that  his  resignation  did  not  reach  the  Department  until 
the  21st  of  January,  seven  days  after  official  notice  of  the  surrender  had  been  received  at  the  De 
partment,  and  yet  it  was  "  immediately  and  without  inquiry  accepted."  After  citing  similar 
cases,  the  committee  proceed  to  say,  "  The  conduct  of  these  officers  plainly  comes  within  the 
constitutional  definition  of  treason  against  the  United  States ;  .  .  .  and,  so  long  as  their  resignations 
were  unaccepted  by  the  Secretary,  they  could  be  tried  and  punished  by  a  court-martial  as 
traitors.  From  this  they  have  been  relieved  by  the  Secretary  himself.  The  committee  are 
compelled  to  condemn  such  a  failure  in  the  discharge  of  public  duty;  and  they  therefore 
recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolution:  — 

"Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  accepting  without  delay  or  inquiry  the  resignations 
of  officers  of  the  navy  who  were  in  arms  against  the  government  when  tendering  the  same,  and 
of  those  who  sought  to  resign  that  they  might  be  relieved  from  the  restraint  imposed  by  their 
commissions  upon  engaging  in  hostilities  against  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  nation,  has 
committed  a  Jrave  error,  highly  prejudicial  to  the  discipline  of  the  service,  and  injurious  to  the 
honor  and  efficiency  of  the  navy;  for  which  lie  deserves  the  censure  of  this  House." 

Mr.  Toucey  was  further  called  upon  to  bear  the  infliction  of  a  minority  report  from  Mr. 
Branch  of  North  Carolina.  This  congressman,  soon  an  avowed  rebel,  sneeringly  informed  the 
House,  that  "  the  navy  seems  to  have  been  adequate  for  all  the  demands  made  upon  it  by  the 
wise  and  peace-preserving  policy  of  President  Buchanan.  If  the  President  who  goes  into  office 
on  the  4th  of  March  desires  to  engage  in  civil  war,  he  will  have  an  ample  naval  force  with 
which  to  begin  even  so  early  as  the  5th  of  March  ;  and  there  will  probably  be  abundant  time 
for  increasing  it  before  the  war  closes." 

Mr.  Branch  displayed  so  much  more  anxiety  to  aid  treason  than  to  defend  the  Secretary,  that 
his  report  served  only  to  confirm  the  conclusions  of  the  Majority  Report.  On  the  second  day  of 
March,  the  resolution  of  censure  was  passed  by  ninety-five  yeas  to  sixty-two  nays.1  Of  the 
Connecticut  members,  Mr.  Woodruff  voted  yea,  Messrs.  Loomis  and  Burnham  were  absent,  or  did 
not  vote.  Mr.  Ferry,  rising,  said,  "  Mr.  Speaker,  believing  a  vote  of  censure  to  be  a  judicial  in- 


1  This  was  a  party-vote,  —  Isaac  N.  Morris,  Democrat,  voting  in  the  affirmative ;  and  Ferry  and 
Kilgore,  republican,  in  the  negative. 
842 


CONNECTICUT  IN  THE  NAVY.  843 

flietion  of  punishment,  and  none  of  the  evidence  on  which  the  resolution  is  based  having  ever 
been  presented  or  even  read  in  this  House,  so  that  no  proof  is  afforded  me  to  justify  such 
punishment,  I  vote  no." 

Looking  back  calmly  from  this  distance  upon  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  it  is  no  more  evident 
that  Mr.  Branch's  report  was  made  from  the  standpoint  of  the  maturing  Rebellion  than  that 
there  were  some  grave  errors  of  fact,  and  some  of  inference,  in  the  report  of  the  majority. 
Documents  presented  in  justification  of  the  Secretary  show  that  the  active  home  squadron, 
which  consisted  of  three  vessels  only  in  1857,  instead  of  having  been  reduced  to  two,  had  really 
been  increased  to  thirteen  steam  and  sail  vessels  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  guns ;  and  though, 
according  to  the  majority  report,  but  two  were  in  Northern  ports  on  the  9th  of  January,  all  were  on 
our  coast  by  the  1st  of  March,  1861.  Besides  these,  there  were  in  our  navy-yards  thirteen  brigs, 
sloops  of  war,  and  steam  frigates,  with  an  armament  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  guns  more 
"  that  could  put  to  sea  before  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Suniter."  There  is  also  evidence  that 
the  East-India,  Brazil,  and  Mediterranean  squadrons,  instead  of  being  largely  increased,  had  been 
materially  reduced.  In  every  annual  report  during  his  term,  Mr.  Toucey  had  earnestly  urged 
the  construction  of  twenty  light-draught  war-steamers,  "  capable  of  entering  the  shallow  harbors 
of  the  Southern  States;  "  but  Congress  had  failed  to  act  upon  his  recommendation.  It  further 
appears  that  the  naval  appropriation  for  the  year  1860-61  had  been  reduced  $1,000,000;  that, 
of  $1,523,000,  only  $646,639  remained  on  the  1st  of  January  to  meet  the  expenditures  of  the 
last  half  of  the  fiscal  year,  a  part  of  which  belonged  to  the  succeeding  administration  ;  that 
not  a  ship  had  been  sent  to  a  foreign  station  since  the  Presidential  election,2  while  some  had 
been  quietly  recalled. 

In  regard  to  resignations:  while  it  is  alleged  that  none  were  accepted  after  official  notice  had 
been  received  that  the  officers  tendering  them  had  committed  the  overt  act  of  treason,  it  is  not 
denied  that  the  Department  willingly  accepted  the  resignations  of  naval  officers-who  were  known 
or  believed  to  offer  them  for  the  very  purpose  of  "  going  with  their  States  "  out  of  the  Union. 
Mr.  Toucey  not  only  acknowledged  this;  but  he  has  pointed  with  some  pride  to  the  fact  that 
"  such  had  been  the  course  of  the  Department  in  promptly  removing  all  seeds  of  disaffection, 
that  the  secession  of  eleven  States  from  the  Union  lost  not  a  single  vessel  to  the  service."3 

In  thus  following  the  ordinary  usage  of  the  Department,  Mr.  Toucey  was  interpreting  the 
policy  of  Mr.  Buchanan  to  do  nothing  that  could  "  exasperate  "  the  South.  They  agreed  that 
the  North  was  the  aggressor,  and  that  it  ought,  therefore,  to  make  the  concessions.  It  does 
not  appear  that  Mr.  Toucey  conspired  with  traitors,  or  in  any  way  actively  aided  the  Rebellion; 
but,  whatever  of  censure  the  administration  of  President  Buchanan  incurs  for  inertness,  Mr. 
Toucey,  managing  the  navy  only  with  a  view  to  peace,  must  share. 


If  Mr.  Toucey  did  not  show  an  intuitive  perception  of  the  national  peril,  he  was  succeeded 
by  a  man  who  saw  it,  and  resolved  to  meet  it.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  became  President,  in  1861, 
he  gave  the  navy  portfolio  to  Hon.  Gideon  Welles,  also  of  Hartford.4  Mr.  Welles  was  called 
upon  to  accomplish  a  triple  task,  more  arduous,  it  is  believed,  than  was  ever  before  demanded 
of  the  maritime  power  of  any  government.  This  was,  1st,  The  closing  of  all  insurgent  ports 
and  the  capture  of  blockade-runners  along  nearly  three  thousand  miles  of  coast  ;  2d,  The  or 
ganization  of  combined  naval  and  military  expeditions  to  recapture  the  Southern  ports  and 
cities  ;  3d,  The  pursuit  and  destruction  of  Confederate  cruisers. 

The  first  work  was  the  creation  of  a  navy.  In  March,  1861,  the  total  naval  force  of  the 
United  States,  including  tenders  and  store-ships,  was  forty-two  vessels,  carrying  five  hundred 
and  fifty-five  guns,  and  having  a  complement  of  seven  thousand  six  hundred  men.  The  emer 
gency  demanded  an  enormous  increase  without  unnecessary  delay.  Many  of  the  most  formi 
dable  vessels  on  foreign  stations  were  immediately  recalled ;  those  at  the  navy-yards  were  repaired 
and  refitted;  gunboats  of  a  new  and  powerful  class  were  ordered  to  be  built ;  and  merchant- 
vessels  suitable  for  naval  purposes  were  purchased.  The  public  navy-yards  and  private 
ship-yards  of  me  country  were  soon  echoing  with  the  sound  of  hammer  and  saw;  and  the  best 
talent  and  genius  were  brought  into  prompt  requisition.  So  rapidly  was  the  great  work 
pushed,  that  by  December,  1861  (in  less  than  nine  months),  Secretary  Welles  reported,  that 
more  than  two  hundred  vessels  were  in  commission,  and  sixty-four  were  on  the  stocks,  carrying 
an  aggregate  of  2,557  guns.  Not  less  than  twenty-two  thousand  seamen  were  employed. 


s  Excepting  the  two  named  in  the  Dawes  report,  ordered  abroad  as  substitutes  for  vessels  of 
the  same  class'on  the  way  home. 

'•>  Mr.  Toucey  to  Hon.  John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  1806. 

«  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  Mallory  of  Florida,  chief  of  the  Confederate  navy,  was  a  native  of 
KidgeliPld  in  this  State.  This  is  not,  perhaps,  a  circumstance  to  be  proclaimed  with  great  pride 
especially  as  Pollard,  in  his  Southern  History,  says  he  "  was  the  butt  of  every  naval  officer  in  the 
country  for  his  ignorance." 


844 


APPENDIX. 


The  report  of  the  Secretary  for  December,  1864,  —  four  months  prior  to  the  close  of 
hostilities,  —  gives  the  following  general  exhibit  of  the  naval  force  including  vessels  under 
construction :  — 


No.  of 

vessels. 

DESCRIPTION. 

No.  of 
guns. 

No.    of 
tons. 

113 

52 
71 

Screw-steamers  especially  constructed  for  naval  purposes    .     .     . 
Paddle-wheel  steamers  especially  constructed  for  naval  purposes 
Iron  clad  vessels     

1,426 
524 
275 

169,231 

51,875 
80  596 

149 

Screw-steamers  purchased,  captured,  &c.,  fitted  for  naval  purposes 

614 

60,380 

174 
112 

Paddle-wheel  steamers  "           "            "        "       "       "            " 

921 

850 

78,762 
69  549 

671 

Total     . 

4,610 

516,396 

There  were  seven  thousand  six  hundred  men  in  the  naval  service  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  and  fifty-one  thousand  five  hundred  at  its  close. 

Secretary  Welles  was  called  "  too  slow  "  by  all  the  impetuous  warriors  who  saw,  or  thought 
they  saw,  how  they  could  harness  lightning  to  the  war-chariots;  and  in  that  respect  he  was  no 
more  fortunate  than  President  Lincoln,  Secretary  Stanton,  or  Gen.  Grant.  Yet  there  was  in 
the  Administration  hardly  an  officer  who  understood  better  how  to  "  make  haste  slowly."  He 
was  almost  the  first  man  who  had  confidence  in  the  iron-clads;  and  at  the  opening  of  the  ses 
sion  of  Congress  in  December,  1861,-  he  recommended  an  appropriation  of  twelve  million 
dollars  for  their  construction.  He  also  ordered  the  tremendous  15-inch  guns  which  were  found 
so  formidable  on  the  monitors. 

The  achievements  of  the  navy  in  capturing  forts  and  cities  are  well  known.  The  total 
number  of  hostile  vessels  captured  and  destroyed  5  during  the  Rebellion  were  1,504,  or  two  and 
a  half  for  every  Union  vessel  in  commission!  Of  the  captured  there  were  steamers,  210; 
schooners,  569;  sloops,  139;  ships,  13;  brigs,  29;  barks,  25;  yachts,  &c.,  139;  rebel  rams,  6; 
other  iron-clads,  10.  The  rest  were  burned,  sunk,  and  otherwise  destroyed.  The  captured 
property  sold  for  more  than  $25,000,000. 

Connecticut  has  always  been  more  fully  represented  in  the  navy  than  any  other  State  of 
her  population;  owing,  perhaps,  to  the  comparative  extent  of  her  seaboard.  The  number 
of  her  citizens  who  served  in  the  navy  during  the  Rebellion  is  not  known  with  accuracy; 
but  it  may  be  approximately  estimated  on  the  basis  of  the  fact  that  more  than  three  hundred 
held  commissions.  Among  these,  besides  Rear-Admiral  Foote,  were  Rear- Admiral  Francis 
H.  Gregory,  who  had  seen  fifty  years  of  service;  Com.  John  Rodgers,  forty  years  of  service; 
Com.  R.  B.  Hitchcock,  forty  years;  Com.  J.  B.  HuU,  fifty-one  years;  Com.  Joseph  Lanman, 
forty  years;  Com.  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers,  thirty-one  years;  Capt.  Stephen  Champlin,  fifty-two 
years;  Capt.  James  Glynn,  forty-nine  years ;  Capt.  D.  S.  Edwards,  forty-six  years;  Capt. 
Charles  Green,  thirty-eight  years;  Capt.  Klisha  Peck,  forty-seven  years.  The  rank  of  rear- 
admiral  is  equivalent  to  that  of  major-general,  that  of  commodore  to  that  of  brigadier-general, 
that  of  captain  in  the  navy  to  that  of  colonel. 

The  Rodgers  family  of  New  London  has  been  most  remarkable  for  its  naval  record.  The 
paternal  grandfather  was  Col.  Rodgers,  who  commanded  the  famous  Maryland  line  during  the 
Revolution,  and  was  frequently  mentioned,  in  Washington's  dispatches,  for  gallantry.  His 
eldest  son  was  Com.  John  Rodgers,  who  fired  the  first  gu-i  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  was 
long  the  senior  officer  of  our  infant  navy.  Another  son  was  Com.  George  W.  Rodgers, 
who,  for  special  gallantry  during  the  War  of  1812,  received  a  sword  of  honor  from  his  native 
State,  and  a  medal  and  vote  of  thanks  from  Congress.  Com.  John  Rodgers  had  two 
sons;  one  of  whom,  John  Rodgers,  also  became  commodore,  and  led  the  attack  on  Port  Royal 
and  Fort  Sumter  during  the  Rebellion ;  and  another,  Col.  Robert  Rodgers,  served  through  the 
late  war,  and  was  twice  wounded  at  the  head  of  the  3d  Maryland  Infantry^  Two  other 
grandsons  of  Com.  John  Rodgers  were  Capt.  Raymond  Rodgers,  who  was*  fleet-captain 
during  Duponfs  attack  on  Charleston,  and  Capt.  George  W.  Rodgers,  who  was  killed  while 
commanding  the  monitor  Catskill  in  the  attack  on  Fort  Wagner.  In  the  family  are  also 
Lieut-Commanding  Frederick  Rodgers,  Master's  Mate  Joseph  Rodgers,  and  Midshipman  R. 
P.  Rodgers;  and  Lieut.  Alexander  P.  Rodgers,  who  fell  in  the  forlorn  hope  at  the  storming  of 
Chapultepec,  was  a  nephew  of  Col.  Robert  Rodgars.  One  of  the  three  illustrious  Com. 
Perrys  married  into  the  family;  and  there  is  probably  not  another  name  in  America  that  will 
compare  with  that  of  Perry  or  Rodgers  for  the  fame  won  on  land  and  sea  in  defense  of  t*ho 
Republic. 


5  In  the  renowned  fight  of  the  Kearsarge  with  the  Alabama,  our  State  was  represented  by 
Eben  M.  Stoddard  of  Ledyard,  who  was  acting  master  of  the  Kearsarge  at  the  time  of  the  battle. 


TOWN  EXPENSES   FOR   WAR-PURPOSES. 


The  following  table  gives  the  expenditures  of  the  various  towns  in 
Connecticut  for  volunteers,  substitutes,  and  the  support  of  families.  It 
includes  no  voluntary  contribution  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers  in  field 
and  hospital :  — 

NEW-HAVEN   COUNTY. 


TOWNS. 

Expenditure  of 
Towns  for  Houn- 
ties,  Premiums, 
Commutation, 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Bounties 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Commu 

Grand  List, 
1804. 

and  Support  of 
Families. 

to  Volunteers 
and  Substitutes. 

tation. 

New  Haven    . 

8308,027.48 

$20,000.00 

$10,000 

$29,681,409 

Branford    . 

27,180.78 

14,300.00 

none. 

1,075,441 

Bethany 

5,000.00 

1,800.00 

626,252 

Cheshire     . 

8,275.00 

5,000.00 

2,100 

1,228,439 

Derby   .... 

37,955.00 

27,300.00 

4,500 

3,027,655 

East  Haven     . 

24.319.27 

4,500.00 

1,514,488 

Guilford     .     .     .. 

12,591.00 

8,250.00 

900 

1,511,199 

Hamden 

29,098.00 

9,543.00 

1,409,091 

Madison     . 

16,800.00 

11,200.00 

600 

836,496 

Meriden 

91,371.33 

10,715.53 

4,300,981 

Middlebury**  .     . 

5,020.00 

1,975.00 

1,200 

365,123 

Milford       .     .     . 

46,699.09 

5.028.00 

1,001,448 

Naugatuck    .  . 

42,382.50 

1,100.00 

5,210 

1,130,904 

North  Branford   . 

15,402.50 

4,800.00 

1,800 

533,867 

North  Haven  . 

10,401.34 

3,956.50 

2,100 

695,477 

Orange  .... 

12,536.05 

15,003.00 

800 

994,122 

Oxford.     .     .     . 

15.250.00 

2,975.00 

626,107 

Prospect     . 

3,753.47 

1,450.00 

210,400 

Seymour    . 

17,800.00 

3,150.00 

3,000 

826,748 

Southbury  . 

20,050.06 

* 

860,709 

Wallingford    .     . 

40,752.00 

6,200.00 

300 

1,796,416 

Waterbury 

133,525.00 

17,500.00 

600 

6,257,000 

Woodbridge    . 

8,700.00 

3,545.02 

602,803 

Wolcott      .     .     . 

* 

2,175.00 

296,691 

932,892.87 

181,466.03 

33,110 

61,410,083 

HARTFORD    COUNTY. 


Hartford    . 

$269,646.86 

$35,403,478 

Avon     .... 

15,094.17 

$1,975.00 

$1,800 

546,454 

Berlin    .... 

35,880.66 

4,825.00 

none. 

1,078,882 

Bloomfield 

39,235.00, 

>        1,000.00 

833,529 

Bristol  .... 

55,534.99 

13,551.98 

2,100 

1,765,942 

Burlington 

20,250.00 

2,000.00 

3,600 

456,487 

Canton  .... 

36,644.63 

4,700.00 

3,500 

1,224,792 

East  Granby  . 

13,295.00 

1,800.00 

1,170 

495,888 

East  Hartford 

58,209.46 

24,800.00 

550 

1,464,822 

*  Not  ascertained. 


845 


846 


APPENDIX. 


HARTFORD    COUNTY.  —  Continued. 


TOWNS. 

Expenditure  of 
Towns  for  Boun 
ties,  Premiums, 
Commutation, 
and  Support  of 
Families. 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Bounties 
to  Volunteers 
and  Substitutes. 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Commu 
tation. 

Grand  List, 
186i. 

East  Windsor 

$45,730.04       $3,000.00 

$1,214,300 

Enfield.     .     .     . 

66,314.00j         4,450.00 

2,669,099 

Farmington     . 

89,975.98 

9,000.00 

$6,000 

2,162,570 

Glastenbury    . 

45,947.00 

5,950.00 

1,422,656 

Granby      .     .     v 

16,700.00 

3,316.00 

2,000 

609,726 

Ilartlaud    . 

12,492.25 

1,300.00 

2,100 

356,847 

Manchester 

47,212.70 

8,000.00 

'  1,632,047 

Marlborough  . 

6,674.00 

350.00 

305,482 

New  Britain   . 

45,628.45 

35,000.00 

14,400 

2,608,418 

Rocky  Hill      .     . 

20,605.00 

130.00 

7,000 

471,038 

Simsbury  . 

14,575.00 

2,500.00 

3,600 

1.257,503 

Southington    . 

35,695.00 

12,250.00 

1,564,150 

South  Windsor    . 

25,800.00 

10,000.00 

1,211,873 

Suffield       .     .     . 

74,224.02 

* 

1,720,255 

West  Hartford     . 

36,981.50 

* 

1,388,857 

Wethersfield   . 

38,975.50 

5,401.00 

1,200 

1,726,711 

Windsor     . 

3.4,700.00 

5,225.00 

1.421,333 

Windsor  Locks    . 

15,944.98 

2,630.00 

612,990 

1,217,966.19 

163,153.98 

49,020 

67,626,129 

TOLLAND    COUNTY. 

i 

Tolland      .     .     . 

$16,800.00 

$4,400.00 

$1,600 

$527,969 

An  clover    . 

5,887.00 

•780.00 

279,758 

Bolton  .... 

5,132.00 

210.00 

300,088 

Coventry    . 

35,834.93' 

1,200.00 

1,500 

912,872 

Columbia  . 

9,961.00 

1,100.00 

352,161 

Ellington    . 

29,579.00 

2,250.00 

300 

813.499 

Hebron 

10,200.00 

500.00 

nothing. 

638,197 

Mansfield  . 

26,273.27 

5,000.00 

3,000 

800,635 

Somers 

19,218.19 

1,950.00 

795,197 

Stafford      .     .     . 

50,540.67 

6,000.00 

1,308,280 

Union    .... 

8,467.00 

* 

308,008 

Vernon. 

46,958.22        15,000.00 

2.050,246 

Willington 

7,875.00          3,700.00 

2,700 

419,664 

272,926.28       42,090.00 

9,100 

9,506,574 

NEW-LONDON   COUNTY. 

New  London  . 

$46,000.00 

$18,500.00 

•  $12,000 

$5,448,112 

Norwich    . 

163,170.68 

19,600.00 

5,700 

10,494,035 

Bozrah  .... 

11,678.12 

1,000.00 

1,200 

526,421 

Colchester  ... 

33,902.93 

6,900.00 

300 

1,545,622 

East  Lyme 

35,000.00 

3,000.00 

2,600 

487,873 

*  Not  ascertained. 


TOWN  EXPENSES  FOE  WAK-PUEPOSES. 


847 


NEW-LONDON   COUNTY.  —  Continued. 


TOWNS. 

Expenditure  of 
Towns  for  Boun 
ties,  Premiums, 
Commutation, 
and  Support  of 
Families. 

Estimated  Ain't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Bounties 
to  Volunteers 
and  Substitutes. 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Commu 
tation. 

Grand  List, 

•     -.804. 

Franklin    . 

69,755.00 

$900.00 

$000 

8468,488 

Griswold    . 

33,254.89 

3,000.00 

900 

1,147,000 

Groton  .... 

79,4B6.89 

22.000.00 

2,549,060 

Lebanon     . 

24,600.00 

14,300.00 

600 

1,140,573 

Ledyard 

20,711.48 

8,325.00 

1,800 

003,111 

Lisbon  .... 

12,521.00 

000.00 

317,173 

Lyme    .... 

28,017.17 

5,090.00 

407,599 

Montville  .     .'    . 

27,308.14 

2,030.00 

3,000 

1,131,370 

North  Stonington 

27,980.10 

5,250.00 

4,200 

888,000 

Old  Lyme  . 

10,913.30 

10,325.00 

545,258 

Preston 

40,805.27 

9,283.12 

900 

856,342 

Salem   .... 

15,000.00 

000.00 

1,200 

374.810 

Sprague 

10,411.05 

* 

1,156^290 

Stoniugton 

61,050.00 

60,000.00 

900 

4,963,589 

Waterfowl  . 

31,285.00 

1,250.00 

932,810 

730,067.05 

192,553.12 

35,900 

35,990,142 

MIDDLESEX   COUNTY. 


Middletown     . 

$110,777.87 

$85,250.00 

$9,300         $5,148,779 

Haddam     . 

14,715.00 

7,800.00 

3,150 

868,416 

Chatham    . 

28,000.00 

3.516.73 

890,387 

Chester 

10,070.00 

800.00 

600 

374,783 

Clinton       .     ... 

3,725.00 

4,400.00 

2,400 

615,537 

Cromwell  . 

20,110.00 

2,000.00 

568,352 

Durham     . 

13,090.00 

3.790.00 

850 

492,351 

East  Haddam 

41,537.84 

10,700.00 

1,259,306 

Essex    .... 

8,550.00 

8,900.00 

3,300 

945,709 

Killingworth  . 

7,550.00 

14,105.00 

346,277 

Old  Saybrook 

2,500.00 

4,075.00 

3,900 

607,990 

Portland     . 

21,980.00 

12.930.00 

1,811,564 

Saybrook  . 

8,670.00 

4,500.00 

2,100 

548,410 

Westbrook 

7,910.00 

300.00 

1,900 

557,267 

305,785.71 

163,066.73 

27,500 

15,035,188 

WINDHAM   COUNTY. 


Brooklyn    . 

$18,329.57 

$5,100.00 

$4,200 

$1,037,923 

Ash  ford 

10,859.00 

4,502.00 

600 

509,990 

Canterbury 

7,831.00 

1,635.00 

697,571 

Chaplin 

6,873:75 

1,075.00 

1,260 

300,560 

Eastford     .     .     . 

7,831.80 

* 

309,806 

Hampton   .     . 

6,179.85 

3,092.00 

900 

429,223 

Killingly    . 

24,050.00 

* 

1,677,761 

*  Not  ascertained. 


848 


APPENDIX. 


WINDHAM   COUNTY.  -  Continued. 


TExpendltB«of|E.t,1n.tedA«'t 

Estimated  Am't 

TOWNS. 

ties,  Premiums,  JSs  forli      Vt   ~ 

paid  by  Individ 

Grand  List, 

Commutation,        t    *r  i     / 

uals  for  Cornmu-.            1804. 

indFamE°f    andSutetUu'es. 

tation. 

Plainfield  .     .     . 

$22,282.85     $12,200.00 

$7,200 

$1,630,024 

Pomfret 

23,559.00          6,000.00 

3,900 

1,037,774 

Putnam 

19,952.97         4,450.00 

4,500 

1,172,619 

Scotland     .     .     . 

6,400.00         1,850.00 

300 

392,175 

Sterling 

15,180.00             246.00 

375,295 

Thompson  . 

16.996.00       16,000.00 

2,500 

1,679,754 

Voluntown 

10,860.00         4,500.00 

1,200 

295,958 

Windham  . 

30,750.00       12,600.00 

5,000           2,164,083 

Woodstock 

53,814.91 

2,244.00 

900           1,335,753 

281,750.70 

75,494.00 

32,460          15,046,269 

FAIRFIELD    COUNTY. 

Bridgeport 

$165,717,08 

$12,000.00 

$23,000         $7,996,434 

Danbury    . 

134,816.00 

19,750.00 

none.               4,140,217 

Bethel  .... 

18,839.00 

9,150.00 

500               671,826 

Brookfield  . 

15,950.00 

3,000.00 

2,100               691,388 

Darien  .... 

18,'660.86 

2,300.00 

125            1,176,171 

Easton  .... 

25,254.92 

3,000.00 

635,643 

Fairfield     .     .     . 

75,797.40 

unknown. 

none.               3,424,534 

Greenwich 

65,531.94 

1,215.00 

5,400           3.219,783 

Huntingtou 

# 

2,210.00 

2,400              728,000 

Monroe 

15,914.95 

900.00 

25               646,771 

New  Canaan  . 

15,399.71 

10,945.00 

3,600           1,188.677 

New  Fairfield 

16,910.00 

3,625.00 

3,300 

470,066 

Newtown  . 

44,800.00 

18,000.00 

12,900 

1,863,965 

Norwalk    .     .     . 

73,967.91 

7,971.00 

900 

4,676,978 

Redding 

* 

3,000.00 

1,200,907 

Ridgefield  . 

45,684.63 

* 

1,224,898 

Stamford   . 

37,486.75 

18,750.00 

18,000 

4,905,256 

Sherman    . 

24,900.00 

450.00 

427,672 

Stratford    . 

3,600.00 

5.524.00 

8,400 

1,684,417 

Trumbull  .     .     . 

25,900.00 

'  50.00 

734,611 

Weston 

10,000.00 

# 

513,514 

Westport    . 

41,595.06 

1,000.00 

1,800 

2,406,243 

Wilton  .... 

26,550.58 

1,100.00 

796,741 

903,270.79 

123,910.00'        82,450 

45,424,762 

LITCHFIELD   COUNTY. 

Litchfield   .     .     . 

$31,540.00           $800.00 

$1,634.480 

Barkhamsted  . 

26,678.00 

9,225.00 

$500 

541,210 

Bethlem 

11,697.49 

6,750.00 

5,350  • 

526,000 

Bridgewater   . 

5,100.00 

22,650.00 

549,705 

*  Not  ascertained. 


TOWN  EXPENSES  FOR  WAR-PURPOSES. 


849 


LITCHFIELD  COUNTY.  —  Continued. 


TOWNS. 

Expenditure  of 
Towns  for  Boun 
ties,  Premiums, 
Commutation, 
and  Support  of 
.     Families. 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Bounties 
to  Volunteers 
and  Substitutes. 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Commu 
tation. 

Grand  List, 

1804. 

Canaan      .     .     . 

$14,000.00 

§5,400.00 

$1,750 

$761,342 

Colebrook  . 

* 

3,000.00 

617,216 

Cornwall    . 

22,522.80 

5,231.00 

821,246 

Goshen 

* 

f!7,643.00 

none. 

914,879 

Ilarwinton 

16,773.52 

4,487.82 

590,141 

Kent      .... 

20,100.00 

3,750.00 

643,539 

Morris  .... 

4,137.251         5,500.00 

300 

407,826 

New  Hartford 

81,590.78}        7,900.00 

1,011,917 

New  Milfbrd  .     . 

57,790.00 

8,000.00 

500 

2,017.306 

Norfolk      .... 

6,315.00 

1,700.00 

926,931 

North  Canaan     . 

35,262.00 

* 

908,342 

Plymouth  . 

38,517.40 

15,300.00 

none. 

1,835,726 

Roxbury    . 

1,305.00 

15,150.09 

600 

497,248 

Salisbury  . 

42,000.00 

5,500.00 

3,600 

2,066,626 

Sharon  .... 

26,410.88 

6,900.00 

10,500 

1,481,741 

Torrington 

27,000.00 

15,000.00 

1,150,256 

Warren 

6,300.00 

6,375.00 

357,101 

Washington    . 

19,440.00 

1,533.00 

1,031,594 

Watertown 

27,815.97 

10,695.00 

1,402,481 

Winchester 

53,849.89 

3.791.12 

2,161,542 

Woodbury 

25,065.63 

11,718.00 

300 

.  1,200,795 

551,211.6l|     192,998.94 

23,400 

26,047,310 

*  Not  ascertained. 


f  In  notes  to  individuals  from  the  town. 


SUMMARY. 


COUNTIES. 

Total  War  Ex 
penses  of 
Counties. 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Bounties 
to  Volunteers 

Estimated  Am't 
paid  by  Individ 
uals  for  Commu 

Grand  List, 
1864. 

and  Substitutes. 

tation. 

New-Haven    . 

S932,892.87i  $181,466.03 

$33,110 

$61,410,083 

Hartford    . 

1,217,966.19     163,153.98 

49,020 

67,626,129 

Tolland      .     .     . 

272,926.28       42,090.00 

9,100 

9,506,574 

New-London  . 

730,067.65      192,553.12 

35,900 

35,990,142 

Middlesex  . 

305,785.71      163,066.73 

27,500 

15.035,188 

Windham  . 

281,750.70       75,494.00 

32,460 

15,046,269 

Fail-field     . 

903,276.79      123,940.00 

82,450 

45,424,762 

Litchfield  . 

551,211.61 

192,998.94 

23,400 

26,047,310 

5,195,877.80  1,134,762.80 

292,940 

276,086,457 

THE  GENERALS  OF  CONNECTICUT. 


THE  following  is  a  list  of  natives  or  citizens  of  Connecticut,  or  officers 
of  Connecticut  regiments,  who  became  general  officers  during  the  war.1 
The  town  of  which  the  name  is  appended  is  cither  birthplace  or  residence. 
Where  two  towns  are  named,  the  first  indicates  the  birthplace  ;  the  second, 
subsequent  residence.  Where  a  brevet  is  mentioned,  the  officer  held  the 
full  rank  next  below,  except  where  otherwise  mentioned  :  — 


ABBOT,  HENRY  L., 

BENIIAM,  HENRY  W., 
BIRGE,  HENRY  W., 
BRADLEY,  LUTHER  P., 
BLAKESLEE,  ERASTCS, 


Col.  and  Bvt.  Major-Gen. 

Major-General ; 
Bvt.  Major-General ; 

Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Briadier-General ; 


CARRINGTON,  HENRY  B.,    Brigadier-General. 


CLARK,  WM.  T., 
Coucii,  DARIUS  N., 

ELY,  WILLIAM  G., 
ELLIS,  THEODORE  G., 

FERRY,  ORRIS  S., 

GOODYEAR,  E.  D.  S., 
GREELEY,  EDWIN  S., 

HARLAND,  EDWARD, 
HAWLEY,  JOSEPH  R., 
HUBBARD,  JAMES, 

IVES,  BRAYTON, 
JUDAII,  HENRY  M., 
KETCHUM,  WM.  S., 

LYON,  NATHANIEL, 
LEE,  EDWARD  M., 
LOOMIS,  GUSTAVUS, 
LOOMIS,  JOHN, 


Brigadier-General ; 

Major-General ; 

Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 

Brigadier-General ; 


Meriden. 
Norwich. 
New  Haven. 
Plym'th,  N.  Havem 

Norwalk. 
Daub'iy,  N.  Haven. 

Norwich. 
Hartford. 

Bethel,  Norwalk. 


Lt.-Col.  &  Bvt.  Brig.-Gen.  ;  North  Haven. 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ;         New  Haven. 


Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Major-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 

Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 
Brigadier-General ; 
Brigadier-General. 

Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 


Norwich. 
Hartford. 
Salisbury. 

New  Haven. 
Westport. 


Eastford. 
Guilford. 
Stratford. 
Windsor.  • 


1  Other  eminent  generals  were  sous  or  grandsons  of  Connecticut  men ;  as  Grant,  Sherman, 
McClellan,  Pope,  and  Wadsworth. 

850 


THE  GENERALS  OF  CONNECTICUT. 


MANSFIELD,  Jos.  K.  F.,    Major-General ;  Micldletown. 

MOWER,  JOSEPH  A.,  Major-General ;  New  London. 

MACKENZIE,  RANOLD  S.,   Brigadier-General  (Second  Artillery). 


XEWTON, 
NOBLE,  WM.  H., 

OTIS,  JOHN  L., 

JERKINS,  JOSEPH  G., 
PIERSON,  WM.  S., 

RIPLEY,  JAMES  W., 
ROBERTS,  BENJAMIN  S., 
ROCKWELL,  ALFRED  P., 
Ross,  SAMUEL, 

SEDGWICK,  JOHN, 
SEYMOUR,  TRUMAN, 
STEDMAN,  GRIFFIN  A., 
STEINWEHR,  A.  VON, 
SHALER,  ALEXANDER, 

TERRY,  ALFRED  H., 
TYLER,  DANIEL, 
TERRY,  .H.  D., 
TOTTEN,  JOSEPH  G., 
TOUTELLOTTE,  JOHN  E., 
TYLER,  ROBERT  0., 

WESSELLS,  HENRY  W., 
WRIGHT,  HORATIO  G., 
WILLIAMS,  A.  S., 
WHITAKER,  EDWD.  W., 


Major-General. 

Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 

Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 

Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General ; 


Bridgeport. 
Manchester. 

New  London. 
Windsor. 


Brigadier-General. 

Brigadier-General ;  New  Haven. 

Bvt.  Brigadier-General ;         Norwich. 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General  (Twentieth). 


Major-General ; 
Brigadier-General. 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General; 
Brigadier-General ; 
Bvt.  Major-General. 

Major-General ; 
Brigadier-General ; 
Brigadier-General. 
Bvt.  Major-General ; 
Bvt.  Brigadier-General; 
Bvt.  Major-General ; 


Cornwall. 

Hartford. 
Wallin^ford. 


New  Haven. 
Norwich. 

New  London. 

Thompson. 

Hartford. 


Bvt.  Major-General ;  Litchfield. 

Major-General ;  .  Orange,  Clinton. 

Bvt.  Major-General. 

Lt.-Col.  &  Bvt,  Brig.-Gen. ;  Ashford. 


WHITTLESEY,  HENRY  M.,  Bvt.  Brigadier-General. 


WARD,  HENRY  C., 


'Bvt.  Brigadier-General  (Thirtieth). 


The  service  of  a  majority  of  these  has  already  been  referred  to  at  some 
length,  either  in  detached  sketches,  or  in  connection  with  their  regiments. 


ORGANIZATIONS    AND    CASUALTIES. 


List  of  organizations  from  this  State  which  have  been  iu  United-States 
service  during  the  war,  showing  date  of  entry  into,  and  discharge  from 
service  :  — 


ORGANIZATION.     . 

DATK  OF  MUSTEK-IN. 

DATK  OF3IUSTER-OUT. 

TERM  OF  SERVICE. 

1st  Cavalry, 

October       26,  1861, 

August          2,  1865, 

3  years,    9  months. 

1st  Squadron, 

August        13,  1861, 

June            23,  1865 

3  years,  10  months. 

1st  Heavy  Artillery, 

May             23,  1861, 

September  25,  1865 

4  years,    4  months. 

2d             " 

September  11,  1862, 

August        18,  1865 

2  years,  11  months. 

1st  Light  Battery, 

October       26,  1861, 

June            11,  1865 

3  years,     8  months. 

2d            " 

September  10,  1862, 

August          9,  1865 

2  years,  11  months. 

3d  Independent  Battery, 

September  —  ,  1864, 

June            23,  1865 

9  month*. 

1st  Infantry, 

April           23,  1861, 

July             31,  1861 

3  months. 

2d 

May              7,  1861, 

August          7,  1861 

8  months. 

3d         " 

May             14,  1861, 

August        12,  1861 

3  months. 

4th       " 

Changed  to  1st 

Heavy  Artillery 

5th       " 

July            23,  1861, 

July             19,1865 

4  years. 

6th       " 

September  1-3,  1861, 

August        21,  1865 

3  years,  11  months. 

7th       " 

September  17,  1861, 

July             20,  1865 

3  years,  10  months. 

8th        " 

October        5,  1861, 

December  12,  1865 

4  years,     2  months. 

9th       " 

November    1,  1861, 

August          3,  1865 

3  years,    9  months. 

10th      " 

October       2(5,  1861, 

August        25,  1865 

3  years,  10  months. 

llth      " 

November  27,  1861, 

December  21,  1865 

4  years,     1  month. 

12th     " 

December  31,  1861, 

August        12,  1865 

3  years,     8  months. 

13th     " 

.February    18,  1802, 

April            25,  1866 

4  years,    3  months. 

14th     " 

August        23,  1862, 

May             31,  1865 

2  years,    9  -months. 

15th      " 

August        26,  1862, 

June           27,  1865 

2  years,  10  months. 

16th      " 

August        24,  1862, 

June           24,  1865 

2  years,  10  months. 

17th     " 

August        21),  1862, 

July            19,  1865 

2  years,  11  months. 

18th      " 

August        22,  1862, 

June            27,  1865 

2  years,  10  months. 

19th      " 

Changed  to 

2d  Heavy  Artillery 

20th     " 

September    8,  1862, 

Juno            13,  1865 

2  years,    "9  months. 

21st      " 

September    5,  1862, 

June            16,  1865 

2  years,    9  months. 

22d       " 

September  20,  1862, 

July              7,  1863 

10  months. 

23d        " 

November  14,  1862, 

August        31,  1863 

9  months. 

24th      " 

November  18,  1862, 

September  30,  1863 

10  months. 

25th      " 

November  11,  1862, 

August        26,  1863 

9  months. 

26th      " 

November  10,  1862, 

August        27,  1863 

9  months. 

27th      " 

October       22,  1862, 

July             27,  1863 

9  months. 

28th      " 

November  15,  1862, 

August        28,  1863 

9  months. 

29th      " 

March           8,  1864, 

October       24,  1865 

1  year,      8  months. 

80th      " 

March         —  ,  1864, 

November     7,  1865 

1  year,      8  months. 

Statement  of  casualties  to  the  Connecticut  Volunteer  force  during  the 
war :  — 


KIND  OF  CASUALTY. 

OFFICERS. 

31  EN. 

97 

1  004 

48 

663 

63 

3  246 

21 

389 

Honorably  discharged  prior  to  muster-out  of  organization 

385 
51 

5,451 
4  361 

51 

49 

9 

481 

Transferred  to  Veteran  Reserve  Corps       

16 

1,488 
27 

2 

6  281 

Drowned     ............ 

1 

35 

Taken  out  by  civil  authority     
Dropped  from  rolls    

7 

19 
56 

852 


ROLL  OF  HONOR  OP  THE  CONNECTICUT  VOLUNTEER 

TROOPS. 

ABBREVIATIONS.  —  D.,  died  In  the  service;  K.,  killed  in  battler;  P.,  died  in  prison;  W.,  died 
of  wounds  received  in  battle;  .4.,  accidental  deaths.  No  account  is  taken  of  those  returned  as 
"  missing  "  and  "  supposed  killed." 


First  Regiment  Infantry. 

None. 

Second  Regiment  Infantry. 
Burton  James  M.,  D. 
Fritz  James,  K. 
Stokes  Joseph,  D. 

Third  Regiment  Infantry. 
Case  David  C.,  K. 
Howard  Richard,  A. 
Leroy  Jeremiah  0.,  K. 
Marsh  John  R.,  K. 

Fifth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Adams  Joseph  A.,  A. 
Allen  Mathias,  K. 
Ames  Andrew  J.,  D. 
Andrews  Albert  C.,  D. 
Arnold  Robert,  K. 
Avery  Alex.  J.,  K. 
Baierle  Jacob,  A. 
Bailey  James  L.,  K. 
Baker  Daniel  B.,  W. 
Barnes  Alvin  T.,  K.  • 
Barre  Adolphus  H.,  K. 
Bates  John,  K. 
Bennett  John,  D. 
Benton  (Capt.)  G.  S.,  K. 
Barnard  George  M.,  D. 
Billington  Joseph,  A. 
Blair  Joseph  O.,  K. 
Blake  (Major)  E.  F.,  K. 
Bordaux  Eleazer,  D. 
Brady  Oliver  S.,  K. 
Brings  John  C.,  D. 
Briker  John,  K. 
Buell  Giles  P.,  K. 
Burlcy  John  W.,  D. 
Button  William  M.,  K. 
Bycrs  James,  K. 
Checkin  Charles  W.,  K. 
Carr  Edwin,  D. 
Covert  John,  K. 
Dailey  Thomas,  W. 
Darley  George,  K. 
Day  (2d  Lieut.)  Putnam,  D 
Dayton  Sherman  B.,  K. 
Button  (1st  I,t.)  H.  M.,  K. 
Ellsworth  William  D.,  D. 
Frieldson  Henry,  D. 
Fuller  Jared  P.,  D. 
Gavegen  Thomas,  A. 
GallaghcY  John,  W. 
Gavine  John  J.,  K. 


Goslcy  Hugh  S.,  D. 
Graham  John  L.,  D. 
Gridley  William,  D. 
Griffith  John,  A. 
Griffin  George  B.,  K. 
Griswold  Edwin  C.,  K. 
Goodrich  Alfred,  K. 
Gunn  William  A.,  K. 
Hall  Horace,  D. 
Hart  John,  A. 
Hawthorne  Daniel,  K. 
Haverty  Daniel,  D, 
Hcaton  Henry,  K. 
Held  Lorenzo,  K. 
Henry  Albert  L.,  D. 
Higjrins  James,  K. 
ili^ins  William,  D. 
Hill  George  E.,  D. 
Hill  John,  K. 
Hills  Percival  S.,  D. 
Hopper  Joseph,  D. 
Howland  Elias  II.,  D. 
Hoyt  Augustus  W.,  K. 
Hull  John  G.,  D. 
Jones  Elijah  B.,  K. 
Judson  Edward  L.,  D. 
Kinnc  Joseph  A.,  K. 
Krome  Lewis,  D. 
Lane  George  F.,  K. 
Lane  Horace  E.  L.,  D. 
Lane  Robert  O.,  K. 
Leggctt  Elijah,  D. 
Leggett  John,  D. 
Madden  Frederick,  D. 
Mahoncy  James,  A. 
Manning  Matt.  H.,  W.  &  P. 
Matthews  Emery  S.,  D. 
McCluskey  Patrick,  K. 
McGinness  Patrick,  D. 
Medcmaeh  Mai  thew  J.,  K. 
Mills  Seth  F.,  A'. 
Mooney  Michael,  W. 
Morr  Paul,  A. 
Morrison  James,  D. 
Morrison  Robert  C.,  D. 
Murphy  Patrick,  A. 
Murphy  Owen,  \V. 
Ncale  Henry  H.,  D. 
Nodnie,  Crawford  II.,  W. 
Nye  Styles  W.,  W. 
O'Brien  Peter,  D. 
O'Brien  William,  A. 
O'Donnell  John,  D. 
Pierce  Alonzo  S.,  D. 
Potter  Charles  C.,  D. 


Prime  H.  C.,  A'. 
Prindle  Trowbridge,  D. 
Quinn  Thomas,  A'. 
Reynolds  Bernard,  W. 
Rice  Charles  A.,  K. 
Richards  James,  D. 
Richards  James  E.,  K. 
Riley  James,  D. 
Rood  Rufus  S.,  D. 
Rowe  Henry,  D. 
Scribncr  Charles  B.,  D. 
Sherren  James,  K. 
Smalley  Elisha  F.,  D. 
Smith  "(Adjutant)  H.  S.,  K. 
Smith  Daniel  L.,  K. 
Starr  George,  D. 
Stone  George  F.,  D.  P. 
Stone  (Capt.)  Henry  B.,  W. 
Squires  Charles  A.,  K. 
Strong  Thomas  G.,  K . 
Sturgess  Ilczckiah,  D. 
Taylor  Sherman  D.,  K. 
Thompson  Charles  E.,  K. 
Thompson  Joseph,  D. 
Van  an  ken  Frank,  D. 
Waldron  John,  D. 
Warner  Albert,  W. 
Werner  R.  R.,  K. 
Wilcox  John,  K. 
Wheeler  Nathan  S.,  D. 
Woodhead  Bernard,  D. 

Sixth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Abbott  Edwin  H.,  D. 
Abbott  Woolsey,  P. 
Ackerman  Car!,  K. 
Allen  Henry,  K. 
Allen  (Capt  )  Lewis  C.,jr.,Z). 
Atwater  Franklin  J.,  W. 
Babcock  Anson  E.,  D. 
Bodge  George  E.,  K. 
Baker  Joseph,  K. 
Baker  George  H.,  D. 
Baldwin  Bruce,  W. 
Baldwin  Henry  M.,  D. 
Barnes  Seth  E.,  W. 
Barnes  Seth  J.,  D. 
Bartlett  Halsey,  K. 
Barton  George  A.,  D. 
Belchmer  Christopher,  K. 
Bemus  Henry,  A'. 
Bennett  Edward,  K. 
Bethka  Charles,  K. 
Beyer  Martin,  K. 
Bing  Edward  J.,  Z). 
653 


854 


APPENDIX. 


Blencl  Valentine,  K. 
Bosworth  L>.  H.,  D. 
Bradley  (1st  Lt.)  W.  T.,  W. 
Brandt  Henry  S.,  W. 
Brooks  Jabez  C.,  D. 
Brown  William  H.,  K. 
Brysen  Frank,  W. 
Brysen  David,  jr.,  D. 
Bulkley  Frederick  0.,  D. 
Butler  Jesse,  A'. 
Byxbee  John,  D. 
Chattield  (Col.)  John  L.,  W. 
Cobbe  George  W.  D. 
Cook  Henry  A.,  D. 
Collett  Anatole,  K. 
Collett  James,  AT. 
Crusius  Oscar,  \V. 
Corey  William  H.,  K. 
Connely  Patrick,  D. 
Davis  Luther,  D. 
Dawley  James,  D. 
Day  John  W.,  D. 
Debouge  Gustavo,  K. 
Deary  Patrick,  P. 
Delpt  Harry,  K. 
Dewitt  William,  K. 
Dorman  Horace,  D. 
Dorman  Andrew,  D. 
Doyle  James,  K. 
Driscoll  John  F. 
Dupoy  Jerome,  K. 
Dubois  Charles,  W. 
Eaton  (Capt.)  Horatio  D.,  K. 
Freeman  Daniel,  D. 
Frisbey  Henry  D.,  D. 
Gage  Robert  B.,  K. 
Gangloff  Charles,  K. 

Gerrish  (Capt.)  Henry  G.,D. 

Gibbons  Theodore,  D. 

Gindcr  Balthaser,  D. 

Gilbert  James  II.,  D 

G^issman  William,  K. 

Gob  Charles,  K. 

Griswold  Eugene  W.,  K. 

Grogan  Charles  II.,  W. 

Gussman  William,  W. 

Haller  Martin,  W. 

Hammond  ( I  stLt.)C.E.,  W. 

Hart  Willis  A.,  D. 

II  ay  ward  Nahum  L.,  D. 

Hausserman  Michael,  Z>. 

Henaingcr  George,  K. 

Hesse  Augustus,  K. 

Hesserick  Emil. 

Heyne  Paul,  K. 

Hickox  Edwin  J.,  D. 

Hill  Charles  T.,  D.       . 

Hill  Warren  F.,  D. 

Hills  Sebury  D.,  P. 

Hoar  Dprbert,  K. 

Hodge  Horace,  D. 

Holler  Martin,  W. 

Hoyfr  Henry  W.,  W. 

Ingalls  Dexter  W.,  W. 

Jones  Ira  D.,  W. 

Jones  Joseph,  W. 

Johnson  (2d  Lt.)  W.  H.,  W 

Johnson  Thomas,  K. 


Kreitling  Albert,  D. 
Keith  Charles  S.,  K. 
Kelterer  George,  P. 
Kimberly  Henry.  K. 
Kirsten  Charles,  W. 
Lacey  William  S.,  D. 
Lanergan  Luke  II.,  K. 
Lawrence  Joseph  C.,  D. 
Lin  ton  James,  K. 
L,omberti  Charles,  W. 
Hack  Frank,  D. 
Vlalone  James,  K. 
Matthews  Daniel,  A". 
Vlayer  Jacob,  D. 
Vlaschmeyer  Edward,  D. 
Maschmeyer  William,  D. 
Messier  Charles,  A'. 
McChine  Hugh,  jr.,  W. 
\IcKenzce  Patrick,  D. 
VIcKinney  James,  K. 
VIcInro  Thomas,  D. 
Millard  Thcron,  D. 
Milner  William,  K. 
Morris  Theodore,  D. 
VIorehouse  William  A.,  K. 
Moses  Henry,  D. 
O'Connor  Thomas,  D. 
Ostrum  Willard,  D. 
Palmer  David  C.,  D. 
Peck  Robert  C.,  W.&P. 
Peck  John  W.,  D. 
Pect  George  B.,  W. 
Perkins  William  W.,  D. 
Phalen  Timothy,  A. 
Phillips  Alonzo. 
Phillips  Theodore,  W. 
Picker  Patsey,  D. 
Puffer  Reuben  S.,  K. 
Quinn  James,  D. 
Ray  James,  W. 
Recoir  John  H.,  D. 
Recoir  Philip  H.,  D. 
Reed  William,  W. 
Reeves  William  M.,  A'. 
Riley  Charles,  D. 
Ringe  Henry,  K. 
Robbins  Ralph  G.,  D. 
Robinson  Theodore  T.,  D. 
Rogers  Edmond,  A". 
Root  Caleb  B.,  D. 
Royce  Charles  B.,  K. 

Sage  Elisha,  D. 

Schmidt  Gustave,  W. 

Schofield  Theodore  C.,  D. 

Schofield  William,  D. 

Shultz  William,  D. 

Seely  John,  D. 

Shaw  Joseph  L.,  K. 

Shepard  David  G.,  D. 

Smith  Oscar  L.,  K. 

Soby  William,  \V. 

Spencer  Edwin  W.,  D. 

Stacey  Albert,  W. 

Stark  Michael,  K. 

Stevens  (2d  Lieut.)  S.  S.,  K 

Stinell  Herman,  K.  * 

Southergill  George,  D. 

Taylor  E.  B.,  W. 


Taylor  Thomas,  W. 

Talmadge  Fred.  A.,  D. 

Tousley  Artemus,  W. 

L'racy  Thomas  E.,  I). 
Tschumme  Conrad,  jr., -A 
Vaille  John  R.,  D. 
Volkman  Ferdinand,  D. 
Warner  George,  \V. 

tVatermire  Frederick,  D. 
Waters  Henry  W.,  D. 
White  Frank,  K. 
Weeks  Alphonso,  D. 
Williams  John,  D. 
Wilcox  (Capt.)  Jay  P.,  A". 
Wind  George,  A. 
Woodford  Edgar  M.,  D. 
Woods  John,  AT. 
Wooster  Joseph  A.  jr.,  W. 

Seventh  Regiment  Infantry, 
Abell  Jared  A.,  K. 
Ackcrman  Carl,  K. 
Aekerman  William  F.,  D. 
Aldrich  Judson, 
Andrus  George  W.,  K. 
Angclist  David  D.,  D. 
Avery  Henry. 
Bailey  Everett,  A'. 
Bailey  L.  Ilobart,  K. 
Baldwin  Henry  M.,  D.    • 
Banning  Henry  C.,  D. 
Barnes  Albert  E.,  D. 
nies  Seth  E.,  W.  . 
Bates  William  P.,  D. 
Bclden  Marshall,  K. 
Bennett  Edward,  K. 
Benson  Albert,  D. 
Bidwell  Richard,  K. 
Blake  George,  D. 
Blakeslec  Ed.  C.,  W. 
Bliss  Samuel,  D. 
Bliss  Edwin  S.,  D. 
Bosworth  Hiram  P.,  K. 
Bottomly  Henry  A.,  D. 
Bowen  Joseph  A.,  W. 
Bowers  Theodore  D.,  D. 
Bradley  George,  D. 
Bradford  Lewis,  D. 
Brandt  Henry  S.,  W. 
Drainard  Francis,  W. 
Bridgewater  Daniel,   W. 
Brinton  Fred.  J.,  D. 
Brown  William  H.,  K. 
Brown  William  H.,  D. 
Bulkley  Fred.  O.,  D. 
Burdick  Albert,  D. 
Burdick  (1st  Lieut.)  T.,  W. 
Bunncll  George,  D. 
Button  Lorenzo,  K. 
Burrows  George,  D. 
Byxbee  John  T.,  D. 
Byxbee  Charles,  K. 
Byxbee  John,  D. 
Calkins  Obed  H.,  D. 
Chamberlain  Ezra. 
Clapp  Elisha,  W.    ., 
Clark  Curtiss  S.,  K. 
Clark  Walter  F.,  W. 


EOLL  OF  HONOR. 


855 


Cogswell  Stephen,  K. 
Colcy  William  H.,  IV. 
Collett  Anatolc,  K. 
Collamorc  Warren,  D. 
Corey  William  H.,  K. 
Colrin  George,  D. 
Conway  James,  K. 
Cook  James  K. 
Corbin  George  H.,  K; 
Corsa  John  P.,  D. 
Crabtrce  John  W.,  D. 
Crofut  William,  K. 
Crosby  Bvron,  D. 
Daboll  Isaac  F.,  D. 
Day  John  W.,  D. 
Dempsey  (1st  Lieut.)  R.,  K. 
DeWitt  William,  K. 
Doane  Ed.  E.,  A'. 
Doolktlc  Lorenzo  S.,  D. 
Dowries  Chaunccy  S.,  D. 
Dubois  Charles,  \V. 
Duncan  William,  D. 
Dupoy  Jerome,  K. 
Eaton  Fred.  G.,  K. 
Edwards  George,  W. 
Eldcrkin  James,  K. 
English  William  S.,  K. 
Felch  Fred.  A.,  K. 
Fillburn  Thomas,  K. 
Flannigan  John,  W. 
Fortune  Phillips,  K, 
Fox  Augustus  A.,  D. 
Fry  Allen,  D. 
Jcffry  Joab,  D. 
James  Giles,  W. 
Jones  Joshua. 
Judson  Edwin,  D. 
Gerbiz  John,  D. 
Gilbert  Charles,  D. 
Glincs  Henry  C.,  P. 
Gob  Charles,  K. 
Goodcll  Joseph,  W. 
Gore  Joshua  R.,  D. 
Gray  Horace,  W. 
Griswold  Eugene  W.,  K. 
Guy  Allen,  D. 
Balnea  William  F.,  D. 
Hall  John  E.,  D. 
Harrison  William  H.,  D. 
Hart  Henry,  D. 
Haync  Paul,  K. 
Ilibbard  Andrews  W.,  K. 
Hitchcock  (Capt.)  E.  S.,  K. 
Hills  Seabury,  D. 
Holmes  John  T.,  D. 
Ho'rner  Julius. 
Horton  (2d  Lieut.)  T.,  K. 
Hubbard  William,  D. 
Hull  John,  D. 
Hull  Frederick,  K. 
Hull  (2dLt.)  Frank,  K. 
Hunter  William,  D. 
Kay  William  II.,  W. 
Keith  Charles  S.,  K. 
Kcyes  David  D.,  K. 
Kimball  Charles  W.,  D. 
Kimberly  Henry,  K. 
Lanergan  Luke  II.,  K. 


Landers  Michael,  D. 
Lewis  Francis,  D. 
Lewis  Franklin  S.,  D. 
Linton  James,  K. 
McEwen  William,  K. 
Mildoon  John,  K. 
Miller  James  A.,  K. 
Minor  Abraham,  A'. 
Moore  J;imcs,  A'. 
Nodine  Elizir,  K. 
Nichols  Andrew  B.,  K. 
Ostrum  Willard,  D. 
Palmer  Charles  E.,  D. 
Parker  Henry  C.,  K. 
Pierce  Albert  W.,  A'. 
Pratt  Samuel  A.,  D. 
Puffer  Reuben  S.,  K. 
Quinn  James,  W. 
Quintal  Lemuel  A.,  A'. 
Reynolds  John  E.,  W. 
Reynolds  Scth  W.,  W. 
Riley  Chester  H.,  D.  fr  P. 
Ripley  Charles  H.,  K. 
Robinson  Theodore  T.,  D. 
Root  Henry  H.,  D. 
Russell  Joseph,  D. 
Sage  Edward  B.,  A". 
Saxton  Geonie  C.,  K. 
Scoficlcl  William,  D. 
Seamans  Andrew,  D. 
Sessions  John  T.,  D. 
Simons  John  T.,  D. 
Secley  Eli  D.,  D 
Shelton  Daniel  R.,  K. 
Smith  Oscar  L.,  K. 
Smith  Horace  M.,  D. 
Soby  William,  W. ' 
Sperry  Henry  N.,  W, 
Spires  William,  D. 
Star  (Adjt.)  Grosvenor,  D. 
Sterling  James  B.,  D. 
Suniner  Israel,  P. 
Taylor  Andrew  H.,  K. 
Taylor  William  H.,  K. 
Talcot  Horace  A.,  K. 
Tappan  Thomas,  K. 
Thomas  Willis  C.,  W. 
Tifft  George  J.,  D. 
Treat  Dwight  W.,  D. 
TenceJlcnf Charles,  W. 
Tolles  Horace  A.,  K. 
Upson  Hiram,  jr.,  W. 
Valentine  Sidney,  D. 
Vibert  George,  K. 
Victory  Martin  R.,  D. 
Vinton  Randolph  J.,  D. 
Walker  Henry  M.,  P. 
Walker  Alfred  E. 
Walker  Albert,  D. 
Ward  Edward  A.,  D. 
Waterman  Charles  F.,  D. 
Waterman  (Capt.)  Jos.,  W. 
Watermire  Frederick,  W. 
Weeks  Sylvester  N.,  D. 
Wells  Selden  H.,  K. 
Welton  Theodore,  K. 
Westhrook  Thomas,  D. 
Wildman  Henry  C.,  K. 


Willard  James  S.,  K. 
*Wilson  John  H.,  A". 
Wood  (1st  Lieut.)  C.  A.,  K. 
Woodford  E.lgar  M.,  D. 
Wolcott  Frederick  W.,  D. 
Wooster  James  N.,  K. 
Wyant  Lewis  A.,  D. 

Eiyhlh  Regiment  Infantry. 
Arnold  Charles,  D. 
Baker  Albert  H.,  D. 
Baker  George  II.,  D. 
Baldwin  George  W.,  D. 
Barber  Francis  E.,  D. 
Bates  Wallace  W.,  D. 
Beardsly  Claudius  S.,  D. 
Beckett  Asa,  D. 
Bennett  George  H.,  K. 
Bently  John,  W. 
Bingham  (1st  Lt.)  L.  C.,"W. 
Birch  George,  K. 
Bissell  Elihu,  D. 
Bond  Henry,  D. 
Bond  Charles,  D. 
Booth  George  F.,  K. 
Bosworth  Samuel  P.,  D. 
Boyle  Robert,  D. 
Bulkley  John,  D. 
Burlingamo  Joshua  L.,  D. 
Burrows  Lorenzo,  D. 
Branwon  Henry,  W. 
Breed  (1st  Lieut.)  C.  A.,  D. 
Brcwster  Charles,  D. 
Bronson  Joseph  S.,  D. 
Brooks  Albion  D.,  W. 
Brown  Durraine,  D. 
Carey  Dwight,  K. 
Case  Oliver  C.,  K. 
Castle  Morton,  W. 
Castle  Matthew,  D. 
Cheney  Henry  M.,  D. 
Child  John,  W. 
Clark  Albert,  K. 
Clark  Sylvanus  M.,  D. 
Clark  Thomas  C.,  D. 
Clark  William  P.,  D. 
Cockfer  John,  D. 
Cogswell  Weston,  D. 
Cornstock  John  D.,  D. 
Comstock  Edwin  J.,  D. 
Daglc  George  V.,  K. 
Daidson  James,  W. 
Davis  Alpheus  G.,  D. 
Doming  Herbert,  D. 
Dixon  John  A.,  D. 
Doolittle  John  K.,  W. 
Edwards  John  L.,  D. 
Eldrcdge  Nathaniel  C.,  K. 
Ellsworth  Frederick,  W. 
Elmorc  Harvey  E.,  K. 
EbyJohn,  W. 
Evans  Lcvcrett  F.,.7). 
Fanning  Theodore  A.,  W. 
Fanning  Edward  M.,  D. 
Fanning  Henry  C.,  W. 
Ferris  Hilliard,  D. 
Ferris  Robert,  K. 
Ferris  Stephen  H.,  D, 


856 


APPENDIX. 


Finken  Henry,  K. 
Frost  Oswin  S.,  W. 
Gates  John,  W.       * 
Geary  Dennis,  K. 
Goddard  (IstLt.)  A.  M.,  W. 
Green  Thomas  L.,  K. 
Hanfprd  John  N.,  D. 
Harris  John,  D. 
Hayes  Michael,  D. 
Hewitt  Oscar  W.,  K. 
Hodge  Chauncy,  D.' 
Hollister  Fitz  G.,  K. 
Hoye  Thomas,  D. 
Hunter  Joseph  L.,  D. 
Huntington  Thomas  D.,  D. 
Jacklin  Ph.  H.,  D. 
Jerome  Francis  D.,  K. 
Jerome  Oscar  L.,  D. 
Jones  Charles,  K. 
Keach  Henry  W.  L.,  D. 
Kimball  Andrew  J.,  D. 
Knight  William  II.,  K. 
Knowlcs  John  C.,  D. 
Lacoureiere  John,  D. 
Lake  David,  K. 
Langworth  Joseph  C.,  D. 
Lathrop  Oliver,  W. 
Lathrop  (1st  Asst.  Surgeon) 

DC  Witt  C.,  D. 
Lenthard  Carl  F.,  K. 
Lewis  Charles  E.,  K. 
Lewis  William  G.,  K. 
Litchfield  Uriah,  D. 
Livermorc  Henry  M.,  D. 
Logan  George  E.,  D. 
Long  William,  K. 
Lord  Orton  L.,  K. 
Lyon  Mclancthon  S.,  D. 
Main  (1st  Lieut.)  E.  G.,  D. 
Main  Samuel  11.,  D. 
Mann  Peter,  W. 
Marsh  George  H.,  K. 
Mason  Thomas,  K. 
Mason  William  A.,  D. 
McCall  (Capt.)  John,  K. 
Mclntosh  John  B.,  K. 
Merrill  Charles  E.,  D. 
Mills  John,  D. 
Mitchell  Diodate  J.,  D. 
Mitchell  George  W.,  K. 
Morcy  John,  W. 
Morgan  George  K.,  D. 
Morgan  Joseph, mD. 
Morse  Henry  11.,  K. 
Neff  Henry  H.,  K. 
Neweomb  Francis  A.,  D. 
Nichols  Jerome,  D. 
Nighting  John,  K. 
Parkerson  Josiah,  W. 
Parkhurst  Edward,  D. 
Patterson  Charles,  IF. 
Payne  Charles  H.,  K. 
Payne  Fitch,  D. 
Payne  Franklin,  D. 
Pelton  James  E.,  D. 
Pember  Jared,  D. 
Perkins-  George,  D. 
Peterson  William  H.,  W. 


Phelan  John,  K. 
Phelps  Housley  F.  D.,  K. 
Phillips  John,  D. 
Pierson  Thomas  B.,  D. 
Post  William,  K. 
Potter  William  H.,  D. 
Pound  Peter,  D. 
Randall  Henry,  K. 
Raymond  Henry,  D. 
Rice  Robert,  IF. 
Richards  Alonzo  I.,  K. 
Richmond  Willis  B.,  K. 
Riley  Lawrence,  K. 
Roberts  Henry  M.,  D. 
Roberts  Andrew,  D. 
Robinson  George  W.,  K. 
Rose  Ebcnezer,  jr.,  K. 
Rose  Franklin  M.,  K. 
Rouse  Horace  G.,  K. 
Rust  Cyprian  II.,  K. 
Saunders  Henry,  D. 
Scoville  Martin,  D, 
Simonds  John  II.,  K. 
Sexton  Henry  D.,  D. 
Stewart  Charles  B.,  D. 
Strickland  Henry  E.,  D. 
Stoddard  Frederick,  D. 
Stowc  Gilbert  H.,  D. 
Sweet  William  A.,  K. 
Talmagc  Elihu,  D. 
Taylor  C.  Henry,  D. 
Taylor  Orrin,  D. 
Taylor  Henry  H.,  D, 
Thomas  Richmond  E.,  K. 
Thorn  Reuben,  D. 
Tillotson  Lafayette,  K. 
Tompkins  John,  D. 
Trask  Frank,  K. 
Tuller  Isaac  H.,  D. 
Tuttle  John  E.,  K. 
Upton  George  W.,  D. 
Wadhams  Edward,  K.     ' 
Wadhams  Martin  L.,  K. 
Wait  (2d  Lieut.)  M.,  K. 
Wcstover  Edwin  E.,  D. 
Wheeler  Edwin,  D. 
Wheeler  Lucius,  K. 
White  Elijah,  K. 
Wilcox  Whiting,  K. 
Williams  John  A.,  D. 
Woods  Victor,  D. 
Y'emmons  Joseph  R.,  D. 

Ninth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Abbot  John,  D. 
Alaby  Albert,  Z>. 
Baggs  John,  D, 
Bowker  George,  D. 
Barry  John  t.,  D. 
Blakeslce  Almon,  D. 
Bohan  Paul,  D. 
Boyle  Charles,  D. 
Broddcrick  James,  D. 
Brown  Daniel  H.,  D. 
Brown  William,  D. 
Bouisee  Newman,  D. 
Burgess  John  R.,  D. 
Burns  John,  D. 


Burke  Richard,  D. 
Burton  Charles  B.,  D. 
Bush  James,  D. 
Cain  Patrick,  D. 
Calkins  Jesse  I.,  D. 
Calkins  Joseph  L.,  D. 
Carey  James,  D. 
Carey  William  W.,  D. 
Carlin  Andrew,  D. 
Carney  Ambrose,  D. 
Charboucl  Paul,  D. 
Claffec  (Sgt.-Maj.)  P.  T.,  D. 
Clark  John,  D. 
Clark  William,  D. 
Claxton  Richard,  D. 
Cocn  John,  A. 
Colbert  Morris,  D. 
Conner  Thomas,  D. 
'Conner  George  0.,  D. 
Coyne  John,  D. 
Covle  John,  D. 
Coxall  Henry  E.,  D. 
Crowley  John,  D. 
Cruiso  John,  D. 
Cunningham  James,  D. 
Daley  Bartholomew,  D. 
Dailey  Patrick,  D. 
Dikeman  George  S.,  D. 
Dillon  John,  D. 
Dimon  James  C.,  D.       ' 
Donahue  James,  D. 
Doyle  Peter,  D. 
Downey  r, i'jholas,  A. 
Downey  Michael,  D. 
Drassendoft'er  Henry,  D. 
Doyle  Peter,  D. 
Dunn  Thomas,  D. 
Eagan  John,  D. 
Eagan  William,  D. 
Ennes  John,  D. 
Ennis  Matthew,  D. 
Fagan  Michael,  D. 
Fairchild  (IstLt.)  F.  M.,  D. 
Fanning  John,  D. 
Fen  ton  Peter,  D. 
Ferris  John,  D. 
Fibbs  Wihiam,  D. 
Finklc  Peter,  D. 
Fitzgerald  William,  D. 
Flamandez  Peter,  D. 
Frazier  George,  L). 
Funt  William,  D. 
Furnace  Joseph,  D. 
Gahatian  Joseph,  D. 
Galligan  Philip,  D. 
Galvin  James,  D. 
Gladding  Leverett,  D. 
Grace  William,  D. 
Green  John,  D. 
Green  John,  D. 
Green  John,  D. 
GrcAi  Patrick,  D. 
Hackett  Peter,  D. 
Hall  Jessell,  D. 
Hallaner  Lewis  St.  V.,  D. 
Harrington  Joseph,  D. 
Ilartigan  John,  D. 
Harvey  Thomas,  D. 


ROLL  OF  HONOR. 


857 


Hinvlcy  Edward,  D. 

Moningham  James,  D. 

Weldon  Patrick,  D. 

Hayes  Elias,  D. 

Moore  Michael,  D. 

Woods  James,  D. 

llealy  Michael,  D. 

JNlorrissey  Patrick,  D. 

Woods  Patrick,  D. 

Helling  Frederick,  D. 
Henderson  James,  D. 

Mulvey  Charles,  D. 
Murphy  Martin,  D. 

Tenth  Regiment  Infantry. 

Hill  Henry,  D. 

Murphy  Jeremiah,  D. 

AHen  John,  D. 

Hillyer  George,  D. 

Murphy  James,  D. 

Allyn  Asa,  D. 

Hillver  James,  D. 

O'Brien  Thomas,  D. 

Atwell  Benjamin,  D. 

Hollidi  William,  D. 

O'Brien  James,  D. 

Austin  George  C.,  D. 

Horton  John  A.,  D. 

O'Bcrne  John,  D. 

Bailey  Albert  A.,  K. 

Horton  George  W.,  D. 

O'Burns  Michael,  D. 

Bartholomew  Pliny,  D. 

Hudson  Henry,  D. 

O'Conner  Peter,  D. 

Bartlett  Leonard,  D. 

Hughes  Arthur,  D. 

O'Neil  Mark,  K. 

Beach  Elliott  W.,  D. 

Hussey  Walter,  D. 

Otis  Dennis,  D. 

Beardsley  Edward  C.,  D. 

Irvine  Christian,  D. 

Patchen  Charles  T.,  D. 

Bell  George  L.,  W. 

Jewess  Frederick,  K. 

Pearson  Philip,  D. 

Benedict  Lewis  H.,  D. 

Johnson  Lewis  II.,  D. 

Potter  Charles  H.,  D. 

Black  Albert,  D. 

Kain  Michael,  D. 

Potter  Frederick,  D. 

Bomer  Frederick  W.,  D. 

Kearney  Thomas,  D. 

Prime  Edward  P.,  D. 

Booth  Charles  F.,  D. 

Keaveney  Michael,  D. 

Quinn  Thomas,  D. 

Bowen  James,  jr.,  W. 

Keegan  Edward,  D. 

Quinn  Luke,  D. 

Bradbury  Thomas  ^.,  D. 

Keenan  Peter,  D.  • 

Reynolds  Patrick,  D. 

Bradley  William  H.,  D. 

Kchoe  James,  D. 

Reynolds  Patrick,  D.         • 

Brainard  Henry  L.,  D. 

Kclleher  Roger,  D. 

Reynolds  Michael,  2d,  D. 

Brainard  Whitney  S.,  D. 

Kelly  John,  D. 

Rhatigan  Edward,  D. 

Brinton  Alexander  R.,  D. 

Kenncdey  Daniel,  D. 

Roberts  John  F.,  D. 

Bromley  Lyman  W.,  D. 

Kennedey  Joseph,  D. 

Robinson  James  W.  B.,  D. 

Bronson  Jeremiah  T.,  D. 

Kerlcy  John,  D. 

Robertson  Seth,  D. 

Brooks  Sherald  A.,  /v. 

Kilgrariff  Martin,  D. 

Rolland  Herman,  D. 

Brown  Nelson  L.,  W. 

Lackey  Luke  C.,  D. 

Ross  Charles,  D. 

Brown  Joseph  M.,  D. 

Lane  John  J.,  D. 

Rowley  John,  D. 

Brown  .Sherman,  D. 

Lane  Patrick,  D. 

Ryan  James,  D. 

Brower  Alfred  L.,  D." 

Larkins  Patrick,  D. 

Ryan  John,  D. 

Bunnell  Cyrus  R.,  D. 

Lauffin  Richard,  D. 

Ryan  (2)  Timothy,  D. 

Bunting  Alexander  R.,  D. 

Lawlcr  James,  A. 

Ryan  Cornelius,  D. 

Burchard  Eli,  D. 

Lynch  Thomas,  D. 

Sanford  Stephen,  D. 

Burdick  Charles,  D. 

Lynch  John,  1st,  D. 

Sanford  Oliver,  D. 

Burns  William  A.,  K. 

Lynch  Patrick,  K. 

Scully  William,  D. 

Card  David  J.,  D. 

Lyon  Edward,  D. 

Scott'  Michael,  D. 

Carter  John,  Z). 

McAlloon  Patrick,  D. 

Shaughness  Peter,  D. 

Chadwick  William  H.,  D. 

McCann  William  J.,  D. 

Shuentcr  Joseph,  D. 

Clark  Henry,  W. 

McCarthy  John,  D. 

Simpson  John,  D. 

Coffing  (IstLt.)  J.  C.,  W. 

McCormick  Thomas,  D. 

Slawson  David  A.,  D. 

Collins  Joseph,  W. 

McClune  James,  D. 

Smith  John,  D. 

Cook  Samuel,  D. 

McDonald  James,  ZX 

Smith  John,  2d,  D. 

Cotton  Samuel  S.,  D. 

McGrath  Michael,  D. 

Smith  Martin,  D. 

Coville  Matthew,  D. 

McGrath  Thomas,  D. 

Smith  Peter,  D. 

Crandall  Horatio,  D. 

McGuirc  Constantino,  D. 

Spellesay  Thomas,  D. 

Cutts  Charles  L.,  D. 

McEarland  Peter,  D. 

Stafford  John  A.,  D. 

Day  John  F.,  K. 

McKenna  (2d  Lt.)  Henry,  D. 

Stillson  David,  D. 

Davrix  Patrick,  D. 

McLaughlin  John,  D. 

Sullivan  Jeremiah,  D. 

Dickson  David,  D. 

McLanghlin  Timothy,  D. 

Sullivan  John,  D. 

Donovan  Jotyn,  D. 

McMahonc  James,  D. 

Sullivan  William,  D. 

Doolittle  Luther  H.,  W. 

McPhcrson  John,  D. 

Sullivan  Daniel,  D. 

Downes  Henry  A.,  D. 

McSorlcy  John,  D. 

Sutter  Frank,  D. 

Drake  (Col.)  Albert  W.,  D. 

McTague  John,  D. 

Tackett  James,  D. 

Dunn  Robert,  D. 

Magce  Michael,  D. 

Tallmadgc  Thomas  B.,  D. 

Edmonds  Daniel,  W. 

Maher  John,  D. 

Thompson  Henry  F.,  D. 

Ferris  Alexander,  W, 

Maher  John,  D. 

To  bin  James,  D. 

Gerald  James  S.,  D. 

Mahoney  Patrick,  D. 

Todd  Legrand,  D. 

Gerry  William  T.,  W. 

Martin  John,  D. 

Tyghe  Roger,  D. 

Gill  George,  K. 

Marlow  John,  'D. 

Walch  John,  D. 

Goff  Thomas,  W. 

Meany  John,  D. 

Walsh  Patrick,  D. 

Gorton  William  H.,  W. 

Mcldrum  John,  D. 

Walsh  Robert,  A. 

Graham  William  N.,  K. 

Mercier  Alexander,  D. 

Waldron  Thomas,  D. 

Gray  Henry  T.,  D. 

Meredith  John,  D. 

Warner  Abraham  A.,  D. 

Green  Anthony  11.,  D. 

Minahan  Thomas,  D. 

White  Thomas,  D. 

Greene  Edwin  E.,  Z). 

Molloy  Michael,  D. 

Wells  Jeremiah,  D. 

Grummon  Francis  H.,  D. 

108 

858 


APPENDIX. 


Hamblin  Philo  A.,  D. 
Hawkins  Grin  J.,  D. 
Heldmerick  Casper,  A. 
Henderson  Alexander,  D. 
Hill  (2d  Lt.)  Theron  D.,  K. 
Hindle  James,  K. 
Hoadley  Harvey  S.,  W. 
Holland  James  B.,  D. 
Hern  Michael,  W. 
Hoyt  William,  D. 
Hoyt  (Capt.)  Isaac  L.,  D. 
Howe  William  H.,  D. 
House  Lorin,  A. 
Ilowman  William  H.,  D. 
Hubbard  John,  IF. 
Hubbard  Silas  W.,  D. 
Hudson  William  G.,  D. 
Hunter  William,  D. 
Huntley  Joseph  W.,  IF. 
Hurlhut  Roger  L.,  D. 
Huxforcl  William  G.,  D. 
Hyde  Chauncey,  D. 
Ingraham  William,  IF. 
Jarman  George,  D. 
Kane  Jerry,  D. 
Kellogg  Alfred,  D. 
King  Samuel  W.,  D. 
Kilbourn  John  R.,  D. 
Lane  Leman  G.,  D. 
Lathrop  Simon,  K. 
Lester  Dwight  T.,  IF. 
Lockwpod  William  H.,  D. 
Lombard  Joseph  A.,  K. 
Long  William,  D. 
Loveland  John  F.,  K. 
Lounsbury  Henry  W.,  D. 
Lyman  Levi  F.,  W. 
McCarty  James,  D. 
McDonal  James,  W. 
McLeod  William,  IF. 
Manchester  Frederick,  D. 
Maro  Patrick,  K. 
Mason  John,  D. 
Mead  (Capt.)  Thos.  R.,  D. 
Mead  Henry  H.,  D. 
Mead  (Major)  Daniel  M.,/). 
Monson  Lyman  T.,  IF. 
Morse  Orrm  II.,  D. 
Mosher  Lcander,  Z>. 
Munsell  William,  D. 
Neal  James  H.,  IF. 
Ohnsted  Osborn,  D. 
Oviatt  Erasmus  A.,  K. 
Owen  Orville  D.,  L). 
Park  George  B.,  W. 
Pease  Gil  son,  D. 
Perkins  Henry,  D. 
Perkins  (1st.  Lt.)Wm.W.,  A'. 
Raymond  Henry  M.,  D. 
Reynolds  Milo,  K. 
Reuthsler  John,  D. 
Ride  William,  A. 
Rood  Morton,  D. 
Rooncy  James  S.,  D. 
Ross  John,  K. 
Rowe  Egbert,  Z>. 
Russell  (Col.)  Charles  L.,  K. 
Russell  John  E.,  A'. 


Salter  William  N.,  D. 
Sears  Stephen  II.,  D. 
Sherman  John  T.,  K. 
Sherwood  Samuel,  D. 
Simms  John  M.,  IF. 
Skinner  Jesse  P.,  D. 
Slaine  Peter  S.,  D. 
Smith  Arthur  W.,  D. 
Smith  Edgar  G.,  K. 
Smith  James  C.,  A. 
Sniffen  William,  D. 
Speed  John  W.,  D. 
Stillman  (2dLt.)H.  M.,  A. 
Taylor  Henry  S.,  D. 
Taylor  Samuel,  IF. 
Thomas  George  D.,  IF. 
Tibbals  Abraham,  D. 
Tinker  Charles  II.,  D. 
Tomlinson  Edmund  B.,  D. 
Toomey  John  L.,  W. 
Treat  Noyes  A.,  D. 
Tucker  John  W.,  D. 
Tjittle  Henry  M.,  D.  * 

Wallace  John  L.,  IF. 
Ward  Thomas  M.,  D. 
Washburn  Owen  W.,  D. 
Weaver  Amos  C.,  D. 
Weeks  Harvey  J.,  D. 
Wells  (Capt.)  Henry  A.,  K. 
Wcston  Everett  B.,  D. 
Wheaton  Albert  F.,  W. 
Wheeler  ElbertE..  Z>. 
Will  ox  Lucene,  IF. 
Wilson  Robert,  D. 
Wing  George,  A. 
Wright  Frank,  D. 
Wright  Charles  M.,  D. 
Vergason  Erastus,  A. 

Eleventh  Regiment  Infantry. 
Andress  David,  K. 
Antonio  John,  W. 
Antonio  Manuel,  IF. 
Bailey  George  E.,  A. 
Bailey  Albert  H.,  D. 
Baker  Henry  E.,  D. 
Barber  Charles,  D. 
Barnstead  George  T.,  IF. 
Barnum  (IstLt.)  S.  C.,  TF. 
Bates  Theodore  S.,  K. 
Batty  Davis,  A. 
Beach  Benjamin  J.,  A'. 
Beers  Henry  A.,  A. 
Beman  Charles,  D. 
BcmanJob,  IF. 
Bills  George,  A. 
Bills  Prosper  B.,  D. 
Bissell  Henry,  TF. 
Blodgct  Edward  A.,  D. 
Bohr  Frederick,  K. 
Braman  Lucian,  D. 
Brooks  John,  D. 
Bugbee  William,  IF. 
Burke  Edward,  A. 
Burtrand  John,  K. 
Campbell  Leander,  K. 
Canfield  William  H.,  D. 
Chappell  Benjamin  F.,  D. 


Chaffee  Frank,  K. 
Clemmcnts  John,  D. 
Cleaveland  Chauncey  F.,  D. 
Cleaveland  Elisha,  D. 
Cogswell  William  F.,  K. 
Cole  William,  D. 
Converse  (Major)  J.  II.,  A. 
Converse  Rufus,  A. 
Coville  George  B.,  W. 
Crome  Gilbert  R.,  K. 
Culver  Fred.  D.,  D. 
Cushman  Alonzo  S.,  A. 
Daly  Alliek,  A. 
Daniels  Oscar  G.,  D. 
Davis  Henry  W.,  A. 
Dawley  George  W.,  D. 
Dayton  Lewis,  A. 
Decker  Clark,  A. 
Deming  Edward,  A. 
Desons  Pierre,  A. 
Didicr  Augustc,  A. 
Dieth  Guitar  A.,  D. 
Dodge  Henry  C.,  D. 
Dolan  Michael,  A. 
Duane  Charles,  A. 
Dubois  Alfred,  A. 
Eddy  Charles,  D. 
Erraisch  Otto,  D. 
Evans  Willard,  D. 
Fay  John,  A. 
Ferry  Amos,  IF. 
Fessington  Clinton,  IF. 
Flint  Alvin,  A. 
Ford  David  M.,  A. 
Ford  Henry  C.,  D. 
Formia  Peter,  A. 
Fosket  Albert  O.,  D. 
Frink  Charles  H.,  A. 
Fuller  Edward,  D. 
Galligcr  Michael,  A. 
George  Thomas  A.,  D. 
Germiiin  Achille,  A'. 
Gillin  John  H.,  A. 
Gorman  Edward,  IF. 
Graves  Augustus  E.,  D. 
Green  Joel,  D. 
Griswold  (Capt.)  J.  D.,  A'. 
Gullock  George  F.,  D. 
Halbthss  William,  D. 
Hall  William  II.,  A. 
Ileplin  George  H.,  A. 
Iliilyer  John,  D. 
Hitchcock  William  H.,  A. 
Ilollistcr  Joseph,  D. 
Holt  Marcus  B.,  D. 
Holwell  John  C.,  A. 
Hopkins  William  M.,  A. 
Houghton  William,  A. 
Humphreys  Edward  J.,  D. 
Hutchins  William,  D. 
Jackson  Thomas,  D. 
Jones  John,  D. 
Johnson  John, D. 
Karcher  Ferdinand,  D. 
Kettle  William  S.,  D. 
Kingsbury  (Col.)  H.  W.,  A. 
Kirk  Roderic,  D. 
Lane  William,  A. 


ROLL  OF  HONOR. 


859 


Lathrop  John  E.,  D. 
Luwler  Thomas,  K. 
Lawson  Ansel,  D. 
Lee  (Capt.)  Edwin  R.,  K. 
Lewis  Francis  J.,  D. 
Luce  Lozare,  K. 
Mabb  Epliraim,  D. 
Mack  Jesse,  D. 
Main  Henry,  D. 
Mallory  Joseph  B.,  K. 
Mantz  William,  D. 
McAlistcr  Ronald,  K. 
McCabc  Peter,  D. 
McNeil  Owen,  K. 
Messin  James,  K. 
Millikcn  Davis,  D. 
Mills  Hezekiah  P.,  D. 
Mitchell  Charles,  K. 
Morden  John  B.,  K. 
Morgan  James,  K. 
Morris  John,  D. 
Morse  Charles  H.,  K. 
Mowry  Elisha,  D. 
Mowry  Elisha,  jr.,  D. 
Munroe  Charles,  D. 
Munroe  John,  ft. 
Murphy  Thomas,  A. 
Nichols  Harmes  L.,  D. 
Norton  Amasa,  D. 
Ormsby  Oliver  P.,  K. 
Parker  Lewis  L.,  D. 
Parrett  Theodore,  K. 
Paolo  Leon,  K. 
Payne  Thomas,  D. 
Peckham  John,  D. 
Pete  Elijah  S.,  D. 
Phillips  George  W.,  D. 
Pike  George  D.,  D. 
Pinot  Etianne,  K. 
Potter  William  R.,  D. 
Quinn  Patrick,  D. 
Read  Egbert  D.,  D. 
Read  John  H.,  K. 
Remington  Thomas  F.,  W. 
Rice  Samuel  B.,  D.   . 
Riggs  George  S.,  D. 
Rising  Henry,  K. 
Roberts  Halsey,  D. 
Roberts  Hiram  C.,  K. 
Robertson  Aaron,  D.f 
Rodgers  Samuel  C.,  K. 
Rouse  Asa  W.,  K. 
Sackett  (Capt.)  Wm.  II.,  K. 
Salter  Watson  C.,  W. 
SchofieM  Henry  M.,  W. 
Shepard  George  A.,  K. 
Sherman  Daniel  P.,  D. 
Shughrue  John  S.,  D. 
Slack  Wm.  H.,  W. 
Smith  Wm.  B.,  D. 
Smith  Wm.  A.,  D. 
Smith  Henry,  K. 
Sonderegger  Jacob,  D. 
Souter  James,  K. 
Southworth  Henry  M.,  D. 
Spellman  Charles,  Z>. 
Swanton  George,  K. 
Standihs  Charles,  D. 


Stevens  Frank  A.,  D. 
Steimetz  Charles,  K. 
Stiles  James  B.,  K. 
Storrs  Daniel  C.,  D. 
Stowe  Vivant,  K. 
Sullivan  Michael,  K. 
Tarbox  Daniel  I.,  K. 
Thompson  Joseph,  K. 
Todd  Albert,  K. 
Tripp  Samuel  B.,  K. 
Turner  Orrin  C.,  D. 
Tuttle  Albert  M.,  K. 
Tyrrell  Willis  H.,  D. 
Utley  Origen,  D. 
Von  Driest  Nicolas,  D. 
Walker  John  H.,  A". 
Warren  George,  W. 
Warriner  Wm.  D.,  W. 
Weeks  Fennimore,  K. 
Wentz  Martin.  W. 
White  Joseph,  D. 
Whitney  Edward,  D. 
Wood  John  W.,  W. 
Zemiz  Claudius,  K. 

Tivelfth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Allen  James  E.,  D. 
Allen  Jeremiah,  D. 
Allyn  (2d  Lt.)  Stanton,  £>. 
Armcnt  Samuel  R.,  D. 
Arnold  Cui'tiss  S.,  D. 
Ashley  Elisha  L.,  K. 
Atkins  Solon  R.,  W. 
Atwood  James  L.,  D. 
Avery  Alexander  W.,  D. 
Babcock  Wilson,  D. 
Babcock  Stanton,  D. 
Baker  Albert,  W. 
Baker  Edward,  D. 
Baker  Reuben  W.,  D. 
Baker  Lovell,  D. 
Baker  Horace,  D. 
Baldwin  George  W.,  D. 
Barnum  Edgar  H.,  D. 
Belden  Directus  F.,  K. 
Benharn  Roland  D.,  D. 
Bentley  George,  D 
Bickne'll  Charles  W.,  K. 
Bigelow  Charles,  D. 
Birch  Herman,  D. 
Bi.-scll  Hufus  M.,  D. 
Bolman  Lemuel,  D. 
Bolton  Emerson  O.,  D. 
Bond  Austin  W.,  D. 
Bonney  John,  D. 
Booth  Wijbert  II.,  D. 
Britten  Henry,  D. 
Brookman  Janies,  D. 
Brown  Charles  H.,  D. 
Brundage  James  L.,  D, 
Bundy  George  B.,  D, 
Burton  Jeremiah,  D. 
Bushncll  John  B.,  D. 
Butler  Thomas,  D. 
Campbell  Edwin  W.,  D. 
Candee  William  B.,  K. 
Carly  Edward,  K. 
Chapman  George  W.,  D. 


Church  Morris  S.,  D. 
Clark  Grove,  D. 
Clark  Samuel,  D. 
Clark  Dallas,  D. 
Cobberly  Edward,  K. 
Collins  Charles  L.,  W.' 
Cook  Reuben,  D. 
Corn  well  (1st  Lt.)  C.  W.,Z>. 
Congdon  Edmund,  W. 
Couch  Edwin  N.,  K. 
Cuddy  John,  D. 
Currie  John  H.,  Z). 
Curtiss  George  W.,  D. 
Darrow  John  M.,  A. 
Davis  Gilbert  A.,  D. 
Davis  George  D.,  D. 
Davis  Nathan,  D. 
Denison  Chester  H.,  D. 
Douglass  Charles  M.,  D. 
Dowd  Frank,  W. 
Dudley  Alva  M.,  D. 
Dunn  Martin,  D. 
Dyer  George  M.,  D. 
Emmett  Michael,  D. 
Evarts  Joseph  V.,  W. 
Farnsworth  Gilbert,  D. 
Farren  Charles  C.,  D. 
Field  Osmer  F.,  D. 
Francis  (1st  Lt.)  J.  L.,  D. 
Francis  Henry  J.,  D. 
Franklin  Elfo'rd  C.,  D. 
Freeland  Andrew  I.,  D.     ' 
Freeman  Horace  II.,  D. 
Flynn  Michael,  D. 
Gardner  Thomas,  D. 
Garner  John,  D. 
Gavitt  Lorenzo  D.,  A* 
Gilbert  Sylvester,  K. 
GradyJohn,  W. 
Gray"  William  D.,  D. 
Green  George,  W, 
Green  Martin  A.,  D. 
Hale  Howard  F.,  W. 
Hall  Wilson  S.,  D. 
Hammond  George,  D. 
Hamm  Daniel  S.,  D. 
Hayden  Henry,  K. 
Hicks  Lester,  D. 
Hitchcock  Fred.  J.,  D.    • 
Holden  John  M.,  D. 
Hurd  William  B.,  D. 
Hnrd  John  H..  D. 
Ingham  Frederick,  D. 
Ingersoll  Clarence  L.,  ZX 
Irish  Ezra,  D. 
Jillson  Henry,  D. 
Johnson  Abner  II.,  D. 
Johnson  Philo  B.,  D. 
Judson  Frederick  N.,  K. 
Kidder  Warren,  W. 
Kellcy  Edward,  D. 
Lamphere  Henry  A.,  D. 
Leary  Timothy  O.,  A, 
Lee  Edward  N.,  D. 
Lester  John  E.,  Z). 
Levenworth    ( 1  st  Asst.  Sur 
geon  )  M.  C.,  D. 
Lillie  Warren,  D. 


860 


APPENDIX. 


Lloyd   Henry,  K. 

Ames  Benjamin  G.,  D. 

Lord  Benjamin,  D. 

Assaut  Christian,  A". 

Lot'tus  Patrick,  W. 

Baker  William,  D. 

Loveland  Marvin,  D. 

Benedict  Aaron,  D. 

Loring  Locke  L.,  W. 

Bertz  Charles,  K. 

Lucy  John,  D. 

Betz  Edward,  D. 

Macauless  George,  K. 

Black  David,  K. 

McCarthy  Patrick,  D. 

Blackman  Eli  B.,  K. 

McClcllan  John,  D. 

Blakesl^e  Norman,  D. 

McKnight  William,  D. 

Blanchard  William,  K. 

Mattler  Abram,  D. 

Bogue  Edmund,  D. 

Maynard  Charles  C.,  D. 

Bowen  Thomas  L.,  D. 

Mathewson  Joseph,  D. 

Brady  John,  D. 

Miles  Reuben,  D. 

Brown  David  H.,  D. 

Miner  Jesse  L.,  D. 

Burns  Thomas,  K. 

Mitchell  William  E.,  A. 

Capen  Elbridge  S.,  D. 

Morehousc  Samuel  E.,  K, 

Carey  Patrick,  K. 

Moffit  John  S.,  D. 

Carroll  Thomas,  D. 

Murphy  John,  D. 

Carpenter  Walter  G.,  D. 

Newell"  William  J.,  W. 

Catlin  Charles,  D. 

Nixon  Thomas  N.,  D. 

Chapel  Alonzo,  D. 

Nolan  Thomas,  D. 

Clark  John,  D. 

Northrup  Corvus,  D. 

Clarke  (1st  Lt.)  Jonah  F.,Z>. 

Parkhurst  Wilfred,  D. 

Cleaveland  Charles  F.,  £>. 

Parsons  Edward,  D. 

Coffee  Jeremiah,  W. 

Elizur  B.,  D. 

Cotnstock  John  C.,  D. 

Pierce  Charles  II.,  D. 

Conrad  Henry  S.,  D. 

Penfidd  Evelyn,  D. 

Corbet  Michael,  W. 

Perkins  Charles  L.,  D. 

Cramm  John,  K. 

Plan  Charles  S.,  D. 

Cravey  John,  D. 

Platt  George  II.,  D. 

Daniels  John  F.,  D. 

Porter  Benedict  M.,  D. 

DeWolf  Edward,  D. 

Pratt  Gurdon,  D. 

Dobson  Michael,  D. 

Prowitt  Henry  M.,  D. 

Downes  George,  D. 

Sackett  Ambrose  S.,  D. 

Downes  George  C.,  D. 

Scranton  Dayton-  R.,  D. 

Doolittle  Frank  H.,  D. 

Schweikart  George,  D. 

Douglass  Reuben  H.,  D. 

Seward  Henry  A  ,  D. 

Enland  Alexander,  D. 

Simmons  Joseph  W.,  D 

Ferris  Smith  W.,ZX 

Sinclair  Eugene,  A". 

Ferris  William  I.,  D. 

Smith  George  E.,  D. 

Finlcy  Daniel  B.,  D. 

Smith  John,  D. 

Fitzpatrick  Thomas,  D. 

Smith  John  C.,  D. 

Francis  Thomas  A.,  D. 

Snow  George,  D. 

Freed  John,  D. 

Stebbins  Benjamin,  D. 

Fogerty  John,  K. 

Stecle  Charles  E.,  K. 

Fox  Henry  F.,  D. 

Stillman  Fred.  W..  D. 

Garcia  Joseph,  K. 

Sullivan  Charles,  D. 

Gay  Moses,  D. 

Sullivan  John  P.,  D. 

Gilbert  James,  D. 

Sweet  William  E.,  K. 

Gilmore  William,  D. 

Thrall  Bradley,  D. 

Gladden  Charles  R.,  D. 

Thompson  Ambrose,  A. 

Goldsmith  George,  D. 

Thompson  William  H.,  D. 

Gorman  John,  D. 

Toole  Thomas,  D. 

Greene  John,  D. 

Toy  Joseph  R.,  D. 

Gunter  Thomas  L.,  K. 

Tracv  Thomas,  A'. 

Hackette  Andrew/  W, 

Updyke  William,  D. 

Hassan  James,  D. 

Vanderbilt  Henry,  D. 

Havward  John,  D. 

Walker  Joseph,  D. 

Hopkins  Roswell  E.,  A'. 

Welch    (2d  Asst.    Surgeon) 

Hotchkiss  Charles,  D. 

John  B.,  D. 

Hungerford  Martin  B.,  D. 

Whithead  Alphonso  B.,  D. 

Hurley  Thomas,  D. 

Winship  Charles  N.,  D. 

Johnson  (2d  Lt.)  A.  T.,  A. 

Youngs  George,  A". 

Jones  Benjamin,  D. 

Youngs  John  D. 

Kcllcher  Jeremiah,  D. 

Thirteenth  Regiment  Infantry. 

Kempton  William  D.,  D. 
Kimhcrly  Albert  A.,  D. 

Ackley  Abram  E.,  D. 

Lane  Henry  L.,  D. 

Lamed  Edward  A.,  Z>. 
Leary  Patrick,  D. 
Lewis  James  C.,  D. 
McGowan  John,  D. 
McGuire  James,  D. 
McLachlan  Wells,  D. 
McManus  Edward,  K. 
Matthews  Stephen  A.,  W. 
Merwin  Charles  N.,  W. 
Miesner  (1st  Lt.)  Louis,  W. 
Miller  William,  D. 
Moore  William  H.,  D. 
Morris  Charles,  D. 
Moshcr  James  D.,  D. 
Murphey  Edward,  D. 
Munson  Charles,  D. 
Munson  Henry  B.,  D. 
Nettleton  (1st  Lt.)  I.  F.,  D. 
Nickerson  Edwin  L.,  K. 
Nops  Benedict,  D. 
O'Brien  John,  K. 
Peck  Daniel  R.,  D. 
Pile  Benjamin,  D. 
Roach  John,  D. 
Roath  Leonard  G.,  K. 
Roberts  William  F.,  D. 
Rogers  Gardner  B.,  D. 
Reynolds  Andrew  J.,  D. 
Reynolds  William  II.,. D. 
Reynolds  William  H.,  W. 
Richmond  Edward  S.,  A. 
Ruscoe  Hiram,  D. 
Ryan  William,  D. 
Sarles  Benjamin  O.,  K. 
Secelle  Theodore,  A. 
Selleet  George  B.,  D. 
Scribner  William  F.,  D. 
Shardon  Martin  J.,  D. 
Shea  John,  D. 
Simeons  Lewis  E.,  D. 
Skiff  George  C.,  D. 
Slover  Chester,  D. 
Smith  James,  D. 
Stanley  Frank  E.,  K. 
Stanley  Frank  W.,  W. 
Strickland  (1st  Lt.)  Jos., -ST. 
Sturges  Frederick  L.,  D. 
Sutliff  Friend,  D. 
Taylor  John  J.,  D. 
Thorns  John  W.,  D. 
Tomlinson  Charles  H.,  K. 
Torrance  James,  K. 
Tryon  Charles  E.,  D. 
Tyler  Fernando  H.,  D. 
Tyrell  Payne  S.,  D. 
Underwood  James  V.,  D. 
Waldron  Frederick  E.,  W. 
Warner  Aaron  C.,  D. 
Weed  Ed.  R,,  D. 
Welch  Henry,  D. 
Welch  Patrick,  D. 
Westhus  Bemhardt,  D. 
Wickwire  Franklin  L.,  D. 
Williams  Albert  G.,  D. 
Williamson  James,  D. 
Wheeler  (2d  Lt.)  John  T.,  A. 
Whitman  Elijah  N.,  D. 


ROLL  OF  HONOR. 


861 


Fourteenth  Regiment  Infantry. 

Abby  John,  K. 
Allen  Amory,  K. 
Allyn  Stephen  D.,  W. 
Allyn  William  R.,  D. 
Ames  Thomas  M.,  K. 
Avery  Oliver  C.,  D. 
Baldwin  George  W.,  W. 
Bangston  Charles,  D. 
Banks  Wesley,  W. 
Barker  John,  D. 
Barrows  Charles,  A'. 
Barry  Robert,  K. 
Beber  Charles  A.,  K. 
Beebe  Charles  A.,  K. 
Becklcy  Birdsey,  K. 
Benton  Raphael  W.,  K. 
Ben  ton  Joel  C.,  D. 
Bidwell  Lucius  E.,  K. 
Blimm  (Capt.)  Jarvis  E.,  K. 
Booth  Elisba  S.,  W. 
Bond  Joseph  B.,  D. 
Bouncy  William  S.,  D. 
Bradshaw  William,  W. 
Brainard  Thomas  I.,  K. 
Brewer  Edward  H.,  D. 
Bronson  (Capt.)  Isaac  R.,  W. 
Brooks  Charles  S.,  K. 
Brcckett  Edwin,  W. 
Brown  William  C.,  A'. 
Brown  Henry,  K. 
Brown  James  M.,  K. 
Buckingham  E.  C. 
Briflet  Charles  F.,  D. 
Burke  John,  D. 
Burrows  Daniel  L.,  D. 
Burrows  Charles,  K. 
Burton  Chester,  K. 
Burton  Lewis  G.,  W. 
Butler  Nathaniel,  D. 

Canlicld(2dLt.)D.E.,A". 

Carlock  George,, K. 

Caulkins  John  F.,  K. 

Cause  William  M.,  W. 

Cavanagh  Francis,  A'. 

Chadwiek  Robert  A.,  A'. 

Chapman  William,  D. 

Chamberlain  Joseph  A.,  D. 

Clark  Aaron  A.,  A'. 

Clement  Moses  G.,  A'. 

Clement  Nathaniel  C.,  D. 

Cole  Alonzo  E.,  W. 

Comes  (2d  Lt.)  W.  A.,  W. 

Comstock  Albert  0.,  D. 

Conners  James  P.,  A". 

Cooper  James,  D. 

Corbit  George  W.,  W. 

Corbit  William  H.,  W. 

Crampton  Cornctt  M.,  D. 

Crosby  (2d  Lt.)  G.  H.,  D. 

Cummings  John,  D. 

Cunningham  John,  D. 

Curtis  Ilanford,  D. 

Curtis  Benjamin,  D. 

Daniel  John,  A'. 

Dart  Charles  E.,  W. 

Davis  William,  Z>. 


Delaney  Michael,  D. 
Dibble  Alfred  H.,  K. 
Dixon  George,  D. 
Dorman  Orrin,  D. 
Dorcy  Edward,  W. 
Dudley  Henry  C.,  D. 
Dwight  Franklin,  W. 
Eno  Frederick  R.,  K. 
Fairchild  Amos  H.,  D. 
Farmer  Harman,  W. 
Farar  David  H..  D. 
Field  Edmund  L,  K. 
Field  Chester  C.,  W. 
Fiske  (Capt.)  Samuel,  D. 
Flint  Curtis  W.,  D. 
Frost  Albert  jS.,  A'. 
Fuller  Benjamin  R.,  K. 
Fuller  Franklin,  D. 
Gibbons  (Capt.)  E.  W.,  W. 
Glossenger  William,  K. 
Goodell  William  W.,  K. 
Greene  John,  K. 
Griswold  Russell,  K. 
Gurley  John,  jr.,  D. 
Hamilton  Charles  T.,  W. 
Harrison  Frederick,  W. 
Hart  Thomas,  K. 
Hart  (2d  Lieut.)  E.  W.,  D. 
Ilanford  Charles  J. 
Henderson  James,  D. 
Herring  Samuel,  K. 
Hill  Albert  M.,  W. 
Hine  Luther  R.,  K. 
Hodges  Nelson,  W. 
Hollistor  Francis,  D. 
Hollister  Frederick  J.,  D. 
Hubbard  Lucian  W.,  D. 
Hubbard  Robert,  K. 
Hull  Richard  L.,  K. 
Hurlburt  John  J.,  D. 
Huxham  Samuel,  K. 
Hyatt  Charles  G.,  D. 
Jackson  Patrick,  W. 
Jacobs  William,  W. 
Janot  Joseph,  D., 
Jerome  Elias  L.,  K. 
Johnson  Elisha,  D. 
Johnson  George  W.,  D. 
Jones  Watson,  W. 
Jones  John,  W. 
Judd  Austin,  D. 
Julian  John  F.,  W. 
Keam  Jacob,  K. 
Kcegan  Michael,  K. 
Keller  Henry,  K. 
Kelly  Thomas,  K. 
Kcrnin  Patrick,  A'. 
Kenyon  Eugene  W.,  D. 
Kelsey  Alson  A.,  D, 
Kittle  Stephen  D.,  A'. 
Lane  John  L.,  D. 
Latue  Charles,  D. 
Laughlin  Frank,  A'. 
Leftingwcll  Ozias  C.,  D. 
Lewis  Tlmddeus  W.,  K. 
Lloyd  Patrick,  W. 
Lloyd  Henry  A.,  W. 
Lincoln  David  B.,  W. 


Lovejoy  William  F.,  K. 
Madigan  Michael,  K. 
McLaughlin  James,  K. 
McCauley  James,  D. 
McClusky  Joseph,  W. 
McAlhatten  Charles,  K. 
McVay  James,  D. 
Mann  Edward  W.,  K. 
Mansfield  William,  K. 
Marsh  William  D.,  K. 
Masterson  Patrick,  D. 
Maynard  Jabez  B.,  D. 
Maynard  Erastus  A.,  D. 
May  George  S.,  K. 
Metcalf  Martin  V.  B.,  W. 
Mills  William  S.,  K. 
Mills  Thomas  J.,  D. 
Miller  Hermon,  K. 
Miner  John,  K. 
Mix  David,  D. 
Morgan  Henry,  D. 
Mollan  Alfred  G.,  D. 
Moore  Frederick,  D. 
Morse  Charles  D.,  D. 
Mott  William,  K. 
Myers  William  S.,  D. 
Nichols  Bradley,  \V. 
Niles  Frederick  W.,  D. 
Norton  Arnon  L.,  W. 
Norton  William  H.,  K. 
Norton  William  E.,  K. 
Norton  Francis  M.,  K. 
Norton  Edward  F.,  K. 
Otis  Josiah  L.  D.,  D. 
Otis  Daniel  II.,  W. 
Osborn  Robert  W.,  D. 
Orcutt  Henry  W.,  K. 
Owen  Henry,  \V. 
Packard  David,  D. 
Parks  John  W.,  K. 
Parsons  Heman,  D. 

Penfield  George  II.,  D. 

Pcrcey  Frank  J.,  K. 

Perkins  Erastus  B.,  W. 

Pcterscn  Hans,  D. 

Phillips  Jonathan  W.,  W- 

Pickett  Birdsey,  D. 

Pritchard  Orlan  C.,  W. 

Post  John  W.,  D. 

Puffer  Joseph,  K. 

Ramsdell  \Villiam  P.,  K. 

Reardon  Cornelius,  W. 

Redfield  John  D.,  D. 

Reed  Norton  A.,  D. 

Richardson  Miles  G.,  D. 

Rising  Roland,  W. 

Root  Sylvanus  E.,  D.  . 

Russell  William,  D. 

Scranton  Francis  S.,  W. 

Scranton  Thomas  M.,  D. 

Scranton  Lewis  W.,  D. 

Schulte  Christopher,  D. 

Scully  James,  K. 

Seurle  Julius  F.,  D. 

Shalk  (IstLt.)  Fred.  E.,  W. 

Sbaughncssy  Michael,  A^. 

Shepard  James  B.,  A'. 

Shiier  Anurew,  W, 


862 


APPENDIX.    * 


Simons  Charles,  W. 
Simmons  Daniel,  W. 
Slessenger  Charles,  W. 
Smith  John  H.,  K. 
Smith  Charles  II.,  D. 
Snow  Worthington,  D. 
Sperry  Judson  E.,  D. 
Spencer  Edison  W.,  K. 
Stannard  Ezra  D.,  D. 
Stannard  George  E.,  W. 
Standish  Walter  F.,  K. 
Stanley  (IstLt.)  T.  A.,  W. 
Starkey  Robert,  D. . 
Steele  Sylvester  W.,  K. 
Stevens  Horace  B.,  K. 
Talcott  Lucius,  D. 
Talcott  Samuel  L.,  W. 
Taylor  Smith  S.,  D. 
Tiernay  Michael,  D. 
Timmons  Daniel,  W. 
Tiley  Henry,  K. 
Tucker  Hiram  H.,  D. 
Tully  John  B.,  D. 
Tyler  Moses,  D. 
Wadhams  (IstLt.)  H.W.,/v. 
Wadsworth  Lucius,  D. 
Waldo  Christopher,  D. 
Ward  Frederick  S.,  K. 
Wayner  Gottfreit,  D. 
Webster  John  R.,  W. 
Welton  Frederick  F.,  D. 
Wilkie  Thomas,  W. 
Willard  (Capt.)  Sam.  F.,  K. 
Woldert  Adam,  D. 
Wright  Dwight  II.,  D. 
Yerrington  Henry  P.,  W. 

Fifteenth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Allen  Charles  S.,  D. 
Andrews  Sidney  M.,  D. 
Augur  (Lt.)  M.  C.,  Q.  M. 
Baldwin  C.  S. 
Bailey  Oscar  M.,  D. 
Beach  Lyman  A. 
Baker  Francis  P.,  A. 
Baker  Thomas,  D. 
Baker  James  R. 
Bassett  Hobert-  A.  D. 
Beecher  F.  K. 
Bishop  Austin,  D. 
Benjamin  C.  A. 
Boylen  Philip,  D. 
Barnard  Thomas  G. 
Brooks  Thomas,  D. 
Boylen  Luke. 
Bradley  Edgar  S.,  D. 
Bassart  Pedro. 
Brown  Charles  C.,  D. 
Brocken  Timothy. 
Boyle  C.  A. 
Bellwood  Theodore. 
Burwell  J.  H. 
Carpenter  Franklin  S. 
Clark  Dennis,  D. 
Cook  Alvah  J. 
Coon  Joseph,  D. 
Coulter  Samuel,  D. 
Cullom  Michael,  D. 


Crowley  Daniel. 
Curtiss  Henry  L.,  D. 
Culver  Henry. 
Crandall  Dudley  W. 
Davis  John  N.,  D. 
Dean  George. 
Dolph  William  H.,  D. 
Doolittlc  Henry  C.,  D. 
Durgal  F.  S. 
Douds  Benjamin  R.,  D. 
Dudley  Edward  W. 
Dutton  Theodore. 
Dougherty  Bernard. 
Divine  Patrick,  D. 
Dugan  John. 
Ely  James  S.,  D. 
Fields  John  L.,  D. 
Foote  Philo  B.,  D. 
Flynn  Richard,  D. 
Forde  John. 

Glassford  William  H.,  K. 
Hill  Russell,  D. 
Hitchcock  Andrew  B.,  D. 
Hull  James  C.,  D. 
Hursel  Conrad,  Band. 
Howley  Edmund. 
Haley  Thomas,  D. 
Hiimmond  Joseph,  D. 
Huntley  Albert. 
Howe  G.  H. 
Hull  H.  Ellsworth. 
Ivcs  Delavan  W.,  D. 
Jennings  Edward,  D. 
Johnson  Edward. 
Keartning  Thomas,  D. 
Kilbridc  Mark,  D. 
Kcnncy  Alvin. 
Lines  James  B.,  D. 
Leestrainge  Michael,  D. 
Lewis  George  H.,  D. 
Linslcy  Jacob  F.,  D. 
Linsley  Samuel  M.,  D. 
Lord  Henry  C. 
Lynch  Thomas,  D. 
Martin  Henry. 
Morse  Augustus  G.,  D. 
Munson  Oliver  S.,  D. 
Miller  Edward  A. 
Miller  Christian. 
Mortimer  Alonzo  S. 
Norton  Burritt  M.,  D. 
Olmstead  Oscar. 
Onghemach  John,  D. 
Osborn  John. 
Parker  James  B. 
Parlon  Prescott  W. 
Pardee  Milton  P.,  D. 
Peck  (Capt.)  Henry  B.,  D. 
Phelps  Austin,  D. 
Pickett  Elliott  R. 
Pettee  Rothens,  D. 
Ransom  Joseph. 
Reynolds  John,  D. 
Roberts  J.  G.  L.,  D. 
Roberson  William  H.,  D. 
Rogers  Mason. 
Rcdfield  Willis,  A. 
Reynold  G.  H. 


Sperry  Henry  E. 
Sherman  Benjamin  R.,  D. 
Smith  George,  D. 
Smith  Martin  L.,  D. 
Spencer  Lewis  F.,  D. 
Sperry  Jared  L.,  D. 
Stone  Charles  E.,  D. 
Smith  Jacob  A.,  K. 
Smith  (Capt.)  S.  S. 
Smith  C.  R. 
Sturgess  Joseph  A. 
Story  John  O.,  D. 
Striby  Emil. 
Talmadgc  Frank  P.,  D. 
Talmadgc  John  C.,  D. 
Thompson  Irvin  B. 
Treat  Noyes. 
Tuttlc  Beir.s. 
Thompson  George  W. 
Thompson  (Lt.)  W.  W. 
Uhl  William,  A. 
Wade  Charles  T.,  D. 
Whaley  Albert  H. 

Sixteenth  Regiment  Infantry, 
Aborns  Francis,  D. 
Eldritch  Henry,  K.    ' 
Allen  George  W.,  K. . 
Allen  John  W.,  W. 
Allen  Solomon  H.,  K. 
Allyn  Ralph,  K. 
Barber  Henry  W.,  K. 
Barber  (Capt.)  Fred.  M.,  K. 
Barnes  Jesse  O.,  K. 
Barnes  Gideon  S.,  D. 
Barnett  Henry,  K. 
Barrows  Dwight,  D. 
Bcnton  Charles  H.,  D. 
Bingham  John  F.,  K. 
Bout  Daniel,  D. 
Braman  John  P.,  D. 
Brooks  James  W.,  W. 
Brown  (Capt.)  Samuel,  K. 
Brookman  George,  W. 
Burr  Francis  H.,  W. 
Bushnell  James  W.,  D. 
Campbell  Orville,  K. 
Cadwcll  Mortimer  H.,  D. 
Case  Hosea  E.,  D. 
Case  Lowell  M.,  D. 
Case  Orville  J.,  D. 
Chamberla'n  Rufus,  W. 
Champlin  Andrew  G.,  D. 
Clancy  Tcrrence,  K. 
Cook  Asa  L.,  W. 
Cooley  Frederick  P.,  K. 
Cowan  William,  W. 
Cullums  William  N.,  K. 
Cullums  George,  D. 
DcMars  Theodore  E.,  K. 
Duff  William,  K. 
Drake  (Capt.)  John  L.,  K. 
Evans  Henry  D.,  K. 
Fleming  Elliott,  K. 
Foster  Philip  H.,  K. 
Foster  Gilbert  B.,  W. 
Gengan  James,  K. 
Gladding  Timothy,  K. 


ROLL   OF  HONOR. 


863 


K  Grace  Michael,  K. 

Greene  Leonard  A.,  D. 

Griggs  John  L.,  D. 
v  Grosvener  Joseph  A.,  K. 

Hagar  Edward,   W. 

Hale  Nathan,  D. 
f  Hamilton  H.,  K.  tf 

Harris  Albert  S.,  D. 

Hawlev  Hobert  A.,  W. 
"-  Hill  Albert  M.,  K. 

Hines  James,  W. 
"^  Hines  Stephen,  K. 

Hobbs  John  F.,  D. 

Hollister  Bridgman  J.,  W. 
•""Horton  (IstLt.)  William,  K. 

Hubbard  William  H.,  D. 

Hubbard  Rufus  N.,  D. 

Hunn  Horace,  D. 

Ingram  Charles  W.,  D. 
•-'  Kent  John  S.,  K. 

King  Charles  C.,   W. 

Lathrop  Whitney  E.,  D. 

Lay  Horace,  W. 

Loveland  John,  W. 

Lyman  Marcus  E.,  D.         i 
v  Macarty  Thomas,  K. 
t,-   McGrath  James,  K. 

Mills  Samuel  C.,  W. 

Mix  (Capt.)  Edward  H.,  A. 

Morgan  Robert  P.,  W. 
-    Mam-oss  (Capt.)  N.  J.,  K. 

*  Mumsell  Elijah,  K. 
Newell  Levi  H.,  D. 

'  Nichols  William  W.,  K. 
S  North  William  A.,  K. 
,.   Parmelee  Edward  A.,  K. 

Parsons  Edwin  L.,  D. 

Patrick  James,  D. 

-  Pease  Charles  W.,  K. 
Peckham  James  W.,  D. 
Perry  James  M.,  D. 
Pinney  Delos  R.,  D. 
Pockett  Joseph,  D. 
Porter  Linus  A.,  D. 
Porter  William  W.,  D. 

v  Prior  S.  Franklin,  K. 

Rivers  Joseph,  W. 

Rowley  Edwin  L.,  D. 

Safford  William  P.,  D. 
••'  Scott  Robert,  K. 

Sharp  Theodore  W.,  D. 

Shcpard  Miles  D.,  D. 

Smith  Henry  L.,  D. 
•''  Smith  Michael,  K. 
^  Snow  Nelson  E.,  K. 

Stevens  Charles  G.,  W. 

Sternberg  Charles  M.,  D. 

Stoughton  Sanford,  D. 

Sugden  William,  D. 

Talcott  Avthur  D.  N.,  D. 

Tennant  (Capt.)  C.  A.,  W. 

Thompson  (,1st  Lt.)  S.  H.,  D. 
•  Truesdell  Augustus,  K. 
v  Twiss  Jasoii  E.,  K. 

Wardwell  Emerson,   W. 

Warner  Horace  M.,  K. 
y  Washburn  Wadsworth  A  ,  K. 

Waterman  Charles  II.,  IF. 


White  John  J.,  D. 
Wilcox  Frank  E.,  D. 
Wildman  Cornelius,  K. 
Wilsey  Julius  C.,  A'. 
Wilson  Joseph  A.,  D. 
Wilson  Orvill  M.,  W. 
Woodruff  Sam uel  E.,  D. 
Wright  Joseph,  D. 
Wright  Francis  H.,  D. 
Wright  Jason,  D. 

Seventeenth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Armstrong  Joseph  H.,  D. 
Avant  William,  D. 
Arnold  Lewis,  W. 
Barnum  Bethel  S.,  K. 
Beach  Nelson,  D. 
Benedict  Charles  S.,  D. 
Benedict  William  E.,  D. 
Benson  ( Capt. )  D.  O.,  D. 
Benson  Frank  J.,  W. 
Blackman  Theodore,  K. 
Black  John  A.,  K. 
Bradley  William  F.,  K. 
Bronson  August  E.,  W. 
Brown  Thomas  D.,  D. 
Brown  Henry,  K. 
Buttery  Elias,  D. 
Burdett  Samuel  J.,  D. 
Clark  William  S.,  W. 
Comstock  Samuel,  2d,  W. 
Crabbe  Caseins  M.,  K. 
Crofut  Stephen  C.,  K. 
Cromma  Archibald,  D. 
Cumiskey  John,  K. 
Curtis  William,  D. 
Dauchy  William  O.,  K. 
Delavan  Smith,  W. 
Delavan  Charles  L,  D. 
Ferrin  Charles  Z.,  D. 
Flynn  James,  W. 
Fowler  (Lt.-Col.)  D.,  K. 
Fox  Michael,  K. 
Foote  Gains  St.  John,  D. 
Fry  John  G.,  D. 
Glover  Martin  V.  B.,  D. 
Graham  Thomas  R.,  K. 
Gregory  William  S.,  K. 
Gurnsey  George  H.,  W. 
Hartning  William,  D. 
I-Iawkhurst  William  H.,  D. 
Hayes  George  R.,  D. 
Ilearnc  James,  D. 
llendricks  George  B.,  D. 
Hickey  John,  D. 
Hoyt  John  W.,  D. 
Husted  Elnathan,  D. 
Jackson  John  W.,  D. 
Jarm'an  Walter  M.,  K. 
Jessop  Edwin  B.,  Z). 
Johnson  Elias,  D. 
Lewis  Charles  B.,  D. 
Light  James  H.,  D. 
Lobdell  Eli,  D. 
Mahan  Hugh,  K. 
McLaughlin  Thomas,  W. 
Metcalf  John  W.,  K. 
Morgan  Wilber  B.,  D. 


Moore  (Capt.)  James,  E.,K. 
Morrell  Charles  E.,  D. 
Monger  John  N.,  D. 
Olmsted  Christopher  S.,  D. 
Patterson  George,.  W. 
Peck  Lemuel,  D. 
Pickett  Edwin  D.,  K. 
Potts  Joseph  M.,  K. 
Purdy  Daniel  H.,  W. 
Rae  John  W.,  D. 
Handle  Lewis,  D. 
Reynolds  George  W.,  W. 
Richards  Edward,  D. 
Rogers  William  A.,  W. 
Rourke  Patrick,  D. 
Scofield  Orlando  F.,  D. 
Seymour  Francis  E.,  D. 
Small  Charles  S.,  D. 
Smith  Edwin  R.,  D. 
Stevens  Albert,  D. 
Stevens  William  T.,  D. 
Taylor  Richard  D.,  W. 
Walter  (Lt.-Col.)  Chas.,  K. 
Warren  Rufus,  W. 
Watenvorth  James,  D. 
Weed  Raymond,  D. 
Westlake  William  W.,  W. 
Whitlock  Joseph    S.,  W. 
Wilcox  Alva  E.,  W. 
Wood  George  H.  D. 
Woodman  Ireneus  P.,  W. 

Eighteenth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Adams  Russell  W.,  D. 
Adams  Joseph  P.,  K. 
Adams  William  L.,  K. 
Apley  Henry,  D. 
Asbery  George  F.,  D. 
Ashley  Earl,  K. 
Baldwin  Charles,  K. 
Barber  Charles  A.,  K. 
Beckwith  Charles  II.,  D. 
Bennett  Daniel  G.,  K. 
Bogue  Jabez  H.,  K. 
Bosworth  Charles  A.,  D. 
Buck  Lorenzo  H.,  D. 
Bundy  Asa  H.,  D. 
Brown  Russell  M.,  K. 
Brady  John  T.,  K. 
Burdick  Horatio,  D. 
Burnett  Albert,  K. 
Burnham  Oliver  B.,  W. 
Burnham  James  T.,  K. 
Cahoone  Jerome  B.,  K. 
Campbell  William  H.,  D. 
Carr  Nathaniel  S.,  D. 
Chapman  Elias  H.,  D. 
Chapman  Seth  S.,  D. 
Chappel  Alfred  S.,  Z). 
Cooper  Thomas  D.,  K. 
Crawford  John,  W. 
Culver  (Adjutant)  E.  B.,  W. 
Cushman  Isnart  P.,  D. 
Daggett  James,  A'. 
Dilliber  Andrew  N.,  K. 
Fanning  Charles  T.,  K. 
Fenton  Anson  A.,  K. 
Forestner  Joseph,  D. 


864 


APPENDIX. 


Fox  Wallace,  D. 
Franklin  Albert  G.,  K. 
Green  John  S.,  K. 
Green  David,  D. 
Green  Nathan  B.,  D. 
Hamilton  William  H.,  K. 
Hayes  George  S.,  D. 
Herrick  John  P.,  D. 
Holmes  Asher  D.,  K. 
Howard  George  E.,  K. 
Johnson  Edwin  F.,  K. 
Jones  Thomas  F.,  K. 
Kinney  Thomas,  D. 
Leonard  Irish,  K. 
Marcy  Samuel  L.,  D. 
McMahan  Thomas,  K. 
McCraeken  II.  H.,  K. 
McCracken  James,  K. 
McGinnis(lstLt.)J.  T.,  W. 
Martin  Islay  B.,  W, 
Noyes  Charles  C.,  K. 
Oatley  Stephen  H.,  K. 
Paine  William  II.,  K. 
Parsons  Willard  O.,  K. 
Penry  John,  D. 
Pickett  George  W.,  K. 
Porter  (Capt.)  Ed  ward  L.,  A'. 
Eawson  Stiles,  D. 
Rood  Julius  J.,  D.  * 

Hose  Hiram  D.,  K. 
Schalk  John,  D. 
Scott  John  B.,  K. 
Sharkey  Robert,  K. 
Sheridan  Cornelius  F.,  A'. 
Simmons  Tho'mas,  K. 
Smith  Wallace,  K. 
Snell  Alfred  A.,  D. 
Spanking  (Capt.)  W.  L.,  K. 
Tabor  Kdwin  S.,  D. 
Thompson  Nelson  C.,  W. 
Thomas  Edwin,  D. 
Thorn  hill  William  S.,  W. 
Town  William  1L,  D. 
Tracy  Alfred  E.,  K. 
Weeks  James  M.,  jr.,  K. 
Woodmancy  Albert  D.,  K. 
Wilbcr  Daniel,  A. 
Young  Walter,  A. 

Twentieth  Regiment  Infantry. 
Andrus  Charles  W.,  D. 
Arnold  Edwin,  D. 
Bailey  Jarnes  B.,  K. 
Barker  John  W.,  D. 
Barrett  James,  D. 
Bell  Grove  L.,  D. 
Benham  Reuben,  K. 
Booth  Henry  T.,  D. 
Bronson  Royal  L.,  W. 
Brooks  Charles  W.,  D. 
Brooks  Joel  J.,  K. 
Buckingham  Joel,  K- 
Buckley  John,  D. 
Burnham  Hiram,  K. 
Cassidy  James,  W. 
Chapman  Owen,  D. 
Clooney  William,  D. 
Coens  Michael,  Z), 


Coleman  William  A.,  K. 
Davis  Charles  B.,  D. 
Danner  Louis,  D. 
DeBnnk  William,  D. 
Demay  Heman,  W. 
Dewasa  Augustine,  D. 
Devine  Timothy,  A. 
Dick  Charles  L.,  D. 
Dickcrman  Joel  C.,  K. 
Doolittlc  ( 1st  Lieut.)E.  A.,D. 
Downs  Burton,  K. 
Dunn  James,  A. 
Farrell  Henry,  D. 
Fillins  George  W,  D. 
Finegan  John,  K. 
Ford  William  M.,  W. 
Foley  John,  K. 
Foster  Melvin,  D. 
Francis  Thomas,  K. 
Garner  Thomas,  K. 
Gaston  Samuel  N.,  D. 
Geer  Henry  S.,  D. 
Griffiths  (2d  Lieut. .)D.N.,^T. 
Guilford  George  S.,  Z>- 
Hale  Walter,  W. 
Hart  David  W.,  W. 
Hellenthat  Philip, 'Z>. 
Hendryx  James  W.,  K. 
Hitchcock  Augustus,  D. 
Hill  John,  D. 
Hotchkiss  Julius  H.,  D. 
Howd  Julius  B.,  D. 
Jones  David  W..JF. 
Johnson  Thomas,  D. 
Kane  Henry,  D. 
Kelley  Barney  W.,  D. 
Kelsey  Gilbert  I.,  D. 
Knapp  John  S.,  D. 
Lawlcr  John,  D. 
Lee  Erastus  R.  D. 
Lewis  Judson,  D. 
Lyon  Charles  E.,  D. 
McLean  John,  D. 
Moss  Frankl'n,  D. 
Moss  Titus,  A'. 
Morse  Edward  L.,  D. 
Morse  Francis  B.,  D. 
Mulvey  Barnard,  K. 
Murphy  Patrick,  D. 
Norton  Luzcrne  T.,  K. 
O'Brien  George,  K. 
Peck  Allen  L.,  D. 
Perry  John  D.,  K. 
Platt  Zenas,  D. 
Potter  Samuel,  K. 
Powers  John,  A'. 
Prout  Titus  M.,  A. 
Preston  John  L.,  K. 
Redshaw  Thomas,  K.  • 
Richardson  James  D. 
Roberts  Charles  H.,  W. 
Roberts  Charles  F.,  K. 
Root  John  S.,  K. 
Roswcll  Philo,  W. 
Rowell  David  B.,  W. 
Royce  Albert  L.,  D. 
Russell  Albert  F.,  D. 
Shipmaker  George  B.,  W. 


Simons  Thomas,  W. 
Skelly  John  G.,  D, 
Smith  Joel,  D. 
Smith  George  E.,  D. 
Smith  Herbert  E.,  D. 
Smith  Charles  H.,  K. 
Smith  (Capt.)  Henry  C.,A. 
Spencer  Samuel  T.,  D. 
Steers  William  H.,  D. 
Stillman  Albert,  K. 
Talmadgc  William  E.,  D. 
Todd  Henry  A.,  D. 
Upson  (Capt.)  Andrew,  K. 
Watkins  Hiram  B.,  D. 
Whitlock  Frederick,  D. 
Whittaker  William,  D. 
White  Thomas,  D. 
Williams  Charles,  D. 
Williams  Frederick  II.,   }V. 

Twenty-first    Regiment    In 
fantry. 

Adams  Edwin  H.,  D. 
Adams  Daniel  L.,  W., 
Andrews  Charles  B.,  W. 
A  very  Charles,  K. 
Babcock  Albert  C.,D. 
Babcock  Henry  0.,  Z). 
Bennett  Theodore  F.,  K. 
Benjamin  Sidney,  D. 
Bliss  George  E.,  D. 
Brackett  John  M.,  D. 
Brainard  Fred.  K.  Z.,  D. 
Brainard  Stillman,  D. 
Brightman  Denison,  K. 
Brown  Henry  D.,  D, 
Brown  Charles  F.,  D. 
Burdick  Alfred  L.,  D. 
Burpee  (Col.)  Thomas,  W. 
Carney  Martin,  D. 
Carpenter  Joseph  W.,  D. 
Chollard  John  A.,  D. 
Chapman  Rufus  C.,  D. 
Clark  William  H.,  D. 
Clark  Edwin  J.,  D. 
Clifford  Michael,  D. 
Crosby  George  H.,  D. 
Cullin  John,  D. 
Dart  Edwin  F.,  D. 
Davis  Elias  N.,  Z). 
Davis  James  A.,  D. 
Douglass  David  R.,  D. 
Dutton  (Col.)  Arthur  H.,  W. 
Edgerton  Gecrge,  D. 
Eldredgc  Aaron  W.,  K. 
Eccleston  Edwin  F.,  D. 
Ellsworth  James  B.,  D. 
Farnham  Sidney  B.,  D. 
Fitzgerald  John,  W. 
Flint  George  B.,  D. 
Freeman  Alfred  J.,  K. 
Gay  Thomas  W.,  D. 
Geer  John  B.,  £>. 
Goff  James  B ,  D. 
Greene  Lyman,  K. 
Greene  Charles  T.,  D. 
Greenfield  Charles  T.,  D. 
Heath  Amos  F.,  K. 


ROLL   OF   HONOR. 


865 


Heath  James  A.,  D. 

Boos  William,  D. 

Hulse  William,  D. 

Buck  D.  Winthrop,  D. 

Hyatt  James  W.,  D. 

Corbin  John  W.,  D. 

Johnson  William,  W. 

Edgerton  Allton  L.,  D. 

Jones  Edwin  B.,  D. 

Easton  Oliver,  jr.,  D. 

Lamb  Warren  A.,  D. 

Ellenberg'cr  Charles,  D. 

Landrigan  Daniel,  D. 

Foster  Eleazer  B.,  Z). 

Lash  Gottlob,  W. 

Francis  Charles  J.,  D. 

Litchfield  Elisha  P.,  D. 

Goodwin  David  B.,  D. 

Maguire  Thomas,  D. 

Hemingway  Daniel  E.,  D. 

Maynard  Augustus  E.,  D. 

Lathrop  Benjamin  F.,  D. 

Main  Jesse  M.,  D. 

Porter  Leroy  S.,  D. 

Main  Latham  H.,  D. 

Rice  Rodney  H.,  D. 

McCammon  James,  W. 

Spencer  Frederick  A.,  D. 

Marrow  Thomas,  K. 

Shepard  Alonzo,  D. 

McMellen  John  J.,  D. 

Turner  Charles  D.,  D. 

Metcalf  Mason  M.,  D. 

Willard  Eugene  B.,  D. 

Minor  Joseph  H.,  D. 

AVelch  John,  A. 

Mulligan  Patrick  H.,  A. 
Musgrave  Francis  J.,  D. 
Murphy  Dennis,  D. 

Twenty-third    Regiment    In 
fantry. 

Munsell  William  S.,  K. 

Adams  Charles,  D. 

Noble  Hiram,  D. 

Ahern  Daniel,  D. 

Norton  John,  D. 

Barnum  Frederick  C.,  D. 

Olmsted  Evelyn,  D. 

Beers  Hawley,  D.       • 

Owen  Elijah  F.,  D. 

Bradley  Daniel  B.,  D. 

Parsons  Henry  A.,  D. 

Bronso'n  Luther  N.,  W. 

Pease  Cyrus  J.,  K. 

Burton  Rollin  S.,  D. 

Perkins  Julius  A.,  D. 

Carter  Henry,  D. 

Peck  Dwight  B.,  D. 

Carter  Ammi,  D. 

Peters  Hewlett,  D. 

Cole  Julius  N.,  D. 

Phillips  Curtis,  D. 

Comstock  William  E.,  D. 

Pickett  William,  K. 

Cornell  Thomas  C.,  K. 

Pitcher  Henry,  D. 

Crofut  Charles  W.,  D. 

Prentice  A.  LeRoy,  Z). 

Curtis  Frederick  L.,  D. 

Reynolds  Alfred  E.,  K. 

Deforest  George  W.,  D. 

Rich  Bernice  B.,  D. 

Dexter  Henry  L.,  D. 

Rogers  Charles  H.,  D. 

Eastford  Cyrus  B.,  D. 

Robinson  James  A.,  D. 

Edwards  David  S.,  D. 

Robinson  William,  D. 

Gage  Selah,  D. 

Robinson  Calvin  N.,  D. 

Gillett  David  A.,  Z). 

Sheppion  Daniel,  K. 

Godfrey  (Capt.)  G.  M.,  D. 

Shay  lor  Justin  R.,  D. 

Goodale  Grimes,  D. 

Sheppee  Amos,  D. 

Gorham  Lewis  H.,  D. 

Stanton  Joseph  W.,  D. 

Hamlin  Almon  E.,  D. 

Staples  Charles  A.,  D. 

Hamlin  William  R.,  D. 

Starkweather  Benjamin,  K. 

Johnson  George  B.,  Z>. 

Staplins  Stephen,  D. 

Knapp  Michael  F.,  D, 

Stemm  Max,  D. 

Keller  Adolph,  K. 

Sutton  George  C.,  D. 

Lillis  John,  D. 

Thomas  George  S.,  D. 

Light  Charles,  D.    ' 

Thome  Henry  W.,  K. 

Lockwood  Charles,  D. 

Tucker  Frank,  D. 

Marshall  John,  Z>. 

Watrous  Timothy,  D. 

Mead  Watson  M.,  D. 

Wells  Samuel  0.,  D. 

Meeker  Charles  S.,  D. 

West  Alfred  M.,  D. 

Merwin  Francis  B.,  Z>. 

White  Rufus  C.,  K. 

Moulthrop  Abraham  L.,  K. 

Wilcox  Chancy  F.,  D. 

Nichols  Franklin  W.,  D. 

Wilcox  Leonard,  D. 

Ould  Samuel,  W. 

Williams  Charles  H.,  W. 

Peck  (2d  Lieut.)  E.  F.,  Z). 

Wilson  William,  D. 

Parke  William  W.,  D. 

Wood  George  W.,  D. 

Porter  George  A.,  D. 

Wyllys  Whiting  S.,  D. 

Porter  George  B.,  K. 

York  William  R.,  Z). 

Scofield  William,  A. 

Serine  Orrin  D. 

Twenty-second   Regiment    In 

Scribner  Aaron  0.,  D. 

fantry. 

Smith  Dwight  L.,  D. 

Allen  David  R.,  D. 

Starr  (1st  Lieut.)  Fred.,  W. 

109 

Treat  Frederick  W.,  D. 
Webster  Joel  F.,  D. 
Wheeler  Abel  M.,  W. 
Wood  Cyrus,  D. 

Twenty -fourth    Regiment   In 
fantry. 

Alexander  Lucius  P.,  D. 
Avery  Timothy  A.,  D. 
Baker  Charles,  D. 
Barry  John,  K. 
Barry  Patrick,  A. 
Bray  William,  jr.,  K. 
Brainard  Harris  A.,  W. 
Brown  Henry  B.,  D. 
Bushnell  Sereno  H.,  W. 
Carroll  Charles,  K. 
Carroll  John  F.,  K. 
Clark  Samuel  E.,  D. 
Cottar  John,  D. 
Curtis  Julius,  D, 
Dibble  Charles  A.,  K. 
Dickinson  Aaron  B.,  D. 
Dunn  Edward,  D. 
Eaton  Edward,  K. 
Evans  Hiram,  D. 
Galligan  Philip,  D. 
Gaylord  Marshall,  D. 
Gillett  Oscar  A.,  D. 
Goodyear  Gardner  F.,  D. 
Goodyear  Lyman  J.,  D. 
Goodyear  (2d  Lieut.)  L.,  D. 
Greenwood  Samuel  E.,  A. 
Ives  Edgar  D.,  K. 
Keene  Edward,  D. 
Lyman  Thomas,  D. 
Mason  Frederick  S.,  D. 
McCarty  John,  K. 
McCartin  Patrick,  D. 
Merriman  Harvey,  K, 
Miller  Amos  G.,  K. 
Nettleton  Erwin,  D. 
O'Donnel  John,  D. 
Owens  Patrick,  D. 
Paddock  Luman,  D. 
Parker  Elisha,  D. 
Peck  Andrew,  D. 
Pcnfield  Augustus,  D. 
Pierpont  Horace,  D. 
Platt  Newell  H.,  D. 
Platts  Samuel  S.,  W. 
Post  (1st  Lieut.)  B.  C.,  D. 
Potter  Charles  H.,  D. 
Pratt  Seiden,  D. 
Rigby  Charles,  K. 
Rilcy  Thomas,  D. 
Robinson  William  H.,  D. 
Rutty  Ellsworth,  D. 
Scott  Selleck,  K. 
Scholl  Henry,  W. 
Sizer  Albert  M.,  D. 
Smith  Robert,  K. 
Spencer  Cyrus,  D. 
Spencer  Russell,  D. 
Stevens  Charles  D.,  D. 
Walters  Henrv,  D. 
Warner  Wallace  R.,  D. 
Wetmore  George,  Z>. 


866 


APPENDIX. 


Wilcox  Miner  J.,  D. 
Wilcox  George  W.,  D. 
Wooding  Ilobart,  Z). 
Wright  Screno  A.,  D. 

Twenty-jifth    Regiment     In 
fantry. 

Addis  Ira  B.,  K. 
Arnold  Charles  R.,  D. 
Barrows  Samuel  F.,  D. 
Beach  John  W.,  D. 
Bennett  Noble  H.,  D. 
Bissell  Carlos  F.,  K. 
Bissell  William  O.,  D. 
Booth  Austin  C.,  D. 
Brandly  John,  D. 
Brooks  Abner  S.,  K. 
Bulkley  Robert,  K. 
Button  William,  W. 
Carrier  Miletus  H.,  W. 
Carter  John,  D. 
Chadwick  James  A.,  D. 
Chapman  James  B.,  D. 
Clapp  (2d  Lieut.)  C.,  D. 
Cobb  Charles  A.,  D. 
Coe  Leverett  II.,  D. 
Cook  Charles  S.,  W. 
Dart  Fred.  W.,  D. 
Dewey  (2d  Lieut.)  D.  P.,K. 
Denley  George  C.,  D. 
Deming  Philip,  D. 
Faulkner  William  G.,  W. 
Francis  John  M.,  D. 
Gower  Edwin  J.,  D. 
Gowcr  Sparling  J.,  D. 
Graham  Albert,  K. 
Grey  Zcbulon,  K. 
Griffin  Emory  M.,  D. 
Grover  Charles  D.,  W. 
Hayden  (Capt.)  S.  S.,  K. 
Holcomb  John  0.,  D. 
Holden  Jonas  G.,  K: 
Hollister  Andrew,  D. 
House  William  W.,  jr.,  D. 
Hunt  John  H.,  W. 
Hyer  Elizur,  D. 
Jackson  Wellington,  K. 
Johnson  (Capt.)  N.  P.,  D. 
Jones  Alonzo  S.,  D. 
Latham  Webster  B.,  D. 
Lawton  Samuel  A.,  K. 
Long  Michael,  D. 
Marks  Lucius  F.,  D. 
Martin  John,  K. 
Moore  John  C.,  D. 
Newberry  Horace  H.,  D. 
Oliver  (2d  Lieut. )  W.  A.,  W. 
Palmer  Andrew,  D. 
Parmlec  Charles  M.,  D. 
Parsons  Norton  T.,  D. 
Prindle  Edward  D-,  K. 
Porter  William,  ft. 
Robinson  George  11,,  D. 
Robinson  George,  D. 
Rockwell  Henry  E.,  W. 
Rogers  Chauneey,  D. 
Rogers  William,  jr.,  D. 
Root  Cyrus,  Z). 


Skinner  (Surgeon)  A.  B.,  D. 
Simpson  George  W.,  D. 
Talcott  Wallace  S.,  W. 
Taylor  Charles,  Z>. 
Thomas  Emerson  B.,  D. 
Thompson  Albert  F.,  D. 
Thrall  Jason,  D. 
Ticknor  Frederick  W.,  D. 
Tuller  Leroy,  D. 
Twining  Charles  E.,  W. 
Tuttle  William  H.,  D. 
Upson  Charles,  D. 
Wallace  Erskine,  W. 
Warner  Hiram  L.,  D. 
Ward  Elijah,  D. 
Webster  Linus  E.,  W. 
Wheeler  James  E.,  D. 
Willis  Madison  C.,  D. 
Wilson  Archibald,  K. 
Woodruff  Alson  T.,  D. 
Wright  James  W.,  D. 
Wright  Henry  D.,  K. 

Twenty-sixth     Regiment      In 
fantry. 

Avery  Courtland  C.,  D. 
Bailey  Edwin  W.,  W. 
Bailey  Henry  C.,  D. 
Bailey  Pruscius,  D. 
Barber  John,  D. 
Barker  Joseph  R.,  K. 
Barnes  Amos  D.,  D. 
Beckwith  Charles  J.,  D. 
Beebe  Samuel  P.,  D. 
Berger  Leonhard,  D. 
Bentley  Adam  C.,  D. 
Bogue  David  G.,  D. 
Brooks  Henry,  W. 
Bromlcj'  Miles,  D. 
Brooks  Augustus  O.,  D. 
Brooks. Henry,  W. 
Brown  William  J.,  W. 
Brown  Andrew  II.,  W. 
Bui'lingame  Albert  J.,  D. 
Button  Edward,  W. 
Chapell  Horace  L.,  W. 
Chapcll  George  H.,  W. 
Chapell  John  0.,  K. 
Chapman  Andrew  M.,  D. 
Chapman  William  E.,  W. 
Child  Chester  R.,  D, 
Church  William  H.,  D. 
Church  William  W.,  D. 
Christie  Edwin  L.,  D. 
Clark  Ebenezer  J.,  D. 
Cooney  James,  K. 
Crandall  Charles  P.,  W. 
Daniels  John  C.,  D. 
Dugan  James,  D. 
Edgerton  George  F.,  D. 
Edwards  Horatio  N.,  D. 
Ellis  Rodman,  D. 
Fellows  William  C.,  D. 
Ferrister  Dennis,  W. 
Flike  Joseph,  K. 
France  George,  D. 
Franklin  Allen  H.,  D. 
Frink  Thomas  H.,  D. 


Gard  Frank  W.,  D. 
Geer  Cyrus  M.,  W. 
Gray  George  S.,  Z). 
Gray  Montgomery,  D. 
Green  Elisha  N.,  D. 
Griffiths  Jared,  D. 
Haire  William  H.,  D. 
Harding  Thomas  R.,  W. 
Henrick  Philip,  K. 
Hobson  Wolcott,  W. 
Holmes  Daniel,  W. 
Holmes  George  R.,  D. 
Jacobs  (2d  Lieut.)  H.F.,  W. 
Johnson  James  W.,  D. 
Johnson  Stephen  T.,  D. 
Kenyon  (1st  Lt.)  M.  R.,  D. 
Keyes  Edwin  R.,  W. 
Kohl  Joseph,  W. 
Latham  William  P.,  W. 
Lombard  James,  K. 
Lord  Dexter  M.,  D. 
Lord  Ames  W.,  D. 
Lyons  Orrin  E.,  K. 
Lyon  Origen,  D. 
Luther  Orrin  M.,  D. 
Lyman  Christopher  A.,  ZX 
Main  Nathaniel,  D. 
Main  David  W.,  D. 
Main  William  A.,  D. 
Manace  Thomas,  D. 
Manning  (2d  Lt.)  E.  P.,  D. 
Martin  David  A.,  D. 
Matthews  John  H.,  D. 
Maynard  John,  D. 
Maynard  Appleton  J.,  D. 
Maynard  Joseph  S.,  D. 
Miller  George,  D. 
Miner  Charles  H.,  W. 
Miner  Charles  H.,  D. 
Murray  William,  D. 
Myers  Elias  E.,  D. 
NilesJohnA.,  W. 
Nye  John,  K. 
Osborn  William  B.,  W. 
Palmer  Noyes  W.,  D. 
Parkenson  James,  W. 
Phillips  John,  D. 
Phillips  Norman  A.,  W. 
Prentice  John  R.,  D. 
Randall  (Capt.)  Jedediah,  W- 
Rathburn  Elisha  K.,  D. 
Rowland  Alonzo  W.,  W. 
Roath  Daniel  H.,  D. 
Rohbins  Henry,  D. 
Ruckert  John,  D. 
Seignions  John  L.,  W. 
Shirley  Thomas  H.,  D. 
Sheffield  Nathan  S.,  K. 
Sherman  William  J.,  W. 
Slater  Rudolph,  K. 
Smith  Albert,  W. 
Smith  Henry  L.,  D. 
Snow  Lucius  J.,  D. 
Stanton  (Capt.)  John  S.,  K. 
S  terry  Phincas  B.,  W. 
Tabrecht  Thomas,  D. 
Thompson  James  F.,  K. 
Tillottson  Joseph  A.,  K. 


ROLL  OF  HONOR. 


867 


Tinker  James,  D. 
Tooker  William  N.,  D. 
Warner  Ulysses  S.,  W. 
Watrous  William  H.,  D. 
Weemes  Thaddcus  M.,  W. 
Whipple  Austin,  D. 
Willcy  Charles  W.,  K. 
Winchester  John  B.,  A'. 
Wood  Nathaniel  M.,  D. 
Young  Albert  F.,  D. 

Tweiity -seventh   Regiment  In 
fantry. 

Ailing  Frank  E.,  K. 
Ailing  Charles  L.,  D. 
Baldwin  George  C.,  D. 
Barrett  Thomas  E.,  K. 
Beecher  Nelson  N.,  D. 
Bennett  Joseph,  }V. 
Bomherdt  William  F.,  D. 
Bodwell  William,  W. 
Brown  George,  K. 
Burke  William,  K. 
Cabanis  Albert,  K. 
Castle  Andrew  B.,  K. 
Chapman  Jeded,  jr.,  A'. 
Ciark  Samuel  B.,  A'. 
Clark  John  G.,  D. 
CHnton  James  G.,  A". 
Cobb  Benjamin  II.,  D. 
Conf'rey  Michael,  K. 
Condon  Patrick,  W. 
Cornwall  Charles  E.,  K. 
Dolph  Edward  B.,  D. 
Dunn  Patrick,  W. 
Eddy  Jairus  C.,  W. 
Fairchild  Augustus  B.,  K. 
Farr  Edward  B.,  K. 
Fowler  Richard  H.,  W. 
Fowler  Samuel,  2d,  W. 
Goodwin  John,  A^. 
Goodwin  William  A.,  jr.,  K. 
Goodwill  William,  D. 
Hazzard  Edward  C.,  D. 
Higgins  Loren  M.,  W. 
Hill  George  S.,  D. 
Hill  William  G.,  W. 
Hill  Henry  B.,  W. 
Ililliard  Henry  B.,  D. 
Hull  Joseph,  D. 
Johnson  Frank  A.,  D. 
Johnson  Josiah,  W. 
Judson  Marcus  O.,  K. 
Judson  George  J.,  K. 
Keller  Gilbert,  K. 
Lounsbury  John  W.,  D. 
Marks  Treat  A.,  D. 
Mcrwin  (Lt.-Col.)  H.  C.,K. 
Mimmack  George  H.,  K. 
Mitchell  John,  W. 
Phile  William  M.,  D. 
I'lnrnb  Sidney  H.,  D. 
Rawson  John,  K. 
Reiner  William,  K. 
Robinson  John  S.,  D. 
Russell  Henry  D.,  W. 
Schlieden  Jacob,  D. 


Schuerzer  (Capt.)  B.E.,  K. 
Scott  William  O.,  K. 
Shelley  Rums  S.,  W. 
Smith  Hczekiah  P.,  D. 
S  perry  Gany  B.,  K. 
Taylor  (Capt.)  A.  C  ,   W. 
Thomas  Corydon  N.,  A'. 
Thompson  Joseph  B.,  D. 
Thompson  Edward,  A'. 
Thompson  Sidney  R.,  W. 
Tucker  Lewis  M.,  D. 
Welton  Harvey  S.,  D. 
Wilford  George  G.,   W. 
Wilson  William  E.,  K. 

Twenty-eighth    Regiment    In- 


Barber  Samuel  C.,  D. 
Burden  George,  D. 
Banks  Stephen,  D. 
Deraus  Charles  F.,  K. 
Beers  George,  D. 
Bissell  William  E.,  D. 
Blake  Orville  0.,  D. 
Bouton  Spencer,  D. 
Brazic  Jourdin,  D. 
Bronson  William  N.,  D. 
Byxbee  Nathan  R.,  D. 
Caldwell  Samuel,  D. 
Churchill  David,  D. 
Clark  Edward  T.,  D. 
Clock  George  W.,  D. 
Conkwright  Alexander,  D. 
Cook  George  W.,  D. 
Crane  Joseph  W.,  D. 
Curtis  Erwin  W.,  D. 
Dailey  Henry,  D. 
Darrow  John  II.,  D. 
Dayton  Walter  B.,  D. 
Disbron  Richmond,  D. 
Dowd  Thomas  F.,  W. 
Durand  (1st  Lieut.)  C.,  A'. 
Duvall  Daniel  W.,  W. 
Ferris  Jay,  D. 
Fillow  Henry  B.,  D. 
Ford  Aaron  N.,  D. 
Gregory  Charles  B.,  D. 
Haggerty  Michael,  W. 
Hanford  Benjamin  F.,  D. 
Hartson  George  W.,  W. 
Hoag  (Capt.;  David  D.,  K. 
Hollistcr  Lewis,  D. 
Hoyt  Andrew,  D. 
Hoyt  John  E.,  D. 
Hubbard  Myron  N.,  D. 
Hungerford  (2d  Lt.)  L.,  D. 
Hungerford  Oliver  P.,  D. 
Kenney  Elmore  C.,  D. 
Kenney  Noxon  E.,  D. 
Ivilcy  Eugene,  K. 
Lamson  William,  D. 
Leeds  (Capt.)  F.  R.,  D. 
Lockwood  Andrew  J.,  D. 
Lockwood  Henry  B.,  D. 
Lyon  ( Surgeon J  R.  P.,  D. 
McArthur  R.  A.,  W. 
Madara  Charles,  D. 


Marsh  Dccatiir  D.,  D. 
Mead  Hibbard,  D. 
Mills  William  H.,  2d,  D. 
Mollet  Thomas  W.,  D. 
Nott  Egbert  F.,  K. 
Ormsbee  John  E.,  D. 
Partlow  Richard,  D.    ' 
Platt  Gabriel  W.,  D. 
Riley  Eugene,  A'. 
Rosborough  Charles  A,,  \V. 
Scofield  Lewis  B.,  D. 
Searlcs  George  R.,  D. 
Shaw  Ovid  P.,  K, 
Sherwood  Nathan,  D. 
Smith  Talcut,  W. 
Totton  William  H.,  D. 
Turner  Cornelius,  D. 
Vail  James,  K. 
Walton  William  H.,  D. 
Wardell  Jason,  K. 
Washburn  Charles  E.,  D. 
Watson  Cassius,  D. 
Waterbury  Andrew  C.,  D. 
Waterbury  Stephen  R.,  D. 
Webb  William  0.,  D. 
Weller  John  L.,  D. 
Wellman  Joseph,  D. 
Wellstood  John  G.,  jr.,  D. 
Wheeler  Mark  H.,  A". 
Wilmot  George  W.,  K. 
Woodin  Charles  E.,  W. 
Wright  Columbus  C.,  D. 
Youngs  William  II.,  D. 

Twenty-ninth  Regiment  Infan 
try  (colored). 
Adams  Henry  E.,  D, 
Addison  John  S.,  D. 
Benson  Thomas,  D. 
Brown  Charles,  D. 
Carroll  John,  D. 
Copelin  Richard,  D. 
Collins  Francis,  D. 
Coffin  Abram  P.,  D. 
Closson  William,  D. 
Dennis  Francis,  D. 
Dulliran  Henry,  D. 
Frank  Oliver,  D. 
Freeman  John  R.,  Z). 
Freeman  John,  D. 
Gaul  William  H.,  D. 
Gipson  Robert  A.,  D. 
Glazier  Henry,  D. 
Halstead  Albert,  D. 
Hawley  James,  D. 
Hempstead  James  M.,  D. 
Holbert  Morris,  D. 
Holmes  Joseph,  D. 
Howard  Peter,  D. 
Johnson  Thomas,  D. 
Johnson  Peter,  D. 
Lewis  Emor,  I). 
McCoy  George  H.,  D. 
Mclntyre  Gurnish,  D. 
Maticer  Benjamin,  D. 
Meade  William,  D. 
Montgomery  James  H.,  D. 


868 


APPENDIX. 


Murray  John  F.,  D. 
Nelson  Theodore,  D. 
Odell  William  M.,  D. 
Ostis  Raymond,  D. 
Price  John,  Z>. 
Richards  Samuel,  D. 
Rogers  Lyman  R.,  D. 
Roasting  Richard,  D. 
Royce  Lyman  R.,  D. 
Russell  William,  D. 
Saulsbury  Jeremiah,  D. 
Seymour  Austin,  D. 
Simmons  Virgil,  D. 
Steward  William,  D. 
Storms  LaFayette,  D. 
Vance  Thomas,  D. 
Watson  Horace,  D. 
Williams  Moses,  D. 
Williams  George  W.,  D. 

Thirtieth   Regiment    Infantry 
(colored). 

Baker  William,  D. 
Berdan  Spencer,  D. 
Cunningham  Alexander,  D. 
Daniels  Josiah  H.,  D. 
Gibson  James,  D. 
Hannibal  William,  D. 
Hawkins  Allen,  D. 
Johnson  Frank, D. 
Kanaka  Friday,  D. 
Marshall  Andrew,  D. 
Pasker  Levi,  D. 
Sherman  Thomas,  D. 
Wilson  Isaac,  D. 

Thirty-first   Regiment   Infan 
try  (colored). 

Dorn  Samuel,  Z). 
Smith  George,  D. 
Thomas  John,  D. 
Walker  John,  D. 

Drafted  men  assessed  to  R.  I. 

Artillery. 

Bush  William,  D. 
Hakes  Peter,  D. 
Jackson  Albert  G.,  D. 

First  Squadron  Cavalry. 

(Known  as  Companies  C  and 
D  2d  New- York  Cav.) 

Allyn  Henry  W.,  W. 
Bailey  Cornelius  H.,  A. 
Batchelder  Gconrc  A.,  D. 
Bishop  Wallace  A.,  D. 
Burwcll  George  W.,  D. 
Decker  (1st  Lieut  )  J.  N.,  K. 
Flaherty  John,  W. 
German  William  A.,  A. 
Hallock  Dudley,  D. 
Hosford  Nathan  F.,  D. 
Martinson  (2d  Lieut.)  A.,  K. 
Me  Stone  Henry,  D. 
Norton  Ellsworth  H.,  K. 
Oakley  Gilbert,  W. 


Orvis  Geonre  A.,  D. 
Patterson  Sillman  P.,  D. 
Peudleton  Damon  S.,  D. 
Riddock  Thomas  W.,  K, 
Session  Thomas,  K. 
Snell  Charles  D.,  Z). 
Whittaker  (1st  Lt.)  D.,  K. 
Wilson  Henry  M.,  D. 

First  Regiment  Cavalry. 

(Originally  organized  as  First 
Battalion  Cavalry.) 

Backus  (Capt.)  Joseph,  K. 
Baker  Frederick  W.,  D. 
Blivin  Isaac  T.,  D. 
Bugbec  Sylvester  C.,  K. 
Burke  John,  D. 
Burbank  William  L.,  D. 
Burlingame  Harris,  D. 
Carr  Andrew  C.,  D. 
Carver  Michael,  K. 
Chaffee  Eugene  A.,  D. 
Crandnll  Robert  B.,  D. 
Falon  George,  K. 
Flannagan  Michael,  K. 
Fox  Albert  M.,  K. 
Hiller  Frederick  J.,  K. 
Hine  Charles  II.,  D. 
Holcomb  Lucius  E.,  Z). 
Jameson   (Q.  M.   Scrgt. )  J. 

S.  died  in  Hospital  at  An- 

dersonville. 
Johnson  Richard,  D. 
Lccrienier  Giles  P.,  K. 
Morgan  John,  D. 
Niles  (Capt.)  Albert  II.,  D. 
Peters  John  A.,  D. 
Shields  John  T.,  D. 
Sterling  Theodore,  D. 
Thatcher  Stephen  G..  D. 
Tilletts  George  W.,  D. 
Towncr  Tcrrence,  D. 
Tompkins  Enos,  A. 
Traganscc  William  P.,  Z). 
Warner  (Capt.)  A.  G.,  A'. 
Whipple  Samuel  S.,  K. 
Williams  (1st  Lt.)    Charles 

Winchester  Daniel  B.,  A. 
First  Light  Battery  C.  V. 

Bullard  Henry  B.,  D. 
Cook  Fanfield,  D. 
Gillette  Nathan,  D. 
Goodale  George  A.,  Z). 
Graham  William  L.,  D. 
Hays  James,  D. 
Hull  Joseph  H.,  D. 
Mctcalf  ( 1st  Lieut.)  G.,  W. 
McLean  Hector,  D. 
Moore  William  E.,  D. 
Norton  Jonathan  G.,  D. 
Pettibonc  Fred.  K.,  A.,  D. 
Roberts  Edmund  M.  B.,  D. 
Spencer  Reuben  A.,  D. 
Spencer  Henry  H.,  D. 


Taylor  James  J.,  D. 
Warner  Levi  J.,  D. 
Wilmot  Henry  L.,  W. 

Second  Light  Battery  C.  V. 
Bulkly  Nathan,  D. 
Chase  Edward  B.,  D. 
Dart  An  son  W.,  D. 
Hartshorn  Tyler  W.,  D. 
Peck  James  A.,  D. 
Ryan  Dennis,  D. 
Wood  James  G.,  D. 

First  Regiment  Heavy  Artil 
lery  C.  V.  ' 

(Formerly    Fourth     Kegiment 
Infantry.) 

Ackerbcy  James  B.,  D. 
Alvord  Edwin  B.,  D. 
Anderson  William  II.,  D. 
Atherington  Edgar,  D. 
Austin  Angell  A.,  D. 
A  very  Francis  B.,  Z). 
Barrett  George,  2d,  D. 
Bassett  John  M.,  D. 
Beckwith  Henry  M.,  D. 
Beebc  Gilbert,  jr.,  D. 
Bingham  Eliphalet  N.,  D. 
Blakeslee  George  L.,  D. 
Bo  wen  John  P.,  D. 
Brandt  August,  D. 
Bushnell  Frederick,  D. 
Clark  Charles,  D. 
Clark  Henry  W.,  Z). 
Comstock  Charles  F.,  A. 
DeForrest  Daniel  B.,  D. 
Diggen  James,  D. 
Donahue  James,  D. 
Dorman  Fernando,  D. 
Ellsworth  Havilah  I.,  D. 
Fnrrell  Loren  J.,  D. 
Gardiner  Dwight,  Z>. 
Glamcy  Samuel  C.,  D. 
Grant  Frederick  L.,  D. 
Griffin  Clement,  D. 
Griswold  Sidney,  D. 
Goodyear  Wald'stein,  W. 
Harvey  Robert  F.,  D. 
Holders  Charles  II..  D. 
Hubbard  Talmage  N.,  D. 
Hungerford  Gordon  H.,  D. 
Hyland  Thomas,  K. 
Kain  James,  D. 
Kain  George  W.,  A. 
Lewis  Daniel  W.,  D. 
Loomis  William  T.,  A. 
Lynch  Owen,  D. 
McCarthy  John,  D. 
McCormick  James.  K. 
McClure  John  C.,  D. 
McNeille  Edward,  A. 
Malone  John  H.  S.,  D. 
Mathes  Henry,  K. 
Minor  James,  D. 
Morand  Patrick,  D. 
Munroe  William  H.,  D. 
Munson  Reers  W.,  Z). 


ROLL   OF  HONOR. 


869 


Murphy  William  II.,  D. 
Nettleman  Rolan  A.,  D. 
Noble  William  D.,  D. 
O'Connor  Patrick,  D. 
Osborn  Frederick  A.,  D. 
Owen  Leverette  B.,  D. 
Parmlee  George,  D. 
Payne  George  E.,  Z>. 
Perkins  Thomas  D.,  D. 
Pcndleton  George  W.,  D. 
Porter  James  M.,  D. 
Post  Ezckiel  L.,  D. 
Potter  William  R.,  D. 
Quinlan  William  H.,  K. 
Robertson  Thomas,  D. 
Rogers  Thomas  J.,  D. 
Rogers  Leverett  M.,  D. 
Roileston  William  N.,  K. 
Ryder  John  13.,  D. 
Ryan  Samuel  S.,  D . 
S«arle  Henry  M  ,  D. 
Seymour  Alexis  J.,  D. 
Shoals  Charles,  D. 
Skelly  William  W.,  D. 
Sherman  Thomas  G.,  D. 
Smith  William  E.,  D. 
Smith  Edward  P.,  D. 
Spaulding  George  II.,  D. 
Stevens  Henry  S.,  D. 
Stowe  Luke,  D, 
S \veetland  Julius,  D. 
Taylor  Charles,  D. 
Trowbridge  James  A.,  D. 
Turner  James  E.,  D. 
Warner  Azariah,  D. 
Webb  James  W.,  D. 
Whiting  John  0.,  D. 
Wilson  George  A.,  D. 

Second      Regiment     Artillery 

C.  V. 

Adams  Charles,  jr.,  W. 
Andrus  Franklin,  K. 
Baldwin  Is^ae,  K. 
Barber  Norman  B.,  D. 
Uarnes  Theodore  A.,  K. 
Barrett  Augustus  E.,  D. 
Beach  George  L.,  W. 
Bcckwith  Albert,  D. 
Benedict  Harhm  D.,  D. 
Boughton  Ezra  B.,  K. 
Bradley  John  II.,  D. 
Bradley  Ira  S.,  D. 
Bragg  "Robert  W.,  K. 
Brashing  Fred.  W.,  K. 
Bristol  Henry  B.,  K. 
Burton  William,  K. 
Butler  William,  D. 
Calhoun  Henry  A.,  D. 
Caul  James,  K. 
Case  James  H.,  D. 
Castle  Edgar  J.,  W. 
Clark  Harvey,  D. 
Clark  Sheldon,  D. 
Cleveland  Charles  G.,  D. 
Cos  Joseph  E.,  D. 
Cole  Philo  L.,  D. 


I  Colby  Henry,  D. 
Colt  William  II.,  K. 
Comstock  George,  K. 
Cook  Moses,  jr.,  D. 
Cone  Giles  A.,  D. 
Comins  Alfred,  K. 
Dains  William  H.,  D. 
Daniels  Frederick  W.,  K. 
Defhuth  Jacob,  W. 
Downs  Lewis,  K. 
Egglcstoii  Horatio  G  ,  D. 
Elwcll  Timothy,  D. 
Evans  Orlando  D.,  D. 
Evarts  Jared  P.,  K. 
Everett  George,  K. 
Fallen  Stephen,  K. 
Fen  is  Charles  D.,  D. 
Ferris  Myron,  K. 
Feron  Pliilo  A.,  K. 
Ford  Harvey,  D. 
Foster  Thomas  B.,  D 
Fox  Walter  M.,  K. 
Fox  Harvey  H.,  D. 
Galpin  Almond  D.,  K. 
Gillett  Chester,  D. 
Gibbs  Samuel  E.,  K. 
Gibbs  Birdscy,  K. 
Glover  Wesley  F.,  D. 
Griffith  Edward,  A'. 
Guernsey  Charles  E.,  W. 
Hall  Charles  D.,  D. 
Hall  John  E.,  K. 
Hard  Henry  F.,  D. 
Harrington  George  W.,  D. 
Hart  Willard,  K. 
Ilempstcd  (2d  Lt,)  G.B.,  D. 
Henderson  William  G.,  D. 
Herald  William,  D. 
Hickey  Edmund,  K. 
Hitchcock  Oliver,  K. 
Hinman  Charles  C.,  D. 
Holt  George  H.,  D. 
Hoyt  George  A.,  jr.,  D. 
IIubbard  William  R.,  D, 
Hubbard  Franklin  W.,  D. 
Hubbell  Myron,  D. 
Hull  Alonzo  J.,  K. 
Hurlburt  William  S.,  D. 
Hurlburt  George  W.,  D. 
Huxley  Matthew  H.,  D. 
Hyatt  Henry  H.,  K. 
Ide  Leandcr,  I). 
Iffland  John,  K. 
Jackson  Charles  W.,  K. 
Jackson  Andrew,  K. 
Johnson  Jerome,  D. 
Johnson  William  W.,  D. 
Jones  Albert  A.,  K. 
Jome  Alfred,  W. 
Kaiiic  Patrick,  K. 
Kane  Friend  F.,  K. 
Kcegan  Patrick,  K. 
Kelley  William,  K. 
Kellogg  Arthur  G.,  D. 
Kellogg  (Col.)  Elisha  L.,  K. 
Lacy  David,  K. 
Lake  David  D.,  K. 


Lapham  John,  D. 
Leach  William  B.,  W. 
Lewis  Edgar  B.,  D. 
Lord  Simeon  W.,  D. 
Lownsbury  Banks,  D. 
Lyman  Daniel  E.,  D. 
Lynch  Patrick,  K. 
Mann  Thomas,  W. 
Mansfield  Norman,  W. 
Martin  John,  A". 
Martin  John,  A". 
Martin  Walter,  K. 
Mattoon  Hiram,  W. 
McBirney  George  H.,  K. 
Meeker  Benjamin,  K. 
Merwin  Edward  R.,  D. 
Miller  Henry  W.,  K. 
Miner  Orson  M.,  K. 
Miner  Henry  M.,  D. 
Mooney  James,  K. 
Morris  Ezra  B.,  K. 
Morse  Apollos  C.,  W. 
Murphy  John,  K. 
Newburn  Nelbert  P.,  D. 
North  Pascal  P.,  D. 
Norville  William  H.,  D. 
Ostrander  Adam,  K. 
Ostrander  James,  jr.,  D. 
Ostrar.der  Peter,  L>. 
Painter  Frederick  K.  D.,  K. 
Palmer  Lucius  C.,  W. 
Parks  Joseph  P.,  K. 
Parmalee  Willard  H.,  K. 
Parmaree  Watson,  D. 
Payne  Joseph  B.,  K. 
Pease  Harvey,  W. 
Perkins  Rucl"  II.,  K. 
Preston  Jerome,  D. 
Pierce  George,  K. 
Pollard  John,  W. 
Polly  James  C.,  D. 
Potter  George  W.,  W. 
Reed  Charles,  K. 
Rexford  Henry  A,,  K. 
Richardson  William  W.,  D. 
Riley  Peter,  D. 
Robinson  William  T.,  D. 
Rouse  Lucien  G.,  D. 
Ryan  Patrick,  K. 
Ryan  Lant,  K. 
Sanford  Andrew  II.,  D. 
Segur  Charles  H.,  K. 
Scott  Elias  P.,  A". 
Scull  Robert,  K. 
Skiff  George  A.,  K. 
Sidney  James,  D. 
Smith  Lyman  J.,  jr.,  K. 
Botha-gill  Robert,  K. 
Sparks  Walter  C.,  K. 
Stanley  Charles  II.,  K. 
Starks  Darwin  S.,  D. 
Stevans  Franklin  U.,  K. 
Stewart  John  II.,  D. 
Sterry  Myron  R.,  K. 
Stoll  John  B.,  K. 
Stone  Merrietti  H.,  D. 
St.  John  Lewis,  D. 


870 


APPENDIX. 


Straight  Henry  C.,  K. 
Tatro  George  A.,    A' 
Teeter  John  M.,  K. 
Thomas  Charles  L.,  I). 
Tiiomas  Horatio  S.,  D. 
Thomas  John,  D. 
Thompson  Richard  S.,  D. 
Thorp  David  J.,  K. 
Tilford  Homer  F.,  K. 


Tolles  Burnitt  II.,  D. 
Volusen  Caralf,  D. 
Wadham  Uri,  D. 
Wad  hams  (Capt.)  L.,  W. 
Wadsworth  Josiah  J.,  Z>. 
Warner  John,  K. 
Warner  William  C.,  D. 
Watson  William  S.,  D. 
Watt  Robert,  A'. 


Webster  Frederick  B.,  D. 
White  John  S.,  D. 
White  John  H.,  D. 
Wheeler  Curtiss,  W. 
Whiteman  Monroe,  K. 
Wilson  William  S.,  D. 
Winship  Julius,  D. 
Wooden  Amos,  D. 
Woodford  Julius,  D- 


OUR  MARTYRS  AT  ANDERSONVILLE. 


For  the  only  complete  roll  of  the  martyrs  who  perished  at  Andersonville,  the  nation  is 
indebted  to  private  Dorence  Atwatcr  of  Plymouth,  Conn.  Young  Atwater  was  captured, 
with  others  of  the  First  Squadron,  near  Hagerstown,  Md.,  in  a  fight  with  Lee's  retreating 
army,  and  was  taken  to  various  prisons,  ultimately  arriving  at  Andersonville  in  February, 
1864.  Being  a  neat  penman,  he  was  soon  detailed  as  a  clerk  in  the  surgeon's  office,  to 
keep  the  daily  record  of  deaths.  While  serving  in  this  capacity,  knowing  of  the  appalling 
mortality  inside  the  stockade,  he  secretly  made  a  duplicate  roll  of  all  the  deaths,  which  he 
surreptitiously  brought  away  with  him  in  March,  1865.  He  alleges  that  he  sold  to  Col. 
Brock  of  the  War  Department,  for  three  hundred  dollars,  the  privilege  of  copying  the 
rolls ;  the  originals  to  be  returned  to  him.  Breck  retained  the  whole.  Afterwards,  in 
visiting  Andersonville  with  Miss  Clara  Barton  to  mark  the  graves,  Atwater  recovered 
possession  of  his  list,  and,  on  refusing  to  deliver  it  to  the  War  Department,  was  seized 
by  Col.  Breck,  court-martialed,  convicted  of  theft,  and  sent  to  the  Albany  Penitentiary 
as  a  criminal.  He  was  released  with  impaired  health  under  a  general  amnesty,  and,  with 
the  encouragement  and  assistance  of  Miss  Barton,  published  the  roll  for  the  benefit  of 
surviving  friends.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  martyrs  from  Connecticut :  — 

No.  of  N 

grave. 

4558  Earnest,  H.  C. 

7346  Ensworth,  John 

7603  Edwards,  0.  J. 

8968  Evans,  N.  L. 
11608  Emmett,  W. 
12442  Eaton,  W. 
18G  Fluit,  C.  W. 

1277  Francell,  Otto 

2612  Fry,  S. 

4444  Fibb'.es,  H. 

4465  Fisher,  H. 

5123  Florence,  J.  J. 

5382  Fuller,  H.  S. 

5913  Frisbie,  Levi 

5556  Fogg,  C. 

8028  Feely,  M. 

9039  Filby,  A. 
10255  Frederick,  John 
12188  Fagan,  P.  D. 

3028  Gordon,  John 

4096  Gray,  Pat 

4974  Grammon,  James 

4015  Gullerman,  J. 

5173  Gilmore,  J. 

7057  Gallagher,  P. 

7337  Gott,  G. 

7592  Goodrich,  J.  W. 

7646  Grains:,  W. 

9423  Guina,  H.  M. 
10300  Grady,  M. 
10396  Gladstone,  William 
49  Holt,  Thomas 

2336  Hughes,  Edward 

3195  Hitchcock,  Wm.  A. 

3448  Hall,  William  G. 

3559  Holcomb,  D. 

1350  Hilenthal,  James 

3053  Haskins,  J.ames 

5029  Hollister,  A. 

5162  Hally,  Thomas 

5352  Hanson,  F.  A. 
871 


[All  persons  numbered  below 
12,367  died  in  1864  ;  above 

Save'               *•— 

that  number,  in  1865.] 

8018  Ballcntine,  Eobert 

Vf»    of                        v 

2408  Bassett,  J.  B. 

gmve.                *ame- 

12540  Bohine,  C. 

2380  Anderson,  A. 

12620  Bemis,  Charles 

3461  Batchelder,  Benj. 

3707  Chapin,  J.  L. 

3664  Baty,  John 

3949  Cottrell,  P. 

7306  Brunkissell,  H. 

3941  Clarkson 

2833  Brennon,  M. 

4367  Culler,  M. 

3224  Burns,  John 

4449  Connor,  D. 

10414  Blumley,  E. 

4848  Carrier,  D.  B. 

545  Bigclow,  William 

6060  Cook,  W.  H. 

11965  Ball,  H.  A. 

6153  Clark,  H.  H. 

12089  Brookmeyer,  T.  W. 

6846  Clark,  W. 

13152  Burke,  H. 

5799  Champlain,  H. 

12209  Bone,  A. 

336  Cane,  John 

10682  Burnham,  F. 

620  Christian,  A.  M. 

10690  Barlow,  O.  L. 

775  Crawford,  James 

10876  Bennett,  N. 

7316  Chapman,  M. 

5806  Brown,  C.  H. 

7348  Cleary,  P. 

5919  Bovce,  William 

7385  Campbell,  Robert 

6083  Bishop,  B.  H. 

7418  Culler,  M. 

6184  Bushnell,  William 

7685  Carver,  John  G. 

7763  Bailey,  F. 

7780  Cain,  Thomas, 

2054  l'>rewer,  G.  E. 

9084  Crosslev,  B. 

5596  Burns,  B. 

10272  Collier,"  W. 

5632  Balcomb 

11175  Callahan,  J. 

5754  Beers,  James  C. 

11361  Candee,  D.  M. 

1636  Birdscll,  D. 

25  Dowd,  F. 

4296  Blakeslee,  II. 

7325  Davis,  W. 

3900  Bishop,  A. 

2813  Davis,  W. 

1493  Bessanon,  Peter 

3614  Damery,  John 

2720  Babcock,  B. 

7597  Diebcnthal,  H. 

'2818  Baldwin,  Thomas 

8568  Donowav,  J. 

2256  Bosworth,  A.  M.  D. 

8769  Dunton,W.  H. 

5132  Bougin,  John 

5446  Dugan,  Charles 

5152  Brooks,  William  D. 

11  339  Dean,  R. 

5308  Bower,  John 

11481  Demmings,  G.  A. 

5452  Bently,  F. 

11889  Downer,  S. 

5464  Bently,  James 

11961  Demming,  B.  J. 

4830  Blackman,  A. 

3482  Edmonds,  A. 

7742  Banning,  J.  F. 

4437  Easterly,  Thomas 

872 


APPENDIX. 


No-  of               Name. 

*°-v°pf               Name. 

grave. 

gra\  e. 

6695  Hodges,  George 

6426  Messey,  M. 

4937  Harwood,  G. 

6451  McGee,  Thomas 

6964  Hovt,  E.  S. 

6570  McDavid,  James 

7012  Hull,  M. 

6800  Meal,  John 

7380  Holcomb,  A.  A. 

6902  Mape,  George 

7642  Halv,  W. 

6240  Marshall,  L. 

7757  Hubbard,  H.  D. 

7547  Moore,  A.  P. 

8148  Hubbard,  B. 

7852  Miller,  F.  D. 

8413  Haywood,  E. 

8150  Modger,  A. 

8613  Heath,  J. 

8446  Matthews,  S.  J. 

9129  Hall,  B. 

8501  Meyers,  L. 

9369  Heart,  W. 

9170  Merts,  C. 

9981  Hurley,  R.  A. 

9321  Milor,  W. 

12086  Hibbard,  A. 

10695  McCrcieth,  A. 

12117  Hancock,  W. 

10914  McKeon,  J. 

12163  Hudson,  Charles 

11587  Murphy,  W. 

9340  Islay,  H. 

11538  McDowell,  J. 

737  Jamieson,  Charles 

12134  Montjoy,  T. 

5221  Johnson,  John 

5044  Nichols,  C. 

7083  Johnson,  G.  W. 

6222  Northrop,  John 

7365  Jamison,  John  S. 

7331  North,  S.  S. 

7570  Jones,  John  J. 

10895  Nichols,  M. 

7961  Jones,  James  R. 

4565  Orton,  H.  C. 

8f>02  Johnson,  F. 

7511  Olena,  R. 

11970  Johnson,  C.  S. 

8276  Orr,  A. 

12340  Johnson,  W. 

1960  Pcndelton,  W. 

1590  Kingsbury,  C. 

3868  Pompey,  C. 

5186  Klincland,  L. 

4356  Parker,  S.  B. 

6374  Kempton,  B.  F. 

3803  Phelps,  S.  G. 

6705  Kershoff,  B. 

4934  Pimble,  A. 

6748  Kelley,  F. 

5002  Plum,  James 

7749  Kalty,  J. 

5386  Patchcy,  J. 

8065  Kim'ball,  H.  H. 

7487  Post,  C. 

8866  Kohlenburg,  C. 

7688  Poteche,  A. 

10233  Kern,  T. 

9248  Phillips,  J.  I. 

3401  London,  II. 

9444  Padf'rey,  Sylvanus 

5893  Lastry,  J. 

9533  Painter,  N.  P. 

5499  Lewis,  J. 

106-6  Puritan,  O. 

6124  Leonard,  W. 

12616  Peir,  A. 

7912  Levanaugh,  Wm.  0. 

2804  Ruther,  J. 

7956  Linker,  C. 

2871  Reed,  H.  H. 

9219  Lewis,  G.  H. 

3674  Risley,  E. 

10228  Lee 

4636  Reins,  William 

74  Mills,  W.  J. 

5902  Ross,  D. 

119  McCaullery,  James 

6400  Robinson,  H. 

2295  Miller,  Charles 

6796  Ringwood,  R. 

3516  McCord,  P. 

8078  Reed,  John 

3644  Miller,  A. 

8170  Richardson,  C.  S. 

3410  Mould,  James 

8345  Ray,  A. 

.3932  McGinnis,  J.  W. 

7310  Reed,  Robert  K. 

4079  Miller 

8662  Roper,  H. 

.  4417  Messenger,  A. 

10029  Rohinson,  J.  W. 

4492  McLean,  William 

10196  Richardson,  D.  T. 

4595  Marshall,  B. 

10416  Reynolds,  E. 

5238  Mickallis,  F. 

12031  Rathbone,  B. 

5328  Miller,  H. 

4  Stone,  H.  I. 

6342  M  alone,  John 

234  Smith,  Horace 

Name. 


No.  of 
grave. 

2405  Seward,  G.  H. 

2474  Stephens,  E.  W. 

3010  Scott,  W. 

3026  Sutcliff,  B. 

3041  Stuart,  J. 

3522  Smito,  J. 

3598  Sherwood,  D. 

4212  Smith,  C.  E. 

4316  Straubell,  L. 

4555  Straum,  James 

4722  Sullivan,  M. 

4892  Steele,  Samuel 

5385  Shultz,  C.  T. 

5563  Stino,  P. 

5712  Steele,  Samuel 

5725  Smith,  S. 

6734  Steele,  James  M. 

7070  Stephens,  B.  H. 

7975  Smith,  Henry 

8088  Short,  L.  C. 

8235  Smally,  L. 

9-04  Starkweather,  E.  M. 

9435  Sutliff,  J. 

9468  See,  L. 

9987  Sling,  D. 
101-8  Schubert,  K. 
10247  Sparring,  T. 
10476  Steele,  H. 
10787  Stauff,  J. 
-2005  Swift,  J. 
1 2288  Smith,  J.  T. 
541  Taylor,  Moses 

4443  Thompson,  Wm.  T. 

5427  Thompson,  F. 

5479  Tibbels,  William 

7723  Trcadway,  J.  H. 
10035  Tisdale,  Edward  F. 
10142  Taylor,  J. 
11089  Turner,  H. 

3107  Valter,  H. 
401  Winship.  J.  H. 

2158  Weldon,  Henry 

2601  Warner,  E. 

5543  Wikert,  Henry 

5222  Wright,  C. 

4649  Whecly,  James 

5675  Wenchell,  John  L. 

6138  Way,  H.  C. 

6918  Wiggleworth,  M.  L. 

8024  West'.  Charles  H. 

9028  Williams,  H.  D. 

9265  Wheeler,  J. 

9212  Ward,  Gilbert 
10033  Weins,  John 
12600  Ward,  G.  W. 

6364  Young,  C.  S. 


REGIMENTAL   INDEX. 


(For  general  topics  treated,  see  Table  of  Contents.) 


First  Regiment  —  Three  Months. 

Volunteering  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  38  to  55 ;  ordered  to  rendezvous  at  New  Haven, 
58  ;  the  work  of  equipment,  58  to  61  ;  in  camp,  61  ;  organization,  61,  62;  for  the  seat  of 
war,  67  ;  Colonel  Daniel  Tyler,  70 ;  arrival  in  Washington,  83  ;  in  Virginia,  87  ;  first 
Connecticut  man  wounded,  87 ;  Blackburn's  Ford,  93  ;  battle  of  Bull  Run,  94  to  99 ; 
muster-out,  100. 

Second  Regiment  — *•  Three  Months. 

The  first  uprising,  38  to  55 ;  preparation  for  rendezvous,  58 ;  encampment  at  New 
Haven,  64  ;  equipments,  supplies,  and  "  good  advice,"  65,  66  ;  departure,  67  ;  arrival  in 
Washington,  84  :  in  Virginia,  88 ;  Blackburn's  Ford,  93  ;  battle  of  Bull  Run,  94  t<J  99  ; 
muster-out,  100. 

Third  Regiment  —  Three  Months. 

The  first  uprising,  38  to  55  ;  rendezvous  at  Hartford,  67  ;  organization  and  muster,  68 ; 
equipment  and  drill,  68 ;  departure,  69 ;  arrival  in  Washington,  85 ;  in  Virginia,  89 ; 
Blackburn's  Ford,  93 ;  Bull  Run,  94  to  99 ;  muster-out,  100. 

First  Squadron  Cavalry. 
Organization  and  departure,  102  ;  subsequent  experience,  569. 

First  Regiment  Cavalry. 

Origin  of  the  battalion,  137  ;  in  camp  at  Meriden,  138  :  departure,  139  ;  supplies,  150  ; 
near  Wheeling,  208  ;  fighting  bushwhackers  in  West  Virginia,  raids,  battles,  and  incidents, 
209  to  213  ;  a  Thanksgiving  dinner,  472  ;  second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  489  ;  near  Twalley- 
town,  490 ;  battalion  changed  to  a  regiment,  491  ;  beyond  Bolivar  Heights,  492 ;  at 
Baltimore  recruiting,  493  to  496  ;  to  the  front,  496,  497 ;  at  Brandy  Station,  incidents  and 
casualties,  567  to  569  ;  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  570 ;  battle  of  Spo'ttsylvania,  572 ;  to 
the  rear  of  Lee's  army,  575,  576  ;  the  fight  at  Ashland,  581  to  586  ;  picket-fight,  603,  604 ; 
on  Wilson's  raid,  612  to  616 ;  exploit  of  Capt.  Whitaker,  614  ;  in  the  Shenandoah,  714  ; 
narrow  escape,  715,  716  ;  battle  of  Kearneysville,  716,  717  ;  Opequan  Creek,  718  ;  Fisher's 
Hill,  723  ;  a  squadron  captured  at  Spring  Hill,  724  ;  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  724  to  729  ; 
prison-life,  753  ;  in  the  Shenandoah,  spring  of  1865,  757  ;  in  front  of  Richmond,  758, 
759 ;  battle  of  Five  Forks,  783  to  785  ;  pursuit  of  Lee,  792;  793 ;  west  of  Appomattox, 
794;  muster-out,  818,  819. 

First  Heavy  Artillery  —  (Fourth  Infantry.) 

Promised  to  the  Government,  71  ;  rendezvous  and  organization,  72 ;  departure,  73  ; 
in  Maryland,  117  to  119  ;  life  at  Fort  Richardson,  133,  134  ;  supplies,  148,  149  ;  changed 
into  First  Connecticut  Heavy  Artillery,  203;  to  the  Peninsula  in  1862,  movement  of 
heavy  ordnance,  204  ;  impartial  commendation,  205 ;  the  seven-days'  fight,  206  ;  Malvern 
Hill,  207  ;  withdrawal  and  return,  208  ;  still  in  the  Arlington  forts,  504,  505  ;  removal  to 
Bermuda  Hundred,  557,  558 ;  return  of  non-veterans,  559 ;  arrival  of  the  siege-train, 
617,618;  at  the  mine,  624;  location  of  batteries,  constant  service,  684;  engagement 
with  the  rebel  navy,  685 ;  impartial  commendation,  686 ;  in  front  of  Petersburg,  759  to 
761  ;  death  of  Col.  Trumbull,  760 ;  rebel  assault  on  Fort  Stedman,  775  to  779 ;  muster- 
out,  824,  825. 

873 


874  EEGIMENTAL  INDEX. 


Second  Heavy  Artillery  —  (Nineteenth  Infantry.) 

Nineteenth  regiment  called  for,  222  ;  recruited,  223,  224;  organization  and  departure, 
232  to  234 ;  arrival  at  Alexandria,  238 ;  at  Fort  Worth,  changed  into  the  Second  Con 
necticut  Heavy  Artillery,  505,  506 ;  join  the  army  at  Spottsylvania,  573,  574 ;  to  the 
North  Juna,  577 ;  battle  of  Cold  Harbor,  587  to  589 ;  death  of  Col.  Kellogg  and  other 
casualties,  592  to  596  ;  advance  on  Petersburg,  606  to  611  ;  defence  of  Washington,  645  ; 
at  Parke's  Station,  678;  in  the  Shenandoah,  714;  battle  of  Opequan  Creek,  718  to  722; 
death  of  Major  Rice,  720;  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  724  to  729;  return  to  Petersburg,  761  ; 
fight  near  Petersburg,  780  ;  pursuit  of  Lee,  792  to  794 ;  muster-out,  821  to  823. 

First  Light  Battery. 

Origin,  137  ;  in  camp  at  Meriden,  138  ;  departure,  139  ;  on  James  Island,  198  to  200  ; 
capture  of  St.  John's  Bluff,  303,  304 ;  on  James  Island  again,  438,  439  ;  fight,  442  ;  hon 
orable  mention,  448  ;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  538  to  541 ;  at  Drury  Bluff,  542  to  552  ;  at 
Deep  Bottom,  649  to'657  ;  in  front  of  Richmond,  761  ;  into  Richmond,  792  ;  muster-out, 
813. 

Second  Light  Battery. 

Organization  and  departure,  236  ;  near  Wolf-run  Shoals,  517  ;  embarks  for  New  Orleans, 
518;  to  the  mouth  of  Mobile  Bay,  708 ;  the  reduction  of  Fort  Morgan,  709 ;  return  to 
Louisiana,  709 ;  again  in  Florida,  battle  of  Blakeley  in  April,  1865,  710  ;  location,  761 ; 
muster-out,  819,  820. 

Third  Light  Battery. 
Location,  761  ;  assault  of  rebels  on  Fort  Stedman,  779  ;  muster-out,  813 

Fifth  Infantry. 

Col.  Samuel  Colt's  battalion,  73 ;  disbanded  and  re-organized,  73,  74;  departure,  101 ; 
in  Maryland,  11 9, '120;  becomes  "  the  foot  cavalry,"  134;  supplies,  148,  149;  sufferings 
during  the  winter  of  1861-2,  213;  across  the  Potomac,  214;  battle  of  Winchester  and 
retreat,  215,  216  ;  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain,  casualties,  217  to  221  ;  life  in  Virginia,  299 
to  302 ;  advance  to  Chancellorsville,  358  to  360  ;  the  battle  and  casualties,  361  to  374  ; 
advance  to  Gettysburg,  battle,  victory,  casualties,  pursuit,  378  to  396  ;  veteran  furlough, 
523  ;  transferred  to  Tennessee,  692  ;  the  journey,  guarding  railroads,  693  ;  near  Cumber 
land  Tunnel,  694  ;  incidents,  695,  696  ;  join  Sherman's  army  for  the  great  march,  697  ; 
the  battle  of  Resaca,  698  ;  at  Casville,  699  ;  battle  of  Peach-tree  Creek,  702,  703  ;  capture 
of  Atlanta,  casualties,  705,  706  ;  through  Georgia  to  the  sea,  707,  708  ;  the  march  from 
Savannah  to  Goldsborough,  battles,  incidents,  and  casualties,  766  to  771  ;  muster-out, 
817. 

Sixth  Infantry. 

Volunteering  begun,  102;  rendezvous  at  New  Haven,  120;  organization,  121,122; 
departure,  123;  at  Annapolis,  123;  at  Hilton  Head,  l3l,  132;  supplies,  150;  in  War 
saw  Sound,  191  ;  assault  on  Fort  Pulaski,  194  ;  to  James  Island,  197  ;  battle,  198  to  202  ; 
battle  of  Pocotaligo,  304,  305  ;  in  Florida,  436  ;  on  Folly  Island,  437,  438  ;  capture  of 
Morris  Island,  439,  440;  assault  on  Fort  Wagner,  442  to  446;  mention  for  gallantry, 
448 ;  return  to  Hilton  Head,  449  ;  at  Hilton  Head,  506,  507  ;  veteran  furlough,  523  ;  up 
the  James,  537  ;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  538  to  541  ;  Drury's  Bluff,  542  to  552 ;  skirmish 
of  May  20,  553  ;  assault  on  railroad,  611,  612  ;  at  Deep  Bottom,  648,  649  ;  battle  and 
casualties,  649  to  657  ;  in  front  of  Petersburg,  662  ;  on  the  Darbytown  Road,  668,  670  ; 
resisting  an  attack,  671,  672  ;  assault  on  the  rebel  right,  672,  673;  fight  on  the  Darby- 
town  Road,  Oct.  27,  674  to  676  ;  promotions,  &c.,  680 ;  expedition  to  New  York,  682, 
683  ;  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  686  to  691  ;  advance  on  Wilmington,  761,  762 ;  muster-out, 
820. 

Seventh  Infantry. 

Volunteering  begun,  102;  rendezvous  at  New  Haven,  120;  organization,  122,  123; 
departure,  123;  at  Annapolis,  123  ;  at  Hilton  Head,  131,  132;  supplies,  150;  on  Tybee 
Island,  192  ;  reduction  of  Fort  Pulaski,  193  to  196  ;  the  post  of  honor,  197  ;  to  James 
Island,  197;  battle,  198  to  202;  battle  of  Pocotaligo,  304,  305;  in  Florida,  436;  on 
Folly  Island,  437,  438 ;  capture  of  Morris  Island,  439 ;  assault  on  Fort  Wagner,  440  to 


REGIMENTAL  INDEX.  875 

442  ;  second  assault,  443  to  446  ;  detailed  as  artillery,  447,  448  ;  mention  for  gallantry, 
448;  to  St.  Helena  Island,  449;  to  Olustee,  507  ;  the  battle  and  reverse,  503  to  511  ; 
veteran  furlough,  522,  523;  up  the  James,  537;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  538  to  541  ; 
Drury's  Bluff,  542  to  552 ;  Major  Sanford  and  eighty  men  captured,  555  ;  assault  on 
railroad,  611,  612  ;  at  Deep  Bottom,  battle  and  casualties,  648  to  657  ;  in  front  of  Peters 
burg,  662  ;  on  the  Darbytown  Road,  668,  670  ;  resisting  a  rebel  attack,  671,  672  ;  assault 
on  the  enemy's  right,  672,  673  ;  fight  on  the  Darbytown  Road,  674  to  676  ;  promotions, 
&c.,  680  ;  expedition  to  New  York  under  Hawley,  682,  683  ;  capture  of  Fort  Fisher,  686 
to  691  ;  prison-experience,  744 ;  advance  on  Wilmington,  761  to  764  ;  death  of  Chaplain 
Eaton,  763  ;  honors  to  Gens.  Terry  and  Hawley,  804  to  809  ;  muster-out,  820,  821. 

Eighth  Infantry. 

Volunteering  begun,  102;  rendezvous  at  Hartford,  120;  organization,  123,  124;  de 
parture,  1*24;  life  at  Annapolis,  127,  128,  130;  supplies,  149,  150;  embark  for  "North 
Carolina,  162  ;  the  passage  and  the  gale,  163,  164  ;  at  Roanoke  Island,  165  ;  embark  for 
the  Neuse,  170;  battle  of  Newberne,  172  to  174;  race  for  Newberne,  174;  assault  on 
Fort  Macon,  178  to  180;  surrender  of  the  fort,  181  ;  return  to  Newberne,  255  ;  to  New 
port  News,  256;  to  Fredericksburg,  257,  258 ;  the  march  to  Antietam,  259  to  263;  the 
battle  of  Antietam  and  casualties,  264  to  287  ;  pursuit  of  Lee  to  Fredericksburg,  288  to 
290;  battle  and  casualties,  291  to  297;  to  Newport  News  and  Suffolk,  330,  331  ;  siege 
of  Suffolk,  331  to  336;  blackberry  raid,  336  to  340;  near  Portsmouth,  475  to  479; 
veteran  furlough,  521,  522;  up  the  James,  536;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  538  to  541; 
Drury's  Bluff,  542  to  552 ;  casualties  at  Cold  Harbor,  597 ;  advance  on  Petersburg,  605 
to  608;  casualties,  &c.,  610;  work  in  the  trenches,  618,  619;  at  the  mine,  625;  at  Ber 
muda  Hundred,  661 ;  loss  of  a  working-party,  662,  663 ;  to  Chaffin's  Bluff,  capture  of 
Fort  Harrison,  664  to  666 ;  defence  of  Fort  Harrison,  668 ;  casualties,  669 ;  promotions, 
&c.,  680 ;  headquarters'  guard,  684 ;  promotions,  764 ;  into  Richmond,  792  ;  muster-out, 
827. 

Ninth  Infantry. 

Volunteering  begun,  102 ;  rendezvous  at  New  Haven,  125  ;  organization,  125 ;  in  camp 
at  Lowell,  140;  at  Ship  Island,  140,  141;  capture  of  Bixoxi,  Miss.,  157;  fight  at 
Pass  Christian,  158;  first  regiment  on  main  land  in  Department  of  the  South,  Butler's 
commendatory  order,  159;  up  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  159,  160;  the  Pass  Manchac 
expedition,  306;  to  Vicksburg,  great  suffering,  309,  310;  battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  310, 
311  ;  a  raid  on  the  enemy,  312 ;  in  defenses  of  New  Orleans,  511  to  513 ;  veteran  furlough, 
524,  525;  at  Deep  Bottom,  622;  in  the  Shenandoah,  714;  at  the  battle  of  Opequan 
Creek,  718  to  722  ;  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  724  to  729;  battalion  ordered  to  Savannah, 
765  ;  to  Hilton  Head,  802 ;  muster-out,  823,  824. 

Tenth  Infantry. 

Volunteering  begun,  102;  rendezvous  at  Hartford,  126;  organization,  126;  life  at 
Annapolis,  127,  128,  130;  supplies,  149,  150;  embark  for  North  Carolina,  162;  the 
passage  and  the  gale,  163,  164;  af  Roanoke  Island,  165 ;  the  battle,  166,  167  ;  sketch  of 
Col.  Charles  L.  Russell,  167,  168  ;  up  the  Neuse,  170  ;  bivouac,  171 ;  battle  of  Newberne, 
172  to  174;  death  of  Col.  A.  W.  Drake,  175  to  177  ;  the  Tarboro'  raid,  341,  342;  battle 
of  Kinston,  343  to  347  ;  on  St.  Helena  Island,  347,  348 ;  on  James  Island,  438,  439  ;  fight 
on  James  Island,  442  ;  assault  on  Fort  Wagner,  443  to  446  ;  siege-work,  to  St.  Augustine, 
450,  451  ;  death  of  Col.  Chatfield,  452  to  455;  still  in  Florida,  513,  514;  veteran  fur 
lough,  523,  524;  up  the  James,  537  ;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  538  to  541  ;  Drury's  Bluff, 
542  to  552  ;  assault  of  June  15,  611 ;  at  Deep  Bottom,  619  to  622  ;  battle  and  casualties, 
648  to  657 ;  in  front  of  Petersburg,  662 ;  on  the  Darbytown  Road,  668 ;  on  the  New 
Market  Road,  670 ;  resisting  an  attack,  670,  671  ;  assault  on  the  rebel  right,  672,  673  ; 
death  of  Major  Camp,  673,  674 ;  fight  on  the  Darbytown  Road,  Oct.  27,  674  to  676 ; 
promotions,  &c.,  681 ;  expedition  to  New  York  under  Hawley,  682,  683  ;  promot'ons,  765 ; 
moved  to  the  left  of  the  line,  782,  783 ;  assault  on  Fort  Gregg,  786 ;  capture,  incidents, 
and  casualties,  787  to  789;  pursuit  of  Lee,  792;  condition,  &c.,  809,  810;  muster-out, 
824. 

Eleventh  Infantry. 

Volunteering  begun,  102;  first  companies  arrive  at  Hartford,  126;  organization,  129; 
life  at  Annapolis,  130  ;  embark  for  North  Carolina,  162  ;  the  passage  and  gale,  163,  164  ; 
beached  near  Hatteras,  164 ;  up  the  Neuse,  170 ;  bivouac,  171 ;  battle  of  Newberne,  172, 
173,  174;  in  the  rebel  barracks,  175;  return  to  Newberne,  255;  to  Newport  News,  re- 


876  REGIMENTAL  INDEX. 

organization,  256,  257  ;  to  Fredericksburg,  258 ;  the  march  to  Antictam,  259  to  263 ; 
battle  of  Antietani  and  casualties,  264  to  287  ;  pursuit  of  Lee  to  Fredericksburg,  288  to 
290 ;  battle  and  casualties,  291  to  297  ;  to  Newport  News  and  Suffolk,  330,  331  ;  sieire  of 
Suffolk,  331  to  336  ;  blackberry  raid,  336  to  340  ;  near  Portsmouth,  475  to  479  ;  at  Glou 
cester  Point,  480  ;  veteran  furlough,  521,  522 ;  up  the  James,  537  ;  at  Bermuda  Hundred, 
538  to  541  ;  Drury's  Bluff,  542  to  552  ;  casualties  at  Cold  Harbor,  death  of  Major  Con 
verse,  597  to  599  ;  advance  on  Petersburg,  606  ;  battle,  608  .to  610;  work  in  the  trenches, 
618,  619  ;  at  the  mine,  625  ;  death  of  Gen.  Stedman  and  Col.  Morgling,  625  to  628  ;  at 
Bermuda  Hundred,  661  ;  promotions,  &c.,  681  ;  recruits,  683  ;  presentation  of  flag,  764  ; 
into  Richmond,  790,  791 ;  muster-out,  827. 

Twelfth   Infantry. 

Origin,  136,  137  ;  recruiting,  141  ;  organization,  142,  143;  in  camp  at  Hartford,  144; 
to  Ship  Island,  145,  146  ;  up  the  river,  159  ;  first  regiment  to  arrive  at  New  Orleans,  160; 
Pass  Manchac  expedition,  Camp  Parapet,  306,  307 ;  battle  of  Georgia  Landing,  313  to 
316 ;  the  gunboat  Cotton  and  the  Diana,  319  to  321 ;  at  Irish  Bend,  403  to  407  ;  invest- 
•mcnt  and  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  408  to  419  ;  casualties  and  incidents,  420;  at  New  ' 
Iberia,  re-enlisting  as  veterans,  514  to  517  ;  veteran  furlough,  524  ;  in  the  Shenandoah, 
714;  battle  of  Opequan  Creek,  718  to  722;  death  of  Col.  Peck,  721,  722;  battle  of 
Cedar  Creek,  724  to  729;  locations  and  promotions,  766;  muster-out,  821. 

Thirteenth  Infantry. 

Origin  and  organization,  143  ;  in  barracks  at  New  Haven,  145  ;  supplies,  150  ;  to  Ship 
Island,  154  to  156;  to  New  Orleans,  160,  161 ;  to  Camp  Parapet,  anecdotes,  307  to  309; 
battle  of  Georgia  Landing,  313  to  316;  at  Baton  Eouge,  319;  diversion  towards  Port 
Hudson,  401  to  403 ;  at  Irish  Bend,  403  to  407 ;  Investment  and  capture  of  Port  Hudson, 
408  to  419  ;  casualties  and  incidents,  420,  421 ;  at  Thibodcau,  518  ;  battle  of  Cane  River, 
519,  520;  veteran  furlough,  525  ;  in  the  Shenandoah,  714;  battle  of  Opequan  Creek,  718 
to  722 ;  battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  724  to  729 ;  battalion  ordered  to  Savannah,  thence  to 
North  Carolina,  765,  802,  803 ;  muster-out,  827,  828. 

Fourteenth  Infantry. 

Called  for,  222 ;  recruited,  223,  224  ;  organization  and  departure,  225  ;  arrival  at 
Arlington,  237  ;  march  to  Antietani,  260  to  263  ;  battle  of  Antietam  and  casualties,  264 
to  287  ;  pursuit  of  Lee  to  Fredericksburg,  288  to  290  ;  battle  and  casualties,  291  to  297  ; 
advance  to  Chancellorsville,  358  to  360 ;  battle  and  casualties,  361  to  374 ;  advance  to 
Gettysburg,  battle,  victory,  casualties,  pursuit,  378  to  396;  at  Stevensburg,  560;  Capt. 
Fiske's  view  of  soldiering,  561  to  563  ;  Mine  Run,  564  ;  how  to  make  winter  quarters,  564,. 
565;  fight  at  Morton's  Ford,  566,  567;  buttle  of  the  Wilderness,  570,  571;  battle  of 
Spottsylvania,  572,  573 ;  to  the  North  Anna,  577  ;  to  Cold  Harbor,  587  ;  casualties,  589 
to  592;  advance  on  Petersburg,  607  to  611;  at  Deep  Bottom,  622,  649;  return  to  the 
left,  657;  on  the  Weldon  Railroad,  battle  at  Reams's  Station,  casualties,  658  to  (501  ;  at 
Prince  George's  Court  House,  664  ;  fight  for  the  Southsidc  railroad,  676  to  678;  battle  on 
Hatcher's  Run,  678  to  680;  location  in  spring  of  1865,  765  ;  on  Hatcher's  Run,  780,  781 ; 
pursuit  of  Lee,  792;  muster-out,  811,  812. 

Fifteenth  Infantry. 

Called  for,  222  ;  recruited,  223,  224 ;  organization  and  departure,  226,  227 ;  arrival  at 
Washington,  237  ;  to  Fredericksburg,  288,  289  ;  battle  and  casualties,  290  to  297  ;  to  New 
port  News  and  Suffolk,  330, 331  ;  siege  of  Suffolk,  331  to  336 ;  blackberry  raid,  336  to  340 ; 
nea  Portsmouth,  475  to  479  ;  to  Newberne,  481  ;  to  Plymouth,  482  ;  return  to  Ncwbernc, 
485,  attack  on  Washington,  537;  at  Newberne,  538;  the  yellow-fever,  710  to  713; 
expedition  to  Kinston,  766;  battle  and  capture,  771  to  774  ;  death  of  Major  Osborn,  772, 
773;  muster-out,  816. 

Sixteenth  Infantry. 

Called  for,  222  ;  recruiting,  223,  224  ;  organization  and  departure,  227  to  229 ;  arrival 
in  Virginia,  237  ;  march  to  Antietam,  260  to  263 ;  battle  of  Antietam  and  casualties,  264, 
to  287  ;  pursuit  of  Lee  to  Fredericksburg,  288  to  290;  battle  and  casualties,  291  to  297  ; 
to  Newport  News  and  Suffolk.  330  to  331  ;  siege  of  Suffolk,  331  to  336  ;  blackberry  raid, 
-336  to  340 ;  near  Portsmouth,  475  to  479 ;  to  Newberne,  481  ;  to  Plymouth,  482 ; 
return  to  Newberne,  485 ;  return  to  Plymouth,  486 ;  the  town  besieged,  486,  487 ;  the 
surrender,  488  ;  prison  experience,  526  to  535 ;  escape  from  captivity,  744  to  746 ;  to  Fos 
ter's  Mills  and  Newberne,  774;  muster-out,  815,  816. 


REGIMENTAL  INDEX.  §77 


Seventeenth  Infantry. 

Called  for,  222  ;  recruited,  223,  224 ;  organization  and  departure,  229,  230 ;  detention 
in  Baltimore,  237,  238 ;  moves  into  VirgiWa,  297,  298  ;  advance  to  Chancellorsville,  338 
to3GO;  battle  and  casualties,  3G1  to  374  ;  advance  to  Gettysburg,  battle,  victory,  casual 
ties,  pursuit,  378  to  396  ;  in  front  of  Fort  Wagner,  446,  447  ;  mention  for  gallantry,  449; 
on  Folly  Island,  450  ;  at  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  729  ;  perilous  raids,  729,  730 ;  McGisto 
Creek,  730,  731 ;  capture  of  Baldwin,  732  ;  capture  of  Col.  Noble,  732 ;  expedition  for 
cotton,  death  of  Col.  Wileoxson,  733,  734  ;  detached  service,  735,  736  ;  muster-out,  817, 
818. 

Eighteenth  Infantry. 

Called  for,  222  ;  recruited,  223,  224  ;  organization  and  departure,  231,  232 ;  in  Balti 
more,  238  ;  life  at  Fort  Marshall,  348,  349  ;  to  the  Shenandoah  valley,  349,  350  ;  battle  of 
Winchester,  351  to  353 ;  surrender,  354  ;  heavy  losses,  354,  355  ;  imprisonment,  356,  357  ; 
at  Martinsburg,  refitting,  497  ;  social  life,  498  ;  prison  experience,  499  to  503  ;  spring  of 
1864,  under  Sigel,  638  ;  battle  of  New  Market,  639  ;  casualties,  640  ;  under  Hunter,  battle 
of  Piedmont,  641,  642;  casualties,  642,  643;  descent  on  Lynchburg,  644;  the  retreat 
northward,  645  ;  battle  of  Snicker's  Ferry,  646  ;  retreat  through  Winchester,  617  ;  in  the 
Shenandoah,  714;  again  at  Martinsburg,  717;  location,  &c.,  766  ;  muster-out,  815. 

Twentieth  Infantry. 

Recruiting,  223,  224 ;  organization  and  departure,  234,  235 ;  arrival  in  Washington, 
238, 239  ;  life  in  Virginia,  299  to  302  ;  advance  to  Chancellorsville,  358  to  360 ;  battle  and 
casualties,  361  to  374 ;  advance  to  Gettysburg,  battle,  victory,  casualties,  pursuit,  378  to 
396  ;  transfer  to  Tennessee,  692 ;  the  journey,  guarding  railroads,  693  ;  at  Cowan,  fight 
with  guerrillas,  694 ;  incidents,  695,  696  ;  join  Sherman's  army  for  the  great  march,  697  ; 
seizure  of  Boyd's  trail,  697,698;  battle  of.Resaca,  698;  capture  of  Cassville,  699;  at 
Alatoona  Pass,  700 ;  flanking,  701  ;  battle  of  Peach-tree  Creek,  702,  703 ;  capture  of 
Atlanta,  casualties,  705,  706 ;  through  Georgia  to  the  sea,  707,  708 ;  from  Savannah  to 
Goldsborough,  battles,  incidents,  and  casualties,  766  to  771 ;  pursuit  and  capture  of  John 
ston,  796,  797  ;  muster-out,  812,  813. 

Twenty-first  Infantry. 

Recruiting,  223,  224 ;  organization  and  departure,  235,  236 ;  arrival  in  Washington, 
239  ;  pursuit  of  Lee' through  Virginia,  288  to  290  ;  battle  ,  of  Fredcricksburg  and  casual 
ties,  291  to  297  ;  to  Newport  News  and  Suffolk,  330,  331  ;  siege  of  Suffolk,  331  to  336  ; 
blackberry  rr.id,  336  to  340 ;  provost-duty  in  Portsmouth,  477  to  479 ;  at  Norfolk  and 
Newport  News,  481  ;  a  raid,  483  ;  to  Morehead  City  and  Newbernc,  484,  485 ;  up  the 
James,  537,  538  ;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  538  to  541  ;  Drury's  Bluff,  542  to  552  ;  near  Port 
Walthal,  553 ;  death  of  Col.  Dutton,  554  ;  losses  at  Cold  Harbor,  death  of  Col.  Burpee, 
GOO,  601  ;  advance  on  Petersburg,  606  to  610  ;  near  the  Appomattox,  616  ;  work  in  the 
trenches,  618,  619;  at  the  mine,  623,  624  ;  at  Bermuda  Hundred,  6G1,  6G2;  exposure  and 
casualties,  663  ;  to  Chaffin's  Bluff,  664 ;  capture  of  Fort  Harrison,  665  to  667  ;  defense 
of  Fort  Harrison,  668,  669;  casualties,  670;  promotions,  £c.,  681;  expedition  to 
Fredericksburg,  764,  765  ;  into  Richmond,  792  ;  muster-out,  813  to  815. 

Twenty-second  Infantry  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240  ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245 ;  organization  arid  departure,  246,  247 ; 
on  picket  in  Virginia,  298,  299  ;  to  Suffolk,  332;  siege  of  Suffolk,  334  to  336;  to  West 
Point,  336  ;  home  and  muster-out,  433  to  435. 

Twenty-third  Infantry  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240  ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245  ;  organization  and  departure,  247,  248; 
from  Long  Island  to  Ship  Island  and  Louisiana,  316,  317  ;  at  Camp  Parapet,  427  ;  along 
the  Opelousas  Railroad,  428  ;  battles  at  La  Fourche  andBrashear,  429,  430  ;  imprisonment, 
casualties,  and  muster-out,  432,  433  ;  prison-life,  743  ;  muster-out,  433  to  435. 

Twenty-fourth  Infantry  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240 ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245 ;  organization  and  departure,  248, 
249;  from  Long  Island  to  Ship  Island,  316,  317;  to  Baton  Rouge,  319 ;  diversion 
towards  Port  Hudson,  401  to  403 ;  at  IriSh  Bend,  408  ;  investment  and  capture  of  Port 
Hudson,  408  to  419  ;  casualties  and  incidents,  421,  422  ;  muster-out,  434,  435. 


878  REGIMENTAL  INDEX. 

Twenty-fifth  Infantry.  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240  ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245  ;  onranization  and  departure,  249,  250  ; 
from  Long  Island  to  Ship  Island,  to  Louisiana,^16,  317  ;  to  Baton  Rouge,  319  ;  diversion 
towards  Port  Hudson,  401  to  403  ;  at  Irish  Bend,  403  to  407  ;  investment  and  capture  of 
Port  Hudson,  408  to  419  ;  casualties  and  incidents,  422,  423;  muster-out,  434,  435. 

Twenty-sixth  Infantry  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240  ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245  ;  organization  and  departure,  250,  25  ; 
from  Long  Island  to  Ship  Island,  to  Louisiana,  316,  317  ;  at  Camp  Parapet,  319  ;  invest 
ment  and  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  408  to  419;  casualties  and  incidents,  423  to  427; 
muster-out,  434,  435. 

Twenty-seventh  Infantry  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240  ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245  ;  organization  and  departure,  251, 252 ; 
to  Fredericksburg,  290  ;  battle  and  casualties,  291  to  297  ;  advance  to  Chancellorsville, 
358  to  3GO;  battle  and  capture,  361  to  372;  imprisonment,  374  to  377;  advance  to 
Gettysburg,  battle,  victory,  casualties,  pursuit,  378  to  396  ;  muster-out,  434,  435. 

Twenty-eighth  Infantry  —  Nine  Months. 

Called  for,  240 ;  recruiting  and  draft,  241  to  245  ;  organization  and  departure,  252  to 
254  ;  from  Long  Island  to  Ship  Island,  to  Louisiana,  316,  317  ;  to  Pcnsacola,  encampment 
and  service,  318,  319  ;  investment  and  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  408  to  419;  casualties 
and  incidents,  426,  427  ;  muster-out,  434,  435. 

Twenty-ninth  Infantry —  (colored). 

'  Organization,  460  ;  to  Annapolis,  461  ;  at  Beaufort,  637  ;  joins  the  Army  of  the  James, 
648  ;  at  Deep  Bottom,  648  to  657  ;  in  front  of  Petersburg,  662  ;  up  the  New-Market 
Road,  the  charge,  667  ;  defence  of  Fort  Harrison,  668 ;  casualties,  670 ;  fight  on  the 
Parbvtown  Road,  Oct.  27,  674  to  676;  location,  764;  into  Richmond,  790;  to  Texas, 
802  ;  "muster-out,  825  to  827. 

Thirtieth  Infantry —  (colored). 

Enlistment  begun,  461  ;  organization  and  appearance  at  the  front,  601,  602 ;  the  assault 
at  the  mine,  622,  623  ;  to  the  left  of  the  line,  782  ;  pursuit  of  Lee,  792  ;  to  Texas,  802 ; 
muster-out,  825  tc  827. 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


[Names  incidentally  mentioned  are  not  embraced  in  this  Index.] 


Abbey,  William  H.,  250 
Abbott,  E.  K.,  143 

Charles  S.,  235 

Ed.  T.,  750 

Henry  L.,  504,  557, 
559,  617,  624,  684, 
686,  687,  776,  778, 
813,  825 

J.  C.,  687,  689 
Abcrnethy,  E.  P.,  108 
Adams,  Hon.  John  T.,  188, 
630 

Charles,  Jr.,  595 

W.  L.,  642 
Addis,  Ira  B.,  422 

Wm.  J.,  248 

Ager,  George,  207,  504,  825 
Affijett,  K.,  449  [839 

Aiken,  Wm.   A.,   231,   801, 
Aklen,  W.  C.,  597 
Aldrich,  Thomas  J.,  646 
Alexander,  J.  H.,  180,  633 

(Rev.),  Walter  8., 425 
Allen,  Amory,  567 

Amos  S.,  597 

Charles  W.,  522 

Ed.  P.,  74,  597 

Ethan,  24, 

Henry  A.,  448 
»      Henry,  392,  599,  729, 
732,  733,  735,  736, 
817 

John, 106 

John  W.,  50 

Lewis  C.jun.,  121, 537 

James  L.,  557 

Geo.  W.,  766 

Oscar,  788 
Ailing,  Frank  E.,  297 

Amos  H.,  464 
Almy,  Albert  H.,  834 

John  H.,  130, 237, 317, 

834,  835,  836,  837 
Allyn,  Roswell,  514 

Stanton,  145,  306, 514, 
515 

T.  M.,  227,  597 
Armbraster,  Albert,  246 
Andrews,  Benj.,  624 

D.  C.,  545 

Levi,  448 

Andross,  Edmond,  17,  18 
Auger,  Marshall  C.,  712 


Anthony,  R.  C.,  430 
Appelman,  Hiram,  48,  124, 
172,  179,    271,  272 
Arms,  C.  J.,  475 
Arnold,  John,  68 

(Col.),  85 
Alsop,  J.  W.,  834 
Ashmead  (Mrs.),  J.  H.,  470 
Atwell,  S.  S.,  199,  201,  447, 

672,  683,  762,  820 
Atwater,  Dorcnce,  871 

Chas.,  (Jan.),  81, 188 
Atwoo'd  (Dr.),  C.  H.,  241 
Austin,  Willard,  654,  762 
Averill,  (Rev.),  James,  432 

Perry,  405 

Hon"  Roger,  801 
Ayers,  Edwin  D.,  345 

Henry,  426 

W.  H.,  623 
Babcock,  424 

Charles,  228 

James  Fv  52 

Samuel  D.,  834 
Backus,    Joseph,    494,   584, 

603-4,  819 
Bacon,  C.  A.,  448 

(Mrs.),  467 

(Dr.),  Francis,  97,195, 
201 

(Rev.  Dr.),  183,  226, 
435,  523,  818 

(Mrs.),  William,  471 

Theodore,     97,    122, 
195,  523,  540,  555, 
556 
Bailey,  Charles,  431 

Cornelius  H.,  102 

Everett,  546 

Geo.  E.,  281 

,  221 

G.  W.,  746 

H.  L.,  546 

J.  M.,  450 

S.  G.,  248,  423,  431 
Baldwin,  James,  505 

L.,  448 

S.,  834 

Bangs,  Frank  D.,  779,  825 
Bannan,  C.  R.,  684,  825 
Bantlv,  Francis,  448 
Barbe'r,  Fred.  M.,  228,  282 
B  arbour,  Lucius,  596 


Barker,  Chas.  E.,  539,  544, 

651,654,  447 
Barnes,  48 

Stewart,  475 
Barnum,  B.  S.,  392 
Barnum  (Adj.),  611,  774 

Saml.  C.,  597,  599 

Jos.  H.,  488 

P.  M.,  752 
Barrett,  R.  Cecil,  601 

Thos.  E.,  297 

Mrs.  E.,  471 
Barren,  Pierce,  782 
Barry,  Wellington,  705,  770 
Bartholomew,  P.,  678 
Barton,  Miss  Clara,  871 
Bartlett,  Egbert,  464 

J.  H.  &  Sons,  146 

Franklin,  679 
Bartram,  David  S.,  392 

Andrew  B.,  410 
Bassett,  Julius,  227,  772,  773 

(Mrs.),  471 

Robert  N.,  47 
Bates,  Theo.  S.,  281 

Thos.    K.,    121,   231, 

356 
Battell,  Robbins,  34,  234 

Joseph,  834 
Batterson,  J.  G.,  597 
Beach,  Chas.  M..  596 

(Col.),  271,  274,482 

Frank,  487 

Francis,  228 

Geo.  L.,  595 

I.  W.,  422 

(Miss),  Julia  A.,  764 

Moses  Y.,  52,  81 

Watson,  596 
Beard  (Col.),  566 
Beardsley,  A.  E.,  694 

(Lt  ),  302 

(Dr.),  A.,  47,  464 

Chas.,  773 

Fred'k,  752 
Bcckley,  Wm.  A.,  244 
Beckwith,  H.  C.,  468 

Theo.  L.,  253 

(Gen.),  312 

Louis,  803 

Beecher,  Rev.  H.  W.,  835 
Belcher,  Arthur,  48 
Belden,  N.  A.,  335,  552 

679 


880 


Belden,  D.  H.,  107 
Bell,  John,  29 
Bellows,  George,  654 
Benham    (Gen.),    192,    195, 
197-8,  722 

(Lt.),  195 
Bennett  (Dr.),  Ezra  P.,  242 

Samuel,  788 

Thos.  G.,  670 

Benedict  (Rev.),  W.  A.,  838 
Benson,  D.  0.,  230 
Bent,  B.  jr.,  188 
Bcntley,  Wm.  H.,  251 
Benton,  Wm.,  309 

Geo.  M.,  728 

Geo.  S.,  371-2 
Berkeley,  W.,  448 
Berrv,  Fred  M.,  720,  822 

Wm.  A.,  74 

William,  728 
Betts,  James  A.,  17,  216 

Fred  C.,  733 
Biderman,  John,  448 
Bidwell,  Henry  L.,  143 
Biebel,  Henry,  122,  542 
Bill,  Henry,  50,  231 

Geo.  F.,  825 

Ledyard,  55,  515 
Bingham,    W.   H.   H.,   558, 
825 

Levi  C.,  540 
Birdsall,  Sam.  T.,  252 
Birge,  H.  W.,  119,  143,  155, 
156,    307,    312-16, 
319,  409,  415,  423, 
518,  715,    725,  802, 
803 
Bishop,  E.  W.,  772,  773 

J.  A.,  244 

Jacob,  666 

A.  W.,  722 
William,  406,  520 

Bissell,  Geo.  P.,  241,  249, 
253-400,  401,  405, 
407,  423,  808,  811, 
815 

J.  W.,  400 
Wm.,  233 

Bixby,  F.  G.,  497 

Blackmar,  E.,  551 

Blakeslee,  Erastus,  210,  211, 
446,  487,  491-3, 
495-6,  533,  534,  567, 
570,  581,  583-4, 
585-6,612,714,715, 
716,  724,  757,  819 

B.  F.,  271 
Edward  C.,  446 

Blakeman,  Geo.,  464 
Blake,  Edward  F.,  214,  216, 
218,  817 
Eli  W.,  218 
Henry  T.,  183  (Mrs.), 

471 

Blatchford,  E.  M.,  834 
Blinn,    Chas.  D.,    143,   306 
519,  525,  714,  718, 
728,  726,  765,  802 


Blinn,  J.  ±,.,  22.1,  281 
Bliss,  John  F.,  448 
Blodgett,  R.,  448 
Bloss,  L.  L.,  241 
Boardman,  Henry,  139 

W.  W.,  471,  472 
Bodwell,  393 

Augustus,  766 
Bohan,  John,  421 
Bond,  Thos.  H.,  52 

William,  448 
Booth,  Geo.  F.,  277 
Bostwick  (Col.),  367,  368, 

369,  378,379 
Botts,  John  H.,  539 
Boudren,  Thomas,  122 
Bowman,  Chas.  F.,  772 
Bowen,  Andrew,  139,  490 

Chas.    D.,    232,   349, 

351 

Bowns,  Wm.  A.,  774 
Bradford  (Chaplain),  J.  H., 
144,  404,  727 

Bvron,  556,  651 
Brady,  A.  G.,  "229,  380,  392, 
450,  729 

Oliver  G.,  221 
Bradley,  J.  R.,  252,  371 

J.  T.,  642 

Geo.  G.,  673 

Wm.  E.,  720,  802 

Wm.  F.,  553 

Wm.  H.,  433 

(Miss),  E.,  471 

R.  O.,  772 
Bragg,  Wm.  B.,  156 
Brainard,  H.  A.,  421 

Francis,  327 
Braley,  Lester  E.,  142,  404 
Brandagee    (Hon.),   Augus 
tus,  48,  77,  135 
Brannan,  Patrick,  545 
Branch,  Joseph  W.,  126 
Breed,  Chas.  A.,  256 
Brennan,  John,  404,  420 

George,  422 
Brewster,  James,  68,  152 

Chas.  C.,  549 

John  H.,  705 
Briggs,  Chas.  E.,  583 
Brigham,  Geo.  N.,  660 

Chas.  0.,  624,  825 
Briscoe,  Chas.,  78 
Bristol,  Wyllis,  226 

J.  A ,  448 

John,  570 

E.  S.,  670 
Broatch,  John  C.,  658,  677, 

765 

Brockett,  Chas.  A.,  545 
Bromley,  Isaac  H.,  231,  349, 

457,  633 
Miles,  435 

J.  B.,  308,  408 
Bronson,  Aug.  E.,  392 

J.  R.,  372 
Leonard,  372 
Isaac  R.,  225 


Brooker,  A.  F.,  206, 624,  684 
Brooks  (Col.),  269 
Brookes,  A.  D.,  597 
Brown,  (Senator),  116 

Delos   D.,    477,    479, 
481,  484,  536,  551, 
552 
(Chaplain),  Thos.  G., 

552 

Chas.  D.,  502 
Chas.  H.,  426 
(Miss),  C.  L.,  471 
Geo.  II.,  650,  655,  782 
(Capt.),412,  504 
(Lt.-Col.),  670 
Elias  S.  758 
H.  H.,  676 
H.  B.,  390 
F.  A.,  470 
Samuel,  228,  282 
J.  F.,  236,    483,  606, 

616/665,  764,  813 
Matthew,  773 
Thos.  D.,  373 
(Mrs.),  Roswell,  470 
Vernon  H.,  146 
Browne  (Mrs.),  G.  S.,  470 
Brownell,    Henry    Howard, 

709 

(Dr.),  C.  M.,  63 
Tudor,  597 
Bruns,  H.,  534 
Buck,  John  R.,  630,  798 
Buckingham  (Gov.),  W.  A., 
33,  35,  37,  47,    50, 
56,  57,  63,  69,    70, 
71,81,115,126,130, 
131,  135,  140,  144, 
175,  183,  185,  186, 
188,  197,  222,  223, 
226,  234,  286,  289, 
322,  323,  324,  327, 
328,  402,  434,  445, 
457,  459,  466,  521, 
525,  580,  630,  633, 
785,  798,  801,  814, 
815,  817,  826,  828, 
829,  834,  835,  836, 
839 

(Col.),  P.  B.,  7,  234, 
235,  300,  302,  359, 
360,  361,  362,  3(55- 
76,  366-76,  385, 
386,  387,  695,  696, 
697,  698,  700,  702, 
704,767-8,  769, 8d2 
Hiram,  530 

J.  W.,  431 

Bucll  (Mrs.),  M.  H.,  470 
Bugbee,  Geo.  H.,  87 

Edwin  H.  (Hon.),  815 
Sylvester,  616    / 
Bulkeley,  Chas.  E.,  505 

E.  A.,  227 
Bunce,  John  L.,  227 

J.  B.,  470 

Bunnell,  Geo.  W.,  766 
Burdick,  Theodore,  436,  446 


INDEX   OF  NAMES. 


881 


Burdick,  Thomas,  47 

(Capt.),201,440 
Burbank,  R.  S.,  72 
Burke,  Thos.  F.,  482,  487, 

534,  744 
Burkett,  K.,  597 
Burley,  J.  W.,697 
Burnham,  Geo.  S.,   45,  87, 

96,  241,    246,    247, 

456,  482,  487,  532, 

540,  774 
John    H.,    335,   476, 

478,681,  816 

A.  V.,  612 
(Mrs.),  476 
(Hon.),  842 

Burr,  A.  E.,  228, 323 
H.  P.,  230 
Wm.  A.,  513 
Burns,  Henry,  392 
Burpee,  Thos.  F.,  225,  235, 
330,  477,  484,  551, 
554,  600,  814 

Burton,  John  H.,  624,  684 
Bushnell  (Rev.),  Horace,  15, 
16,  26,  27,  28,  674, 
829 
C.    S.,   52,    71,    188, 

190,  226 
Douglass,  694 

E.  W.,  721,  728 
Busteed,  Richard,  231 
Butler  (Mrs.),  Sophia, 63 

(Mrs.),  A.  W.,  470 
J.  A.,  596 
John  B.,  609 
Bryan,  B.  S.,  226 
Byington  (Hon.),  A.  H.,  71, 

188,389,390,838 
Byxbee  (Capt.),  142,  762 
Theodore,  62 
S.  D.,  404 
Cady  (Mrs.),  Abiah,  149 

Chas.  H.,  480 

Cahill,  Thos.  W.,  125,  141, 
157,  159,  309,  311, 
312,  511,  512,  524. 
622,  765 

Cahoone,  J.  B.,  642 
Callender,   W.  H.   D.,  470, 

596 

Calkins  (Rev.),  Mr.,  523 
Camp,  Howard  A.,  666 

B.  H.,  592 

F.  E.,  421,  674-5 

H.  W.,  165,  172,  174, 
175,  342,  348,  442, 
443,  451,  550,  620, 
649,  662,  671,  672, 
673,  674 
Hiram,  244 

Campbell,  Harvey,  663 
Candee,  J.  D.,  226 

Franklin,  J.,  720 
(Mrs.),  C.,  471 
(Mrs.),  L.,  471 
Cannekl,  Smith,  721 

David,  E.,  296 
Cannon,  John  S.,  137 


Carr,  109,  110 

D.  H.,  226 
Carroll,  Charles,  120 
Carlisle,  Chas.,  151,  471 
Carpenter,  78. 
Carpenter,  Ezra  D.,  502 

Elisha,  458,  640 

Samuel  W.,  225 
Carter,  Daniel,  52 

•     Josiah  M.,  186 
Carver,  Michael,  491 

Thomas,  741 
Case,  David  C.,  99 
Case,  Lockwood,  &  Co.,  46 

W.  Chester,  711 
Casey,  James  H.,  779,  825 

William  B.,  374 
Cashin,  T.  D.,  684,  825 
Castle,  George,  569 
Catlin( Hon.),  Julius,  45,  67, 
227 

Cyrus,  233 

Abijah,  188 

Caulkins  (Miss),  F.  M.,  74 
Chadwick,  Robert  A.,  567 
Chaffee,  S.  E.,  235,  370 
Chalker,  Wrn.  S.,  17 
Chamberlain,     V.     B.,     40, 
201,  305,  436,  439, 
440 

(Mrs.),  F.,  470 
Champlin,  Daniel,  251 

Stephen,  844 
Chandler,  W.  H.,  49 
Chancellor,  360 
Chapman    (Col.),    97,    215, 
218,  299,  302 

(Hon.),  Charles,  187, 
226,  240,  632 

Jcdediah,  392-3 

George  D.,  457 

(Mrs.),  R.,  471 

E.  C.,  64 
George  D.,  73 

Justin  H.,  74 
Chappell,  Rich.  H.,  146 
Charnley,  Wm.  S.,  52,  226 
Chatfield,   John  L.,  62,  85, 
95,  97,  99,  120,  197, 
121,  198,  200,  304, 
305,  440,  443,  444, 
452,  453,  507,  655, 
820 

Amanda,  453 
Henry  W:,  733,  734 
Pulaski,  453 
Chauncy,  Henry,  834 
Cheney  ^  F.  W.,  228,  229,  271 
Chrisholm  (Col.),  93 
Churchill  (Mrs.),  470 
Chittenden,  Simeon  B.,  54, 

127,  253,  833,  834 
Chitty,  Henry  E.,  346 
Clapp,  William,  129 
Clark,  Sidney  E.,  142,  4ia, 
420,  516,  719,  722, 
766 
A.  N.,  227 


Clark,  Cyrus  C.,  72,  237, 
396 

David,  64,  811 

E.  W.,  654 

George,  246 

Jonah  F.,  319 

Wm.  F.,  615 

William,  421 

(Gen.),  411,  414 
Clary  (Dr.),  George,  406,  803 
Clift,  Amos,  48,  180 
Clinton,  James  B.,  813 
Cleveland,  Chauncey  F.,  34, 
115,327 

Chester  D.,  761 

E.  S.,  597 

(Rev.  Dr.),  52 
Close,  I.  O.,  167 
Cluseret  (Col.),  213 
Coates,  Thos.  C.,  125 
Coburn,  J.  H.,  378,  383 
Cockroft,  Ambrose,  448 
Cochrane,  J.  J.,  449 
Coe  (Lt.),  447 
Coffin,  George,  53 
Coifing,  John  C.,  346 
Colin,  Alexander,  728 
Cogswell,  Wm.  S.,  37,  131, 
302,  707,767,  817 

Wm.,  721 

Wm.  H.,  720 
Coit,  Alfred,  188 

Charles  M.,  276,  540,  ' 
597,  605,  676,  680, 
764 

George  M.,  166 

James  B.,  589 
Colburn  (Maj.),  L.,  97 

(Dr.),  J.  M.,  48 

(Col.),  144,  160,  307, 
319,  516,722 

Elbridge,     138,     494, 
568 

Ledyard,  306,  714 
Colby,  Henry,  577 
Cole,  George  W.,  640 
Coleman  (Mrs.),  J.  E.,  470 

J.  C.,  596 

William  A.,  374 
Colgrove,  Ransom,  667 
Collins  (Miss),  C.,  471 

Brothers  &  Co.,  468, 
596 

Erastus,  227 
Colt  (Col.),  73,320 
Colton  (Mrs.),N.,  470 
Comstock,  Apollos,  143,  714, 
728 

J.  C.,  45,  306 

Converse,  J.  H.,  173,  258, 
265,  273,  597,  598, 
599,  627 

A.  W.,  422 
Cook,  327 

G.  B.,  206 

J.  R.,  68 

Lewis  A.,  654,  676 

C.  W.,  667 


882 


INDEX   OF  NAMES. 


Cook,  William,  654 
Cooke,  S.  T.,  64 
Coomes,  William  A.,  296 
Coon,  John,  667 

Marcus,  62,  102,  569 
Cooper,  V.  A.,  499 
Copeland,  Harvey,  102 
Corlies,  Gerald  H.,  464 
Corliss,  George  W.,  74 

Corbin, ,  327 

Cornish,  Virgil,  470 
Cornwall,  393 

C.  M.,  392 

Charles  W.,  306 
Cosgrove,  A.  M.,  58 
Cothren,  William,  52,  823 
Couch,  G.  H.,  825 

Ansel  H.,  778 
Cowen  (Mrs.),  S.  J.,  470 
Cowles,  R.  P.,  252,  522 

Henry  F.,  502 

J.  F.,  600 

Lester  W.,  758 

Lyman,  226 

(Mrs.),  S.  W.,  470 
Covell,  George  B.,  599 
Crabtree,  John  W.,  754 
Crane,  Alvin  M.,  552,  814 
Crary  (Dr.),  324 
Crofut,  George  S.,  247,  428, 
429,  430 

J.  M.,  85 

Stephen  C.,  392 
Croffut,  D.  K.,  464 

W.  A.,  389 

Crosby,  Hiram  B.,  235,  295, 
335,  477,  552,  554, 
606,  681 

Croxton,  J.  T.,  722 
Culver,  E.  B.,  640,  642,  643 
Cummings,  J.  H.,  684 

(President),  52 

(Dr.),  404 
Cunningham,  78 

John, 615 
Curtis,  Elliott  M.,  513 

George  F.,  667 

George   William,  90 

F.  L.,  432 

Judson,  107 

L.  N.,  600 

(Sgt.-Maj.),311 
Cushman,  E.  M.,  469 
Daboll,  Henry  W.,  221,  363, 

707,  767,  817 
Daley;  Thomas  B  ,  623 
Dana,  James  A.,  283 
Daniels  Albert  E.,  130 

F.  W.,  595 

Wm.  L.,  735 

Wm.  A.,  363,  371,705 
Darrow,  Barrett,  250 
Dauchy,  Wm.  0.,  392 
Davenport  (Rev.),  J.,  16,  17 
Davies  (Gen.),  568 
Davis,  Henry  C.,  231,  349, 
532,  534 

R.  S.,  649 


Davis,  Theo.  R.,  227 

Samuel  H.,  225 

Sylvester,  612 

(Capt),  357 

Day,  Albert,  Sons,  &  Co., 
596 

Erastus  S.,  188,  327 

John, 50 

Calvin,  227,  468 

Putnam,  120 
Dayton,  L.  M.,  722 
Dyer,  E.  B.,  583,  616 
Deane  fCapt),  J.  M.,  778 
De  Bourge,  G.,  445,  446 
Decker,  J.  N.,  569 
De  Forest,  J.  W.,  142,  719 

(Chaplain),  610,  662, 
791 

C.  D.,  125 

H.  C.,  599 

Henry  S.,  3,  480,625 

Albert,  677 
Delavan,  J.  S.,  618 
Deming  (Hon.),  Henry  C., 
42,  46,  78,  81,  115, 
135,   136,  160,  307, 
722,  800,  821 

Chas.  J.,  233 
Dempsey,  Robert,  507,  510, 

.     511 

Dennis,  J.  B  ,  122,  195,  437, 
447,  539,  543,  544, 
555,  556 

0.  A.,  72 

Dennison,  Chas.  S.,  130 
Denslow,  G.  A.,  248 
Desborough,  John,  14 
Dewell,  John  II.,  129 
Dewey,  Daniel  P.,  407 
DeWitt,  Wm.,  441 
Dexter,  J.  N.,  201 
Dibble,  81 

C.  F.,  811 
Dickerson,  A.  A.,  534,  744 

David,  52 
Dickinson,  L.  A.,  142,  766 

S.  C.,  448 

David,  64,  236 
Dickerman,   Ezra   D.,   235, 
696,  697,   700,  705, 
706 

J.  C.,  392 

(Miss),  471 
Dimock,  Geo.^825 
Dixon  (Hon.),  James,  33,  36, 
226,  286,  596 

John  A.,  277 

Charles,  531,  532 
Doane,  John  J.,  105 
Dodge  (Gen.),  C.  C.,  722 
Donnelly  (Col.),  216 
Donohoe  (Col.),  477 
Doolittle,  J.  B.,  712 

John  H.,  699,  700 

E.  A.,  693 
Dorr,  E.  C.,  206 
Douglass  (Hon.),  Benjamin, 
52,  73,  183,286,435 


Douglass,  Bcnj.  C.,  424 

(Dr.),  97 

John  M.,  3,  59 

John  C.,  552 

Stephen  A.,  29 
Doull  (Maj.),  205 
Dow,  Edwin  C.,  624,  684 
Downes,  Wm.  E.,  464 
Downs,  E.  226 
Downing,  H.  A.,  623 
Drake,  A.  W.,  45,  97,  126, 

166,  170,  171,  173, 
176 

John  L.,  228,  282 
Drown,  Azro,  776,  777,  779, 

825 

Duane  (Maj.),  618 
DuBois,    Cornelius  J.,   252, 
698 

(Mrs.),  H.,  471 
Dudley  ( Dr. ),F.  A.,  678,  811 

F.  B.,  391 

(Rev.),  155 

Everett  L.,  782 
Duffy,  John,  125 
Duganne,  A.  J.  H.,  431 
Dunford,  J.  C.,  72 
Dunham,  Austin,  227 

Jas.  E.,  108,  230,  298 
Dunlap,  Thomas,  Jr.,  766 
Durfee,  Wm.  H.,  669 
Durand,  Charles,  426 
Duryee,   Redfield,   97,   445, 

506 

Dutton,  Arthur  H.,  235,  330, 
335,  337,  477,  483, 

%484,  538,  553,  554, 
600,  814 

A  S     552 

Henry  M.,  217,  218, 
219,  233 

(Hon.),  Henry,  82 
Dwyer,  C.,  650 
Eaton     (Chaplain),     Jacob, 

167,  272,  276,  277, 
543,   545,  546,  557, 
569,  655,  683,  688, 
762,  763 

(Hon.),  W.  W.,  104, 

105,  110,  323,328 
(Gov.),  14 

Eastman,  Henry  A.,  273 
Eddy,  Hiram,  63,  99,  569 

Martin  B.,  448 
Edgerton,  A.  J.,  640 
Edwards,  George  P.,  666,  670 

Charles  H.,  248 
Elliott,  Chas.  W.,  226. 
Ellis,    Theo.   G.,   367,    386, 
388,  396,  566,  570, 
577,  601,  607,  765, 
811 
Elmer,   Wm.   T.,  327,  630, 

798 

Elmore,  Harvey  E.,  277 
Ells,  Wm.  B.,  233,  506,  587 
588,  592,  714,  761 
Ellis  (Rev.),  54 


INDEX   OF  NAMES. 


883 


Ellsworth,   E.  E.,   86,    111 

830 

John,  86 
(Judge),  27 
W.  W.,  227 
William,  86 
John,  86 

Ely,  Win.  G.,  121,  131,  132, 
231,  238,  349,  350, 
351,-  354,  355,  357, 
499,  500,  501,  640, 
642,  644,  715,  717 
Calvin  L.,  252 
Alexander,  97 
Richard  S.,  597 
Employees,  The  Colt,  468 
Engles,  J.  S.,  514,  621 
English  (Hon.),  James  E.,99 

Wm.  S.,  546 
Eno,  Fred.  R.,  282 
Ensworth,  D.  M.,  422 
Ericsson  (Capt.),  John,  190 
Erwin  (Mrs.),  470 
Eustis  (Rev.),  Wm.    T.,  52, 

226 
Evans  (Rev.),  P.  S.,  183 

John, 390 
Fardon,  I.  G.,  667 
Farnham,  Noah  L.,  86 
Farnsworth,  Chas.,  139,  209, 
490,   491,  492,  496 
(Dr.),  243 

Farren,  John  W.,  226 
Farrend,  E.,  842 
Faxon,  W.  C.,  558,  617,  779, 

825 

Felch,  F.  A.,  448 
Fellows,  R.  S.,  226 
Fenn,  Aug.  H.,  727,  761 
Fenton,  E.  B.,  705 
Charles,  814 
Ferguson,  S.  B.,  108 
Ferris,  Weston,  739 
Robert,  27 
Sam.  P.,  149, 219, 252, 

456  » 

Ferry,  Orris  S.,  32,  35,  71, 
74,  214,  219,  722, 
817,  818 

Fessenden,  E.,  597 
Finch,  Lucius  R.,  226 
Fish,  Wm.  S.,  139,  209,  490, 

491  , 

Geo.  A.,  568 
Fisher  &  Co.,  58 
Fiske,  Samuel,  264,  268,  269, 
560,  564,  565,  566, 
589,  590,  636 
W.  0.,  421,  519 
Fitzgibhons,  R.,  62, 311,  511, 

512 
Fitch  (Mrs.),  J.  W.,  471 

(Mrs.),  Emily  M.,  471 
Thomas,  48,  801 
A.  G.,  248 
John,  27 
William,  801 
Fletcher  (Dr.),  306 


Fretcher,  (Gov.),  18 

H.  J.,  420 

Flower,  E.,  468,  596 
Flynn,  Michael,  616 
Foley,  John,  125 
Folsom,  Wm.,  244 
Foot,  Rolf  C.,  Jr.,  236 

Andrew  Hull,  226, 397 

(Rev.),  John,  397 
Forbes  (Lt.  Col.),  533 
Ford,  Roger  M.,  291,   619 
"  Forlorn  Hope,"  The,  416, 

417,418 

Foskitt,  Geo.  H.,  249 
Foster,  H.,  128, 167, 172, 173, 
344,  786 

Wm.  H.,  470 

E.  K.,  67,  125,  798 

(Hon.),  LaFayette  S., 
32,33,  36,  115,  231 
Foss,  Samuel  S.,  669 
Fountain,  (Dr.),  337 
Fowler,  Richard  H.,  297 

Douglass,  68,  124, 
229,  380,  381,  391, 
729,  817 

Fox,  Hiram  H.,  782 
Francis,  James  L.,  320 

Daniel  G.,  122,  131 

John  A.,  501 

Frankau,  Nathan,  142,  306 
Franklin,  Wm.,  244 
French,   Wilson,   362,    392, 
731,  733 

E.  W.,494,  728 
Fritz,  James,  99 
Frisbie,  A.  L.,  696 
Frye,    Frederick,    68,    107, 
125,306,  312,  511, 
513 

Gage,  Robert  B.,  305 
Gallagher  (Surgeon),  310 

(Hon.),  James,  52, 244 
Gallup,  Loren  A.,  250,  424, 
434 

(Hon.),    David,    188, 

632 
Gardner,  156 

Wm.  C.,  719 
Gardner,  James  M.,  307 
Gardiner,  G-  F.,  123,193,  199 
Garvey,  Patrick,  125 
Gasner,  Geo.  A.,  676 
Gates,  H.  P.,  475 
Gavitt,  A.  L.,  705 
Geatley,  John,  607 
Geer,  Cyrus  M.,  424 

Nathan  H.,  575 
German,  Wm.  A.,  102 
Gerrish,  Henry  G.,  122 
Gibbs,  Samuel  E.,  595 

(Miss),  J.,  471 
Gibbons,  E.  W.,  225, 267, 296 

Richard  F.,  125 

T.  F.,  513 

Gill,  Henry  B.,  651,  654 
Gillette,  Cornelius,  558,  617, 
825 


Gillette,  E.  A.,  624,  684 

Robert  H.,  690 

(Hon.),  Francis,  690 
Gilbert,  Lucius,  226 

Jesse.B.,  421 

S.  G.,  143 

Raphael,  448,  544 

Smith  S.,  609 

Thos.    S.,   207,   779, 
813 

N.  B.,  779 

Gilman  (Prof.),  D.  C.,  82, 
226 

George,  435 

W.  H.,  124 

Wm.  C.,  54,  253 
Gilmore,  Patrick,  248 
Gilson,  A.  L,  705,  769 
Glasson  (Capt.),  123 
Glazier,  O.  D.,  814 
Gleason,  Isaac  C.,  248,  421 
Glenn,  Russell,  781,  782 
Glissman  (Corp.),  446 
Glover,  Joseph,  619 

Martin  V.  B.,  373 
Goddard,  Alfred  M.,  475, 540 

Henry  P.,  3,  540,  565 
Godfrey,  Geo.  M.,  247,  432 
Goff,  Christian,  250 

0.  S.,  673 

Gold,  Edward  F.,  233,  234 
Goodell,  Wm.,  600 

W.  W.,  391 

Goodenough  (Mrs.),  J.,  471 
Goodrich,  Frank  B.,  464 

L.  S.,  457 

E.  T.,  619 
Goodsell,  E.  B.,  107 
Goodwin,   L.  P.,   490,   570, 
583,  758,  784 

J.  E.,  660 

Wm.  A.,  297 

Hiram,  186 

Jonathan,  227 

Goodyear,  E.  D.  S.,  126,  549, 
620,  621,  653,  681, 
765,  782,  786,  787, 
788,  824 

L.  G.,  421 

(Capt.),  342 
Gore,  Asa  A.,  493 

James  W.,  64 

Horace  H.,  493 
Gossman,  John,  770 
Gould  (Judge),  27 

Charles,  125,  253 
Graham,  Ira  A.,  679 
Granger,  Albert  S.,  59,  74 
Granuiss,    Samuel  H.,    142, 

404,411,  420 

Grant  (Gen.),  535,  536,  596, 
696,  789,  794,  795, 
796,  797,  803,  813, 
829 

H.  L.,  448,  680 

(Dr.),  H.  A.,  188,801 

Matthew,  830 

Noah,  830 


884 


INDEX   OF  NAMES. 


Grant,  Jesse  Root,  830 
Ofay,  Miles,  517 

S.  H.,  122,  132,  194, 
437,  439,  440,  444, 
447 
Graves,  B.  L.,  177,  621 

(Rev.),  Samuel,  425 
Greaves  (Capt.),  342 
Gregory,  J.  M.,  727 
Greeley,  Edwin  S.,  523,  537, 
548,  611,  621,  656, 
672,  681,  683,  765, 
787,  809,  824 

Horace,  390  . 
.    (Mrs.),  E.  S.,  471 
Green  (Miss),  A.  E.,  467 

Wm.  H.,  657 

Geo.  H.,  657 

Albert  C.,  498 

Thos.  L.,  657 

Nelson  H.,  657 

(Miss),  Elizabeth,  466, 
467 

Wm.  P.,  50,  657 

Cyrus  A.,  657 
Greene  (Mayor),  435 

(Lt.),  447 

James  A.,  596 

J.  Lloyd,  50 

Stephen  S.,  596 
Griggs,  Charles,  717 
Griffiths,  Dana  N.,  373 
Grilley,  Chas.  T.,  522 
Griswold  (Rev.),  S.  S.,  48 

John,    130,  266,  273, 
278,  279,  280 

Warren,  227 

&  Co.,  58 

Greenman  &  Co.,  George,  48 
(jreenman,  George,  601 
Grow  (Hon.),  G.  A.,  115 
Grover,  Chas.  D.,  407 
Grosvenor,  Chas.  H.,  307 
Guyer,  Thomas,  458 
Guilford,  Timothy,  235 
Hany,  Bernard,  448 
Hakes    Isaac  W.   Jr.,  231, 
349 

D.  W.,  502 
Hale,  F.  M.,  50,  231 
Hall,  (Chaplain),  184 

Charles  W.,  247 

Edwin  D.,  548 

(Hon.),  Ezra,  524,816, 
827 

Henry  C.,  548,619 

H.  L.,  183 

Leonidas  R.,  307 

N.  C.,  244 

Hallenbeck,  N.  S.,  72 
Hammersly,  Wm.  J.,  227 
Hammond,  A.  G.,  596 

(Mrs.),  A.  G.,  470 

C.  E.,  612 
Hamilton,  142 

David  B.,  216 
Hand  (Surg.),  D.  W.,  711 


Harland,  Edward,  68,  123, 
125,  128,  171  178, 
270,  271,  272,  273, 
294,  475,  482,  521, 

537,  711,  712,  722, 
771 

Harmon,  George,  119 
Harrington,  Clark,  250 

J.  V.,  644 
Harrison,  H.   L.,   186,  327, 

630 

H.  B.,  183,  226,  687 
(Dr.),  B.  F.,  52 
Israel,  52 

(Miss),  S.  B.,  470,471 
Thomas,  156 
Hart  (Surg.),  345,  673 
F.  W.,  62 
Matthew,  525 
Edward  W.,  565 
Charles,  432 
Willard,  595 
Harvey,  John,  730 

Allen  W.,  227 
Hastings  (Mrs.),  A.  F.,  470 
Hatch,  Calvin  B.,  505 

(Mr),  361 

Hatfield,  S.  P.,  557,  617,  825 

Havens  William  H.,  724 

Hawley,  Joseph  R.,  45,  46, 

61,  62,  63,  97,  105, 

123,  131,  176,  192, 

193,  196,  199,  200, 

202,  296,  326,  436, 

449,  508,  509,  510, 

538,  546,  548,  549, 
635,  651,  652,  670, 
680,  682,  729,  762, 
804,  805,  807,  808, 
809,  810,  820 

Monson,  108 

(Mrs.),  Monson,  465 

Daniel  W.,  710 

Wm.  H.,  658,  659 
Hawkes,  C.  E  ,  88 
Hatch,  Calvin  B.,  592 

Charles  P.,  435 

Edward  W.,  183 
Hawkins,  Frank,  824 

Joseph,  230 
Hayes,  Aleck,  566 
Hayden,  Richard  E.,  779 

Sam.  S.,  249,  407,  599 

Nathaniel,  228 
Haynes,  John,  15 

William  H.,  201,  676 
Healy,  John   G.,   513,   714, 
725,  727,  765,    802, 
823 

Heath,  A.  A.,  105 
Hemingway,  L.  G.,  72 

(Major),  207 
Hendrick  (Surgeon),  Eli  F., 

710,711 

Hendrick s,  A.  C.,  721 
Henderson  Alexander,  167 

James  P.,  769 
Hennessey,  James  P.,  125 


Hewitt,  Oscar  W.,  277 
Hibbard,  327 

0.  H.,  430,  431 

H.  J.,  119 

Horace,  720 

Samuel,  227,  295 

Wm.  H.,  476 
Hickerson,  F.   G.,  662,  786, 

789 

Hickok,  N.  E.,  666 
Hickox,  George  A.,  233 
Higgins  (Lt.),  357 

James  D.,  533 
Hill,  B.  A.,  676 

Theron  D.,  346 

John,  766 

Hilliard,  Henry  B.,  434 
Hillhouse  (Miss),  H.,  471 

James,  28 

(Miss),  I.,  471 
Hillman,  Lcvi  N.,  61 
Hillyer,  Charles  F.,  246 
Hineks,  Wm.  B.,  589,  781, 

811 
Hinckley,  E.  S  ,  642 

Arthur  T.,  249 
Hinman,  Stephen  N.,  582 
Hine,  I.  W.,  244 

E.  C.,  651,  654 
Hintz,  Henry,  534 
Hitchcock,  Koland,  40 

E.  S.,  122,  194,  199, 

200,  201,  392 
Hoadley,  Frederick,  420 
Hoag,  D.  D.,  252,  412,  426, 

609 
Hobbie,  Charles  A.,  230,  730, 

Horace,  448 
Holhrook,  L.,  766 
Holcomb(Surg.),  H.  V.  C., 
52,  712 

Richard  E.,  307,  412, 

420 

Holden,  Jonas  G.,  407 
Hollister,  22,  23 

Fftz  G.,  610 

J.  C.,  226,  457 

G.  H.,  233 
Holden,  A:  M.,  762 
Holmes,  327 

Theo.  J.,  473 

C.  M.,  673 

Chas.  E.L.,  247,  427 

Christopher,  545 

T.  J.,   568,  572,  586, 
613,  6J5,  724 

(Col.), 428,  429 
Honslow,  Roper,  440 
Hooker  (Rev.),  Thomas,  15 
Hopkins,   A.    D.,  248,  428, 
431 

(Gov.),  14 

Hoppin,  James  M.,  152 
Horn  (Lt.),  599 
Home,  Samuel  B.,  46 
Horton,  William,  282 

Thomas,  201,  327 
Hosford,  B.  F.,  505,  727 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


885 


Hotchkiss,  Geo.  F.,  252 

W.  S.,  236,  709,  819 
House,  Wm  W.,  423 
Houston,  A.  P.,  108 
Hovey  (Hon.),  James  A.,  50, 

231 

Walter  P.,  788 
Howard,  Charles  T.,  227 
James  A.,  449 
James  L.  &  Co.,  596 
Mark,  227 
Richard,  86 
Howe,   Jr.,  Elias,  108,  297, 

818 

John  I.,  464 
Edmund  G.,  596 
Howell  (Col.),  553 
Hoyt,   Henry   M.,  123,  478, 

605 

Israel  L.,  126 

Hubbard,  James,  233,  506, 
587,  588,  594,  714, 
761,  795 

(Hon.),  John  H.,  53, 
243,  822 

D.  R.,  119,207 
(Dr.),  Robert,  373 
Richard  D.,  176,  183 

Hubbell,  Wm.  L.,  392,  552, 

670,  731,  735 
Hudson,  Edward  P.,  121 

Philip  W.,  126 
Hull,  Ezra  M.,  316 

Andrew,  397 

A.  J.,  595 

Humphey,  Joseph,  Jr.,  233 
Hunt,  D.  C.,  392 
Huntoon,  Samuel  T.,  250 
Hurd,  A.  C.,  448 
Hurlburt,  Charles  D.,  431 

Samuel  E.,  568 

(Surg.),  Geo.  A.,  758 
Hutchinson,  J.  I.,  510,  651, 
654 

(Lt.),  447 
Huntington,  Wm.,  779 

W.  H.,  50 

James  M.,  50 
Huxman,  Samuel,  391 
Hyde,  Alvan  P.,  187,  240 

Wm.  I.,  129 
Ingersoll  (Mrs.),  C.  A.  471 

Jared,  19 

Irwin,  Charles  N.,  669 
Ives,  Bray  ton,  495,  614,  615, 
715,  757,  758,  783, 
785,  792,  793,  795, 
817,818 

Charles,  52,  632 

E.  D.,  421 
John  S.,  403 
N.  P.,  152,  475 
L.  C.,  468 
(Mrs.),  Theron,  470 

Jacobs,  Herrey  F.,  424,  425 
Jackson,  L.  W.,  557,  624 

C.  W.,  506 

John  R.,  545 


Jackson,  Ebenezer,  286 

F.  W.,  124 

Ranson,  814 
Jarmon,  W.  M.,  449 
James,  Giles,  441 
Jameson,  J.  S.,  616,  753 
Jarvis,  Geo.  C.,  507,  651,  654 

Samuel  F..  505,  618 
Jeffry,  Frank  C.,  552 

Jacob,  327 
Jenkins,  James  H.,  428,  429 

J.  R.,  430,  431 
Jennings,  H.  R.,  670 
Jepson,  126 

Theodore,  694,  705 

Benjamin,  81 

(Mrs.),  B.,  471 
Jewell,  M.  P.  &  Son,  434,  468 

Marshall,  597,  808 

(Mrs.),  P.,  470 
Jewett,  (Dr.),  Levi,  660,  811 

D.  L.,  374 
(Dr.),  P.  A.,  185 

Johnson,  David  F.,  247,  428 

Henry  L.,  817 

H.  P.,  248 

N.  P.,  249,  423 

J.  N.,  501 

Jas.  B.,  676 

W.  H.  H.,  770 

And.  T.,  316 

George,  534 

E.,  80 

Wm.  B.,183 

George  W.,  246 

Timothy  D.,  129 
Jones,  Devereaux,  1 56, 307 

Cyrus  D.,  252 

(Col.),  44 

David  W.,  374 

Edward  W.,  233,  761 

Elijah  B.,  220 
Jordon,  Joseph,  Jr.,  235 

(Lt.),  440 
Judd,  Lewis,  126 

(Mrs.),  J.  F.,  470 
Kane,  J.  H.,  616 
Kattensbroth  (Adj.),  311 
Keables,  A.  L.,  669 
Reach,    Ephraim,   Jr.,   231, 

238 

Kealey,  John  J.,  248 
Keaton,  John,  558 
Keeny,  Henry,  227 

"  H.  &  W.,  597 
Keith,  James  M.,  754 
Kecfe,  Jeremiah,  156 
Kellogg,  A.  G.,  64,  88 

E.  S.,  48,  72,  233,  506, 
573 

Hawley,  227 

E.  N.  &  Co.,  468,  597 

Enos,   118,  207,   230, 

730,  735 
(Col.),  238,  587,  588, 

592,  593,  594,  655 
Stephen  W.,  631,  800 


Kellogg,  Robert  H.,  526,  527 

529 

Kelly,  James,  558 
Kendall,  Joshua,  458 
Kenyon,  I.  D.,  663 

Martin  R.,  425 

Marshall,  609 
Kerns,  James,  782 
Keyes,  E.  D.,  93,  97 

Edwin  R.,  425 

David  D.,  545 
Kibbee,  I.  N.,  640 

T.  C.,  633 
Kies,  George,  502 

John,  681 

Kilbourne,  James  B.,  669 
Kimball,  267 
King,  John  A.,  124 

J.  W.,  226 

Lewis  D.,  277 

Kingsbury  (Col.),  129,  164, 
256,  259,  266,  273, 
278,  279,  521,  598, 
627 

F.  J.,  183 

N.  &  Co.,  468,  596 

T.  H.  C.,  129 
Kingsley,  Thos.  G.,  241,  250, 

251,  411,426,427 
Kinney  J.  C.,  708 

(Rev.),  E.  D.,  708 

E.  A.,  766 
Thomas,  106 

Kinsley  (Dr.),  27 
Kirkham,  Austin  P.,  100 
Klein,  Daniel,  68,  121,  553, 

680,  683,  820 
Kloeh,  Chas.  H.  657 
Knapp  (Capt),  238 

Samuel  R.,  232 
Knipe  (Gen.),  697,  707 
Knowlton,  24 

J.  W.,  391 

Daniel,  111      » 

Danford,  115 
Knox,  Andrew,  106 
Krazynski,  M.,  479,  551 
Lacey,  Wm.  H.,  230 
Ladd,  H.  O.,  185 
Lake,  David,  277 
Lamb  (Col.),  688 

F.  A.,  615 

Lamphere,  J.  D.,  545 
Lancey,  S.  H.,  61,  84 
Landon,  Chas.  B.,  253 
Lane,  D.  F.,  74,  217 
Lanfare,  Aaron  S.,  784,  792 
Lansing,  James  H.,  226 
Lamed  (Miss),  A.,  471 
Latham,  J.  II.,  552 
Latimer,  E.  H.,  496 
Lathrop  (Dr.),  De  Witt  C., 

177 

Lawton,  Thomas,  52 
Law,  John  E.,  188 
Lawrence,  Thomas,  323 
Lawton  (Rev.  Mr.),  132 
Leach,  Arnold,  97 


886 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Learned,  B.  P.,  61 8,  825 
Leaven  worth,  M.  C.,  316 
Lee,  E.  M.,  500,  575,  743 
E.  E.,  129,  175,  655 
James  E.,  752 
Charles  E.,  752 
H.  B.,  651,  654,  655 
W.  T.,  596 
Henry,  660 
Leete  (Gov.),  16 
Leeds,  Francis  K.,  252,  318 
Ledyard,  William,  24 
Leggett,   Robert,    100,    126, 
341,  344,  345,  452, 
514,  649,  656 
Leroy,  J.  0.,  99 
Lewis,  George  N.,  68,  142, 
420,  576,  714,  725, 
766,  821 
Charles  E.,  277 
(Major),  404 
William  G.,  277 

B.  S.,  654,  542 
Robert,  776,  778,  825 

Lilley,  John,  642 
Lillibridge,  Geo.  H.,  567,  590 
Lincoln,   Abraham,   29,   30, 
31,  39,  42,  83,  86, 
535,  799 
William  A.,  624 
H.  H.,  680 
Lindsay,  A.  H.,  502 
Lindsley,  J.  H.,620,  621,672, 
787 

C.  A.,  226 
Lines,  Edward,  392 
Lippitt,  A.  C.,  48 
Lockwood,  F.  St.  John,  800 

D.  B.,  388 
Logan,  S.  G.,  684 
Lombard,  Joseph  A.,  175 
Long,  P.,  666 

Francis  S.,  624 
Walter  P.,   552,  663, 

664,  669 
Loomis  (Hon.),  D  wight,  32, 

150 

Benjamin  T.,  247 
Lord,  F.  C.,  569 
Horace,  227 
Tom,  200 
Jesse  H.,  3,  88 
Lounsbury,  Stephen,  108 

Cooke,  186 
Lovejoy,    Frank    M.,    227, 

295 

Lowell,  John  P.,  728 
Luddington,  Lewis,  678 
Lucrenia,  G.  P.,  616 
Lucas,  Walter  M.,  391 
Lyon,  Arthur  E.,  441 

(Gen.),  102,  111,  112, 
113,  114,  115,  819, 
830 
(Major),  208, 213, 270, 

490 

R.  P.,  426 
Hanford,  108 


Lyon,  Henry,  592 

E.  L.,  102,  162 

Judson  M.,  139 
Lyman  (Rev.),  Charles  N., 
768 

Henry,  662 
Mabbett,  Alonzo,  421 

(Capt.),  415 
Mayne,  G.  A.,  307 
McAllister,  Alexander,  226 

James,  156 

McBarney,  Geo.  H.,  595 
McBrien,  James,  448 
McCabe,  James  P.,  720 
McCall,  John,  272,  548 

A.  D.,  721 

McCartin,  Michael,  125 
McCormick,  Jos.,  568 
McCurdy,  Robt.  H.,  54,  124, 
156,  253 

Charles  J.,  34,  54 
McCord,  J.  J.,  143,  518 
McDonald,  H.  J.  550,  764 

Alexander,  585 

G.  E.,  7'78 

McDonough,  Louis  R.,  252 
McEwen,  William,  546 
McFarland  (Bishop),  92 
McGee,  R.,  449 
McGlaffin,  Charles  E.,  728 
McGrath,  Walter,  409 
McKenzie  (Col.), .714,  761, 
762 

R.  S.,  594 

McKinley,  Thos.  H.,  670 
McManus,  Thomas,  402 
McNamara,  James  B.,  778 
McReynolds  (Col.),  351 
Maguire,  Thomas,  74 
Maginnis,    J.   T.,  640,  642, 

643 

Maher,  Patrick,  403,  419 
Maine,  Edwin  G.,  277 
Mallory,  Charles  &  Sons,  48 

Wm.  H.,  102,  569 
Manning,  Edward  P.,  425 
Manross,   N.    S.,   228,   282, 

283 
Mansfield  (Mrs.),  H.,  471 

(Lt.),  195 

Samuel  M.,  248 

Jos.  K.   F.,  89,  283, 
554 

B.  F.,  150,  522,  813, 
814 

Jared,  283 

D.  B.,  609 
Manville,  G.  W.,  773 
Marble,  Edwin,  435,  523 

William  S.,  556,  689 
Marcy,  George  O.,  495,  570, 
583,  584,  612,  613, 
614,  615,  715,  718, 
723,  724 
Marsh,  E.  W.,  595 

D.  E.,  505 

John  R.,  99 

George  H.,  277 


Marsh,  William  S.,  105 
William  P.,  291 
Charles  II.,  489 
Marshall  Henry  G  ,  3,  766 
(Mrs.),  Horace,  467 
Martin,  Charles  T.,  235 
Martinson,  Augustus,  569 
Marvin,  Edwin,  220 
Mason  John,  14 
J.  B.,  623 
E.  P.,  618,  684,  686, 

825 

Mather,  Roland,  227,  596 
Mathewson,  Charles,  129,349 
Joseph,  231,  639,  646, 

815 

Ezra  J.,  232 

Matson,  N.,  618  [431 

May,  Wm.  H.,  248,428,429, 
Mayer  (Surg.),  Nathan,  274, 
278,  280,  282,  462, 
476,  477,  484,  598, 
626,  710,  711,  713 
Maynard,  J.  C.,  250,  424 

G.  L.  M.,  667 
Mead,  Daniel  M.,  341 

Thos.  R.,  127,  341 
Meeker,  Benjamin,  595 

Lorenzo,  121,539,542, 

680 

Melancthon  (Surg.),  475 
Merritt,  James,  225 
Merriam,  E.  J.,  654 
Merriman,  M.  M.,  596 
Merrill  (Sgt.),  156 

Oscar  F.,  307 
Merwin,  Henry  C.,  369,  378, 

392 
Ira,  52 

Metcalf,  George  T.,  137,  542 
Meyer  (Surg.),  255 

(Col.),  131 
Michie  (Major),  685 
Middleton,  George  W.,  253 
Middlebrook     (Capt.),    139, 
209,  211,  212,  213, 
490 
Miller  (Rev.),  52 

Joseph,  448,  654 
D.  H.,  427 
Peter,  615 

Milford,  Henry  P.,  586 
Mills  (Capt.),  507 

Charles  C.,  555,  556 
John  S.,  710 
B.  K.,  108 
Miner,  Abraham,  545 

Wm.  T.,  458 
Mitchell  (Capt.),  307 
William,  426 
Louis,  51 
A.,  143 
Mix,  Edward  H.,  119,  482, 

485,  486  • 
Mobbett,  Alonzo  L.,  248 
Moegling,  Wm.  C.,  129,  267, 
273,  281,  599,  606, 
608,  610,  619,  625, 
627 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


887 


Monroe,  Austin  G.,  88  • 
Moore,  Samuel  A.,  381,  386, 
392,  566,  570,  573, 
589,  658,  660,  677, 
679,780,  795 
J.  E.,  68,  230,  391 
James  R.,  540 
James  M.,  660 
Pat.,  782 
E.  Lewis,  510 
&  Johnson,  597 
Morehouse,  Win.  A.,  446 

John    B.,    212,    494, 
568,  612,  613,  715, 
757,  792,  819 
Morrell,  Pierre,  782 
Morgan,  Henry  E.,  105,  180, 

272,  291,  333 
J.  F.,  573,  781 
A.  M.,  669 
Daniel,  546 

Morris  (Chaplain),  John  M., 
77,    183,    184,    258, 
275,  337,  798 
Wm.  E.,  494 
Dwight,  222,  238,  260, 
267,  289,  349,  395, 
396,  630,  632 
Morrow,  J.  J.,  727 
Morse,  Horace  J.,  456,  463, 

633,  635,  801,  811 
A.  C.,  595 

109,  110 

Charles  W.,  534 
Samuel  F.  B.,  27 
Wm.  W.,  235,  812 
Moss,  Titus,  374 
Mullen,  John,  728 
Munger  George,  236 
Munson  Edwin  B.,  127 

M.  W.,  81 
Murdock,    Wm.,    590,   677, 

781 

Murphy,  James  T.,  778,  779 
Murray,  E.  J.,  705,  769 
Myers,  Frederick,  126 
Mygatt,  A.  B.,  77 
Napheys,  George  H.,  250 
Nash,  Charles  W.,  123 
Narramore,  Robert,  464 
Nearing,  Edward,  429 
Neff,  I.  F.,  762 
Neidhart,  Julius,  782,  788 
Nelson,  John  A.,  68, 125 
Nettleton,  Isaac  F.,  313 

Elliott  W.,  771 
Neville,  E.  M.,  583,612 
Newton  (Dr.),  345 
Nickerson  (Dr.),  Nehemiah, 

746 

Edwin  L.,  406 
Nichols,  Horace,  108 
Andrew  B.,  546 
Monroe,  231,  350, 354, 

501,  640,  641 
James  R.,  573,  660 
Stephen  M.,  428 
Charles  H.,  542,  612 


Niles,  A.  F.,  490,  492 

J.  M.,  596 

Noble,  Wm.  H.,  50,  108,  229, 
297,  361,  362,  394, 
450,  722,  729,  731, 
732 

J.  W.,  722 
Noblett  (Capt.),  430 
North,  John  G.,  61,  82,  522 

Henry,  735 

Northam,  Chas.  H.,  227 
Northrup, ,  423 

George,  683,  765 

Cyrus,  77,  186 

Lewis,  428 

Charles  E.,  788 
Norton  Brothers,  50 

(Mrs.),  471 

Henry  B.,  71,  497 

Charles  L.,  461 

Francis  M.,  567 

(Mrs.),  W.  A.,  471 

L.  F.,  590 

(Mrs.),  L.  H.,  465 
North,  Benjamin,  61 
Noyes,  Enoch,  Jr.,  250 

Wm.  Curtis,  234 
O'Brien,  Dennis,  448 

Lawrence,  158 

John, 825 

Orcutt,  Henry  W.,  567 
Odell  John,  777,  779 
Oliver,  Wm.  A.,  407 
Olmstead,  Chas.  H.,  195 

(Mts.),  J.,  470 
O'Reilly,  Father,  92 
Ormsby,  O.  P.,  281 
Osborn  (Col.),  549 

Arthur  D.,  67,  226 

E.  G.,  780 

E.  W.,  64,   227,  392, 
772,  773,  776 

Thomas  B.,  57 
J.  C.,  448 

F.  B.,  445,  680 

W.  F.,  558,  624,  684 
Otis,  John  L.,  452,  514,  537, 
548,  549,  619,  620, 
622,  653,  656,  670, 
671,  672,  673,  681 
Oviatt,  George  B.,  407 
Owen,  E.  H.,  470 
L.  B.,  324 

Packer,  E.  P.,  552,  666,  670 
Warren  W.,  74,  302, 

364,  378,  693 
Page  (Dr.),  177 
Paine,  W.  H.,  642 
Painter,  M.  G.,  545 

Palmer, ,  327 

Andrew,  103 
Chas.  E.,  122,  132, 

199,  202 
C.  S.,  195 
John  C.,  227 

Pardee,  Benj.  S.,  126,  128, 
164,  165,  166,  172, 
341,  457,  460 


Pardee,  D.  W.,  227 

Henry  C.,  235 

H.  E.,  522 

(Lt.  Col.),  162 

Stephen  D.,  151,  183, 

226,471 

Park,  Joseph  P.,  595 
Parker,  Charles,  46,  47 

Frederick  A.,  235 

H.  C.,  546 

Timothy  R.,  248 
Parmelee,    Uriah    N.,    584, 
724,  783,  784,  785, 
819 

Joseph  E.,  788 

Leander,  448 

S.  T.,  244 
Parsons,  Edgar  H.,  448 

J.  C.,  596 

L.  S.,  52 
Pasco,  Henry  L.,  228,  482, 

485,  531,  534 
Patch,  William,  214 
Patterson,  H.  D.,  624,  779, 

825 
Payne,  A.  E..  513 

Joseph  B.,  595 
Peale,  Henry,  64,  231,  238, 
351-5,356,497,638, 
642,  717,  766 
Pease,  L.  E.,  78 
Peck,  A.  W.,  433,  730 

Frank  H.,  321,  410, 
420,  516,  524,  714, 
719,721 

David  J.,  188,  226 

Edward  O.,  109,  234 

Henry  A.,  621,  655, 
782 

Henry  B.,  227 

Jabez  B.,  433 

John  F.,  431 

(Miss),  P.,  471 

Nelson  J.,  433 
Pemberton,  Mr.,  337 
Penrose,  J.  J.,  49 
Perkins,  B.  R.,  346 

D.  D.,455 
Farren,  53 

(Miss),  Eliza  P.,  466 

H.  A.,  227,  596 

James  H.,  247 

N.  W.,  803 

S.   H.,  72,  222,  .237, 

260,  396 
(Lt.  Col.),  293 
(Dr.),N.  S.,  346,347 
Wm.  W.,  346 
Joseph,  45 
Perry  (Col.),  195 

(Lieut.),  447 
(Sergeant),  727 

E.  S.,  651 
Peters,  John  A.,  489 

(Rev.),  Saml.,  24 
Peterson,  Wm.  H.,  669 
Pettibone,  Major,  341,  343 
Phelps,  Horace  E.,  728 

John  S.,  115 


888 


INDEX   OF  NAMES. 


Phelps,  (Mrs.),  115 
Phillips,  Allen  F.,  493 

Daniel,  227,  468 

(Mrs.),  D.,  470 

F.,  773 

G.  W.,  49,  327,  458 

George,  788 

Henry  T.,  581 

W.  E.,  583 
Piatt,  Donn,  350 

(Mrs.),  350 

Pickett,  Edwin  D.,  392 
Pierce,  Henry  H.,  556,  624, 

684-6,  825 
Pierpont,  E.  F.,  448 

(Rev.),  John,  76 

Walter,  586 
Pinkerman,  P.  A.,  226 
Platt,  John,  108 

Oscar,  505 

Hon.  0.  H.,   46,  80, 
188,  227,   630,  631, 
632 
Plumb,  D.  W.,  48,  458, 464 

(Mrs.),  H.  471 

S.  F.,  669 

S.  W.  W.,  654 
Plympton  (Dr.),  49 
Pomeroy  (Senator),  109,  116 
Porter  (Asst.  Surg.),  201 

Edward  L.,  355,  688 

(Lt.),  Horace,  192 

H.  L.,  596 

Isaac  G.,  355 

John  A.,  226 

Selden  T.,  137 
Post,  Ambrose  W.,  706 

B.  C.,  421 

Oliver  R.,   699,   700, 
705,  706 

Wm.  H.,  596 
Potter,  G.  W.,  595 
Powell,  James  P.,  227 

(Dr.),  809 
Pratt  (Mrs.),  D.  C.,  471 

(Miss.),  Esther,  470 
Pratt,  Franklin  A.,  624,  684 

Gilbert,  105 

H.  A.,  686,  825 

James  T.,  34,  187 

Wm.  M.,  540, 680, 764 
Pray  (Lt.),  599 
Prentice,  Hon.  Amos  W.,  50, 
231 

Chas.  H.,  596 
Preston,  E.  B.,  334 
Pride,  William  G.,  556,  825 
Prindle  (Capt),  C.  E.,  143 
Provost,  Norman,  542 
Prouty,  Benj.  F.,  121 
Punderford,  John  A.,  227 
Putnam,  20,  21,  22,  24 
Radford  (Col.),  97,  98 
Raffle,  Chas.,  156 
Randall,  Isaac,  48 

Jedediah,  251,  424 

Silas  B.,  48 

Mr. ,302 


Rankin,  Edw.  E.,  228 
Ross,  Sam'l,  234,  693 
Rathburn,  J.  A.,  669 

J.  G.,  596,  808 
Raymond,  Stephen,  104 
Rebstock,  Wm.,  448 
Read,  John  R.,  281 
Reed,  Abner,  157 
Reeve  (Judge),  27 
Reeves,  Wm.,  446 
Reid,  Robert  K.,  754 
Rich  (Mrs.),  G.  B.,  471 
Rexford,  Henry  A.,  595 
Reynolds,  G.,  625,  825 

(Gen.),  380 

G.  G., 

(Sergt.),  327 

Wm.  H.,  612 
Rice,  Chauncey  D.,  48 

E.  J.,  216 

J.  C.,  722 

James  Q.,   233,   506, 
587,  714,  720,  822 

John  P.,  147 

John  T.,  188,630 

Randall  H.,  335,  609, 

681 

Richardson  (Gen.),  578 
Richmond,  Collins,  779 
Rigby,  Chas.,  421 
Riggs,  Luther  G.,  3,  246,  334 
Riley,  Ed.,  782 

(Lt),  426 
Ripley,  Charles  H.,  546 

(Col.),  483-4 

Luther,  105 

E.  H.,  272 

Roach,  Jas.  D.,  412,  420 
Roath,  Leonard  G.,  406 
Roberts  (Mrs.),  B.  S.,   470, 
471 

Hiram  C.,  281 

Wm.  J.,  274,  669 

(Mrs.),  W.  W.,  470 
Robbins,  T.  H.,  407 
Robinson,  Chas.,  623 

Henry  C.,  227,  523 

Timothy  B.,  534,  744 
Rockwell,  A.   P.,    198,  303, 
442,  548,   672,  680, 
683,  690 

J.  P.,  501,  642,  650 
Rockwood,  N.  P.,  590 

T.  H.,  207 

Rodman,  Daniel  C.,  122, 131, 
132,  194,  195,  436, 
439,  441,  539,  543, 
557,  680,  820 

(Gen.),  270,  271,  273 
Rogers,  C.  B.,  226 

Edmond,  446 

Enoch  E.,  3,  773 

I.  B.,  696 

JoabB.,  492,  717 

Wm.  H.,  556,  825 
Root  (Lt.),  Ed.,  705 

E.  B.,  246 

E.  K.,  597 


Root,  (Mrs.),  J.  A.,  471 
John  G.,  246 
John  S.,  374 
S.  J.,  68 

Owen,  Day,  &,  597 
Rose,  Jonathan,  54 
Ross,  Samuel,  325,  373,  698, 

701,  812 
W.  E.  W.,  623 
Rossman,  Wm.  H.,  448 
Rouse,  W.  D.,  667 
Rowland,  Thos.  F.,  190 
Rowell,  David  B.,  694 
Royce,  John  E.,  700 
Runyon,  T.,  722 
Ruggles,  Geo.  B.,  730,  733 
Russell,  Chas.  L.,  47, 97, 126, 
164,  165,  167,  453, 
655,  781 
(Gen.),  65 
F.  W.,  458 
George  D.,  47,  64 
(Dr.),  G.  W.,  185 
James  L.,  179 
Robert,  590,  677 
Samuel  S.,  168 
Wm.  H.,183, 188, 226, 

800,  812,  819 
(Mrs.),  W.  H.,  471 
Rust,  C.  H.,  277 
Ruth,  Patrick  K.,  123, 126 
Sackett,  Wm.  H.,  609,  610 
Salisbury,  E.,  152 

(Mrs.),   E.   E.,    471, 

472 
Sanford,  E.  J.,  226 

George  S.,  108 
George  W.,  782 
Hon.  Henry  S.,  149 
H.,  471,472 
Julius,  247,  428,  431 
Oliver    S.,  122,    194, 
539,  543,  555,  556, 
557,  744 

Sargent,  Geo.  D.,  624,  825 
Satte»lee   (Surg.),    Dwight, 

476 

Savage,  W.  L.,  $55 
Sawyer,  Silas  W.,  125,  311, 

513 

Sayers  (Sergt),  611 
Schalk,  F.  E.,  589,  591 
Schleiter,  143,  307 
Schnable,  Ellis  B.,  107,  110 
Schutze,  Henry,  58 
Schweizer,  B.  "E.,  252,  293, 

296 

Scott,  Geo.  E.,  635 
H.  G.,  558 
John  B.,  642 
(Misses),  88 
LeHick,  421 
(Lt.  Gen.),  Winfield, 

70,  83 

Scoville,  Chas.  M.,  592 
Scranton,  A.  G.,  502 
Erastus,  188 
(Hon.),  B.C.,  57,  817, 
819,  820,  823 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Seavcr,  Heber  W.,  228 
Sedgwick,  R.  A.,  207 

(Gen.),  574,  575 
Seeley  (Mrs.),  Wm.  E.,  465 
'  A.,  458 

Albert  O.,  735 
Segee,  Philip  B.,  236 
Selden,  Joseph,  411,  414, 

423,  424,  426 
Senglaube,  Louis,  567 
Seward,  S.  H.,  391,  590 

Wm.  T.,  137 

Sexton,  Bolles,  &  Co.,  597 
Seymour,  E.  W.,  233 

Edward,  243 

F.  S.,391 

Griswold  £  Co.,  596 
Hon.  0.  S.,  234,  630, 

798 

Gov.   Thos.    H.,    78, 

80,  103,  228,  332 
Shailer,  Chas.  M.,  654 
Shalk,  Fredk.,  391 
Sharp,  Albert  F.,  391,  620, 

649,  655-6 
Shaw  (Col.),  443 
Sheffield  (Capt.),  179 
Sheldon,  Joseph,  244,  472 

(Mrs.)-,  J.,  471 

(Lr.),  374-5 

W.  D.,  383 
Shelton  (Ur.),  124 

Edward  N.,  47 
Shepard,  David  G.,  305 

Jeremiah  M.,  236, 
552 

J.  H.,  335 

Brothers,  345 

(Capt.),  552 

G.  W.,  552 
S.  B.,  556 

Sheridan,  Terrence,  513 
Sherman  (Miss)  E.,  471 

(Gen.),  95,  116,  502, 
535,  536,  696,  789, 
796,  797,  802,  803, 
813,  829 

Philo  B.,  236,  517 

John,  830 

T.  W.,  123 
Shipman,  N.,  596 

W.  D.,  227 
Shultas,  Chas.  C.,  246 
Bidders,  Chas.,  409 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  425 
Silliman,  B.,  Jr.,  24,  283 

C.  N.,  825 

Silloway,  Win.  F.,  250 
Simms,  John  M.,  346-47 
Simonds,  John  H.,  277 

W.  E.,  422 

Simmons,  Wm.  S.,  666 
Simpson,  Jas.  F.,  660 

Samuel,  81 

Siprcll,  D.  W.,  72,  119 
Skiff  (Dr.),  522 
Skinner,  Alden  B.,  423 

(Mrs.),  A.  N.,  471 


Skinner,  Benj.  F.,  122 

B.  F.,  195,  435,  447, 
508-10 

Jeffrey,  233,  714,  720, 

761 

(Miss),  J.  W.,  471 
S.  W.,  617 
Slade,  Lucius  M.,  48 
Slater,  John  F.,  50,  231 
Smith,  Abner  C.,  771 
Albert,  424 
Alfred,  468,  470 
Brainard,  787,  788 
Charles,  107, 374, 392, 
735 

C.  W.,  825 
Charles,  Jr.,  449 
Danl.  L.,  220 
David,  50,  231 
Ed.,  750 
Edward  W.,  805 
Edward  L.,  788 

.    Elisha  T.,  227 

E.  Y.,  124 

Francis,  728 

Gad  N.,  505 

George  F.,  82 

Geo.  G.,  307 

Geo.  W.,  782 

Heber  S.,  218,  220 

Henry  C.,  235 

H.  H.,  201 

Ira  S.,  602 

James,  779 

Jas.  T.,  307 

(Judge),  27 

L.  R.,  226 

Martin    B.,  124,  478, 
547,  605,  669,  757 

Moses,  546,  606,  610, 
618,666,669 

M.  L.,  746 

Nathaniel,   233,    506, 
594,  882 

Peter  J.,  751 

Rufus,  458 

Seymour  W.,  770 

S.  S.,  227 

Septimus  S.,  712 

Thos.,  468,  596 

Wm.  A.,  669 

W.  F.,  536,  551,  553, 
554,  586,  596,  625 

W.  G.,  654 

W.  W.,  700 
Smyth  (Col.),  659 
Snagg,  Henry  L.,  391 
Snow,  L.  M.,  705 
Soby,  Wm.,  327 
Soule,  E.  F.,  449 
Souter,  James,  599 
Southard,  L.  II.,  102,  569 
Southmayd,  Gtfo.  M.,  129 
Southworth,  Chas.  G.,  236 
Sparks,  Walter  C.,  595 
Spaulding,  J.  L.,  50 

Reuben,  640 

Win.  L.,  639-40 


Speidal,  John,  61,  121,  304, 

305,  373,  506 
Spellman,  W.  C.,  616 
Spencer,  Albert,  480 
J.  F.,  676 
Wm.,  697 
Sperry,  Eli,  234 
H.  T.,  597 
N.  D.,  226,  244 
Spittle,  Wm.,  236,  335 
Sprague,  Ezra,  700,  769 

Homer  B.,   143,   155, 
161,  308,  313,  401, 
403,  420,  578,  714, 
718,  719,  725,  728, 
765,  803,  827,  828 
(Surg.),  114 
Sprcnkle,  D.  &  F.,  567 
Spring,  And.  J.,  751 
Speed,  Fredk.,  516 
Standish,  Walter  F.,  391 
Stanley,  T.  A.,  296 

Frank  W.,  406 
Stanton,  Chas.  T.,  Jr.,  236, 

552,  606 

John  L.,  251,  423 
Stanwood,  Ed.  W.,  771 
Starkweather,  Hon.   H.  H., 

50,  356 
John  C.,  117 
(Mrs.)  N.,  470 
Starr,  Benj.,  654 

E.  W.  N.,  241 
Fredk.,  432 

Stedman.  Griffin  A.,  74,  129, 
256,  266,  267,  273, 
274,  278,  279,  5:J8, 
541,  550,  553,  597- 
99,  601,  606-608, 
616,  619,  625-28, 
764,  817 

Edmund  C.,  390 
G.  W.,  420,  721,  722 
John  W.,  9Q,  231 
Sterling  (Capt.),  517 
D.  H.,  50 

(Mrs.),  Daniel  H.,  465 
John    W.,    236,    388, 

517,  708,  709 
(Mrs.),  W.  G.,  464 
Stevens^  Albert,  68 

(Gen.),  199,  200 
John  G.,  431 
S.  S.,  235 

Stewart,  James,  705 
Stickney  (Col.),  429,  430 
Stiles,  Bob,  375 

Henry  H.,  227 
Stillman,  Albert,  374 

(Mayor),  811,  821 
(Mrs.),  A.  S.,  470 
Henry  M.,  169 
Stille,  Chas.  G  ,  464 
Stocking,  Gilbert  M.,  706 
Stoddard  (Mrs.),  Prudence, 

149 

Eben  M.,  844 
Stokes,  Joseph,  99 


890 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


Stoll,  Henry,410  [220 

Stone,  H.  B.,  74,  213,  218, 
Stone  (Rev.  Mr.),  357 

W.  W.,  77 

Storer  (Miss  M.),  471 
Storrs   (Dr.),  M.,   180,  274, 

680 
Stoughton,   Frank  E.,   391, 

677 

Stottlar,  John,  654 
Straight  (Col.),  499 
Striby,  Fredk.,  Jr.,  448 
Strickland,  Jos.,  413,  420 
(Mrs.),  W.  T.,  470 
Strong,  Clark,  421 
(Major),  157 
Stroud,  Edwin,  592 
Stuart,  23 

Sturgis  (Major),  114 
Sutliff,  Elhert,  750 
Sutliffe,  Lucas,  196 
Swan,  Frank,  246 
Swayne  (Brig.-Gen.),Wager, 

722 

Sweetland,  J.  C.,  676 
Swift,  Rowland,  522, 596,  827 
Taft  (Mrs.),  C.  A.,  470 
Taintor,  M.  A.,  651,  652 
Talcott  (Miss),  Mary,  470 
C.  M.,  770 
Charles  H.,  250 
P.  F.,  552,  814 
(Mrs.),  T.  G.,  470 
Tallmadge  (Col.),  234 
Taylor,  Addison  C.,  252, 296 
Isaac,  S.,  448 
J.  C.,  426 
John,  338,  339 
Moses,  683 
(Rev.),  286 

,305 

Westlake,  392 
Tarbox,  Daniel  L.,  281 
Tarr,  H.  G.  H.,  700,  705 
Tennant  (Dr.),  Charles,  484 

Charles  A.,  335 
Terry,  Alfred  H.,  64,  89,  97, 
99,    120,    123,    131, 
168,  202,  304,  348, 
438,  538,  541,  546, 
611,  612,  648,  652, 
672,  687,  689,  690, 
691,  722,  755,  804, 
805,  806,  807,  808, 
810,  820 
Edward,  708 
Thacher  (Miss),  A.,  471 

(Mrs.),  Daniel,  464 
Thomas,  David  S.,  376 

(Miss),  Carrie  L.,  466 
George  H.,  119 
Thompson  (Her.),  Alex.  R., 

183,  229,  818 
Gideon,  108 
John,  507,  650,  689 
Wm.    W.,    201,   221, 

651,  712 
Thoraberg  (Dr.),  530 


Thornett,  Thomas  B.,  102 
Thorp,  E.  A.,  670,  766 
Thorpe,  David  J.,  595    , 
Tibbe,  R.,  449 
Tiffany,  Charles  C.,  680 

M.  V.  B.,    501,   640, 

646,  714,  717 
Tisdale,  E.,  143,  307,  315 
Titus,  George  W.,  705 
Tolles,  Samuel,  227, 294, 478, 
771,  772 

Tompkins, ,  150 

Tomlinson  (Dr.),  Chas.  812 
O.  K.,  567 
Russell,  108 
Toucey  (Hon.),    Isaac,    36, 

136,  842,  843 
Tourtelotte,  Jerome,  123, 195, 

437,  440 
Townsend,    Jeremiah,    507, 

539 

James  M.,  201,  202 
Torrance,  David,  S,  461,  790, 

826 

Torrence,  James,  409 
Torrey,  George,  356 
Toy  (Capt.),  142,  306 
Train,  Abner  L.,  188 
Tracy,  Charles  A.,  367 
J.  A.,  461 
John  N.,  122,  542 
Traganza,  Win.  P.,  138 
Treat,  Amos,  34 

(Mrs.),  A.,  471 
Amos  A.,  188,  189 
(Major),  15,  16 
Trowbridge,  George  N.,  545 
O.  E.,  432 
P.  M.,  823 
W.  II.,  432 
Thomas  R.,  127,  151, 

244,  471 
Trumbull,  Gurdon,  597 

H.  Clay,  178,341,344, 
345/348,  451,  513, 
523,  569,  621,  636, 
653,  662,  671,  682, 
787,  803,  810 
J.  Hammond,  596,637, 

755,  801,  829 
(Gov.),  Jonathan,  20, 

22,  23,  28 

Thos.  S.,  624,  684,  761 
John  F.  (Jr.),  105 
Tubbs,  William  H.,  225 
Tucktr,  Edwin  A.,  244 

James  S.,  607 
Turner,  J.  A.,  119 

Mark  C.,  534 

Turn  bull  (Rev.),  Robert,  183 
Tutde,  H.  E.,  592 
Twining,  A.  C.,  1 51-,  471 
(Miss),  M.  P.,  471 
Twiss,  John  M.,  776,  825 
Tyler  (Gen.),  Daniel,  70,84, 
87,  92,    93,   95,  96, 
97,98,133,205,206, 
212,  225,  231,  494, 
504 


Tyler,  Hon.  Morris,  435, 
521,  523,  525,  722, 
806 

Moses,  820 
Daniel  P.,  49 
Robert   0.,   133,  203, 
•      383,  389,  470,  505, 
517,  559,  574,  596, 
Levi  E.,  570 

Upham,  Charles  L.,  124,  479 
Upson,  Henrv,  201 
Van  Pelton,  J.  B.,  640 
Vaill,  T.  F.,  3,  645,  725 
Van  Keuren  (Lt.),  439,  510 
Vinton,  Edward  C.,  510 
Wadhams,  Edward,  548,  591 
Henry  W.,  591 
Luman,  588,  589,  592, 

594,  595,  822 
Wadsworth  (Capt.),  18 
Daniel,  86 
(Gen.),  381 
(Brig.  Gen.),  Jas.  S., 

722 

W.  M.,  53 
Wait,    Hon.   John  T.,   231, 

276,  548,  815 
Marvin,  265,  272,,  276 
Walker,  Alfred,  151,  182 

(Chaplain),  Edw.  A., 
118,  119,  133,  182, 
505,  640 
Chas.  H.,  272 
H.  J.  0.,  494,  604 
John, 545 
.W.  C.,  3, 499,  644, 645, 

646 
Wallace,  E.,  422 

Thomas,  Jr.,  464 
Walter,  Chas.,  97,  229,  362, 

373,817 

Wai  worth  (Judge),  27 
Warburton  (Mrs.),  468 
Ward  (Capt.),  830 
(Col.),  334 

Henry  C.,  405,  422, 
423,  461,  601,  782, 
802,  826 

(Col.),  James,  91 
James  Ili.rmon,  91 
John  E.,  124,273,332, 

478,  540,  605,  680 
(Miss),  Lyclia  R.,  464 
(Major),  276  . 

Samuel  S.,  597 
Wardell,  Jason,  426 
Warner,  Abner  S.,  477 

Addison  G.,  583,  584 
(Capt.),  238,  585,  819 
(Col.),  405 
Geo.   W.,    232,    501, 

640 

(Major),  97 
Rufus,  392 

Warner  (Hon.),  Sam.,  24,  52 
Warren,  Chas.,  764,  790,  791 

,  24 

Warriner  (Rev.),  E.,  137,138, 
209,  489,  496 


INDEX  OF  NAMES. 


891 


Washburn,  Geo.  A.,  271 
Waterbury,  Geo.  A.,  426 
Waterhouse   (Mrs.),  C.  R., 

471 
Waters,  John  M.,  533 

Watrous, ,  632 

Watson,  W.  B.,  558 

Way  land,  Francis,  183,  800 

Francis,  Jr.,  226,  522 

M.,  183,  184,  185 

(Chaplain),  200,  201, 

523, 655 
Webb  (Lt.),  245,  246 

W.  M.,  650,  655 
Webster  (Dr.),  C.  B.,  467 
Weemes,  Thad.  M.,  424 
Welch  (Hon.),  E.  K.,  52,  82 

H.  K.   W.,   188,  632, 
799 

H.  M.,  183,  226 

(Asst.    Surg.),    John 
B.,  156 

(Dr.),  243 

Moses  C.,  697 

(Rev.),  302 
Weld,  Mason  C.,  249,  402, 

422 

Weldon,  I.  N.,  705 
Wells,  Alfred,  247,  431 

Curtis  B.,  214 

Henry  A.,  126,  346 
Welles,  Frank,  728,  803 

(Mrs.),  Oswin,  470 

(Mrs.),  Sec.,  469 

Thos.  G.,  818 

Wessels,  Henry  W.,  402,486, 
488 

Leverett,W.,233,234, 

238,  457,  506,  720 
Westover,  W.  W.,  567 
Wetherby  (Rev.),  Chas.   N., 

"580 
Wetmore,   Prosper  M.,   54, 

125,  130,  253 
Whaples,  W.  W.,  654 
Wheatley,  Richard,  317,318, 

426 

Wheaton,  Albert  F.,  346 
Wheeler,  A.  M.,  432 

John  D.,  227 

John  I.,  316 

Mark  H.,  426 
Wheeler  (Sergt.),  585 
Wheelock,  L.  B.,  253 
Whipple,    Samuel    S.,   583, 
585 


Whitaker  (Capt),  616 

Daniel,  569 

Edward  W.,  102,  569 
586,  614,  645,  757, 
818,  819 
Whitcomb  (Dr.),  J.  B.,  274, 

279 
White  (Col.),  133 

Elijah,  277 

Geo.  M.,  227 

Geo.  W.,  772 

H.  D.,  226 

Nelson    L.,  47,    118, 
617 

Moses  C.,  151 

(Dr.),  M.  C.,  471 

S.  L.,  655,  656 

(Mr.  and  Mrs.),  Wm. 

D.,  392 

Whiting,  F.  K.  H.,  709 
Whitney,  E.  P.,  105 

Eli,  27,  226 
Whittlcsey,  Chas.,  246 
Wightman,  J.  C.,  415 
Wilcox,  Chas.  M.,  252,  371 

(Gen.),  295 

J.  A.,  722 

J.  P.,  539 

Noah,  667 

Whiting,  277,  278 
Wilcoxson,  A.  H.,  361,  362, 
371,  381,  450,  729, 
731,  732,  783,  817 
Wildman,  E.  E.,  47,  62 

(Miss),  Elizabeth, 467 

F.  S.,467 

(Miss),  Mary,  467 

T.  C.,  651 
Wilkinson,  E.,  49 
Willey,  Hon.  Hiram,  231 
Willard,  Samuel  F.,  225,  281 
Williams,  A.  S.,  722 

Frank,  8 7 

Geo.  S.,  234 

George  M.,  624 

(Rev.),  John,  183 

Joseph  D.,  224,  310, 
311,456 

R.  G..  72 

,48 

Willimann,  Joseph,  433 
Wills,  Alfred,  428 
Wilson,  G.  W.,  46 

J.  H.,  446 

P.  P.,  705 

Robert,  304 


Wilson, ,  393 

Winchester  &  Davies,  61 

(Mrs.),  Wm.,  471 
Winslovv,  Geo.  A.,  728 
Winthrop,   Gov.    John,    16, 
17 

Francis  R.,  89 

Theodore,  89, 111,830 
Wistar  (Gen.),  550 
Wolcott  (Gen.),  21,  24 
Wood,  Charles  A.,  545 

Enoch,  230 

Frederick,  108 

John  E.,  236 

T.  S.,  623 
Woods,  W.  B.,  722 
Woodbridge     (Miss),    Jane., 

470 
Woodford,  S.  L.,  722 

C.  W.,  754 

Woodhouse,  Levi,  68, 72, 1 19 
Woodruff  (Chaplain),  454 

D.  A.,  654 
(Rev.),  G.  W.,  183 
(Hon.),  John,  32,  71, 

226,  244 

(Rev.),  R.,  449,  623 
Richard  K.,  623,  766 
S.  A.,  686,825 
Samuel  S.,  235,  360, 

700 
Woodward   (Dr.),   A.,  114, 

185,  426 
John  A. ,431 
Woolley,  J.  J.,  183 
Woolsey,  Theo.  D.,  183 

(Miss),  D.,  471 
Worden,  Samuel  D.,  357 
Wooster,  William  B.,  47,  80, 
234,  366,  375,  378, 
386,  461,  637,  648, 
649,  653,  667,  802, 
826 

D.  B.,  505 

Work  (Mrs.),  T.  J.,  470 
Wright,  Benj.,  514,  670 

Dexter   R.,    46,   22:2, 

227,  288,  329,  330, 
458,  460 

(Gen.),*  H.   G.,    123, 
202,  594,  596,  785 
Horace  W.,  545 
Ira,  45,  63 
John  B.,  188 
T.,  623 
Wyant,  Wilson,  74 


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