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M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01082 4123
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THE
27th - part of
"TWENTY-SEVENTH." Com. Vels.
A REGIMENTAL HISTORY.
BY WINTHROP D. SHELDON, A.M.,
-
LATE LIEUTENANT COMPANY E.
NEW-HAVEN :
MORRIS & BENHAM. - 1.866.
F
!
8349
1.059
Sheldon, Winthrop Dudley, 1839-1931. The "Twenty-seventh." A regimental history. By Win- throp D. Sheldon ... New-Haven, Morris & Benham, 1866. 114 p. front .. port. 19cm.
155391
1. Connecticut infantry -27th regt., 1862-1863. 2. U. S .- Ilist .- Civil war-Regimental histories-Coun. inf .- 27th.
2-12793
Library of Congress
E499.5.27th
[236b1]
العدد ٤
6. menino
TO THE
OFFICERS AND PRIVATE SOLDIERS
OF THE
TWENTY-SEVENTII REGIMENT CONN. VOLUNTEERS,
THIS MEMORIAL OF PATRIOTIC SERVICE
IS
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
1. CAMP NEAR WASHINGTON,
9
II. TO THE FRONT,
17
III. FREDERICKSBURG,
22
IV. CAMP NEAR FALMOUTH,
33
V. CHANCELLORSVILLE,
43
VI. ON TO RICHMOND,
56
VII. GETTYSBURG, .
71
VIUI. IN MEMORIAJI, . 89 .
IX. RECORD OF CASUALTIES,
100
X. CATALOGUE OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS,
115
XI. PROMOTIONS, .
.
119
XII. CATALOGUE OF ENLISTED MEN, ..
123
FREDERICKSBURG,
December 13th, 1862.
CHANCELLORSVILLE, May 1st, 2d, and 3d, 1863.
GETTYSBURG,
July 2d, 3d, and 4th, 1863.
THE
"TWENTY-SEVENTH"
CONN. VOLS.
CHAPTER I.
CAMP NEAR WASHINGTON.
" As by the west wind driven, the ocean waves Dash forward on the far-resounding shore, Wave upon wave : first curls the ruffled sea, With whit'ning crests ; anon with thundering roar It breaks upon the beach, and, from the crags Recoiling, flings in giant curves its head Aloft, and tosses high the wild sea-spray, Column on column-so the hosts of Greece Poured ceaseless to the war."
HOMER.
THE campaign of the Twenty-seventh Regiment Con- necticut Volunteers began in the most critical and anx- ious period of the war against the rebellion-the year 1862. After long months of diligent preparation, the Army of the Potomac opened the year with its first memorable advance against the rebel capital. The in- spiring faith of all loval hearts followed every step of i: - progress up the Peninsula, toward the stronghold of treason ; and when the shattered but undaunted rem- hauts retreated down the James river, and hurried to the
-
10
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH -
defence of the national capital, menaced by an exultant foe, deep was the disappointment which filled the whole North. Every ear was strained to catch the result of the conflict before Washington, only to hear that the rebels had been partially successful, and were crossing the Potomac into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Those were days of profound anxiety, but not of weak irreso- lution. Each new disaster seemed to bring the people nearer to a realization of the magnitude of the struggle, and nerve them to fulfil the imperative duties of the hour. The President, early in July, issued his Proclama- tion, calling for three hundred thousand men, to serve for three years ; and on the fourth of August following summoned to the field three hundred thousand more, to serve for nine months. The Twenty-seventh Regiment was organized under this latter call. Its members were recruited from New-Haven county, and mainly from the city of New - Haven, with considerable numbers from Madison, Milford, Meriden, Wallingford, Branford, Clinton, and Guilford, and still smaller quotas from other neighboring towns.
The character and material of the regiment well illus- trated the heartiness with which all classes responded to the earnest call of the President in those dark days of the Republic. Every variety of condition and employ- ment found representatives in the Twenty-seventh. The agricultural population of the county responded with a goodly number of the votaries of Ceres. Many of the most respected and enterprising mechanics and business men of the community laid aside for a season the in- plements of their labor to join its ranks. Members of the press exchanged pen and type for sword and bayonet. There were also several accomplished engi-
11
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
neers in the regiment, one of whom was detailed in that department, on the staff of General W. S. Hancock, and had charge of the General's topographical maps and plans of battles. The public schools of the city con- tributed one of their most esteemed teachers, who gave his life on the field of Fredericksburg ; and in the room where of yore he so successfully led on his pupils from step to step in knowledge, hangs his portrait, to them a daily-recurring lesson of noble patriotism and self-devo- tion. Also the various professions furnished of their members ; and old Yale, never faithless to the patriotic instincts of her Revolutionary sons, was represented by several of her graduates and students, one of whom was a color-bearer of the regiment at Fredericksburg, Chan- cellorsville, and Gettysburg.
The first company went into camp at Camp Terry, New-Haven, in the latter part of August, and by the middle of September the whole number of companies were on the ground, with nearly a full quota of men. Being technically a militia regiment, the choice of field officers was vested in those of the line. Richard S. Bostwick, of New-Haven, was elected Colonel; Henry C. Merwin, of the same place, Lieutenant-Colonel; and Theodore Byxbee, of Meriden, Major ; all of whom, with a number of the company officers, had been con- nected with the three-months volunteers at the begin- ning of the war. After several weeks spent in perfect- ing the organization and equipment, the regiment was mustered into the United States service, October twen- ty-second, 1862, for the term of nine months, and started for the field in the evening of that day, numbering eight hundred and twenty-nine, rank and file.
Without stopping to dwell upon the passage to New-
12
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
York, to Port Monmouth, or upon the generous hospi- tality of the Quaker City, and passing by the night journey to Baltimore, succeeded by a day's rest on the pavements of that city, the morning of the twenty-fifth found us in Washington. Camp Seward, on Arlington Heights, is soon reached, and quickly long rows of tents rear their white roofs in General Lee's peach orchard. Possibly in other days we should have been summarily cjected by a grand charge of that gentleman's dusky retainers, or perhaps indicted in the courts for presum- ing to trespass upon the domain of an F. F. V., and have paid dearly to appease his injured feelings. But now the crowd of slaves is dispersed, and "Massa Lee " is not there to dispute our right to possession.
Our introduction to the Old Dominion would be in- complete unless the foreground of the picture presented to view that bugbear, Virginia mud, which has made and unmade so many Generals, and stopped the wheels of the Army of the Potomac with periodical regularity. We had hardly arrived at Camp Seward when the clouds began to marshal their forces for an illustration of their power to change the sacred soil into a sea of mud; and as if to show the minutia of the forming process, it began to drizzle slowly; the mist gradually enlarged into drops, and the soil grew softer and softer. As we floundered about, we began to realize that the aforesaid mud was not altogether a myth, conjured up by ineffi- cient commanders to excuse inaction. The storm con- tinued at intervals during the .twenty-sixth, and, as night approached, a strong wind, superadded to the pelting rain, swept howling over the ridge, tearing many of our tents from their uncertain moorings. All, how- ever, were disposed to view philosophically this some-
13
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
what unceremonious welcome to the soil of Virginia, and the hardships of a soldier's life.
At noon of the twenty-seventh the order came to strike tents, preparatory to moving our camp a few miles up the Potomac. Late in the day the march began. Crossing over into Georgetown, by the Aqueduct Bridge, and following the picturesque course of the river up to Chain Bridge, we return to the left bank, and bivouack for the rest of the night around huge fires. The next morning Camp Tuttle assumes a veritable ex- istence, and here the Twenty-seventh settle down to a month's routine and drill, preliminary to the rough ex- perience of an actual campaign. Our camp was situated upon a rising ground, from which could be seen the ma- jestic dome of the Capitol. Some distance in front of the parade, and on the left, were thick woods, while the right was skirted by a road, across which were encamped the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth New-Jersey, and the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania, which, with our own regiment, constituted a brigade of Abercrombie's division of the army for the defence of Washington. As soon as the camp was established in its new location, the Colonel issued a regimental order, setting forth the programme of daily duty as follows : Reveille at six A.M. ; guard mounting at eight ; com- pany drill from nine to eleven, and again from one to two; battalion drill from three to four, and dress pa- rade at five p.v. ; tattoo at nine, taps at half-past nine. All this was varied by an occasional season of picket duty, a few miles up the Leesburg turnpike.
Our first Sabbath at Camp Tuttle forins, in most re- spects, a sample of all the rest. Sunday is to the soldier the most anomalous day of the calendar, especially if
14
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
situated, as we were, without a chaplain. The weekly inspection and freedom from drill are the chief points which distinguish it from other days. In the present instance, however, an unexpected cause of excitement appeared. After dress parade, it was announced that in consequence of certain rumored movements of the enemy in the direction of Leesburg, it might be necessary to beat the long roll, to call the regiment under arms at any moment during the night. Of course, the very thought of a rebel added new zest to our military exist- ence. Every one was on the qui vive, and made his ar- rangements to respond to the call with the utmost promptness. But the apprehended raid did not take place, and our rest was therefore undisturbed by the soul-stirring notes of the long roll.
Every few days a company was detailed to go on picket -- an event not altogether unwelcome, as a relief to the monotonous round of camp duties, and as an intro- duction to a new phase of experience. To obtain some idea of this portion of our regimental life around Wash- ington, let us " fall in," fully armed and equipped, and follow one of these parties to the picket-line. On the present occasion, Company HI, with detachments from other regiments, started out one morning, and, after marching several miles on the Leesburg Turnpike, ar- rived about ten o'clock at the village of Langley. The line of pickets extended along the main road a short dis- tance beyond the centre of the place, and also along a cross-road, which, coming up from the south, connects with the turnpike just before we reach the village. Houses, favorably situated at different points, were ve- cupied as headquarters of the various squads, or, if such conveniences were not at hand, brush huts supplied their
٤
15
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
place. At that time Langley consisted of about a dozen houses, and one small church, and had once been favored with two regular taverns, whose sphere was now filled by two boarding-houses of minor importance, one of which indicated its character to the public by the sign :
RESTER ANT
The dinner hour having arrived, the pickets unanimously conclude to set aside Uncle Sam's homely fare, and take advantage of the enlarged facilities of entertainment af- forded by the village. Accordingly they adjourn to one of the boarding-houses, kept by a man of secession pro- clivities, whose principles, however, do not interfere with his untiring efforts to please. Such houses of re- freshment, where a civilized meal could be obtained, sit- uated as they were here and there along the picket-line, added much to the enjoyment of these brief excursions from camp. Our duties were not very onerous, requir- ing the attention of each man two hours out of every six, and consisted in seeing that no one passed, along the road, or appeared in the vicinity, without proper author- ity. In good weather, the two days of picket duty, oc- curring once a fortnight, were quite agreeable ; but if stormy, they afforded good material for the grumbling fraternity.
In view of the approach of winter, and the probabil- ity of remaining in our present location for some time, it was thought best to make corresponding preparations.
16
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
Pine logs, with considerable labor, were cut and brought in from the neighboring forest, and soon Camp Tuttle began to present an air of comfort positively inviting. But after only a brief enjoyment of our improved quar- ters, and as if to remind us of the uncertainty always attending the soldier's life, orders came, November eighteenth, for Company II to strike tents, pack up, and march over to Hall's Hill, there to clear up a place for the regimental encampment. Arriving on the hill in a pelting rain, huge fires were built of the brush and stumps which covered the ground, and by evening our tents were up, and we were as comfortable as circum- stances would allow. Hearing of several deserted en- campments about a mile distant, on Miner's and Upton's Hills, many parties went out the next morning to secure anything which might add to their convenience. A large barren plain was covered far and wide with the huts and debris of a portion of MeClellan's army, which encamped here in the winter of 1862. The whole pre- sented a very curious and suggestive sight. Mean- while, orders came to strike tents and rejoin the regi- ment. It appeared that all the regiments in the vicinity were ordered to prepare for a rapid march. The Army of the Potomac had but recently crossed the river, after the battle of Antietam, in pursuit of Lee, and the enemy were said to be threatening General Sigel, in command at Centreville. In view of this state of affairs, the re- serve, in the defences of Washington, was called upon to be ready for any emergency. Returning to camp, we found the men earnestly canvassing the nature of the contemplated march. . The orders, however, were coun- termanded in the evening, perhaps in consequence of a severe storm, which continued for several days.
17
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
CHAPTER II.
TO THE FRONT.
THE soldier who is untried in the fearful ordeal of war looks forward with a kind of adventurous excite- ment to the time when he shall cross swords with the enemy ; and especially if his heart is bound up in the cause, and his motives lie deeper than mere love of ad- venture, he desires to stand at the post of duty, though it be in the deadly charge, and at the cannon's mouth.
At length the last day of November, a beautiful Sab- bath, came, and with it marching orders. All attention was now concentrated upon the movement to take place the next day, at nine o'clock. The cooks were busy pre- paring rations for the march ; the men were arranging their traps in the most portable form, and all looked for- ward with eager interest to the new scenes before us. At the appointed time, on the following morning, the Twenty-seventh, with the other regiments in the bri- gade, began the march for Washington, leaving our com- paratively commodious A tents standing. Henceforth, shelter-tents, and for much of the time no tents at all. were to be our covering. Our final destination was all a mystery, until, as the days advanced, conjecture was enabled, with some probability, to fix upon Freder- 1*
18
THE TWENTY-SEVENTHI
icksburg. The march across Chain Bridge, through Georgetown and Washington, and down the Potomac, fifteen miles, consumed the first day, and that night a tired set slept beneath their shelter-tents, nestling in the woods by the road-side.
By eight o'clock, December second, we were again in motion, and before sundown accomplished the appointed distance of twenty miles, through a pleasant country, divided into large and apparently well-cultivated planta- tions. Sambo's glittering ivory and staring eyes gleam- ed from many gateways, greeting us half suspiciously. One young colored boy concluded he had been beaten quite long enough by his master, and not liking the pros- pect before him if he remained in slavery, thought best to join the column, and march to freedom. In anticipa- tion of some such proceedings on the part of the colored population, the planters of that region patrolled the roads on horseback, watching our ranks as we filed past, to see if some luckless contraband were not harbored therein.
The third day brought us within three miles of Port Tobacco, and without standing on ceremony, we en- camped for the night on the grounds of a secessionist planter, and availed ourselves of his abundant store of hay and straw. December fourth, we passed through the town-a very ordinary, shabby-looking place, whose secession population hardly deigned to glance at us, except from behind closed shutters. -
Thus far the weather had been delightful, but the fifth day of our march, and the last on the Maryland side of the Potomac, opened rather inauspiciously, and by the time we reached the river bank at Liverpool Point, a cold rain-storm liad set in, in which we were obliged to
19
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
stand a couple of hours awaiting our turn to be ferried across to Acquia Landing. At length the rain changed into driving snow, and when we arrived at the Landing, the surrounding hills were white with the generous deposit. The village at Acquia Creek, after being evacuated sun- dry times, had risen again from the ashes of several buruings to become the base of supplies for Burnside's army before Fredericksburg. Busy carpenters were rearing storehouses, eventually to take their turn at con- flagration, and the ofling was full of vessels of every de- scription, loaded with stores to be transferred by rail to Falmouth.
In the snow we disembarked, and after many delays reached our camping ground, on a hill-side, a mile or more up the railroad. It was now evening, and the prospect seemed anything but encouraging, in view of the fact that the storm continued with even augmented fary. We pitched our shelter-tents and made our beds in the snow, and built fires, under difficulties which can hardly be exaggerated. To add to the discomfort of the case, our supplies were entirely exhausted, and although the wharves and storehouses at the Landing fairly groan- ed with pork and hard-tack, we could not obtain these articles, owing to inflexible red tape, and in part to the fact that the railroad was monopolized in carrying sub- sistence for the army at Falmouth. A very limited sup- ply of sawdust ginger-cakes constituted the universal bill of fare until the evening of the next day.
December sixth dawned upon us, cold and frosty, but clear-just such weather as graces the month in the latitude of New-England. The discomforts of the pre- ceding day were soon forgotten in the cheerful sunshine. At this time our worthy chaplain, Rev. J. W. Leek,
20
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
joined the regiment. Though separated from us in one short week, by reason of an almost fatal wound, yet in that brief period he had gained the hearty respect and esteem of all, and connected his name most honorably with the history of the Twenty-seventh.
After a rest of two days, we bade adieu to Acquia Creek on the morning of December eighth, and resumed our march to Falmouth. Having lost our way, the jour- ney, which properly required but one day, occupied until noon of the next, when we arrived at the head- quarters of General D. N. Couch, at that time in command of the Second Army Corps. By him the Twenty-seventh was assigned to the Third Brigade, General S. K. Zook's, of the First Division, commanded by General W. S. Hancock. At this time the Army of the Potomac was divided into three grand divisions-the right, left, and centre -- the first, of which our corps formed a part, under the command of General Edwin V. Sumner.
We were now marched off to our camping ground, a short distance from the Rappahannock river. Hence- forth the fortunes of the Twenty-seventh are linked with the Army of the Potomac. The regiment belonged to a corps whose thinned ranks eloquently testified to the hard-fought contests of the Peninsula, where it had borne the brunt, always in the fore-front of battle, and the last to retire when retreat became necessary. The history of the Second proved it to be one of the most reliable corps in the service-always ready for any desperate encounter under its brave and fighting leaders. The famous Irish Brigade formed a part of our division. Such being the character and history of the corps, it was evident that the Twenty-seventh must now make up its mind to the severest of campaign service. Scarcely were
21
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
our tents up, when the Colonel received orders to have the company cooks prepare four days' rations, to be ready by the next morning-the inevitable preliminary to more important events.
The forenoon of December tenth was occupied in clean- ing our arms and preparing for an inspection, to take place at twelve o'clock, before General Zook and staff. Perhaps at this point it might be well to speak of the weapons the General was called upon to inspect, and which he declared unfit for service. One of his staff, a day or two later, remarked : "Boys, if you can't dis- charge them, you can use the bayonet." That certainly was the most serviceable part of the gun. At the outset, the Twenty-seventh, with the exception of the flank companies, was furnished with Austrian rifles of such an inferior order that no regular inspector would have passed them. Scarcely one of these weapons was with- out defects in the most essential particulars. These facts are not mentioned to bring discredit upon any of the authorities cognizant of such matters, but simply as a matter of justice to the regiment. Doubtless the best of reasons could have been given to justify the temporary distribution of such arms. Early, however, in the fol- lowing January, the regiment was supplied with the Whitney riffed musket, a weapon in the highest degree satisfactory to all.
22
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
CHAPTER III.
FREDERICKSBURG.
Ix the afternoon of the tenth, two hundred and fifty men of the Twenty-seventh were detailed to picket along the Rappahannock above Falmouth. During all the fol- lowing night might be heard an unusual rumbling of cars, bringing up subsistence from Acquia Creek, and the rattling of ammunition wagons and pontoon trains, slow- ly moving to their respective destinations. At half- past four, on the morning of the eleventh, the Colonel passed around to the officers' quarters, giving orders to have their companies supplied with three days' rations, and fall in by half-past six, in light marching order. Let us leave the scene of busy preparation in camp, and for a few moments view the events transpiring on the river. Three points had been carefully selected by Gen- eral Burnside where bridges were to be thrown across- one a short distance above the Lacey House, another a few rods below the railroad bridge, and the third about two miles below the city. Boat after boat is anchored in its place; plank after plank is laid in quick succes- sion, and the river is well-nigh spanned by the trembling structure, when suddenly two signal guns break on the still night air, and a sheet of flame bursts from houses ou
--
23
CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
the opposite bank, where hundreds of sharp-shooters lie concealed. The defenceless bridge builders are tempo- rarily driven from their work, while the cannon from the bluff's behind belch forth a defiant response to the rebel challenge.
To return to the Twenty-seventh. Promptly at half- past six the regiment fell in and joined the rest of the brigade, a short distance from camp. Silently, through woods and across fields, we marched to the corps rendez- vous, in a deep hollow near the Phillips House, where General Samner had his headquarters. On the way we passed long lines of troops moving rapidly to the river, or resting behind rows of musket stacks. Here we were to remain until a crossing could be effected.
Meanwhile, the frequency of cannon discharges in- cronses. Every moment another adds its voice to the swelling volume, until from twenty batteries, comprising more than a hundred guns, arranged along the banks of the river, bursts a tempest of shot and shell over the rebel city. This continues, with little cessation, until noon. For three hours following, only occasionally a gun disturbs the comparative quiet. Then the ball opens again with renewed violence. A visit to the top of the hill, over- looking the city, reveals columns of smoke, with now and then a flash of flame, testifying to the effectiveness of the bombardment. At the river, all attempts to complete the pontoon bridge had hitherto failed.
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