USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Southington > Ecclesiastical and other sketches of Southington, Conn > Part 58
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he had been too sanguine of Cuban help, and so re-embarked, reach. ing Key West just in time to escape the Spanish war steamer on his track. After this he returned to Southington. In 1857 he went to Kansas, where he remained two years. In 1860 he was Clerk of the Interior Department, Washington; in 1864 he was appointed Indian agent in Montana, and while here he was nominated for delegate to Congress, and defeated.
He married the only daughter of Perry Langdon, Nov. 23, 1852, and died in San Francisco, Cal., Feb., 1866. His only son Mazzini is living, and was born Apr. 12, 1854.
CHARLES PECK.
He was at the time engaged at his trade in Savannah, Ga., and in connection with many from that vicinity enlisted in a company under Capt. McIntosh. The company went to the front, but soon after the city of Mexico was surrendered, and the troops returned home. The vessel in which Mr. Peck had embarked landed at New Orleans, and the men encamped for a time before they were disbanded, on a race- course, and here he took cold and was sick. Shortly after he took ship for New York, and when a day or two out he died of diarrhea, and was buried in the deep. He was a son of Orrin and Anna (Seward) Peck, and brother of Noble Peck.
He was a tinman by trade, and is said to have been a very skillful workman.
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
The political parties of this town were bitterly divided upon public questions at the opening of the war. The two armies in the field never displayed more rancor than the respective voting parties at home. On either side were words uttered that to-day nearly all would gladly make oblivious. And this is not the place to recall and criticise speech and act that at the time were interpreted as hostile to the federal govern- ment; but it is the place and time to exalt the noble names that went forth in defence of rightful authority. Those that died in the service deserve special mention, and larger than can now be granted. Here- after, when all the actors have passed away, a full and just tribute will be paid them. Various methods are adopted to gather even the " frag- ments" of history, that ultimately nothing may be lost.
It will not be considered partiality on my part, nor neglect of names every way worthy of particular notice, if the list of our noble band of patriots is prefaced by a sketch of one who was conspicuous always for persistent bravery,' and unselfish devotion to his duties as captain of
1 At the battle of Chancellorsville he was ordered to surrender. "I don't recognize your authority, sir," was his characteristic reply, and he did not surrender.
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the Southington company. Samuel Stevens Woodruff is the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Stevens) Woodruff, and was born November 12, 1811. He learned the trade of a carpenter. When the California fever broke out in 1849, like others of his townsmen he was infected, and joined a company that went to the Pacific coast for mining. After a time he returned to his native town and resumed his trade. In all his dealings he has sustained the reputation of being incorruptible. When the war opened he felt it his duty to enlist, and stood ready to occupy any position that might be assigned him. The company that organized here elected him its captain, and no one doubted that he would perform every duty faithfully. Aside from other qualifications this may be said of him as it can not be said of many, that he was no self-seeker; and that although he deserved promotion, he never sought it for himself. His sole thought and purpose were to do his duty, and the act was its own compensation. No superior officer was ever an- noyed by him as with others who seemed to think more of preferment than duty. His conscientious discharge of duty and tender concern for his men, his unflinching loyalty and patient endurance, constitute his monument. The high character of the officers and men contributed to make this company so efficient and trustworthy. A portrait of Cap- tain Woodruff will be found in this volume.
The subjoined account of the movements of the enlisted men of this town is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of the work they did. It will furnish, however, a glimpse that can not fail to increase the ad- miration and gratitude of the town for their patriotic services.
From Gettysburg to New Orleans, from the Mississippi to the Atlan- tic, there has been scarcely a battle, hardly even a skirmish, in which some from this town have not borne an honorable part.
The official record of those who joined the army subsequent to Octo- ber, 1864, is not available: but, from the best information to be ob- tained, it appears that the number who went out in obedience to the last requisition from the President was about sixty. The number re- corded in the town clerk's office as credited to the quota of our town previous to that time is 271, making the whole number probably about 330. The 271 were distributed as follows: in the First and Second Infantry, (three months regiments), 6; in the First Cavalry, 14; in the First Light Battery, 4; in the First Heavy Artillery, 7: in the Second Heavy Artillery, 13; Fifth Infantry, 15; Sixth, 7; Seventh, 32; Eighth, 17; Ninth, 1; Tenth, 7; Eleventh, 2; Twelfth, 24; Thirteenth, 2; Four- teenth, 12; Sixteenth, 1; Twentieth, 81; Twenty-Second, 15; Twenty- Third, 2; Twenty-Fifth, 2; Twenty-Ninth, 1; Thirtieth, 2; Harland's
1 I am indebted to Stephen Walkley for the material portions of this account.
Samuel & Woodruff
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Brigade Band, 4. Of the latter, three were previously members of the Sixth Connecticut regiment.
First we have the First and Second regiments of three months men, six men in all. They were hastily raised, equipped, and sent into battle with scarcely any drill, to meet what was then supposed to be a tempo- rary emergency. Thrown, immediately after their arrival at the seat of war, into the battle of Bull Run, they yet bear proudly the honor of being members of almost the only battalions which came off that fatal field in good order.
Next comes the First Connecticut Cavalry, to which Southington sent fourteen representatives. They were in Virginia under Rosecrans -now hunting and dispersing guerrillas, now springing to the sound of " boots and saddles," to hurry away after Stonewall Jackson. We hear of them at the battles of Strasburgh, Mount Jackson, Cross Keys, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, and the second battle of Bull Run. Under Sheridan they swept the valley of the Shenandoah. They were at Winchester in time to follow into the fight the same gallant leader, when his timely arrival turned a defeat into a victory. They captured the dashing Harry Gillmore. They were of the party who destroyed the Lynchburg Canal, in that grandest of those last cavalry dashes which so accelerated the fall of Richmond, and when Richmond fell such daring riders were sure to be in at the death, and to chase and harrass General Lee until his surrender.
Next on the list is the First Connecticut Light Battery, to which our town sent four. Organized at the same time with the First Cavalry, it was not behind it in honor. Their principal battles were James Island. Pocotaligo, Morris Island, and Secessionville, in the Department of the South, Chester Station and Drury's Bluff, in Virginia, and in the few months near Richmond. Each day's history might almost be called the story of a battle. Throughout, their whole term they were sur- passed by no battery of their corps, either in drill or artillery practice, and they never lost a piece on the field of battle.
In the First Heavy Artillery seven of our townsmen enlisted. Much of their time was spent in garrison duty in Virginia, but they were on the left of the line in Grant's investment of Richmond, and bore an honorable part in the final assault.
In the Second Heavy Artillery we sent thirteen men. Early in the war they were engaged mostly in garrison duty, but during the last great campaign marched with the Sixth Corps. They were with Sheri- dan at Winchester, they were at Cold Harbor and Cedar Creek, and after joining the Sixth Corps were everywhere. That corps was always supposed to have its knapsack packed, and to be ready for a march of 500 miles on five minutes notice. In that corps the individ-
69
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uality of regiments seemed always to merge into the characteristics of the corps. Their knapsacks were always light, and their haversacks always heavy. Dirty were they but jolly, equally ready for a march or a fight, their home wherever the order "break ranks!" was given, obe- dient to orders in battle or in camp, but on a march woe to the sutler whose shanty stood in their way. As the last train filed by his quar- ters the only vestige of his calling left was empty sardine boxes and herrings' tails. In this same fighting Sixth the Second Artillery was merged, and closed the war with honor.
To the Fifth Infantry Southington gave fifteen members. They bore themselves gallantly in the first army of the Potomac, at Cedar Moun- tain, at Chancellorsville, at Gettysburg, at Stevenson, at Resaca, and and after joining Sherman shared in the history of the Twentieth Regi- ment. At one time in the same brigade, always in the same army, they marched with Sherman to the sea, and thence up to bring Johnston to his surrender.
The Sixth and Seventh regiments were also much together, and at many times their history was identical. The Sixth was at first kept back from their rightful place at the right of their brigade, on account of the illness of their brave Colonel Chatfield, and on this account a feeling of jealousy sprang up between the two regiments. After the charge on Wagner, in which both were decimated. this feeling sub- sided, and they fought side by side through the remainder of the war. In the Sixth our town sent seven members. They were at Port Royal at its capture, afterward at Pocotaligo, at Folly Island, at Morris Island, at Fort Wagner, at Drury's Bluff, and shared in the almost daily fights around Petersburgh and Richmond, during the battle summer of 1864.
The Seventh regiment took a squad of thirty-two from our town, the largest number which enlisted in any regiment except the Twentieth.
It was the first to set foot on the soil of South Carolina, and bore an important part in the reduction of Fort Pulaski. First in the Department of the South, and afterwards in Virginia, it fought ten pitched battles, besides a great number of skirmishes, and was in a greater number of engagements than any other regiment with which we are at present concerned. How well it bore itself in them its losses speak, and all official reports bear unqualified praise.
Before the most of its veterans were discharged, and its number transferred to a set of bounty jumpers, its moral habits were not behind its physical. At Port Royal ferry, picket duty was performed by regiments alternating each week, and the negroes were accustomed to insure the safety of their poultry at night by taking them into the common sleeping room of the family. On one occasion when the Seventh relieved another regiment, a resident contraband was heard to
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say, "We can lebe de chickens out o' do's dis week, for dat regiment neber steal."
The first assault upon Fort Wagner deserves special mention. Many valorous deeds have been performed during the war, but none more brave than that. In the heat of battle, when men become maddened by strife, desperate deeds are easy; but they who firmly face the cannon's mouth before the battle, knowing what they do, need more than ordinary courage. That little battalion which led the assault on that memorable night, wearied out with want of sleep the two preced- ing nights, and the severe battle of the day, were lying on the sand for a little rest. Aroused near midnight, they fell into line, and Gen. Strong explained to them the intended movement.
In the darkness of the night, surrounded as they were by the troops of another regiment, it would have been easy for many to have fallen out; but though they had fully tested the position they were to assault -though they knew that the peninsula they were to traverse would be swept by the converging fire of half a score of cannon and a long line of musketry, yet not a man flinched. "Trust in God, and give them the bayonet," said Gen. Strong, and with compressed lips they swung off in double quick at the word, every man in line, and rushed unfalteringly into the jaws of death. Thirteen men from Southington mounted that parapet, but only three came back unharmed. Eight of the thirteen were either killed or seriously wounded. As the remnant came out of that shower of grape and cannister, Gen. Strong was moved to tears. "Ah, my brave men," said he, "you deserved a better fate."
In the Eighth Connecticut, seventeen from Southington enlisted. The peculiar characteristic of this regiment was its momentum.
At Antietam, when advancing under a heavy fire, its supports on the right and left gave way, and it was ordered to retreat. Still on went the colors, and the regiment followed. The major in command raised his voice in orders to retreat, to no purpose. The enemy was swinging towards their flank, but with eyes fixed on their flag, they still kept on. It was only when the major sprang forward, snatched the colors from the color-bearer, and carried them to the rear, that the order to retire was obeyed. In the last siege of Richmond, they were on the left of the line, and to the end of the war they never knew how to retreat.
In the Ninth regiment, Southington sent only one, William Egan, who died at New Orleans.
In the Tenth, we sent seven-mostly Germans. This was the regi- ment which, at Roanoke Island, under Burnside, charged over the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts, who were lying down to cover themselves
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from the enemy's fire, and took the Rebel batteries. The prestige of this, their first battle, never left them. They were always " spoiling for a fight," and in the old Tenth Corps made some of the fiercest and most successful charges of the war.
The Eleventh Connecticut held two members from Southington. This regiment spent its time in and about Virginia. Most of its fight- ing was done in Grant's final approach to Richmond, and was invaria- bly well done.
The Twelfth regiment stands next to the Seventh in the number furnished to it from Southington, having taken twenty-four of our townsmen. The brave boys of the Twelfth were the first to land with Butler at New Orleans, and after the taking of that city were always at work. Among the swamps and bayous of the lower Mississippi. in fatigue and guard duty, with frequent marches and many skirmishes, they suffered more from disease than any other regiment, and when many of them were prostrated by sickness they took an active part in the reduction of Port Hudson, and for a long time were almost con- tinually under fire. During 1864, they fought and suffered in the valley of the Shenandoah.
In the Thirteenth regiment, Southington sent two members. This regiment while at New Orleans was famous for shining boots, bright buttons, and shoulder scales, and served as Butler's head quarter guard while he gave the world a new representation of the old play of "taming the shrew." Notwithstanding their gay appearance, how- ever, they showed themselves well able to fight at Irish Bend and Port Hudson, and afterward with the Twelfth in the valley of the Shenandoah.
To the Fourteenth regiment, our town furnished twelve members. Their record is much like that of the other regiments who campaigned in Virginia. Their principal battles were Antietam, Fredericsburg, Gettysburgh, and Bristoe's Station. In the investment of Richmond in 1864, they were in the Second Corps, which vies in reputation with the Sixth.
In the Sixteenth infantry, our town sent one. This regiment was engaged at Antietam, and was afterwards sent to North Carolina. Most of the regiment was taken by the enemy in the capture of Plymouth, and many died in prison.
The Twentieth regiment had its first experience in the field in the bloody conflict of Chancellorsville, and here the first soldier of South- ington, George E. Smith, fell. Here also fell Bailey and Norton, the latter having a fate to this day unknown: but his sepulchre God knoweth and careth for. After this engagement, came in due time, Gettysburgh. Then westward the regiment was moved to join the
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army of the Cumberland; and here was spent the winter of 1863-4. At Tracy City, Lieut. Upson received his fatal wound. At Resaca May 15, 1864, our men added still further lustre to their company, and here fell David W. Hart, of precious memory to his comrades. At Cassville, the Twentieth took the lead in the engagement, " making the charge," having spent the night under the enemy's guns. Then came the battles of Boyd's Trail and Peach Tree Creek; the latter con- fessedly (even by the Confederates) the most hotly contested in that campaign. This regiment was also the first that entered Atlanta when that point was captured. From Chattanooga to Atlanta, "the hundred days," was that of incessant fighting, and valiantly did our men meet the enemy. Then began "the march to the sea," and Savannah was reached. And now falls Lieut. Henry Lewis, who was faithful to the last. Up through the Carolinas the regiment followed the illustrious leader of the army. At Bentonville the regiment suffered a greater loss in numbers than elsewhere. Here fell Lieut. Stannard, Corporal Nettleton, and Eli Thorp. Thence the men pressed north- ward; but now the era of peace had dawned, and they moved forward through Richmond, and thence into Washington. Two years after the repulse at Chancellorsville, the regiment passed over the same ground as victors, having made a circuit of three thousand miles.
The official records of the Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth, Twenty ninth, and Thirtieth, are few. In the Twenty-second, our town sent fifteen members; but as that was a nine months regiment, they had no opportunity to distinguish themselves before their term of service closed. They took part in one reconnoisance in force, and had one man killed by a shell, but suffered no other casualties.
The same may be said of the regiments which follow, with the exception of the Twenty-ninth, colored, which bore itself nobly in the last Virginia campaign, and was the first to enter Richmond.
The services of the band consist in their aid to the wounded on the field and the duties of their profession on parade. Fortunately the former was not rendered necessary in their campaign, and in respect to the latter they have covered themselves with honor.
. So much may be said of the numerous engagements in which the Southington soldiers have participated; but who shall write that page which history passes by ? Who shall describe the petty annoyances,- the severe fatigue .- the weary hours on guard,-the languishing in hospitals,-the longing for sympathy,-the ungratified taste for comfort and luxury ? Some writer has said: "The man who does not love luxury is a barbarian-he who will not give it up when duty calls, is effeminate and weak." If these three hundred and thirty of our townsmen have proved to us that they are not the
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last, they have proved to themselves that they are not the first. When they munched their hard bread, they learned to prize their mother's pantry. When they laid their aching heads upon their knapsacks, they appreciated most fully the easy chair, the cosy fire, the tender hands that had so often soothed a brow which ached much less than then. and while they ranged their brown and whiskered faces around the smoky camp-fire, they thought most of the sunny eyes, the rosy cheeks, and cheerful hearts at home.
But a sadder chapter of our history now lies before us. Of the 271 whose campaigns we have followed, 51 rest in a soldier's grave. At the close of their service ten were commissioned officers. One- fifth of the officers, and one-eighth of the men have fallen in their country's service.
Among the regiments the mortality so far as our townsmen are concerned is distributed as follows. The 12th has lost the largest proportionally; 40 per cent. of those who went out having died in the service. Next comes the 7th, which lost 374 per cent: next the 5th, 20 per cent; the 20th, 19 per cent; the 6th and 10th, each 14 per cent; the 2d Art'y, 8 per cent .; and the 8th Inf. 6 per cent. Of these. 16 were killed in battle, 10 died of wounds received in battle, 17 of dis- ease, 4 from the effects of privation in rebel prisons, one was drowned in fording a river, and in case of the remaining three, the cause and circumstances of their death have not been ascertained.
The following is a list of the dead who fell during service.
SERGEANT EDWIN N. STANNARD.
He was born at Haddam, Conn., Nov. 9, 1820, and was the son of Josiah and Lydia (Hubbard) Stannard. He came to Southington, and married, May 16th, 1847, Caroline M. Beckley, who died July 9, 1850, when he married, Jan. 2, 1854, Harriet A. Jones. He enlisted in the U. S. service Aug. 15, 1862, joining Company E, 20th Regt. Conn. Volunteers, and was appointed sergeant of the company. In all the battles in which his regiment participated he was present and took an active part. For two years and eight months he was in the field, and in somne very severe engagements, but was not wounded. Yet he hrad many narrow escapes. At Resaca, Ala., he was struck with a piece of shell and his boot cut open; and while before Atlanta, a ball went through his tent very near his head. Although surviving so many battles and dangers, he was to receive a fatal wound in his last battle (and at the close too) of the war. He was shot through the lung at Bentonville, N. C., March 19, 1865, and expired at Goldsboro on the 29th. His body was brought home and laid away, Jan. 6, 1866. with Military and Masonic honors in South End Cemetery.
Andrewo Upson.
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He was a faithful soldier, and cheerfully gave his life for his coun- try. His chaplain wrote, "We are sorry to lose so good a soldier and man from our regiment, for he was regarded such by all who knew him." Another, writing of him, says, "His duty as an officer and soldier has always been done so as to win the highest praise from his superior officers. As a comrade he will always be remembered as a kind, genial friend, always ready to sacrifice his own comfort for the sake of others."
CAPT. ANDREW UPSON.
He was born May 18, 1825, and after suitable preparation entered Yale College in 1845, and graduated in 1849. In this latter year he began teaching at Salem, N. J .; then for a year he taught at Wells- boro, Pa .; then for a little time at Corning, N. Y. In 1850 he mar- ried Elizabeth L. Gridley, and in 1852 settled on his farm in South- ington. He represented the town in the Legislature in 1854. When the war opened he was decided and outspoken in his loyalty to his country, and in 1862 enlisted in the company of which Capt. S. S. Woodruff had command. Receiving the appointment of Lieutenant, he accompanied his regiment to the field, and was engaged in the various movements that mark its history. At the battle of Chancel- lorsville he was taken prisoner, and was in Libby prison for two weeks, when he was paroled. Rejoining his regiment in due time, he accompanied it west. About this time he was promoted to a captain cy. At Tracy City, Tenn., he was guarding the depot when he was wounded by a band of guerillas.
There are facts and experiences in Captain Upson's military career that would fill a volume. It was indeed a brief carcer, and he really was in but one general engagement, yet he gained for himself a con- spicuous and honored place in our history. Such a man, with such a heart, patriotism, purpose, consecration, faith, as were his, will always be held in grateful memory. Others fought more battles, and for the time were better known, but among the dead patriots of this state not many deserve a more honored mention. He was distinguished for his trust in God. From first to last he felt his dependence on divine help. His letters home from the field all breathe a spirit of unqualified trust. And his confidence in the justice of the Federal cause never wavered. He believed in his country, not "right or wrong," but because he felt that her claims were right ; but he was unsparing in condemnation of whatever he considered a compromise or violation of principle in the Administration. He was also intensely hostile to the system of slavery or whatever invaded the rights of man. In early life he allied himself with all moral reforms, and
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stood unto the end their fearless champion. But in this connection he is to be spoken of chiefly in his personal consecration and unselfish devotion to his country. How much he longed to be with his family and church, and how cheerfully he sacrificed personal comforts for the public good, appear constantly in his letters to his family. As Thanksgiving day approached he wrote home, "I hope you will make Thanksgiving with usual ceremony, and enjoy it with more fullness than ever before. Just see how much we have for which to offer up devout praise. . Thank God that you and I, and we all, are able to do something for the country. Thank Him that in this time of trial we have hearts willing to meet privations, and even to sacrifice life." He was a bright example of the God-fearing, God- trusting soldier. Well may those who bear his name take pride in the honor he gave it by his self-denying and unceasing struggles in behalf of our common country. A steel engraving of Capt. Upson has been furnished for this work.
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