History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 13

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Fairfield County was represented by one company, -D,-commanded by Benjamin F. Skinner, of Dan- bnry, with Joseph S. Dunning first lieutenant and Thomas Horton second lieutenant.

The regiment saw severe service, and participated in the following engagements : Fort Pulaski, James' Island, Pocotaligo, Morris Island, Fort Wagner, siege of Charleston, Olustee, Bermuda Hundred, Chester Station, Drury's Bluff, Deep Bottom, Deep Run, siege of Petersburg, Chapin's Farm, New Market Road, Darbytown Road, Charles City Road, Fort Fisher, and Wilmington. There were 1735 men in its ranks at various times. Casualties: Killed, 90; died of wounds, 44; of disease, 179; missing, 40.

THE EIGHTH REGIMENT.

This regiment was mustered into the service in September and October, 1861, under the command of Edward Harland, of Norwich. Fairfield County was represented by only one company,-H,-which was offieered as follows: Captain, Douglass Fowler ; first lieutenant, James L. Russell ; second lieutenant, Thomas S. Weed; all of Norwalk. There were also a few men from this county in Company A. The first lieutenant of Company A was Henry M. Hoyt, who was subsequently promoted to captain, and at one time was in command of the regiment .* The regi- ment left Connecticut Oct. 17, 1861, one thousand and twenty-seven strong, and at Annapolis, Md., was joined to Burnside's corps. "Its earliest services were in the battles of Newbern, N. C., March 14, 1862, and the siege of Fort Macon the following month. It accompanied Gen. Burnside when he was ordered to join the Army of the Potomac, and subse- quently went with the corps into Maryland. At An- tietam, in September, 1862, the regiment lost: Killed, one offieer-Lieut. Mason Wait, of Norwich-and 33 men ; wounded, 10 officers and 129 men; missing, 21 men; total, 194.

"In December the Eighth was engaged at Freder- ieksburg, but suffered slightly, and in February, 1863, was sent to Southeastern Virginia. In April the regi- ment was in the figlit at Fort Hagar, Va., and re- mained in Virginia until January, 1864. It then

* Maj. H. M. Hoyt is the present editor and proprietor of the Bridge- port Morning News.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

returned to Connecticut on vetcran furlough, three hundred and ten men having re-enlisted as veterans. In March it returned to its old eamp near Portsmouth, Va., and after outpost- and picket-duty at Deep Creek and vicinity was in the battle at Walthall Junction, May 9th, and lost eighty mnen. Col. Har- land having been promoted to be a brigadier-general, the regiment was at this time in command of Col. John E. Ward, who was severely wounded by a shell at the battle named. A week later the regiment par- ticipated in the engagement at Fort Darling, and on the night of the 16th returned within the fortifica- tion, the men worn out with eight days' constant war- fare. In this short time the Eighth lost one-third of its fighting strength. Early in June it was engaged with the enemy at Cold Harbor, and from June 16th to August 27th in skirmishes and siege-work around Petersburg, losing heavily. The following four weeks were spent on the James River, picketing the Bermuda Hundred post, and September 27th the regiment lost seventy-three men in the storming of Battery Harrison. This was the last general engage- ment of the regiment, which was mustered out Dec. 12, 1865."

The regiment saw severe service, and participated in the following engagements : Newbern, Fort Macon, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Fort Hagar, Walthall Junction, Fort Darling, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fort Harrison. There were killed, 72; died of wounds, 40; died of disease, 132; missing, 11.

THE NINTH REGIMENT

was mustered into the service in the fall of 1861 as the "Irish Regiment," under the command of Thomas W. Cahill, of Hartford, with Richard Fitzgibbons, of Bridgeport, lieutenant-colonel. It had one company from Bridgeport, mainly commanded by Thomas C. Coats, with R. A. Clancy first lieutenant and G. W. Morehouse second lieutenant.

Its principal engagements were Baton Rouge, Chackaloo Station, Deep Bottom, and Cedar Creek. Mustered out Aug. 3, 1865.

THE TENTH REGIMENT

was recruited in the fall of 1861, and mustered into the service during September and October of that year, with Charles L. Russell, of Derby, as colonel, and A. W. Drake, of Hartford, as lieutenant-colonel.

There were two companies from this eounty,-G, from Stamford, New Canaan, Darien, Bridgeport, Wilton, and Norwalk, and I, from Greenwich. Com- pany G was commanded by Isaae L. Hoyt, eaptain, George W. Smith, first lieutenant, and Thomas Miller, second lieutenant. The officers of Company I were,-Captain, Daniel M. Mead; first lieutenant, Isaac O. Close ; second lieutenant, Thomas R. Mead.

The regiment left for the scat of war in October, and was assigned to Gen. Burnside's command. The

Tenth received its baptism of fire at the battle of Roanoke Island, where it fought nobly, and its gallant colonel, Russell, was killed while leading the eharge.

"A month later the regiment lost twenty-three killed and wounded in the battle of Newbern, and then had rest from elose warfare until the 14th of December. It then participated in the sanguinary battle of Kingston, N. C., and lost one hundred and six officers and men, and only two days later was in another fight at Whitehall. March 28, 1863, after a winter's rest, the Tenth was in the battle of Sea- brook Island, S. C., and spent the spring, summer, and fall before Charleston. December found the regiment in Florida, where twenty-two men were lost in a fight at St. Augustine.

"In the spring of 1864 the regiment went to Vir- ginia, and suffered the loss of all the garrison and camp equipage and regimental and company records by the sinking at Norfolk of the transport on which they were stored. Its first fight in the Virginia campaign was at Whitehall Junetion, May 7th, and from this time the history of the organization shows battle after battle elear through to the surrender of Appomattox, the Tenth being 'in at the death' " (Battle Flag Day).

A total of 2124 was eredited to the organization during its existence, embracing the original 996; re- eruits, 848; re-enlisted veterans, 280. Casualties : Killed in action, 57; died of wounds, 59; died of dis- ease, 152.

The regiment sustained a very heavy loss of officers by death and otherwise. . It had four colonels during its first eighteen months of serviee.

The Tenth participated in the following engage- ments : Roanoke Island, siege of Charleston and St. Augustine, Walthall Junction, Drury's Bluff, Ber- muda Hundred, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, Deep Run, siege of Petersburg, Laurel Hill Church, New Market Road, Darbytown Road, Johnson's Plan- tation, Hatehe's Run, Fort Gregg, and Appomattox Court-House.

THE TWELFTH REGIMENT

was organized and mustered into the service in the winter of 1861-62, with Henry C. Deming as colonel and Ledyard Colburn as lieutenant-colonel. One company was from this county, raised principally in Norwalk, Brookfield, New Canaan, Westport, Ridge- port, Danbury, Weston, and Newtown. Stephen D. Byxbee was captain, Gilbert Bogart first lieutenant, and E. H. Nearing second lieutenant.

The regiment saw severe service, and in eonse- quence of its heavy losses, which had nearly deci- mated the regiment, it was reorganized in October, 1863, as the Twelfth Battalion, under command of Lieut .- Col. Lewis. Casualties : Killed, 50; died of wounds, 16; of disease, 188.

It was in the following battles: Georgia Landing, Pattersonville, Berwick, Port Hudson, Winchester,

MILITARY HISTORY.

Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. Mustered out Aug. 12, 1865.

THE THIRTEENTHI REGIMENT

was organized in November, 1861, and mustered into the service with Henry W. Birge as colonel, and Al- exander Warner as lieutenant-colonel.

One company was enlisted from this county, of which Apollos Comstock was captain, William E. Bradley first lieutenant, and William C. Beecher second lieutenant.

The regiment enjoys the distinction of having been in the service longer than any other Connecticut or- ganization. In January, 1864, the Thirteenth almost to a man re-enlisted. In the following December it was consolidated into five companies, called "The Veteran Battalion Thirteenth Connecticut Volun- teers."

During the regiment's long service it participated in numerous hard-fought battles, a few of which are here enumerated : Georgia Landing, Irish Bend, siege of Port Hudson, Cane River, Mansura, Ope- quan, Winchester, and Fisher's Hill. It was mus- tered out April 25, 1866, and paid off May 5th follow- ing, having been in the service four years and six months.

THE FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.#

The Fourteenth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, the first response of the State to President Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand more troops, was mustered into the service of the United States at Camp Foote, Hartford, Aug. 23, 1862, and two days later, with ranks one thousand and fifteen strong, under command of Col. Dwight Morris, marched through the streets of Hartford and embarked for the seat of war. All the way out its journey was a kind of triumphal progress. At each landing upon the river flags fluttered from every house, and the regi- iment was greeted as it passed with waving handker- chiefs, cheers, and booming of guns ; upon the Sound each passing steamer or tug-boat screamed a saluta- tion, responded to by the cheers of the troops, and in passing through New Jersey and Pennsylvania every farmer would wave his hat and hurrah as the train shot by, while the houses were gay with bunting, and at the depots men and women crowded up to shake hands with the Union volunteers.

In marching across the city at Baltimore the regi- ment was reviewed by Gen. Wool, of the regular army, who spoke in high terms of the soldierly bear- ing of the command, and sent it forward at once to the front, instead of retaining it for drill and instruc- tion, as had been originally intended.

After remaining for a few days near Washington the Fourteenth joined the Army of the Potomac, then under command of Gen. McClellan, near Rock- ville, Md., Sept. 10, 1862. It marclied up through

Maryland, arriving upon the battle-field at South Mountain just too late to participate in the engage- ment, and on Sept. 17, 1862, took part in the bloody battle of Antietam, in which the rebel forces were driven from the State. The loss of the regiment in this the first of its long series of engagements was one hundred and twenty-seven killed and wounded, and its behavior under trying circumstances was very creditable.

Three months of campaigning ensued, and then came the sanguinary battle of Fredericksburg,-a criminal waste of life upon the part of the com- mander of the Union army,-in which one hundred and twenty-one members of the Fourteenth were rendered hors du combat. . The next great battle in which the regiment participated was at Chancellors- ville, in May, 1863, and this was followed by the forced march through Virginia, Maryland, and Penn- sylvania, and in July, 1863, by the glorious victory at Gettysburg. On the morning of the third day of this battle the Fourteenth, by a spirited charge, cap- tured a house and barn in the enemy's front, driving out a number of rebel sharpshooters, and after setting the building on fire returned to its original line. Later in the day, in common with the rest of the Second Corps, it endured a tremendous cannonade front over a hundred rebel guns, after which followed that wonderful charge of the enemy which is thus described by a member of the regiment who was an eye-witness :

"We rose from the ground, where we had been lying, stretched our cramped limbs, and at first thought that the battle was over. But Maj. Ellis was wiser than we. 'Now,' said he, 'they mean to charge with all their infantry. Fall in, Fourteenth !' and with a little delay the men took their places in line. 'Forward, guide right!' and in another moment we were in the place left vacant by the withdrawal of the battery. Exclusive of the men deployed as skirmishers in our front, we had only about a hundred muskets ; so that we were obliged, in order to fill the vacant space, to extend the line until it consisted of but a single rank. . Belts were now loosened, pack- ages of cartridges taken out and laid upon the low stone wall in front of us, so that no time might be lost in reloading, when suddenly there was a hush for a moment, and every eye was turned to the front, where we could see the rebel infantry emerging from the woods about a mile away. It took good eyesight to discover them at first, but presently they are plainly visible advancing towards us. They come nearer and nearer, and we can see their three splendid lines of battle stretching away as far as the eye can reach and advancing in unbroken order across the open plain. Skirmishiers are in their frout aud a few officers ride in the rear, though most have dismounted, knowing that there is hot work before them. Away down upon the left a solitary battery plays upon their advancing column, and an occasional gun is fired from our ex-

* Contributed by Maj. William B. Hincks.

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HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

treme right, but, with this exception, our batteries are silent, and their march is unopposed.

"Presently the crack of rifles is heard, and little puffs of smoke rising from the grassy field in our front show that their advance has come within range of our skirmishers. Their skirmish-line noisily replies, and still their lines of battle move steadily forward, the men carrying their guns at right shoulder shift, and the red battle-flags floating above their heads. There is no haste, no appearance of disorder, no swaying of the lines, and they give the spectator the sense of wonderful power kept in check by discipline: their advance seems as resistless as the incoming of the tide. In a few minutes our skirmishers clamber over the wall and join us. Townsend, the captain in com- mand, had wished to collect his detachment and march it back in a compact body, but this the men did not see fit to do, so they came singly in open order, firing as they fell back.

"I thought of Bunker Hill and how our fathers re- pulsed the British, and wondered what would be our fortune this day. I felt no terror at all (a touch of which I had previously experienced when lying down exposed to the fire of all that artillery), only a kind of serious expectation and an anxiety for the enemy to move faster, so as to come within range of our weapons. None of our officers were at all wanting in their duty, but we were all officers this day, and passed low words of encouragement from one to another down the line. I remember telling those near me to reserve their fire, so as not to waste a shot, and to aim low, and asking them to pass the message along.

" The rebels had now approached very elose; still, hardly a head could have been visible to them as we crouched behind the low stone wall. At a point about twenty rods from us their line was somewhat broken by the remaining portions of two fences that had bounded a narrow lane or farm-road which extended along our front. As they rose over the top of the first fence and sprang down into the lane, and again rose upon the top of the second, they were altogether too tempting a mark to be resisted, and, so far as I heard, without a word of eommand being given, a sheet of flame burst from our line. My own wish would have been to reserve our fire until they had eome even nearer, but perhaps I was wrong. They still pressed on, however, for some distance, when they wavered and halted. Several of their color-bearers now advanced swiftly, apparently in obedience to previous orders, and, attended by their color-guards, planted their battle-flags in the ground, one in par- ticular directly in front of the centre of our regiment and not ten rods away. Finding our fire too hot to be endured, these brave men threw themselves upon the ground around their flags, waiting for their com- rades to advance and rally round them.

"On our part, we loaded and fired incessantly. It may seem extravagant, but it is the simple truth, that the enemy's line broke and commenced to fall back

in front of the Fourteenth sooner than anywhere else, for the reason that most of us were armed with breech- loading guns, which could be loaded and fired with great rapidity, and which did terrible execution.

" Remembering their own tactics, we no sooner saw them commence to waver than we gave a tremendous yell,-not a hurrah, but a wild, fierce cry that was taken up all down our line. We now turned our aim with fearful effect upon their second line, already dis- ordered by the retreating fragments of the first. Am- munition coming short, we begged, borrowed, and alınost fought with each other for cartridges. We continued to yell and fire simultaneously. The rebel officers vainly strove to rally their men; their ranks were soon broken ; all semblance of order ceased, and what had advanced as an army began falling back as a mob. Not all at once, or rapidly, however. They still turned and fired as they retreated, and here and there made a brief stand.

"We now became conscious of the voice of Maj. Ellis crying for us to fire 'left oblique,' and turned our aim in that direction ; and indeed it was time, for the regiment upon our left had been hard pressed, and had almost given way. The rebels had advanced closer to them than at any other point, and had nearly pierced their line. Just as we turned a daring South- erner leaped lightly upon one of the guns which had been left behind when the battery retired for want of horses to remove it, and waved his hat or his hand for his comrades to follow him. He did not remain there a single instant, but fell riddled through, and, owing to our cross-fire, the rebels at this point also were soon in full retreat."

In this engagement the Fourteenth captured five rebel colors belonging to the following regiments,- First Tennessee, Fourteenth Tennessee, Sixteenth North Carolina, Fifty-second North Carolina, and the Fourth Virginia. Besides these trophies, it also captured more than its own number of rebel prisoners. Its loss in the action was sixty-six out of a force of about one hundred and sixty.

Not a few excellent men-among them Captains Hawley, Doten, Goddard, and Fiske-were taken from this regiment by generals of brigade and divi- sion in the Second Corps to serve as staff-officers, but comrades of theirs equally brave remained with the command.

However culpable in its temerity, it warms one's heart to remember the exploit of Lieut .- Col. Moore, when, upon a certain occasion, as " officer of the day," he inspected the division picket-line. In full regi- mentals, with crimson sash crossing his breast, he stepped boldly over the parapet of "Fort Hell," before Petersburg, and, disdaining the shelter of in- trenchments, walked erect down to the picket-line and began his rounds, owing his life solely to the ad- miration of the scores of rebel sharpshooters not two hundred yards away.

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MILITARY HISTORY.

heroism of gallant Maj. Broatch, who, at Morton's Ford, when his right hand was shattered by a bullet, caught up his sword with his left and continued to pursue the retreating enemy, or are some of the in- stances given by Capt. Goddard in his graceful "Me- morial of the Deceased Officers of the Fourteenth Connecticut Volunteers."

Nor were such examples of courage found only among the commissioned officers. Time would fail to speak of instances like that of Sergt. Russell Glenn, thrice wounded, the last time just in the aet of enter- ing the enemy's works ; or of Edwin Stroud, who am- putated a part of his own shattered foot with his pocket-knife; or of the gallant fellows who, at Gettys- burg and upon other fields, at the risk of their lives, ventured out under fire to relieve the sufferings of their wounded opponents.

It is impossible, also, to speak in detail here of the weary marches of the Fourteenth, or of each of its numerous engagements. Let two quotations conclude this very imperfect sketch,-the first an extract from the final official report of Col. Theodore G. Ellis, and the coneluding one from a history of the regimental colors, published in connection with the exercises on " Battle-Flag Day," Sept. 17, 1879.

EXTRACT FROM OFFICIAL REPORT.

"It is worthy of note that this regiment, during the three years that it was in active service, was never taken away from the front. It participated in all the great battles fought by the Army of the Potomac after it went into the field in the latter part of August, 1862, until the fall of Richmond aud the surrender of Lee. It has taken part in thirty-three (33) battles and skirmishes. The regiment has captured five col- ors and four guns from the enemy in fair fight, and more prisoners than the original number of the regi- ment, and at Reams' Station drew off part of Mc- Knight's and part of the Third New Jersey Batteries, which had been left to the enemy. The actual loss in killed and wounded has been upwards of eight hun- dred, besides the many, counted as missing, who occupy unknown graves in the Wilderness and around Petersburg.

"In repeated instances the regimental commanders have earned and received commendation from their superior officers, but, from a feeling of modesty, have not recorded it. The character and standing of the regiment in the field was considered of the greatest importanee, and little was done for reputation at home. A high state of discipline was always maiu- tained; so that the regiment was called 'the Four- teenth Regulars,' and which obtained for it a reputa- tion unsurpassed by any other. While under iny com- mand the regiment never, even under the hottest fire, gave way or fell back without orders, and often held its position with fixed bayoncts after the ammuni- tion was exhausted. The regimeutal band, which was second to noue in the army, took its share of praise."

MEMORANDA RESPECTING THE COLORS OF THE FOUR- TEENTH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.

" Battle of Antietam .- The staff of the United States color was shot in two by a bullet, and the eagle's head knocked off by a piece of shell. The color-bearer, Sergt. Thomas J. Mills, of New London, who had been a lieutenant in the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, was mortally wounded, when Sergt. George Augustus Foote, of Guilford, volunteered to take his place, and carried the flag the remainder of the day. Another member of the color-guard is said to have been killed in this engagement, but his name is un- known to the writer.

" Battle of Fredericksburg .- The regiment was badly cut up in the charge upen Marye's Heights, and Sergt. Charles E. Dart, of Rockville, who carried the State flag, was mortally wounded. Sergt. George Augustus Foote attempted to fill his place, but was shot in the leg and fell. His biographer, Capt. God- dard, says, 'After lying on the field a short time he tried to rise, but was instantly fired upon again by the rebels, wounding him slightly in the head and in the hip. All the rest of that awful day he lay still where he had fallen. Three times our men charged over him, of course trampling on his wounded leg, while he, half delirious, begged them to kill him to end his sufferings. But no one had time then to attend to one poor wounded fellow. That night he managed to crawl off to a little hut near the field, where some other wounded men had hung out a yellow flag. Here they lay with a little hard-tack, and still less water, till the third day after the fight, when they were vis- ited by a rebel officer with a few men. He spoke roughly to them, asking what they were here for, and two or three began whining and saying they did not waut to fight the South, but were drafted and obliged to come, when Foote coolly lifted his head and said, "I eame to fight rebels, and I have fought them ; aud if ever I get well I will come back and fight them again." "Bully for you," said the officer; "you are a boy that I like," and at once gave him some water out of his own canteen, sent one of his men for more water, washed his leg and foot aud bound it up as well as he could, paroled him, and helped him across the river to the Laey House hospital. In fact, he and his men gave him a blanket and cheered him as the wagon drove off.'

" The State flag was picked up, not far from the famous sunken road held by the rebel infantry, by William B. Hiucks and Frederick B. Doten, of Bridge- port. It remained in their keeping during the day, and they brought it safely from the field at the close of the engagement. Sergt. Dart died at St. Mary's Hospital, Washington, D. C., Jan. 6, 1863. The con- stitution of Sergt. (afterwards Lieut.) Foote was im- paired by his wound, which was eventually the cause of his death.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1572

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572