History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 11

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 11

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The bridge over the Connecticut is a wrought iron structure, 1,25014 feet in length, with a draw of 303 feet

covering openings each 130 feet wide at low water. It is capable of supporting 40,000 pounds to a linear foot, which is five times the weight of any probable rolling load. Its cost was about $400,000. It was designed and built by the Keystone Bridge Company, of Pittsburg.

The cost of the road was more than six millions of dollars. Of this cost, Middletown contributed $897,000; Portland, $318,000; Chatham, $12,000; and Middlefield, $70,000.

A foreclosure of the first mortgage bonds took place in 1875, and the bondholders organized a new company under the name of the Boston and New York Air Line Railroad. The road was afterward leased to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company for the term of ninety-nine years.

SHORE LINE RAILROAD.

By reason of an unusual reticence on the part of the former officers of this road, only a meagre history of it can be gleaned. It is learned from the recollections of those in the vicinity, that the New Haven and New Lon- don Railroad was completed, and trains first passed over it, in the summer of 1852. At that time the Connecticut River was crossed, to Lyme, by a ferry, which took over the passengers and the baggage cars of the trains. The present bridge was built about 1870. No important changes have been made in the route through Middlesex county since the road was built.

In accordance with the usual custom in such cases, and with the usual result to the stockholders, the road passed into the hands of the bondholders by the fore- closure of the first mortgage. It was afterward reorganized under its present name, and leased for the term of ninety nine years to the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company, by which it is now operated.

CONNECTICUT VALLEY RAILROAD COMPANY.

The act of the Legislature incorporating this company was passed at the May session, 1868. The incorporators were: Luther Boardman, Samuel Woodruff, O. V. Coffin, O. H. Clark, H. Scovill, J. C. Walkley, Henry G. Hub- bard, H. Johnson, S. E. Marsh, J. Silliman, D. A. Mills, J. W. Hubbard, E. Brainerd, S. W. Robbins, Isaac Ar- nold, and R. B. Spencer.

The first meeting of the stockholders for the election of directors was held at the Mc Donough House, Middle- town, Saturday, October 2d 1869. The following named persons were elected directors: Oliver D. Seymour, Francis B. Cooley, Elisha T. Smith, Nelson Hollister, Frederick R. Foster, Seth E. Marsh, Hartford; Gaston T. Hubbard, and Samuel Babcock, Middletown; Elisha Stevens, Crom- well: James E. Walkley, Haddam; Luther Boardman, East Haddam; Oliver H. Clark, Chester; S. M. Comstock, Essex.

At a meeting of the directors held at the same place, October 7th 1869, the following officers were elected, viz .: president, James C. Walkley; vice president, Luther Boardman; secretary, Levi Woodhouse; treasurer, Nel- son Hollister; chief engineer, Seth E. Marsh.

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

The capital stock authorized by the charter was $1,200,000. The construction of the road commenced in 1869, and the first shovelful of earth was thrown by Mrs. Walkley, wife of the president. The road was com- pleted from Hartford to Saybrook Point, June 30th 1871, and from thence to Fenwick in 1872.

First mortgage bonds to the amount of $1,000,000 and second mortgage bonds to $1,250,000 were issued.

The cost of construction was much greater than was anticipated and the road did not prove a financial success. The result was that the first mortgage bondholders were compelled to assume control of it and the stock ceased to be of any value.

On the first of July 1880, the company was reorganized under the name of the Hartford and Connecticut Valley Railroad Company, and the following gentlemen were elected directors, viz .: Samuel Babcock, Timothy M. Allyn, Charles T. Hillyer, Chester W. Chapin, Richard D. Hubbard, Henry Kellogg, Charles M. Beach, Franklin Chamberlain, and Daniel C. Spencer. The officers were: Samuel Babcock, president; Henry Kellogg, vice presi- dent; C. H. Smith jr., secretary and treasurer.

The present officers are: Samuel Babcock, president and treasurer; George H. Watrous, vice president; W. C. Brainard, secretary and assistant treasurer; O. M. Shep- ard, superintendent.

CHAPTER VIII.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR.

SECOND REGIMENT INFANTRY.

T HIS, which was a three months regiment, was re- cruited mostly from the volunteer militia. Its surgeon, Archibald T. Douglas, was from Middletown, and one man in Company D, and the whole of Company A, sixty-nine in number, were from the same place.

It made its rendezvous at New Haven, whence, on the Ioth of May 1861, it embarked on the steamer Columbia for Washington. It arrived off Fortress Monroe on the morning of the 13th, sailed up the Potomac, and the regiment encamped at Glenwood, where they remained a month, engaged in drill.

On the 17th of June, they broke camp, marched to Roach's Mills, and afterward to Falls Church.

At the battle of Bull Run they were engaged, and did good service, losing two killed, five wounded, and nine prisoners. Dr. Douglas was especially commended for his good service in this battle.

The regiment was mustered out of service at New Haven, on the 7th of August 1861. Nearly all the men re-enlisted, and about two hundred of them afterward became commissioned officers in the army.

FIRST CONNECTICUT CAVALRY.

This was first a battalion of four companies. It was intended that one company should be recruited in each

Congressional district, but territorial limits were not ob- served in recruiting.

The rendezvous of the battalion was made at West Meriden, where it encamped in the fall of 1861. Here it remained, engaged in drill and camp duty, during the succeeding winter, and on the 20th of February, 1862, it departed for Wheeling, Va., numbering 346 officers and men.

They first encamped on an island in the Ohio River, opposite Wheeling, where they remained a month en- gaged in drill. They then removed to Moorfield, Va., where for a time they hunted guerillas and bushwhack- ers.

Under General Lyon they participated in the battle of McDowell, on the 8th of May, and in the operations which resulted in the battle of Franklin four days later. They were in the forced march over the mountains and through the Shenandoah Valley, and they participated in the battles of Harrisonville, Cross Keys, and Fort Re- public.

Under General Siegel the battalion took part in the operations in Virginia in the summer of 1862, and par- ticipated in the battles that occurred during General Pope's retreat. In the autumn of that year they were in the vicinity of Washington, and in early winter they went to the neighborhood of Fredericksburg. Thence, in January, 1863, they went to Baltimore, where they did provost duty till the next summer. In this time it was increased to a full regiment of twelve companies.

On the invasion by Lee, in the summer of 1863, the regiment engaged in active duty, and about the time of the battle of Gettysburg and afterward, detachments were sent to various points on scouting and other duty.

In the spring of 1864 the regiment was attached to the Army of the Potomac at Brandy Station, Va. In the ac. tive operations that followed the regiment participated and was engaged in the peculiar duty which devolves on cavalry in an active campaign. During that year it par- ticipated in the battles of Craig's Church, Spottsylvania Court House, Meadow Bridge, Hanover Court House, Ashland, near Old Church Tavern. In the field (June 15th to June 28th), Ream's Station, Winchester, near Kearneysville, Front Royal, Cedar Run Church, Cedar Creek, and New Woodstock, all in Virginia.

In the brief campaign of 1865 the regiment partici- pated, and it was engaged at Waynesboro, Ashland, Five Forks, Sweat House Creek, and Harper's Farm. It was mustered out at Washington, D. C., August 2d, and it left for New Haven the next day.

There were in the regiment sixty men from Middlesex county.

FIRST REGIMENT .- HEAVY ARTILLERY.

This was recruited and organized as the Fourth Regi- ment of Infantry, in the spring of 1861. It rendezvoused at Hartford, and in June of that year it left for the seat of war. They first encamped at Hagerstown, Md., whence they advanced to Williamsport early in July. About the middle of August they went to Frederick

GENERAL HISTORY.

City, and early in September to Darnestown, where they reported to General Banks. Early in October they went to Washington and occupied Fort Richardson, within the defenses of that city.

In January, 1862, the regiment was changed from the Fourth Infantry to the First Heavy Artillery. It re- ceived two additional companies, and was recruited up to the number of 1,800 men. They remained in Fort Richardson engaged in heavy artillery drill, till early in April, 1862. They then went forward with the army of McClellan, and assisted in the preparations for the siege of Yorktown, which was defended by 7,500 rebels against an arniy of 100,000. After the evacuation of Yorktown, the regiment went forward in the Peninsular campaign, and participated in the engagements at Hanover Court House, Chickahominy, Gaines Mill, Malvern Hill, and Golden Hills.

The excellent physical character of the men in this regiment, their superior intelligence, and their thorough drill and discipline gave to the organization a high repu- tation, which it sustained to the end of its service.

When the army withdrew from the Peninsula it re- turned to the defenses of Washington, and occupied the forts along Arlington Heights, commanding the western approaches to the Capital. Two companies, however, remained with the army.

In May, 1864, The regiment reported to General Butler, at Bermuda Hundred, and it participated in the operation of that branch of the Union Army, which lasted during eleven months.

In January, 1865, a portion of the regiment was en- gaged in the assault on Fort Fisher. It continued to serve with the army of the James till the close of the war, but, like other regiments of heavy artillery, it was often much scattered in different fortifica- tions. It was mustered out in September, 1865, after a service of four years and four months.

More than two hundred men from Middlesex county served in this regiment. Company G, at its formation, was largely composed of students from the Wesleyan University. A large number from Company H were also from this county.

SEVENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

This, which was a three years' regiment, was raised in the suminer of 1861 ; and all the companies were at the rendezvous at New Haven early in September. About eighty of the men in this regiment were from Middlesex county.

They left their rendezvous September 18th, 1,018 strong. They remained at Washington and Annapolis till October 20th, when they embarked for Port Royal. They remained at Hilton Head till December 18th, when they went to T'ybee Island. They were engaged in the siege of Fort Pulaski, and were the first to garrison that fort after its surrender.

In the latter part of May, 1862, it went to James Island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, and on the 16th of June it was engaged in the fierce fight on that Island.

The regiment was engaged at Tocotaligo, October 22d, after which it returned to Hilton Head, where it remained some weeks. It then went to Fernandina. Fla., and remained till the next April.

In April four companies went to Hilton Head and thence on the expedition against Charleston. They participated in the battles of Morris Island and Fort Wagner, and their losses in these actions were heavy. The six companies that had remained in Florida joined their fellows on Morris Island during the seige.

In the middle of October the regiment was sent to St. Helena Island, where they remained some time to rest from their fatigue, and for the sick to recover their health.

Early in February, 1864, the regiment went with Gen- eral Gilmore to Olustee, Fla., and had a part in the battle at that place. In May it was transferred to Bermuda Hundred, Va., and during the ensuing summer it was on active duty. It had part in the battle of Chester Station, in the actions near Bermuda Hundred from May 10th to June 17th, in those at Deep Bottom, Deep Run, Chapin's farm near Richmond, New Market Road, Darbytown Road, and Charles City Road, in 1864; and the two actions at Fort Fisher, N. C., January 15th and 19th, 1865.

Its losses by death were : killed in action, 90 ; died of wounds, 44 ; died of disease, 179. It was mustered out on the 20th of July, 1865.

TENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

This regiment, which had about eighty men from Middlesex county, was recruited in the autumn of 1861, and left Hartford for Annapolis on the 31st of October.

On the 6th of November, they left Annapolis, and sailed, with other troops, for North Carolina. After tossing about on the sea off Hatteras for several weeks, they finally crossed the bar, and on the 8th of February 1862 it was engaged in its first battle, that of Roanoke Island, and here its conduct gave ample promise of the excellent service which was afterward done by the regi- ment. Its colonel, Charles L. Russell, was killed while leading his column to a charge.

On the 12th of March, they sailed for Newbern, North Carolina, and were engaged in the battle at that place on the 14th of the same month.

The summer of 1862 was passed in the vicinity of Newbern, improving in drill and discipline. In Novem- ber they went on what was known as the Tarboro raid, and on the 14th of December they were engaged in the action at Kingston, North Carolina. In January 1863, they went to St. Helena Island. Here they remained till the latter part of March, when they went to Seabrook Island.

Early in July, they went to the vicinity of Charleston, and they were engaged in the siege of that place till the 28th of October. In the following December the regi- ment participated in the battle of St. Augustine, Florida. It remained in the vicinity of St. Augustine till April 18th 1864, when it went to Hilton Head, and thence to For-

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

tress Monroe, where it was joined by the re-enlisted vet- erans who had returned from their furlough. They soon afterward passed up the James, and on the roth of May they were in action at Whitehall Junction, Virginia. From the 13th to the 17th, inclusive, of the same month, they were engaged in battle at Drury's Bluff.

From this time till its muster out, August 25th 1865, it was in service in Virginia, and participated in no less than fourteen engagements, as follows : Bermuda Hun dred, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom, August Ist and 14th, Deep Run, Seige of Petersburg, August 28th to September 29th, Laurel Hill Church, Newmarket Road, Darbytown Road, October 13th and 27th, Johnson's Plantation, Hatcher's Run, Fort Craig, and Appomattox Court House. During its term of service it lost : killed in action, 57 ; died of wounds, 59 ; died of disease, 152.

ELEVENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

The Eleventh Regiment was recruited at Camp Lin- coln, Hartford, and left that place for Annapolis on the 16th of October 1861. In this regiment Middlesex county was represented by more than two hundred men. It embarked for North Carolina on the 6th of November. One of the vessels carrying the Eleventh was beached near Hatteras, and those on board remained in distress twenty-three days. They finally got on shore, and the vessel went to pieces.

The regiment went up the Neuse River and was first engaged at the battle of Newbern, North Carolina, on the 14th of March 1862.

From this time till midsummer the men of tlie regi- ment, after a change of colonels, were engaged in drill, and strict discipline was enforced, and they came to be one of the cleanest and most orderly regiments in their division.

Early in July 1862, the regiment was attached to the army of the Potomac, and on the 14th of September it participated in the battle of South Mountain, and on the 17th in the severe action at Antietam. In this battle its colonel, H. W. Kingsbury, was killed.

In the latter part of November the Eleventh, with other troops, moved to the vicinity of Fredericksburg, and at the battle there, December 12th, it was stationed on the picket line.

During the summer of 1863, it was in the Department of Virginia, and although it was engaged in several ac- tions and reconnoisances its loss was not severe.

In the spring of 1864, it received a veteran furlough, from which it returned early in March, and encamped at Williamsburg. On the 9th of May it was engaged at Swift's Creek. It advanced to the Petersburg pike, and on the 12th was again fighting. On the 16th it partici- pated in the battle of Drury's Bluff, after which it was detailed to build earthworks at Bermuda Hundred. After several marches it reached Cold Harbor, Virginia, and was engaged in the battle at that place on the 3d of June.

From the 15th of June till the 27th of August 1864, it was in active service before Petersburg, and it con-

tinued to serve in the Department of Virginia till its mus- ter out, December 21st 1865.

During its term of service it lost : in killed, 35 ; died of wounds, 41 : died of disease, 165.

TWELFTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

Early in 1862, this, which was known as the Charter Oak Regiment, was organized. It had about 80 men from Middlesex county. It left for Ship Island, Missis- sippi Sound, on the 24th of February 1862, and was at- tached to General Butler's division during 1862 and a part of 1863. It participated in the battle of Georgia Landing.on the 27th of October 1862, and in March 1863, a detachment of 35 was captured, after a severe fight, at Pattersonville, Louisiana. On the 13th of April it was sharply engaged.

It continued in the Department of the Gulf, and bore a conspicuous part in the siege of Port Hudson, in which it was engaged froin the 25th of May till the 9th of July 1863.

More than three-fourths of the regiment re-enlisted as veterans in the spring of 1864, and had a furlough. They returned to New Orleans in May, and remained in that vicinity till July, when the regiment embarked for For- tress Monroe, and finally, in August, joined General Sheridan's army, in the Shenandoah Valley. While with this army, it was engaged at the battles of Winchester, September 19th 1864; Fisher's Hill, September 22d 1864; and Cedar Creek, October 19th 1864.

The total loss during its term of service was: killed in action, 50; died of wounds, 16; died of disease, 188. It was mustered out of the service, August 12th 1865.

THIRTEENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

The organization of this regiment was completed at New Haven on the 7th of January 1862, and it sailed for Ship Island. It had about 80 men from Middlesex county.

It participated in the battle of Georgia Landing, on the 27th of October 1862. It was engaged, during the winter of 1862-63, in camp and other routine duty, and in making reconnoisances.

On the 14th of April 1863, it was actively engaged in the battle of Irish Bend, Louisiana, in which it made a brilliant charge on a battery of the enemy.

On the 24th of May 1863, it was in action at Port Hudson, and on the 14th of June, it was again engaged at the same place.

During a long period the regiment was stationed at different points, and was engaged in the ordinary duty of military posts. In March 1864, after having been six months at Thibodeaux, it went on the expedition up the Red River. It shared in the perils and hardships of that fruitless campaign, and, on the 23d of April, was engaged in the battle of Cane River, Louisiana, and on the 16th of May was again engaged at Mansura Plain, Louisiana. This was its last battle in that department. In July it sailed for Fortress Monroe, where the non-veterans were landed. The veterans went to Connecticut on their fur- lough.

GENERAL HISTORY.

On its return it joined the army in the Shenandoah Valley, and on the 19th of September 1864, it partici- pated in the battle of Winchester. On the 22d of the same month it fought at Fisher's Hill, and on the 19th of October at Cedar Creek.

In December 1864, the non-veterans returned to Con- necticut, and the veterans were consolidated with recruits into a battalion which went to Savannah, Georgia, and was scattered in detachments as provost-guards till their inuster out, on the 25th of April 1866.

Its total losses were: killed in action, 32; died of wounds, 13; died of disease, 129.

FOURTEENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

This regiment was recruited in the State at large, but it had more than 200 men from Middlesex county. It made its rendezvous at Hartford, and left that place for Washington on the 25th of August 1862, with a numer- ical strength of 1,015 men. Without drill or instruction the regiment was at once sent forward, and it had a part in the severe battle of Antietam, where it suffered a loss in killed, wounded, and missing, of 137 men.

The regiment participated in the operations that fol- lowed this battle, and was again hotly engaged at Fred- ericksburg, where its losses aggregated 122 men.

It continued with the Army of the Potomac, and win- tered near Falmouth, Virginia. It was again in action during three days at Chancellorsville, and its losses there amounted to 56 men.

It was next engaged at Gettysburg, where it captured five battle flags and a large number of prisoners. Its loss in this action, in which it was engaged more severely than in any other during the war, was 66.

It was actively engaged in the subsequent operations of the army in Virginia during the summer and autumn of 1863, and was engaged at Falling Waters, Auburn, Bristol Station, Blackburn's Ford, and Mine Run. It made its winter's quarters near Stevensburg, Va.

In the spring of 1864 it resumed active duty and was first engaged at Morton's Ford on the 5th of February. Between that time and the Ist of December it was en- gaged in the battles of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania, North Anna River, Tolopotomy, Cold Har- bor (twice), Petersburg, June 11th to July 6th, Deep Bot- tom, Ream's Station, and Boydton Plank Road.

In the spring of 1856 it entered again on active duty, and was engaged at Hatcher's Run, February 26th, and again, March 25th, also at High Bridge, Farmersville, and at the surrender of Lee. It was mustered out of the ser- vice on the 3Ist of May, 1865. Though it had received additions from time to time, as it was weakened by losses, till it had had an aggregate of 1,726 men, it had at the mus- ter out a numerical strength of only. 234. It had lost in killed, 132; died of wounds, 65; and died of disease, 169.

FIFTEENTH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

ven, in August, 1862. It left for Washington on the 28th of that month with 1,022 officers and men. On its ar- rival there it was encamped near Long Bridge and was en- gaged for a time in guard duty. It was in the fight at Fredericksburg though its loss there was not large.

In February, 1863, the regiment went to Newport News, and thence, after about a month, to Suffolk, Va., where it remained during the month of April. It was there engaged in two reconnoisances, in each of which it was slightly ir. action. In July it went with the ex- pedition of General Dix up the Peninsula. It worked on the fortifications near Norfolk during the greater part of the fall of 1863.

In January, 1864, it went to North Carolina where it remained during the summer of that year. Detachments were sent on unimportant expeditions against the enemy, but they were not engaged in any serious battle.

In March, 1865, it went to Kingston, and in the action there, on the 8th of that month, a large portion of the men were made prisoners. The regiment was assigned to provost duty in Kingston after its occupation by the Union forces, and it continued there till about the time of its muster out, June 27th 1865.

TWENTIETH REGIMENT INFANTRY.

The Twentieth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry was raised in the summer of 1862 in the counties of Hartford, New Haven, and Middlesex. The latter contributed to its ranks more than 160 men. On the 11th of Septem- ber it left its rendezvous at Oyster Point, near New Ha- ven, for Washington, where it arrived on the 13th, and soon afterward it went into camp on Arlington Heights, where it remained till the latter part of that month. It then went to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, and thence, in November, to Fairfax Station, and afterward to Staf- ford Court House. In April it marched to Chancellors- ville where it was engaged, losing 197 officers and men. It was next engaged at Gettysburg, in July, 1863, where it was in action six hours. In September of that year the regiment was transferred to the army of the Cumber- land and went to Bridgeport, Ala., where it arrived on the 3d of October. During the autumn it was engaged in fatigue and picket duty, and on the 20th of January, 1864, it had a battle with the enemy at Tracy City, Tenn.

During the winter and early spring of 1864 the regi- ment was changed to different localities, and on the 15th of May it participated in the battle of Resaca, Ga., and four days later it and the Nineteenth Michigan Regiment assaulted and captured Cassville, Ga. On the 20th of July it was engaged at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., and from July 2Ist to August 7th it assisted in the operations near

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History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, Part 11

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: Whittemore, Henry, b. 1833; Beers, J.B. & Company, publishers
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York : J. B. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 818