USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 65
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652
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Mr. Brewster, who, as treasurer of the company, has been the general agent and efficient manager of the business from that time to March, 1866, when he resigned the office.
This company have four fine steamers built expressly for their line, and named after the points of communication to which their business extends. The City of Boston made her first trip from New York, July 4, 1861 ; the City of New York eighteen days later, July 22. The first trip of the City of Norwich was July 19, 1862; of the City of New London, May 22, 1863.
Gross earnings of the company from July 1861, to
Nov. 30, 1862, 16 months,
$466,227
" 30, 1863, one year,
416,243 -
" 30, 1864,
608,374
30, 1865,
- 704,198
The system of transportation established by this company in connection with the railroads, is the most perfect that has ever been arranged upon this route through the Sound. By contract with the New London North- ern Railroad Co. an interchange of accommodations is effected ; the Rail- road Company using the boats of the Transportation Company for con- veyance to New York, and the latter making use of the advantages afforded by the commodious wharf and depot landing at New London.
The Norwich and Worcester Railroad, by contract with the New Lon- don Northern R. R. Co., now run their express and passenger trains over the track of the latter on the west side of the Thames. This arrangement went into effect Oct. 1, 1861, and the terminus of the through business of the Norwich and Worcester R. R. Co. has since been at New London.
Every year is adding importance to the navigation of the Thames, not only in regard to the interests of Norwich, but as an avenue to the man- ufacturing districts beyond Norwich. During a large part of the year, when the channel is unencumbered with ice, the river and the wharves are lively with business. Sloops and schooners are continually discharg- ing freight. Large quantities of iron, coal, cotton, wool, rags, &c., are required by the manufacturers in and around Norwich, and a still greater quantity is conveyed through the place to be distributed on the northern routes. The article of coal alone is of great importance, an immense amount passing up the river to be transported to Worcester and other points in the interior.
In 1855, Thomas T. Wetmore, a ship-builder from East Boston, com- menced work at Norwich, in the employ of J. M. Huntington & Co. The first vessels were built near Shetucket bridge, and launched nearly
653
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
under the bridge .* The work was then transferred to a point on the west side of the river, near where the Cold Spring Iron Works were situated.
These iron-works were established by John Perit Huntington, at whose invitation Thomas Mitchell, an experienced artificer in iron,-originally from Birmingham, England,-came from Wareham, Mass., and took charge of the concern. This was in 1845; a rolling-mill was built, and has ever since continued in operation. The firm is now Mitchell, Broth- ers & Co.t
The rolling-mill and the ship-yard were the beginning of the prosper- ous village of Thamesville, which forms the southern extremity of the city.
In 1863, another rolling-mill with machinery of a different construction was established near the ship-yard. This belongs to a joint-stock company called the Thames Iron Works.
Since the year 1860, eight steam-vessels have been launched from the Thamesville ship yard, viz., the Norwich, Trade-wind, Prometheus, Whirl- wind, Perit, Chase, and Hunter,-ranging in capacity from 400 to 700 tons.
Three of these steamers, the Norwich, Prometheus, and Uncas, were sold to the U. S. Government, and were in the public service during the war. The Norwich was altered into a gunboat, and commissioned in Jan- uary, 1862. She carried six 32-pounders and 100 men, and was eminently useful in the Gulf of Mexico.
To the same company (J. Monroe Huntington and Theodore Raymond) belongs the credit of reviving the direct trade of the port with the West Indies. Their first undertaking in this line is noticed in the Norwich Courier, April 3, 1859.
The schooner Ike Marvel, which arrived at this port yesterday morning from Porto Rico, with molasses, sugar, and rum, has brought the first cargo of this description which has been landed here direct from the West Indies for over thirty years.
This trade has since been pursued by the company with spirit and suc- cess. The exports consist of lumber, assorted articles, and some live-stock. The returns are chiefly sugar and molasses. The high price of these arti- cles has made the business very profitable.#
* Most of the ship-building at Norwich has been on the west side. Capt. Samuel Story, the master-builder of former days, who built the whale-ships Connecticut and Chelsea, and many other large vessels, died May 3, 1864, aged 84 years.
In this mill an unfortunate accident happened May 9, 1864. By some derangement of the machinery, Thomas Mitchell, Jr., was struck by an iron bar in the chest, and instantly killed. He was 42 years of age.
# On a freight consisting chiefly of molasses and sugar, entered in June, 1865, by the brig John R. Plater, belonging to this firm, the duty assessed at the custom-house, New London, was $6,688.72,-a sum indicative of a valuable cargo.
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654
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
The schooner Telegraph, Martin L. Rogers captain, was first employed in this trade in 1859, sailing May 9th of that year, and was kept after- wards constantly upon the line. On the 13th of June, 1864, she arrived from her twenty-fourth voyage, having nearly averaged five voyages per year, and usually bringing from 200 to 220 hhds. per voyage. This is a great advance over the old rate of navigation,-when two, or at most, three West India voyages consumed the whole year,-and illustrates in a vivid manner the progress of skill, science and tact in this department of busi- ness.
This company have recently erected a ware-house at New London for the reception and storage of their West India goods.
Vote of Norwich at the Presidential election, Nov. 4, 1856,- For Fremont, 1,142 ; Buchanan, 810; Fillmore, 23: total, 1,975.
Votes cast Nov. 8, 1864,-
For Lincoln, 1,376 ; for McClellan, 1,101 : total, 2,477.
This was probably the largest vote ever cast in Norwich.
Vote of Norwich in August, 1864, in reference to the amendment of the National Constitution, abolishing slavery,-
Yeas, 753. Nays, 196.
Vote in October, 1865, on the amendment of the State Constitution, so as to allow of negro suffrage,-
Yeas, 898. Nays, 617.
Vote for Governor in April, 1863, --
For Wm. A. Buckingham, 1,235 ; T. H. Seymour, 936 : total, 2,171. In April, 1813, just 50 years before, the vote for Governor stood,- For John Cotton Smith, 126; Elijah Boardman, 112: total, 270.
Vote in April, 1865,-
For Wm. A. Buckingham, 1,284 ; Origen S. Seymour, 462.
CHAPTER LI.
NORWICH IN CONNECTION WITH THE WAR FOR THE UNION.
THE fall of Fort Sumter and the call of the President for 75,000 men, -events that occurred successively on the 14th and 15th of April, 1861,- have made those days forever memorable in the history of our country. From a condition of outward repose, and amid the common routine of affairs, the whole nation was suddenly roused to a state of wild excitement. The startling fact, that we were at war, ran through the country like the rush of a whirlwind. The spirited outbreak of the North in favor of the · Union was spontaneous and universal. A strong line was immediately drawn between loyalty and secession, but all other party distinctions and political feuds seemed for the time obliterated. The nation was without soldiers, without munitions of war or military equipments, but an army leaped into existence, armed, equipped, and ready for action.
A record of what was done in a single town to support the war for the Union, will duplicate the history of hundreds of other towns in New Eng- land. But there is a local interest in these side details of the great con- flict, which makes it an imperative duty that they should be registered. Personal incidents and minor details, that might find no place in general histories of the war, have a deep and enduring interest for towns and neighborhoods. Honor and grateful regard call upon us to record the deeds of our volunteers, to perpetuate the names of the valiant, and to cherish the memory of those among them who fell in the service. A town history is incomplete without these memorials.
The Governor of Connecticut when the war broke out was William A. Buckingham, a citizen of Norwich, who was then in the fourth year of his administration. He was well known as an earnest patriot and a staunch friend both of the Union and the National Government. This undoubt- edly quickened the action and added to the energy of the town measures. Large and enthusiastic meetings assembled almost spontaneously for the purpose of encouraging enlistments and pledging the efforts and resources of the community in support of the National Flag. The intense excite- ment that prevailed sought relief by demonstrations of loyalty in various modes.
656
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
There was no flag-staff or liberty-pole of any note in or around Nor- wich. Suddenly the National Banner was flung to the breeze from every conspicuous point in the landscape. It was swung across Main street, between Apollo Hall and the Wauregan ; it was displayed from the tower of the First Congregational Church ; it fluttered among the groves of Washington street, rose high over Broadway and the Free Academy, and graced the rope-walk, the engine halls, the numerous factories, the school- houses, and several private residences. It was elevated at Greeneville, at the Falls, on the old Court-house, at the Town-plot, and at Yanticville. As these threw out their folds, other flags from all the surrounding villages and towns of the old Nine-miles-square,-Bozrahville, Fitchville, Frank- lin, Sprague, Hanover, Jewett City,-rose and waved in unison. The highest of these standards was that which surmounted the Uncas engine- house at the Falls,-182 feet.
The Governor's call for volunteers to fill the quota of Connecticut was issued April 16th. In twenty-two days, fifty-four companies were raised in the State, offering their services for the three months, but as only three regiments were required, many of them were disbanded.
The First Regiment C. V. was recruited in Hartford. Two young men of Norwich, E. K. Abbott and S. T. C. Merwin, hastened thither and en- rolled their names as privates in Rifle Co. A. This was the company that in just twelve hours from the opening of the roll, reported to the Adjutant- General, with a full complement of men and its officers chosen.
Col. Daniel Tyler, a retired officer of the regular army, residing at Norwich, was appointed Colonel of this regiment .* Jolin L. Spalding, also of Norwich, was the Sergeant-Major.
For the other two regiments, three companies were raised in the town, that went into service under Captains Frank S. Chester, Henry Peale, and Edward Harland. These officers, with their six lieutenants, and Lieut. Col. David Young of the 2d C. V., were all of Norwich. Twelve commissioned officers and 135 enlisted men are credited to the town for the three months service in the State accounts. The enlistments began April 18th.
Capt. Chester's company left the city for the camp at New Haven, April 22d, and Capt. Peale's the 24th. These were mustered into the 2d C. V. as companies A. and B. Capt. Harland's company left for Hartford the 29th, and was received into the 3d C. V.
The whole community was moved when these first companies departed. Warfare was a new experience, and the nature of the contest excited
* Colonel Tyler, now Brigadier-General, is a native of Brooklyn, Ct., and a gradu- ate of West Point. He retired from the U. S. Army in 1832, and had been engaged as a civil engineer in superintending the construction of railroads. At a later period of the war, he commanded a division of the Army of the Mississippi.
657
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
thrilling emotions. Throngs of citizens, young and old, accompanied them to the place of their embarkation, embracing them, and invoking blessings on them and their cause. The magnitude of the principles involved in the contest seemed to give a deep significance to every measure connected with it.
In aid of these first enlistments, money was poured out like water. A large sum was raised by private subscription for bounties and equipments. The Thames Bank, following the example of other monied institutions of the State, tendered to the Governor a loan of $100,000 for public use. A throng of ladies met for many successive days to prepare articles of cloth- ing convenient for the departing soldiers. On Saturday evening, April 20, a meeting was held at Breed Hall, where eloquent speeches were made and patriotic resolutions carried, while at the same time the galleries and adjoining offices were occupied by women busily employed in making garments for the volunteers. Nor did this work cease upon the Sabbatlı. Labor and prayer went together through the day.
The following cotemporaneous notice gives a vivid idea of the scene, and shows the starting-point of a series of efforts for the health and com- fort of the soldier in field, camp, and hospital, which, under feminine agency, with the title of the Soldier's Aid Society, knew no intermission from that time to the close of the war.
A REVOLUTIONARY SABBATH .- The 21st day of April was such a Sunday as the good town of Norwich never before saw. The beating of drums, the marching and drilling of military companies, the display of flags, and fluttering of bunting, the pres- ence of unusual crowds in all the streets, the hum of labor where the uniforms of vol- unteers were being made, the earnestness and enthusiasm that seemed to animate the multitude, and the cagerness of the people to learn the latest intelligence by telegraph, all combined to make such a Sabbath as will long be remembered.
All day long the Buckingham Rifles, Capt. Frank S. Chester, were engaged in drill and exercise, preparing themselves for the active duties of the service in which they have enlisted.
About 350 ladies occupied Breed Hall and the offices below, engaged in making up the uniforms for the company.
At the several churches in the city, sermons appropriate to the times were preached. All the conversation was upon war topics. It was a Sunday such as we may have read of in our Revolutionary history, but have never before seen. [Bulletin.]
The three regiments left the State on the 10th, 14th and 22d of May. They were at first detained near Washington, and united in one command under Col. Tyler. They were afterward stationed along the outposts in' Virginia, where they were engaged in guard duty, enlivened with scout- ing and skirmishing. In July they were ordered to Centerville, and from thence sent forward to meet the enemy, with whom they had their first encounter in a sharp skirmish at Blackburn's Ford. Three days after- ward, July 21st, they took part in the battle at Bull Run.
42
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658
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
In this disastrous fight the casualties of the three regiments were six men killed and sixty wounded and missing. Of the Norwich volunteers, only one was killed,-David C. Case, who was struck by a cannon-ball, and died on the field. Corporal John B. Jennings, Charles A. Murray and David Rosenblatt, enlisted men from Norwich, were taken prisoners.
Austin G. Monroe, a sergeant in Capt. Chester's company, had been previously captured. He was taken while out on a scouting excursion, with one companion, near Falls Church, Va., June 19th, and it was not known whether he was killed or captured till the next October, when his friends received a letter from him, dated in July from a Richmond prison. Ife endured a year's captivity before he was released.
The three regiments completed their term of service and were dis- charged in August. Two of the enlisted men from Norwich had died in hospital of disease. The prisoners, Jennings, Monroe, and Murray, were exchanged and came home the next June .* Col. Tyler was commissioned as a Brigadier-General in March, 1862.
Fresh calls for volunteers were issued by the President, even before the return of the three months men,-May 4th for 300,000, and July 10th for 500,000. The recruiting service was kept lively, and the enlistments as yet were freely tendered. The civil and military authorities, public opinion and the spontaneous zeal of individuals, co-operated in favor of the measures of government.
In town meeting, Oct. 7, 1861, the following resolutions passed, almost by acclamation :
Resolved, That we extend our hearty thanks to our brave soldiers who have without distinction of party rallied to the defence of our glorious Union, and to the support of the Government in suppressing this causeless and most unnatural rebellion ;
That we are proud of the noble position our State has assumed in common with the other loyal States, and we hereby pledge to the Government our aid and support, with every energy God has given us, until our flag shall float over every fort belonging to the Union, and over every State from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico ;
That we are engaged in a contest as real and vital as the war of the Revolution, &c.
Resolved, That the Town Clerk be requested to procure a record-book, and make as perfect a Roster as practicable of the companies of Captains Chester, Peale, Harland, Dennis, Ward, Maguire, Sawyer, Daniels, and such other companies from Norwich as have been or shall be hereafter mustered into the service of the Government to aid in suppressing this rebellion, &c.
In 1862, additional calls for troops were made by the Government,- July 2d, 300,000 to serve for three years or the war; and Aug. 4th, 300,- 000 for nine months. The quota of the town must be forthwith raised,
* Monroe and Murray, in a month after their return, re-enlisted and went into Capt. Peale's company, 18th C. V., and were again taken prisoners at Winchester in June, 1863.
659
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
and to aid the progress of enlistment a grand rally was made in favor of the flag, the Union, the Government, and the vigorous prosecution of tlie war. The public meetings held at Breed Hall and the mass meetings in Franklin Square were remarkable for the resolute earnestness that pre- vailed.
Many of the volunteers at this period seem to have entered their names on the roll in a spirit of spontaneous self-dedication, and others with an earnest sobriety indicative of deep-seated principle. It was creditable to human nature to find such fervent love of country and attachment to the Union pervading all classes of society. Clerks came from the stores, laborers from the farms, and operatives from the mills and workshops, with the same hearty alacrity.
The course of business, as well as of thought and conversation, was turned into the channel of war. The armories and machine-shops of the town developed an astonishing activity and adaptedness to the production of hostile weapons. The sail-makers in their lofts were engaged in mak- ing tents. Many skillful hands assisted by nice machinery were kept at work upon uniforms and other military equipments .*
The highest point of enthusiasm was reached at a town meeting held on the 30th of August to consider the best means of raising the town's quota of 300,000 men for nine months. This was one of the most excit- ing and enthusiastic meetings ever convened in Norwich. The tenders made by individuals were on a noble scale of liberality. One after an- other, in a spirit of emulous zeal, such offers as these were made,-
One hundred dollars to the first ten that enlist.
The same to the second ten.
Ten dollars to the first sixty.
The same to the next twenty.
One thousand dollars to the families of those that enlist.
Five hundred to the same.
One hundred to the same.
Another hundred to the same, &c., &c.
Some twenty or thirty offers of this kind were thus spontaneously made, either at the moment, or added afterward by individuals not present at the meeting, raising a sum considerably above $20,000.
In the public assemblies convened at this interesting period, it was not uncommon for individuals, moved by the stirring appeals of the speakers, or prompted by their own determined purpose, to come forth from the audience, and with deep emotion offer themselves to their country. It was
* James M. Nelson of Norwich contracted in 1862 to make 1000 military coats per month from January to June. He kept 200 hands and two dozen sewing-machines at work. Daniel Delanoy contracted to make a large number of tents for the Connecticut regiments.
660
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
thus that Captains Peale, Selden, Stanton, Huntoon and others volunteered their services. Several of the early companies seemed to be raised with the swell of a flood, sweeping them into the ranks.
Through the whole contest there was no departure in the action of the town from the spirit of these early measures. But as the war went for- ward, demanding its hundreds of thousands of recruits, it became more and more difficult in Norwich, as in other towns, to raise the prescribed number. Volunteer enlistments were no longer to be expected. The material was exhausted; there was no surplus on hand. Even in the peaceful pursuits of trade and agriculture, the incessant demands of the army led to a deficiency of laborers.
But the draft or conscription authorized conditionally by the Govern- ment was not enforced in Norwich. A few individuals procured substi- tutes, but in general the quotas of the town, to answer the repeated calls of 1863-4, were raised by the selectmen or by war committees, who by large bounties and strenuous exertions procured the requisite number.
The State in 1863 made the liberal offer of $300 to every person, white or colored, that should enlist before January, 1864. The town about the same time increased their bounty to $150. This being found insufficient, by a vote of Dec. 1, 1864, the whole business was entrusted to a war committee, who were to pay drafted persons, substitutes and volunteers on the quota of the town, such sums as should be considered necessary and expedient. This committee paid in some instances a very high bounty. The glow of enthusiasm had faded away. The war was a settled affair, and recruits were to be raised, as other business was transacted, upon pecuniary principles.
Most of these later recruits differed widely in character from the early enlisted men. Those were patriots, and these were hirelings. Very few of the latter were town residents. They were procured by agents from other places, and many of them after securing the bounty took the first opportunity to desert. Others among them made good soldiers. But these later enlistments represented the town, only as paid for by its funds and credited to its account in the State calendar.
A brief sketch of the forces raised in Connecticut for the prosecution of the war, will give opportunity to point out how far Norwich participated in the great contest. Each town in this respect has a history of its own. The object in this outline will be to trace the officers and enlisted men from this one community only, in order to show in what lines of service they were engaged as members of the State regiments.
The volunteers from the State, enlisting in 1861 and 1862, to serve for three years or during the war, were arranged in seventeen regiments, numbered from 4 to 21 inclusive.
661
HISTORY OF NORWICH.
It was estimated that nearly two-thirds of the three months men re- enlisted in the service. Many who had served as privates became officers in the new levies, the experience they had gained being of great advant- age in drilling the fresh recruits and preparing them for duty.
The 4th C. V. was mustered at Hartford in June, 1861. The Major, Henry Birge, and Assistant Surgeon, Edwin Bentley, with eighteen or twenty members of different companies, were from Norwich. It was sent to Harrisburg, and associated with Gen. Patterson's troops. In Novem- ber, it was stationed at Fort Richardson, near Washington. In January, 1862, this regiment was changed from infantry to artillery, and re-organ- ized as 1st Conn. Heavy Artillery, under the management of Major Birge, who was appointed Colonel of the Artillery, but soon afterward transferred to the 13th Regiment of Infantry.
The 5th C. V. was the regiment which Col. Colt proposed to adopt and equip. A very fine Irish company was raised in Norwich, with the ex- pectation of joining this regiment, called the Jackson Guards. They were thoroughly drilled by Col. Thomas C. Kingsley of Franklin, and chose for their Captain, Thomas Maguire. When Col. Colt threw up his interest in the regiment, the Jackson Guards, 88 in number, disbanded, but were afterward re-organized and accepted into the 1st New York Regiment of Artillery. Capt. Maguire was subsequently a Major in the New York service. William A. Berry, of this company, was promoted Captain, and after participating in many severe battles, and serving from his first enlist- ment in the three months campaign, full three years, was killed during the siege of Petersburg. He was succeeded by Capt. Thomas Scott, also of the Norwich company.
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