USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 67
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The 18th was constantly engaged during this long campaign, either in toilsome journeys or severe battles ; marching upwards of 1,100 miles, and participating in six general engagements,-at Newmarket, Piedmont, Lynchburg, Snicker's Ford, the second battle of Winchester, and Berry- ville, all in Virginia.
The regiment was finally mustered out of service at Harper's Ferry, June 27, 1865. It was then 550 strong, and had been three years in the field, but its ranks had been several times strengthened by recruits. Col. Ely had previously resigned, and the regiment was under the command of Lieut. Col. Peale, a veteran officer who had been upwards of four
ing inroad upon the town. He rejoined his regiment at Harper's Ferry, and continued in the service to the close of the war, passing through all the dangers of captivity, the march, the camp, and the battle field, to meet death at last in an unexpected moment and in one of its most appalling forms. See ante, p. 638.
* "In the deaths of Lieut. Maginnis and Adjutant Culver, the regiment lost two valuable officers. In camp they inspired the soldiers to excel in a faithful and cheerful discharge of military duties, and on the battle-field encouraged the command by gallant examples." Col. Ely's report.
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years almost constantly in the field, having recruited a company imme- diately after the fall of Fort Sumter, and continued in active service till the army began to disband.
In the 19th regiment, as originally organized, Norwich had no volun- teers, and in the 20th C. V., "the Buckingham Legion," the only name from the place on the original muster-roll is that of Charles J. Arms, Adjutant, who was transferred to the staff of Brig. Gen. Harland.
The 21st C. V. was the second regiment that had its rendezvous at Norwich, going into camp at the Fair Ground side by side with the 18th. It left the city Sept. 11, 1862. Hiram B. Crosby, Major; J. H. Lee, Surgeon ; Lieuts. C. A. Brand and James Stanley, with about 30 enlisted men, were gathered from the town. The first commanders of this regi- ment, Col. Dutton and Lieut. Col. Burpee, both died in June, 1864, of wounds received in the hard-fought battles in Virginia, and Major Crosby was appointed to the command.
The 21st was the last of the seventeen regiments raised on the calls of 1861-2, for three years service or during the war. But even before the departure of the 21st, the President's proclamation was out, issued Aug. 4, 1862, calling for 300,000 of the militia for nine months service. Con- sequently there was no cessation of the recruiting business. Seven regi- ments were raised in Connecticut in compliance with this demand, and numbered from 22 to 28 inclusive.
The 26th C. V. was drawn from New London and Windham counties, and had its camp-ground at Norwich, where it was organized in August ; Thomas C. Kingsley of Franklin, Colonel. The terms of the proclama- tion authorized a draft; the quota of Norwich was 139. This number was raised by voluntary enlistment, and there was no necessity for a con- scription. On the rolls of the regiment as it went into service, 141 are credited to Norwich, viz., 16 commissioned officers and 125 enlisted men.
The officers from Norwich were Joseph Selden, Lieut. Colonel; Ste- phen B. Meach, Adjutant ; B. F. Tracy, Quartermaster ; Elisha Phinney, Asst. Surgeon ; Capts. Clarke Harrington, Samuel T. Huntoon, Loren A. Gallop, John L. Stanton, and seven 1st and 2d Lieutenants. Rev. N. T. Allen of Jewett City went as Chaplain.
The regiment mustered 900 strong, and was accepted Nov. 10th, leav- ing Norwich the 14th. It was sent immediately to New Orleans, and from thence up the Mississippi, where it joined the army of Gen. Banks at the siege of Port Hudson, and participated in three sharp engagements before that post, May 27th, and June 13th and 14th.
The first of these assaults upon the stronghold was marked by great daring and fearful slaughter. The attack was made in four lines, of which the 26th Conn. formed one, and it was the first time that the regiment had been under the enemy's fire. The report says :
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"In advancing we encountered three high parallel fences, and in getting over them much confusion ensued, and before we could get into line the enemy opened upon us with shell, shot, grape and canister, mowing down our men by scores."
The killed and wounded of the 26th amounted to 107. The gallant Captain John Stanton of Norwich was shot dead. Colonel Kingsley was seriously wounded, and the command of the regiment devolved on Lieut. Col. Selden. In the engagement of June 14th, Lieut. Jacobs of Norwich received a mortal wound.
This regiment, though in the field but nine months, returned with a roll of only 550. It had suffered greatly from sickness; 27 had died on the battle-field, or of wounds received in battle, but more than thrice that number of disease. Some were left behind in hospitals; seven were buried in their long route homeward ; and one-Miles Bromley of Jewett City-expired on the boat just before reaching home. The returning soldiers were mustered out of service at the Fair Ground, Dec. 20, 1863 .*
Besides these regiments of Infantry, Connecticut raised in the first years of the war a Battalion of Cavalry, two companies of Light Bat- tery, and two regiments of Heavy Artillery.
In the First Cavalry, Capts. Charles Farnsworth and Joab B. Rogers, with Lieuts. J. H. Kane and H. T. Phillips, were from Norwich. This · battalion left the State in January, 1862. During the first year of service it was in the Mountain Department of Virginia, under Schenck, Fremont, and Milroy, continually engaged in reconnoitering and fighting, meeting with the hair-breadth escapes and participating in the dashing conflicts that usually characterize border warfare.
In April, 1863, Capt. Farnsworth while passing with a small detach- ment along a mountain path, was suddenly attacked by a concealed force, and received a severe shot-wound, the ball passing through his arm and side. At a later period of the war, when but partially recovered, he was taken prisoner near Harper's Ferry, and endured for eight months the dreary seclusion of a Richmond prison.
The First Cavalry has a stirring and eventful history ; sweeping in its campaigns through Virginia and the Carolinas in many hazardous raids. It was changed from a battalion to a regiment, and out of its 1,650 recruits about 80 were credited to Norwich.
Capt. Farnsworth, promoted Colonel, resigned in May, 1864. Capt. Rogers, who joined the battalion at its first muster in 1861, was honorably discharged, after nearly four years service, in February, 1865. Lieut. Kane, captured by the enemy in Wilson's raid, experienced for a few
* Nov. 14, 1864, nearly 300 members of the 26th Regiment met at a social reunion in Norwich : Col. Kingsley, chairman ; Adj. Meech, secretary. An address was deliv- ered by Rev. N. T. Allen, who had been the chaplain of the regiment.
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months the discomforts of the Libby prison. Lieut. Phillips, promoted Captain, and J. L. Richardson, Adjutant, came home with the regiment in August, 1865.
On the rolls of the Connecticut Light Battery, the only name from Nor- wich is that of Alfred P. Rockwell, Captain of the 1st C. L. B. This company landed at Beaufort in February, 1862, and was stationed for two years at points of hazard and responsibility on the coast, co-operating in the siege of Charleston. It was afterward attached to Butler's command in the advance to Richmond. Capt. Rockwell was then transferred to the infantry service, and appointed Colonel of the 6th C. V.
The two regiments of Heavy Artillery were organized out of the 4th and 19th regiments of Infantry. The change of the 4th to 1st H. A. was effected in January, 1862. Henry W. Birge, Major of the 4th, was soon transferred to the 13th Infantry as its Colonel. Several of the lieu- tenants of the 1st Artillery were from Norwich. Lieut. Edwin L. Tyler entered this regiment, but was transferred to the staff of General Tyler. Lieut. Bela P. Learned retained his connection with the regiment to the close of the war, having performed likewise for nearly two years various complicated duties as a field officer on the staff of General Abbott. He left the army with the rank of Captain and brevet Major .*
Of the recruits raised by Norwich during the later years of the war, 140 were assigned to the two regiments of Artillery. A fair proportion of these belonged to the town, and were good men and true, but many of the substitutes obtained abroad proved to be adepts in fraud and desperate deserters.t
The 29th C. V. consisted wholly of colored troops with white commis- sioned officers. This was raised in 1864, and sent to Annapolis, where it was joined to the Ninth Army Corps under General Burnside. Its roll numbered 1,005 officers and men, and it was regarded as a regiment of more than ordinary physical ability and moral excellence. The officers from Norwich were Captains David Torrance and Wm. J. Ross ; Lieuts. M. L. Leonard, Edward P. Rogers, and Ch. H. Carpenter,-transferred to this regiment from the 18th, with advanced rank.
* " To Capt. Learned great credit is due for skillful and energetic performance of perplexing duties." Report of Gen. Abbott for 1864.
t The following item illustrative of the golden opportunity offered to a faithful sub- stitute for making money, is from the Norwich Bulletin :
"On the 6th of August, 1864, James W. Needham, a Canadian, enlisted at the Provost-Marshal's office in this city, as a substitute. He entered the 14th Regiment, was not absent from duty a single day, and was discharged July 10, 1865. He received as bounty $650, and as pay $192.20. On the 29th of July he arrived in Norwich with the above sum in his pocket, less only $1.50 paid for rations on the journey from Wash- ington. He left for home a few days afterward."
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The 29th obtained an honorable record for gallant conduct in the trenches before Petersburg, and for bravely facing the foe in several attacks upon the enemy's lines in the campaign of 1864. This regiment having been accepted as a part of the U. S. C. T., the officers were com- missioned by the President.
A list of commissioned officers from Norwich in service during the war, compiled with care from official sources, gives the following result :
General officers, three, viz., Tyler, Birge, and Harland.
Colonels, 5 Adjutants, 8 Captains, 45
Lieut. Colonels, 7 Surgeons, 7 1st Lieutenants, 32
Majors, 8 Quartermasters, 4 2d 18
Total, 137. [Norwich Bulletin, Oct. 31, 1865.]
The above list is not confined to citizens of Norwich deriving their appointment from the State. It includes several natives of Norwich who have removed to other parts of the Union, and residents of the town who have received appointments from other States; also several officers in colored regiments, or in other general service, commissioned by the United States.
It includes Major Thomas Maguire, Capts. Berry and Scott, and Lieut. Brennan, who went from Norwich and joined the 2d N. Y. Artillery ;
William T. Lusk, Lieut. in 79th N. Y. Vols. and A. A. G. on General Tyler's staff ;
Frank S. Bond, Major U. S. V., on Tyler's staff in the Army of the Cumberland, and on the staff of Rosecrans at Stone River, Chickamauga, and in the campaign against Price ;
Henry Case, Colonel 169th Illinois,* and George R. Case, Captain La. Colored Troops,-both natives and former residents of Norwich ;
Douglas R. Bushnell, Major 13th Illinois, killed at Chattanooga ;
J. H. Piatt, of the Ohio Cavalry, Major by brevet U. S. A .;
Lieut. Col. Calvin Goddard, of Cleveland, Ohio, aid to General Rose- crans ;
Captains Charles H. Rockwell and J. M. Huntington, U. S. V .;
Capt. John L. Spalding, of the 18th Mass. Vols .;
Lieut. P. Ludlow Hyde, 26th Iowa, killed at Arkansas post.
* Col. Henry Case is a son of Dea. Samuel Case of Norwich Town. He graduated at Yale College in 1846, and has been successively engaged in the three departments of law, divinity, and arms, besides running at one time as a popular candidate for a seat in Congress. He practiced law for several years in Ohio; was ordained in the First Congregational Church at Norwich, under the charge of Rev. Dr. Arms, July 31, 1855, and returned to the West as a Home Missionary ; but when the war broke out, entered the army, and was with General Sherman in his grand march through the Confederacy.
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These officers, though natives of the place, or of Norwich parentage, are not technically regarded as Connecticut volunteers. The officers from Norwich commissioned by the State were about 110, but these were not all in the service at the same time. Many of them were appointed as successors to the others.
It is not easy to determine the exact number of private soldiers or enlisted men that Norwich contributed from her actual population to the service of the country. The town had the raising of the quota under her own management from the commencement of the war to July, 1863, but after that period the recruiting business was conducted by the provost- marshal of the district. During the first two years, covering the original organization of the volunteer force of Connecticut, the enlistments were almost wholly of town residents, but after that period they were princi- pally substitutes and hired recruits.
The following statements are supposed to be nearly accurate :
For the three months service Norwich furnished 12 commissioned offi- cers and 136 enlisted men.
For the 1st Cavalry and Ist Artillery regiments, 10 officers and 32 enlisted men.
For the three years Infantry service, in the regiments from the 5th to the 21st inclusive, 528 enlisted men.
For the 26th regiment, nine months service, 126 enlisted men.
Re-enlistment of veterans, 127.
Hired recruits and substitutes procured in 1863 and '64, probably about 280 .*
Colored men, volunteers and substitutes, 60.
Volunteers, or substitutes for enrolled men, mustered into the navy, from Norwich, 89.
These 89 scamen were taken up at different places, but credited to the town. Several of them enlisting as volunteers, received honorable appoint- ments as clerks and paymasters, and others as commanding officers. In 1863, Warrington D. Roath and Robert B. Smith, volunteer lieutenants from Norwich, were in command,-the former of the Bignonia and the latter of the Nita, armed vessels of the fourth rate. Lewis G. Cook was acting master of the gunboat Octorora, 11 guns.
John W. Bentley, Acting Master U. S. N., died at his residence in Norwich, May 27, 1864. He received an appointment in the navy soon after the war commenced, and had been for three years in active service. At the capture of Port Royal, he was in the Wabash, which was attached
* Among the recruits enlisted at Norwich, under date of Feb. 1, 1864, are the follow- ing singular names : Kannoris Blosopolos and Michael Zamphiropolos. These were men from some remote part of Canada. They were assigned to the 13th Regiment, and the last-named appears on the list of wounded at Cedar Creek, Va., Oct. 19, 1864.
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to Dupont's command. He had just been placed in command of the Ban- shee, a captured blockade-runner, and was preparing to put to sea, when seized with his last illness, which in one week ended in death.
Commodore Joseph Lanman, of the regular naval service, is a native of Norwich. His original entry has the date of Feb. 1, 1826, which gives him forty years of naval experience. Twenty-four years of this term is credited to him as sea-service; the remainder occupied in shore duty or unemployed. He is now in command of the Minnesota, screw-steamer, 52 guns.
The Soldiers' Aid Association of Norwich, embodying the gifts and labors of the feminine portion of the community, displayed an amount of volunteer contribution, both of funds and labor, truly munificent. The patriotism and self-denial which prompted these efforts never slackened, but carried them forward from year to year, with persevering energy, while the war continued. It was not so much in the character of Eliza- beth Frys or Florence Nightingales that this zeal was exhibited,-not particularly in visits to battle-fields and hospitals, as inspectors, assistants, and nurses, though instances of such benevolent action were not wholly wanting,* but rather in making garments, preparing grateful food, medi- cines, comforts and delicacies, corresponding and giving judicious coun- sels and cheering words, and in collecting books, papers, and a variety of refreshments to add to the well-being of the soldier.
Such associations occupy the place of the Angel of Mercy, following the track of the Demon of War, and repairing in part his ravages. It is thus that families at home co-operate with soldiers in the field, and woman performs her part in sustaining the Union and delivering the oppressed.
The ladies of the Soldiers' Aid dissolved their Association in January, 1866.
The news of the surrender by General Lee of the grand Confederate Army reached Norwich at an early hour, Monday morning, April 10, 1865. At day-break, by order of the Mayor, guns were fired and the bells rung to spread the tidings abroad. It was a day of great rejoicing. People met in the streets with hearty greetings and congratulations. Nothing was left of the Confederacy but the army of Johnston and the
* During the whole war, Dr. Claudius B. Webster and Mrs. Webster, from Nor- wich, gave their personal services to the sick and wounded soldiers of the Union army ; either stationed at hospitals, or following in the rear of a marching army. Dr. Web- ster was an agent of the Sanitary Commission, and a part of the time agent for the Connecticut regiments in the Department of the Cumberland.
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resistance of Mobile and Texas, and these were involved in the great surrender. The war was therefore suddenly at an end. Victory, union, peace and thanksgiving were now the glorious pass-words.
At 12 o'clock an impromptu jubilee-meeting was held in Breed Hall, and the great event celebrated-not with tumult and noise, but with earn- est expressions of gratitude and praise. Cheering addresses were made, prayers offered, and hymns chanted and sung .* It was a day of triumph for the prospect of a restored Union, and of joyful hope for an emancipated race.t
This exulting scene was destined to be followed by a speedy and terri- ble revulsion. At this period great events are crowded together in the history of our country. On Friday, April 14, the fourth anniversary of the surrender of Fort Sumter to the Confederates, President Lincoln was assassinated. The news was received here, as elsewhere, with amazement, horror, and indignation, succeeded by the bitter agony of grief. Business for a time almost ceased, and a scene of universal mourn- ing was exhibited. Governor Buckingham, Senator Foster, and several other citizens immediately repaired to Washington. Mr. Foster, in virtue of his office as President, pro. tem., of the Senate, became the nominal Vice-President of the United States, and in case of the death of Mr. Johnson, President, until another could be chosen.
Wednesday, the 19th, was the day of the Funeral Services in Wash- ington, and religious solemnities were held in accordance with them through the Union. At Norwich the bells were tolled, and guns fired every half hour ; flags lowered and banded with crape; many private houses, and all public places, draped in mourning. At 12 o'clock, manu- factories, work-shops, and places of business were closed, and the churches opened for devotional exercises. The next Sunday, discourses adapted to the event were delivered in churches hung with heavy drapery, and listened to with that profound emotion which is usually excited only by personal bereavement.
At the celebration of the 4th of July, 1865, the returned soldiers were regarded with special interest. They were a distinguishing feature that separated the 89th anniversary from all other commemorations of the day in Norwich. Generals Birge and Harland, natives of the town, were present. Groups of officers and veterans, that had served in various reg-
* The whole congregation joined in singing "Coronation " and "America."
t Jan. 2, 1863, by order of the Mayor, 100 guns were fired, and the church bells in the city rung for an hour, in honor of the President's Proclamation of Emancipation to the slaves in the seceding States.
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iments, some of them from other towns, appeared in the procession. The storm-flag that had been used in the assault upon Port Hudson was borne through the streets. The 18th regiment having been recently mustered out of service, the companies belonging to Norwich returned home just in time to take part in these festivities. Lieut. Col. Peale, with about one hundred of his soldiery, arranged under their respective officers, formed an interesting part of the line. They bore with them their regimental standard, but after reaching the Plain, the Mayor of the City presented to Col. Peale the original flag, under which they were mustered three years before. This flag, when more than half the regiment was captured at Winchester, was torn from its staff by the standard-bearer, and con- cealed under his uniform until he was safe from pursuit .*
In the long procession at this time were several carriages occupied by a band of venerable citizens of the place, aged 70 and upwards-
Veterans of the War of 1812.t
Another unique feature of the celebration was the appearance in the line of several Fenian Circles, from this and the neighboring towns. It was the first time that these organized bands had appeared in this vicinity in a public procession with distinctive badges.
There seemed to be no special point of time at which the war closed. Opposition ceased ; the sounds of strife died away, and the discharged soldiers began to return. They were every where received with acclama- tions, and banquets were spread before them. There was weeping over widows and orphans, but generous applause for the men of a hundred battles.
It was a pleasant circumstance that the disbanded soldiery returned quietly to their old homes and pursuits, resuming, in most cases, their accus- tomed avocations, as if only a week, or a month, had intervened. The farmer returned to his field, the operative went back to his factory, the mechanic to his trade ; mercantile clerks, agents, and assistants in banks
* Sergt. George Torrey, of North Woodstock, was the gallant soldier that saved the State Color of the 18th regiment, at Winchester, by wrapping it around his person, and escaping to our lines .- Conn. War Rec., p. 23.
+ Names and ages of eighteen veterans of the War of 1812, who were in the proces- sion July 4, 1865, and formed themselves into an association to meet annually, choos- ing General Williams for their President :
Isaac Bromley, 74. Samuel Case, 74.
Dr. Eleazar Downing, 78. Eber Edwards, 74. Benjamin Ford, 73. Othniel Gager, 71.
Charles Gale, 69. Lewis Hyde, 72.
Capt. Wm. Kelly, 81. James Rose Ledyard, 74. Frederick Lester, 72. Asa Manning, 70.
Elisha Mansfield, 70. John Nichols, 80. John Starkweather, 75.
Joseph Tyler, 73. Gen. Wm. Williams, 77. Elkanah Williams, 82.
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and insurance offices, returned to their desks, and were re-invested with their former responsibilities. In special instances, the General might be seen again busy with his law-books, the Colonel and the Captain again teaching school .*
When the war commenced, General Birge was one of the Governor's Aids, and was actively engaged in raising and sending forth the three months men. He entered the service in June, 1861, and in September, 1863, received the appointment of Brigadier-General of Volunteers, in acknowledgment of his gallantry at the siege of Port Hudson. The next year he was breveted Major-General for services in Sheridan's cam- paign in the Shenandoah Valley, and in June, 1865, was appointed to the command of the Military District of Savannah.
Gen. Banks, in his report of the Red River expedition, alluding to the Cane River fight, says-
" General Birge, as in all actions in which he has been engaged, deserved and re- ceived the highest commendation."
General Harland entered into the service upon the first call of the country, and rose rapidly through the degrees of Captain and Colonel, to the command of a division at Antietam. He was then appointed Briga- dier-General, and stationed in the Military District of North Carolina. His last fight was at Kinston, in that State, where he commanded a divis- ion under General Scholfield, in the repulse of the Confederate forces under General Bragg, in March, 1865.
General Harland, Lieut. Colonels Peale and Hale, Captains Lilly, McCord, Merwin, Moore, Parker, Ross, Tiffany, and other officers and soldiers that were engaged in the first expedition of 1861, have the satis- faction, not only of seeing the war through, but of having been a part of it from the beginning to the end.
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