USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1872, Vol. II > Part 32
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"The Woodbury boys represented in this 'Retreat,' in our re- giment, were Walter Whitlock, William H. Proctor, Daniel Banks and myself. William Whitlock and Perry Lake, were in hospital-elsewhere.' "
Woodbury pluck was well displayed during the battle of Fred- ericksburg, under Gen. Burnside It became necessary to lay pontoon bridges across the Rappahannock river, to reach the city. The boats had been successfully secured across the river. Volun- teers were wanted to lay the plank upon them, so that the sol- diers could cross, and a hundred volunteers were called for from the regiment. Rebel sharp-shooters from rifle-pits directly in front, made it almost certain death for men to engage in this un- dertaking. But, instantly, upon the call to undertake the hazar- dous enterprize, four Woodbury men stepped from the ranks to express their willingness to go, were accepted, and went with the one hundred, more than half of whom never returned from their patriotic hazard, but neither of the Woodbury boys were harmed, though 150 of our cannon, and a greater number of the rebels were playing over their heads during the time occupied in this duty, and the bullets of the sharp-shooters fell like rain upon them.
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Several times they were obliged to desist, but they persevered, laid their bridge, and the union army passed over to deadly com- bat. A more sublime picture than the heroic undertaking of these brave men, could not be portrayed to the apprehensions of the least imaginative. The names of these heroic young men de- serve an honorable place in history. They were John E. Juttle, Charles S. Buell, John Bunnell and Charles Cosier.
The soldier's life is one of hardship, suffering, pain and death, never to be appreciated by the civilian. But it has its bright spots, its enjoyments, and its ludicrous incidents. The history of a soldier's experience would not be complete, nor would a history of the incidents of the war be complete, unless some of these were recounted. A few specimens, therefore, of this sort of ad- venture will be inserted here.
Among the early volunteers of 1861, in the Rev. Capt. William's Co. G. 4th Conn. Volunteers, afterwards the 1st Heavy Artillery, were Ammi F. Hull and Walter Whitlock. All through their four years' service, they were the most intimate of friends. They were always together in camp or in battle. Hull tells the follow- ing incident in regard to Whitlock, which occurred early in 1862, -before the regiment had seen much service.
" One night when the enemy were keeping up a continual fire on us, several of their shell struck in our battery. No one was seriously injured, but one man, an intimate friend of mine, Corpo- ral Walter Whitlock, got such a fright as he will never forget. It was past midnight, cold, and dark, and we were sitting on the ground, around a large fire, trying to warm our stiffened limbs, when we were suddenly disturbed by the gruff command-' Fall in, G, Co. detail ; Fall in! The Major will come, and find we have done nothing. Fall in G.' At the last command to fall in, a large bomb shell came crashing through the woods, and burst directly over our heads. When all was over, we arose from the ground, which we had been hugging pretty closely, and looked around for our worthy corporal. But nothing could be seen of him except his head, rising above the mud and water in the creek, We pulled him out, carried him to the fire, and he soon recovered so that he could recall his last command to fall in. But he never would confess how he came in the creck. If he willingly chose that for a hiding place, he would be perfectly secure from harm -except his head. But we could not with consistency obey his pom E and to fall in as he did. A better, or a braver soldier, how-
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ever, never marched in the ranks of the Union Army. In camp, in sieges, in battles, amid the ocean's terrific storms, on long and weary marches, he was ever my firm, true and constant friend." " One night," says Corporal Hull, " we were on picket duty, and captured a rebel spy. He was on horseback, and attempted to run by our picket-post. But a bullet whistleing past his ears, brought him to his senses, and he wisely concluded that 'discre- tion was the better part of valor,' and exclaimed-' Now, Yanks, you uns won't kill me if I halt, will you?' At that moment a bullet in the horse's leg brought horse and rider to the ground- and there was an end of the parley."
When the Massachusetts 8th Regiment, under command of General Butler, marched to the defence of Washington, after the brutality practiced on the 6th Massachusetts, in Baltimore, it will be remembered it went by water around that city. At this time a " curious" phenomenon occurred. Some men in the regiment, who had fine voices, and there were many such, had been singing, with all that delicious effect that music at sea produces, several of the finest psalms in the liturgy. The ocean softens and delicately repeats sound, and those airs trembled along the almost unrippled surface of the sea. While they were singing, the moon swung clear into the air, and round her white disk were seen three cir- cles, clear and distinct, red, white and blue ! The omen was caught by common instinct, and a thousand cheers went up to that heaven that seemed, in its visible signs, to manifest the approval of the cause in which they who witnessed it were engaged.
For the first year or two of the war, there was a peace party, so called, in the North, of considerable numbers. An amusing adaptation of sacred poetry, in this connection, is told of a good old lady. She had been for sometime listening to a discussion between two gentlemen on this question of peace. Finally, one of them, somewhat excitedly, insisted, that the salvation of the country depended upon the efforts of this small peace party. The old lady instantly held up both hands, and exclaimed
" Oh Lord! on what a slender thread Hangs everlasting things !"
While one of our Woodbury soldiers was serving in Arkansas, he was one day doing picket duty. While thus engaged, a silver- haired old man, some eighty-five years of age, addressed him, and desired to pass his post. The soldier at once asked him where he
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was going. "I am on my way to Heaven," solemnly replied the old man. " Well," said the soldier, much amused, " If you have been on your way to Heaven all the time till you have reached your present age, and have got no fur- ther on your journey than Arkan- sas, yon may pass ; I would not like to hinder you. But I shall try some other route !"
When the war broke out, our en- tire people were engaged in the arts of peace. Though people of all con ʻ ditions rushed into the military ser vice, at the call of their country, they had no knowledge of the arts of war, nor the demands of military discipline. It took conside- rable time for the privates to learn that respect for a superior offi- eer, that the exigencies of the service required. They did not readily see why their neighbor, who at home was in no wise their superior, in wealth, social standing, or intellectual acquirements, should, by merely having a commission, " lord it " over them. An amusing ineident, illustrating this idea, occurred in the service, which we will relate, omitting names. A Captain, one day, deci- dedly under the influence of intoxicating liquor, met a private in the same condition. The captain ordered to him to "halt," and, endeavoring in vain to assume a firm position on his feet, and to talk with dignified severity, exclaimed, "Private -, I'll giv' t'Il four o'clock to gissober in."
"Cap'n," replied the soldier, " as you're (hic) a d-d sight drunker 'ni- am, I'll give you t'll fire (hie) o'clock to gissober in."
Harper's Magazine has a very good story on the rebel side, which illus- trates one phase of our human nature. "A gentleman who was on the HGC Southern side during our late little misunderstanding, relates the following : "Roe," of our company, used to stammer fearfully, and while having a judicious admix- ture of prudence in his valor, was still one of the best and pluck- iest of all. One of our guns had been captured by the Yankees,
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and the order came down to recapture it if possible. It was a 'earful task; and as we stood drawn up, awaiting the word to nove forward at the double-quick, we felt instinctively that many of us would stay around the spot where the lost gun was. It scarcely seemed worth the price we were about to pay, and " Roe" seemed to be more thoroughly impressed with this idea than any one else. Suddenly an idea entered his mind; stepping out of he ranks, he stuttered, wildly, as he always did when excited "I
say, kick-kick-captain, 1-1-1-let us gig-gig-get up a s-s-s-s-subscrip. ;ion and pip-pip-pay for the cussed old gun."
Long before the middle of 1862, it had become apparent to both government and people, that the war would assume enormous pro- portions, and that preparations for the defence of the country, on a far larger scale than had heretofore been supposed necessary, would become imperative. The President made repeated calls 'or additional troops, and the "note of preparation," on a grander scale, was sounded throughout the land. Bounties for enlistments began to be offered by towns, and other communities, and the Legislature made ample provision for the families of the soldiers, who were serving in the Union armies. Each little town and hamlet seemed as if actuated by one impulse, and steadily the preparations went on.
On the 24th of July, 1862, Woodbury, in legal town meeting, irst took action in the way of granting bounties to the patriot volunteers, when the following votes were passed without dissent ;
" Voted, That pursnant to a statute law of this State, the town of Woodbury will pay to each new recruit from said town, who shall enlist with our recruiting officers, the sum of one hundred dollars, as soon as he shall be mustered into the military service of the United States as a private soldier in the ranks of any Re- giment of Connecticut Volunteers."
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" Voted, That the Treasurer of the town of Woodbury be an- thorized to borrow, from time to time, such sums of money as shall be necessary to pay the soldiers who shall be recruited from this town, to an amount not exceeding, in the whole, the sum of Three Thousand dollars, and that he be authorized to give a town note or notes for the sums so borrowed, at the legal rate of inte- rest."
" Voted, That it shall be the duty of the town Treasurer to pay said soldiers, so enlisted, said bounty, upon their being mustered into the service of the United States, and that he shall keep a true record of all soldiers so paid by him, that the number receiv ing said bonnty may apply on our quota of tro ops for the service under the last call of the President of the United States."
" Voted, That the said Town Bounty shall be paid only to the volunteer, or to his order, and shall not be paid on any factorizing or other legal process."
" Voted, That a committee of five be appointed by this meet- ing to acquire and keep intelligence of the location of all the sol- diers that have gone or may go to the war from this town, learn their wants, and solicit such aid, from time to time, of our citi- zens, as shall be necessary."
The following named gentlemen were appointed said Committee, viz :- William Cothren, Philo M. Trowbridge, Calvin H. Downs George Saxton and William A. Gordon.
On the 12th of August, 1862. the following votes were in like manner, passed in legal town meeting ;-
" Toted, That whereas the late appropriation of this town for the encouragement of enlistments into the United States service has proved inadequate to pay the volunteers which have been found necessary to fill our town quota on the President's several calls, not including the last call for nine month's militia men ; pur- suant to a statute law of this State, the town of Woodbury will pay to each new recruit from said town, or who shall enroll him- self on the quota of said town, both on the deficit in our former quotas, and in our quota of the three hundred thousand nine months men last called for, the sum of one hundred dollars, as soon as he shall be mustered into the military service of the Uni- ted States, as a private soldier in the ranks of any regiment of Connecticut volunteers."
" Foted, That an additional bounty of ten dollars shall be paid to each such recruit, to make him equal with the first thirty re-
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cruits from this State, who are to receive said sum as a bounty from Charles G. Judson, Esq., of New York."
" Voted, That the thanks of this town be returned to Charles G. Judson, Esq., of New York, for his very handsome gift of three hundred dollars to encourage enlistments in his native town, and that, the Town Clerk be instructed to forward a certified copy of this vote to him, at New York."
" Voted That the Treasurer of the town of Woodbury be au- thorized to borrow, from time to time, such sums of money as shall be necessary to pay the soldiers who shall be recruited to fill the quota from this town, to an amount in the whole not ex- ceeding the sum of Five Thousand dollars, in addition to the for- mer appropriation of Three Thousand dollars, and also be author- ized to give a town note or notes for the same."
" Voted, That it shall be the duty of the Treasurer to pay said soldiers said two bounties on their being mustered into the ser- vice of the United States ; and he shall keep a true record of all soldiers so paid by him, that the number so paid may apply upon our several quotas for the service."
" Voted, That the Town Bounties shall be paid only to the vol- unteer, or to his order, and shall not be paid on any factorizing, or other legal process, it being intended to put the town bounty on the same footing as the State bounty."
" Voted, That the committee appointed at the last special town meeting, be authorized and requested, in addition to their other duties, to learn from time to time the condition of the families of our volunteers, and relieve their wants by subscription, as shall to them seem necessary."
" Voted, That the Treasurer of the town pay the Recruiting officer, or his assistant, the sum of three dollars for each recruit, to meet the expenses of transportation and recruiting men for our quota."
Previous to the 10th of September, 1862, a draft had been or- dered, but volunteering had been so active, under the vigorous action of the recruiting committee, and the earnest patriotism of the citizens, that on that date, but five recruits were lacking to fill the town's quota on all the calls to that time. Two more volun- teered in that meeting, so that it became necessary to draft only three, and the town voted to pay them, on the spot, a bounty sufficient, with the State bounty, to make the whole sum three hundred dollars, as will be seen by the following votes :-
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" Voted, That whereas on the 10th day of September, A. D. 1862, there remained five vacancies, necessary to be filled to fill all the quotas of Woodbury under all the calls of the President of the United States for military service to that date, and whereas the said town of Woodbury desires to be generous with its sol- diers, and whereas, at a large meeting of the inactive militia of said town, on said 10th day of September, 1862, it was immedi- ately recommended that the said town of Woodbury pay the sum of one hundred and sixty-seven 50-100 dollars bounty, in addition to the present bounty of one hundred and ten dollars, to every volunteer, and drafted men, who volunteered or was drafted on said 10th day of September, 1862, or who shall hereafter volun- teer or be drafted, or become a substitute for any drafted man, to count on all the quotas yet ordered by the Governor or President of the United States, up to said 10th day of September, 1862, till said quotas are full, after all requisitions are made up, making, with State bounty for nine months, the sum of three hundred dol- lars to each man who volunteers, or is drafted, sufficient to fill our quota to said date. And this bounty is given under the conside- ration, that it shall be paid only to the soldier himself, or to his order, and shall not be paid or given on any factorizing or other legal process whatsoever, the intent of this vote, like the prece- ding bounty votes of this town being, to present the town gift to the soldier himself, or to whom he shall direct, and to no other person-placing the town bounty on the same footing as the State bounties by statute are placed-said bounty to be paid as soon as the said men shall be mustered into the service of the United States, and that the drafted men and substitutes be paid three hundred dollars, instead of the sum herein named."
" Voted, That the Treasurer of the town of Woodbury be au- thorized to borrow an amount of money sufficient to pay the bounties under this, the last vote.
At the annual town meeting on the first Monday in October, the action of the special meeting held in September was ratified, with additions, as will be seen by the following action :-
" Voted, That it shall be the duty of the Treasurer of this town to pay the volunteers who have enlisted for nine months, under the last call of the President of the United States for 300,000 men, and who have been, or shall hereafter be credited to this
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town's quota of seventy-four men, the sum of one hundred and ten dollars; when they shall have been mustered into the service of the United States, as private soldiers."
" Voted, That an additional bounty of one hundred sixty-seven 50-100 dollars be paid by the Treasurer to Elisha Tuttle, who en- listed on the 10th day of September, 1862, when the aforesaid bounty of one hundred and ten dollars shall be due him, on being mustered into the United States service."
" Voted, That the Treasurer be directed to pay the men who were drafted in this town for nine months on the 10th day of Sep- tember, 1862, or to their substitutes, the sum of three hundred dollars each, when they shall have been mustered into the service of the United States."
" Voted, That the above named bounties be paid only to the volunteers, or drafted men, or to their order, and not on any fac- torizing or other legal process, putting this gift on the same foot- ings as the State and United States bounties."
" Voted, That the Treasurer of Woodbury be authorized to borrow, from time to time, such sums of money as shall be neces- sary to pay the aforesaid bounties, and to give a town note or notes therefor, at the legal rate of interest."
" Voted, That the record of the last vote, previous to adjourn- ment, passed at a legal town meeting, Aug. 12th, 1862, be altered and amended by the Town Clerk, by the insertion of the word ' hereafter,' in the 4th line after the word 'recruit.'"
The various bounty votes were right in themselves, and were beneficial in their effects. It was right that those who remained at home should contribute of their substance to assist those who were going to the front. To say nothing of the hazards of the service, they were doing more, in a pecuniary point of view even, than their neighbors at home. For there was scarcely an enlisted man who was not earning more money at home than the small wages paid by the government. So that a good share of praise should be awarded to every faithful volunteer, above any conside- ration that could be reckoned to the credit of the bounty, however large, for the patriotic conduct of leaving family and home, and daring the chances of perilous war.
But the volunteers of 1861 did not much relish the fact, that the new volunteers were receivimg liberal bounties, and praise on every hand. The subjoined letter from Lieut. Henry W. Loomis,
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formerly of Woodbury, in one of its passages, gives utterance to this feeling :-
"FORT SCOTT, VA., Oct. 17th, 1862.
" FRIEND COTHREN :- It has been sometime since I received your last kind and very welcome letter, and I have often proposed to myself to answer it, but varions causes have hitherto compelled me to defer it till now. Removed from the active duties of the field, to the more quiet, though somewhat monotonous routine of gar- rison life, we have now leisure for correspondence, reading, &c., which our boys are not slow to improve.
"The Ist Connecticut occupies the same forts that they did last winter, (Scott, Richardson and Barnard,) with the addition of three others, Ward, Worth and Blenker. These are all in excel- lent condition, and the men prepared by their Peninsular cam- paign and recent drill, feel competent to defend them against any attack that may be made upon them. Perhaps it will not be uninteresting to you to know how we fill out our time here. Well then, Reveille at 5 A. M., followed immediately by breakfast, which used to mean, while on the Peninsula, " coffee and hard bread," unless on the march, when it was oftener poor water with hard bread if we could get it-now however it means coffee, soft bread, and often some substantial dish along with them, while the boys supply themselves with all the luxuries the Sutler's " Store," or the markets of Alexandria afford. After breakfast we have Infantry drill from 7 to 8, then " Guard Mounting " at 9, a good hearty dinner at 12, Heavy Artillery drill from 2 to 3, Dress Pa- rade at sundown, preparatory to which, if you should step into our quarters, you would see a most vigorons polishing of brasses, shoes, equipments, &c., which has won for our Regiment, the en- viable position it holds for neatness, and clean guns-in which respect we are the wonder of all the new regiments, whose con- stant inquiry how we contrive to keep so clean, meets us on every side. Roll call again at 8 1-2, followed by ' taps ' a half hour later, when the lights are put out and all are expected to be still-so passes day after day, with the usual details necessary to do the labor, &c., incident to garrison life.
" Many of the men are becoming tired of this sameness, and long to be led once more to the front, preferring the active duties of the field, with the consequent excitement, to the easier life we lead here. And Mcclellan, God bless him, would not be averse to
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having us again with him in the field. For at the battle of Antie- tam, when reinforcements were called for, he exclaimed, ' would to God I had the 1st Connecticut here.'
"There are one or two things, friend Cothren, we should hardly have heeded while in active service, which now-when we have so much time for the discussion of the varied scenes of the differ- ent acts in the drama of the war, rather displease us. First-The enormous bounties paid to the new regiments, either to buy them, or stir up their patriotism-do not know which. Second-That these same new regiments, after having been dragged into the field by love of money or fear of a draft, should be styled the cream of the State, the best men who have left the State, and other appel- lations equally flattering to them.
"Now, we cannot see why these new men should receive a higher rate of compensation for their servic es, than we who have been out through all the previous campaigns. If the bounties had been voted to all, old as well as the new, there would have been some show of fairness about it, since we shall be obliged, those of us who ever go back, to help pay these same bounties, which seem to have been given as a reward for holding back till fear that a draft would compel them to go, Nolens, Volens. This seems to us a piece of injustice, whether right or not judge you. Again, as to these new regiments being called the cream of the State, &c. Now to me, this seems an unfortunate comparison, for I have al- ways been led to look to the top of milk for the cream, and to the , bottom for the dregs. But if the friends of these new regiments adapt their comparison to a different time, viz : the drawing of the milk, and claim in their favor the old maxim, the nearer the bot- tom the richer, I would just suggest that when one is so near the bottom, the force necessary to extract it would naturally drag in much of refuse, which would not only be of no use, but a positive injury to the cream.
Yours as ever, H. W. LOOMIS.
While Woodbury furnished volunteers for nearly every Connec- ticut organization, its particular interest always centered in the 5th Regiment, for which it raised Company E, a history of the organization of which has already been given, and in the 19th Re- giment, afterwards changed to the 2d Connecticut Heavy Artille-
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ry, to which it contributed Company I, which Company was ever the pet of the town.
The Regiment was a Litchfield County Regiment, and had its birth in a County Mass Convention, held at Litchfield, July 22, 1862, at which nearly every town was represented, and over which Hon. Seth P. Beers, a native of Woodbury, presided, and made a stirring and patriotic speech. Immediately after the close of Gen. McClellan's disastrous Peninsular campaign, President Lincoln called for 300,000 volunteers. This call was seconded by a stir- ring proclamation from Gov. Buckingham, dated July 3, 1862' urging the people of Connecticut to raise six or more regiments at once. In response to these proclamations the County meeting was held, and a county regiment was resolved on, Woodbury re- solved to raise one out of the ten companies composing it. The town, by its bounty votes, had encouraged the undertaking, and the old war recruiting committee entered into the work with a vigor never before equaled.
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