USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1872, Vol. II > Part 36
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY. 1221
flags flying, baggage-wagons, with three days rations, two ambu" lances, the medical staff, drums, fifes, bugles and all ! Between time's abont 150 men-all that remained of the 1st District of Colum- bia, the oldest volunteer regiment in the service, had gone quietly by, and then all settled into loneliness and quiet, only interrupted by the rapid gallop of an orderly, the low rumble of an ambu- lance, or the hurry and rush of the loaded trains, conveying all the rolling stock, and movable government property to Washing- ton, or the distant cries of vast droves of cattle being driven from just below our camp over to Long Bridge. Meantime, the forts kept up vivid signals, and, at times, the glare from Fort Ells- worth, reddened our faces, and crimsoned the moonlight on the floor. And the two girls slept, and the child breathed heavily, and kitty purred happily, and the two wives listened and waited, counting hour after hour, rejoicing as each moment passed, that no sound of fight reached us. And all through the night, in the chill night air, our regiment stood in battle line across the road, with the 1st Dist. of Columbia on the left, and the 153d New York on the right, the forts but poorly manned, and with no short-range guns, stretching along towards Washington. The Rebels came within four miles of them, but the night was so bright, and their opponents awake, they retired toward Fairfax, and the threatened rebel raid was choked off for once.
" The Colonel and Major were delighted with the readiness and pluck of the men, and the excitement has done the men good. They feel a confidence in themselves, and in their officers. Not a man fell back, or faltered. And I must mention, that what with the sick, the men detained in town, and at Parole Camp, they did not muster quite 500 strong, but many a complainer, and several but lately from the Hospital, turned out with the rest, and ran their chances of life and death. Alexandria rings, to-day, with praises of the 19th-Union and Rebel alike. For the rebels dread a raid of their own army, terribly, and pin their faith to the 19th, as a protection."
" ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 12th, 1863.
" Farewell to the camp on Shuter's Hill ! Good-bye to our old home, in this pest-house of the 'Sacred soil!' The men have suf-
P
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fered and died, and are sickening and dying still, but we hope change of air will bring them up, and restore to us many who are now in the hospital. Yet there is a kind of home-sick feeling comes across me, as I look over the well-known ground, and see nothing but the remnants of our various abodes The signal for striking tents was given at daylight, and at the drum-beat, down, down went the canvass city, and lay prone upon the ground. Then the streets, which every day have been military and quiet, were like suddenly disturbed ant-hills, perfectly swarming with life and excitement. Then the fun and the frolic began, and the ladies stood upon the hill-top, and laughed till we were tired, at the performances of the men. They had rat chases to their hearts' content. Such well-fed fellows as plunged out from beneath tent- floors, to meet a sudden death, I have seldom had the pleasure of seeing. Officers and men, darkies and citizens-one and all- joined in the race. and hundreds of the horrid vermin lie this morning upon the deserted ground, testifying to their struggles and death. What a scene the home of the 19th presents! The neat, well-ordered streets are almost obliterated by rubbish and remnants. Old boots, cast-off' caps, mateless stockings, burnt-out stoves, bristle-less blacking-brushes, old papers, broken boxes smashed bottles, fag-ends of ropes, bits of leather, rusty iron- every conceivable thing once useful and desirable, now become, as, everything else becomes-rubbish. Yesterday, when the wagons were being packed, the camp swarmed with camp-followers, eager- eyed, and light-fingered, grabbing right and left, and stowing into dirty bags, everything they could scrape together. They rushed past sentinels with bayonets, defied captains, insulted guards, and boldly plied their plundering trade directly under the noses of the military authorities. Even the officers caught the stealing mania, and robbed each other, relentlessly. Capt. Williams fought val- iantly for his dry-goods and groceries, and finally succeeded in re- taining his bedstead and mess-chest, by setting on the one, and putting his feet on the other. When he heard us laughing at his mishaps, he shook a broom at us, and just at that moment the Ad- jutant rode up, seized it, and made off with it in triumph. Then the captain lowered his head over the remnants of his posses sions, and-did not weep!
"The regiment moved up the Leesburg Pike, passed Fairfax Seminary, and encamped among the stumps, a few rods from the abbatis of Fort Worth. The liability of an immediate call to the
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front was now so far diminished that there was a very noticeable relaxation of military rigor. Dress Parade, Guard Mounting, and Camp Guard, were for some days the only disciplinary duties re- quired, and great was the enjoyment afforded by the respite. Stumps were to be cleared away, and ditching and draining done for a camp and parade ground; and the change from constant duty under arms to chopping, grubbing, and digging fresh earth, was extremely grateful and beneficial. True, the month of Janu- ary witnessed a greater mortality than any other of the entire twenty months passed in the ' defenses ; ' but it was the result of disease previously contracted.
" Fort Worth was a little earthwork about a quarter of a mile in rear of Fairfax Seminary, overlooking the broad valley of Hunt- ing Creek, and the Orange and Alexandria Railway, and mount- ing some twenty-four guns of all kinds-Rodman, Parrott, Whit- worth, 8-inch Howitzers, and iron and Coehorn mortars. Here began our artillery service; and for many months the 19th, al- though an infantry regiment, performed garrison duty in this and half a dozen other forts and redoubts in the vicinity,-thereby attaining a proficiency in artillery that eventually won the 'red,' and would doubtless have been effective at the front, if such ser- vice had ever been required of us. But it was not so to be."
Thus have we gone through with the principal events of the year in which Woodbury, and its sons had a part, and have shown that they performed it faithfully and well. We have recounted some of the events of a year of gigantic preparation, fierce and destruc- tive battles, of desperate defeats to our arms, and of more glorious victories to cheer the hearts of the loyal people of the country. The year 1862 closes with the hope, but not the certainty of a better record in future.
1863 .- Our account of the military events of 1862, in which the soldiers of Woodbury were interested, closed with the removal of the camp of the 19th Conn. Vols., from the pestilent locality at the head of King street, to the heights near Fairfax Seminary. Here, and in the vicinity, the regiment remained in the defenses, during this year, and till May, 1864. There is little of incident to record of this regiment during this time. They simply entered into the monotony of garrison life.
" During the entire season, the 19th was called upon for nothing more laborious than drilling, target practice, stockade building in
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Alexandria, picking blackberries, drinking a quarter of a gill of whiskey and quinine at Reveille and Retreat, and drawing pay from Major Ladd every two months. Yet a good many seemed to be in all sorts of affliction, and were constantly complaining, because they could not go to the front. A year later, when the soldiers of the 19th were staggering along the Pamunkey, with heavy loads and blistered feet, or throwing up breastworks with their coffee pots all night, under fire in front of Petersburg, they looked back to the defenses of Washington as to a lost Elysium, and fervently longed to regain those blissful seats. Oh Happi- ness ! why is it that men never recognize thy features until thou art far away ?"
In the early spring, a political incident engaged the earnest at- tention and discussion of the officers and mnen of the regiment. The two political parties had made their nominations, in accord- ance with their several views, and on account of the indecisive result of the war as waged in 1862, those who had originally been " peace men," with considerable accessions, came to the front, and there was a vigorous campaign.
"On or about the 28th of March, Colonel Aiken, of Connecti- cut, visited camp, and spent an hour or more with Colonel Wes- sells and Major Smith, at the quarters of the latter. Shortly after- ward, it became known that leaves of absence were to be granted to ten officers, and furlonghs to ninety men, for nine days- or un- til after the Connecticut election ; and each Company commander was reyested to select ten from his Company for this purpose, and to furnish a list of their names, to be forwarded to Washington, and embodied in an order. Some of the Captains were war dem- ocrats, some republicans, and some of no politics,-but all of thein professed to select those for furloughs who had the best reasons for going home, without regard to politics. The order shortly came, and the ten officers and ninety men left, for Connecticut." !
However it may have been with other companies, the division was made equal between the two parties in the number furlough- ed to Woodbury, if we regard party divisions as they existed when the company marched from our town. But it is the impres- sion of the writer, that such was the love of Woodbury soldiers
1 Vaills' 19th Regiment.
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for Governor Buckingham, and such their warm approval of his earnest efforts in the behalf of the Union, and such his kind, con- siderate and paternal care for the interest and welfare of all the soldiers, that he received their every vote.
An incident occurred at our election, which occasioned a mo_ mentary ripple upon the usually quiet surface of our society. When Company I was organized, a desperate shirk, and so far as he knew how to be, a disloyal man, whose name is withheld for fear he will attain more notoriety than he deserves, enlisted in the Company, to claim the bounties. Immediately after arriving in Virginia, he began to shirk duty, and finally was enabled, by his representations. to get into the hospital at Alexandria. The wri- ter called on him there, as he did on all the Woodbury soldiers, whereever he could find them, in Jan., 1862. He found him in bed, partaking,of rations, and with a pile big enough for three men. This man immediately besought him, with tears, to inter- cede for his release. with the authorities. This was accordingly done, and when the officer in charge of the hospital was asked why this soldier should not be discharged, he instantly replied, that " there was no reason in the world why he should not be dis- charged. He was," he said, " a d-d shirk, and knave, who had enlisted to get the bounties ; that he never had done and never would do the Government any service. and he would procure his discharge." He was discharged. and voted at this election. When the ten soldiers came up to vote, he reviled them, as " Lincoln hirelings," who had been sent home to vote for Gov. Buckingham. At the same time apparently suspecting that this insult would be resented, he drew a silver-mounted, six-barreled revolver, which
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had been loaned him by a peace man, and presented it. Not knowing with what intent the weapon was drawn, Sergeant M. D. Smith cried out, "Fall in, Co. I." The " Woodbury boys " as instantly obeyed, and a " double quick " was made for the revolver. The coward fired, but Mr. Alexander Gordon, who was standing near, knocked the muzzle down, and the weapon was discharged within an ace of his foot. The "squad " took the weapon, and Sheriff Minor took the miscreant into custody. When the nine days furlough expired, the " Woodbury nine " mounted the stage in front of the Post-office, and departed for the " defenses," ex- hibiting the revolver, and promising to use the weapon at the front. And it did do good execution against the rebels at a later day.
Several calls for volunteers and drafts were ordered by the Pres- ident in 1863. Woodbury, as usual, was in the forefront of re- cruiting and raising bounties. It passed the following votes :-
" Resolved, That the sum of six thousand four hundred dollars, or so much of said sum as may be necessary, be, and the same is hereby appropriated from the Treasury of this town, for the fol- lowing purposes, viz: Two Hundred Dollars thereof to be paid into the hands of a Committee, to be appointed for that purpose, for the benefit of each person drafted from this town, who shall not be exempt under any of the provisions of said law, and who shall be liable to answer to the said draft, under any of the pro- visions of said law ; said Committee to procure substitutes for each and all such drafted men; whenever each one so drafted shall furnish to said Committee the amount in cash over and above the $200, necessary to furnish a substitute, not exceeding $300 in the whole. Provided, that if substitutes cannot be had by said Committee for a sum not exceeding $300 each, that in that case said Committee pay over said $200 furnished by the town to each of such drafted men as are mustered into the service of the United States himself, and also to him who has not, and who does not re- fuse to accept a substitute, when to be had for a sum not exceed- ing $300.
" Resolved, That the Selectmen of the town be, and they are hereby authorized to borrow the said sum of $6,400, or such part thereof as shall from time to time be necessary, and make their order on the town therefor; and the Selectmen are hereby appointed to disburse said money or such part thereof to said Committee as shall be necessary to carry out the foregoing resolution.
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" Resolved, That the aforesaid bounties, or monies, in the hands of said Committee, be paid to the drafted man himself, or his sub- titute, or their order, who is entitled to the same; and not on ny factorizing or other legal process.
" Voted, That said Committee mentioned in the foregoing res- lutions to procure substitutes, shall consist of two, and Daniel Curtiss and Robert Peck were appointed said Committee."
Dec. 12th, '63, Town Meeting.
" Voted, That R. B. Martin, recruiting officer of the town, be au- horized, at the expense of the town, to employ one or more agents o assist him in obtaining volunteers to apply ou the quota of this own under the call of the President of the United States for 00,000 men.
" Voted, That the Selectmen of this town be directed to draw uch order or orders on the Treasury of this town, to carry out ach provisions of the foregoing vote as shall be allowed by a Committee hereafter to be appointed.
" Voted, That Daniel Curtiss, Robert Peek and Truman Minor, e a Committee to audit the accounts of the recruiting officers and equests above named, and to allow such bills, at their discretion, s they shall judge to be necessary to obtain volunteers to fill our uota, and deliver all such bills as are allowed by them, to the electmen."
Under these votes, recruiting went on rapidly, as it did under very other call, and the town nobly fulfilled its duty, under the institution and laws.
On the 23d of November, the Govornor called for colored volun- ers for the 29th Regiment, and the colored men of our town came rward with great alacrity. More than half of the able-bodied en; almost immediately enlisted, and did good service. At the llapse of the Rebellion, two companies of that Regiment which ntained Woodbury colored men, had the honor of being the st infantry which entered Richmond.
There was no duty devolved upon the army during the war d, brave, or glorious, in which the Woodbury soldiers did not ke a part. One of the saddest duties which a soldier can be lled to perform is, to shoot, a comrade. Yet the stern exigen- es of the service sometimes required this. A description of a
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single case of execution in the 8th Connecticut, at which some of our Woodbury boys assisted, will suffice :-
" CAMP NEAR PORTSMOUTHI, December, 1863.
" DEAR FRIEND AND EDITOR :- Having a few leisure moments, I propose to give you an outline of an incident which occurred in our regiment yesterday. You are aware that there has been an addition made to our regiment in the shape of conscripts. Quite a number of them have deserted, and it was found necessary to have an example made of some of them, to put a stop to it. Therefore, two of them who had deserted twice and were caught again, were sentenced to be shot, and the sentence was carried out yesterday. At 9 A. M., the regiments of this brigade were form- ed on their respective parade grounds, and marched to an open field near Fort Reno.
" A hollow square was then formed, and the men rested on their guns, to await the arrival of the prisoners, with their escort. At half-past nine the funeral escort started from the brigade head. quarters, the band playing a dirge. The band was followed by detail of eight men, carrying the coffins on stretchers, followed by a section of the Provost Guard.
"Next came two carriages containing the prisoners and their spir itual advisers. The procession was closed by a section of the Pro vost Guard. As the escort entered the square, a solemn silence prevailed. After the escort had marched around the square, th prisoners were taken out of the carriages and led up in front o the detail that were to execute them. After the priests (for the; were Ctholics) had shrived them, they were made to kneel in fron of their coffins, and bandages put over their eyes. Soon the fata order was given to fire, and their souls passed into eternity. was an impressive scene, and it is to be hoped that it will be solemn warning to those that would desert their country's cause.
The year of 1863 was a year of substantial victories for th cause of the Union. Everywhere the men of the North an swered the full demands of duty, and our little town was re resented on the greater, glorious battle-fields. Wherever deed of valor, or courage were to be done, they were to be foun Space permits a reference to only one, the sternest of battle which saved the nation's life, and in which they participated, was the glorious battle of Gettysburg, where Gen. Lee, for ond
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ventured to invade our free soil, and tried to bring us to all the horrors of invasion, which the " sacred soil " had so long suffered, in the effort of the government to restore its rightful authority over the the entire territory of the nation.
"On the morning of the 3d-the last and great day of the bat- tle,-Gen Geary, who had marched from the center to the right during the previous night, was attacked by the enemy at early dawn. However, he soon succeeded in driving him back, and in ousting him from that part of the field, which he had won the day before. The battle then surged along this part of the line, with great fury. The enemy being uniformly repulsed, till 11 A. M., when it ceased, and over the whole field everything was omi- nonsly silent for two hours. The soldiers ate their dinners and rested, pondering what the issue might be. At 1 P. M. two sig_ nal guns, from the Rebel line, broke the silence, and were at once followed by the roar of one hundred and twenty-five cannon, massed in position against our left center. Our own batteres res- ponded, and for over two hours there was the grandest artillery prelude ever heard on this continent. Shot and shell rushed, whistled, shrieked and moaned, and the very air seemed alive with the flying projectiles. At length our guns ceased to reply, and the artillery roar slackened. Then followed the grand assault of the rebels. In it was one half of their whole army. On they came, with a heavy line of skirmishers in front, and two complete lines of battle. They were received principally by the second corps, which behaved with magnificent courage. Reinforcements were rapidly sent to its support, and all our available artillery was converged upon the advancing enemy. Their first line seemed to sink in the earth, but with the madness of desperation on they rushed.
"Now they had reached our guns, and were in the act of turn- ing them against us, when a determined charge recovered them. For several hours, division after division was hurled against the firm and solid lines of our army, only to be dashed back with slaughter and confusion. Finally, the sullen roar of battle rolled off to the southwest, and the enemy withdrew, repulsed and de- feated.
"Thus elosed the terrible battle of Gettysburgh. The pride and power of the Rebel invasion were thoroughly broken by the invincible valor and obstinate bravery of the hard-marched veterans of the army of the Potomac."
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1864. The year opened with increased preparation and hope. The idea that this was to be a short war, had long since been abandoned, and the certainty that it would be a long, costly, and bloody one, had become a moral certainty. But the intention of the government to defend itself, and bring the war to a suc- cessful elose, had never been more determined.
The 19th Connecticut was, by an order from the War Depart- ment, issued on the 23d of November, 1863, changed into the 2d Connecticut Heavy Artillery, to the general joy of the men, and they thenceforth added artillery tactics to their course of instruc- tion. But they were destined never to fight as artillery. The . only benefit to them was, the increase of their number up to eighteen hundred men, the full complement of an artillery regi- ment.
In the early spring of 1864, General Grant, who had been sig- nally successful in the campaigns of the west, was appointed Lieut. General, and made commander in chief of all the armies of the United States. He established his head-quarters with the Army of the Potomac-the army of so many sad disasters. From the beginning of the war, till now, it had been deemed necessary, by the successive commanders, to keep a large number of troops in the defenses of Washington. Grant reversed all this. When he wanted soldiers for his campaigns, he did not hesitate to take them from the defenses of the capital, or anywhere else where he could find them, nor was he particular from which arm of the ser- vice he took them.
On the 17th of May, 1864, an order arrived for the regiment to march at once for the head-quarters of the Army of the Poto- mac, with five days rations. They reached their destination on the 20th, and were assigned to the 2d Brigade, Ist Divis- ion, Sixth Corps. Late in the evening of the 21st, " began that long and terrible series of marches, which were continued almost without a breathing spell, until the Ist of June, when the battle of Cold Harbor began.
On the 27th, Col. Upton called on Col. Kellogg, and said :-
"'Colonel, let your men know that we are to have a march to- night, so that they may get as much rest as possible. We shall probably be within fifteen miles of Richmond to-morrow morning.' At eight o'clock the column was again in motion, on the road fol- lowing the left bank of the Pamunkey; and oh! what language will convey to those who were not there, the least idea of the
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murderous cruelty in that march ? We had already suffered all that flesh and blood seemed able to bear, on the road from Spott- sylvania to the North Anna, and the future had in store for us many other marches that were grievous beyond expression ; but I am persuaded that if all the regiment were to be summoned-the living and the dead-and notified that all their marches except one must be performed over again, and that they might choose which one should be omitted, the almost unanimous cry would be, 'De- liver us from the accursed night march along the Pamunkey !' In darkness and silence, hour after hour, without a rest of more than five minutes at a time, the corps was hurled along that sandy road. There was no danger that the head of the column would lose its way, for a large body of cavalry had preceded us a day or two before, and dead horses lined the road throughout, at intervals averaging not more than a quarter of a mile, sickening all the motionless air. Ten o'clock,-eleven o'clock,-midnight,-two o'clock,-four o'clock,-the darkness began to fade before the in- flowing tides of the morning light, but still the jaded men moved on. Captain Burnham, with stockings and rags bound upon his blistered feet like sandals, (his boots having been used up and thrown away,) hobbled painfully along beside his men, whose feet, like those of all the rest, were in the same condition."
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