The Connecticut war record, 1863-1865, Part 49

Author: Morris, John M., ed
Publication date: 1863
Publisher: New Haven : Peck, White & Peck
Number of Pages: 886

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is a regiment composed of good material-its men . are plucky and true, and have shown their patriot- ism by reenlisting nearly en masse.

God bless our manly veterans.

The Business of To-day.

To rout the rebel armies is to crush rebellion. To advance overwhelming columns is to rout the rebel armies. Ilence, let strong columns advance | call was made, patriotism was reviving and the |perity and peace .- Hon. Andrew G. Curtin.

to swift and certain triumph. This is manifestly the view and purpose of our President.

! young men were begining to respond nobly. In some towns indeed such as Kent, Cornwall and Will the people furnish the men to form these strong and solid columns ? It is their interest and Brooklyn the quota was filled, let it be remembered to their lasting honor, by citizens of those towns. their duty, and they will do it. Never has a call ; Rnt the idea of purchasing volunteers got abroad. for troops caused so little elamor, prodneed so Enthusiasm died away and the young men of the little fluttering or complaint. The people are re. state shirked the noblest service they have ever solved that the demand shall be met promptly and | had opportunity to perform. The various towns squarely.

filled their quotas, to an alarming extent, with

We have then only to consider just what is to ; men fresh from Europe, ignorant of our institu. be done, and the best way to do it. And, firstly, ; tions and ten times worse with adventurers, thieves, what is to be done? The call for 500,000 just is. ; fugitives from justice, men of the vilest and most suel is really inclusive of the former demand, and : desperate sort, and these they send as their repre- is substantially a call for 200,000 more. We have : sentatives in the grand army, these they send to examined carefully all the data within reach con- be companions of the splendid patriot veterans eerning enlistments of every description and e-ti- who have borne the brunt of this fierce strife, mated to the best of our ability the veteran re-en- , these they send to maintain the honor of the state listments not yet accurately reported. Amid con- ! and save the nation. Well it is done; but is it flieting data we are not able to give exact figures. | safe to send more such men ? can they be trusted ? It is certain, however, that the quota of the State ! may they not fail us at the critical moment, or under the last call is more than filled-and that ' saving us to-day, may they not become the pliant the number of men which the State must furnish , tools of some ambitious general, and enslave ns to- to answer the call for 500,000 is considerably less : morrow ? Mercenaries are a treacherous support. than 2,000. These are to be raised before the ! We want citizen soldiers, men who will do honor 10th of March by volunteering or immediately . to the state-perform their whole duty in the field, thereafter by a draft. It is right and proper that , men who will return from the service to enjoy as the whole business should be closed up and the : good citizens the institutions they defended as

strong columns formed before the first of April. And it is earnestly hoped that in delinquent spe- tions the government will delay no longer than i the 10th of March.

The government seems resolved on this course. Instructions have been issued to the various Pro- ! the country.

vost Marshals to prepare for a draft on the loth of March. This has not before been done.

The men of maturer years, the men of business, must furnish the money. This is as essential as But whether the draft is certain to take place ! men : without it the war must stop. The nation or not, we are bound in honor and duty to raise ! cannot afford to let its business men enter the 2,000 men before that day.

army. They are doing the best they can for their Now, secondly the best way to do our duty. country. They are doing nobly. They pay boun. The machinery for volunteering is already in ' ties, and give freely to soldiers' families and to full operation, and must be worked vigorously. | Sanitary Commissions. They respond generously If enlistments should continue as rapidly up to to every call to aid and encourage the soldier. the tenth of March as they were inade during the ' They have made that which was duty also the in-

week preceding the call, the number would be ob- ; terest of the young men. And to day, in many ! TICUT WAR RECORD. Nor Harer, Conn.

trined withont extraordinary exertions. But / cases, the best thing a young man can do for him- many of these volunteers came from other states, i self or his finnily is to enlist. After the Inth of; SCHOOL BOOK REPOSITORY, and since the new call this supply seems to fail : March the bounties will be stopped.

us, so that renewed exertions are imperatively

Young men of Connecticut can you afford to necessary. Let us rouse ourselves to make these |lose the opportunity ; can you afford to act at once exertions for the honor of this good old common- wealth and the good of our splendid Nation. Every one of the veteran regiments in our midst ought to be filled to the maximum with sound and

THE CONNECTICUT WAR RECORD.

FEBRUARY, 1864.

*** All communications should be addressed to " THE Cox- NECTICUT WAR RECORD," Nero Haven, conn.

In the destruction of the military power of the rebellion alone is hope and peace, for while armed rebels march over the soil of any State, no real freedom ean prevail, and no governmental auther. ity consistent with the genins of free institutions can properly operate. The rebellion must be cis- armed and trodden in the dust. Dy these means,

In promoting enlistments for this, doubtless, the last call for troops, we should make our strongest effort to induce citizens of the state to enter the army. We hope that efforts which are made to purchase volunteers from outside the state will be few and fruitless. When the last j and these alone, can we have enduring union, pros-

The Annual reports of the Soldiers' Aid Society, several excellent letters, and other interesting matter are reluctantly bnt necessarily postponed to the next number. The March number we hope to issue earlier in the month.

Important to all.

The State enlistment premium of ten dollars and the U. S. premium of twenty-five dollars are now offered to any man who will bring in a recruit. Let the people go to work and fill the quota them- selecs.

We are happy to acknowledge the receipt of " Brownlow's Knoxville Whig and Rebel Ventila- tor." Keen, spicy and original it is well worth tho price of subscription. We should be very glad to know the person who sends us the paper.

Cy" Pages 139 to 146 inelusive, are erroneously printed 159 to 160.

THE CONNECTICUT WAR RECORD, A MONTHLY JOURNAL,

Established to collect and preserve, in a permanent form, for perpetual remembrance, the record of the services of Connecticut, in the present great struggle for the Union and Nationality, will con- tain, monthly, fresh and regular correspondence from all Connecticut regiments, and a sketch of what we at home are doing for the war and our

It will also contain, in successive numbers, an accurate history of

EVERY CONNECTICUT REGIMENT,

from the beginning, and as a whole, will comprise a complete and authentie record of the important services in this gigantie struggle, of the heroic sol- diers and the noble people of our gallant State. This work, no History of the war, and no other pub- lication is doing, or can do.

Every intelligent citizen of Connecticut should obtain the War Record for perusal and preservation. Published monthly, at New Haven, Conn., by l'ECK, WHITE & PECK. Price, $1.00 per annum, in advance.

Address all letters invariably to THE CONNEC-

No. 346 CHAPEL ST,, NEW HAVEN,

The attention of Merchants, Manufacturers,

against interest and duty? Fill up the grand old School Committees, Teachers, and others, is in- vited to our extensive stock of Books and Station- ery, which we offer at the lowest prices, Every description of Record and other Blank Books inde to order, of the best materials, at short rotice. PECK. WHITE & PECK.

regiments now on holiday among you. March with them to speedy victory. Prove yourselves inen and win honor and gratitude from this great brave volunteers ere they return to the field. and generous people.

soldiers, men whom we can trust in the army, and honor at home.

And these citizen soldiers must be enlisted from the young men of our towns and villages. It is | gallant soldiers.

their peculiar privilege and especial duty to defend

THE CONNECTICUT WAR RECORD.

OUR STATE POINTS TO DEEDS, NOT ACRES.

JOHN M. MORRIS, Editor. 1 NEW HAVEN, MARCHI, 1864.

VOL. I. No. 8.

HORACE C. PECK, Publisher. )

( $1 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

We add to our advertising columns this month. We should prefer not to do this, but we must. We priut a large sheet in the very best style on excellent paper, and at a very low price. The cost of material and labor has so advanced, that we are spending more than the income from sub- seriptions.

We assure our numerous readers that the prom- ises, made in the prospectus of the WAR RECORD, will be more than made good.

Error Corrected.

By the insertion of a figure 5 instead of a 3, by our printer, who is usually almost infallible, page 139 of the February number is made to read 159, and so on to page 146. We shall index these pages by a star, so as to prevent confusion in the bound volume.

For the Connecticut War Record. Record of Events.

Jan. 26. Successful expedition under Gen. Palmer into Jones and Onslow Counties, N. C.

Jan. 27. Longstreet's advance defeated by Gen. Sturges at Fair Gardens, East Tenn. Capture of two guns and 100 prisoners.

Feb. 1. Repulse of the enemy in New Creek Valley, West Va. Battle of Bateli- elor's Creek, near Newbern, N. C. Fed- erals retire to their intrenehments at Newbern. Loss of the gunboat Under- writer.

Feb. 2. Patterson's Creek Bridge, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, de- stroyed by the rebels. Enemy retreat from Newbern to Kingston, N. C. Cap- ture of the Union General Seammon on the Kanawha river.

Feb. 3. General Averill defeats the rebels at Springfield, West Va.

Feb. 4. Colonel Mulligan drives Early from Moorfield, West Va. Snecessful skinnish at Sartatia, Miss,

Feb. 5. General Sherman captures Jackson, Miss. Capture of Yazoo City, Miss.

through the lower part of Middle Tennes- see ; 33 killed and 102 captured.

Feb. 7. Surprise of a body of confed- erate and rebel Indians at Quallatown, East Tenn .; 215 killed and wounded, 50 taken prisoners. Repulse of the enemy at Vidalia, La.

Taking advantage of the temporary depletion of our armies, caused by the re- enlistment and furlonghs of the veterans, the enemy, on the Ist ult., threw a strong column against the national position at |Newbern. This force was commanded by General Pickett-one of the best of

Feb. 8, 9, 10. Defeat of the enemy at the confederate officers, whose grand Camp Finnegan, Fla., and advance off charge on the last day of Gettysburg was Gillmore's forces to Sanderson ; capture of 100 prisoners and 8 guns.

Feb. 11. Escape of 109 national off- eers from Libby prison. Safe arrival of about GO within the Federal lines.

only equaled by the heroie bravery with which it was repulsed-and numbered Jabont fifteen thousand men. Falling upon the Uuion ontposts at Batchelor's Creek, after a severe and bloody struggle, the enemy succeeded in forcing them back within the strong lines with which

Feb. 14. Capture of the rebel Colonel Ferguson and GO prisoners in Wayne; Co., West Va. Meridian, Miss., evacuated | Newbern is surrounded. The timely ar- by the rebels. Colonel Phillips defeats i rival of reinforcements from Beaufort in- the rebel Indians and Texans on the Mid- dle Boggy river, Ind. Ter.

creased the confidence of the Union troops in their ability to hold their posi- Feb. 17. General Smith's cavalry en- ters Pontotoc, Miss. tion and demonstrated to the rebel com- Feb. 18. Capture of 28 of Moseby's men mander the folly of attempting to carry it by storm, which probably had been his at Piedmont, Va. Blowing up of the original intention. Unwilling to com- Housatonie off' Charleston harbor by a mence a regular siege, he accordingly re-

torpedo. Naval demonstration by Far- ragut at Grant's Pass, Mobile Bay. Cap- ture of 20 guerrillas in Webster County. West Va.

treated at once to Kingston.

The rebel foree engaged in this enter- prise had been largely drawn from Rich- mond and its vicinity, and consequently left that city comparatively defenseless. Feb. 20. National forces repulsed at Olustee, Fla. Capture of 17 of Moseby's guerrillas at Piedmont Station, Va. General Butler conceived the bold de- sign of throwing a portion of his com- Feb. 21. Recounoisance towards Sa- vannah, Ga .; capture of 20 prisoners. Severe cavalry engagement between Gren- mand against and possibly into the con- federate capital. The execution of this design was intrusted to General Wis- eral Smith and the rebel General Forrest tar, who, after a rapid march ot forty- at West Point, Miss.

seven miles in twenty-seven hours, reach-

Feb. 22. Surprise and capture of 50 ed Bottom's Bridge, only ten miles from Union cavalry at Vienna, Va. Surprise Richmond. Here the rebels were found and capture of a battalion of national in force, having been made aware of the cavalry near Cumberland Gap, East Teun. Union advance through the treachery

Feb. 24. Battle at Tunnel Ilill, Ga .; of a deserter. This of course frustrated capture of 300 rebels; enemy fall back Butler's plans, although they had been on Dalton.

For the Connecticut War Record. Review of Events. SUMBER FIGHT.

well devised, and although their partial execution had been brilliant. The expedi- tion withdrew in good order and perfect safety.

Simultaneously, and as a part of this

The campaigns of eighteen hundred Feb. 6. Reconnoisanee in foree across and sixty-four are now fairly commenced movement, General Meade pushed a the Rapidan, from the Army of the Po -! in nearly every theatre of the war. It is strong column across the Rapidan for the tomae. Unsuccessful advance upon Rich- mond from Williamsburgh, under Gen. Wistar. a matter of general belief as well as of purpose of preventing Lee from sending earnest hope, that these campaigns will reinforcements to Richmond. This ob- prove decisive and triumphantly close jeet being attained, the force was with-

Feb. 6-8. General guerrilla hunt this great struggle in favor of the Union. drawn to its old encampment.

154

THE CONNECTICUT WAR RECORD.

[MARCH,

Since the opening of the Mississippi jing failed to effect a junction with Sher- |fore the surgeon, and then were vilified because river and the separation of Texas from | man, if indeed such an object had been the eastern portion of the confederacy, the rebels have largely relied for their

contemplated. The grand objective of these various operations is the possession supplies of beef on Northern and West- [and control of the city and bay of Mo- ern Florida. To ent off' this sonree of bile and of the Tombigbee and Alabama supply and to give employment to a superfluous number of troops, General Gillmore organized an expedition, which,

. under his own command, ascended the St. John's river, landed at Jacksonville, and at once strnek for the interior of Florida. The immediate results were highly flattering. Eight guns and over one hundred prisoners were captured. But, having penetrated fifty-five miles beyond Jacksonville, in the direction of Tallahassee, the capital of the State, the expeditionary force, now under the or- ders of General Seymonr, and through his want of caution, was enconntered by the enemy, heavily reinforced from the army of Beauregard, and after a severely con- tested fight, was obliged to fall back to Sanderson, eight miles to the rear of the battle field. From thence the retreat was continued to Jacksonville.

But the great event of the last month -in fact the boldest movement of the whole war-is the advance of General! Sherman from Vicksburg into the heart of the confederacy. His army numbers thirty thousand veteran soliliers and is very ably commanded. He reached

Jackson on the 5th ult., and from thence of Longstreet in East Tennessee, and this marched directly cast. The latest and officer is now retreating to Virginia, most reliable reports locate him at Selina, closely pursued by General Schofield. which is but a short distance from Mont-

Assuredly the operations of this year

gomery. His communications with Vicks. have been commenced on the granilest burg are abandoned, and plainly, there- ' scale, and may the God of battles defend fore, he does not intend to retreat, but the right.

rather to establish a new base on the' Gulf. Whether this will be at Mobile or al Pensacola can be known only by the Recruiting in Connecticut-Its Progress and Results. event. It is generally believed that ai cooperating force from Banks has been ; sent against Mobile, while the navy un- 'uhus of liberal bounties from the State and National der the gallant Farragut will endeavorto

Since the first of December last, under the stim- governments, recruits have poured in rapidly. But these incentives were not the only causes of the reduce the fortifications which protect influx of volunteers. Recruiting agents-men of have raised. the harbor of that city.

A heavy cavalry force, under the com- mand of Smith and Grierson, left Mem- . sin from towns, for toen to count on their quotas. phis on the 11 th nlt ,and after a serionsand . dangerous delay, arrived at West Point,. ing for the army. Miss., on the 21st ult., having thoroughly

Much has been said about the deception and villainy practiced by agents, brokers, and runners, destroyed the bridges on the Mobile and but it is quite possible that these statements may

Ohio Railroad and burned large quanti- ties of rebel provisions. At this point the expedition encountered the com- bined forces of Forrest, Lee, Chal- mers, and Roddy, and, after a severe engagement, fell back to Memphis, hav-

rivers. Of this there seems to be no reasonable doubt. Ilow far the failure of Smith to join Sherman may affect the attainment of these results, must be left for the future to determine.

Meanwhile from the immediate front of Chattanooga, General Thomas has marched southward and has driven the rebels from Tunnel Hill back upon Dal- ton. The apparent object of this move- ment is to take advantage of the possi- bility that Johnston may weaken his army at Dalton, to resist the further ad- vanece of Sherman, and, should he do so, to force him back beyond Atlanta.

In this Southwestern campaign, now opening, General Grant has skillfully assumed the initiative and seems to present to the rebel commander the alternative of giving up Mobile, and the Tombighee and Alabama rivers, or of abandoning Atlanta and Northern Georgia. The development of the vari- ons cooperating movements will be watched with the most intense interest and anxiety. They have already frus- trated whatever plans of invasion the rebels may have based upon the position

they expected payment for time and trouble. Agente had to sustain the expenses of an office -- rent, fuel, printing, &c .- besides in many instan- ces employing runners, and generally dividing the premiums to which they were entitled with either the broker or the recruit. Credit to whom credit is due. It ill becomes the people to abuse those who, by procuring recruits out of the State, relieved them from the annoyances of a draft. Besides, it must be remembered that the anxiety of the towns to complete their quotas, and of the Government to reerait the armies, which impelled the proffer of large bounties and preminms, was of itself the dircet cause of whatever of fraud and de- ception was practiced, for it is undeniable that there were instances where the recruit was defrauded of a portion of the bounty to which he was justly en- titled. But these were probably exceptional cases, at least in Connecticut. As a general thing, the recruiting has been conducted with as much honor and fairness as could have been expected under the temptations of generons bonnties and premiums.

The belief that the rebellion is in its decadenee, and that one or two vigorous campaigns will dis- perse the rebel armies and open the way to an honorable peace, has greatly stimulated enlist- ments. The appearance nnd reception also, at Hartford and New Haven, of the returned regi- ments-strong, hearty men, embrowned by expo- sure, and hardened and developed by exercise, solid ranks of earnest patriot heroes again in a body tendering their services to the country -has. been of immense advantage, by awakening a spirit of emulation, and inducing the enlistment of those who before were content that others should wear the honors as well as bear the burdens of the soldier.

The plan of dividing the duty of filling the State's quota and the onns of the draft by making each sub-district responsible for its own quota, and ordering a draft only in those which have failed to furnish their number, will equalize the. burden and give each town the proper eredit fer the men it has raised. If a town has enlisted more than its required number. its citizens will have the assurance that others less enterprising will not reap the benefits of their labors to their own detriment in case of another requisition. Each town now, therefore, must fill its own quota, and cannot supinely depend upon the superior activi- ty of another to make good its shortcomings. Under this ruling of the Provost Marshal's De- partment, if the total quota of a State should be filled under any call, it would not release a town from the draft which had failed to furnish its proportion of the men. From these considerations it would seem to be the part of good policy for cach town to take advantage of the facility of procuring men under the present system of liberal bounties, which will not, in all probability, again be offered, and add as many as possible to its number furnished the Government, and thus be prepared to answer another call, or to relieve its citizens from the severities of a conscription. The citizens of some towns are already at work on this plan, and continue the offer of peeuniary indnec- ments, regardless of the number they may nlready

The State may well feel pride at the prompt response of her citizens to the call of the National Executive on the present requisition. Up to tho first of February, the number enlisted under this call was four thousand five hundred, to which may be added for that short month to March first, one thousand four hundred and fifty more, making a total of nearly six thousand.

The general re-enlistment of regiments in the field is a still more encouraging faet, the men to a man counng forward to pledge themselves anew to their country's canse. From the data at hand it appears that of the First Artillery (the menibers of the original Fourth Regiment) three hundred and ninety three have re-enlisted ; of the Fifth. two hundred and seventy. six; Sixth, two hundred and seven; Seventh, three hundred and

fhave been exaggerated. The envy of those who ) (those whose period of service will permit) almost could not share in the profits of the business, is entirely suthciens to account for the circulation of reports unfavorably to agents as a class. Brokers brought reernits from other States, not unfre- quently boarding and lodging them for a week or more, paying their fires and other expenses for hundreds of miles, running the risk of losing them by the way, or of having them rejected when be. I thirty ; Eighth, three hundred and wine; Tenth,

energy and business qualifications-were appoint- of, who received from the State and Nation liberal premiums for recruits, and in some cases a large With these incentives to exertion, the agents Estared no gains to forward the business of recruit

155

THE CONNECTICUT WAR RECORD.

1864.]

organized. For a while the companies, as successor. Second Lieut. Charles HI. Hoyt forty-six; and of the First Cavalry (member's ; they reportel in Hartford, were assigned ; resigned June 10th, and Frederick W. Jack- of the original battalion of four companies) about temporary quarters in varions buildings ; bnt one hundred.

Of the Ninth, Twelfth and Thirteenth, we have not yet obtained the figures.

The record is a noble one, and contrasts proud. ly with the merciless conscription and enforced service to which the citizens and soldiers of the | position of the companies in line of battle rebellious States are exposed.

It should be the pride of citizens of a Demo- cratic Republic that no compulsory service should be necessary to keep up their armies, but that the ranks should be kept full by volunteers. It can. be done by the people of Connecticut, and all drafts avoided, by a determined spirit and a pro -! per display of energy and offer of encouragenient.

From the Atlantic Monthly for February. The Last Charge. BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

Now, men of the North ! will you join in the strife For country, for freedom, for honor, for life ? The giant grows blind in his fury and spite, -- One blow on the forehead will settle the fight !

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The Connecticut war record, 1863-1865, Part 49

Author: Morris, John M., ed Publication date: 1863 Publisher: New Haven : Peck, White & Peck Number of Pages: 886

Author: Morris, John M., ed
Publication date: 1863
Publisher: New Haven : Peck, White & Peck
Number of Pages: 886