USA > Connecticut > The "Twenty-seventh." A regimental history > Part 6
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
" HEADQUARTERS FOURTH BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, SECOND CORPS, CAMP IN PLEASANT VALLEY, MARYLAND, July 17, 1863.
" GENERAL ORDER-NO. 9.
" The term of service of the Twenty-seventh Connecti- cut Volunteers having nearly expired, it has been re- lieved from further duty, and ordered to report to its place of enrolment.
" The Colonel commanding the brigade desires, in parting with the officers and men of the Twenty-seventh Connecticut, to convey to them his sincere feelings of regret at losing their services, while at the same time he thanks them for the obedience and faithfulness which have been a marked feature of the regiment.
" Knowing it intimately for so many months of active and arduous service-having been an eye-witness of its many deeds of gallantry, and of the noble devotion displayed by it on many a memorable day, during the time in which he has had the honor to command its ser- vices-he feels it a duty he owes, not only to the living heroes, but to the memory of those who have fallen in the field in battling in our righteous cause, to bear testi- mony to the valor and gallantry it has always displayed.
" Side by side with the veterans of the Army of the Potomac it has fought, and by the gallantry of its con- duct won for itself an enviable name and reputation, and which may well, in after years, cause all who belong to it to feel a pardonable pride in having it to say that they served with the Twenty-seventh Connecticut.
" By order. COLONEL BROOKE.
" CHARLES P. HATCHI, Lieutenant,
" Acting Assistant Adjutant-General."
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
With glad hearts the men formed in line at an early hour and took the cars for Baltimore, after a parting salute to the brigade, as it marched by on its way into Virginia. On the twentieth, the detachments of paroled men from Annapolis and Camp Convalescent arrived at Baltimore, and the whole regiment, now mustering about half the original number, started by railroad for New- Haven. Once more we were entertained at the "Volun- teer Refreshment Saloon," in Philadelphia, and, after a night's bivouack at the Battery, in New-York, arrived at the "place of enrolment" on the twenty-second of July, 1863, exactly nine months from the date of depart- ure for the field. We shall not attempt to describe the hearty enthusiasm and deep feeling of the reception which followed. That "glorious welcome home " will long be remembered by the soldiers of the Twenty- seventh. Escorted by the military companies of the city and the municipal authorities, the regiment marched from the cars to the north portico of the State House, while " Welcome !" pealed from the ringing bells, thun- dered in the roar of cannon, waved from every flag-staff, and shone on every countenance of the vast multitude, gathered from all parts of the county, and thronging the streets and public square. At the State House, after the regiment had been drawn up "in column by division," the Mayor presented the formal welcome of the city, and was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Bacon in a brief address, clos- ing with a prayer of thanksgiving. The following poem, written by Mrs. William Doty, of New-Haven, and ac- companying a gift of laurel wreaths to the field-officers, was then read :
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
A TRIBUTE OF WELCOME
TO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
WE'LL fling to the breeze our banner bright, America's emblem of freedom and right, And rallying round the standard true, Shout a joyous welcome, brave patriots, to you.
Ye went forth from us, a loyal band, Firm on the side of right to stand ;
Ye return with hearts still brave and true ;
Then our warmest greeting we give to you.
Ye return, but our tears will fall as ye come, For the mournful notes of the muffled drum
Are borne on the breeze over mountain and wave, As it beats the dirge by your comrades' grave.
With the order, " Forward !" ye marched proudly on, And your colors bright to the front were borne ; When the smoke of the battle had cleared away, Side by side with the " veterans " your brave boys lay.
Through the summer's heat and winter's cold At your post ye stood, fearless and bold ; And when on the field, 'mid the conflict dire, Ye did not " quail at the enemy's fire."
Oh ! the road to Richmond hath altars bright, Where, a " captive band," ye camped at night, And "Libby's " grim walls a record bears, Of the patriot's song and the hero's prayers.
Now the toil is over, the march is done ; And the wreath of laurel, ye've bravely won, -
We offer to you, and our welcome it breathes, For our prayers were twined with its glossy leaves.
But ye're not all here, and we'll look in vain For the smiles that will greet us never again ; And the quivering lip and tearful eye Mutely ask you where our treasures lie.
a
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
Some sleep where Virginia's waters flow, Murmuring their requiem soft and low ; Others with fairest flowers were drest, And close by the old homes laid to rest.
When the angel of peace, with brooding wing, Shall fly o'er our land and its anthem sing, With trembling fingers the strings she'll sweep, As she nears the spot where our loved ones sleep.
Then a costly crown will our country wear, And bright the gems that shall sparkle there. She shall sit a queen, peerless and free, And the graves of her heroes her glory be !
Still firmly stand, in God your trust, Till the rebel horde shall bite the dust,
And the North and South encircled be With the bands of truth and liberty.
Fight on, till our starry flag of blue, Each glistening fold to its purpose truc,
Shall wave from wild Atlantic's roar To the golden strands of Pacific's shore.
At the conclusion of these exercises a bountiful colla- tion was served up, after which the men separated, to await the completion of the papers necessary to the final muster out of service, which took place July twenty- seventh, 1863.
Thus terminated the eventful campaign of the Twenty- seventh Connecticut Volunteers. During this brief term of nine months, the regiment performed marches in Vir- ginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, amounting to no less than five hundred miles, and participated in three of the great battles of the war-Fredericksburg, Chancel- lorsville, and Gettysburg-losing in killed and wounded in the first, about one third, and in the last, one half, of
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH .
those present in action. Very many of our number, ou their return, reenlisted in other organizations, and illus- trated on new fields the same valor which bore them and their comrades up the fiery slope of Fredericksburg, nerved all hearts calmly to meet disaster in the wilder- ness of Chancellorsville, and crowned with victory the heights of Gettysburg.
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
IN MEMORIAM.
THE necrology of the Twenty-seventh, during the whole term of service, includes seventy-five officers and men, and embraces much that was noblest in the regi- ment. Of this number thirty-three fell amid the strife and turmoil of battle; eighteen, after a more or less lingering period of patient agony, finally succumbed to their wounds; and twenty-four others slowly yielded to the inroads of disease, and died among the more quiet scenes of the hospital. Were it possible, we would gladly dwell upon each individual name, and gather up those qualities by which each is remembered among his comrades. But after all that might be said, the simple record of the central fact in their history, that these men fell in defence of the most righteous cause ever submitted to the decision of the sword, is far more im- pressive than any commemorative words. And yet there are some whose marked character and prominent con- nection with the regiment as a whole, or with single companies, seem to demand more than a passing notice. Chief among these, the mind and heart of each member of the regiment will at once recur to the name of
LIEUT .- COL. HENRY C. MERWIN,
who fell in the battle of Gettysburg, July second, 1863. If this noble spirit must leave its mortal tene-
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ment amid the wild tumult of war, how appropriate that it should be when the black cloud of disaster, which had so long hovered over the cause of our country, was just rolling away, and already revealed its silver lining of victory !
Colonel Merwin was a native of Brookfield, Connecti- cut, where he was born September seventeenth, 1839. He spent the greater part of his life in New-Haven, and at the beginning of the war was in business with his father and brother. He early manifested a fondness for military life, to which the subsequent events of his history proved him well adapted. When the first gun of the war sounded from the rebel batteries at Charleston, it awoke in his breast a determined and prompt response. At that time he was a member of the New-Haven Grays, and immediately volunteered with that corps for three months' service in the Second Regiment, holding the position of sergeant. It will be remembered that that was one of the very few regiments which returned with credit from the field of Bull Run. After this brief cam- paign he remained at home for a season, constrained by considerations of filial duty, by which a noble nature like his is ever governed until yet higher obligations demand attention. The armies of the Union were being rapidly filled up, and at length the Government stopped recruiting, while the nation beheld with confidence the vast and apparently irresistible preparations, which be- tokened an easy victory. Under these circumstances it was not strange that so many, like Colonel .Merwin, held back by peculiar home duties, refrained from throwing themselves into the struggle. But these anticipations resulted in disappointment, and all this array of re- sources proved a disastrous failure. The call of the
.
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
country was now heard in louder and more imperative tones than ever before, and appealed to a far wider circle in the community. Henry C. Merwin responded with a calm, but earnest alacrity, as is ever true of those whose guide is duty. His deserved and unsought popularity soon gathered to his banner a full quota of men, which was designated as Company A of the Twenty-seventh. Subsequently, at the organization of the regiment, he was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel by the votes of his fellow- officers. From this point his history is identified with that of the regiment. From the moment of departure for the field to the time of his death in that terrible combat of July second, at Gettysburg, he had never been relieved from duty, except as the casualties of war separated him from his command. He shared the for- tunes of the regiment during the terrible and fruitless battle of Fredericksburg, and met with undaunted courage the sudden shock of disaster in the thickets of Chancellorsville. He visited Richmond as a prisoner of war, and on being exchanged at once returned to the regiment, to the command of which he was now called. Along the weary march to Gettysburg he inspired the men with his own indomitable spirit, and on that fated wheat-field, where the missiles of the enemy, as it were, mowed down the waving grain, he fell, mortally wounded, breathing out those words of noble self- forgetfulness, " My poor regiment is suffering fearfully."
Without disparagement to any, it may truly be said that no officer in the regiment attracted to himself such universal and unvarying respect, confidence, and affection among the men of his command. Nor was this strange in view of the remarkable and harmonious combination of noble qualities in his character. No pride of position
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ever marred the beautiful consistency of his life, and yet there was a natural dignity which forbade undue familiarity. He felt deeply the responsibility of his re. lation to the regiment, and this o'ermastering principle swallowed up every consideration of self-interest. Duty was evidently the supreme motive of his life, and intent upon the performance of his own, ho expected and re- quired equal faithfulness on the part of others. He was quick of discernment, and rapid in execution, but no harshness ever dimmed the transparent kindness of his demeanor. His genial countenance and words of sym- pathy and encouragement often cheered the loneliness of the hospital. He thoroughly appreciated the hard- ships and trials peculiar to the private soldier, and at all times endeavored to sustain and inspirit his weary energies. All these more amiable qualities were sup- plemented by a manly independence and decision, which made him always jealous for the rights of his men. On that trying march to Gettysburg, no arrogance and severity of superior officers ever deterred him from a gentlemanly, but bold and firm, maintenance of the rights and interests of the regiment. He at once se- cured the respect, and soon the high regard of Colonel Brooke, commanding the brigade, who felt most keenly the loss of Colonel Merwin, and, on hearing that he was wounded, gave orders that every thing possible should be done for his welfare.
But none can do justice to such a character. In his death the Twenty-seventh laid its costliest sacrifice upon the altar of our country.
" He had kept
The brightness of his soul, and thus men o'er him wept."
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
D
ADDISON C. TAYLOR,
CAPTAIN OF COMPANY C.
This gallant officer fell severely wounded in the engagement at Fredericksburg, December thirteenth, 1862, and died at his home in New-Haven, March thir- teenth, 1863. He was born October twenty-eighth, 1841, in Wellington, Lorraine county, Ohio. His par- ents were natives of Connecticut, which State became his home when he was about twelve years of age. For several years he was a pupil in the Collegiate and Com- mercial Institute of New-Haven, and subsequently a teacher, and also the military instructor in that school. The outbreak of the rebellion in 1861 found him per- forming the duties of this position. Though feeling that his relations and duties to others did not permit
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him at that time to enter the active military service of the country, yet he took an earnest and enthusiastic part in the stirring scenes of that period. Troops were to be raised and prepared for the field with the utmost dispatch. How vividly memory recalls the experiences of those days, then so strange in our national history, when men were gathering from all quarters for the nation's defence, and our streets resounded with the drum and fife, and the public square was alive with squads and companies moving to and fro in the mazes of military evolutions ! Captain Taylor's zeal and mili- tary knowledge found an ample sphere for exercise at this important crisis, and truly most efficient service did he render. It should be particularly mentioned, that he drilled the company of Captain, now Brevet Major-Gen- eral, Joseph R. Hawley, then of the . First Connecticut Regiment of three months' volunteers. Brevet Brigadier- General Edward W. Whittaker, the adventurous cavalry leader, was also at that time a member of this company. So successfully did Captain Taylor fulfil these duties that Captain Hawley offered him the most flattering in- dneements if he would consent to accompany the regi- inent; but the time had not arrived when he was to give even life itself for his country. It came when the battle summer of 1862 convinced the nation that this was no ordinary struggle, and brought each man face to face with the question of his own individual duty. At this juncture the call was issued for volunteers for nine months' service; and Captain Taylor, with his accus- tomed ardor, immediately entered upon the work of recruiting the " Monitors " for the Twenty-seventh Regi- tient, and soon assembled about him a very superior body of men, to whom his military knowledge and ex-
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
perience were of very great advantage. His was the color company, and at its head he moved on that day of fearful carnage, the memorable thirteenth of De- cember, 1862, when he received the wound which re- sulted in death, after three months of patient suffering.
Did space allow, we might appropriately introduce at this point the singularly unanimous testimony of those who knew him best, to the self-reliance which he mani- fested from his carliest years; to the thorough, unosten- tatious sincerity, purity, and conscientiousness of his life; to the high sense of duty which impelled him to the field, and animated him in every act; and, more than all this, to the Christian principles which formed the basis of his symmetrical character.
" The light of his young life went down, As sinks behind the hill The glory of a setting star --- Clear, suddenly, and still. The blessing of his quiet life Was in his every look. We read his face as one that reads A true and holy book."
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THE TWENTY-SEVENTH
WAT ONSSON.
JEDEDIAH CHAPMAN, JR.,
CAPTAIN OF COMPANY H.
DEATH singled out another shining mark when Cap- tain Chapman fell in the fore-front of battle, on the same afternoon that beheld the close of Colonel Merwin's life. Two congenial spirits in nobility and worth together passed to the land of immortality on that day of death's high carnival.
Jedediah Chapman, Jr., was born in New-Haven, November twenty-first, 1839. Like Colonel Merwin, he was a member of the New-Haven Grays at the open- ing of the war, and accompanied them to the field as a private in the three months' service. When the Twenty. seventh was being recruited under the call for nine months' troops, he took hold of the work with vigor,
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
and was in great part instrumental in raising Company H, of which he was chosen First Lieutenant. During more than one third of the campaign he had command of the company, and to his exertions and military ex- perience its efficiency was largely due. Amid the ter- rors of that disastrous day at Fredericksburg, no one acquitted himself with greater bravery and coolness than Lieutenant Chapman. In consequence of protracted sickness during the spring of 1863, he did not partici- pate in the battle of Chancellorsville, and thus escaped the fate of the regiment. But it was a great disappoint- ment to him not to be with his men, and share with them the vicissitudes of the campaign. By reason of the disaster to the Twenty-seventh in that battle, only two companies of the regiment remained in the field, with a few remnants of those which were captured. These scattering portions were formed into one company, and Lieutenant Chapman was placed in command. Ilis peculiar qualifications of discipline and character con- tributed much to their unity and effectiveness during the succeeding campaign of Gettysburg; and at their head he fell on the second of July, 1863. His commis- sion as Captain of Company HI, dated May thirteenth, 1863, had been already issued and forwarded; but he did not live to know of this well-deserved honor.
Much that has already been said of Colonel Merwin might, with equal propriety, be applied to Captain Chapman. He was an officer well known, and highly esteemed, not only in his own company, but throughout the regiment. He possessed in a peculiar degree all the elements which constitute an efficient, and yet popular, commander. In all his relations, he manifested a genial frankness of manner, a conscientiousness of purpose, and
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keen sense of justice, which at once gained universal confidence and regard. He was one of the most unas. suming of men, and yet in that soul burned a depth of devotion to duty, and a power of noble action, which seemed to require the stern, trying scenes of war to bring them forth in their original strength and glory, So long as the campaign of the Twenty-seventh lives in the memory of those who participated in it, so long will the members of Company II cherish the name and reputation of their beloved commander, Jedediah Chap- man.
Let us now turn to the long catalogue of enlisted men, whose names appear in the necrology of the regi- ment. History can never do justice to the grandeur and far-reaching importance of the cause to which they gave the testimony of their lives, nor can it do justice to the nobility and value of the sacrifice. It is not neces. sary to repeat in this place the names of these worthy men ; but we will call to mind a few representatives of their number. There was Orderly-Sergeant Richard II. Fowler, of Company A, who died of wounds received at Fredericksburg. He was a native of Guilford, and one of a family whose record for active patriotism and sublimity of sacrifice has few, if any, parallels during the whole war. Corporal William A. Goodwin and Private Augustus B. Fairchild likewise fell at Freder- icksburg. To the efficiency and worth of them all, sthe officers of the company bear willing testimony. Com- panics C, D, E, and F, also suffered severely in the loss of faithful and tried soldiers. The battle of Freder- icksburg struck from the roll of Company II some of its
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
most valued members. Among these were Orderly- Sergeant Thomas E. Barrett, and Corporals George H. Mimmac and Frank E. Alling. Sergeant Barrett was a man of very superior character and education. Pre- vious to his enlistment he had been a much-esteemed teacher at the Eaton Public School in New-Haven. The pleasant duties and associations of this position, and all its prospects of usefulness, he yielded up to enter the service of the country. Few made greater sacrifices, or made them more cheerfully, than he, in obedience to a purely unselfish sense of duty. He sought and expected no office, and only at the earnest solicitation of his comrades consented to accept the post of First Sergeant, and certainly no company ever had a more faithful and conscientious officer. He was a noble Christian soldier ; a man whom society could ill afford to lose. But he has left behind him an example which should be carefully cherished and regarded. The sacrifice of such a man is of no ordinary value, and gives unusual significance to the struggle through which the nation has passed. Corporals Mimmac and Alling possessed very similar elements of character. The latter was a member of Yale College at the time he enlisted, and left the congenial pursuits of a student's life to re- spond to what he regarded the call of duty. Such were some of the men the ranks of the Twenty-seventh con- tributed to that roll of honored names, whose heroism and self-sacrifice will grow brighter and brighter, as the progress of years reveals, in all their meaning and influence, the events of the war for Liberty and Union.
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RECORD OF CASUALTIES.
FIELD AND STAFF.
KILLED. At Gettysburg, July 2, 1863. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry C. Merwin. WOUNDED. At Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. Chaplain John W. Leek. At Gettysburg. Adjutant George F. Peterson.
COMPANY A.
KILLED.
At Fredericksburg.
Corporal William A. Goodwin, Jr. Private Augustus B. Fairchild.
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
WOUNDED. At Fredericksburg.
First Sergeant Richard II. Fowler.
Sergeant Nelson S. Wilmot.
Sergeant James B. Blair.
Corporal William II. Cornwall.
Private Thomas H. Wallace.
DIED OF WOUNDS.
First Sergeant Richard H. Fowler, December 17th, 1862, at camp near Falmouth.
DIED OF DISEASE.
Private Henry B. Hilliard, December 17th, 1862, at Ham- mond General Hospital, Maryland.
Private Edward C. Hazard, October 16th, 1862, at Camp Terry, New-Haven.
Private Frank A. Johnson, December 14th, 1862, at camp near Falmouth.
Private Treat A. Marks, December 25th, 1862, at camp near Falmouth.
Private Joseph B. Thompson, February 7th, 1863, at camp near Falmouth.
Private Elbert W. Ball, August 5th, 1863, at New- Haven.
COMPANY B.
WOUNDED. At Fredericksburg.
Corporal George E. Wilford. Private Timothy Callahan.
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Private Joseph Bennett. Patrick Condon. Josiah Johnson. Michael Taylor. L. Mortimer Willis. Edwin L. Wilford.
At Gettysburg. Private Charles Paxden.
DIED OF WOUNDS.
Corporal George E. Wilford, January 8th, 1863.
Private Joseph Bennett, December 25th, 1862.
Patrick Condon, December 28th, 1862, in hospi- tal at Annapolis. Josiah Johnson, January 5th, 1863.
DIED OF DISEASE.
Private George C. Baldwin, January 25th, 1863, at camp near Falmouth.
Private Edward B. Dolph, March 20th, 1863, at camp near Falmouth.
Private Lewis M. Tucker, October 10th, 1862, at Bran- ford, Connecticut. Second Lieutenant Edmund B. Cross, August 6th, 1863, at New-Haven.
COMPANY C. KILLED. At Fredericksburg. Private Charles Michael. Wilbur Nash. Joel C. Parmelee.
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CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
At Chancellorsville.
Private Samuel B. Clark.
At Gettysburg. Corporal Charles E. Cornwall. Color-Corporal Joseph Stevens.
WOUNDED. At Fredericksburg.
Captain Addison C. Taylor.
Second Lieutenant Charles B. Brooks.
Sergeant Henry M. Stanton.
Color-Corporal Henry E. Wing.
Color-Corporal James L. Ambler.
Color-Corporal Sydney R. Thompson.
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