The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I, Part 13

Author: Trumbull, J. Hammond (James Hammond), 1821-1897
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Boston, E. L. Osgood
Number of Pages: 870

USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 13

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THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

Twelfth Infantry. - Colonel Henry C. Deming,1 Hartford.

Fourteenth Infantry. - Colonel Theodore G. Ellis, Hartford (brevet brigadier- general) ; Lieutenant-Colonel S. A. Moore, New Britain.

Sixteenth Infantry. - Colonel Frank Beach, Hartford ; Lieutenant-Colonel Frank W. Cheney, Manchester ; Lieutenant-Colonel John H. Burnham, Hart- ford.

Twentieth Infantry. - Colonel Samuel Ross, Hartford.

Twenty-second Infantry. - Colonel George S. Burnham, Hartford.

Twenty-fifth Infantry. - Colonel George P. Bissell, Hartford ; Major Thomas McManus, Hartford.

Thirtieth Infantry (colored). - Colonel Henry C. Ward, Hartford.

The Fourth Regiment was changed into the First Heavy Artil- lery, -one of the most noted artillery regiments in the Army of the Potomac.

The names of many Hartford and Hartford County citizens noted for their patriotism suggest themselves, - those who did noble service in the field, and those, equally patriotic, who could not go to the front, but by their contributions and by their energy did no less valuable work at home. No city of its size in the Union can point to a more honora- ble record.

The women of Hartford County were among the very first to organ- ize for the care of sick and wounded soldiers. The firing upon Fort Sumter was the signal for commencing preparations for the impending struggle, - at first by a few ladies, who met in private parlors, rolling bandages and making lint for the wounded. This soon led to more extended efforts, which finally resulted in the formation of the Hart-

Perkins, of Philadelphia. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the Washington Grays, of Philadelphia, but came to Hartford, where the Fifth Regiment was forming, raised a com- pany, and went into the field as captain of Company I. He manifested so much ability as a soldier that when the Eleventh Regiment was raised he was appointed its major. At Antie- tam, after Colonel H. W. Kingsbury was killed, he led the regiment in the famous assault upon the Stone Bridge, which Burnside carried and held. He was severely wounded during the battle, and was promoted to be colonel. He commanded the Eleventh from this time until the beginning of General Grant's advance upon Richmond, when he was assigned to the com- mand of the Second Brigade, Second Division of the Eighteenth Army Corps. He gained a high reputation for coolness, intrepidity, and military skill, and on the recommendation of all his superior officers was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, his commission being on its way when on the evening of Ang. 5, 1864, in front of Petersburg, Virginia, he was mor- tally wounded by a random shot. He died the next morning. General Ames, by whose side he was standing when he received his death-wound, in announcing the event to General Ord, said the country had lost one of the finest soldiers in the army. He fell at the early age of twenty-six years, having won his way to high rank and having exhibited qualities which gave promise of a glorious and useful career. From Ball's Bluff with the Fifth, through all the battles of the Eleventh, at Newbern, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Suffolk, Drury's Bluff, and Cold Harbor, up to the last contest before Petersburg, he was foremost in battle, disposing our lines, heading our charges, careful of his men, prodigal of his own life, always brave, always cool. He lived and died nobly, without fear and without re- proach. Well-bred, highly cultured, rich, with brilliant intellectual gifts, and with a life of elegant ease at his command, he gave all to his country, and accepted the result withont a murmur.

1 The Hon. Henry C. Deming was graduated at Yale College in 1836, and before the war was a prominent lawyer of Hartford, and had served in both branches of the legislature, being Speaker of the House in the session of 1861. For six years he was mayor of Hartford. In the fall of 1861 he was appointed Colonel of the Twelfth Connecticut Volunteers, and with his regiment went with General Butler's expedition against New Orleans. After the capture of the city he was appointed mayor, which position he held until February, 1863, when he resigned, returned home, and was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress. He served for two terms. Afterward he was Collector of Internal Revenue for the State. He excelled as an orator. He died in 1872.

MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.

ford Soldiers' Aid Association, for the care of " Connecticut soldiers." When some months afterward the United States Sanitary Commission was organized, this Aid Association was well established and prepared to contribute valuable supplies to that admirable agency. The energy and industry of the women were nobly supplemented and sustained by the unbounded liberality of moneyed men. As a financial centre the city furnished money and materials, which were prepared for the needle by the Hartford women, and made up by societies in all the neighbor- ing towns and far beyond the limits of the county. Valuable donations of supplies poured in from town and country, and it was remarked that every housewife gave of her very best. No inferior material was allowed to be used, and wherever the hospital clothing and other com- forts bearing the stamp of this Soldiers' Aid Association found its way, they were remarked for their unrivalled excellence. From regimental surgeons and chaplains by whom they were received, from hospitals both temporary and permanent, and even from Southern prisons, came most grateful acknowledgments of the comfort afforded by these varied appliances for the sick and wounded. The talent of the younger ladies was devoted to the arranging of dramatic and other entertainments given for the purpose of replenishing the treasury ; and the most bril- liant series of tableaux ever exhibited in this county were a memora- ble example of the success attending these efforts. The two ladies who were at the head of these relief organizations were Mrs. John Olmstead and Mrs. S. S. Cowen.

The work of the Soldiers' Aid Association was carried on with unabated energy and interest until the close of the war, and during its existence more than thirty thousand dollars in cash, and even a larger amount in other contributions, was received and distributed. Retain- ing its independent organization to the last, it was able to assist by its contributions both sanitary and Christian associations, and also to respond to constant calls from Connecticut regiments. The record of donations of money is now placed in the safe-keeping .of the Con- necticut Historical Society, where the names and benefactions of the patriotic men and women of that day are duly recorded. Of those noble women who gave their time and energies as well as their prayers and tears to this beneficent work, few now survive; and to them and to their representatives was committed, by the courtesy of General Hawley, the sacred charge of preparing for removal to the Capitol the battle-flags which constitute one of the choicest possessions of the State.

At a special town-meeting in Hartford, July 19, 1862, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars was appropriated for the purpose of pro- moting enlistments and granting aid to the families of enlisted men. The following committee was appointed to supervise the expenditures under this appropriation : William J. Hamersley, Allyn S. Stillman, Calvin Day, Charles Cheney, John C. Palmer, A. S. Beckwith, Charles T. Hillyer, E. H. Owen, James G. Batterson, N. M. Waterman, Frank Howard, William H. Green, A. E. Burr, James B. Powell, David Clark, John T. MeManus, Sidney A. Ensign, William M. Charter, Hawley Kellogg, Horace Ensworth, Henry Selling, John McGoodin, Horace Lord, Joseph Pratt, and James White. This was known as the War Committee. This same meeting adopted the following vote : -

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

" Resolved, That no efforts on the part of this Government should be spared to preserve the union of the States, and to put down the atrocious re- bellion ; and, further, that we will never submit to any foreign intervention. Republicanism does not need the nursing care of monarchs and emperors."

Upon application of Caleb Clapp and ninety-five others, a special meeting was held, Sept. 17, 1862, for the purpose of considering the propriety of providing support for the families of drafted men, and also of paying bounties to such men. The meeting adjourned without action, the moderator (Allyn S. Stillman) stating that legal advice had been given that no appropriation could be made for drafted men at the meeting.

A special meeting was held, Sept. 18, 1862, upon application of James Goodwin and twenty-five other electors, at which the Hon. William J. Hamersley presided, and the following preamble and reso- lutions were adopted after an animated discussion : -

" Whereas, The Committee of Citizens of Hartford appointed at a town- meeting held on the 19th day of July, 1862, did, at a regular meeting of said committee, held on Tuesday evening, Sept. 16, 1862, unanimously pass the following resolution :

""'Voted, That the sum of one hundred dollars each be paid to such citizens of this town as have recently been drafted, and that the same provision be made for the family as has already been made for the families of the nine months' vol- unteers ; it being understood, however, that the benefits of this appropriation are not to extend to those who serve as substitutes, or to those who are detailed for service in workshops or manufactories, or who may be excused from service as soldiers by competent authority : Voted, That the foregoing appropriations shall not be paid until the principal or his substitute shall have been regularly sworn and mustered into the United States service.' And whereas this meeting does approve said action on the part of said committee, 'Voted, That this meeting do endorse and ratify said votes, and do hereby authorize and empower said com- mittee (known as the War Committee) to make such appropriations as are con- templated by said votes, and in accordance with the provisions thereof.'"

The meeting voted an additional appropriation of one hundred thou- sand dollars for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of these votes ; and also voted that persons who had enlisted into the service and had subsequently been elected and commissioned as officers were nevertheless entitled to the bounty paid to enlisted men.

At a town-meeting in December, 1862, William L. Collins, N. H. Morgan, and George Brinley were appointed a committee to prepare a plan for funding the war-debt. They reported Dec. 23, 1862, and in accordance with their recommendation six per cent bonds to the amount of $200,000 were issued, falling due in sums of $10,000 annually after Jan. 1, 1874. The total amount of this debt, principal and interest, was #326,000. A special meeting July 23, 1863, voted $200,000 for defraying the expenses of the town for the care of depen- dent families of drafted men. A special meeting Aug. 15, 1864, voted a sum not exceeding $500,000 to be used by the selectmen in filling the quota of Hartford under the last draft. It does not appear, however, that this money was used, and Nov. 26, 1864, the sum of $200,000 was appropriated for the same purpose, and a committee consist- ing of Calvin Day, J. Hurlbut White, Thomas T. Fisher, and Fred-

MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.

erick S. Brown was appointed to disburse the money in procuring enlistments.

Unfortunately the State has no record of its sons who served in the navy ; and there are no town or county statistics on this point, although Hartford County furnished the Hon. Gideon Welles, the chief of the Navy Department, quite a number of distinguished officers, and several hundred sailors, the county having representatives in every squadron. Among naval officers who achieved distinction Hartford furnished the lamented Commander Ward, and Lieutenant-Commanders Francis M. Bunce, Edward Terry,1 and Henry C. White. The service rendered by Mr. William Faxon, as chief clerk of the Navy Bureau, was inval- uable. He was throughout the war the efficient right-hand man of Secretary Welles.

The more than twelve thousand men from this county who entered the military service were scattered among twenty-nine regiments or batteries ; namely, -the First, Second, and Third Regiments (three months') ; the Cavalry Squadron and the Cavalry Regiment ; the First and Second Light Batteries ; the two Heavy Artillery Regiments ; the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Twentieth, Twenty- first (three years' men) ; Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-seventh (nine months') ; and the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth (colored). In some of these commands the number from this county was small ; in others there were two or more companies ; while other regiments, like the First, Sixteenth, Twenty-second, and Twenty-fifth, were regarded as Hartford County organizations, although not formed exclusively within county lines.

To tell what these men did in the field would be to recall in large part the history of the war. From the muster-in of the First Regiment of three months' men in April, 1861, to the muster-out of the Veteran Battalion of the Thirteenth in April, 1866, - from Bull Run, where the First Connecticut left the disastrous field in better shape than any

1 Commander Edward Terry, U. S. N., was born in Hartford, Jan. 22, 1839 ; was gradu- ated at the Naval Academy in 1857 ; served with East India and Mediterranean squadrons until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when the " Richmond," to which he was attached, was ordered to the "West Gulf Squadron," under Farragut. He participated in the operations by which the Lower Mississippi was opened, including the passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the capture of New Orleans, and the operations against Port Hudson. At the latter place he commanded a battery of heavy guns which were landed from the "Richmond " to assist in the siege, and which did very effective work. He was also executive officer of the " Richmond," under Captain Jenkins, at the battle of Mobile Bay, Aug. 5, 1864. After the war he served successively in the South Pacific ; at the Naval Academy (where from 1867 to 1870 he was Professor of Naval Gunnery, and from 1874 to 1878 was Commandant of Cadets); com- manded the United States Steamship "Saco" in the European and Asiatic squadrons from 1870 to 1873. In 1878 he was ordered as chief of staff to Rear-Admiral Rodgers, commanding the Pacific squadron, and the following year was prostrated with pneumonia, from the effects of which he died June 1, 1882. Commander Terry was connected with the oldest families of Con- necticut. His father, Dr. Edward P. Terry, was a son of General Nathaniel Terry, M. (., fourth mayor of Hartford. He was related also to the Rev. Thomas Hooker, founder of the colony, to " the worshipful" Mr. John Talcott, the Goodwins, William Whiting, and others of the first settlers of Connecticut, and through another line to Governor William Bradford, of Plym- outh Colony. Admiral Rodgers wrote of him: "Singularly modest in his nature, very gentle in his judgment of others, a thoughtful, studious man of much culture and sound judgment, he was at the same time a calm, intrepid seaman, of fiery energy, but imperturb- able in the greatest peril, and equal to every emergency. The writer of these lines served with him continuously during the last six years of his active service, and learned to think him a man with no superior in the navy. He was a reverent believer in the great truths of religion, and he was a gentleman without fear and without reproach."

THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

other command except the regulars, - through every campaign of the long war, in every important engagement on land or sea, Hartford County was honorably represented. The flag of the State was borne with honor by men of the county wherever the Army of the Potomac marched or halted, and the blood of the best of her sons crimsoned every great battle-field of that army, - Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Petersburg, and the cam- paigns against Richmond. They were at Roanoke with Burnside on his expedition ; with Banks in his fatal repulse at Cedar Mountain ; with Butler and Banks in Louisiana ; at the capture of Fort Pulaski and of Fort Fisher ; in the fatal assaults at Fort Wagner and the deadly attempts on Port Hudson ; at Irish Bend, Louisiana ; with Sherman in his march to the sea; with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek ; at the capture of New Orleans, Atlanta, Mobile, and Richmond ; and at the final surrender of Lee at Appomattox. No important event took place in the armies of the East and South at which Hartford County soldiers were not present in positions of honor. And not only in the volunteer armies, but also in the regular army and navy, the county was honorably represented. Brevet Major J. Hartwell Butler, of Hartford, commanded a company of the Second Artillery United States Army, and lost a leg in action. Other Hartford officers of the army were General Robert O. Tyler,1

1 Major-General Robert Ogden Tyler, U. S. A., was born Dec. 22, 1831, in Hunter, Greene County, New York, the son of Frederick and Sophia Tyler. His paternal grandfather was a soldier of the Revolution, and three of his paternal uncles were officers of the regular army, one of them being General Daniel Tyler. The family was of Connecticut origin, and removed to Hartford when the subject of this sketch was eight years old. He was graduated from West Point in the famous class of 1853, McPherson, Scofield, and Vincent being among his classmates. After graduation he became a lieutenant in the Third Artillery. In 1854 he crossed the country, with Colonel Steptoe's command, from the Mississippi to the Pacific, spending the winter at Salt Lake. He was stationed for several years on the Pacific coast, and took part in several Indian campaigns. In 1859 he was attached to T. W. Sherman's light battery in Minnesota, and the next year joined his regiment at Fort Columbus, New York Harbor, where he remained until the breaking out of the war. He went with the expedition intended to relieve Fort Sumter in April, 1861, witnessed the bombardment from a distance, and returned to New York on the same steamer with Major Anderson and his command. After brief service on the staff of General Patterson he took command, in May, of a light battery, with which he assisted in opening the communications through Baltimore. He was appointed, May 17, 1861, a captain in the Quartermaster Department, and established the supply depots at Alexandria, Virginia. In September, 1861, he was appointed Colonel of the Fourth Connecticut Volunteers (afterward the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery), - a fine regiment, which had become temporarily demoralized by bad management. Under the charge of Colonel Tyler the regiment was transformed into the finest artillery regiment of the Volun- teer Service, and was employed in the defences of Washington. In April, 1862, Tyler was given command of the siege-train of the Army of the Potomac. He conducted seventy-one pieces of artillery to Yorktown, and thence with great difficulty removed it. In the subse- quent movements on Richmond Colonel Tyler received high commendations for the distin- guished part taken by his regiment in the capture of Hanover Court-Honse and in the battles of Gaines Mill and Malvern Hill. When General Mcclellan retired upon Washing- ton, Colonel Tyler's regiment did splendid service, in concert with the gunboats, in protecting the rear of the army. For his brilliant services in this campaign, and for his skill and success in saving his siege-train under the most trying circumstances, he was appointed a brigadier- general, Nov. 29, 1862. He was then assigned to the command of the artillery of the Centre Grand Division of the Army of the Potomac, under Burnside, and did gallant service at Fredericksburg. On May 2, 1863, he was assigned to command the " Artillery Reserve " of the Army of the Potomac, which played an important part in the battle of Chancellorsville and in the pursuit of Lee's army into Pennsylvania. Major-General Cullum writes of his service : " At the battle of Gettysburg this Artillery Reserve comprised over one hundred and thirty guns and more than three hundred ammunition wagons. The grand part which the artillery played in this death-struggle with the Confederacy is too well known to require description. Impatiently awaiting the signal for action, Hunt, the chief, and Tyler, his able

VOL. I .- 7.

MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.

Colonel Frank Beach,1 Brevet Major James B. Burbank (now of the Third Artillery).

Perhaps no other single engagement of the war proved so disastrous to the men of this State, especially to those of this county, as the battle of Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862, in which the Eighth, Eleventh, Fourteenth, and Sixteenth regiments participated, the latter having just entered the service and being entirely ignorant of battalion movements. The Con- necticut troops were in the thickest of the fight on the left of the Union line, General Edward Harland, of Norwich, commanding the brigade. No braver fighting against overwhelming odds was ever witnessed, and the losses in killed and wounded were terrible. The Eighth lost 34 killed and 139 wounded ; the Eleventh, 38 killed and 97 wounded ; the Fourteenth, 21 killed and 88 wounded ; and the Sixteenth, 43 killed and 142 wounded, -making a total of 136 killed and 466 wounded. Among the killed were a large number of officers, including General Mansfield of the regular army; Colonel Kingsbury of the Eleventh ; and from this county, Captain J. E. Blinn of New Britain, of the

assistant, opened with almost one hundred guns, from Cemetery Hill to the Round Tops, upon Pickett's magnificent assaulting column, tearing vast gaps in the advancing ranks, and almost annihilating that proud array of eighteen thousand of the best Southern infantry. General Tyler, in this battle of the giants, had two horses shot under him, and his coolness, skill, and intrepidity contributed greatly to the success of the final struggle." After Gettys- burg, General Tyler was engaged in the pursuit of the enemy to Culpepper, and commanded the artillery in the combat of Rappahannock Station and at Mine Run. From January to May, 1864, he was a division commander in the Twenty-second Army Corps, covering the capital and the communications of the Army of the Potomac, and afterward, in command of a division of heavy artillery, was attached to the Second Army Corps. He won new distinc- tion at the opening of the Richmond campaign in the battles about Spottsylvania, where his command, acting as infantry, occupied the extreme right of the Army of the Potomae, and repulsed (May 19, 1864) a furious assault by Ewell's corps. In the pursuit of the enemy which followed, General Tyler's command fought at North Anna, Tolopotomy, and Cold Harbor. In the last-named battle he was severely wounded and disabled by a rifle-ball through his ankle, - a wound which ended his active service, and which gave his vigorous constitution a shock from which it never fully recovered. He was brevetted a major in the regular army for Fredericksburg, lieutenant-colonel for Gettysburg, colonel for Spottsylvania, brigadier- general for Cold Harbor, and major-general "for gallant and meritorious services in the field during the Rebellion." He also received a sixth brevet - that of major-general of United States Volunteers - " for great gallantry at the battle of Cold Harbor." The citizens of Hartford presented him with a sword in appreciation of his personal gallantry, and the legis- lature of Connecticut passed a resolution of thanks in his honor. His wound was so far healed, after a six months' leave of absence, that he was able to go on duty as a commissioner for the disbursement of the cotton fund for the supply of Rebel prisoners, and subsequently was assigned to the command of the District of Delaware and the Eastern Shore, with head- quarters at Philadelphia. On the reorganization of the army, General Tyler, July 29, 1866, was appointed lieutenant-colonel and deputy quartermaster-general. His failing health led him to visit Enrope in 1868-1869 ; and again in 1872 he secured a year's leave of absence, and took a journey around the world. His journal while in India has been published in book form, as an appendix to a brief memoir from the pen of his friend General George W. Cullum, U. S. A. (J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1878). General Tyler died suddenly at his post of duty, Boston, Dec. 1, 1874, aged nearly forty-three. He was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, with the military honors due to his rank and his distinguished services.

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The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I, Part 13

Author: Trumbull, J. Hammond (James Hammond), 1821-1897 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Boston, E. L. Osgood Number of Pages: 870

Author: Trumbull, J. Hammond (James Hammond), 1821-1897
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Boston, E. L. Osgood
Number of Pages: 870