USA > Connecticut > The story of the Twenty-first Regiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War. 1861-1865 > Part 15
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WOUNDED.
Co K-Second Lieutenant Luther N. Curtiss, lungs, danger- ously ; Sergeant-Major Orlan D. Glazier, slightly.
Co. A-Corporal J. Francis Cowles, side, severely ; Corporal Henry B. Luce, head, slightly ; Privates Elihu Olmstead, leg, Orsemus Jepson, foot, Isaac Garrison, hand, slightly.
Co. B-Corporal William W. Norton, back, slightly ; Corporal Dennis A. Langdon, finger, slightly ; First Sergeant Benjamin B. Baker, shoulder, seriously ; Privates David Wasson, head, slightly, David N. Parsons, foot, slightly, Edwin Campbell, thigh.
Co. C-Sergeant William B. Avery, leg, slightly ; Privates Win. Johnson, side, mortally (since dead), Abner Spencer, hand, badly, Wm. W. Holliday, finger, very slightly.
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Missing, enlisted men,
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The Battle of Drewry's Bluff.
Co. D-Corporal Canfield J. Humphrey, leg, amputated ; Cor- poral Harrison Rood, back, slightly; Privates Charles W. Nichols, arm, amputated, Thomas Brundrett, groin, severely, Alfred l'. Hanks, side, severely, Horace R. Chester, shoulder, slight.
Co. E-Corporal Nelson Wilcox, leg, slightly ; Privates Gardiner Smith, shoulder, slightly, Wait Ridoback, Arvine A. Frazier, side, badly.
Co. F-Privates George D. Tinker, arm, slightly, Albert Rudd, thigh, mortally, John Murphy, ankle, slightly, Solon A. Moxley, thigh, badly, David Wright, head, slightly.
Co. G-Privates Charles M. Terwilliger, shoulder, severely, Giles Bushnell, thigh, badly.
Co. H-Privates Herbert E. Carpenter, face, severely, Morris B. Brainard, thigh, severely, W. H. Greenwood, side, severely, Daniel L. Adams, abdomen (since died), Michael Horrin, foot, slightly, James Savage, face, slightly ; Corporal John H. Selden, head, contusion.
Co. I-Privates Michael O'Donnell, leg, seriously, John Edwards, both legs, seriously, William Edwards, leg, badly, James Holihan, arm, slightly, Michael Lewis, head, slightly.
Co. K-First Sergeant John F. French, arm, slightly ; Private James Ireland, head, slightly.
Killed, - -
I Wounded, - -
48
I am, sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
THOMAS F. BURPEE, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL H. J. MORSE,
Adjutant-General Connecticut. June 9, 1864.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas F. Burpee was severely wounded this morning by one of the enemy's sharpshooters.
F. C. JEFFREY,
Lieutenant and Adjutant Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteers.
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-FIRST CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS, Near Bermuda Hundred, Va.,
June 19, 1864.
GENERAL --- It is my duty to report that Colonel Arthur H. Dutton died at Baltimore, Md., June 4, 1864, of wounds received in the field May 26, 1864. Also, that Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas F. Bur- pee, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteers, died at the Eighteenth A. C. General Hospital, June 9, 1864. The following is a list of casualties in the regiment during recent operations in front of Petersburg, Va .:
WOUNDED.
Co. A-Private George I .. Spafford, head, slightly.
Co. B-Corporal John Armstrong, head, severely.
Co. D-First Sergeant Dyer A. Clark, head, severely ; Corporal Jerome B. Baldwin, eye, severely.
Co. H-Corporal Frank M. Carver, head, slightly.
Co. I-Corporal Lewis Bailey, leg, slightly ; Private Charles Hudson, arm, severely.
I remain, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,
J. F. BROWN,
Captain Commanding Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteers.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL H. J. MORSE, Adjutant-General Connecticut.
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS OF COL. THOMAS F. BURPEE, TWENTY-FIRST CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEERS.
BERMUDA HUNDRED, May 17, 1864. Butler's Command on the James River.
We lay at rest, after reaching Drewry's Bluff, on the fifteenth, until four o'clock p. M., when we took position in front of the center of the rebel works, which position we were ordered to hold
203
The Battle of Drewry's Bluff.
at all hazards. On the next morning we had a battle. The night had been foggy and wet, and at four o'clock the fog was so thick nothing could be seen two rods off. I had just sent out Captain Brown with his company in front of the Twenty-first as skirmishers, when a tremendous fire was poured on the right of my brigade, which was the right of the whole line occupied by our troops. The enemy had turned our right flank, and were in our rear. The Ninth New Jersey and the Twenty-third and Twenty-seventh Massachusetts were almost used up by the suddenness and heavi- ness of the attack. I will not attempt to describe the whole fight now ; suffice it to say that in an hour and a half I was left alone with the Twenty-first to cope with the enemy, who were in front, and both flanks and a thick swampy wood in our rear. The men fought well; in some instances, hand to hand with the rebels. We changed our front to rear and fought for five hours through the swamp and timber, gradually falling back, sometimes charging upon them when they pressed too hard upon us, and at last succeeded in bringing the regiment and most of the wounded on to the open ground, where we could get help. Our Brigadier- General was captured, and I received no orders at all until I had fought three hours, and when the fight commenced I could not tell how things were going on our right, and did not know that the enemy had got around us, until their bullets came from that direction.
I don't know what the Generals at headquarters think of our conduct, but I hear that we gained much credit and that the regi- ment was handled well. We were so long in the woods that they thought we had been captured. We lost one hundred and six men and four commissioned officers. As for myself, I received no scratch. A bullet struck the spur upon my heel and glanced off. God covered my head in the time of danger and brought me safely through. We were engaged from four in the morning until nearly noon, without an instant's rest, and had but little rest for the previous two days. Notwithstanding the hardships we have been through, we have very few sick men. I think it is their pluck which keeps them. up.
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
Sunday, May 22d.
The papers did not give anything like a correct account of the fight on Monday. The Twenty-first was at that time assigned to Heckman's brigade, and although we fought five hours in one of the most difficult situations in which a regiment can be placed, we are not mentioned at all in the published accounts. But this is of no consequence, except as it shows the incorrectness of reporters. If I can discharge my duty acceptably to Him, what others may say or think is of little moment. Some officers go so far as to say that the stubborn fight made by the Twenty-first in the fog and obscurity of the woods saved the entire corps from destruction on that morning. But how that may be I know not. I only know that we tried to do our duty in the sight of God.
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT.
205
Operations On and Near the James River.
CHAPTER XIV.
OPERATIONS ON AND NEAR THE JAMES RIVER.
(JUNE, 1861.)
Immediately after the battle of Drewry's Bluff, Colonel Arthur H. Dutton, of the Twenty-first Connecticut Volun- teers, who had previously occupied the position of Chief of Staff under Major-General William F. Smith, was assigned to the command of the Third Brigade of the First Division Eighteenth Army Corps. The brigade was composed of the Twenty-first Connecticut, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania, One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania, and Ninety-second New York, and occupied a position near the center of the line of intrenchments stretching from the James to the Appo- mattox Rivers.
Here we were for several days engaged in strengthening the works upon our front, while nearly every night we were called out to repel some assault of the enemy, who seemed to be using every endeavor to discover the weak points in our line, as well as the strength of the force opposed to them, along our whole front. Nothing, however, of any great importance occurred until the morning of May 25th, when Colonel Dut- ton, having received orders from Major-General William F. Smith to reconnoiter the right of the enemy's position, he
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
selected the Twenty-first Connecticut for the accomplishment of that purpose.
The following official report made by Major Hiram B. Crosby to the Adjutant-General of the State of Connecti- cut, furnishes a complete detail of the affair, in which the country lost one of the most promising officers, the brigade a most efficient commander, and his regiment a beloved Colonel and firm friend :
To Brigadier General Horace J. Morse, Adjutant-General Conn.
HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT CONN. VOLUNTEERS, THIRD BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION,
EIGHTEENTH ARMY CORPS. June 6th, 1864.
GENERAL-On the 25th day of May, Colonel Dutton, command- ing the brigade, having received orders to reconnoitre the right of the enemy's position near our line of intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred, designated this regiment for that purpose.
The regiment passed outside of our lines and crossed the deep and almost impassable ravine that runs along the left of our works, until it reaches the Appomattox. On the further side of the ravine the left wing was posted in reserve, and the remaining companies were advanced to the front. Our skirmishers swept along the west bank of the ravine and thence further into the interior, coming well on to the enemy's right flank. But night coming on, Colonel Dutton recalled the skirmishers, and the regiment returned to camp with orders to be ready to continue the reconnoissance early the next morning.
On the day following (the twenty-sixth) Colonel Dutton again crossed the ravine with his brigade, consisting of the Twenty-first Connecticut, the Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania, the One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania and Ninety-second New York, with orders to push the reconnaissance until stopped by the enemy.
General Devens' brigade also moved out on our extreme left, along the Post Watthal road, to cooperate with Colonel Dutton, who took up the line of march in the direction of Post Watthal. After an advance of about two miles, through heavy woods, our
207
Operations On and Near the James River.
skirmish line came upon the rebels strongly intrenched and almost hidden from view by the thick underbrush.
Line of battle was formed at once, but as our skirmishers were becoming engaged, Colonel Dutton, who then as usual, was on the skirmish line, was mortally wounded. The command then de- volved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Burpee, Twenty-first Connecticut, who shortly after received orders to retire, as the enemy were then massing opposite the center of our intrenched line.
Colonel Dutton died from the effects of his wound on the 4th of June. He graduated at West Point in 1861, Kilpatrick, Custer, O'Rourke, Benjamin and Farquhar being among his classmates. Bold and chivalrous, with a nice sense of honor, a judgment quick and decisive, an unwavering zeal in his chosen profession, he was, in every respect, a thorough soldier.
As an engineer, his talents were of the highest order, and at the time of his death he had attained the rank of Captain of Engineers in the regular army. By his companions in arms he will never be forgotten, and to them his last resting place will be as a shrine commemorating the friendships which not the rude shock of war, nor lapse of time, can blight or destroy.
I have the honor to be, General,
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, (Signed),
HIRAM B. CROSBY, Major Commanding Twenty-first Conn. Volunteers.
On May 29th we received marching orders and proceeded to Whitehouse Landing, arriving there on June Ist. We then proceeded to Cold Harbor, where we participated in the engagement of the 3d of June, particulars of which will be found in the subjoined report.
To Brigadier-General Horace J. Morse, Adjutant- General Conn.
HEADQUARTERS TWENTY-FIRST CONN. VOLUNTEERS,
THIRD BRIGADE, FIRST DIVISION, EIGHTEENTH ARMY CORPS.
June 12, 1864.
GENERAL-I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by this regiment in the battle of Cold Harbor on the 3d day of June, this duty devolving upon me in consequence of the
20S
Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
death of Lieutenant-Colonel Burpee, who was in command of the regiment during the engagement referred to.
At three o'clock on the morning of the third, our brigade was formed in close column by division, the Twenty-first Connecticut being at the head of the column with fixed bayonets, upon which they were instructed to place sole reliance in storming the enemy's works. The brigade of General Marston, also in close column, by division, was in the advance. The two brigades at about daylight made an assault on the strongly intrenched line of the enemy, who immediately opened upon the advancing column with such a rapid and effective fire of musketry and artillery, that the brigade in front was thrown back with heavy loss, and in great confusion, upon the head of our column, which, notwithstanding, held its ground with the steadiness of veterans. The Twenty-first Connecticut was now deployed in line of battle on the advanced ground we then held, to guard against a threatened assault on the part of the enemy. The regiment was here exposed to a sharp fire of shot and shell, both direct and infilading, from the enemy's works, which were barely two hundred yards distant, but protected partly by the formation of the ground, which gave the men some shelter while lying down, the casualties, which otherwise would have been very heavy, were comparatively light.
We held this position some three hours, and were then sent 10 re-enforce General Burnham's brigade, in a contemplated charge upon the same work, from another point further to the left. Gen- eral Burnham's brigade was formed in close column, by division, the Eighth Connecticut to lead the charge, and the Twenty-first Connecticut to follow in line of battle with orders to rely upon the bayonet alone in carrying the enemy's works. The enemy, how- ever, appearing in such force along that portion of their line against which our assault was to be directed, the order was subsequently countermanded.
The regiment behaved with great steadiness throughout the whole engagement, receiving well-merited compliments from brigade and division commanders. A list of the casualties is annexed.
With profound sorrow I announce the death of Lieutenant- Colonel Thomas F. Burpee, who was mortally wounded at daybreak on June 9th, while going the rounds as Brigade Officer of the Day.
CAPTAIN HENRY R. JENNINGS. SURGEON J. HAMILTON I FE.
LIEUTENANT GEORGE P. EDWARDS. ASSISTANT-SURGEON CHARLES J. TENNANT.
2II
Operations On and Near the James River.
He survived only until the evening of the eleventh. Lieutenant- Colonel Burpee had borne his part with distinguished valor during the Bermuda Hundred campaign. His coolness and good judg- ment at the battle of Drewry's Bluff will not soon be forgotten by his comrades in that hotly contested action. At Cold Harbor, he was equally conspicuous for gallantry. While in command of the regiment he was able and efficient, always discharging with prompt- itude every duty, particularly if concerning the comfort and welfare of his men, by whom he was much loved and respected.
I have the honor to be, General,
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, (Signed), HIRAM B. CROSBY, Major Commanding.
Cold Harbor was evacuated by our forces on June 13th, and so silently and secretly was the evacuation conducted that the rebels did not learn of our departure until the light of day revealed the unoccupied works-we had so lately held. We embarked on transports at White House Landing, and sailed down the Pamunky and York Rivers, and thence up the James and Appomattox, landing at Point of Rocks. Here we remained one night, when crossing the Appomattox on pontoon bridges, we led the movement on Petersburg, and participated in the engagements of those first few days, which resulted in such decided and complete success, and gave us possession of some of the most advantageous and important positions of the enemy, besides the capture of a large amount of artillery and many prisoners. Had the advantages thus gained been followed up, as they should have been, and the troops pushed on before re-enforcements could have been called to the defense of the city, the Grand Army of the Potomac would not have been slumbering in front of the Cockade City.
But the corps that had been depended upon to support us did not come to our help as was expected, and so delay was
212
Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
occasioned which furnished opportunity for the re-enforce- ment of the enemy, and blocked the way for any further advance.
Thus the " Golden Opportunity " was lost, and what would have otherwise been a brilliant movement and an effectual and disastrous defeat of the rebels, became in reality a failure. So that we found ourselves in nearly the same position that we occupied two months before, confronted by a force that still resisted all endeavors made to dislodge them from their stronghold.
With full confidence in the ability and skill of General Grant, the army still looked for some important movements that would soon change the aspect of affairs. Worn down by constant duty and exposure in the trenches, the regiment now numbered only about two hundred men fit for duty.
The regiment was commanded by Captain James F. Brown, Lieutenant-Colonel Crosby and Major Stanton being at their homes in the North, the former on sick leave, and the latter on account of wounds received at Drewry's Bluff during the engagement of May 16, 1864.
Captain Frank S. Long, of Company D, was instantly killed during the action of July 30, by the bursting of a shell. He was a brave and able officer and greatly beloved by his companions in arms, and at the time of his death was in command of the sharpshooters of the division. He was just in the prime of life and full of bright promise. Genial and affable, he won friends among all, and his memory, with that of our gallant Colonels Dutton and Burpee, whom he has so soon followed, is deeply engraven upon the hearts of his asso. ciates in characters which time can never efface.
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Operations On and Near the James River.
SKETCH OF COLONEL DUTTON BY HIS BROTHER, MAJOR CLARENCE E. DUTTON, U. S. A.
JUNE 5, 1864.
Arthur Henry Dutton, Colonel Twenty-first Regiment Con- necticut Volunteer Infantry, was born in Wallingford, Conn., November 13, 1838. He came from one of the oldest families in the state, which reckons many officers who have served their country in its wars : Colonel Benjamin Douglass, of the Revolutionary Army ; General Joseph G. Totten, former Chief of Engineers ; General Joseph Mansfield, who was killed at Antietam, and Major George Dutton, of the Engineers, who died in 1857. As a boy he was a fine scholar in the " dis- trict" school, much esteemed and praised by his teachers, and also by his little companions. At a very early age he manifested the premonitions of those traits which were so marked in after life, and which brought him honor in his subsequent brief career. The most conspicuous were quick perception, common sense, and a short, condensed mode of expression, which was often epigrammatic. He had no pro- pensity for vice or mischief, but, on the contrary, had a happy faculty of keeping other boys out of it by means of short, witty expressions which laid bare the real nature of the mis- chief and made the less thoughtful ones ashamed of it.
At the age of fourteen he was sent to a boarding school in New Haven, and after two years' study entered the Scientific School at Yale College. In the summer of 1857, he was appointed a cadet at the West Point Military Academy. He at once showed himself to be an excellent pupil, and at the first semi-annual examination, was placed at the head of his class, a position which he kept until near his graduation, when he was obliged to share his honors with Patrick H.
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Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
O'Rourke, from the Rochester district. (O'Rourke was killed at Gettysburg, being then the Colonel of the One Hundred and Fortieth New York State Regiment).
Upon graduating, Dutton was appointed a Second Lieuten- ant of Engineers, and immediately assigned to duty on the staff of Major-General Mansfield, and was employed with Captain, afterwards Brigadier-General, Cyrus B. Comstock, in the construction of the earthwork defenses around Wash- ington. In February, 1862, he was sent to Fernandina, Fla., which was then held by the Federal forces, to construct the defenses of that place. While serving there he was tendered the command of the Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, which he promptly accepted. He never sought the position ; the position sought him.
His career as Colonel of that regiment is so well known to its officers and men, and has been so often recited that repetition seems unnecessary. He was finally de- tached from it, and became Chief of Staff to the Army of the James, commanded then by Major-General W. F. Smith. The position of a Chief of Staff to an army is one calling for the highest order of military abilities and attain- ment. It is one that has no recognition in the laws and regu- lations of our military establishment, though every war we have had has not only led to the recognition of the necessity for it, but has in practice created it after the necessity for it became manifest. As General Smith was soon superseded by General Butler, Colonel Dutton was assigned to the command of a brigade, and recommended for appointment as a Briga- dier-General of Volunteers. The appointment was made under date of May 16, 1864, but before his commission was received and accepted he was mortally wounded at Bermuda Hundred on the James River, while conducting a reconnois- sance in force. He was taken to a hospital at Hampton, and hopes were cherished that he would recover. The wound was by a bullet passing through his face from side to side, shattering the lower jaw. He was anxious to go North, and
1 1
215
Operations On and Near the James River.
with much misgiving on the part of the Chief Surgeon, he was permited to start. On board the steamer a secondary hemorrhage took place, and when Baltimore was reached his case was hopeless. He died the next day, June 5, 1864.
Colonel Dutton was married June 8, 1863, to Marion, the daughter of the late Rear Admiral B. F. Sands of the Navy, a resident of Washington, D. C., and a family of distinction in the naval history of our country. The union was a most happy one during the single year of its existence.
Colonel Dutton seemed to be a man who was marked out for a distinguished career. The solidity of his character, his early development of that wisdom, sound judgment and pene- tration, which are usually expected only in men of greater age and experience, had made him conspicuous. It gained for him the admiration of high authority and recognition of his capacity for important duties and responsibilities. His officers and men felt it, his superior officers knew it. Every general officer under whom he served perceived that the young Colonel was a master who needed nothing but oppor- tunity for a distinguised career. Combined with great strength and force of character was a certain calmness and placidity, both of temperament and manner. Such a combination is always impressive and insures confidence. His moral stand- ards were of the purest and most exalted kind. His truthful- ness was ideal, for he had an extraordinary faculty of repre- senting everything with exactitude, and without a trace of false coloring by extravagant figures of speech, or by ex- pressions which overdraw or unduly belittle. Even his wit, which was often brilliant, never led to a false impression. It illuminated without distorting. It never left any sting behind it, though it always amused.
In his personal relations he was most kindly and generous, but he never lost sight of justice. One remark of his is well remembered, that " a pound of justice in this world is worth more than a ton of generosity." In his social relations he was dignified and simple, but always refined in manner, neither
216
Twenty-first Regiment Connecticut Volunteers.
presumptuous nor bashful, easy to approach and leaving most agreeable impressions, not only upon people of his own age, but equally so upon his elders. Bencath a calm and quiet surface, there was also a strong undercurrent of romance and poetry in his nature. This was often made manifest to those who came into close contact with him, and it made him delightful to those who could induce him to disclose it.
The early death of Colonel Dutton was one of those trage- dies which are the highest price which a nation pays when it goes to war.
.
SURGEONS AT WORK.
217
The Battle of Cold Harbor.
CHAPTER XV.
THE BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR.
ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE REGIMENTAL REUNION, MAY 16, 1SS2,
BY CAPTAIN W. S HUBBELL.
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