USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Greenwich > Ye historie of ye town of Greenwich, county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, with genealogical notes on the Adams. > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
back the pursuing forces. The brigade commander said of this affair in his official report:
Of the 10th C. V., I need hardly say more than that they fully sustained the splendid reputation they have hitherto borne. For steady and soldierly behavior under most trying circumstances ... they may have been equalled, but never surpassed. Under a fire in which eighteen fell from the left of the regiment in almost as many seconds, not a man spoke a word or moved a heel from the alignment.
The moment this duty had been accomplished the regi- ment was sent to the front farther to the right, with orders to hold the enemy in check there until other troops could gain a safe position; this accomplished, Colonel Otis was ordered to take his own and another regiment of infantry, with a section of artillery, advance to the Half-Way House, and hold a position there on the Richmond and Petersburg pike until the last of the 18th Corps had passed to the rear. The enemy, with both infantry and artillery, attempted to force the position, but failed completely. The 10th Regiment was then sent far out to the right of our retreating army to protect its flank, and remained there until all had passed to the rear, then became the rear-guard back to Bermuda Hundred. In these movements the regiment lost thirty-six
233
Ioth Regiment
killed and wounded, none missing, although at three different times during the sixteenth it had been in danger of capture through holding its ground so tenaciously while the corps was retiring.
Early in June the regiment took part in repelling the attack of Beauregard on the Bermuda Hundred lines, when Major-General Walker of the rebel army was wounded, and captured; Beauregard himself barely escaped. June 15, the IOth Regiment was on duty at the front near Wier Bottom Church, Major Greeley in command. About three o'clock in the morning signs of a movement on the part of the enemy were observed. A skirmish line soon demonstrated that the enemy was retiring, on which the main body of the regiment advanced so rapidly as to capture, without loss, the famous Howlett House Battery, with thirty men and two officers. On the evening of June 20, a division under General Terry moved down to Jones' Landing, on the James River, with orders to cross by a pontoon bridge and capture Deep Bottom, a position north of the James, and only nine miles from Richmond. There was so much delay with the pon- toons that the General, fearing daylight would reveal and defeat the movement before the bridge could be completed, ordered Colonel Otis to select another infantry regiment in addition to his own, cross the river in boats, and capture the position. The IIth Maine was selected in addition to the 10th Connecticut, the movement promptly executed, and the position captured at two o'clock in the morning. At daylight the enemy appeared in force with infantry and artillery to retake it, but were promptly repulsed. From this time to the end of the war Deep Bottom was the base of operations against Richmond. A few days later two detachments were sent out from the regiment to go within the enemy's lines, capture and destroy a gristmill with a large amount of grain, and also capture a torpedo station and bring away the apparatus. Both expeditions were completely successful.
August 10, the regiment was on duty at the front. The
234
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
enemy made determined attacks on the line and were repulsed with considerable loss. The 10th Regiment being well protected lost but one killed and three wounded. The following correspondence between Generals Butler and Foster, relative to the affair, speaks for itself-no other troops than the 10th Regiment were engaged:
Headquarters Third Brigade, First Division, Ioth Corps, Army of the James,
Deep Bottom, Va., August 1, 1864. Colonel J. L. OTIS, Commanding 10th C. V .:
Sir :- I have the honor to forward the following dispatch from Colonel J. W. Shaffer, Chief-of-Staff, in answer to a dispatch in relation to the affair in which your regiment was engaged this afternoon.
The dispatch by telegraph from General Butler's Head- quarters, August 1, 1864. General FOSTER:
Your dispatch is received. The Commanding General thanks you and your troops for the gallant manner in which you repulsed the attack on your lines this evening.
(Signed) J. W. Shaffer, Colonel and Chief-of-Staff. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P. A. DAVIS, Capt. and A. A. G.
July 26, Colonel Otis was again ordered to take the 10th Connecticut and the IIth Maine, cross from Deep Bottom to Strawberry Plains, and retake a position from which a brigade of the 19th Corps had been driven the evening before. The two regiments recovered the position, forced the enemy back into their intrenchments, and held a position within fifty yards of their works through the night. In the morning the two regiments joined a brigade of the 2nd Corps in charging the works; the Ioth Connecticut and the IIth Maine carried an angle of the works, capturing three field guns. Loss of the Ioth Connecticut, nine killed and wounded. August 17, Lieutenant-Colonel Leggett, being too much disabled by wounds received on Morris Island to continue in the field, resigned and was succeeded by Major Greeley.
August 26, the regiment fought with its usual gallantry
235
Ioth Regiment
and steadiness in forcing the enemy's lines in front of Deep Bottom and Spring Hill, losing thirty-six killed and wounded. Two days later, with the 24th Massachusetts and 100th New York, all under command of Colonel Otis, it took the advance in moving against the enemy at Deep Gully and Fuzzell's Mills, losing thirty-two killed and wounded. In short, the Ioth Connecticut was in all of the nameless and almost numberless fights and skirmishes of the Army of the James during the summer of 1864. August 28, the regiment was ordered into the lines at Petersburg, where it remained thirty days, and although no serious engagement took place there during the time, it suffered a loss of nineteen killed and wounded, having been under fire night and day the whole time.
September 26, the regiment returned to the north bank of the. James, and on the twenty-seventh took part in the engagement at Chapin's Farm, which resulted in the capture of Fort Harrison and Newmarket Heights.
October I, General Birney found that the enemy was moving in force northward across the front of the 10th Corps, became alarmed for the safety of a body of troops under Gen- eral Terry that had been moved so far to the right as to become disconnected from the main body, and ordered the Ioth Regiment to advance without support and attack the marching column of the enemy. The regiment advanced so promptly that it took a force of the enemy's cavalry by sur- prise and sent it flying from the field; then advancing rapidly, attacked the main body of the enemy in flank, compelling them to halt and form in line of battle facing the woods from which their cavalry and pickets had been driven. The 10th Regiment, by changing position rapidly in the woods, gave the rebels the impression that they were attacked by a much heavier force, which kept them stationary until Terry's safety was assured. General Birney personally thanked the regiment for the pluck and coolness it had displayed in attacking and keeping inactive for two hours a force that outnumbered it ten to one.
236
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
September 30, the three years' term of the regiment expired. Losses in battle, by disease, and the muster-out of the non-re-enlisted men reduced the command to but little more that one hundred men present for duty. October 7, when Kautz's Cavalry was stampeded without making a fight, and Lee's Army came down to drive the Army of the James back across the river, the regiment on the right of the Ioth Connecticut broke and ran, leaving the 10th Connecti- cut on the extreme right of the army, where it was attacked by a rebel brigade pushed forward to turn our flank; the regi- ment stood its ground and drove back the entire brigade in confusion. The enemy rallied and again advanced, and was driven back the second time with heavy loss, leaving their dead, including three regimental commanders, on the field. The loss of the 10th Regiment was eight killed and wounded. General Plaisted said of this affair in his official report: "In my opinion, the conduct of the 10th Regiment, when the troops on its right broke and fled, saved the Army of the James from disaster."
October 13, the regiment, with but ninety men in the ranks, was ordered to join Pond's Brigade in charging a heavy and well-manned line of intrenchments on the Darby Road, five miles from Richmond. The force sent in was entirely inadequate and met with a bloody repulse, the 10th Regiment losing forty-six killed and wounded-just one more than half the number taken into the fight. The enemy was not only thoroughly intrenched, but outnumbered the assaulting column five to one. During the service of more than three years, this was the first time the regiment had fallen back under fire.
October 18, Colonel Otis was mustered out by reason of "expiration of term of service," and the command of the regiment devolved upon Colonel E. S. Greeley, of New Haven. October 28, the 10th Regiment under his command had a sharp skirmish near the Gerhardt plantation with the loss of five wounded, and near the Johnson place on the twenty- seventh with one wounded. The following week the 10th
237
Ioth Regiment
Connecticut was one of the regiments selected to go to New York City and preserve order there during the Presidential election.
In November and December the regiment was recruited with substitutes up to about eight hundred men. March 28, 1865, Colonel Greeley being absent on leave, the regiment, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel E. D. S. Goodyear, broke camp north of the James, with orders to march to the extreme left of the lines south of Petersburg. It reached Dinwiddie on the evening of the twenty-ninth; on the thirty- first took post at Hatcher's Run, and the next morning at four o'clock was attacked by a brigade of North Carolina troops, which it whipped handsomely, taking a number of prisoners. April 2, four companies being on picket, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Goodyear was ordered to take the other six and join in the assault on Fort Gregg, a key to the inner defences of Petersburg. After a march of over three hours he joined the assaulting column, which had to advance under the fire of Forts Gregg, Bradley, and Cemetery Hill. The fighting for a foothold on the parapet of the fort was desper- ate, and continued for more than half an hour with the bayonet and clubbed muskets. The 10th Regiment carried the southern angle of the works, and its state flag, with twenty-three bullet holes through it and three through the staff, was the first banner planted on the parapet. The des- perate character of the combat is shown by the losses sus- tained; out of thirteen officers and one hundred and eighty men of the 10th Regiment that were engaged, eight officers and one hundred and eighteen men were killed or wounded. The corps commander, General Gibbons, presented to the regi- ment a bronze eagle in recognition of its services on the occa- sion. General Grant himself gave the order for the charge, and in his Memoirs speaks in high terms of the conduct of the troops engaged. Lieutenant-Colonel Goodyear was severely wounded in the charge, and the command of the regiment devolved upon Captain Hickerson, under whom it marched in the van of the infantry sent to support Sheridan. Lee's
238
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
plan was to defeat the cavalry and escape around the flank of the Army of the Potomac. He had already broken through the cavalry when the infantry of the 24th Corps, after a march of almost unprecedented hardship, formed across his line of march, barring effectually his further pro- gress. Sabres alone, as Sheridan had foreseen, could not stop Lee's strong infantry column, but the bayonets of the Ioth and the 18th Corps (the old Army of the James), combined in the new 24th, proved an impassable barrier. The rebels advanced on the infantry and some sharp fighting took place, during which the 10th Regiment had several men wounded and seven captured. The prisoners all escaped and got back during the day, but thoroughly cleaned out of everything valuable.
The regiment remained at Appomattox until the last rebel had been paroled, leaving there on the fifteenth day of April. On the sixteenth Colonel Greeley resumed command of the regiment, which moved deliberately "On to Rich- mond," where it remained until August 26, when it was ordered home and was mustered out of service at Hartford, Connecticut, September 5, 1865-four years, lacking twenty- five days.
Principal Engagements.
Roanoke Island, N. C., Feb. 8, 1862.
Newbern, N. C., Mch. 14, 1862.
Kinston, N. C., Dec. 14, 1862.
Whitehall, N. C., Dec. 16, 1862. Goldsboro, N. C., Dec. 18, 1862. Seabrook Island, S. C., Mch. 28, 1863.
Siege of Charleston, S. C., from July 28 to Oct. 25, 1863. St. Augustine, Fla., Dec. 30, 1863. Walthall Junction, Va., May 7, 1864.
Drewry's Bluff, Va., May 13 to 17 (inclusive), 1864. Bermuda Hundred, Va., June 16, 1864. Deep Bottom, Va., June 20, 1864.
Strawberry Plains, Va., July 26 and 27, 1864.
Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 1, 1864.
Deep Bottom, Va., Aug. 14, 1864.
239
Ioth Regiment
Deep Run, Va., Aug. 16, 1864. Deep Gully and Fuzzell's Mills, Va., Aug. 28, 1864.
Siege of Petersburg, Va., Aug. 28 to Sept. 29, 1864. Fort Harrison, Va., Sept. 27, 1864.
Laurel Hill Church, Va., Oct. 1, 1864. Newmarket Road, Va., Oct. 7, 1864.
Darbytown Road, Va., Oct. 13, 1864.
Darbytown Road, Va., Oct. 27, 1864.
Johnson's Plantation, Va., Oct. 29, 1864.
Hatcher's Run, Va., Mch. 29 and 30, and Apl. 1, 1865. Fort Gregg, Va., Apl. 2, 1865.
Appomattox Court House, Va., Apl. 9, 1865.
Mead, Daniel M., Major. Robbins, William A., Adjutant.
COMPANY B. Savage, William L., 2nd Lieutenant.
COMPANY C. Wright, Benjamin, Ist Lieutenant.
COMPANY D. Kelley, Joseph M., Corporal, deserted.
COMPANY G. Mead, Thomas R., Captain.
Privates.
Donehue, William, Hall, William,
McCue, James L., Sheran, Michael.
COMPANY H.
Privates.
Gill, George, Shippee, William A., Moore, George.
COMPANY I. Close, Isaac O., Ist Lieutenant. Marshall, William H., Ist Lieutenant.
240
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
Sergeants.
Bird, William,
Ferris, Paul B.,
Green, Norval,
Holmes, Caleb M.,
Knapp, William H. H.,
Lombard, Joseph A.,
Schafer, Louis,
Long, William,
Slater, William,
Corporals.
Becker, Henry E.,
Moe, Edward,
Bixby, Joseph E.,
Dayton, George H.,
O'Bryan, Terrance,
Ferris, Alexander,
Henderson, Alexander,
Tillson, Zachariah,
Wallace, John L.,
Willcox, Willis H.
Sniffen, William, Musician. Lloyd, Thomas, Wagoner.
Privates.
Barrett, Patrick,
Booth, Edmund,
Brown, John H.,
Hunt, Thomas P.,
Burns, Erastus,
Husted, Amos W.,
Burns, James H.,
Husted, Nathan L.,
Burns, Lyman,
Jarman, George,
Burns, William A.,
Jarman, William,
Chard, Ludlow L.,
Lloyd, Samuel,
Dibble, George B.,
Lockwood, Jonathan,
Duffee, John, Finch, David I.,
Lowrey, William,
Finch, Jared,
Lyon, Joshua,
Funston, George S.,
Lyon, Michael,
Gerald, James S.,
Lyon, Samuel A.,
Hart, James,
Manion, Patrick,
Hermance, William,
Matthews, John B.,
Hoyt, Charles H.,
McCann, Charles W.,
Hoyt, Peter,
McCann, John,
Hubbard, Holley,
McDonald, James,
Mead, Henry H.,
Hubbard, John,
Loudon, Silas D., Marshall, Drake S.,
Mead, Zachariah,
Morrell, Daniel P.,
Ritch, William H.
Morrison, William,
Peck, Elias S.,
Knapp, Obadiah M.,
Hubbard, Julian A.,
Hughes, Charles,
Chamberlain, William S.,
Johnson, Franklin,
Lockwood, William H.,
Soldiers in the Civil War
24I
Mead, James E.,
Robbins, Harrison,
Mead, Silas E.,
Miles, Elisha S.,
Rutherford, William, Schafer, John,
Miller, Ralcey A.,
Scott, James H.,
Mills, Abram T.,
Scott, Warren N.,
Mills, Samuel E.,
Selleck, Stephen,
Mosher, Leander,
Sheeran, Patrick,
Murry, Thomas,
Studwell, George D.,
Olmstead, Osborn,
Tinker, George E.,
Peterson, Charles,
Waterbury, Lewis,
Reuthsler, John,
Webber, John,
Ringrose, Elias,
Weeks, Harvey J.,
Robbins, George P.,
Winus, John H.
Unassigned Recruits.
Hickson, George.
Sims, John H.
IITH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
COMPANY C. Myers, Charles, deserted.
12TH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
Unassigned Recruits. Henry, William, Reamer, Jacob, Wood, Frank.
13TH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
This regiment was recruited at New Haven and left for Ship Island, Mississippi Sound, on March 17, 1862. It was mustered out of service on April 25, 1866, at Pulaski, Ga.
Principal Engagements.
Georgia Landing, La., October 27, 1862. Irish Bend, La., April 14, 1863.
Port Hudson, La., May 24 and June 14, 1863. Cane River, La., April 23, 1864. Mansura, La., May 16, 1864. Winchester, Va., September 19, 1864. Fisher's Hill, Va., September 22, 1864 .. Cedar Creek, Va., October 17, 1864.
16
242
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
COMPANY B. Lockwood, Eliakim, Sergeant. Finnell, Aaron, Wagoner. Prindle, George, Private.
14TH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
COMPANY C.
Reddy, Samuel, transferred. Smith, David, transferred.
15TH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
This regiment was recruited at New Haven during the month of August, 1862, and left for Washington, D. C., August 28, 1862.
It was mustered out of service June 27, 1865.
Principal Engagements.
Fredericksburg, Va., December 13, 1862.
Edenton Road, Va., April 24, 1863.
Providence Church Road, Va., May 3, 1863.
Kinston, N. C., March 8, 1865.
Privates.
COMPANY D.
Hack, Charles, Weisensell, Frederick.
COMPANY E. Cull, John. COMPANY G.
Callahan, Robert, Jones, Thomas, transferred.
Galvin, John, transferred.
Sweeney, John, transferred.
COMPANY K. Hickey, John, transferred.
Unassigned Recruit. Daly, Thomas.
243
17th Regiment
17TH REGIMENT CONNECTICUT VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
History of the 17th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. Written by Brevet Brigadier-General William H. Noble, late Colonel of the Regiment.
This regiment was almost wholly enlisted from the sons of Fairfield County. The appointment of its colonel, William H. Noble, of Bridgeport, and the order for its rendez- vous as the county regiment at what is now the Seaside Park of that city, were made by Governor Buckingham at the earnest request of leading citizens of the county. The hour was dark, and there was desperate need of soldiers in the field. It was doubted whether the county alone could fill a regi- ment as rapidly as the whole State, but the men of Fairfield County took the risk. They pledged the Governor to have their good men and true as quickly at the front as any Con- necticut regiment. Well did Fairfield County fulfil that promise.
Its colonel was commissioned on July 22, 1862. Within thirty days the regiment could have marched to the front a thousand strong. To it, Norwalk furnished two companies, A and F; Stamford, Company B; Danbury, Company C; Bridgeport, Company D, and parts of three others; West- port, Newtown, and Bridgeport made up Company E; Ridgefield, Redding and Bridgeport, Company G; New Canaan, Company H; Greenwich, Company I. Company K was furnished mostly from Fairfield and Bridgeport. Every town of the county sent a squad of soldiers to the regiment, which was mustered into the United States service on August 28, 1862, and left for the front by rail on the third of September following. Its departure was a rare scene of patriotic devotion and affection at parting. The date of its moving had become known throughout the county. On the third of September, from all its towns there thronged to Bridgeport, filling its seaside camp and the city, the kindred and friends of the regiment. They showered Godspeeds and blessings on their sons, and braced their hearts to the
244
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
parting by pledges to keep all right and bright at the firesides of the county.
The regiment thought it was going straight "to fight mit Sigel," as General Franz Sigel, commanding the IIth Corps, Army of the Potomac, had by permission of the War Department early won the consent of the regiment to join his force. On its arrival at Baltimore, however, it found that city alarmed by raids of the enemy's cavalry, and the regiment was stopped by General John E. Wool, then com- manding, and after a delay of a day or two was ordered to encamp as auxiliary to the garrison of Fort Marshall. This was an important earthwork and barracks just east of Baltimore, overlooking the city and harbor, and commanding a wide sweep of country.
Neither the work given the regiment, nor the duties imposed, nor their military association, was pleasing. It therefore sought, through its colonel, a transfer to its original destination, Sigel's Corps. This action coming to the knowledge of General Wool, so angered him that, late on the night of October 14, 1862, he peremptorily ordered its colonel to have the 17th Regiment outside of Baltimore before noon of the fifteenth or take the consequences.
At half-past eleven the next day, the regiment and all its belongings were speeding by rail to Washington. Arriving there at night, they were ordered next morning to Fort Kearney, one of the northwest defences of the Capital. After about a fortnight at this fort, on the fifth of November, a welcome order came for the regiment to report to General Sigel, at Gainesville, Va. His corps then held Thoroughfare Gap of the Bull Run Mountains.
On reaching Gainesville, the regiment was united with the 2nd Brigade, Ist Division, of this Corps. This 2nd Brigade was made up of four regiments of Ohio men-the 25th, 55th, 75th, and the 107th. Later on, the 157th New York was added, making, with the 17th Connecticut, six regiments, which served through the rest of the war close together in Virginia, on Folly and Morris Islands, S. C., and
245
17th Regiment
in Florida. All were, either together or in detachments, in Florida under the command of Colonel Noble.
Soon after the 17th Connecticut joined the 11th Corps, it moved to Hopewell Gap, in the same mountain range, thence after a fortnight to Chantilly, Va., and on December 6, 1862, it began a tedious seven days' winter march, through slush and snow, towards Fredericksburg, Va. The corps was held as a reserve to the advance of General Burnside's Army of the Potomac.
After the disaster at Fredericksburg, the regiment spent its winter in camps at Stafford Court House, Belle Plain, and Brooke's Station, Va. All these posts were near land- ings on the Potomac and the railroad from Aquia Creek to Falmouth.
On the last of April orders were given to make ready to move with the corps (now under command of General Howard) in the disastrous campaign of Chancellorsville. This was the first telling work the regiment had faced. The weather was excessively warm, and before Chancellorsville was reached all had got into light marching order, and the road was strewn with surplus impedimenta. The 11th Corps crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford on pon- toons and the Rapidan at Germania Ford by a temporary bridge and by fording. On the field of Chancellorsville the regiment was stationed near the extreme right of the line. Two of its companies were on picket in the wilderness when Stonewall Jackson surprised and routed the IIth Corps, whose commander was two miles away at the Chancel- lorsville House. This was the first trial of the 17th Regi- ment under fire. It lost in the battle (killed, wounded, and missing) 120 men. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Walter was instantly killed. He had been captured at the first Battle of Bull Run, and was only released from his imprisonment in time to receive the appointment of lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. Colonel Noble was severely wounded and his horse shot under him. Horace Greeley, on page 357 of his American Conflict singles out for commendation the hope-
246
Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich
less rally of this regiment under Colonel Noble, in face of defeat and retreat all around it.
After the withdrawal of General Hooker from this battlefield, the regiment and its corps rested near Brooke's Station until the Army of the Potomac began that following of Lee's advance which resulted in the Battle of Gettysburg. It reached that battlefield in the fiercest of the first day's fight. The regiment was pushed forward to the extreme right. Two of its companies, as volunteer sharpshooters, were sent to its outmost flank. The regiment was struck by an overwhelming force, under Confederate General Gordon, at Oakhill, now Barlow's Knoll. Here it lost most of its thirty-nine men who fell in that battle. The entire number of killed, wounded, and missing in the action was 198. Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Fowler was instantly killed; Captain Wilson French was severely wounded; Major Allen G. Brady was severely contused and disabled by a shell splinter breaking the scapula.
On that Oakhill now stands the regiment's monument to its dead in the battle. Looking from Cemetery Hill north- ward over the field of Gettysburg, it is a conspicuous land- mark. Around it sweeps the new military boulevard which is to encompass the entire battlefield.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.