USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 1
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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
Gc 973. 74 M38bow pt. 2 1778895
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01084 3297
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR
1861-1865.
Pt.2
By JAMES L. BOWEN.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HON. HENRY L. DAWES, U. S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
SPRINGFIELD, MASS .: CLARK W. BRYAN & CO., IS89.
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498
1778895
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
10th of October the regiment was ordered to Fairfax Court House, where it was brigaded with the Seventy-third Ohio, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth and One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York, forming the Second Brigade, Second Division, Eleventh Corps. Colonel Orlando Smith of the Seventy-third commanded the brigade, General Steinwehr the division and General Sigel the corps, of which the Thirty-third was the only Massachusetts regiment. Meantime Major Bates had been commissioned colonel of the Twelfth Regi- ment and the vacancy was filled by the promotion of Captain Brown from November 29.
The brigade left camp on the 2d of November and moved toward Thoroughfare Gap, where the enemy was reported to be in force. Various movements followed until the 10th, when in a heavy snow storm the regiment arrived near Warrenton and was ordered back to camp, but a subsequent dispatch directed the force again to the Gap, which was reached that night, and there the regiment bivou- acked until the 16th. A rumor then came of the presence of the enemy at White Plains and the Thirty-third were ordered on a recon- naissance thither. After a few days there the column was ordered back to camp, which was reached on the 22d, the men very weary, wet and uncomfortable from several days of storm.
General Sigel's Corps began its march toward Fredericksburg on the 10th of December, the roads being in a terrible condition, the men meagerly supplied with food, and ill prepared for the journey. The vicinity of the Rappahannock was reached on the 17th, two days after the close of the disastrous battle of Fredericksburg, the regiment going into winter quarters with the rest of the army. It had its share in the dismal experiences of Burnside's Mud March and on the 5th of February, 1863, the corps moved to Brooks Sta- tion near Stafford Court House where it went into more permanent quarters. These were occupied until the opening of the Chancel- lorsville campaign.
On the 1st of April Colonel Maggi and Surgeon Warren resigned as had Assistant Surgeon Gage some weeks before, and soon after- ward Major Brown followed and Assistant Surgeon Brown left to become surgeon of the Fifty-fifth Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Underwood was made colonel, Captain Ryder became lieutenant colonel, Captain Lamson was commissioned major, Joseph W. Hast- ings of Warren was surgeon and Murdock MeGregor of Boston as-
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THIE THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
sistant surgeon, and Lieutenant Mudge had become adjutant. The brigade, in which the Fifty-fifth Ohio had taken. the place of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth New York, was at this time com- manded by General Francis C. Barlow.
The Eleventh Corps, accompanying the Twelfth, left camp on the 27th of April to open the Chancellorsville campaign. The Rappa- hannock was crossed at Kelly's Ford on the evening of the 28th, the Rapidan at Germania Ford the next day and the 1st of May found Hooker's line established, Barlow's Brigade being the reserve of the Eleventh Corps on the extreme Union right. In the terrible disaster to the corps on the following afternoon the Thirty-third did not share. Early in the day General Sickles with a strong force had moved to the southward to engage a column of the enemy which was supposed to be retreating, and Barlow's Brigade was sent out in support of this movement. While it was absent the blow fell, and for a time the force under Sickles was in imminent danger of being cut off and destroyed ; but it was extricated and in the even- ing General Barlow's command came into position in time to assist in checking the Confederate triumph, though the regiment lost the knapsacks and other property which had been left behind when it started out carly in the day. Otherwise the regimental loss in this its first battle was slight, being five wounded and two missing, and as the Eleventh Corps, or what was left of it, was then moved to the extreme left of the Union lines and placed in a strong position, it was not further engaged. With the rest of the army it recrossed the river and returned to the old camp.
The Thirty-third was one of the regiments detailed to support General Pleasonton's cavalry at the battle of Beverly Ford, Brandy Station or Fleetwood, as the little engagement of the 9th of June is variously called ; 500 picked men from each corps of the Army of the Potomac were selected as infantry support on this occasion, and it is worthy of mention that the Thirty-third Regiment from the Eleventh Corps and the Second Massachusetts from the Twelfth Corps, in each case the only Massachusetts troops in the command, were assigned to this responsible duty. The regiment left camp on the afternoon of the 6th, marched all night, halted at Spotted Tavern for breakfast and a brief rest, then on again to Bealeton Station which was reached that evening at 7 o'clock ; a march of 41 miles in 26 hours.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
The Rappahannock was forded on the morning of the 9th, but beyond some skirmishing, losing three men wounded, the Thirty- third were not engaged in the sharp'fight that ensued. The hostile cavalry having been driven out of sight, the regiment recrossed the river, forming the rear guard, returned to Bealeton Station, marched to Rappahannock Station and back to Bealeton, moving thence to Catlett's Station where it was joined by the rest of the corps, then on its march northward.
The Gettysburg campaign had begun, and in the marching and maneuvering of the memorable weeks which followed the Thirty- third bore their share of toil and hardship. The morning of July 1 found the Eleventh Corps at Emmittsburg, some 10 miles from Gettysburg, and at the opening of the battle General Howard, who had succeeded Sigel as corps commander just before the battle of Chancellorsville, hurried forward as rapidly as possible. On reach- ing the field he detached Steinwehr's Division of two small brigades with his reserve artillery as a reserve force at Cemetery Hill some two miles from the scene of the fight. The Thirty-third Regiment formed the extreme left of this reserve force, being posted near the junction of the Taneytown road and the Baltimore pike, just in front of the Cemetery. Later in the day the First Brigade, Colonel Coster, was sent forward to join the fight, leaving the Second Bri- gade as the only reserve on which to rally the broken remnants of the First and the Eleventh Corps. General Barlow having taken temporary command of a division and been wounded, the command of the brigade again devolved upon Colonel Smith of the Seventy- third Ohio.
During the 2d of July the regiment lay in support of Union batteries on Cemetery Hill and that evening when the fierce at- tack of the Louisiana Tigers was made further to the east, Colonel Underwood directed an oblique fire upon the assailants which was especially effective. During that day and the following the regi- ment was almost constantly under heavy artillery fire, suffering a loss of seven men killed and 38 wounded.
Moving southward from Gettysburg after the retreat of Lee's army, the Thirty-third found themselves on the 12th of July at Hagerstown confronting the enemy, but when on the morning of the 14th the Union lines were advanced in order of battle they found no antagonists and the Eleventh Corps with the rest of the
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THIE THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
army moved down the Potomac and crossed into Virginia. Gen- eral Howard with his command was then detached to guard the railroad from Alexandria by which the supplies for General Meade's army were transported and about the 1st of August the Thirty-third were posted near Catlett's Station, between which and Bristoe Sta- tion its time was divided till September 25. During this time Second Lieutenant Arthur C. Parker of Boston was murdered by bushwhackers. The Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were now placed under command of General Hooker, detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent into Tennessee to co-operate with the Army of the Cumberland. The journey of 1,400 miles was made in five days and nights of continuous travel, principally by rail, and on the 1st of October the regiment reached Bridgeport, Ala. There and at Stevenson the time was passed until the morning of the 27th, when Steinwehr's Division, Smith's Brigade leading, began the ad- vance toward Chattanooga.
The enemy were encountered on the 28th and there was some skirmishing in which the regiment lost one sergeant, killed, but the foe was driven back and the Union troops encamped near Brown's Ferry in Lookout Valley. . At midnight the camp was alarmed and the regiment was called from slumber to the most desperate fight in its history. The Confederates under cover of darkness had at- tacked the camp of Geary's Division of the Twelfth Corps, in the rear of Steinwehr, and the latter was ordered back to the assistance of the imperiled division. It was found, among other positions taken, that the enemy had fortified a hill some 200 feet in hight, so abrupt and difficult that its ascent was almost impossible by day- light. Colonel Smith was ordered by General Hooker to undertake in the thick darkness of the night the terrible task of storming the hill and driving out the enemy. For this desperate work the bri- gade commander selected his own regiment and the Thirty-third Massachusetts, the two numbering altogether but some 400 effective men. At the word of command the lines, in the best order possible under the circumstances, clambered up the steep slope, through and over the obstructions, until finally they stood facing the hostile works. "Don't fire on your friends!" said some one through the darkness; and the men of the Thirty-third, deceived, were led to give their regimental number. The response was a terrible volley delivered almost in their faces, which killed or wounded nearly one-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
half their number and the rest, temporarily stunned and shocked, retreated to the foot of the hill. Adjutant Mudge fell dead at the fire, Colonel Underwood, with a terribly shattered thigh, had fallen, fatally wounded it was supposed, close to the hostile works, and among the dead lay many of the regiment's bravest and best; but the sur- vivors were only momentarily repulsed. As soon as possible the shattered line was reformed and then, knowing what was before them, the undaunted men climbed once more the deadly steep ; this time it was the silent bayonet which did the work. Up to, over and into the intrenchments the Boys in Blue went resistlessly ; the enemy were driven from their works, broken and demoralized; the Stars and Stripes waved in triumph. The civil war saw no more heroic charge than this. The men of the Thirty-third had captured a position defended by a superior force which according to all military science should have been impregnable against many times the num- ber of the defenders. Most of the enemy escaped, but a hundred remained prisoners in the hands of the victors. The success had been won at great cost; besides Adjutant Mudge, Second Lien- tenants Joseph P. Burrage of Cambridge, James Ilill of Danvers and Oswego Jones of Fall River were killed and four other officers wounded ; 24 enlisted men were killed, 53 wounded and one miss- ing, making a total loss of 86 within those few dreadful moments. Colonel Underwood finally recovered, though seriously crippled for life, and in recognition of his gallantry on this occasion received, by special request of General Hooker, a commission as brigadier general dating from the 6th of November.
Following the battle of Wanhatchie the regiment camped for a few days near the scene of the conflict, after which it moved up the valley toward Chattanooga, having taken part in Hooker's " Battle above the Clouds " and the assault on Missionary Ridge, November 25, losing in the latter engagement five wounded and missing. Pur- suing Bragg's ronted army as far as Red Clay, the regiment paused there to destroy the railroad, and then turning northward formed a part of General Sherman's expedition for the relief of Burnside at Knoxville. Before the latter place was reached Longstreet had raised the siege and Sherman returned to Chattanooga, the men of the Thirty-third suffering not a little during the three weeks ocen- pied by the march, as they were withont knapsacks or blankets, which they had left behind in the charge on Missionary Ridge. On
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THE THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
the 18th of December they again entered Lookout Valley, thoroughly exhausted bodily, but in high spirits over the complete success of their recent campaign, and proceeded to build comfortable winter quarters.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Corps were consolidated on the 14th of April, 1864, to form the Twentieth, and under this arrangement the Thirty-third Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ryder. formed a part of the Third Brigade, Third Division. Major Gen- eral Butterfield commanded the division and Colonel James Wood, Jr., of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth New York the brigade.
The chaplain's services on Sunday, the 1st of May, were inter- rupted by the receipt of marching orders for the next morning, in accordance with which the comfortable camp was left behind and the regiment turned its steps southward. In a few days the enemy was found in force at Rocky Face Ridge in defense of Dalton, and on the 9th the brigade was detached and sent to Mill Creek Gap where it formed line of battle, with two companies of the Thirty- third as skirmishers; but the movement proved only a feint, and after the exchange of a few shots the command returned to its former position. On the 11th the advance was resumed by way of Snake Creek Gap, the Confederates being found in a strong position near Resaca.
In the battle of Resaca, which occurred on the 15th, the regiment took an important part. The position of the Twentieth Corps was at the left of the Union line and Butterfield's Division, supported by the others, led the advance. The Third Brigade had the right of the division, being formed in echelon, the Thirty-third being the second regiment from the right. After getting into position, which was a matter of much difficulty owing to the unfavorable nature of the ground, the charge was ordered and the whole line went forward at the double-quick, driving the enemy back at every point; the Thirty-third charged and captured three hills in succession, but their triumph cost heavily. First Lieutenants Henry JJ. Parker of Townsend and Edgar L. Bumpus of Braintree were killed, with 17 enlisted men, and 63 were wounded, a total loss of 82.
It was found next morning that the enemy had retreated during the night and pursuit was made till Cassville was reached, where he was again found in force and skirmishing ensued from the 19th to the 22d, the regiment losing one killed and two wounded. Three days' rest followed, then another advance, and on the 25th the Third
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Division was ordered to the support of the Second, already engaged near Dallas. The Thirty-third at once took part, charging the Con- federate works and driving the enemy to their inner line, when darkness and a severe storm put an end to the fight. In this en- gagement the regiment lost ten killed, 43 wounded and four missing. Its next skirmish was in front of Kenesaw Mountain, in which it lost four wounded. On the 22d of June it was deployed as skir- mishers and advanced against the enemy's outposts taking posses- sion of a desirable hill. The movement was sharply contested and the loss to the regiment, which received much praise for its part in the affair, was eight killed and 18 wounded.
Some days later the Confederates again retreated and on the 3d of July the advance was resumed, a few miles being made each day till the 6th, when camp was made near the .Chattahoochee. Some days later the regiment, being now reduced to little more than a handful of effective men, was detailed as train guard, m which duty it served during the siege of Atlanta, having no further active part in the operations against that stronghold. On the 27th of August it was relieved and reported for duty at the fords and bridges of the Chattahoochee, remaining there till the 5th of September. It was then sent to report to General Slocum in Atlanta and was detailed to guard prisoners in the city, but after a few days of this duty it reported to Colonel Cogswell, post commandant, for provost duty, in which it continued until the beginning of the march to the sea. During this time Lieutenant Colonel Ryder resigned, Major Doane was promoted to the vacancy and took command of the regi- ment, Captain Tebbetts being made major.
Atlanta was evacnated by the main body of Sherman's army on the 15th of November, and the following day the provost guard under Colonel Cogswell followed, the Thirty-third forming the rear guard and thus being the last regiment to leave the city. The Twentieth Corps followed the railroad toward Augusta, destroying it as they went, but leaving it at Covington and marching by way of Eatonton reached Milledgeville on the 23d, where the regiment rejoined its brigade. Thence an east ward course was taken through Davisboro and Louisville toward Millen, from which the Union prisoners of war were hurriedly removed. This point was reached on the 3d of December, when the column turned southward and for a week marched through the rice swamps of Georgia. It was a
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THE THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
strange march, with scarcely a house to be seen and everywhere the vast level of the country, marshy, almost impenetrable, covered with endless pine forests, yet in every direction filled with vast mov- ing bodies of men, horses, wagons, artillery and all the belongings of a great army.
On the 10th of December the outposts at Savannah were reached and the weary army halted. During the long march through the heart of the Confederacy there had been but one day of rest and not more than two or three days had marked less than ten miles of advance, and in addition to the march proper there had been the ceaseless destruction and devastation, and the necessity for constant foraging to supply the army. On the night of the 20th General Hardee evacuated Savannah and the following morning it was oc- enpied by the Union army. New-year's day, 1865, was selected for a review of the Twentieth Corps in the city and the following morn- ing the regiment was ferried across the Savannah river on the steamer Planter, which had just been captured from the Confeder- ates, and landed four miles below on the South Carolina side. The . next day it marched 12 miles to Cheeves Farm on New river, Beau- fort district, where it went into camp.
The initial northward movement was made on the 16th, simul- taneously with the coming of winter rains, when one day's march took the regiment to Hardeeville where it remained till the 20th, and with the coming of February began in earnest the march of Sherman's army through the Carolinas. Some changes in com- manders had taken place, the division being at the time under General W. T. Ward, and Colonel Cogswell of the Second Massachusetts commanding the Third Brigade, to which the Twentieth Connecticut and the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Regiments had been added. All through the month of February the destroying columns, moved steadily northward, the Thirty-third passing Columbia on the 17th and at the close of the month reaching the North Carolina line. The 12th of March was spent in camp near Fayetteville and on the 16th the regiment took part in the battle of Averysboro, losing one killed and ten wounded.
The battle of Bentonville came three days later, and early in the afternoon the Third Division reached the field, taking a position in support of the Fourteenth Corps which had begun the fight. Soon afterward, however, Colonel Cogswell's Brigade was moved to the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
front to fill a gap in the line, the Thirty-third with two compa- nies as skirmishers being placed to cover the right flank. Here several attacks were received and repulsed, General Johnston mak- ing desperate efforts with his entire force to overwhelm the two isolated corps of the Union army before the others could arrive to their support. In this fight the Thirty-third captured about 30 prisoners and the battle flag of the Twenty-sixth Tennessee Regi- ment, its own loss being but five men wounded. Night ended the fighting and next morning the brigade rejoined its division on the left, extending the lines in that direction and fortifying. On the morning of the 22d the Thirty-third accompanied by the Twenty- sixth Wisconsin went on an expedition to feel for the right of the enemy's line, having found which and exchanged a few shots, it re- turned with the loss of one man killed.
The next day, Johnston having retired, the Union army advanced to Goldsboro where it was reviewed by General Sherman and went into camp, having joined forces with General Schofield, thus open- ing communication with the base of supplies which the latter had established at Kinston. Resting for a few days while his army was being supplied and clothed, General Sherman prepared on the 10th of April to move upon Raleigh and on the 12th at Smithfield re- ceived the news of Lee's surrender. Raleigh was reached next day by soldiers who had never before marched with so light hearts and so strong limbs, and there the advance halted. General Johnston, seeing the hopelessness of prolonging the struggle, opened negotia- tions for a surrender, which was finally consummated on the 24th. The camps about Raleigh were vacated on the 30th and on the 9th of May the army encamped within three miles of Richmond. Rest- ing there for two days it resumed the journey toward Washington, reaching Alexandria on the 19th. On the 24th General Sherman's army was reviewed in Washington and immediate preparations for the muster out of the various regiments being made, the Thirty-third took cars for Massachusetts, Sunday, June 11, reaching Boston on Tuesday, where they received an enthusiastic reception and a ban- .quet at Faneuil Hall, after which cars were taken for Readville. While the final papers were being prepared the men were furloughed to their homes, reassembling on the 2d of July when they were paid, discharged, and the Thirty-third Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, ceased to exist.
THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.
T HE Thirty-fourth Regiment was provided for by Governor Andrew's order of the 29th of May, 1862, which directed that 10 of the 30 companies called for should be raised in the five western counties of the state, forming a regiment, to en- camp on the Agricultural Grounds at Worcester. The camp was named in honor of General John E. Wool of the United States Army, and William S. Lincoln of Worcester, with the rank of lien- tenant colonel, was placed in charge. The first recruits arrived on the 13th of June, and from that time steadily increased in number. The call of early July for several additional regiments made the camp a rendezvous for numerous Western Massachusetts detach- ments, but the progress of the Thirty-fourth was steady, the enlisted men being mustered at different dates but principally on the 13th and 31st of July, with a few additions early in August. Most of the offi- cers' commissions bore date of August 6, and the roster follows :-
Colonel, George D. Wells of Boston; lieutenant colonel, William S. Lincoln of Worcester; major, Henry Bowman of Clinton; adjutant, Samuel F. Woods of Worcester; quartermaster, Charles H: Howland of Plymouth; surgeon, Ronse R. Clarke of Northbridge; assistant surgeons, William Thorndike of Beverly and Cyrus B. Smith of Granby; chaplain, Edward B. Fairchild of Sterling; sergeant major, Charles B. Cutler; quartermaster sergeant, Charles P. Trumbull, both of Worcester; commissary sergeant, George W. Marsh of Leominster; hospital steward, James P. Fairbanks of Pittsfield; principal musician, Thomas P. Griffin of Leicester.
Company A-Captain, Harrison W. Pratt; first lieutenant, John A. Lovell, both of Worcester; second lieutenant, Robert W. Walker of Boston.
Company B-Captain, Andrew Potter ; first lieutenant, Lafayette Butler, both of Pittsfield; second lieutenant, William L. Cobb of Lancaster.
Company C-Captain, Alonzo D. Pratt of West Boylston; first lien- tenant, Frank T. Leach of Northboro; second lieutenant, Henry Bacon of Worcester.
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Company D-Captain, George W. Thompson of Springfield; first lieutenant, James W. Smith of Hadley; second lieutenant, J. Austin Lyman of Springfield.
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