USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Acton > Acton in history > Part 12
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After an intermission of an hour, sentiments were offered by the toast-master, O. W. Mead, Esq. Brief addresses were made by Rev. James Fletcher, of Dan-
vers (a native of Acton), Hon. E. W. Bull, George Stevens, Esq., John White (a member of Davis Guards, who fought under the stars and stripes in Mexico, who is an Englishman, but when the order for marching came, volunteered to go with the Davis Guards), Hon. James M. Usher, of Medford, George M. Brooks, Esq., of Concord, Capt. Phelps, of Lex- ington, and Lieut. Bowers, of the Concord Rifles.
There were about three thousand people present. The route of the procession was handsomely decorated with flags and mottoes, as was also the new store of James Tuttle & Co., at South Acton. Over the ar- mory, " Davis Guards not afraid to go ; " in the town- house, "God defend the right ; " on the monument, "Union, Davis, Hosmer, Hayward ; " at Capt. Daniel Jones', " Welcome home; " at Lieut. J. Blodgett's, " Honor to the brave ; " at Hon. Johu Fletcher, Jr.'s, "First to go ; " at E. S. Buffum's, "Safe return ; " over J. Fletcher & Sons' store, "Through Baltimore."
A detachment of the Concord Artillery fired a na- tional salute on the arrival of the Guards at South Acton, also as the procession reached the centre of the town.
THE CIVIL WAR.1-The existence of a military company in Acton at the outbreak of the Rebellion was of great advantage to the town.
In 1850, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Con- cord Fight, a union celebration took place at Con- cord, in which the inhabitants of Acton took part. A large company from Acton represented the minute- men of the Revolution, officered by Colonel Win- throp E. Faulkner, as captain, and Daniel Jones, the son of Captain Silas Jones, who commanded the Davis Blues in Boston in the War of 1812, and James Harris as lieutenants. They wore a flannel blouse and carried canteens with 1775 stenciled on them as uniform, and armed with guns of no particular stand- ard, though some of them looked old enough to have been at the original Concord Fight; but the contents of some of the canteens, judging of its potency, was of a later period.
The marching of this company elicited warm en- comiums from military men present, and the result was a reawakening of interest in military matters in Acton and the permanent organizing of Company E, Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, known as the Davis Guards, the following winter.
Colonel Faulkner was the first captain of this com- pany, and its other commanding officers till the out- break of the Rebellion are here given: Captain Dan- iel Jones, Rufus Holden, Captain Moses Taylor, Cap- tain Daniel Tuttlle, Captain Aaron C. Handley. and again Captain Tuttle who was still at its head in 1861.
In obedience to General Order No. 4, issued by Governor Audrew, January 16, 1861, requiring the militia of the State to be forthwith put into a state of efficiency, this company practiced at drill every
1 From an address by Luther Conant, Esq., before the Grand Army.
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week during the winter and recruited its ranks to be ready to answer any call. On the 19th of January, at a meeting of the field officers and company com- manders, at the American House in Lowell, it was unanimously voted to tender the services of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment to the Governor and Legislature when such services shall become desir- able for purposes contemplated in General Order No. 4.
On the 23d of January the Legislature proffered to the President of the United States such aid in men and money as he he may require to maintain the au- thority of the National Government. This resolution was forwarded the same day to the President.
The result of this act of volunteering was that the Sixth Regiment was the first regiment called, and General Butler was the first to receive a commission as a general officer of volunteers.
Many have never been able to understand how a regiment from Massachusetts should have reached Washington in advance of nearer States.
The circumstances of the transmission of the order are given somewhat in detail. The proclamation of President Lincoln calling for 75,000 men, and convok- ing an extra session of Congress was dated April 15th, but did not reach Boston until the 16th and was not received at Albany until the 17th, receiving from the Governor of New York on the 19th the response by telegram to the President that the Seventh would start for Washington that evening.
On the 15th of April Governor Andrew received a telegram from Senator Henry Wilson announcing the call for troops.
The Governor at once issued his Special Order No. 14, commanding the colonels of the Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Regiments forthwith to muster their commands in uniform on Boston Common, and sent it by special messengers. Colonel Jones, who was in Boston, received his order first, took it to Brigadier- General Butler for regular transmission and issued his orders the same day by telegraph to the Lowell and Lawrence companies of the Sixth and took the four o'clock train on the Fitchburg Railroad to carry the order to the companies in Acton and Groton to assemble in Huntington Hall in Lowell on the morn- ing of the 16th at seven o'clock-uniformed and ready to proceed to Washington.
Colonel Jones, on his trip to Groton, met Captain A. C. Handley in the railroad station at South Acton, who immediately started with the order to Captain Tuttle.
Late in the afternoon of the 15th Captain Daniel Tuttle was chosen in town-meeting to an important office. On being requested by the moderator to be sworn as usual, he declined for the reason that he was liable to be sent out of the State with his com- pany any day.
In a little more than au hour the summons came. Captain Tuttle started immediately for Lowell and messengers were sent at once to rally the absent men.
Captain A. C. Handley went to Leominster to notify the Wilder Brothers and returned with thein on time.
Other messengers were sent in different directions, and at two o'clock in the morning of the 16th the bells of the town-house and church were rung, calling the people of Acton to witness the departure of that mil- tary company which was the first in this or any other State to leave their homes in response to the Presi- dent's call.
The company reached Lowell before the hour namcd, 7 A.M. on the morning of the 16th, and with the other companies of the regiment were dispatched to Boston during the day. Its departure to Washing- ton was delayed somewhat by reason that it was late on the morning of the 16th that Governor Andrew decided to attach to the Sixth Regiment Companies L and R, from Stoneham and Boston.
The regiment left Boston about sunset on the even- ing of the 17th, and reached New York the next morning and Philadelphia the next afternoon. It left Philadelphia at one on the morning of the 19th, and, had there bcen no delay, would have passed through Baltimore early in the morning and probably without oppositiou; but the train carrying the Sixth was a very long one, and the passage of the Susque- hanna (then made by ferry) consumed so much time and the slow rate of speed owing to the length of the train delayed its arrival at Baltimore until ten o'clock in the forenoon.
At that time each separate car was drawn through the streets of the city by strings of horses, and thus the different companies of the regimeut became sep- arated.
The first six companies, including Company E (Davis Guards), passed through without serious molesta- tion, but the remaining five companies were attacked by the mob, through which they gallantly forced their way, though not without thirty-six of the men re- ceiving gun shot wounds and the loss of four soldiers killed.
In the long procession of fallen patriots who were to pass forward and onward to eternity from the bat- tle-fields of the Rebellion, these four Massachusetts soldiers led the way.
Leaving Baltimore about two o'clock the Sixth reached Washington-forty miles distant-late in the afternoon, and were received by General McPowell, of General Scott's staff, and were assigned quarters in the Senate chamber in the Capitol, where they re- mained about twelve days.
The regiment, aided by a part of the Eighth Regiment and a battery, the whole under the command of Gen- eral Butler, then went back and re-opened the route through Baltimore, staying there some ten days, and were detailed to guard the junction of the main track of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at the Washing- ton branch, at the Relay House, where they remained till the expiration of their service.
At this time detachments were sent to Baltimore-
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
one to arrest Marshal Ham and another to capture a noted rebel who was wanted at Fortress Monroe.
The regiment was mustered in at Washington April 22d, and discharged August 2d, being absent from home about 115 days. The term of service, though brief, is assured a high place in history. This regiment was the first to leave home and the first to be attacked. It received a vote of thanks from the first session of the Thirty-seventh Congress for the alacrity with which they responded to the call of the President, and for the bravery and patriotism which they dis- played on the 19th of April in fighting their way through Baltimore on their march for the defence of the national Capitol.
In his order dismissing the regiment Governor Andrew said: " Its gallant conduct has reflected new lustre on the Commonwealth, and has given new his- toric interest to the 19th of April. It will be re- ceived by our people with warm hearts and generous hands." Of the fifty-two men who went out under Captain Tuttle, twenty-seven are now living.
Shortly after the return home of the Sixth Regiment, Colonel Jones commenced to recruit a regiment of three years' men, to be numbered the Sixth Massachu- setts. It was not till the ranks were full and it was nearly ready to leave for the seat of war that Gover- nor Andrew decided to retain the old Sixth as a militia regiment, to be called upon in cases of special urgency.
The new regiment was numbered the Twenty-Sixth, Most of the officers and many of the men of the old Sixth had enlisted for three years, and were enrolled in the Twenty-sixth. Captain Tuttle's health not per- mitting him to return to the war, William H. Chap- man, lieutenant of Company E, old Sixth, became captain of Company E, Twenty-sixth Regiment, and twenty members of the old company enlisted in the new one. This regiment was mustered into the service of the United States October 18, 1861, and left the State November 21st, same year, taking passage on the steamship "Constitution " to Ship Island, on the coast of Louisiana, and remained at Ship Island about four months.
At that time the fleet under Commodores Farragut and Porter, bombarded Forts St. Philip and Jackson, on the Mississippi River, and the Twenty-sixth Regi- ment moved in rear of the forts in readiness to assault, but the surrender of the forts avoided the necessity of an attack, and saved many valuable lives.
After the surrender the regiment garrisoned the forts about four months, and then was ordered to New Orleans for provost duty. It remained there about a year, then started with General Banks on the expedi- tion up the Red River as far as Opelousas; then or- dered back to New Iberia, where about three-fourths of the company re-enlisted, and were given a fur- lough, commencing April 4, 1864, of one month, to visit their friends at home. Upon the expiration of the furlough the regiment was ordered to return to
New Orleans, La., which journey was made on steam- ship " Cahawha " and arrived at its destination May 20th.
After occupying Carrollton and Morganza, it re- turned to New Orleans, and on July 11th embarked on steamer "Charles Thomas " for Bermuda Hun- dred, Va., which place was reached the 21st of July. On the 28th the regiment marched to Deep Bottom, Va., where considerable picket firing took place, but no casualties happened. Subsequently the regiment was ordered to Washington, D. C., and then marched through a portion of Maryland to the valley of the Shenandoah River, reaching Winchester on the morn- ing of the battle of September 19, 1864. The battle commenced about 10 o'clock in the forenoon and lasted till 5 P.M, when the enemy retreated. The regiment, being in the lead, advanced too far without proper support, and found itself with the enemy not only in front, but on both flanks, and, being thus ex- posed to a severe cross-fire, suffered severely, Company E having seven men killed or mortally wounded. Of the four months' men who went into the battle, at its close only twenty-three were fit for duty. The battle of Fisher's Hill took place three days later.
On October 18th the three years' term of service of that portion of the regiment that did not enlist hav- ing expired, the regiment was consolidated into a battalion of five companies by Special Order No. 64, and those whose term of enlistment had expired were separated from their comrades who had re-enlisted. In the battle of the following day, let it be said to the credit of many of those discharged men, though under no obligation to do so, they gallantly again entered the ranks, fought all day and helped to change a tem- porary defeat into a glorious victory.
I am sorry to say that this voluntary act of patriot- ism cost some of these noble men their lives. Corporal Loker tells ine that after the fight he helped to bury two men killed in the action whose term of service had expired before the battle.
On October 19th the rebel army surprised the Union troops at Cedar Creek, driving them back four iniles in confusion. This was the scene of Sheridan's famous ride from "Winchester, twenty miles away," though, as a matter of fact, the Union troops had made a stand before his arrival. The remarks he made to his men greatly inspirited them, though it is not probable that these remarks will ever take a place in polite literature.
The results of the battle of Cedar Creek were the capture of nearly all of the rebel baggage-train and field artillery, and the complete dispersion of Early's forces. The battalion remained at Winchester dur- ing the winter, were ordered to Washington May 2d, and one month later were sent to Savannah, Ga., where they remained until August 26, 1865, when the battalion was mustered out of service; left Savannah September 12th, and reached Boston September 18th ; were sent to Gallop's Island for final payment, and
MEMORIAL - LIBRARY
¥1.7
MEMORIAL LIBRARY. 1890.
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reaclied Acton the evening of October 21, 1865, after an absence of four years and three days.
In the narrative of Company E, Twenty-sixth Regi- ment, I stated that Governor Andrew decided to retain the Sixth as a militia regimeut to answer sudden calls. In response to such a call it left the State August 31, 1862, to serve for nine months under Colonel Albert S. Follansbee, of Lowell. Company E, of Acton, was officered as follows: Aaron C. Handley, captain; Aaron S. Fletcher and George W. Rand, lieutenants ; Dr. Isaiah Hutchins, hospital steward for the regi- ment.
Captain Handley had commanded the Davis Guards some years before the war. His grandfather had scrved in the Revolutionary War and his father did military duty in the War of 1812.
The regiment was ordered to proceed to Suffolk, Virginia, near Fortress Monroe. It assisted in the construction of Forts Nansemond and Mclellan. The regiment was detailed for guard duty in the forts, afterwards for scouting duty and destroying rebel railroads, among which were the Norfolk and Peters- burg Railroad and the Seaboard and Roanoke.
The regiment took part in several battles and skir- mishes. Among these may be mentioned the Deserted House, Carrsville and Ludlow Lawrence's home. In these actions the Sixth had twenty-seven men killed and wounded. No casualties in Acton company, though that company lost three men by disease. The regiment was mustered out June 3, 1863.
The services of the old Sixth were required for the third and last time during the war, for a term of enlistment of one hundred days, commencing July 18, 1864.
Col. Follansbee again led the regiment, and Co. E, Davis Guards, of Acton, was under the following list of officers : Frank M. Whitcomb, who was orderly ser- geant during the nine months' term of service in 1861 and 1863, was captain, with George W. Knight and Isaiah Hutchins as lieutenants. The regiment was ordered to procced to Washington, D. C., and marched to Arlington Heights and performed fatigue duty in front of Fort Stevens for two or three weeks. This fatigue duty consisted in leveling the ground and fell- iug trees to give greater range and efficiency to the great guns of the fort. After this time it was ordered to garrison Fort Delaware and to guard the rebel prisoners in the fort. After a useful but uneventful term of service it was mustered out, Oct. 27th, and re- turned home.
Of the one hundred men in Captain Whitcomb's company, twenty-uine were from Acton. No casual- ties or deaths occurred during this enlistment.
The official military record of the town of Acton re- ports as sent to the army during the War of the Rebel- lion 215 different men, including twenty commissioned officers. The adjutant-general's report for 1865 states that at the close of the war she had answered all calls required to fill her quota, and had a surplus of thirty
men to her credit. The number of commissioned offi- cers was exceptionally large. No Acton-born soldicr, credited to her quota, deserted, or failed to receive an honorable discharge.
The recruiting committee of the town were the selectmen : James E. Billings, J. K. W. Wetherbee and Jonas K. Putney, with an assistant committee of three : Danicl Wetherbee, Capt. A. C. Handley and Varnum B. Mead.
Four brothers enlisted from one family, and the head of that family a widow, Mrs. Abram Handley. Though one of these brothers (Frank) died early in the war, and another (George) was discharged for dis- ability, their combined terms of service were more than ten years.
Mr. Wheeler's three sons all enlisted. In six other cases, two brothers were in the ranks together, and in one both father and son, William and William B. Reed, were in the service at the same time.
Luke Smith was credited three times to the quota of the town, whose father, Solomon Smith, marched over the same road under Captain Isaac Davis to the old North Bridge that his son, Luke, followed in part under Captain Daniel Tuttle, eighty-four years later. Mr. Smith was the oldest soldier credited to Acton's quota, having at his last enlistment (for one hundred days) in 1864, reached the age of more than fifty years.
Thomas Kinsley, Jr., was the youngest recruit, being but fifteen years and two months old at the time of his enlistment.
Of the 216 men credited to Acton, eighteen died while in service, either killed in battle or victims of disease. This does not include natives or residents of Acton, who were credited to other towns, who died in service.
MEMORIAL LIBRARY .- This memorial structure, just completed, stands upon the north side of the Main Street at the Centre, nearly opposite the Davis Monument. It has an' ideal location, partially shaded by the elms and maples, which give it a classic. repose even at the start.
Its. approach is by an easy ascent from the east, south and west, over concrete walks. It is a few rods northeast of the Town House, with which it is con- nected by concrete and a fine lawn, a site known for over sixty years as the Fletcher Homestead. It is the most unique and costly building ever erected in town, and is destined to be the centre of culture for many generations to come.
The style of architecture is Romanesque. The ex- ternal appearance and the internal arrangements and furnishings are in harmony with this idea, and can be properly judged only from that standpoint. The architects are H. W. Hartwell and William G. Rich- ardson, of Boston. The building is composed of red brick and brownstone.
Its extreme length is sixty-six feet six inches and its depth thirty-two feet and ten inches from south to
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
north. The principal entrance opens upon the south and through a large, solid freestone arch, which has rich mouldings and carved spandrels, within which are to be placed memorial tablets to the soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, of which this town furnished a large number. On entering the building, a reading- room, called the Memorial Room, sixteen by twenty- five feet, is found at the left. It has heavy beamed ceiling, a large antique brick fire-place and decorated walls. Above the fire-place is a handsome brown- stone tablet, with this carved inscription :
" THIS BUILDING A GIFT TO HIS NATIVE TOWN BY WILLIAM ALLEN WILDE."
The room has rich oak tables, settees and chairs, all in the olden style. Opposite the read- ing-room, and at the right, is the book apartment, thirty-two feet six inches long, twenty-four feet six inches wide, twenty feet high. Along the sides of this are arranged book alcoves, two stories high, having light connecting galleries for the second tier, reached by stairs at the right and left of the desk occupied by the librarian. The desk is so lo- cated that the person in charge of it can command a view of the book-room and the reading room also, this latter opening into the central reading space by a large open archway. Located at the north of this central hall is the room devoted to the library trus- tees, thirteen by fifteen feet, with a northern light, richly furnished. Opening out of this is a fire-proof vault, where articles of value and the archives of the town can be stored. In the opposite corner is a toilet-room, fitted up with all modern conveniences. All the spaces and rooms are brilliantly lighted from chandeliers, and heated by two large furnaces in the cellar, which is by itself quite an institution-ce- mented, drained and plastered. The water arrange- ments are quite a specialty, embracing a tank in the attic, which can be easily filled by a force-pump connecting with a well that belonged to the estate, seventy-five feet deep, the bottom of which is a solid ledge, containing an unfailing spring of the purest and coolest water.
The corporators of the library under the charter are Luther Conant, Adelbert Mead, Moses Taylor, . Hiram J. Hapgood, Delette H. Hall and Daniel James Wetherbee. These are constituted trustees for life, with power to fill vacancies in case of death or resignation of any one of their number. Three additional trustees are to be chosen by the town, one for three years, one for two years and one for one year.
In the future, after the organization, the town is to elect by ballot each year one trustee of the three, elective for three years.
Mr. Wilde's letter presenting Memorial Library Building to the town of Acton :
" MALDEN, MASS., Feh. 27, 1890.
" To the Selectmen of Acton :
" GENTLEMEN,-For a long time past it has been my intention, if ever I was able to do so, to remember my native town hy the gift of some mem-
orial to the memory of those brave aud patriotic men of Acton who so freely gave time, strength and health-and many of them their lives- in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-65.
" To carry ont this plau iu wbat seemed to me the mnost advantageous and permanent metbod possible, I have purchased the estate of Rer. James Fletcher, adjacent to the Town-House, and erected thereon a Memorial Library, placing upon its shelves some four thousand volumes, more or less, and I beg the privilege of presenting this property to the town as a free gift, ouly stipulating that it shall forever be kept as & Memorial Library, and free to all the citizens of the patriotic old town of Acton, which I shall always love and he proud of.
" If it shall please the town to accept this gift I shall be glad to pass all necessary papers for the transfer of the property to wbon and at such time as the town shall direct.
"Iam, gentlemen, yours truly, " WILLIAM A. WILDE."
Upon reading this letter, by Mr. Howard B. White, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, to the citizens of Acton, in town-meeting assembled, March 3, 1890, Rev. James Fletcher presented the following resolu- tions, which were unanimously adopted by the town, to be forwarded to Mr. Wilde in response, and to be placed upon the town records :
" WHEREAS a charter of Incorporation has passed the Legislature and been signed by his Excellency Gov. J. Q. A. Brackett incorporating the Memorial Library, and Hon. William A. Wilde, a native of Acton-now a resident of Malden-has signified his readiness to deed to the town the Memorial Library Building just completed at bis expense, and the land on which it stands, and all the appartenances thereof, including hooks already selected, the Memorial Room and the town-vault for the arch- ives of the town,-
" Resolved 1st, We, the inhabitants of the town of Acton, in town- meeting assembled, do accept the trust and authorize the Selectinen, in behalf of the town, to sigu all papers and perforin all acts necessary to complete the transfer of the property to the care of the trustees.
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