USA > Massachusetts > Clippings pertaining to the history and reminiscences of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry > Part 8
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Mr. Everett having closed, all eyes were turned upon the next speaker on the pro- gramme, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. All eyes were centered on his majestic form as he arose from about the middle of the stand. Grief sat upon the President's brow. He hesitated but a moment. Then he almost shrieked out that grand epic whose sentiments and words will resound down the ages. The people electrified, as one man at its close arose and thundered their applause.
Neither while Mr. Everett nor Mr. Lincoln was speaking did tears flow, as "I. J. A." says, but when the solemn dirge was sung by the Philadelphia choir, then it was that (at least .I can speak for those on the platform) tears flowed. There seemed to be no exception-all mourned for the dead Union soldiers, whose graves dotted the surface of the cemetery- President, Governors and;all. It was a solemn scene.
In the evening Hon. Charles Anderson, of Olio, spoke to the people in a church, at which Mr. Lincoln was present. The audience had assembled, and as the President appeared in the church all arose to their feet. Following Mr. Lincoln up the aisle was an old man quite shabbily dressed. When reaching the seat re- served for the President, the old man was going in with him, when Governor Tod, who escorted the President, put his hand on him and said, "No, old man; you can't go in there." Mr. Lincoln turned and said, "Yes, Governor, that's my man," and wrapped his long arms around him. It was the old man who, it will be remembered, entered the battle of Gettys- burg with his musket, and fought inde- pendently the live-long day.
I was glad, Mr. Editor, to be at Gettysburg on that occasion. It was a white day in my experience of the war times of the rebellion. Yours, W. R. L.
A PRECEDENT FOR CONSEQUENTIAL PEN- SIONS.
Mr. J. M. S. Williams succeeded in the last hours of the session in passing a long-pending bill graut- ing an increased pension to Stillman C. Spaulding of Newton. This is a peculiar case. Spaulding was granted a pension of six dollars a month in 1866, for an injury by a gun-shot in the shoulder. About five years later he lost his right leg in con- sequence of disease resulting from invalidism and depression produced by the gun-shot wound, and upon this he claimed a pension of $24 per month. It will be observed that the action of Congress on this bill establishes a precedent for consequential dansages in pension cases.
e
VETERANS' REUNIONS.
THE THIRTY-SECOND REGIMENT MEETS AT NEWBURYPORT, AND THE THIRTY-THIRD REGIMENT AT NAHANT.
Yesterday was the two hundreth anniversary of the settlement at "Moulton Hill," on the Merri- mac, of the ancestors of the Moulton family, and at the invitation of the present occupant of the ancestral estate, Captain H. W. Moulton, a com- rade of the regiment, the veterans of the thirty- second Massachusetts regiment held their four- teenth annual reunion there. Some 200 comrades assembled at Newburyport in the morning, and were met by Captain Moulton with the Newbury- port Cadet band. Each veteran was presented by the lost with a little white satin flag inscribed, "Two-hundredth anniversary of the settlement, Moulton Hill-1683-1883; reunion of the thirty- second regiment." On the reverse was a fac- simile of the Mounton mansion, with its mediæ- Val towers and minarets. The flags were placed on short staffs made from wood cut by William Moulton in 1683. The regiment embarked upon the steamer E. P. Shaw and enjoyed a pleasant sail to "Black Rocks," at the month of the river, where a half-hour was spent in examin- ing the jetties and government im- provements there. Returning to Salis-
bury Beach, an excellent fish dinner was eaten, after which the party returned in the steamer to Moulton Hill, where it was received with a salute of thirty-two guns. An hour was spent in the inspection of the house and grounds, and enjoying the superb view from the tower.
A business meeting was held, at which the president, Captain E. F. Phinney, presided, and the following officers were elected: President, Captain H. W. Moulton of company H; vice- presidents, Lientenant W. F. Tufts of company K; Captain G. R. Reed of company A, Captain C. H. Smith of company M; secretary, S. C. Spauld- ing. Executive committee-Chairman, Comrade Bancroft; company A, W. H. Thomas; company B, R. Flint; company C, Sergeant Preston: com- pany D, E. Quinn; company E, Sergeant Laskey; company F, Colonel E. O. Sheppard; company G, Henry Young; company H, Captain William E. Reed; company I, Sergeant Pike; company K, Major Farnsworth; company_L. Loring Burrill; company M, J. F. Johnson. The question of vis- iting Gettysburg, to locate the position of the regiment in that battle, was brought up, and on motion of Captain Bowers a special committee of one from each company was chosen to investi- gate the matter. The names of the following de- ceased comrades were ann unced: A. J. Picker- ing of company H, C. P. Terry of company D, and Lieutenant Hodge of company H. At the conclusion of the business meeting the comrades partook of a fine collation in a tent upon the lawn. Captain Moulton made a brief speech of welcome, which was responded to by Captain" Phinney. Other addresses were made by Colonel E. O. Sheppard, Captain Charles Bowers of com- pany G, and Surgeon F. H. Faxon, now of the Sailors' Home at Quincy. The reunion was one of the most enjoyable ever held, and Captain Moul- ton was given rounds of cheers by the boys on their departure. The thirty-second regiment was re- cruited in Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex and Ply- mouth counties. Its first service was at Antietam, and from that time on it was thirty-seven times under fire, and participated in thirty-two engage- ments. It covered the retreat of Griffin's brig- ade of the first division, fifth corps, at Freder- icksburg, and was in the division which received the arms and equipments of Lee's army, holding the right of the line that day. Antietam, Fred- ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg. Spott- sylvania, Petersburg, and the explosion of the nine, are among its principal engagements. It was the first regiment to assume the name of "veteran" after its reïnlistment for the war. The place of holding the next reunion was left with the executive committee.
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The old 33d Massachusetts regiment which Massachusetts-Athol. Lucien Lord, Dec. 10, '83: Boston, Edw. S. Tobey, Dec. 10, '83: Brock ton, Geo. L. Fullerton, March 11, 84; Cottage (ily. Francis P. Vincent, April 6, '84; Haverhill, Win. E. Blunt, May 17, '84 ; MIton, Mrs. Abigail F. Pope, March 3, '84; New Bedford, The s. Co;geshall, March 17, '84; Newton Centro, Miss Imcy A. White. Jan. 21, '84:
! 38
THANKSGIVING !
BY A. W. ARNOLD.
Father! to Thee, whom we adore, With thankful hearts, to Thee we raise Our songs of gratitude and praise. And while we thank Thee, ask for more.
Give us this day our daily bread,
O, Father! ours, who art in Heaven,
And warm our hearts with heavenly leaven, So sweet, so pure, thus to be led !
Thy name be hallowed in our hearts! Thy kingdom come, thy will be done In each of us, in every one,
'Till we are pure in all our parts.
Father! to Thee we glory give
For all our blessings, great and small- For watchful care spread over all.
To guide, to guard us while we live. Stoneham, Nov. 29. 1883.
SKETCHES OF BRODHEAD.
Its Situation and Surround- ings,-Its Beauty and its Business.
Its People and its Pros- perity.
X. HARD WARE.
CEO. T. SPAULDING.
In the fall of 1856, Mr. Spaulding came to Brodhead from Vermont, his native stat , and commenced working at his trade, as a tinsmith, for E. C. Clinton who had recently opened busi- ness in this place Mr. Clinton subse- quently sold out his business to S. P. Taft and Chas. Clinton,and Mr. Spaul- ding remained with Taft & Clinton un- til July, 1661, when he enlisted and entered the service of the United States as a member of the Regimental Band of the Third Wis. Volunteers. Early in 1864, this band was re-orgarized as the famous " Brigade Band," whose re-union was held in this village about a year ago. Mr. Spaulding remained in the service until the close of the war, being mustered out in July 1865.
His four years of service being over, he returned home and not very long after. formed a co partnership with T. H. Brown, and the new firm purchased the stove and tin-ware Department of L. Lakin, and carried on business with him for about two years, Mr. Lakin re- taining the Hardware proper. They then sold out their interests to Mr. Morse, with whom Mr. Spaulding re- mained for a year or more.
In the spring of 1871, Mr Spaul- ding opened a new store and has since carried on a steadily increasing business, which has developed into large pro- portions. He first established himself ou Exchange Square and after one or two removals, he purchased, in 1874, the commodious two-story brick block on Center Street, which he now occu- pies. His business embraces a full line of stoves, tin, copper and iron ware, pumps, farming tools, cutlery.and hard- ware of all kinds. The manufacturing, carried on in the second story of his building, embraces tin, copper, sheet iron, and general jobbing, with especial attention to roofing. Mr. Spaulding has himself worked at the bench about twenty years, but of late years. bis large and increasing business has given him enough to do outside of the work- shop. In the store and work-shop, he employs tive or six hauds constantly, and during the summer season, be keeps three or four peddler's wagons npon the road. He has also for two years past, dealt in Farm Machinery. of which we made mention last week.
The fact that Mr. Spaulding is about making a change in his business, which will not, however, take him away from Brodhead, seems to justify us in giving this somewhat full personal sketoh That he enjoys the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens, is evinc- ed by the fact that he has frequently been called to public positions of honor and trust, being now a member of the village Board, and for the past seven years, he has been Treasurer and tax-re- ceiver, of the town of Decatur and the village of Brodhead.
A IA
THE OLD GENERALS.
THE FATE OF THE LEADERS OF THE SOUTHERN ARMIES.
What Became of them After the War- Present Occupations of the Survivors- Reminiscences of a West Pointer.
[FROM OUR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT .!
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24, 1883 .- Twenty years ago the North kept in mind the leading generals on the rebel side and dis- cussed their merits with as much interest as was shown in the leaders of its own armies. Many of them had been prominent in the regular army before the war. Some were connected with Northern families. "What has become of these men?" I asked an old West Pointer and brilliant general officer the other day. He thought a minute. "Why, the majority of them are dead," was the reply. Then he went on to take up some of those historic names. With many of their owners he had served in Mexico and in Indian wars without num- ber. "Yes, the greater part of these men are dead, a much larger
of Northern proportion thian our
generals. After the war most of them broke down. The fact was, the rebels suf- fered more than we did. They had a harder time in the field, lived poorly, and were more disposed to disease than our men. Lee, Anderson, Bragg, Magruder, Breckin ridge, Hood, Picket, Forrest, Price. Pember- ton, 'Dick' Taylor, Pillow, Floyd, Hardee and Ewell were among them. The majority had been in the regular army. They went with tile South for state pride, and in part because they were frozen ont. I shall not forget Anderson. He was a captain in the dragoons out in Utah. When his resigna- tion was accepted, and he went away from the rest of us, the tears were in his eyes. 'I am going back to South Carolina to raise hogs and hominy until the war is over,' he said, 'I will fight the old flag. But in a month the tid℮
Tras
too
strong
for
him.
They
made
him military governor of Charleston and a corps commander in Lee's army. He died of a broken heart right after the war. Lee never waited to resign, but, like John- ston, he was made to feel that the Northern officers distrusted lim. It was so with
Johnston. In 1861 he was quartermaster- general, but old Simon Cameron transacted all his business with subordinate officers. At last Johnston went to him. "Mr. Sec- retary," he said, "you pay no attention to me." "No," was the reply, "you are a Vir- ginian, and sympathize with the rebels." "I do not," answered Johnston, "but I shall resign, rather than be ignored. It is not be- cause I have any desire to join the South."
Yet in three months he had drifted into a general's commission in Dixie. Jolinston is an old man now, not less than seventy-five. Bragg died several years ago, at his home in North Carolina. I knew him in the Mexican war. He was captain of artillery then, and one of the bravest men in the army. But he was a martinet, and his men hated him. At Monterey some of them hid a lighted six-ounce shell under. his bed. The explosion blew Bragg 100 feet and wrecked the tent, but he was not hurt. And yet they had a sort of pride in him. During the whole war his old battery carried "Bragg's Artillery" on its guidons.
Some of the volunteers were mad about it, but in vain. Magruder died ten years
ago. Forrest, the murderer of negro prisoners at Fort Pillow, lived only a little while after the surrender. So it was with Ewell, Lee's bravest lieutenant, who rode strapped to his saddle in every cam- paign after the first Bull Run, where he lost a leg. He was breveted for bravery at Cherebusco. There was Hardee. He was a lieutenant-colonel of dragoons at thirty- nine, but he went South with the rest. After the war he started the first orange planta- tion in Florida, and died there three or four years ago. Price is dead. So is Dick Tay- lor. Taylor was Jefferson Davis's brother- in-law, and made lieutenant-general on that account. Pemberton lived out the remnant of liis days at Philadelphia. He never re- covered from his surrender to Grant at Vicksburg. Of the few Northern men who joined the rebels lie was one. but his wife was Southern and carried him over. An- other case was Roswell Ripley of Ohio. He was a West Point graduate, and did well in Mexico. His wife was a South Carolina woman. That was the secret of his choice. During the whole war he commanded Fort Sumter, and defended it bravely, I am told that he and Quincy A. Gilmore were boys together in the same neighborhood in Ohio. If that was so they must have thought of it when Gilmore sat down on Morris Island to shell Ripley out of Sumter. Floyd, Buchanan's Secretary of War, never came to the surface after
his midnight desertion of Fort Donel- son. Pillow, his comrade in that trip, lived on his plantation in Tennessee a few years after hostilities ceased. He had been a major-general in the Mexican war, and did creditable service there. I believe he was President Polk's law partner, and got the appointment that way. The pluckiest man in the war was
George Pickett.
He was a young second lieutenant just from the academy in 1846, and was as- signed to a department in Washington Ter- ritory, of which old General Harney was in command. We were quarrelling then over the boundary. Harney put Pickett on San Juan Island, which commands Puget Sound. He held it against an English squadron, and it has never been lost. Pickett commanded a division at Gettysburg under Longstreet. His assault of the third day was the greatest charge of that fight. His men fought with mine about our guns. We drove them back, but Pickett came nearer winning that fight than it is pleasant to think of. Yes, he is dead.
"'Of those who are alive, Beauregard and Jubal Early are managers of the Louisiana lottery. They get $10,000 each, and so great is the feeling still existing in the South over their generals, that one of the lottery man- agers told me the other day that their names were worth to the company more than their salaries. Both of them were West Pointers and artillery officers, but Beaure- gard never was a soldier. He is a dapper Creole gentleman, and the Louisianians swear by him. Early fought well. Long- street comes to Washington occasionally. He is United States marshal in Georgia, but his magnificent physique is showing the effects of his wounds. In Mexico he and Grant were lieutenants in the same regi- ment. After the war, Grant induced him to join the republican party. He has been under a ban in the South ever since, but never without the consolation of a good office. I only remember one other promi- nent rebel who is a republican. MeLaws was reconstructed, and is postmaster at Sa- vannah. Lee used to say of McLaws's di- vision that it was always ready for a fight. A good many of them have drifted into poli- tics on the other side. Joseph Wheeler, weight 107 pounds, and the best cavalry
39
40
officer next to Stuart in rebeldom, is ment- ber of Congress from Alabama; M. C. Butler and Wade Hampton represent South Carolina in the senate. Butler lost his right leg at Braudy station in 1863, when Wade Hampton's son was killed. Hampton was one of the richest men in the State. He raised, armed and cquipped, at his own expense, the Hampton Legion, and a regiment of cavalry and artillery; Mahone came to the front in the last campaign about Richmond, and is a senator; Johnston has been in Congress; Senator Morgan of Ala- bama rose from the ranks to be brigadier- general; in fact, of the ten congressmen from that State nine were in the rebel army; so with all but one of the Arkansas delega- tion; Senators Cockrell, Maxey and Ran- som were major-generals. One of the door- keepers of the senate is Cadmus Wilcox, cuo of the best major-generals of Lee's second crop.
"General Lee's son, William H .. succeeded his father as president of the Washington and Lee University in Virginia. His nephew, Fitzhugh, lives on one of the family estates at West Point, which McClel- lan made his base depot, before the famous change of base to Harrison's Landing. Both of them are rich, for the family estates are among the best in Virginia. For Arlington last winter Congress voted them $150,000, although it was confiscated while Lee was in arms against the flag. Another son, G. W. Custis Lee, lives in Virginia. All of these young men were cavalry officers in the army of Virginia, D. H. Hill lives some- where in Virginia, but no one seems to
know where. Buckner, who was man enough to stay in Fort Donelson, and sur- render with his men, is in Kentucky. Last year he came near being nominated for gov- ernor over Proctor Knott. His wife in- herited a large estate in Chicago. At West Point he and Rosecrans were close friends. During the whole war the latter managed his friend's property, and returned it to him afterwards."
My friend took up the West Point regis- ter, and pointed out that of those of whom he had spoken, all but Breckinridge, For- rest, Price, Taylor, Floyd, Pillow, Butler, Hampton, Mahone and Cockrell were West Point graduates and regular army men. "We had a perfect hegira of Southern offi- cers in the early days of 1861," he added, "but the people at Washington did not seem anxious to keep them, and their resigna- rions were accepted as fast as they were sent in. No one had to leave without his dis- charge. I only know one man among all those who joined the rebels who laid him- self open to the charge of desertion. And with him it was only a technical offence. 'Bee' Robinson was a captain in the dragoons. He was a Virginian, and full of secession. His station was out in Utah
he sent in somewhere, and
his
resignation.
At
the
same
time he
started East Imself. In some way they heard of it at headquarters, and his application was rejected. He knew nothing of this, and went South. Not appearing, he was dismissed as a deserter; when hostili- ties finished he was a Confederate brigadier. Since then he has been an insurance agent; but when he sent up his application for an amnesty it was returned from the War de- partment, because he had not been dis- charged from the army. He, Davis and Toombs are the three who have not been re- stored to their civil rights of all those who went into the war for slavery and se- cession."
W. E. B.
A Tribute.
Sergeant Spaulding, of Charles Ward Post 62, G. A. R., recited the following poem-a tribute to the memory of Sergt. Major Charles Ward-on Memorial Day, during the services at the Newton Cem- etery. The verses were thus briefly in- troduced by the maimed veteran who had lovingly penned them :
"Sergt. Maj. Charles Ward, whose name is borne upon our banner, was my comrade in arms, having enlisted as a private in Co. K., of Newton. I knew him well, and know whereof I speak when I repeat this poem, composed for another occasion, and presented to the Post as a tribute to the noble life and heroic death of him whose portrait gra- ces our hall, and whose honored name we bear.
In the dark days of the Rebellion, August, Eighteen Sixty-Two.
A hundred sons of Newton donned the army bine, In response to a call for three hundred thousand more
Volunteers. to fill the ranks of those who'd gone before.
Among them was a modest youth, in years scarce twenty -one, Who left his books, to take instead, a cartridge box and Lun.
Though he dearly loved his home and loved the halls of lo. e.
He volunteered because. forsooth, he loved bis coun- try more ;
He enlisted for the war in New.on Centre-Lyceum Hall,
Prefacing the deed with words that thrilled the hearts of all
Moving the assembly to wild huzzas-or tears When he sigued the roll of Co. K., Thirty-second Volunteers.
His record is a noble one ; he served his country well At Antietam. then Frederick-burg, and next at Chan- cellorsville :
And last. on that historic field most glorious of a'l. Gettysburg, where he fell pierced by a milie ball Which caused a fatal wound, from which he died in seven days-
A voluntary sacrifice. the Nation's Ilfe to save.
Charles Ward a christian soldier. atl honor to his Jane.
Who thus gave his lite a ransom, the Union to main- tain:
None knew him but to love him, therefore with one accord.
The Charter members of this Post, declared its name Ch rbos Ward.
Comrades-as oft as we gather in our Grand Army Hail,
Made sacred by those honored names, and portraits ou the wall.
Let us resolve that we will ne'er disgrace the badge we wear.
But exemplity the noble life, of him whose name we bear;
And as comrades in a noble cause, let our motto be- Fraternity, Charity. Loyalty-and may these three Crowning principles of our Order, like a three fold cord
Bind fraternally together Post Sixty-Two, Charles Ward.
The Thirty-Second Regiment at Gettysburg.
A visit to the battlefield of Gettysburg by one who participated in the terrible conflict which was waged there between the two great armies of Northern Virginia, must of necessity be of thrilling interest. At least that was my experience when I arrived there with the Monumental Excursion par- ty of nearly two hundred, which left Boston on the evening of Oct. 5tli. Wednesday the 7th was on the programme as a go-as-you- please day. Early in the morning small parties might be seen leaving [the town in all directions, some on foot and others in carriages for the battlefield, or rather for other parts of the battlefield in which the town is included.
I joined a large party in carriages which was led by the well known war correspon- dent "Carleton," to the scene of the first days of fight, which he vividly described. We passed the seminary from the cupola cf which Generals Buford and Reynolds sur- veyed the field. The former commanded a division of cavalry and unexpectedly con- fronted Heth's division advancing to Get- tysburg on the Chambersburg road, about two miles northeast of the town where the battle begun which has made it a place of renown. Gen. Reynolds, commanding the . first corps, was near by, and hearing the sound of battle hastened to Buford's sup- port.
I will not recount the story of that first day's fight except to state that owing to the overwhelming force of the enemy our troops were defeated. After a description of the first day's fight our party returned through the town to Little Round Top, which is three miles distant in a southerly direction. We rode out on the Emmitsburg Road, halt- ing on the field across which Pickett's fa- mous but disastrous charge was made on the third day, where twelve hundred of his division were killed or wounded in a space a mile long by half a mile wide.
We next halted where the Ninth Mass. Battery distinguished itself by obeying thie order to "hold its position at all hazards." It lost three officers, a large number of men seventy horses and four guns. The guns were soon recaptured, however. The next halt was on a rocky wooded ridge near Plumb Run, midway between the peach orchard and the wheatfield. As this was to me the most interesting spot we had visited on account of my personal experience there, I desire to relate something of the history of the regiment to which I belonged on this portion of the field:
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