USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Easthampton > History of Easthampton: its settlement and growth; its material, educational, and religious interests, together with a genealogical record of its original families > Part 9
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Hugo Oberempt joined the 5th Connecticut regiment, June 5, 1861, was with Gen. Banks in the Shenandoah campaign, at both battles of Winchester, and Cedar Mountain, where he was taken prisoner and confined one month on Belle Isle. He was exchanged, and fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He was in the corps of General Hooker, which joined General Sherman, partici- pating in the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, at the battles of Resacca, Cassville, Lost Mountain, Kene- saw, Culp's Farm, and Peach Tree Creek, at which place he was wounded. He was then transferred to the corps of Topographical Engineers, in which capacity he accom- panied Sherman in his grand march to Savannah, and afterwards in the campaign through the Carolinas, at the battles of Chesterfield, Averysboro, and Bentonsville. From Raleigh he marched to Washington, where he was in the grand review of Sherman's army.
Charles Braman was a member of the 34th Massachu-
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setts regiment, which regiment performed good service in the campaigns in Virginia. He was with the regiment for two years.
Michael Fitzgerald joined the 82d New York regiment in the spring of 1864, and fought in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Coal Harbor, Deep Bottom, and White House Landing. He was wounded at the bat- tle of Deep Bottom, August 14, 1864, and was discharged June 15, 1865.
Thomas Connolly enlisted in the navy August 27, 1862, and was assigned to the Monongahela, of Admiral Farra- gut's squadron, with which he was connected during the siege of Port Hudson. He was in the service two and one-half years.
At the same time with him John Quinn and John Dono- van enlisted in the navy, the former being assigned to the Tennessee, and the latter to the Patapsco. They however remained only a year.
Justin W. Chapin was a member of a New York regi- ment. He was taken prisoner and confined in Anderson- ville seven months, but was finally released and returned home.
John G. Hennessey enlisted as a recruit in the 5th New Hampshire regiment, and served during the last year of the war in the " Army of the Potomac."
Charles Rensalear enlisted in the 54th Mass. regiment. In one battle he was wounded and taken prisoner, and nothing more was known of him till he was recognized by one of our citizens who was a fellow prisoner at Ander- sonville. He was then suffering from a wound in the breast, and died the next day after he was found out.
There are other men and probably more than have been called to our notice, who while they did not enlist from this place, and therefore did. not count on our quota, are
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yet in some way connected with us, and whom we may claim as Easthampton soldiers.
Among these the name of Dr. F. C. Greene may, with propriety, find place, for, although he did not go directly from this place, he had lived here before and does now. He was with Mcclellan in the Peninsula campaign, and very nearly lost his life in the Chickahominy swamps. He was afterwards in Louisiana, with Gen. Banks, where he performed excellent service both in the hospital and on the field.
Augustus Clapp, son of Luther Clapp, was first a mem- ber of an Ohio three months' regiment, which was engag- ed in fighting guerrillas, and in guarding prisoners. He enlisted again as a member of the 3d regiment Ohio cav- alry, in the autumn of 1862. In the early part of 1863, he was seized with the typhoid fever, and died in hospi- tal at Nashville.
John Reagan enlisted Aug. 30, 1861, at Washington, D. C., in Co. B, 3d New York Cavalry, as farrier. He was discharged at Newbern, N. C., Sept. 30, 1862, from disability, brought on by exposure to dampness and cold at Poolesville, Md. He was in the Ball's Bluff fight, and his regiment were engaged in Western Virginia, in the early part of their service, whence they were sent to Newbern, N. C. Gen. Burnside had so high an apprecia- tion of his services as farrier, that he wrote him a letter personally, urging him to come on again and take care of his horses.
Thomas Barbour enlisted December 22, 1863, and joined Co. B, 27th regiment. He served until June 26, 1865, and was in the following battles : Port Walthal Junction, Arrowfield Church, Before Petersburg, Petersburg Mine, Southwest Creek. He was captured in this last engage- ment, and paroled in Richmond, Va., May 26, 1865.
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Charles and James S. Tencellent enlisted in the 10th Connecticut regiment. The latter served for a period of three years and was spared to return home, but the former lost his life in the battle of Olustee in Florida.
There were other soldiers whose names we have learned and give below, but respecting whom we have been able to collect very little information. Most of them were not natives or residents of the town, and were not known by individuals here. They performed no doubt excellent ser- vice and probably some of them lost their lives in the different battles in which they were engaged. Patrick Mc- Namee, Michael Hafey, John Tencellent, Frank Thornton, Charles B. Hendrick, Joseph LaBiestens, John Howard, William Maffit, Dennis V. Champlin, 55th Mass. regiment ; Martin Butler, Hugh Furfey, 6th Battery ; Dexter Edwards, H. C. Hoffman, Louis Klein, 4th Mass. regiment ; Henry Bedell, 4th Mass .; John Gerry, William Thomas, Pat. Walsh, Robert Fale, 15th Battery; James Nelson, 15th Battery ; William Fogg, William B. Cloutman, Veteran Reserve Corps; Thomas Connor, 24th regiment ; Richard Dane, James E. Sweatland, Henry Galloway, Louis J. Evans, Samuel Beattie, Edward Hogan, James Boardman, Navy; John Fluhine, 2d Heavy Artillery ; Thomas J. Fisher, Joshua L. French, Daniel Ferguson, 10th Heavy Artillery; William G. Gage, 2d Mass. Cavalry ; John Casey, Richard Davis, 2d Heavy Artillery ; John Carson, 16th Unattached Artillery; James W. Crock- er, 11th Infantry ; Moses Graff, Edward Burns, 6th Battery ; Pat. Welsh, Andrew Miller, John White, 2d Heavy Artillery ; - Morey, William H. Turner, Dan- iel Crowin, Ralph Burnett, William Kyle.
Gilbert Sandy enlisted January 26, 1864, was taken prisoner and confined in Andersonville nine or ten months, and shared with other prisoners, and perhaps with some
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of those whose names are mentioned above, the horrors of that prison pen. Charles Morganweck was in the 27th Massachusetts regiment for a time.
The preceding record is supposed to contain the names of nearly all the soldiers furnished by the town. It con- tains all the names which have been placed upon the Rebellion Record, which include all the citizens of the place who served in the army. Our list also comprises many others whose names we have obtained from various sources.
About twenty-five of our citizens were represented in the army by substitutes. The names of nearly all of these, and perhaps of a few others, we have been unable to obtain.
It has been our purpose to make this record as complete and accurate as possible, though it has been a work of extreme difficulty. The whole number of men furnished or paid for by the town, is about 200, while the sum expended for bounties is $40,000.
The following brief notice of three sons of Joseph Alvord, now of Bement, Ill., but a native of Easthampton, and for many years a resident of it, will not be deemed out of place.
Lieut. Joseph C. Alvord, of Co. A, 21st Illinois regi- ment, enlisted at the beginning of the war, was in seven battles, and fell at the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, December 30, 1862, while endeavoring to rally his men. One of his comrades in speaking of him, said : " he was an efficient officer, a noble man, and a gentleman in every sense of the word."
Oscar L. Alvord, enlisted in the 54th Illinois regiment, but not long after was taken sick in camp with the ty- phoid fever. He was taken home, but died a few days after reaching it.
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Harrison M. Alvord, was a member of the 73d Illinois regiment, in which he served through the war, in the campaigns under Sherman. He passed through all his battles without a wound, though meeting with many narrow escapes.
Henry H. Smith, son of Rev. Hervey Smith of this town, was in Georgia, engaged in a printing office at the time of the secession of that State, soon after which he was ordered to leave the state or to join the rebel army. He immediately went to North Carolina, where he re- mained until Jefferson Davis ordered all aliens to leave the confederate states or to take the oath of allegiance. He at once made preparations to come north and succeeded in reaching Richmond, having eluded the watchfulness of vigilance committees of towns through which he passed. At Richmond he was on the point of taking the cars for the north, when he was arrested, taken before Gov. Letch- er and others, examined, judged to be an enemy to the South, and thrown into prison. Here he was robbed of all his money, of his effects of every kind, and of all his clothing, save only a thin summer suit which he wore. To tell what he suffered there from hunger, and the cold of the following winter, as well as from the abuse of the prison officers, would be to rehearse the story of thousands who like him fell into their hands. While there he was repeatedly promised by a high official a release, and com- mission in the army, if he would swear to support the rebel government, but to all such propositions his reply was, no, never, never. From Richmond he was taken to Salisbury, N. C., and while there he was exchanged, after having been imprisoned twenty months. Immediately after his exchange he came home, and after some months of rest he obtained a situation in the Provost Marshal's office in New York. Here he remained for a time, but
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feeling a desire to do more for his country than he could there do, he enlisted in a company of light artillery which was formed in Jersey City. He went into camp in Wash- ington, where after about five months drill he received a serious injury by the falling of his horse. The injury proving to be such as would incapacitate him for service in the army, after months of confinement and suffering, by the advice of his surgeon he sought and received an honorable discharge. His imprisonment and consequent sufferings were perhaps as much for his country as if he had been a soldier who had fallen into their hands, and he certainly is worthy of mention here in this connection.
It is fitting that we should here speak of the services of another of our country's defenders, to whom no communi- ty can lay claim with better right than this. We refer to Gen. George C. Strong. Born in Stockbridge, Vt., at an early age he was taken by his father to Chicago, and afterwards to Joliet, Ill., and by him on his death bed con- signed to the care of A. L. Strong, of this town, who was his uncle. He received his academical education at Wil- liston Seminary, and during this time displayed a remark- able predilection for a military career. In 1853, after in- defatigable and for a long time almost fruitless exertions on the part of Mr. Strong, he was appointed to West Point. He graduated in 1857, standing third in his class, specially excelling all his classmates in the military exer- cises of the campus, and took the rank of commander of the battalion of cadets.
Lieut. Strong received his brevet in the Ordnance De- partment, and was for a while stationed at Selma, Ala., and afterwards at the Watervliet Arsenal in Troy, the command of which he received after Major Mordecai had proved untrue to his country. From thence he was called to the position of Chief of Ordnance to Gen. McDowell,
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and distinguished himself in the battle of Bull Run, by his cool courage and daring. Afterward he was attached to the staff of Gen. McClellan, with whom he remained until September, 1861, when upon application of Gen. Butler, he received the appointment of Assistant Adjutant General, with the rank of Major, and was transferred as Chief of Staff to Gen. Butler, and acting Chief of Ord- nance. Major Strong's services were most valuable, and his labors incessant, in organizing the expedition to New Orleans, to the success of which he contributed not a lit- tle. Here his duties were so arduous, that his health gave way, and early in June, being seized with a fever of that country, he was obliged to come home to recruit. By September he had so far recovered his health as to be able to return to his duties. His activity of intellect could not be satisfied with the routine of office, and he obtained per- mission from Gen. Butler to head an expedition against a force of the enemy, under Gen. Jeff. Thompson, who were stationed at the village of Pontellatoula. After a closely contested action against a superior force, he succeeded in capturing the place, with a large amount of commissary stores which he burned, together with the railroad cars and public buildings. He brought off with him the spurs and sword of Gen. Thompson, which bore the inscription, " From the patriots of Memphis." When Gen. Butler was relieved from the command of the De- partment of the Gulf, Major Strong returned with him, and on his recommendation was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers, for his gallantry, courage, and efficiency. He remained attached to Gen. Butler's staff for a time, but at length finding that there was no pros- pect that he would be ordered into immediate service, al- though in a state of health which to many a man would have been suggestive only of a physican and a sick bed, he
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volunteered to go with Gen. Gillmore, to participate in the attack upon Charleston. To his brigade was assigned the post of honor in the attack on the batteries of Morris Island, upon which he was the first to land. His boots having become filled with water, he pulled them off and led the charge with only his stockings on. The batteries were gallantly carried, and the brigade afterwards received the congratulation of Gen. Gillmore, who said that it was the first instance during the war in which powerful batteries had been successfully assaulted by a column disembarked under a heavy artillery fire. He was placed in command of the troops on Morris Island, and given charge of the column which was to assault Fort Wagner. In this attack he re- ceived his death wound, while leading and inspiriting his men, who almost worshipped him for his daring, his kind- ness of heart, and his strict though impartial discipline. His injury produced lock-jaw from which he died on the morning of July 30th, 1863.
Some one has paid him the following noble tribute :- "Possessed of every endowment of head and heart, thor- oughly trained by an education which had left both head and heart untrammelled to their noblest impulses, a loving husband, a doting father, the most genial of companions, the truest of friends, the bravest of soldiers, the accom- plished officer, the daring leader, and withal a devout Christian, no more precious sacrifice has been laid on the altar of his country than George Crockett Strong."
If any apology is needed for giving this prominence to Gen. Strong, it is to be found in the fact that while he did not go from this place to the war, he is yet in some respect a son of Easthampton, and deserves mention among her sons. His military career being somewhat extended, could not well be sketched more briefly than it has been. While, as a military man, from his education, his genius,
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and his opportunities, his name may be said to stand at the head of those whom we claim as ours, there are others whose names are here recorded, who may justly be ranked as his peers in respect of patriotism, self-sacrificing devo- tion to the welfare of country, unswerving devotion to principle, and high moral worth.
To all who have enlisted from our midst, whether their names be found here or not, we owe, and desire to tender, our warmest gratitude. The separation from home and friends, the privations of the camp, the rigors of winter, and the feverish heat of a Southern summer, the weari- ness of the march by day and of picket by night, the dan- gers of the battle field, and the horrors of rebel dungeons, they have bravely borne. In the Shenandoah valley, they met the rebel ranks bent on invasion. With Burnside at Newbern, they conquered the foe, and set up the banner, which was there to float till the whole South was redeem- ed. Again, with Burnside at Fredericksburg, and with Hooker at Chancellorsville, they vainly strove to force the rebels from their position, and open the way to their capital. With McClellan at Antietam, and with Meade at Gettysburg, they met and rolled back the tide of inva- sion which was threatening to engulf us in its waves. With Butler, they redeemed the Crescent City, and vindi- cated the dishonored flag. With Banks at Port Hudson, they gloriously consummated the long struggle which un- locked the Father of Waters. With Strong at Wagner, they stormed the defences of that early citadel of rebel- lion. With Sherman from Chattanooga to Atlanta, from Atlanta to Savannah, from Savannah to Raleigh, they bore the flag in battle and in storm. With Butler along the James, and with Sheridan along the Shenandoah, they fought bravely and well. With Grant, they rallied and struggled through those long and bloody days in the-
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Wilderness. Step by step they drove back the rebel legions to their capital. There they planted themselves, and prepared for the final conflict. Weeks and months passed, the snows of winter fell and melted away. The final conflict, bloody and terrible, came at last, and victory was ours. Then, from Raleigh and Richmond they bore the triumphant banners, stained indeed with blood, and blackened with the smoke of the conflict, but all radiant with a new life. After four long years of waiting, of suffering and sacrifice, they brought the ban- ners to Washington, that they, and their defenders, might receive the plaudits of a nation rescued from the assaults of treason, and consecrated anew to the principles of freedom and self-government.
At last they have returned home, have greeted once more the old familiar sights and faces, and have entered upon other employments than those of war. They have return- ed home, but, alas ! not all. As they trod once more our streets, or gathered once more in our places of assembly, there were those who looked with tear-dimmed eyes on the war-worn group, for they missed the form of some loved one there, and they knew that beneath the cold clods of the earth, that form was lying. To some of them, indeed, the remains of those they loved were brought, and now repose among kindred and friends in the burial place of their native village. Others have found their last rest- ing place along the banks of the Mississippi, or on the blood-stained fields of Virginia, while others still met- death in Southern prisons, and now fill nameless graves. To one, death came almost before he had entered upon the active duties of a soldier's life. Some were permitted to enter upon their work, but were called away before it seemed half done; while others were spared almost to the completion of their term of service. The battle-field,
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the hospital, the Southern prison, each had its victims. They went forth full of life and hope, only to find death, -death without knowing that the sacrifice would avail, -death without witnessing the final success of the cause, -death " without the shout of victory, without the pride and glory of a return to receive the wreath and triumph of the conqueror."
The record of our dead in this war is a noble one and should be sacredly cherished as long as patriotism is hon- ered or self-sacrifice calls forth our admiration and gratitude.
Salmon H. Lyman, son of Dennis Lyman, one of the first to volunteer, was the first to fall. In the first sum- mer of the war, when the soldiers were rallying to the standard, he went to New York, joined the regiment known as the Anderson Zouaves, was home once on a furlough, spent one winter in camp, started out with Mc Clellan on his Peninsular campaign, and fought at the battle of Williamsburg, soon after which he was taken sick, and removed to New York, where he died. His remains were brought to his home, where they were buried with military honors, on the 18th of September, 1862.
Chauncey A. Hendrick was a member of Co. B., 31st Massachusetts regiment. He was with them for a time, but, after a period of sickness, it was thought best that he should return. With great difficulty, he was able to reach home, but survived only a few days.
Lewis P. Wait, son of Chester Wait, joined Co. K, 52d Massachusetts regiment, taking his life in his hand, as did the others, that he might serve his country. Little did he know, when he enlisted, how short his term of ser-
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vice would be. Fifteen days only, was he in camp. While at home on a furlough he was taken sick, and died after a sickness of some two weeks. His funeral, which was attended by his comrades, was an occasion of deep interest and solemnity, and will not soon be forgotten. In his death the company lost one who would have been faithful to his duties, whether those of camp and field, or the Christian duties of a soldier to those about him.
Daniel Kane, who had lived several years in Easthamp- ton, though not a native of it, enlisted in the 37th regi- ment, in the summer of 1862. During the ensuing win- ter, while the army of the Potomac was encamped at Fal- mouth, he was seized with the typhoid fever, and no effort which was put forth could save him. He died, and was buried there.
Elisha C. Lyman, son of E. Waldo Lyman, was a mem- ber of Co. A, 27th regiment. He with other recruits, joined the regiment, of which his brother was already a member, in the summer of 1862. Not a long time was he spared to serve his country ; for, upon him, as upon so many others, the hand of disease was laid, and con- sumed away his life, before he had performed much of that service for which he had volunteered. But the pat- riotic devotion was the same, and the sacrifice as costly, as if he had been spared to meet the enemy many times on the field of battle. His body was brought to the home from which he had so recently gone forth full of life and hope, and, amid sorrowing friends, it was committed to the earth.
Wm. Hickey, who had resided here but a short time, enlisted in Co. B, 31st Massachusetts regiment. He was a good soldier and a man of great bravery and endurance. At the battle of Camp Bisland, one of the first battles in which he was engaged, he was killed by a rebel bullet.
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James H. Clark enlisted in the 2d Massachusetts regi- ment in the spring of 1861, soon after the breaking out of the war. He was with his brave regiment in nearly all their battles till his death. He was with Gen. Banks in his Shenandoah campaign, with Mcclellan at Antietam, and subsequently at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, not to speak of minor engagements. Through all these he passed unscathed. He had nearly completed the first half of his last year, and we hoped that as he had been spared so long, he might be permitted to return in safety. But this hope was not to be realized. The burn- ing hand of fever was laid upon him, and he, who had faced death on so many fields, must, at last, bow before the touch of disease. His remains were brought to his home, and now repose among those of kindred and friends.
Roland Williston, who had been here but a short time when the war broke out, enlisted in the same regiment. He died from the effects of a wound received, if we mis- take not, at Cedar Mountain.
Charles Tencellent, who was a member of the 7th Con- necticut regiment, and who had resided here before the war, was in the disastrous battle at Olustee, Florida, and received wounds in consequence of which he died.
Henry Lyman, oldest son of Ahira Lyman, enlisted in the summer of 1862, and with others joined the 27th regiment, which was then in the field. For a little more than one year, he was spared to serve his country, and then he was called up higher. To his fidelity as a soldier and a Christian, his comrades could testify. Chaplain Woodworth said that he was one of those, upon whom he most relied for assistance in promoting the spiritual welfare of the soldiers. From the prayer meet- ing he was seldom absent, and there his voice was often
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heard in prayer and exhortation. Calmly and peacefully as the setting of the summer's sun he died,-died as only the Christian can die. Would that all the thousands whose death this war had caused, could have been sus- tained by a like precious faith.
Of the Easthampton soldiers who have died away from home, he was the fourth and last whose remains were brought home for interment. These all rest in honored graves in our cemetery, while of the others, many fill un- known graves, by the banks of the Mississippi, or in that thickly populated city of the dead at Andersonville. But to the ears of them all alike shall come that final trumpet, which shall summon forth the dead from their graves. Though we may not mark, and water with our tears, the sacred spot of their final repose, yet the recol- lection of them all shall be fragrant in our memories, and, to the last of life, we will not cease to honor their names.
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