History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 198

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 198

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BEVERLY IN THE CIVIL WAR.

It has been fully shown, in the pages preceding, that the people of Beverly were ever animated by highest principle, and were never wanting in military spirit. A well-trained militia was always to be found here at call; as early as 1662 there was a foot com- pany under Captain Thomas Lothrop. After his lamented death, at Bloody Brook, Lieutenant William Dixey was appointed to the command, by the Gen- eral Court, and he was succeeded by Paul Thorndike. A company of horse had been organized previous to 1689, with William Rayment as captain, William Dodge as lieutenant, John Dodge, Jr., cornet, and Thomas West quartermaster.

They were on the point of being disbanded, by or- der of General Court, in 1690, but at their earnest request were allowed to continue, provided they could furnish "forty able-bodied troopers, equipped accord- ing to law," which they did. The services of our soldiers in the various fights with the Indians, and during the Revolution and the war of 1812, have been detailed. Between the peace of 1783 and the end of the eighteenth century the military spirit was at an ebb, but rose promptly with the exigencies of the occasion.

In 1800 (October 17th) the first voluntary associa- tion of men as a light infantry company was formed, but not organized [under the law till June 2, 1801. They were then regularly enlisted under an order from Lieutenant-Colonel James Burnham, of the Third Regiment. Jonathan H. Lovett was chosen captain, Josiah Gould lieutenant, and Robert Ran- toul ensign.

This company was disbanded in 1814, but in 1815 another light infantry company was organized, which has existed to the present time. Its first captain was William Thorndike, and his successors various re- spected citizens eminent in different walks of life. This organization kept alive the spark that might otherwise have become extinguished during the long period of peace ; especially at the annual " May train- ings " and "Fall musters."

1 Sec, also, Wilson's " Rise and Fall of the Slave Power," vol. i., p. 264. et., seq.

731

BEVERLY.

During nearly fifty years of peaceful life, the Ber- erly militia had fought its bloodless battles on the training-field; the monotony of its existence secmed likely to continue unbroken during an equal period, when suddenly there came the occasion for its ser- vices.

1861 .- It is significant, that, though there were formerly three military companies in Beverly, these had dwindled to one in 1860, and that one a volun- tary association. But this one, Company E., Beverly Light Infantry, was alert and prepared for action ; its commander had his "ear to the ground " for the first premonitions of war.

In the Citizen for January 19th, 1861, is printed the official order hy Governor Andrew, for Beverly to be ready at all times to furnish her quota of troops upon any requisition of the President of the United States. The original of this order is now in posses- sion of Colonel Francis E. Porter, then captain of Company E. The paper adds : " In accordance with this order, Captain Porter has notified Company E. to meet at the armory on Monday next, at seven o'clock."

The sequel is thus stated : "Company E. at a spec- ial meeting, in response to the order of Governor Andrew, had a full and enthusiastic rally, and sixty- seven readily volunteered for any service that might be required of them by the government."

And two months later the following :

" The order for the meeting of the Eighth Regiment was received here on Monday, April 16th, and early on Tuesday morning the flag of the Beverly Light Infantry was waving on their armory. The compa- ny mustered in full ranks, and with music, marched to the station to take the 10 50 train for Boston, heing frequently greeted by the waving of handkerchiefs by the young ladies in the shoe factories ou Railroad Avenue. Some time elapsed before the arrival of the train, during which the company went through the drill exercise quite satisfactorily. Before leaving, each officer was the recipient of a splendid sword and revolver, gifts from friends here."

"After they had entered the train, and as it left, cheer after cheer rose from the assembled multitude who had gathered to witness their departure. The company is composed of young men who are called away from the scenes of home and cherished associations to serve the land of their birth in the hour of need, and most cheerfully have they responded to the call. The wishes of every loyal citizen and lover of his country go with them.

" While the company were drilling at the station, Mr. William J. Smith, not a member, but whose breast was filled with patriotism, and who has experienced some of the hardships of Texan life, hearing the sound of the drum, dropped his axe and lastened to respond to the call to arms. He left with the company and his name appears on the roll.

" On arrival at Boston the company marched to Fanenil Hall, where they quartered until Thursday, when they left for Washington at 6 P. MI."

The same paper announcing their departure con- tained, also, the President's proclamation for 75,000 troops, dated Washington, April 15th, the surrender of Sumter, April 13th, the attack on the Sixth Regi- ment by the Baltimore mob, and the additional in- formation that the Eighth had safely reached Phila- delphia and was quartered in the Continental hotel.

"OD the 15th of April, 1861, (says Schouler's 'Massachusetts in the Rebellion ') Governor Andrew received a telegram from Washington to send forward at once 15,000 men. The drum-beat of the long roll had been struck.

"On the morning of the 16th the companies began to arrive in Bos- ton, and before nightfall every company that had received its order in time reported at headquarters for duty."

Company E. was the first in Massachusetts to re- port for duty ; Captain Porter received his orders at five P. M., April 15th, when he immediately notified his men in person, reporting ready for duty that night. It was the second to arrive in Boston, and could have been the first, had not Adjutant-General Hinks sent word that the company was not needed before twelve o'clock.

Subscriptions were started for a relief fund for sol- diers' families in town, and had reached the amount of two thousand eight hundred dollars on the morn- ing of their departure.

April 20th, a mass meeting was held in the town- hall, and patriotic speeches were made by many citi- zens. The relief fund, at the close of the meeting amounted to three thousand dollars.

The ladies of Beverly organized a society for the furnishing of clothing and other necessaries to the militia of the State. One hundred and thirteen la- dies attended the first meeting; Miss Hannah Ran- toul was chosen president, with an able corps of as- sistants.

Military companies, formed in various parts of the town, received over one hundred members during the first week.

Following Schouler's " Massachusetts in the Civil War," we find that the Eighth Regiment, which had arrived in Boston on the 16th, did not leave the city till the 18th, when it marched to the State-House and was presented with a set of regimental colors by Gov- ernor Andrews, who also addressed the soldiers in spirited terms. The regiment left Boston at four o'clock that afternoon, greeted everywhere along the route to Philadelphia "with the same unbounded enthusiasm the Sixth had received. General Butler accompanied it as commander of the Massachusetts brigade. The regiment reached New York on the morning of the eventful 19th of April,-when the soldiers of the Sixth were attacked hy the Baltimore mob,-and marched down Broadway amid the con- gratulations of the vast multitude. This was the second Massachusetts regiment that had marched through that city in advance of all others, while two other regiments were on the seas for Fortress Monroe."

It was in Philadelphia, where they arrived that evening, that they received details of the attack upon the Sixth, that day, in Baltimore.

" This intelligence gave new energy and enthusiasm to the men, and made them more eager to press for- ward to Washington. They had expected to reach the capital by way of Baltimore; but that route was now closed, and a new one had to be opened, which served as the military highway to Washington for Eastern troops, until sedition was suppressed in Bal- timore, and that city assumed a loyal attitude. The new route was by the Susquehanna and Chesapeake

732

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS;

Bay to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland. A branch railroad of seventeen miles connected Annapolis with the Baltimore and Washington Railroad. By this route, Washington could be reached without touching Baltimore. .... The railroad from An- napolis to the Junction, where it connects with the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, had in part been destroyed, and the engines and cars partially dis- abled. After considerable delay, the track was re- laid and the engines and cars put in order by the men of the Eighth. To the Eighth Regiment will ever be the honor of having opened the route to Washington by the way of Annapolis, and of having saved from possible loss the frigate ' Constitution,' the ' Old Iron- sides ' of the War of 1812."

The regiment arrived in Washington on the after- noon of Friday, April 26th, eight days after its de- parture from Boston.

Referring to the achievements of this regiment at Annapolis, the National Intelligencer of the next morning remarked :

" We doubt whether any other single regiment in the country could furnish such a ready contingent to reconstruct a steam engine, lay a railroad track and bend the sails of a man-of-war."

One of the company wrote home that week, that President Lincoln appeared on their arrival iu Wash- ington, and said :

"Three cheers for the Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts, who can build locomotives, lay railroad tracks and re-take the Constitution."

On the arrival of the Eighth Massachusetts Regi- ment at Annapolis, General Butler found the rail- road engine-honse locked up. He broke it open, and discovered the engine all in pieces. "Who knows anything about an engine?" was the ques- tion.

One man stepped out of the ranks and said : " I do, General, I made that locomotive, and can repair her in two hours,"-and he did.

This was Chas. S. Homans, a native of Beverly. When in Washington he was visited and congratula- ted in person by President Lincoln.

A member of the New York Seventh writing of this event at the time, said that Charles S. Homans, of the Beverly Light Infantry, was the deus ex ma- china, who fonnd his mark written on the disabled locomotive at Annapolis, and superintended its con- struction.

Mr. William Isaac Smith, who volunteered as fire- man on this occasion, was the gentleman who left his labors to join the company in the depot at Beverly.

He is now living at Ryal Side, and Mr. Homans is still living, though an invalid.

A letter from Capt. Porter, dated May 8, 1861, des- cribes the regiment as in good condition, undergoing thorough drill and quartered in the House of Repre- sentatives.

The Sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, he adds, were the first to reach Washington, and the Eighth opened the military route from Annapolis. "We

should have been the next, had we not received a despatch from General Scott to stop at Annapolis, and guard that post until the arrival of another regi- ment."

The first man of the regiment injured was Lieut. Moses S. Herrick, of the Beverly Company, who was shot in the foot by the accidental discharge of a mus- ket, in the rotunda of the Capitol. The muskets, loaded with ball cartridges, were stacked around near the wall, and as some men were bringing in mattresses, they knocked a stand down, one of the guns being discharged into Lieut. Herrick's foot, mutilating it terribly. The limb was amputated by the surgeon of the Sixth, and Lieut. Herrick bore his great misfortune bravely, only lamenting that he could not have received the wound while fighting in the field. Attentions of every sort were showered upon him as he lay in hospital, and also en route home and in Beverly. He is residing in Beverly to- day, in the Upper Parish, the house of the Chipmans and Herricks.

1861 .- May 15, At a town-meeting in aid of the Beverly soldiers, the following resolutions were unani- mously adopted :

" Resolved, That we tender to the officers and soldiers now absent io the service of the country, our warmest meed of praise for their noble and manly self-sacrifice, in so readily responding to the national call, and for the skill, energy, perseverance, conrage and ability which they Bo faitlı - fully evinced in their triumphal progress aod march to the nation's capital.

" Resolved, That we tender to the far-famed Seventh Regiment of New York, our heart-felt thanke for their many kindnesses to our Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, and especially for their liberality towards our wounded fellow-citizen, Lieut. Moses S. Herrick.

" Resolved, That our warmest sympathies be tendered to Lieut, Her- rick in his misfortune, and that we pledge ourselves to him and to all his associates in our Beverly company, and our other Beverly soldiers, and to their respective families, to render all the material aid and com- fort that we can legitimately bestow."

The last of August, 1861, Lieut. John W. Raymond, who had returned with the Eighth, proposed to re- cruit a company in Beverly, to be attached to the old regiment, if revived, otherwise to some other Massa- chusetts regiment.

In less than a month he had raised over sixty men, who were encamped under his command on the com- mon. The name proposed for the company was the " Rantoul Guard." The first of October the company chose as officers : Captain, John W. Raymond; First Lieutenant, Henry P. Woodbury ; Second Lientenant, Daniel W. Hammond.

On the Sunday succeeding (October 5th), they at- tended, in a body, divine services at the Washington Street Church, in the morning, and at the Bapti-t in the afternoon.

October 15th the gallant captain, with nearly his full complement of one hundred of the picked men of the town, went into camp at Lynnfield. Before they had fairly departed from the town a new movement was on foot for the recruiting of another company, with the promise of more than members enough to help fill it at the outset.

733

BEVERLY.

This Company G was attached to the Twenty-third Regiment, Col. Kurtz, and in November we find them encamped at Annapolis.

The interdependence of soldiers and citizens is well shown in one little incident of this period. A request was sent from Capt. Raymond to Capt. F. E. Porter, at home, for a supply of such shirts as the Ladies' Aid Society had furnished them. The letter arrived on Monday, on Tuesday the ladies were industriously at work, and on Friday they packed and forwarded over one hundred of the required garments to their brave brothers at the front.

The history of the Twenty-third Regiment has been carefully written by Dr. James A. Emmerton, of Salem: " A Record of the Twenty-third Regiment," Boston, 1886.

" Hardly had the year (1862) opened, says the his- torian, "when these new made soldiers found them- selves amid the dangers and privations of Hatteras, and in early February they took a prominent part in the battle of Roanoke Island-one of the completest as it was one of the first of Union victories.

" The capture of Newbern soon followed, and, after that, the regiment, though by no means inactive, saw little of pitched battle for two years.

"In the Virginia campaign of 1864, it was in the forefront of the almost uninterrupted fighting which followed the landing at Bermuda Hundred, and cul- minated in the stubborn and bloody repulse of Beau- regard at Drury's Bluff; it gained the foremost ground reached and held by the Eighteenth Corps at Cold Harbor, and bore its full share of the dangers and pri- vations of the early days of the siege of Petersburg. A remnant of its veterans and recrnits was employed in picket and outpost duty till tbe campaigu of 1885, when they shared the fortnnes of the column which opened communication with Gen. Sherman."

The first week in May, 1864, the Beverly boys of the Twenty-third lost heavily in killed and wounded. Captains Raymond and Woodbury, of Companies G and F, were captured and wounded, but the former effected his escape by cutting his captor nearly in twain with his sword, while the latter shot his assail- ant with his revolver. Officers and privates all sus- tained the honor of their native town at the peril, and many with the sacrifice, of their lives.

An episode of the Drury's Bluff battle (May 16, '64) in which Captain Raymond was a participant, is nar- rated in the " Record of the Regiment."

" Captain Raymond, of 'G,' following the retreat- ing regiment, stopped to help a wounded man, Bray, of his company. Concluding, from the bloody torrent gushing from his breast, that he could do no good, he rose to leave him, and found the rebel line, with col- ors, close upon him. His contemptnons refusal to surrender brought a volley npon him which tore his clothes, carried away his sword-belt and almost blinded him with the dust and bits of bark torn from neigh- boring trees. Yielding to first impulse, he opened a

return fire from his revolver, but speedily recognizing the odds against him, he left the field in the hands of the enemy and escaped into the favoring fog."

And again, of the fighting before Petersburg. the regiment historian says :

" About the 1st of July, Captain Raymond, of "G," who, since we had lost Colonel Chambers, and Major Brewster was disabled by his wound, was, practically, in command of the regiment, had another, and perhaps the closest of his escapes from serious injury. I do not forget that the bullet which, hitting him in the head at Drury's Bluff, left him for a time unconscious, or the missile which passed just below his right arm- pit, graziog his thorax and urm, at Cold Harbor, came very near his life. This time the immediate disability was more lasting, and the re- mote effects have never disappeared. Ho was sitting on a trench, read- ing a letter, whoo a shot or shell from some rebel gun plunged through the henped earth, struck the log on which the captain's shoulder rested, and threw him against the sharp-angled abutment of the stairs. Exam- ination showed a rib broken, another hent, and a third bruised ; hut Captain Raymond would not go to the hospital, insisting that he could not be spared, and that his cure would progress as well in the trenches as anywhere else."

Letters from the front, from our brothers encamped before the enemy throughout the South, from on board men-of-war and gunboats, were for three years prominent in our local papers. They all breathe the same spirit, of fervent patriotism, disregard of danger and high devotion to principle, that infused their an- cestars under similar circumstances a hundred years before.

Until the latter part of '61, Beverly had been for- tunately exempt from grave casualties, but as the next year opened began the list of dead and wounded that soon lengthened portentously.

The first Beverly soldier who died during the Re- bellion, private Levi F. Larcom, was buried with mil- itary honors.

The religious services were held in the First Baptist Church by Rev. J. C. Foster, Rev. Dr. Abbott pro- nonncing the benediction.

1862 .- The first soldier killed in conflict with the enemy was private William Wallis, who was fatally wounded in the battle of Newbern, on the 14th of March, and died on the 16th. As a specimen of the thousands of soldiers' letters now speeding back to the north with their sad tidings, the following is qnoted ; written by a comrade of the deceased to his widow.

"DEAR FRIEND :- I now take up my pencil, with a sad heart, to inform yon of the death of your heloved hushaod. I was close by him when he fell. I carried hion back to the rear, out of the range of the shot, and left him in the care of the doctor. He was willing to die, but you and the children were all that seemed to trouble him. He gave me your likeness and his Bible, and asked me, if I lived through the battle, to write to you and let you know all about it. I then bad to leave him, as the battle was raging with fury. We drove the rebels out of their dens, and took possession of the city. It was theo oight ; the next morning I made enquiries for him, but he had passed away, with a good faith in God. He gave his life for his country's cause, and he now lies in his silent grave, far from home. May God, in his tender mercy, watch over the little ones he bas left behind ! I shall send the likeness and Bible to you as soon as I can.

" No more at present, from your friend,

" WM. F. EARLY."

The chaplain of his regiment, and also his captain, pausing in the heat of conflict, sent home loving tributes to his worth.

734

HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

On the 19th of April, just a year from the Balti- more massacre, died, private James Williams, an- other of the soldiers wounded in the Newbern fight. He, with two other comrades, James Dodge and Jolin Glidden, had been badly wounded, he in the leg, by a ball which passed through the knee aud dropped into his boot; Glidden was shot through the thigh, and Dodge through the shoulder. Funeral services were held in the Dane Street Church, Rev. Dr. Abbott preaching an impressive sermon. The coffin was de- posited in the church, and upon its lid the fatal bullet.

Thus were we reminded of the terrible consequences of war. Scarce a week passed, now, that some name was not added to the death-roll, or that did not wit- ness the return of some disabled patriot. Williams was the first man, as Dr. Abbott said, who had died among us from a wound received on the field of battle.

At a town-meeting, July 10th, which was a full and enthusiastic one, it was voted :

"That the selectmen of this town be authorized to allow and pay, in addition to the customary allowance for the benefit of the families of volunteers, the sun of one hundred dollars to each person who, as a part of the quota of this Commonwealth, shall within twenty days he duly enlisted in this town into the volunteer service of the U. S. ; paya- ble when mustered into service. The selectmen are authorized to use the credit of the town fully to carry this into effect."

At the same time, recruiting was going on vigor- ously, with the prospect of a full company of one hundred and one men being raised in a short time.

The Beverly company raised at this time, Company K, was attached to the Fortieth Massachusetts, with Edward L. Giddings as captain, John F. Piper, first lieutenant, Leonard G. Dennis, second lieutenant, and left for the seat of war September 4, 1862.

Company E, of the Eighth, was mustered out August 1, 1861. The next call was made May 26, 1862. Banks having been driveu back into the Shenandoah Valley, the government called for more men. Ninety men responded in two hours after orders were received. They proceeded to Boston where, after remaining two days, they found they were not wanted at that time and returned home.

On the 19th of September, Company E was agaiu mustered in for nine months, with three officers and ninety-eight men. They departed for Newbern, the day before Thanksgiving, and arrived there on the 4th of December. The next day, before the company received its arms and equipments, it was ordered with Company A of Newburyport to Roanoke Island where it remained till June 28th. It then received orders to join the regiment at Newbern. On reach- ing Newbern, the company found that the regiment had been ordered to Baltimore and followed on, ar- riving there July 12th, only to learn that the regi- ment had gone to Maryland Heights where the coul- pany found it finally. The same day, the company started with the regiment for Funkstown Md., where it arrived on the afternoon of the next day, just in

season to see the rear of Lee's army across the Poto- mac. After following it down the Potomac to Beal- ton's Station on the Rappahannock, the company was ordered to report at Massachusetts, its term of service having expired, arriving about the first of August.

1864 .- April 28th, another call was made on Com- pany E, this time for garrison duty at forts in Massachusetts. It proceeded at once to Readville. It was mustered into service with three officers and eighty-eight men who served ninety days and were then mustered out and re-enlisted for one hundred days' service. At the expiration of that time they were mustered out and nearly all the men re-enlisted again, for a year, in the Second Unattached Com- pany, Massachusetts Volunteers. The company was reorganized at once in Beverly with three officers and one hundred men and was ready for service during the winter of 1864-65.

On the 21st September, 1887, Company E held a rennion of its surviving members, at which were present mauy who had served during the Rebellion. With the field music marched drummer George M. Tueker, beating the old drum which he brought from Washington in the summer of '61, with the same sticks which sounded the calls and the long roll, not only for Company E, but for three years in the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery.

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 198

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1538

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed. n 85042884-1
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1538