History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 73

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 73

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During July it was daily expected that our army would advance, and as the enemy were now known to be in some force in its front, a decisive action was anticipated. The month wore on full of earnest work, and with an underlying feeling of suppressed excitement and strained expectation, until at length the day came-that day of sorrow and deep mortifica- tion. The first confused reports, contradictions and exenses soon crystalized, and the full extent of the disaster at Bull Run struck the people of Salem, as the entire North, like a blow. Stunned at first, they soon recovered and began to grasp the full meaning of this defeat. They saw that a great war was only just begun : That the efforts already put forth could be regarded as but an earnest of what must continue in- definitely, and that if the nation was to endure, faith and patriotism must be subjected to a steady strain, and men, money and effort given without stint.

The first stage of the war was over; the time of wild enthusiasm, of exaggerated sentiment and un- thinking elation excited by the novelty of the situa- tion, had passed. Men and women were sobered and realized the heavy burden of bloodshed, grief and loss that they must bear ; and they took it up without hesita- tion, here as elsewhere. Men began to arrange their affairs that they might join the army, and the drill clubs were assiduously attended, while the recruit- ing ollicers found little difficulty in filling their ranks.

The returning short term companies were greeted with a kindness and warmth that served to fix the

resolution of most of their members to return to the army. Every engagement with the soldiers was rigidly kept, and there was an increased effort made in all directions to furnish all that the government should require of Salem. The patriotic work of the ladies was continued with unabated zeal, and as the war continued they never relaxed their energies. They organized or assisted in fairs in aid of the sanitary commission. Their Dorcas Societies incon- tinently threw over the poor whom they had always hitherto had with them, and picked lint for the wounded, or knit socks of the stoutest yarn and por- tentous dimensions for the soldier well or ailing. They gave freely of money, medicines and delicacies for army necessities, hopefully kept up the cheerful- ness of the men at home; while during the long war there were few among them who did not have some one especially dear to them, who had gone with the army, and to whom, if living, they sent words of lov- ing encouragement, or for whom, if dead, they shed many tears, while they still worked on for the living.

In this connection reference should be made to the Field Hospital Corps raised in Salem, in May of this year, by the Rev. D. G. Wildes, rector of Grace Church. This corps was composed of sixty volunteers from Salem and vicinity, and was said to be the first effort for a systematized ambulance department in the army.

On the day following the battle of Bull Run, the 'Essex Cadets," a company recruited by Lient. A. Parker Browne, marched under Capt. Seth A. Bux- ton from Salem to join the camp of instruction. It subsequently was incorporated with the Fortieth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry.

Early in September the first company of sharp- shooters unattached, containing many Salem men, left the State for Washington, and on the 4th of the month, Capt. Ethan A. P. Brewster's Company "A," of the Twenty-Third Massachusetts Infantry, that had been recruiting in Salem, marched from town to the camp at Lynnfield, followed on the 7th by Capt. John F. Devereux's Company, subsequently attached to the Eleventh Infantry.

A drill club that had been steadily keeping to their work for some months, voted about this time to eu- list in a body for the war, and on the 18th of Octo- ber, marched under Capt. Geo. M. Whipple, to Lynn- field, to join as its Company " F," the Twenty-Third Infantry, which was now completed. Containing two full Salem companies, this regiment, on the 31st of the month, marched into Salem and were reviewed on the Common, just before leaving for the seat of war, to the great pride and satisfaction of the people.

Meanwhile there had been constant recruiting for other companies. On the 8th of October a second company of sharpshooters, under Capt. E. Wentworth, Jett for the front as part of the Twenty-Second Infan- try ; and Capt. Charles M. Devereux's Company " H," Nineteenth Regiment, were mustered into service in

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November, and left the State December 13th, while early in December Capt. John Daland's and George F. Austin's Companies partly recruited in Salem and attached to the Twenty-Fourth Infantry, were ordered South with their regiment.

Capt. Manning's Fourth Battery of Light Artillery, entirely raised in Salem, had been mustered iuto ser- vice and embarked on transports for the department of the Gulf.

In the foregoing account of the various military or- ganizations leaving for the front, it is by no means to be understood that they comprised all of the officers and men who had entered the service from Salem during the first nine months of the war. But those have been spoken of whose departure had some pecu- liar interest for the mass of the people by some cir- cumstances of their organization or otherwise. For, during this time Salem men were joining other com- panies and regiments daily, and going to the front, as will be seen by the brief notices of the various regi- ments, a little further on. Salem was indeed doing her duty in this first year of war, and as the event proved, she had by no means exhausted her resources. To the end of the war she continued to furnish men and money liberally. Her quota was usually forth- coming.

Early in 1862, two military funerals in her streets, of officers of distinction, served to remind the people, had it been necessary, that war was not all pomp and glitter, but meant death and sorrow. Salem did honor to her illustrious dead, and the obsequies of General Lander, who died in West Virginia, and of Lientenant- Colonel Henry Merritt, killed in action at Newberne, gallantly leading the Twenty-Third Regiment, occur- ring on the 8th and 21st of March, were impressive, and attended by a large concourse of people.

Recruiting was resumed in 1862. The Federal armies in the field were very large; but when the heavy work of the war fairly opened, and the long rolls of the killed and wounded on the Peninsula be- gan to be read, it was clear that those armies must be replenished, from time to time, for years to come per- haps; and so men were again flocking to the rendez- vous aud marching to the front.

Captain S. C. Oliver's Company of the Thirty-fifth Infantry, containing some Salem men, went forward with that regiment in August, 1862, and September Sth three companies under Captains D. H. Johnson, Richard Skinner and Henry Danforth, that had been partly recruited in Salem during the summer for the Fortieth Infantry, were forwarded with the regiment to Virginia. The last mentioned of these companies was the City Guard, with ranks filled up by fresh enlistments. The Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fortieth was Joseph A. Dalton of Salem.

November 19th Captain George Putnam's Com- pany, " A," of the Fiftieth Militia Regiment, left the State for the Department of the Gulf for nine months' service. This company was the Salem Light Infantry

filled up by special enlistments, many of its original members being already in service in other parts of the army

December 27th Company E, recruited in Salem for the Forty-eighth Militia Regiment, by Captain George Wheatland, for nine months' service, em- barked on transports for the Department of the Gulf.

July 10th of the following year (1863) the draft was ordered in the Northern States, and Captain D. H. Johnson, as Provost Marshal, completed the rolls here and began to draw the names. But few men, how- ever, were drafted in Salem, as the city made every effort to fill her quota by offering heavy bounties to volunteers, and in the main succeeded.

November 16th, 1863, the Twelfth Unattached Company of Heavy Artillery, raised in Salem under Captain J. W. Richardson, occupied the forts on Salem Neck. This company, then commanded by Captain Jos. M. Parsons, in June of the following year (1864) was ordered to Washington.

May 12, 1864, the Salem Light Infantry, Captain, R. W. Reeves, again left Salem for one hundred days' garrison duty, to relieve the regular volunteer troops from this service and enable them to he put in at the front.

In addition to the very large sums contributed by individuals, from time to time during the war, in aid of the soldiers, of their families and to promote en- listments, the amount of which cannot be ascertained, the city appropriated and expended on account of the war one hundred and six thousand eight hundred and eighty-five dollars, exclusive of over two hundred thousand dollars, State aid to the families of the men in the field, which latter was ultimately refuuded to her by the State. She responded to all calls upon her for men, about three thousand entering the army and navy during the war out of an entire population of a little over twenty-one thousand. In the partial ac- count given of the departure of these men from Sa- lem, no mention has been made of the character of their service or that of the regiments to which they belonged. It could not be expected that any extended history of these organizations can be here given, and only a glance at the careers of those containing more or less Salem men is permitted by the limitation of this article.

The militia regiments that first went out in the spring of 1861, had a valuable experience of the duties of the soldier in active service, learning the use of arms and camp and outpost duty ; but they were not engaged with the enemy except the Fifth regiment, in which were tbe Salem City Guard and Mechanics' Light Infantry Companies, that took some part in the battle of Bull Run though suffering but slight loss.

The first regiment to be raised for the service of the United States, in this State, was the 2d Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, that began to be formed before the Government had called for other than militia

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

regiments. The Company commanded by Captain Cogswell, containing many Salem men, was attached to it, and at the close of the war this officer returned in command of the regiment and with the brevet of a brigadier, while of the Salem enlisted men, five had earned commissions. The Second had a distinguished record. With Colonel Gordon and Lieutenant-Col- onel George L. Andrews, (of a Salem family) both West Pointers, it was from the beginning a thoroughly instructed and efficient regiment. It served under General Patterson in 1861, and subsequently remained in the Shenandoah Valley under General Banks, dis- tinguishing itself as a part of the rear guard in his re- treat to the Potomac in May 1862. Closely engaged in the battle of Cedar Mountain under the same officer, it there lost nearly half of its officers and one-third of the men. It took part in the succeeding battles of Centreville and Antietam, and the following year lost heavily at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Forming part of the force sent to New York to sup- press the draft riots, it was then sent to Alabama where the regiment was furloughed for re-enlistment and returned with recruited ranks in time to take part in General Sherman's severe Atlanta campaign, subsequently marching through Georgia and continu- ing northward through the Carolinas in the resistless march of that officer until its fighting days were ended at Raleigh by the news of Lee's surrender. At the muster out, July 14, 1865, there were but four officers and one hundred men remaining of the original full regiment that had marched from the State to the front.

In the Ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry there were a large number of Salem men, particularly in company F, originally called the Fitzgerald Guard, already mentioned. Serving in front of Washington from its muster in June, 1861, when it became a part of the great Army of the Poto- mac, in whose fortunes it shared until its muster-out in June, 1864. In Morell's division of the fifth corps, it took part in all the battles of the ill-fated peninsula campaign, and in the determined stand made by Porter in command of this corps at Gaines' Mill, the Ninth lost twenty officers and three hundred and sixty men. Still, and always in the fifth corps under Porter, and afterwards under Warren, the reg- iment was engaged at Centreville, Antietam, Freder- icksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and through the Wilderness to Spottsylvania, on all these historic fields acquitting itself with great gallantry and suffering heavy losses. The regiment was mus- tered out at the expiration of its term of service in June, 1864. Four of the enlisted men from Salem had received commissions in addition to the three officers originally marching from the city.

The Twenty-third Regiment Massachusetts Infau- try had peculiar claims upon the city by reason of the large number of its citizens in the ranks, and the interest attaching to one of its companies that, in a sudden burst of patriotic feeling had resolved them-

selves, by a vote, from a drill-club of amateurs into a company of United States soldiers with plenty of hard service immediately before them. The regi- ment was sent to Annapolis, and a few months later joined General Burnside's expedition that took Roa- noke Island and occupied Newberne. It suffered some losses in these operations, including Lieutenant- Colonel Merritt, already mentioned. Later, in the same department, under General Foster, it was en- gaged at Heckman's farm, Arrowfield Church and Drury's Bluff. In the later action it lost heavily, being exposed to a flank attack.

Under General Stannard, the Twenty-third joined the Army of the Potomac just before the battle of Cold Harbor in which it took part, subsequently doing duty in the trenches at Petersburg. Being returned to its old department, it was put in during the final operations in that quarter in 1865, being last eugaged at Kingston. It was finally mustered out of service in June, 1865, a large number of the regiment having re-enlisted the previous year. Six of its en- listed men from Salem returned home with commis- sions, excepting one, Lieutenant Richard P. Wheeler, who had died of wounds received in action.

The Twenty-third was a thoroughly good regiment and always did its work in gallant style.

Captain Arthur F. Devereux, who had drilled the Salem Light Infantry Company just before the war to a wonderful point of excellence, upon the return of that company from its three months' service, aided in raising the Nineteenth Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry, going out as its lieutenant-colonel and returning in command as a brevet brigadier-general. He took with him as officers nine or ten of his old light infantrymen and near one hundred recruits from Salem, besides many from the vicinity. The Nine- teenth was a regiment always noted for its drill and precision of movement and distinguished itself in many actions. It took five stand of colors, and was twice complimented in general orders.

Getting its initiation at Balls' Bluff, it took part in the Peninsular battles, Centreville, Bristoe Station, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg (there forming the advance that crossed the river in pontoons), fought at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and succeeding engagements, and after the rough winter's work in front of Petersburg, was in at the death at Appomatox, where one of its captains was killed by the last shot said to have been fired by the enemy. Capt. George W. Batchelder, of Salem, was killed at Antietam.

The 24th Volunteer Infantry contained several offi- cers and a considerable number of men from Salem. It was a well instructed regiment, and always displayed good qualities in the face of the enemy. Accompany- ing the Burnside expedition it took part in the en- gagement prior and subsequent to the occupation of Newberne, and being sent to the siege of Charleston was in the attempt on Fort Wagner and other actions

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in that vicinity until ordered to St. Augustine, Fla., in the latter part of 1863. In the spring of 1864 it was transferred to the Tenth Corps, Army of the James, where, at the battle of Drury's Bluff, it suffer- ed considerable loss. Later at Deep Bottom and in subsequent service in front of Petersburg, the regi- ment lost heavily. It continued to participate in the operations that resulted in Lee's surrender. Having largely re-enlisted at the expiration of its first three years of service, the regiment was not finally mus- tered out until January 20, 1866, remaining on duty as part of the garrison of Richmond, Va. Adjutant Charles G. Ward, of the Twenty-fourth, of Salem, was killed in action May 6, 1864.

In the Eleventh Infantry were a number of men recruited in and about Salem. Its list of engage- ments is that of those of the Army of the Potomac, in which it served from the first battle of Bull Run to the close of the war, and always with distinction. The Salem men who served in the Twelfth Infantry known as the Webster Regiment, after making the campaign with General Banks in. the Shenandoah Valley and at Cedar Mountain, had a similar experi- ence in the succeeding engagements of the Army of the Potomac through the battle of Cold Harbor, after which those that were left were mustered out at the expiration of their term of service.

In the Fortieth Infantry there were a considerable number of officers from Salem, and it was recruited partly here. The regiment entered, the service in September, 1862, served in Virginia until in the di- vision of General Gordon (the former colonel of the Second Infantry) it was sent to Suffolk to reinforce General Peck, who was facing Longstreet's army. From there seut to the South Atlantic coast, it was engaged at Seabrook farm, S. C., and subsequently forming a part of the Florida expedition, suffered se- verely at Olnstee and the accompanying actions in that ill-advised campaign. The regiment was sent north in time to engage in the final operations of the Army of the Potomac, entering Richmond in April, 1865. Lieut. George C. Bancroft, from Salem, was killed at Old Church, Va., June 1, 1864.

The Seventeenth Infantry contained nearly seventy Salem men. Raised in 1861, after a few months' gar- rison duty at Baltimore, it reported at Newberne, N. C. It was engaged at Kinston and Goldsborongh. On the 16th of December, 1863, an attack was made on Newberne by a strong force of the enemy, and the Seventeenth lost heavily in repelling it. Later it was engaged at Washington, N. C. Subsequently, March 8, 1865, the regiment was heavily engaged at Wise Forks, N. C., in the advance made from the coast to connect with General Sherman. Garrisoning Greensboro', N. C., until July 11, 1865, the regiment was then mustered out of service.

The single officer and sixteen or eighteen men of Salem who served with the Thirtieth Massachusetts Infantry, known as the Eastern Bay State Regiment,

were, with it, engaged in the principal actions in the department of the Gulf during 1862 and 1863. Re- enlisting in 1864 it, upon return from furlough, was put into the Nineteenth Corps and transferred to Washington, and. ultimately the Shenandoah Val- ley, where it was engaged in Sheridan's battles, spe- cially distinguishing itself at Cedar Creek. The regiment remained in service in Georgia until 1866.

In the Thirty-Second Infantry were rather more men from this city. This regiment, going to the front early in 1862, after a short period of garrison duty, became a part of the Army of the Potomac, and remained with it to the end, being engaged in nearly every battle fought by that army, from the Peninsu- lar campaign to the moment that the Army of North- ern Virginia laid down its arms. Its only commis- sioned officer from Salem, Captain Charles A. Dear- born, was killed at Fredericksburg.

The Thirty-Fifth Infantry had three officers from Salem, although but few enlisted men. Its record is very similar to that of the regiment last mentioned, although it did not go into action until Antietam. Lieutenant Charles F. Williams, of this regiment, from Salem, died of wounds September 22, 1863.

The Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth regiments of infantry numbered but few men in their ranks from Salem. Mustered into service in 1861, the Twenty-Ninth took part in the engagements of the Army of the Potomac from Gaines' Mill to Freder- icksburg, when it was ordered West, and bore a hand at Vicksburg and in other engagements in the cotton States, being ordered North, and taking part in the Cold Harbor battle and in the succeeding ope- rations in front of Petersburg. The Twenty-Eighth, entering the service early in 1862, was put into the Army of the Potomac in season for the battle of Cen- treville and every subsequent pitched battle of that army, ending at Ream's Station. Like all Massaclı- setts regiments these did their duty well. The Thirty- Ninth Infantry, commanded by Colonel Charles L. Pierson, of Salem, contained but few others from this town. It was a good regiment and saw its share of service.

Mention should be made of the two colored Massa- chusetts regiments, the Fifty-Fourth and Fifty-Fifth Infantry, both of whom had some officers (who were white) from Salem, and some recruits also. Both regiments were sent to Hilton Head, participated in the Olnstee campaign in Florida, and took an active part in the operations against Charleston, S. C. They were in the assault on Fort Wagner, where the Fif- ty-Fourth lost heavily, and wherever engaged showed such courage and soldierly conduct as did much to re- move the predjudice entertained at first for this class of troops. They remained in service in that depart- ment until their final muster-out. Lieutenant Edwin R. Hill, of the Fifty-Fifth, of Salem, was killed in ac- tion December 9, 1864.

There was a considerable aggregate contingent of

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Salem men in the Fifty-Sixth, Fifty-Seventh and Fifty- Eighth regiments, particularly in the latter, whose Lieutenant-Colonel, John Hodges, of Salem, was killed while leading the regiment, July 30, 1864. These regiments were raised late in the war (1863), but got into very heavy work when their turn came, and as is often the case with full regiments coming to the front from garrison duty, they were kept well in the advance, where they were very willing to go. They all lost severely in the Virginia campaign of 1864-65, and well-earned a good place in the roll of honor of their State.

In the First, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-second Regiments of Massa- chusetts Infantry, there was hut an aggregate of four officers and about seventy enlisted men from Salem, exclusive of the first and second companies of sharp- shooters hereafter mentioned. These regiments were all connected with the Army of the Potomac from the time of its first mobilization and bore a distinguished part in its many sanguinary engagements. All were mnstered out at the expiration of their three years' service at various dates in 1864, with the exception of the Twentieth that re-enlisted, but had the misfortune to be surrounded at Reams Station, August 23, 1864, where the entire regiment was killed or captured. Lieutenant Richard Derby, the only commissioned officer from Salem in the Fifteenth Regiment, was killed at Antietam.

The two companies of sharpshooters raised in this State took a number of keen rifle shots out of Salem, particularly the Second company that had nearly all its officers and about thirty men from this city. This company was attached to the Twenty-second Massa- chusetts Infantry, and shared in the honors and fatigues of that gallant regiment in the Army of the Potomac from the beginning, doing valuable service in its particular line of duty on many fields. It was subsequently attached to the First and Twentieth Regiments of Infantry.

The first company though commanded by a Salem man, had few in its ranks from here. Serving unat- tached in General Lander's command until the death of that officer in West Virginia, it was subsequently attached to the Fifteenth, and later to the Nineteenth Infantry, taking the creditable part in the battles of the Army of the Potomac that was borne by those distinguished regiments. Its first captain, John Saun- (lers, of Salem, was killed at Antietam.

Salem was well represented in other branches, in the three years' service. The First Regiment of Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, commanded by Col. Tannatt, of Salem, a West l'oint graduate, had more Salem men in its ranks than any regiment that left the State. Raised in 1862, it did duty in its proper sphere in charge of the heavy guns in different fortresses in the belt around Washington, at Mary- land Heights and elsewhere. In General Pope's cam- paign in 1862 the regiment was ordered as infantry

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History of Essex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 73

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