USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Great Barrington > History of Great Barrington, (Berkshire County,) Massachusetts > Part 39
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Two Great Barrington men in the Thirty-Fourth Regiment died in the service, to wit : William Dennis, at Fort Lyon, Va., November 22, 1862 ; Miles Law- rence, at Florence, S. C., October 5, 1863.
Scarcely had this last quota of three years' men .been filled, when the call of the President-of August 2, 1862-for 300,000 men for nine months was pro- mulgated. A draft was anticipated, and the town assessors prepared an enrollment of the inhabitants liable to military service. This enrollment-imperfect for the reason that many aliens were included-con - "tained the names of 533 white, and 19 colored citi- zens-total, 552. The quota of the town, at first stated as 74, was later changed to 81, and after that
458
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
number of volunteers had been obtained, was again in- creased to 89.
To encourage volunteering and fill this quota a war meeting was held on the ninteenth of August, in the open air in Main Street, a platform for the speakers. having been erected just north of the Berkshire House. Places of business were closed, and the people devoted the day to the purpose. David Leavitt presided, and the meeting was opened with prayer. Patriotic ad- dresses were made by Hon. S. W. Bowerman of Pitts- field, and by Colonel Henry S. Briggs of the Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, who was then recovering from wounds received at the battle of Fair Oaks. These were followed by an eloquent appeal by Hon. Jonathan E. Field of Stockbridge, eulogizing the pat- riotism of the town in the Revolution, and the march of its minute men to Cambridge at the first outbreak of hostilities.
While these proceedings were in progress, Joseph. Tucker appeared on the ground with an enlistment roll in his pocket, to which he had already affixed his signature, and after a brief conference with Thomas Siggins, both ascended to the platform, and Mr. Sig- gins there subscribed the roll. These were the first men to enlist. Further addresses were made by the Rev. F. S. Barnum and Joseph Tucker, and several. additional names were obtained.
The meeting adjourned to the 22d, at the Town Hall, and was supplemented by a series of meetings held nearly every evening for a week. A town meet- ing was also held August 28, at which a bounty of $100 was voted for each volunteer, and the treasurer was authorized to borrow money for its payment. Vol- unteering continued until the roll contained ninety-five names ; but all did not enter the service. On Mon- day, September 15, the men, eighty-one in number -. the full quota as was then supposed-went into camp at Pittsfield, and were mustered into the Forty-Ninth Regiment on the nineteenth ; the larger part-seventy- two-joining Company D.
Before leaving for Pittsfield, the Company held its election of officers, September 13, at the Town Hall ;.
459
FORTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
Joseph Tucker magnanimously waived his generally conceded claims to the Captaincy. The officers chosen were : Captain, Samuel B. Sumner ; First Lieutenant,. Joseph Tucker ; Second Lieutenant, Samuel J. Chaffee.
The town's quota of nine months' men was soon increased to eighty-nine, and the deficiency of seven was made up by the enlistment of three more in the Forty-Ninth regiment, one in the Forty-Sixth, and four in the Twenty Eighth Connecticut ; though the last, it now appears, did not apply on the quota.
On the twenty-eighth of October, Company D. came down from Pittsfield and partook of a dinner prepared by the ladies, in the basement of the Congregational Church, and was afterwards paraded in the church- yard, where-through the Rev. Horace Winslow-a presentation of swords, belts and sashes was made to the officers; and John H. Coffing, by letter, presented the Company with $100 for sanitary purposes.
The Forty-Ninth Regiment, principally recruited at. Pittsfield in September and October, 1862, removed to Worcester early in November, and there completed its regimental organization by the election of William F. Bartlett of Boston, Colonel; Samuel B. Sumner of Great Barrington, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Charles F. Plunkett of Pittsfield, Major. The promotion of Cap- tain Sumner necessitated changes in the officers of Company D. Samuel J. Chaffee became the Captain ; Joseph Tucker, First Lieutenant ; Henry G. Moree, Second Lieutenant. Lieutenant Moree resigned April 7, 1863, and Thomas Siggins was chosen Second Lieu- tenant in his stead. These were all Great Barrington. men. Others of this town holding offices in Company D. were: Sergeants,-William S. Gilbert, James K. Parker, Henry W. Mansir, Guy C. Ray, Henry G. Moree (promoted) ; Corporals,-Edward Tobey, Henry A. Bristol, John W. Evans, John A. Dresser, Thomas H. Hughes, Ward Lewis. James Van Deusen was drummer. George Reed, First Sergeant of Company A. became Second Lieutenant of that Company.
Late in November the regiment was sent to New York, and quartered on Long Island, doing provost, guard duty, until the last of January, 1863, when it
460
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
sailed for New Orleans, joined the Bank's Expedition, and was attached to the First Brigade (Colonel Cha- pin's) in General Augur's Division. On the fourteenth of March the regiment participated in the feigned ad- vance of Bank's forces on Port Hudson, and returned to Baton Rouge, where it had previously been quar- tered. About the middle of May the regiment ad- vanced, with Augur's Division, towards Port Hudson, and was engaged-May 21-in the battle at Plain's Store. In this action five of this regiment were wound- ed, including Lieutenant Joseph Tucker-acting Aid de Camp on Colonel Chapin's staff-who was struck on the knee by a shell, necessitating the amputation of his leg. May 27, in the first assault on Port Hudson, the casualties of this regiment were seventy-six killed and wounded, or one-third part of the men engaged- "three companies having been in special service." In a feigned assault on Port Hudson-June 14-the losses of the regiment in killed and wounded were eighteen. During the entire investment of that place, to the time of its surrender-July 9-the regiment was in the front engaged in the duties of the siege.
At the assault of May 27, Lieutenant Thomas Sig gins, who with some two hundred others, volunteered in the forlorn hope for storming the rebel works, was assigned to the command of a detachment bearing fas- cines, while the storming party was led by Lieutenant- Colonel O'Brien, of the Forty-Eighth Massachusetts regiment. As the forlorn hope, crossing a tract of woodland covered with felled trees and other obstruc- tions, emerged upon an open field, they were met by a terrific fire from the rebel earth-works. Colonel O'Brien fell. dead, and the command devolved upon Lieutenant Siggins, who, rushing forward and cheer- ing on his men, was struck by a ball in the shoulder, and soon after received a terrible wound in the mouth and neck. From the effect of these wounds Lieuten- ant Siggins never recovered, and though he lived many years, they were, ultimately, the cause of his death- October 7, 1880. In this engagement Thomas Hen- nessy and Mills S. Reynolds of this town and Mark Bracken of Alford were killed, and Lieutenant-Colonel
461
FORTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
Sumner, Henry A. Bristol, Benjamin Shelly, David Hecox and John W. Evans, all of Great Barrington, were wounded-the latter very severely. Eleven out of eighteen officers of the Forty-Ninth were struck by rebel bullets.
Immediately after the surrender of Port Hudson, the regiment was sent to Donaldsonville, and with the exception of a short engagement near Bayou La Fourche, on the 13th of July, in which it was nearly surrounded and lost twenty.two men in killed, wounded and miss- ing, it was in no further very severe service.
The term of enlistments having expired, the regi- ment returned home by way of the Mississippi River, reaching Pittsfield August 21, where it met with an enthusiastic popular reception, and was mustered out September 1.
On the return of the Great Barrington men & sup- per was given them at the Berkshire House, with a cordial welcome from the citizens; and a few days later, at a public meeting at the Town Hall, Lieutenant Tucker was presented with a service of silver, while Lieutenant Siggins at about the same time, was the recipient of a gift in cash; slight testimonials of the appreciation of their services and misfortunes, on the part of the people.
Of the 84 men who went out from Great Barring- ton in the Forty-Ninth, sixty-five were discharged at expiration of service; four were discharged for disa- bility ; one, Lieutenant H. G. Moree, resigned ; four are reported as deserted ; two, Thomas Hennessy and Mills S. Reynolds, were killed in battle at Port Hud- son, May 27, 1863; eight died in the service, viz. : George Kolby, April 18, 1863; Isaac V. Wilcox, April 21, 1863 ; Francis Joray, May 15, 1863 ; Samuel C. Bills, May 18, 1863; John W. Fitzgerald, June 30, 1863; Artemas R. Comstock, July 18, 1863; all at Baton Rouge, La. John W. Burghardt, August 27, 1863, and Franklin W. Harmon, August 27, 1863, both at Pittsfield. Several deaths occurred amongst the returned men soon after they were mustered out, all from disease incurred in the service. Of these, Lieut- enant George Reed died September 8, 1863, at Cleve-
462
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
land, Ohio; Charles W. French died September 22, 1863, at Great Barrington ; Guy C. Ray died Novem- ber 11, 1863, at Great Barrington; Bradford B. Wil- cox died January 29, 1864, at Great Barrington.
Down to the first of February, 1863, the town had been called upon for 155 men for three years service, and for 89 men for nine months ; sworn returns then made by the selectmen show that 157 three years and 87 nine months men had been furnished. On a further call for three years men-July 1, 1863-the number re- quired of this town was 48. In anticipation of a draft, Clark A. Wilcox, who had been previously appointed enrolling officer, made an enrollment of citizens liable to military service. The enrollment was in two classes ; the second class consisting of married men between thirty-five and forty-five years of age; the first class including all others between the ages of twenty and twenty-five years. In the first class 240 white and 15 colored men were enrolled ; and in the second class 165 white and 4 colored men-total, 424. To fill the quota of forty-eight, resort was had to the draft, which took place at Springfield about the thirteenth of August. Seventy-six names were drawn, or about fifty per cent more than the number required, and of those drafted more than forty were rejected at a subsequent examination. By reason of rejection, and other causes, the product of the draft was only twenty-nine men, and twenty or more of these paid the commutation of $300 demanded by the government for providing substitutes. We have the names of seven drafted men who went into the service, viz: Edward Adams, Abram Ferguson, Abram Jackson, Jr., William A. Leonard, George Phil- lips, Pratt V. Strong, Edward A. Strong.
Another call for 300,000 men for three years, was made October 17, 1863, of which Great Barrington was required to furnish thirty-eight. Enlistments for this quota were begun ; and on the eighth of December, at a special town meeting, Doctor Samuel Camp was ap- pointed to enlist men, and was tendered a complimenta- ry and well deserved vote of thanks "for the fidelity and patriotism he has exhibited, ever since the com- mencement of the war, in procuring volunteers and for
463
FILLING OF QUOTAS.
the skill and success manifested in and attending his efforts in the cause." Further volunteers were readily obtained, which with re-enlistments of men of this town, from the Tenth, Twenty-Seventh and Thirty-First Reg- iments, whose term of service was expiring, more than filled this and the preceding quota.
Other calls for men followed-February 1, and March 15, 1864, under which (including the calls of July and October 1863) 102 men were required of this town. This quota (or combination of quotas) according to the selectmens' memorandums, was filled as follows: By reinlistments from the Tenth, Twenty-Seventh and Thirty-First Regiments, 23; by the draft of August, 1863, 29; by new enlistments, 43; by a further draft -May, 1864-7; in all 102.
These quotas, on the fourth of May, 1864, had not been entirely filled, and Adjutant General Schouler then stated to the selectmen the credits to the town, showing a deficiency of seven men. This deficiency was supplied by the draft held at Springfield on and after the eleventh of May. At the first draft seven men were drawn; but one of these was already in the service and another had removed from town, and it was not until five consecutive drafts had been made that the requisite number was obtained.
In filling these quotas twelve men enlisted in the Fifty-Fourth regiment-colored-in 1863; sixteen men enlisted in the First regiment of cavalry, mostly in December 1863; (but four of these never joined the service) fifteen men enlisted in the Fifty-Seventh regi- ment, in the winter and spring of 1864; one man, Curtis Deland, went in the Twenty-Eighth regiment in July 1863, and died at Annapolis, Md., April 13, 1864 ; one man, William F. Reniff, joined the Thirty-Sixth regi- ment, November 27, 1863; one man, Alonzo F. Briggs, went in the Fourteenth Battery, February 27, 1864; three men entered the Fifth Cavalry-colored-in March, 1864.
The Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts was the first regi- ment of colored men organized for the war, in the Free States. It was in the front line at the terrible and dis- astrous assault on Fort Wagner-July 18, 1863-and
464
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
lost heavily in that action. Of the twelve men of Great Barrington in this regiment one, Levi H. Jackson, died of wounds at Charleston, S. C., May 12, 1865. Francis J. Jackson died here, May 10, 1864, of disease con- tracted in the service ; James H. Jackson was reported missing in the action at Fort Wagner-July 18, 1863, but afterwards returned home. Nine were discharged at expiration of service, August 20, 1865. Ralph B. Gard- ner, a Corporal in Company A, of the Fifty-Fourth, was for a time a prisoner in the hands of the Rebels, but returned home during the war. He afterwards en- listed in the United States Army and died in the service.
In the First Regiment of Cavalry, Timothy Pelton," of this town, was Corporal of Company I, and after- wards Second Lieutenant in the Fifth Cavalry. Leon Dushelm of the First Cavalry, died in the Rebel prison at Andersonville, Ga., July 1, 1864. Two are reported as having deserted-January, 1865. Wil- liam Ford was reported missing, May 11, 1864. The remaining nine Great Barrington men in this regiment .. appear to have finished their term of service, though two of these, Wesley Ford and William Hasson, are un --- accounted for on the rolls of the Adjutant General.
Few regiments in which Great Barrington was represented, underwent more severe service, in a short period, or experienced greater losses than the Fifty- Seventh. This regiment left the State April 18, 1864, and arrived in Virginia in time to participate in the memorable battles of the next month. At the battle of the Wilderness-May 6-it entered the action with twenty-four officers and five hundred and twenty-one men (one company-Company H-being on detached service) and lost by casualties two hundred and fifty -- one men and officers. On the twelfth of May it was engaged in the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, sustaining a loss of seventy-two. On the eighteenth of May in a brief action it left fifty-seven men on the field. On the twenty-fourth of May, at North Anna River, its . Lieutenant Colonel and thirty-six men were taken prisoners; and a little later it was engaged at Cold Harbor. June 17th, the Ninth Corps, of which the Fifty-Seventh formed part, stormed and carried a line of
465
FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
intrenchments before Petersburg, the regiment losing 41 men and Captain J. M. Tucker, then its commander.
This regiment remained in the trenches before Petersburg to the thirtieth of July, when, in the ill- conducted action of the Crater, of its effective force of seven officers and ninety-one men more than half were numbered amongst the killed, wounded, and missing. In August, the regiment took part in the operations against the Weldon Railroad, and in an action of one hour, August 19, lost fifteen out of forty-five men. September 30, in the battle of Poplar Grove Church, its losses were eight out of sixty men, and in a skirmish, October 8th, it sustained a further loss of fourteen men. The fragment of the regiment continued before Petersburg to the twenty-fifth of March, 1865, and entered that place on the third of April. The men were afterwards for a time on special duty in Washing- ton, returned to Massachusetts, and were discharged at Readville, August 9, 1865.
Four of the fifteen Great Barrington men in the Fifty-Seventh regiment were killed in battle, viz., Michael Shelly, at the Wilderness, May 6, 1864; Henry Bills and Lester W. Rawson, at Petersburg, June 17, 1864; George W. Shaw, at Petersburg, October 8, 1864. Two died in the service, viz: George W. Wilcox, at Washington, June 11, 1864, of wounds received at the Wilderness; William Maloney, September 8th, 1864. Two were discharged for disability, and seven served to the close of the war.
While the draft, before mentioned, was pending, and in anticipation of further calls for men, a special town meeting was held, June 18, 1864, at which it was voted to raise money sufficient to pay a bounty of $125 to each volunteer who should, there-after, be mustered into the service on the quota of the town, under any call of the President issued between the first of October 1863, and the first of March 1865.
A month later, came the call of July 19, 1864, for 500,000 men for one, two, and three years, and fifty days were allowed for volunteering before the draft should be resorted to. A new enrollment had been prepared early in June, and the selectmen had been
30
466
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
three days in session examining enrolled men and hear- ing causes for exemption. The roll, purged of aliens and other exempts, contained the names of 261 men. The quota of the town under this call was fifty or nearly in the proportion of one to every five of the men enrolled. As the town had already exerted itself to its utmost in the filling of previous quotas, the prospect of obtaining the requisite number by enlistments from its inhabitants was hopeless.
The town authorities, however, applied themselves earnestly to the work of filling the quota without re- sort to the draft; and their efforts were nobly seconded by the citizens who raised, by subscription, the sum of $5,395, for the purpose of obtaining volunteers. The town had already authorized a bounty of $125 to each volunteer upon its quota, and from the citizens fund a further bounty of $125 was offered for each volunteer for three years. The Selectmen succeeded in obtaining, at home, nineteen new enlistments-fifteen for one year, three for three years, and one for four years; the latter a substitute furnished by Isaac B. Prindle-then Cashier of the Mahaiwe Bank-the only substitute, as we believe-provided by any citizen of the town during the war. Doctor Samuel Camp was sent to Virginia, and there secured thirteen negroes-who enlisted for three years-each receiving both the town and citizens bounty, $250. Also, through the efforts of Doctor Camp, eleven enlistments for one year and two for three years were made to our quota in Boston.
By a distribution of "Naval Credits" five men were furnished by the State; and the State also furnished one man, from enlistments made in Rebel States -- at a cost of $100 to the town. The fifteen men enlisted for one year entered the Second Regiment of Heavy Artil- lery. One of them, Morris W. Bennett, died in the service at Newbern, N. C., October 19, 1864; the re- mainder were discharged at the expiration of their term of service. All demands upon the town for men, were now filled, and more than filled; and official returns-to October 1, 1864-at the office of the Provost Marshal, showed a surplus of six over all the quotas of the town.
But apprehensions of a further call existed, and the
467
LAST CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
Provost Marshal advised the selectmen to put more men into the service. This call came in December, "300,000 more"-and without waiting for the quota to be ascertained, the selectmen called a special town meeting, held December 19, 1864, and adjourned to the twenty-fourth, at which the selectmen were instructed to obtain and put into the service such number of re- cruits as they might think necessary to fill the quota of the town; and the Treasurer was also authorized to borrow money for the purpose. Following the in- structions, the selectmen, through the agency of Doctor Samuel Camp, enlisted thirty men in Boston in January, 1865, at a cost, for bounties and assistance in enlisting of $7,025. This number was deemed sufficient to fill the quota-which it did-and as appears by the report of Adjutant General Schouler-of January 1, 1866- left a surplus of twenty men to the credit of the town, over and above all requisitions made upon it.
Throughout the war the town officers were put to great inconvenience from being unable to obtain defin- ite information of the number of men required to fill each particular quota; and when the quotas had been officially ascertained, they were in several instances afterwards changed and increased.
We are unable to determine with exactness the num- ber of men furnished by the town for the war; but the following statement made by the Seleetmen-Messrs. Seeley, Church and Taylor-answering the inquiries of a Legislative Committee, in March, 1865, though not ab- solutely accurate, we believe to be very nearly correct :
Date of Call.
Number of Men.
Term of Service.
May 3, 1861.
June 17, 1861.
110.
Three years.
May 28, 1862.
July 4, 1862.
48
Three years. Nine months.
August 4, 1862.
89.
July 1, 1863.
October 17, 1863.
102
Three years.
February 1, 1864.
March 15, 1864.
51
July 19, 1864.
December, 1864.
30
Total, 430 Men.
468
HISTORY OF GREAT BARRINGTON.
On this point Adjutant General Schouler, in his His- tory of Massachusetts in the Rebellion, says : "Great Barrington was reported by the selectmen, in 1866, as having furnished four hundred and thirty men for the war, which is about the number the town furnished, and which was a surplus of eight over and above all demands made upon it during the war. Sev- enteen were commissioned officers."
Following the terrible battles in Virginia-of May, 1864-when the hospitals were filled with wounded and dying soldiers, an appeal for succor spread through the North. At a public meeting held at the Town Hall-May 14-John H. Coffing presiding-measures were adopted for employing and forwarding nurses and furnishing supplies for the suffering. The sum of $2,282.13 was raised by subscription; from which $1200 was contributed to the United States Sanitary Commission in New York ; and the Ladies' Aid Socie- ty was furnished with funds for its purposes. The remainder was expended in furnishing nurses, and, later, in assisting the families of our soldiers disabled in the service. Clark A. Wilcox, Hiram McNeil and Richard E. Morgan were sent to Virginia as nurses, and remained so long as their services were needed. The Ladies' Aid Society, at this juncture, redoubled its efforts, which had been continuous from the be- ginning of the war, and rendered very important as- sistance in furnishing and forwarding large quantities of clothing, necessaries and delicacies for use in the hospitals.
No lady-indeed no citizen-of Great Barrington is entitled to higher commendation for self-sacrificing devotion to the Union cause than Miss Caroline A. Burghardt, who early in the war, aided by the recom- mendations of William Cullen Bryant and the Rev. Doctor Tyng, sought and obtained a position as nurse in the Columbia Hospital at Washington. Miss Bur- ghardt continued throughout the war both in the reg- ular and field hospitals-sometimes following the for- tunes of the army on the field of battle, as at Antietam and Gettysburg-ministering to the wants of the sick, the wounded and the dying. After the war she was
469
WAR EXPENSES.
appointed to a position of responsibility in the Treas- ury Department, where she still remains.
Expenditures by the Town on Account of the War.
1862. August. Bounties to 47 men for three years, $4,700 00
Sept .- Nov. Bounties to 81 men for nine months, 8,100 00 1864. August. Bounties to 15 men for one year, 1,875 00 August. Bounties to 4 men for three years, 500.00
August. Bounties to 13 men enlisted in Virginia, 1,625 00 Sept. Bounties to 13 men enlisted in Boston, 1,625 00
Sept. Bounties to 1 man State enlistment, 100 00 1865. January. Bounties to 30 men enlisted in Boston, 6,725 00
1864. State assessment on account of bounties, 7,418 45
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