USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Greenfield > History of Greenfield : shire town of Franklin county, Massachusetts, Vol. I > Part 28
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Creatures from the slums of New York and other large cities, called men, filled the town for the purpose of selling themselves as substitutes, with the intention of deserting at the first opportunity, and repeating the process in some other community. In the attached list of those enlisted into the service to the credit of Greenfield, with perhaps one exception, no name appears as a deserter, who ever had a legal residence in this town.
The situation was serious and perplexing indeed. The great draft riots in New York had fired the spirit of resistance among the class with which the town was filled, and rumors of organized disturbance floated about the village. The selectmen, Humphrey Stevens, Hervey C. Newton and An- son K. Warner, were men of sterling worth, and they took immediate steps to protect the town. More than one hun- dred citizens selected for their known courage and daring were sworn in as special officers, and under command of George W. Potter, a guard patrolled the streets every night for a month, until the people no longer feared for their prop- erty or personal safety.
Notwithstanding all this watchfulness and care, the rioters
345
BURNING OF CHEAPSIDE BRIDGE
set fire to and destroyed the Connecticut River Railroad bridge at Cheapside, on the 17th of July, about one o'clock in the morning. The bridge, built of wood, which was about eight hundred feet long and seventy feet above the water, cost some $30,000, and was completely destroyed. It was thought to be the purpose of the mob to attract the guardians of the town and the engine companies to the fire, giving them the opportunity to fire the village and throw it open to plunder. It was their especial purpose to destroy the Provost Marshal's office, and the barracks, at Sanborn's block on School street.
Captain Potter's orders were that if any person was caught firing a building, to " shoot him on the spot." Without doubt the nervous systems of the members of the " home guards," were under great tension. The Centennial Gazette, from the columns of which I have made heavy drafts, tells the following story : " A man who is well known in this com- munity was stationed on Newton place, and seeing what he supposed to be a man skulking in the rear of the buildings, called out, ' Who is there?' Receiving no answer he brought his gun to his shoulder and shouted, 'Speak ! or I will shoot you !' But, just as he was blazing away, he discovered that the object attracting his attention was an old white horse. The animal was led around to the Mansion House and the brave defender of the village was forced to stand treat for the whole crowd."
Although some parties were under well founded suspicion of being concerned in the burning of the bridge, no arrests were ever made for the perpetration of that crime.
Forty years have passed like a dream in the night, since the opening of the Great Rebellion. A few of the actors in the shifting scenes of that great event still remain among us both in the north and in the south ; but their hearts have be- come mellowed by the ripening influences of time, and thanks be to God, the poet may truthfully say :
346
FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT
" The heroes of the blue who marched With Sherman to the sea Clasp hands with veterans of the gray Who rode with Robert Lee."
The 52d regiment went into camp at Greenfield, on Petty's Plain about where the Fair grounds are now located, September 30, 1862, and were mustered into the service October 2, and left for New York, November 20. They sailed from that port December 4, on the steamer Illinois, becoming a portion of Banks's expedition. After an un- commonly hard voyage they reached Baton Rouge, Decem- ber 17, and became attached to General Grover's division, re- maining in camp until March 12th, when they made a feint on Port Hudson, making a long and weary march. On the 27th of that month they joined Banks's expedition to western Louisiana, escorting into Brashear City a train consisting of negroes and mules, estimated to be from five to ten miles in length, and containing every species of booty. From this point they marched to Algiers, about one hundred miles, and from Algiers another hundred miles to Port Hudson, where they arrived May 20, 1863. Here they joined in the battle of June 14th, and after that time during the seige were de- ployed as skirmishers within a few rods of the enemy's en- trenchments. On the 9th of July, with the other regiments on duty they took possession of the fallen city.
After the fall of Port Hudson, General Banks announced that the nine months' regiment that had most willingly done its duty in remaining beyond its term of enlistment, should have the honor of being the first regiment to ascend the Mis- sissippi, and the 52d was accorded that honor. They left Port Hudson, July 23d, on the steamer Henry Choteau and arrived at Cairo, July 30th, being the first regiment to come up the river. Here they took the Illinois Central Railroad ar- riving at Buffalo Sunday afternoon, July 3d, where they were most royally entertained by the people of the Reverend G. W. . Hosmer's society, Mr. Hosmer having been informed of
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HOME FROM THE WAR
their approach by his son, J. K., who was the color bearer of the regiment.
At its departure the regiment had 939 men and returned with 773 ; 85 had died of disease, II were killed or died of wounds ; 16 sick and convalescents were left at Mound City and 2 officers, and 34 men were unable to leave New Or- leans. The 52d lost in about one year's service, ten and two fifths per cent, a greater proportionate loss than any other Massachusetts Regiment.
The Montague, Colrain, Shelburne Falls and Greenfield companies of the 52d regiment arrived at the temporary depot of the Connecticut River Railroad, at the south end of the Cheapside - bridge about ten o'clock, Monday evening, August 3, 1863. Here the soldiers were met by a large concourse of people accompanied by Engine Company No. 2 of Greenfield, with torches, and the band.
When the train came to a stop the band struck up "Sweet Home," and the weary men were greeted with loud cheers. Carriages were provided for the sick soldiers, and twenty-two of them were conveyed to Franklin Hall where they passed the night. The sick ones who were able to be moved so far, were taken home by their friends, but comfortable beds had been arranged for those who could endure no more fatigue, and several were carried to their homes on beds the following day. Those who were not on the sick list were taken to Washington Hall, where the ladies had set tables prepared with refreshments of all kinds, to which the hungry men did ample justice.
The hall was filled with the friends of the returning sol- diers, both from Greenfield and the surrounding towns. In the midst of all the gladness there were some hearts sad in- deed, for one father sobbed out, "I came here expecting to welcome my son alive and well, but he is dead. He died the day he was to start for home." Another who hoped to meet his son was informed that he was left behind too low to travel
348
DR. MOORS' MEMORIAL DAY ADDRESS
with his companions. Some learned that the husband, son or brother they had hoped to greet, had died, or had been too sick to undertake the homeward journey. Of the Greenfield company who reached home, Sergeant George Nims died August 6th, and Byron C. Wright, private, died the 13th of that month. At a town meeting held in 1870, a committee was appointed, of which Reverend J. F. Moors was chairman, whose duties were to collect reliable information in regard to men who had deceased who had served in the war of the rebellion.
In 1872 Mr. Moors delivered an address on Memorial Day, and in his discourse he incorporated the report of this committee.
I take from the Centennial Gazette a portion of this report.
Friends, the names, the memories of these men should not perish ; they call upon us to give them a place in the history of the town in which they belonged. It is due to them for the sacrifice they made. They were young men ; life's career was just opening before them; life was dear to them, but they gave it that we might live. Of the forty or more Green- field men who lost their lives in the war, the remains of but fourteen are buried among their friends and amid the familiar scenes of home. To-day we cover their graves with flowers, tokens of our love and respect. We esteem these fourteen fortunate in the circumstance that they could receive Chris- tian burial among friends. Seven died at home after their return ; the remains of seven were brought here for burial. It is a natural instinct to desire, when death comes to us, to have our mortal remains repose among kindred. It adds not a little to the sadness and even bitterness with which even strong men meet death to know that they are to be buried among strangers, where no foot of kindred will ever tread, where no tear of affection will ever be dropped. In our touching memorial to-day, while we remember the fourteen that are buried here, let us not forget the twenty-six equally deserving who have here no burial place, but for the most part
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THE HONORED DEAD
rest where they fell. In death let them again be equal as when in battle.
" They left no blot on their names, But, were true to the last of their blood and their breath, And like reapers descended to the harvest of death."
To-day, we recall them, one and all-the young, the strong, the hopeful, the ambitious, to whom life was as dear as to any of us, who had as much to live for as any of us-the devoted husband, the faithful father, " the only son of his mother and she a widow," the beloved brother. They come not back, but we will not let them be forgotten. They shall live not only in the hearts of kindred and in the memories of those who were personally bereaved in their death, but in the history of the town of which they were citizens.
Two years ago, the town appointed a committee to collect all the facts in relation to our deceased soldiers and report the same to the town. These facts have as far as possible been col- lected concerning men who were natives or citizens of Green- field and who died while in the service, or in consequence of march or exposure. I know the record is imperfect. Of a few men credited to Greenfield, I could get no information whatever. They probably came here and enlisted and had no other association with Greenfield. Of the forty-four men whose record I have made out, I have not been able to add all the facts I should have been glad to, for it would prolong this address beyond reasonable bounds. I have tried to treat all impartially, and if I have said more of some than of others, it has been because the friends of some have given me more details than the friends of others. If errors are detected, I hope they will be rectified. It has been a pleasant labor for me to gather and put in order this brief record. The record of each one is brief, but they all include essentially the same story of hardship and privation, of lingering disease in army hospitals, or of death in the noise and excitement of battle. Twenty-eight were killed or died of wounds received in battle,
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SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
eighteen died of disease brought on by camp life, two died in rebel prisons.
HORACE MAYHEW ALLEN, son of Ira and Lovina Allen, was born in Greenfield, May 4, 1843. His home was with his father until his enlistment in the 52d regiment, Co. A, Mass. Vols., as a private, September 18, 1862. Naturally of a frail constitution, he was little fitted for the exposure and hardships of a soldier's life. His brief service of six months was mostly spent in the hospital at Baton Rouge, from which place he was removed to the General Marine Hospital at New Orleans, where he died, March 13, 1863, and where he was buried. .
EDWARD AVERY, son of James and Sarah Avery, born in Greenfield, September 28, 1847, enlisted on the 28th of July, 1862, when fifteen years and ten months old, in the 2d regi- ment, heavy artillery. He was the youngest person, with one exception, that went to the war from this town. After a long sickness, he died and was buried at Newbern, N. C., June 29, 1865.
Lieutenant WILLIAM FRANCIS BARRETT was born at Bloom- field, Conn., February 22, 1835, the son of Smith and Lydia Barrett. His early days were spent in Springfield, where he received a good education and learned the trade of ornamen- tal painter. He married Ellen Hall of Belchertown, and had one son. On the organization of the 27th regiment, Barrett enlisted as a private, but was made second lieutenant before the regiment left Greenfield. He was soon detailed as signal offi- cer, which position he filled with credit until the close of the war. His term of service comprised about four years. He contracted the deadly southern malaria, from which he suffered for months while in the army. He went to Washington and received an honorable discharge, and only lived about two days, when he died a calm, happy, Christian death, on the 3 Ist of August, 1865, at the age of thirty years. He was buried with Masonic honors, at Springfield.
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SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
JOHN ADAMS BASCOM, the son of Elijah and Chloe Bascom, was born at Greenfield, September 26, 1831. He was a me- chanic, and had resided a portion of the time at Montague City. He married Anna M. Norwood, and had two sons. On the 28th of September, 1862, he enlisted as a private in the 52d regiment. He enlisted from pure patriotic motives, feeling it his duty to do what he could for the safety of his country. The hardships of the campaign, under the burn- ing sun of Louisiana, finally broke down a constitution natu- rally strong. When the regiment started to come home, he was but the wreck of a stalwart man. At Cairo, it was found that he was too weak to continue the journey farther. He was sent to Mound City Hospital. To disease was now added the pang of crushed hope at seeing the regiment "homeward bound " without him. He lingered a few days and died Au- gust 3, 1863, the day his regiment reached home.
FERNANDO BYRON BENNETT, was born December 31, 1826, at Swanzey, N. H., the son of David and Harriet Bennett. His early life was passed at Swanzey, where he learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, and where he married Charlotte W. Aldrich, with whom he moved to Greenfield. He carried on business at the steam mill. At the time of his enlistment in the 52d regiment, September, 1862, he was temporarily living at Hatfield, and was appointed sergeant in Co. K. Bennett was a good soldier, faithful to every duty, honored and re- spected by all who knew him. While lying in the trenches at Port Hudson, close under the rebel lines, a shell from one of our own guns, not reaching its destined mark, fell and ex- ploded among the Co. K men, severely wounding Sergeant Bennett. This was early in the morning of June 20, 1863. His death followed two days afterwards, and the whole regi- ment mourned for a brave comrade lost.
HENRY BOWERS was born in Sheffield, England, January, 14, 1732. Asa young man, he came to this town and worked in the cutlery. He married Huldah Carey and had six chil-
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SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
dren. On the 14th of December, 1863, he enlisted as pri- vate in Captain Elwell's Company, 34th regiment. At the battle of Winchester, Va., September 14, 1864, he was wounded, and while being helped from the field was struck by another ball and killed. Captain Elwell says of him : " He was one of the best men in my company, always prompt to do his duty and pleasant in his intercourse with his com- rades." He was buried in the National cemetery, at Win- chester, Va.
By the side of his father, of whom I have just spoken, in the same company, stood HENRY J. BOWERS. He was born in Greenfield, May 23, 1843. He married Emily Smith the day after he enlisted, which was on the same day as his father, December 15, 1863. On the 22d of the following Septem- ber he was slightly wounded at the battle of Fisher's Hill, and taken to the hospital. His wound proved worse than was thought at first and caused his death on the 12th of Oc- tober, 1864. Nothing is known of his death and burial, only that he was buried in the National cemetery, at Winchester.
Still another son of Henry Bowers enlisted with his father and stood by his side in Co. F, 34th regiment, WILLIAM J. BOWERS, a mere boy, when he enlisted, of sixteen years and one month. He died at Frederick City, Md., December 28, 1864, and was there buried. One cannot but read with sad- ness this brief record of a brief life of seventeen years, the last twelve months passed amid the excitements of army life.
GEORGE A. BURNHAM was born in Deerfield, Decem- ber 16, 1841 ; son of Albert H. and Lydia F. Burnham. He enlisted from this town, where at the time he was a clerk, July 31, 1862, in Co. F, 34th regiment. I knew him as a student at Deerfield Academy. A young man of good habits, of high aims and bright prospects. He was wounded in the battle of Winchester, Va., September 14, 1864, and lingered till the 28th of that month, when he died and was buried there.
AMASA B. CLIFFORD Was a member of Co. A, 52d regiment,
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SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
who enlisted from this town and was well known by the Co. A boys, but no one seems to know anything of his origin or his- tory. He broke down early in the campaign of 1863, and died in the hospital at New Orleans, June 27, 1863.
With Captain EDWIN ELY DAY is associated all our early experience of the war. He was the first man to enlist from this town. He was born September 3, 1825, in Gill, the son of James and Merciline Sprague Day. He resided in Boston and afterward in Greenfield, and was twice married- first to Mary F. Blaisdell of Maine, and second to Aura C. Wood of Greenfield. He left one son. He was captain of the military company here when the war began, and was mus- tered into the United States service, June 21, 1861, as captain of Co. G, in the famous 10th regiment, which position he hon- orably filled until his death, on the 3Ist of May, 1872. I can do no better than to quote an extract from the discourse given at the Unitarian church here, on the 26th of November, 1865, when Captain Day's remains were buried in our Green River cemetery : "The 10th, after a quiet winter at Camp Brightwood, near Washington, was moved to the Peninsula, and in the first battle in which it engaged, at Fair Oaks, on the last day of May, 1862, Captain Day was killed, at the head of his company. He received three bullet wounds. One of them was fatal ; one was received after he had received the fatal wound, and had been laid upon the stretcher to be taken from the field. He was buried on the field, and re- cently his remains have been disinterred and brought home to be laid among the familiar scenes of home and kindred. His going out was generous and manly and noble. He went conscientiously and from a sense of duty. He conducted himself as became his office and position. He was a wise, faithful, useful and brave officer. He died as a soldier would wish to die, if the appointed time had come, with his armor on, amid the din and roar of battle. The fatal bullet pierced him as he stood facing the foe."
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354
SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
LUCIUS J. EDDY, son of Newbury and Betsey Eddy, was born in Athol, on the 29th of November, 1841. He had re- sided in Greenfield and Orange, and enlisted in Co. A, 52d regiment, September 9, 1862, and served honorably till he was mustered out, August 14, 1863. He then enlisted, Sep- tember 25, 1863, from this town, in Co. F, 34th regiment. June 14th of the following year, he was transferred to the 24th regiment, where he served till the expiration of his term of service, and was honorably discharged, January 20, 1866, making in all three years and two months. He returned, shattered in health, and died in Orange, April 5, 1867, of disease of the brain, resulting from malarial fever.
HENRY E. EDDY, son of David and Elizabeth S. Eddy, was born in Greenfield, January 28, 1842. He was a baker by trade. He enlisted August 14, 1861, in Co. A, 37th reg- iment, as a private. He is spoken of as a dutiful soldier, beloved by his companions. He was shot at the battle of Spottsylvania, Va., on the 12th of May, 1864, and died on the way to the hospital. He lived long enough to send word to his father that he died doing his duty. He was buried at Spottsylvania.
WILLIAM R. ELDER, born April 22, 1847, at Chicopee, son of Roswell and Elvira N. Elder. He was educated at the public schools in Greenfield, and on the 24th of March, 1864, was mustered into Co. C of the 27th regiment. In May of the same year, he was captured at the battle of Drury's Bluff and carried to Libby Prison, then to Andersonville and Charleston and Florence, experiencing his full share of the horrors of prison life. He died in the Florence prison, on the 30th of October, 1864. Two months of soldier's life, four months in rebel prisons, is a brief but thrilling record of a young man's life.
JACOB EPPLER was born in Germany, in 1838, resided in Greenfield, and on the 29th of August, 1862, enlisted in the 25th regiment. In common with many others, he held the
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SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
idea that he bore a charmed life, that no bullet could reach ; but in spite of that, he was killed in battle, June 18, 1864, before Petersburg, Va., and buried on the field.
ALPHONZO K. GRAVES, the son of Moses and Sophia Graves, was born in Greenfield, September 15, 1831. His boyhood was passed at South Deerfield, where he married Maria F. Cooley, and learned the trade of carpenter. He had three children. He enlisted in the 20th regiment, as a private, on the 24th of August, 1861. His regiment belonged to Banks' division on Upper Potomac. On the day previous to the disastrous battle of Ball's Bluff, the 20th regiment was ordered across the river into Virginia. Mr. Graves was sick in the hospital, but hearing that his regiment had been called into action, he left the hospital and joined his company, and was in the hottest of the fight nearly all day, and was wounded near the close of the battle. His wound was not well dressed. He laid in the hospital four weeks and came home and died a fortnight after, on the 3d of December, 1861. He was the first Greenfield man who lost his life in the service. His fun- eral, attended at the Methodist church, was an impressive one. His comrades can remember him as a brave and faithful soldier.
CHARLES GROSTICK, born in Germany, September 11, 1842, enlisted in the 37th regiment, September 2, 1862, and died of wounds, August 14, 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va. He was the son of Frederick and Mary Grostick.
JAMES MARSHALL HALL was born April 19, 1838, at Taun- ton, Mass., the son of Rufus and Lydia W. Hall. He worked at his trade (as a machinist). He was married to Rosetta Graves and had one child. He enlisted with the members of the old militia company, the Greenfield Guards, of which he was a member, on the 21st of June, 1861, and so stands among the first who enlisted from this town. He was sergeant in Captain Day's Company, in the 10th regiment. He was severely wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks. Though
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SKETCHES OF GREENFIELD SOLDIERS
detailed out of the ranks, he took a musket and joined his . company during the engagement. A bursting shell paralyzed one side, tearing his clothing and his equipments from his per- son. He was borne from the field by two comrades, under the enemy's fire, and was confined for weeks to the hospital in a helpless condition. Three or four months after he joined his regiment, but his injuries were such that he could not bear arms. But such was his interest in the cause that he would not seek a discharge. Hard work and overexertion frequently brought on disease and trouble from the old wound. He continued in the service till his three years' term had expired. He returned to his home, but never regained his health. He died February 25, 1870, and was buried in Green River ceme- tery. A brave soldier and honorable man !
Of SILAS HANNUM my account must be quite imperfect. He was the son of John Hannum of Haydenville. He worked here as a bookbinder for L. W. Rice, and enlisted as a private in the 3Ist regiment,-1861. He served in this regiment in the army of the Gulf, till February, 1862, and was then appointed lieutenant of a company in the " Corps d'Afrique," where he served for several months and held a command at Fort Pike till the end of the war. He was never mustered out, but remained in the service and was employed by the government in Louisiana till his death, October 26, 1867, when he died of yellow fever, at New Orleans, leaving a widow to mourn his loss.
FREDERIC W. HAYDEN, born in Essex, Vt., in 1831 ; son of Frederic and Emily Hayden ; was a carriage-trimmer and lived with Henry W. Warner. He married Ellen Fitzgerald, enlisted in Co. F, 34th regiment, July 31, 1862, as a sergeant, and was wounded at the battle of Winchester, Va., and had a leg amputated. He never recovered, and died November 8, 1864, at Winchester, where he was buried.
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