History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 31

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III > Part 31

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Brig .- Gen. A. B. Underwood and Capt. Geo. M. Walker, 33d Infantry. Capt. Jos. E. Consine, 54th Infantry.

Surgeon Burt G. Wilder, 55th Infantry.

Capt. A. B. Ely, Asst. Adj. Gen. U. S. Volunteers.

IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

Acting Masters F. F. Banry, W. H. Garfield, Alfred Washburn, Act- iag Ensign Lowell M. Breck, Lient,-Com. Jos. B. Breck, Asst .- Surgeon I. 11. Hazelton, Paymaster II. B. Wetherell, Jr.

In the event of another war, Newton will not be without a company or without many young men of military training, for about two years after the war an excellent militia company was organized under the command of Captain I. F. Kingsbury, who had been adjutant of the Thirty-second Massachusetts, and

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numbering in its ranks other young men who had been in the service. The company was named the Claflin Guards, in honor of the then Governor of the State, and became Company C of the First Regi- ment M. V. M. At the time of the reorganization of the militia it passed successfully the ordeal that threw out so many companies, and became Company C of the Fifth Infantry M. V. M., where it is keep- ing up in good shape its own reputation and that of the city, which has generously provided it with a handsome armory, made by remodeling the old Uni- tarian Church on Washington Street, near Newton Station.

THE NEWTON MEN IN THE FIELD .- Up to the summer of 1862, Newton men had enlisted in many of the organizations that had been sent to the front, but there was no distinctive Newton company. The drill-club that had been formed by the citizens had tried in vain to get accepted by the Government, but no more troops were wanted. It served its purpose, however, in educating in military tactics many young men who aftewards enlisted, or were commissioned in other commands. In the spring of 1862 the disasters of the Shenandoah Valley, and the desperate resis- tance of the rebels aroused the Government to the seri- ousness of the situation, and on May 25th news was received that General Banks had been defeated, that Stonewall Jackson menaced the Capital, and that af- fairs at the front were getting desperate. With this news came a frantic appeal from the War Department to Governor Andrew for aid, giving him ample pow- ers to raise troops, provide transportation and cut red tape generally. There was at this time doing garrison duty at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, an organization known as the First Battalion of Massachusetts Infan- try, commanded by Major Francis J. Parker, a New- ton man. These troops had been on duty there for six months, and had become well drilled and thor- onghly disciplined under the watchful eye of Colonel T. E. Dimmock, an old army officer, who was the commandant of the post.

No better troops could have been available for the emergency, and the Governor, without a moment's delay, sent for Major Parker, commissioned him lien- tenant-colonel and constituted his six companies the Thirty-second Massachusetts Regiment-a corps that was to obtain later a fighting record second to none in the army, and that was not mustered out until it had been " in at the death " at Lee's surrender. It was to this regiment that the Newton company that fought through the war was attached, and the history of the company and the regiment is one. The bad news and the call for succor came on Sunday, and on Monday, May 25, 1862, the regiment, then consisting of six companies, marched through Boston, stacked their smooth-bore muskets, received their rifles and left for the front six hundred strong, the Governor promising to raise four more companies to fill up the regiment to the regulation number. The Newton 9-iii

company was the last of these and was not with the regiment in its Peninsular campaign with Mcclellan, during which the battalion of six companies obtained an excellent record for both discipline and courage.

At this time a company had been enlisted in New- ton, especially through the efforts of the authorities and of Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, whose son, J. Cushing Edmands, was elected captain, afterwards rising to the command of the regiment. Ambrose Bancroft was commissioned as first lieutenant, and John F. Boyd, second lieutenant, all on July 30, 1862. Both the lieutenants rose to the rank of captain in 1864 and 1865. Ezra S. Farnsworth, who raised the company, went out as orderly sergeant, and George A. Hall as sergeant, the former coming home a brevet-major and the latter a captain. Promotion was somewhat rapid in this regiment because so many officers were killed in action. Isaac F. Kingsbury was commissioned second lientenant December 15, 1862, and rose to be captain of the company. William F. Tuft and Charles E. Madden were also second lieutenants in 1865. It was noticeable that very many of the fam- ilies who first settled the town and had members in the Revolutionary Army were also represented in this company, for we find on the rolls the names of Ward, Kingsbury, Hyde, Fuller, Jackson and Trowbridge, some of them having three representatives. This company, being the last recruited for the regiment, was the letter "K." Companies H I and K were assembled at the Lynnfield camp and were sent out to join the régiment on August 20, 1862, under Cap- tain Moulton, proceeding to New York by the Ston- ington line and reaching Washington on the 22d.

At this time the movement to effect a junction be- tween the armies of Mcclellan and Pope was in pro- gress. The Thirty-second was with Pope, and the battalion set out to find the regiment, marching first to Alexandria ; but as not even the commander-in- chief knew where Pope was, it was no easy matter to find the regiment. At length Porter's corps was located, and the battalion joined the other seven com - panies of the regiment on September 3d. Then Lieut .- Col. Parker was promoted to be colonel, Capt. G. L. Prescott to be lientenant-colonel- he afterwards was in command and was killed in action at Peters- burg June 16, 1864 -- and Capt. L. Stephenson was raised to the rank of Major. The Newton company was soon in active service, for on September 12th, the regi- ment took up its march with Mcclellan's army for the Antietam campaign. In that battle the regiment, contrary to its usual fortune, was not in the thick of the fight, but at Fredericksburg, not long after, Com- pany K received its baptism of fire, on December 13, 1862. The Thirty-second was in Griffin's division, which was sent to the support of Sumner across the new bridge of boats, through the town and halted in a hollow, piled knapsacks and blankets and stripped to fighting trim. Col. Parker describes the actual fighting as follows :

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"Our regiment rejoined the division, where, one behind the other and clube together in the railroad cnt, were three brigades waiting for the order to attack. We recall the terrific accession to the roar of battle with which the enemy welcomed each brigade before us as it left the cover of the cut, and with which, at last, it welcomed us. We remem- ber the rush across that open field, where, in ten minutes, every tenth man was killed or wounded and how, coming up with the 62d Penn. of onr brigade, their ammunition exhausted and the men lying fiat on the earth for protection, our men, prondly disdaining cover, stood every man erect, and, with steady file-firing, kept the rebels down behind the cover of their stone wall, and held this position nntil night fall ; and it was a pleasant consequence to this that the men of the g.il- lant 6Ed, who had before been almost foes, were ever after our fast friends."

That night the regiment passed sleeping, if at all, in the mud and literally on their arms ; the next night the brigade was withdrawn into the town and thence across the river the night after. In this battle of Fredericksburg the Thirty-second lost thirty-five killed and wounded, including one captain, Charles A. Dearborn, Jr., but no Newton man was killed, al- though Lucius F. Trowbridge died sixteen days afterwards. The next spring the regiment was at Chancellorsviile, but lost only one killed and four wounded. Soon after came Lee's invasion of Penn- sylvania, and the Fifth Corps, to which the regiment belonged, was moved northward on parallel lines to intercept him. It was on the afternoon of July 2d that this corps became actively engaged, but a battle like that at Gettysburg, or the part that the Newton company had in it, can only be well described by a participant. The late S. C. Spanlding who was ser- geant in the company, wrote for the Newton Journal a graphic account of the fight as seen and participated in by the men of Newton, which we quote at length :

"At 4 A.M., after a hearty breakfast, we marched again, reaching the vicinity of Gettysburg at 8 A.M. Halting about two miles east of the town, we formed in line of battle, our corps being held in reserve until the arrival of the Sixth Corps, to which had been as- signed that place. Immediately on their arrival, we were relieved at the rear and ordered to the front. Our brigade advanced to the Ridge at the right of Little Round Top, where we halted in line of battle. From that elevated position we had a splendid bird's- eye view of the rebel army, then massed on Seminary Ridge. Our halt there was short. As the battle waxed hot in our front, we were pushed forward to support our troops engaged. We advanced into, and nearly through a belt of woods, halting within sup- porting distance of our single line of battie, which extended along the edge of the open field in which the battle raged.

" Our line of battle was formed in the woods, with the ground descending to the opening in our front. The enemy occupied the woods on the opposite side of the field, and within easy musket range, and were pouring a murderous fire into our troops ahead of us, who, from their exposed position, were being terribly cut up. It was evident that they could not long with- stand the shock and must fall back ; therefore we were ordered to unsling our knapsacks and prepare for the

worst. Scarcely had we resumed our places in line, when the remnant of our line engaged fell back through our ranks to the rear.

"Having now been brought face to face with the enemy, we were ordered to kneel and fire that we might be less exposed. We were ordered to load and fire at will, and as rapidly as possible, and (if I may judge by the storm of bullets that poured into our ranks) I should say the enemy were faithfully exe- enting the same order.

"I cannot better portray our situation and the danger to which we were exposed, than by giving a state- ment of my own experience during the few moments we held that position. I was in the front rank, on the right of our company. No sooner had we got into line and commenced firing, than two comrades next on my right were hit,-one in the body who was mortally wounded, the other in the head and instant- ly killed. The first comrade on my left was wounded in the foot, and went to the rear, as did our first ser- geant, with a wound in his side, who was hit directly behind me (while standing I presume). A little bush at my right and within my reach was repeatedly hit with bullets, which clipped its leaves and twigs. Twice was I forcibly reminded that somebody was mak- ing good line shots, by bullets which struck directly in front of me, and near enough to throw the dirt and leaves into my face. Notwithstanding the excitement of the conflict, the unmistakable evidences of the danger to which I was exposed made me tremble, for I expected every instant to be hit, and doubtless should, had we remained there a little longer. But just then we were ordered to change our position, and as we withdrew I felt that I had a new lease of life.

" I think we could have held our ground against the enemy in our front, but the removal of troops on our right left our flank exposed to the enemy in that di- rection, who instantly took advantage of our situation and compelled us to fall back, which we did in good order, bringing our dead and wounded with us. We marched by the flank to the left a little way, then forward through the woods to an opening, where three regiments of our brigade, viz. : Fourth Michi- gan, Sixty-second Pennsylvania and ours (the Ninth Massachusetts being on picket), charged across the field to the woods on the opposite side, where we halted behind a stone wall, adjusted our line and commenced firing at the enemy, who occu- pied the woods in our front in large numbers. We had fired but a few rounds when we discovered that we were under fire from flank as well as front. Our right having again heen left exposed by a break in our line, the enemy had turned our flank, and our brigade was in danger of being annihilated or cap- tured. The command was given to fall back, and, not- withstanding the terrible fire we were subjected to, our line was not broken, except as our ranks were thinned by the bullets of the enemy who swarmed upon our flank and rear, and the sharpest contest we

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ever had experienced ensued. Our ranks, which had already been fearfully decimated, now became broken by the shock of the enemy upon our flank. and the hand-to-hand encounter of not a few of our number with the enemy, who had gained our rear." sergeant Spalding, who wrote the above account, was pensioned by a special act of Congress for the loss of a limb caused indirectly by his service in the war.

At Gettysburg the Newton company lost in killed and wounded just one-half the number that went into action, while the regiment lost over one-third.

After Gettysburg the Fifth Corps followed the en- emy sonthward, crossing the Potomac on July 17th. to Warrenton, August 5th; thence to Beverly Ford. where the Thirty-second encamped five weeks in a beautiful forest of young pines, which enabled the men to decorate their quarters with evergreen arches at the heads of the company streets; Company K putting up a Maltese cross (the corps badge) over its entrance.

The regiment spent the winter of 1863-64 in quar- ters at Liberty, near Bealton Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, where the company was vis- ited by the Hon. J. F. C. Hyde, who, as chairman of the selectmen, had been devoting all his energies for the past two years to keeping the Newton quota full. and watching for opportunities to help the boys in the field and take care of the families left at home. During this winter most of the men of the Thirty- second re-enlisted for a term of three years, in return for which the regiment was allowed a furlough for thirty days, and on Sunday, January 17, 1864, they marched from the Old Colony Station to the State- House, and thence to Faneuil Hall, receiving the enthusiastic cheers of the great crowd of citizens who lined the streets.

The next day an enthusiastic reception was given by the town of Newton to Company K.

But the regiment was soon in the field again, and on May 4, 1864, crossed the Rappahannock for the fifteenth time. On May 5th it was in line of bat- tle in the "Wilderness," and was under arms for seventeen successive days and nights without respite, and always in the front line. On June 18th it charged the enemy in front of Petersburg, and it was while leading the regiment in this charge that Colonel Prescott was killed. On July 21st and September 1st the regiment helped repulse the attack of the enemy on the Weldon Railroad. On September 30th Gritlin's brigade checked the enemy at Peeble's Farm as they were driving in the Ninth Corps; it was in this en- gagement that Major Edmands was wounded.

The next spring, in February, 1865, the Fifth Corps was engaged in the final campaign of the war, east and south of Richmond. On March 20th it was in the battle of Gravelly Run; the next day it was in the skirmish line. On April 4th it was in the front line of skirmishers at Five Forks, the day that proved fatal to the last lingering hopes of Lee and his army,

and of the Confederacy itself; and it was Lientenant- Colonel Cunningham, then in command. who re- ceived the dag of truce sent by General Lee prepara- tory to negotiations for the final surrender.

In the Wilderness Campaign. in May. 1534. the battle of Laurel Hill. on May 12th, deserves especial mention, as the loss of the regimen: in proportion to the number engaged was greater than in any other battle it was ever in. As this battle merits a detailed description, the following relation is quoted from Col. Parker's "Story of the Thirty-second."

"That morning found us where we had been for two or three days. in front of Laurel Hill and distant hardly more than a quarter of a mile from the works of the enemy About nine o'clock A.M. we re- ceived orders to attack the position of the enemy on Laurel Hill, and the brigade, commanded by Cul. Prescott, advanced with a rush acrves the intervening space. As the line of battle started it orerran the picket line, dashed down the little depression in their front, over the next rise of ground, but at the foot of Laurel Hil the men, whose momentum had carried them thus far. faltered under the terrible fire and laid down within a short distance of the enemy s line et works. Here the ground did not cover the left of the regiment, and whi e Lieut .- Col. Stephenson in command , was trying to draw his left under shelter, he saw that the regiment on his right had broken and was falling back in great disorder, and at once ordered the men to save themselves

" The advance had been disastrous, but as usual the retreat was far more so. In the &'d, five bearers fell bef. re the colors reached the old position behind our works ; of the 1. ) men who advanced in the regi- mental line 103 were killed or wounded, and from the time that they left the works until the remuant had returned, less than thirty minutes had elapsed. Among the wounded were Lieutenants Lauriat. Hudson and Farnsworth; Adjutant I. F Kingsbury: Capt. Bancroft (the three latter being Newton men), and Chptuu Hamilton, the latter fatally."

In the final campaign before Richmond, in the absence of Col. Edmands, disabled by sickness, and Major Shepard, prisoner of war. the regiment was under the command of Lieut-Col. Cunningham, (after- wards Adjutant General of Massachusetts), Capt. Ban- croft acting as major and Capt. I. F. Kingsbury as adjutant. At the end of the war Cunningham was breveted Brigadier-general, and was afterwards Ad- jutant-General of Massachusetts, while Kingsbury was appointed assistant adjutant-general with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

The Sixteenth Massachusetts Infantry deserves no- tice as containing, next to the Thirty-second and Forty-fourth, the largest number of Newton men. This regiment went to the front August 17, 1861, and remained there three years. Its flags bear the names of sixteen battles, and after the battle of Glendale, Gen. Hooker wrote to Gov. Andrew : "There is no doubt but at Glendale the Sixteenth Massachusetts saved the army." The Twenty-fourth regiment, with fifteen Newton men, had a parallel record, and at the end of three years the men almost universally re- enlisted, and fought through the war.

The raising of a nine months' company in the sun- mer of 1862 has been referred to. This company joined the Forty-fourth Regiment at Readville, the re- eruiting camp near Dedham. This regiment was formed from the old " New England Guards," then the Fourth Battalion, MI. V. M., as a nucleus, and was composed of a very intelligent class of men, mainly

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clerks and students, one company being made up in part of Harvard College men. The average age of the regiment was only twenty-two years, seven months, while the Newton Company, B, was the oldest, having an average age of twenty-four years, seven months. This company also had in its ranks a greater variety of trades and professions than any other com- pany, and could detail an expert for almost any special duty. This preliminary encampment, says the sur- geon of the regiment, was for a time a sort of picnic, at which daily drill was relieved by moonlight prom- enades to the strains of the Boston Brass Band. The severity of commissary diet was tempered by an abundant overflow from home tables. Nothing was too good for the "flower of the youth of Boston," and they fared sumptuously every day. Contractors' shoddy was rejected for custom-made uniforms, and boots made to order took the place of army shoes.

On October 22, 1862, Company B, with the rest of the regiment, packed its knapsacks for the last time in that camp, and "fell in" to march to the station, where they were honored with a salnte by the "Cadet Regiment," the Forty-fifth, drawn up to receive them. In Boston they had a reception on the Common, then marched to the wharf, where they embarked on the steamers "Mississippi" and Merrimac" for North Carolina. The voyage was a compound of the aver- age amount of fun and misery usually found on a transport ship, and on October 26th they landed at Beaufort Harbor, N. C., whence they were transported to New Berne, forty miles away, on platform-cars in a pouring rain. Here the regiment went into barracks and was placed in General Thomas G. Stevenson's brigade, Wessells' division, Eighteenth Army Corps, Major-General J. G. Foster commanding. Foster and Wessells were West Pointers, while Stevenson was a former commander of the Fourth Battalion, Massa- chusetts Militia.

Only three days after their arrival the regiment was put in actual service and embarked on steamers for Little Washington, N. C., where they remained until November 2d, when the brigade marched for Tarboro'. When within a few miles of Williamstown the ad- vance was fired into and the troops were formed for action, Companies H and C being sent forward as skirmishers; as these were fording a creek known as Little Creek, they were fired into by a large force of the enemy concealed in the woods only a few yards away, killing one man and wounding seven. The rest of the brigade was brought up, the woods shelled and the enemy driven back to Rawle's Mill, about a mile beyond, where they made another stand. Here the Forty-fourth lost several more men, but the enemy finally fell back, burning the bridge asthey went. So this regiment, that left camp at Readville only on October 22d, was in action in North Carolina on No- vember 2d, eleven days afterwards. The forced march was continued nearly as far as Tarboro', which was found to be strongly reinforced; the men were

fatigued, footsore and broken by the continuous marching, lack of rest and sufficient food. All that day, Thursday, after a lively skirmish in the morning the boys marched through mud, rain and snow back to Hamilton, many falling out through exhaustion ; on Friday they marched through an inch of snow to Williamstown. On Sunday they marched twenty-two miles down the river to Plymouth. Here they em- barked on November 11th, and in two days more were back in their old quarters at New Berne.

This two weeks' campaign was a rough initiation for the Newton boys, accustomed to fine roads and soft beds, but they suffered less proportionately than some of the other regiments, the youth of the men proving more elastic in recovery from the effects of hardship and privations, and the long marches at Readville, which at the time seemed so unnecessary, had done much to toughen and prepare them for cam- paigning in the field.

Thus was accomplished the first expedition of actual service, whose object was to destroy the Rebel ram " Albemarle," then constructing at Tarboro', to save Plymouth from capture, and if possible to circumvent the foree gathered for that purpose ; and if it was not entirely successful it was useful in inuring the men to hardship and accustoming them to the presence and fire of the enemy. The regiments who were with the Forty-fourth on this march were the Fifth Rhode Is- land, Tenth Connecticnt and Twenty-fourth Massa- chusetts.

After this the regiment was besieged at Little Washington by overwhelming numbers of the enemy, but held the post bravely until reinforced by an ade- quate force; but as the Newton company was at that time detailed on picket, the story of the siege does not properly come within the scope of this narrative.

The following description of the picket duty of the Newton company at Batchelder's Creek was written for the regimental history by Charles C. Soule, the lieutenant of the company, and gives the pleasant side of a soldier's life :

" On Monday, March 2, 1863, Companies B and F, under the command of Captain Storrow, were taken three miles up the railroad and relieved two compan- ies of the Fifty-first Massachusetts on picket. On the Sixth the'battalion marched three miles father ont and went into camp in the pine woods near Batch- elder's Creek. Former occupants of the post had nearly finished eight fog luts in the thick woods. These were not utilized as quarters for the battalion, but around them as a centre smaller huts were con- structed, roofed in by shelter trees, littered with straw, warmed by brick fire-places, and rendered homelike by conveniences and ornaments. These occupied three sides while the wall tents of the officers filled the fourth side. In the centre of the camp was erected a donble-masted flag-pole topped with a weather-vane and bearing on its cross-trees the legend 'Camp Lee, March 6, 1863.'

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 31

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278