USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 60
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We contemplate with deep interest the fact that the men of Newton were represented in nearly every kind of service, and that their valor won, or their blood consecrated, many of the most impor- tant fields during the entire war. The above record, in connection with the catalogue of the volunteers for three years, published by the town, shows to what extent the soldiers of Newton distinguished themselves by their bravery and self-denial, their hardships and sufferings, cheerfully endured for the salvation of their country. Where the exigencies were most pressing, where the battle raged most fiercely, where most was to be ventured in the conflict,- there were they. They were numbered with the infantry, the cavalry, the light battery, the heavy artillery, and the sharp- shooters. They were in the army and in the navy, in the signal and provost departments. They were employed as surgeons, assis- tant surgeons, musicians, chaplains, officers and privates. They were in the regiments of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York and Pennsylvania. In gathering recruits, in the field of carnage, in prisons, in storming rebel positions, on picket duty, in the hospitals, on the march,- who were more sure to be found? Who more prudent to plan, more prompt to act, more patient to endure, more ready to sacrifice? On the most trying occasions, it was their lot to be with the foremost, in dan- ger and in death. In Gettysburg and Antietam, in Spottsylvania, Fredericksburg, and at Lookout Mountain, we find their record among the killed and wounded. In the prisons at Salisbury, Rich- mond and Danville, their names are written with those of the suf- fering captives. Among the recruiting officers, gathering colored troops on the plantations of Maryland, one of them fell by the hand of a ruthless murderer. Some died amid the smoke of bat- tle, invoking with their last breath a blessing on their country. Some, wounded, lay suffering in the open field, the blue heavens above them their only shelter, the rains and the dews their only refreshment, till friendly hands sought them out and cared for
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WAR OF THE REBELLION
them, or death came to their relief. Some lingered in hospitals, showing by their patient demeanor that they did not regret the sac- rifices they had made for so righteous and worthy a cause. Some returned home with mutilated forms or broken constitutions, to be still honored and useful in church or State, or, after lingering a while among their friends, living examples of a noble patriotism, to sink into premature graves.
None who were witnesses will ever forget the scene, when, on a sultry afternoon in July, soon after the battle of Gettysburg, in one of the churches of Newton, a crowded assembly was gathered to attend a rare and most impressive funeral. In front of the pulpit, supported on four biers, lay the forms of four young sol- diers who had been stricken down in battle. The caskets in which they were deposited were richly adorned with flowers. The bright sun, shaded off by the green blinds of the church, shed a cheerful illumination over the auditory. Several clergymen were present, to participate in the exercises. Weeping friends of the deceased, in great numbers, gathered in their weeds of mourning, painfully interested in that strange spectacle,- the like of which had never been seen in the ancient town of Newton. Words of graceful explanation of the circumstances of the death of the young men, and the recovery of their remains, were offered by one who had left no effort untried, during all the war, to relieve the inconven- iences and sufferings of the soldiers in the field, or to provide for their needy families at home. Patriotic utterances and Christian consolations, hymns and fervent prayers, and the precious comforts of the Word of God, for more than an hour held the rapt atten- tion of the audience. As the congregation, at the close, passed before the forms of the dead, they were nerved with new purpose to save their beloved country from the hands of those who would trample in the dust its noble institutions, and whose guilty upris- ing had deprived it of so many, in the flower of their youth and the glory of their riper age. That silent spectacle of the faces of the dead was more impressive than the most powerful eloquence. And when the funeral knell rung out on the summer air, and was echoed by the green hills, while the procession wound its solemn way to the beautiful cemetery to deposit the precious trust,- the dirge for the dead and the tears of the living opened channels of patriotic feeling in every heart, and impressed upon every beholder the truthfulness of the classic maxim,-
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
The soldiers required not only food and care for the body, but also the refreshment of living waters for the soul. And none can be ignorant how much was done by a citizen of Newton, then an active and efficient Secretary of the American Tract Society, to furnish the soldiers at the front with an abundance of religious and other attractive reading. Leaving the peaceful work of his office in Boston, he went in person from tent to tent, and from hospital to hospital, carrying the words of comfort to the dying and the sick; acting, unpaid and uncommissioned, the part of a chaplain and a good Samaritan ; writing letters for the disabled . and the dying ; pointing the departing soul to the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world ; and, in comforting and del- icate words, communicating to the bereaved the sad intelligence of the sorrows that had come upon them, and the promises of Him who has engaged to be the God and judge of the widow, and the Father of the fatherless. Probably none will ever know what quantities of secular and religious reading were sent to the hos- pitals and the tents through this agency, or how many solitary hours and homesick hearts were cheered by these timely and wel- come provisions.
It is an interesting fact that while Boston, and many other cities. and towns in the State of Massachusetts lingered in the work of rearing a suitable memorial of the patriotic dead, Newton was one of the earliest towns in the Commonwealth to erect a monu- ment to the brave men who imperilled their lives for the welfare of their country. Long before the smoke of battle had cleared away, while the soldiers were still bivouacked on the Southern fields and arming themselves for fresh encounters,-the beautiful shaft which commemorates the "names that were not born to die," was raised near the entrance of the cemetery, on a swell of ground which seemed to have been formed by nature to receive so distin- guished an ornament. On account of its rare location, it is sure to meet the curious eyes of visitors who come to this city of the dead. It is in all respects a fitting memorial of men who loved their country, and' stands, a grateful token in remembrance of their deeds. The shaft is accompanied, in another part of the same lot, by a marble tablet, on which are inscribed the names of the men whom their fellow-citizens delighted to honor. The mon- ument was dedicated on a brilliant summer day,- July 23, 1864,- when the green foliage decked the earth as with triumphal laurels,
PERPETUAM
U.S.CONANT-SC
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, NEWTON CEMETERY.
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WAR OF THE REBELLION.
and the mild airs whispered around a tuneful requiem. It was consecrated with prayer and song, and the eloquence of Newton's best and bravest men. And there it stands,- a tribute alike to the worth of the noble dead, and a witness to the affection of a grate- ful people, who by this silent testimonial claim to tell the ages to come that they were, and ever will be, faithful, loving and true. As morning reddens and as evening fades around the resting- place of the departed, and as, in spite of the varying seasons, the Soldiers' Monument still lifts its graceful proportions, unmoved, towards heaven, it may be regarded as symbolizing the stern resolve of Newton men, under all political circumstances that may arise, to stand steadfast to the principles of the Constitution and the Union ; to accept no compromise with tyranny and oppression ; to sanction no division of the States of this glorious country ; and to live and die, where the broad banner of Freedom wraps its sacred folds around both the living and the dead.
It is a fact not without interest, that on a Sabbath day, early in this terrible conflict, news was brought to the house of God of confusion and disaster that had befallen the Union armies. Promptly, in all the churches of Newton, the regular services were laid aside. It was deemed an equally proper act of worship, in which all could engage, to prepare lint and bandages for the wounded, and to collect and put in readiness for transportation such luxuries and delicacies of food and cordials as the emergency would allow, to be forwarded with the next rising sun to the suf- fering troops. Stalwart men, and ever-true and faithful women, and children, with willing hands and downcast eyes,- all did what they could. Animated by the spirit of the occasion and by love for the threatened interests of freedom, the heart and the hand wrought harmoniously, and brought forth valuable results. That was a rare Sabbath. May we not believe it was acceptable to the Lord our God; far more fitting for the service of the Great Crea- tor, than a day devoted to empty forms and solemn pageants ? Few words were spoken. Soul communicated with soul, in still agony, chiefly through the eloquence of silence and tears. Ear- nest prayers ascended, and encouraging words dropped occasion- ally from the lips of the preachers, who joined in similar employ- ment with their people, and the motive and the energy consecrated the work. And, towards evening, the services of that rare Sabbath closed only with the National Hymn, written in his early youth, by
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
a resident of Newton, and for twelve years and a half the pastor of one of its oldest churches,
My country, 't is of thee.
Amid such scenes, and burdened by such apprehensions, all hearts and all voices, doubtless, joined most fervently in the closing stanza,-
Our fathers' God, to Thee,- Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing ; Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light; Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.
In the autumn of the year 1870 (October 10), the military spirit of Newton blossomed afresh, in the organization of a military com- pany of sixty-one young men, officered, at least in part, by heroes who had survived the perils of battle, and who recognized the true philosophy of the maxim, "In peace, prepare for war."
This sketch of the part taken by the people and soldiers of Newton in the conflict for the preservation of the Union may be appropriately closed by the words of one of her most patriotic cit- izens, Mr. Thomas Rice, who nobly illustrated in his life and labors, what he uttered with his lips or wrote with his pen :
All that we are, or hope to be, is involved in the Union. Founded to insure domestic tranquillity and to provide for the common defence, it is as necessary now as when its foundation stones were laid by the wisdom, and cemented by the blood, of our fathers.
In addition to the list of the heroic dead, as recorded on the Soldiers' Tablet, General A. B. Underwood, one of Newton's honored representatives in the "War of the Rebellion," and who, in his praiseworthy bravery and daring, wounded and suffering, barely escaped with his life,- has furnished the following statis- tics,-showing the regiment, organization or arm of the service in: which seventy-four of Newton's dead, of the Army and Navy, served in the course of the war, including the additions which. death has made up to the year 1876. They are here arranged in the order of regiments and the arm of service. The same infor- mation, in the alphabetical arrangement of the names will be found on pages 607-610.
.
NEWTON'S DEAD IN THE WAR.
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NEWTON'S SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WHO DIED IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
First.
William H. Trowbridge, Co. A, dropped dead July, 1862, at Malvern Hill, Va.
John Allen, Co. G, killed June 30, 1862, at Glendale, Va.
William R. Benson, Co. I, killed May 5, 1862, at Williamsburg, Va.
LeRoy S. Bridgeman, Co. I, died 1863.
William N. Freeman, Co. I, died Jan. 5, 1863, at Philadelphia.
Second.
Jefferson Lakin, Co. D, killed May 25, 1862, at Winchester, Va. Gilbert A. Cheney, Co. D, died of wounds, Oct. 18, 1862.
Fifth.
George F. Brackett, Co. K, died at Newton, 1876.
Twelfth.
A. A. Kendall, M. D., Assistant Surgeon, killed Sept. 17, 1862, at Antie- tam, Md.
Sixteenth.
J. Leaman Flagg, Sergeant, Co. B, died July 7, 1867.
John Forsyth, jr., Sergeant, Co. E, killed July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Penn. Michael Martin, Co. G, killed Aug. 29, 1862, at Bull Run, Va.
George Houghton, Co. I, died Sept. 12, 1873, at the National Asylum, Augusta, Me.
John P. Rogers, Co. I, died Sept. 11, 1862.
Edward Lyman, Corporal, Co. K, died of wounds, June 7, 1863, at Fal- mouth, Va.
Thos. C. Norcross, Sergeant, Co. K, died June, 1863, at Washington, D. C.
Eighteenth.
Michael Vaughn, Co. F, died
Thomas Duran, Sergeant, Co. F, died after expiration of service.
Nineteenth.
Patrick Haggerty, Co. E, killed Dec. 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Va.
Twenty-second.
Henry J. Poole, Co. D, killed December, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Va.
Twenty-fourth.
John McQuade, Co. E, died after expiration of service. George H. Baxter, Co. F, killed June 5, 1862.
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Thirty-second.
NEWTON, CO. K.
George Baker, died Sept. 11, 1862, at Fairfax Court House, Va. R. L. Butler, died Dec 8, 1862, at Falmouth, Va.
Charles A. Leavitt, died Oct. 21, 1862, at Sharpsburg, Va. Joseph R. Pratt, died Oct. 12, 1862, at Shepardstown, Va. L. F. Trowbridge, died Dec. 29, 1862, at Falmouth, Va. Frederick Champion, died Jan. 5, 1863, at Falmouth, Va. William Fell, died Jan 11, 1863, at Falmouth, Va.
William H. Rice, died Jan. 14, 1863, at Washington, D. C. Frederick A. Cutter, killed July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Penn. Leopold H. Hawkes, killed July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Penn. Thomas L. Jackson, killed July 2, 1863, at Gettysburg, Penn. Charles Ward, died July 9, 1863, of wounds at Gettysburg, Penn. William L. Gilman, died July 30, 1863, of wounds at Gettysburg, Penn. George H. Nichols, taken prisoner at Gettysburg, died at Belle Isle, Va. Thomas W. Clifford, died March 20, 1864, in the field.
O. J. Adams, killed in a charge, May 12, 1864, at Laurel Hill, Va.
William B. Neff, killed in a charge, May 12, 1864, at Laurel Hill, Va.
Stephen L. Nichols, killed in a charge, May 12, 1864, at Laurel Hill, Va.
Samuel F. Woodward, killed May 31, 1864, at Shady Grove Church, Va.
Grafton H. Ward, killed June 3, 1864, at Bethesda Church, Va.
Daniel Sanger, killed June 19, 1864, at Petersburg, Va.
Seth Cousens, died after expiration of service.
Charles E. Fifield, Sergeant, died after expiration of service.
Edward H. Tombs, died after expiration of service.
Roger S. Kingsbury, died after expiration of service, of wounds at Gettys- burg.
George P. Ramsdell, Corporal, died April 23, 1875.
Thirty-third.
George S. Boyd, Sergeant, Co. E, died June, 1872.
Forty-fourth.
Albert F. Potter, Sergeant, Co. B, died Jan. 29, 1863, at Newbern, N. C. Eben R. Buck, Co. B, died after expiration of service.
Zenas Crane, Co. B, died Oct. 12, 1874.
William E. Jordan, Co. B, died Feb. 22, 1875.
Forty-fifth.
William J. Rand, Co. K, mortally wounded, Dec. 17, 1862, at Kinston, N. C. George H. Rich, Co. K, died after expiration of service.
H. C. Harrington, Co. K, died after expiration of service.
Fifty-seventh.
John B. Rogers, Co. K, died of wounds, July 26, 1864, at Petersburg, Va.
625
NEWTON'S DEAD IN THE WAR.
MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY.
First.
Theodore L. Brackett, Co. A, accidentally killed, Dec. 2, 1863, at War- renton, Va.
Matthew T. H. Roffe, Co. A, died after expiration of service
William E. Parker, Co. C, died after expiration of service.
William A. Harris, Co. G, died after expiration of service
Harvey L. Vinton, Co. G, died at Belle Isle, Va.
Elliot Littlefield, Co. G, died at Belle Isle, Va.
George W. Belcher, Co. G, died 1872.
John Meirs, jr., Co. H, died Aug. 20, 1864.
Charles F. Hooker, Co. L, transferred to 4th Massachusetts Cavalry, died Aug. 10, 1868.
MASSACHUSETTS HEAVY ARTILLERY.
Second. Henry T. Lawson, Major, died of disease at Newbern, N. C., Oct. 1, 1864.
INDIANA INFANTRY.
Thirteenth.
Lemuel F. Bassett, died
U. S. ENGINEERS
Daniel H. Miller, died
U. S. COLORED TROOPS
Eben White, Lieutenant, killed in Maryland.
U. S. VOLUNTEERS.
A. B. Ely, Captain, Assistant Adjutant-General, died 1872.
U. S. NAVY.
Joseph B. Breck, Lieutenant, U. S. ship "Niphon," died July 26, 1865. Lowell M. Breck, Acting Ensign, died after expiration of service.
Alfred Washburn, Acting Master, U. S. ship " Chocorua," died of wounds May 14, 1865, at New Orleans.
We give the following account of the day at Gettysburg, by S. C. Spaulding, of Newton Centre, a member of the Thirty-second :
July 1st we marched to Hanover, Pa., where we arrived about 2 P. M. After passing the town, we halted in a ten-acre lot, inclosed with a splendid rail fence, six rails high. There, for the first time in our army experience, we received rations of rails. The two top rails only were to be taken, and two
40
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
allowed for each company. This new order of things will be explained, when I say, we had returned from the land of Dixie to a State loyal to us and " our country." We remained there till nearly dark, when we resumed our march northward, halting about midnight in the woods, by the roadside, where we lay down to rest our weary limbs. At 4 A. M., after a hasty 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 assigned 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 battle, 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 evi- dent that they could not long withstand the shock, and must fall back, - there- fore we were ordered to unsling our knapsacks and prepare for the worst. - Scarcely had we resumed our places in the 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 faith- fully executing the same order.
I cannot better portray our situation, and the danger to which we were exposed, than by giving a statement 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 instantly killed. The first comrade on my left was wounded in the foot, and went to the rear, as did our 1st Ser- geant, with a wound in liis 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 making 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 trem- ble; 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.
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BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.
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 direction, 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 flank to the left a little way, then forward, through the woods, to an opening, where three regiments of our brigade, viz., 4th Michi- gan, 62d Pennsylvania, and ours (the 9th Mass. 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 occupied 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 been left exposed by a break in our line, the enemy had turned our flank, and our brigade was in danger of being annihilated or captured. The command was given to fall back; and, notwithstanding the terrible fire we were subjected to, our line was not broken, except as our ranks were thinned by the bullets of the enemy, until we reached the mid- dle of the field, when the enemy swarmed upon our flank and rear, and the sharpest contest we had ever 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.
On that field, there were many acts of heroism worthy to be recorded, one only of which I will mention here, viz., Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffers, in com- mand of the 4th Michigan, seeing the colors of his regiment fall into the enemy's hands, made a brave, yet desperate, attempt to recover them; and, while in the act of wresting the flag from the hands of its captors, was thrust through with a bayonet and carried dead from the field. Not only the colors of the 4th Michigan, but those of the 62d Pennsylvania, fell into the enemy's hands, - ours being the only ones brought from the field.
The enemy, flushed with victory, were not satisfied with their success in the field, but pressed us to the woods, picking off our men at every step, until they met the 3d division of our Corps (Pennsylvania Reserves), who, if not fighting on their own farms, (as doubtless some of them were), fouglit des- perately for their homes and firesides, charging furiously upon the enemy, and turning again the tide of battle, drove them, as they had driven us, across the open field.
While retreating through the woods, and just before we met our support, a comrade, running by my side, fell prostrate on the ground, pierced by a minnie-ball which entered the back of his head, making a noise as it entered like the report of a pop-gun, and so loud that I heard it distinctly above the din of battle. I saw that he was not killed (for he made an effort to get upon his feet again) ; so I stopped and helped him up and to the shelter of a large rock near by, for the bullets were flying thick and fast just then and there, several striking the rock as we went behind it. There I laid him down, removed his knapsack, and bathed his head where the ball entered, when I left him to be cared for by the Ambulance Corps, whose duty it was to look after the wounded, while I sought my regiment, which had fallen
.
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HISTORY OF NEWTON.
back, and whose colors I soon discovered behind a stone wall, around which the regiment was rallying for defence against the enemy, whose advance, however, had not only been checked before it reached that point, but whose temporary success had been turned to defeat. As it was nearly night, the fighting soon ceased on that part of the field, and we fell back to the rear, taking our position behind a stone wall, near the base of Little Round Top, where our regiment lay till the 5th, when the fighting around Gettysburg had ceased.
When our shattered regiment had re-formed, many were the faces that we missed from their places in the ranks, as may be seen by the following, copied from the Adjutant-General's Report for 1863, viz., Out of a total of 229 taken into the fight, 81 were lost in killed, wounded and missing. Our company (K) lost a larger portion, viz., 16, out of 32, were killed, wounded or taken prisoners. Among the prisoners was my tent-mate, George H. Nichols, who died a prisoner on Belle Isle. Three of our company were killed in the charge, viz., Frederick A. Cutter, Leopold H. Hawkes and Thomas L. Jack- son, and two were mortally wounded, viz., Charles Ward, Sergeant-Major, who died July 9, 1863, and William L. Gilman, Corporal, who died July 30, 1863.
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