History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 48

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700

USA > Massachusetts > History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I > Part 48

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

He was in the Burnside expedition to North Carolina, and in the battles of Roanoke and New- bern. He resigned and came home in 1862. With others he enlisted a company, and was commis-

Photo, by Ilardie & Schadee.

Edwin C black

sioned first lieutenant in the 52d Regiment Massa- chusetts Volunteers; was subsequently commis- sioned quartermaster, and went with the Banks expedition to Louisiana. He was at the recapture of Baton Rouge, went with the army into Western Louisiana, and was post quartermaster at Barry's Landing; was at the capture of Port Hudson, and with the first regiment that ascended the Missis- sippi River ; and mustered out of the United States service in the fall of 1863.

Mr. Clark married Emily L. Hine, of Lee, Mass., in November, 1850. Their family consists of four children, viz .: Ida B., Edwin C., Jr., Mary A., and William H.

Politically, he is a Republican. He attends the Congregational Church. He has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his native town, and was a member of the fire department more than twenty-five years, serving several terms as engineer. He has been superintendent and treasurer of the Northampton Street Railway Company since December, 1877.

The ancestors of Mr. Clark were William, who came from England in 1630, and died in North- ampton in 1691. John, born in 1651. Increase, born in 1684. Daniel, born in 1712. Solomon, born in 1744, and died in 1821. Allen, born in 1789, and died in 1849.

MARK H. SPAULDING.

CAPT. MARK HI. SPAULDING, son of Josiah and Fanny Ilil- dreth Spaulding, was born in Townsend, Mass., March 20, 1827. 1Tis father was of the seventh generation by the name of Spauld- ing in this country, and descendant in a direct line of Edward Spaulding, who came to this country from England in 1630. The history of the Spaulding family is traced back to the time that Ethelbald began to reign in England, A.D. 716. The Spauldings were men of prominence in England and Scotland. The mother of Captain Spaulding was of the family of Hil- dreths, of Braintree.

Young Spaulding remained at home until fourteen years of age, during which time he attended the common schools. He was then apprenticed to a rope-maker, with whom he remained about one year, and then, as he facetiously expressed it, " I concluded that I should like the pulling of ropes better than making them, and went to sea." He experienced the ups and downs of seafaring life, and at the age of eighteen was second officer of a ship. He remained at sea many years, and traveled on salt water about four hundred thousand miles. He visited nearly all the cities and ports of Europe, the Mediterranean, ports of Africa, east and west coast of South America, nearly

all the West India Islands, and nearly every port, city, and State in the United States.

In 1848 he shipped as first officer of a vessel from Savannah to San Francisco. Upon arriving at California, during the " gold fever" of 1849, he became what was known as one of the old " forty-niners" of that period, and continued mining and trading until 1856. While here he was a member of the constitutional convention that made California a State In 1856 he left the gold coast for New England, and in November of the same year began the mercantile business in Northamp- ton, in which he has continued to the present time.

At the breaking out of the late civil war he rallied to the defense of his imperiled country, and in April, 1861, enlisted ina riflecompany. Thegovernment, however, refused to accept a single company, and he with others then organized Co. A, 27th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and he was commis- sioned 1st lientenant. He saw active service, and was ever found in the line of duty. He was in the Burnside expedition to North Carolina; in the battles of Roanoke and Newbern. Was disabled by sciatic rheumatism soon after the battle of Newbern by hardship and exposure, resigned, came home,

MASpaneelmy

recovered during the summer, and enlisted a company ; was commissioned captain in the 52d Regiment Massachusetts Vol- unteers, and went with the " Banks expedition" to Louisiana, and participated in the second recapture of Baton Rouge. In the first expedition and demonstration on Port Hudson, Captain Spaulding had charge of the advance infantry picket line when the " Hartford" ran the batteries of Port Hudson, and was in the battles of Franklin, Vermilion Bayou, Opelousas, and the assault and final eapture of Port Hudson. His was the first United States regiment that steamed the entire length of the Mississippi after the war commenced. At the close of au honored and active military career, Captain Spaulding was mustered out of the service in the autumn of 1863.

Politically, Captain Spaulding is a Republican, and has held many offices within the gift of his fellow-citizens, always dis- charging their duties in a satisfactory manner Ile waselected collector and treasurer of Northampton in 1865, and hold the office nine years; was elected to the Legislature in 1875 and 1876, and was also chairman of the board of selectmen in 1876.

He has always labored to advanee the interests of North-

ampton, and was decidedly active in hunting down the incen- diaries that lurked about, causing such great havoc in the village in 1867.

In 1856 he united in marriage with Sylvia Sanders, of Townsend, Mass., daughter of Ebenezer Sanders, of the eighth generation of that name who came from England about the year 1625. Their family consists of six ehildren, viz. : Sylvia S., Marcia, Nellie B., Mary L., Josephine, and M. Harry. Sylvia S. was one of the fifteen in number that comprised the first class of the Smith Female College.

The travels by land and water of Captain Spaulding have been of a very interesting character. He was in Rome, Italy, in 1848, when the French held armed possession for Pope Pius IX., and was at Sacrificios, near Vera Cruz, when Gen- cral Scott bombarded and captured the city of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and has been in every port on the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico from Campeachy to Sidney, Cape Breton.

Captain Spaulding is now one of the active business-men of Northampton ; is a hardware merchant. He has been con- nected with the first parish of Northampton twenty-one years.

155

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

arrived at New Orleans after a short and generally pleasant voyage. During the two succeeding months it was stationed at Baton Rouge.

On the 13th of March, 1863, it was sent on a reconnaissance toward Port Hudson, and made a bold advance to within range of the guns of the fortifications. Col. Greenleaf, in his report for the month, says, concerning this movement:

" Our reconnoissance to within about five hundred yards of the rebel batteries of Port Hudson we regard as an exceedingly hazardous one to ourselves, but it was, nevertheless, handsomely done, the regiment not only deporting itself to my entire satisfaction, but in such a manner as to call forth the congratulations of our brigade and division commanders."

On the 1st of April the regiment moved from Pancoult, on the Bayou Lafourche, to Cox's Plantation, thirteen miles; on the 2d, from Cox's to Thibodeaux, fifteen miles; on the 4th, by rail, to Bayou Bœuf, seventeen miles ; on the 9th marched from Brashear City, ten miles ; on the 11th took passage on the steamer "St. Mary," and landed, on the 13th, at Indian Bend, on Grand Lake, about thirty-five miles from Brashear City, and marched thence about three miles, during which there was skirmishing with the enemy, who was driven back. Grover's division encamped for the night on Madame Porter's plantation.

The battle of Indian Ridge was fought on the 14th, but the regiment did not participate in the action, the brigade to which it was attached being in reserve. On the 15th and 16th it marched to New Iberia in pursuit of the retreating enemy,- a distance of thirty-two miles.

Four companies were left at this point on provost duty, 'while the remainder of the regiment advanced to Barre's Landing, where it remained until the 21st of May, busily engaged in collecting and guarding negroes, cotton, corn, sugar, molasses, etc., and in loading and unloading steamers. The six companies of the 52d and Nims' battery were left in charge of the post, the remainder of Grover's division pushing on in the direction of Alexandria. By the 5th of the month there had been collected about 4000 negroes, mostly women and children, 4000 bales of cotton, considerable quantities of sugar and molasses, and 100 horses.

On the 12th inst. Col. Thomas E. Chickering arrived from Opelousas, and, by order of Gen. Banks, assumed command of the post. On the 19th the companies left at New Iberia (A, E, F, and G) rejoined the regiment, having marched as far as Brashear City, and thence coming by boat.

On the 21st of May the command began its return march to Brashear City, taking with it a supply-train and a large number of negroes. The force was commanded by Col. Joseph S. Morgan, of the 90th New York Infantry Volun- teers.

On the 22d, after a steady march of two days, the expedition reached Bayou Teche,-a distance of thirty-six miles from Barre's Landing. On the 23d the force marched about eighteen miles, passing through St. Martinsville, and encamped about a mile above New Iberia. On the 24th it marched about fifteen miles, passing through New Iberia, and encamped in a fine grove of oak on the Bayou Teche.

On the 25th the command passed through Franklin and Centreville, near which it was suddenly attacked in the rear by what the commanding officer supposed to be the advance of a large force under the rebel Gen. Mouton. Here the 52d was sent back a distance of five miles to repel the enemy, who, however, retreated, and the troops resumed their march, con- tinuing it through the night, and making a distance, in the course of twenty-four hours, of forty miles. Brashear City was reached a few hours later. From this latter point it went by rail to Algiers, and thence by steamer to Springfield Landing. From thenee it marched to headquarters in front of Port Hudson, where it arrived at midnight on the 30th, after a very fatiguing march of twelve miles.

From the 5th to the 8th of June the regiment formed a por-

tion of a column under Gen. Paine, which marched to Clinton and dispersed a body of the enemy.

On the 14th of June an assault was made upon Port Hudson, and the 52d was assigned a position in the line of battle, but was subsequently ordered to deploy toward the flank as skirmishers, to prevent a threatened attack by the enemy. It took up a position within easy range of the works, which it occupied until the 20th, when it was withdrawn and sent under Col. Greenleaf as part of an escort for a wagon-train to Jackson's Cross-Roads. While engaged in loading the wagons at the latter point it was vigorously attacked by a greatly superior force, which was gallantly repulsed with a loss to the enemy of 30 or 40 killed and wounded and a number taken prisoners. The regiment lost 2 men taken prisoners, and about 60 teams, which stampeded in the melee.

On the night of the 20th the command returned to its posi- tion in the besieging-lines before Port Hudson. Its loss during the month was 1 captain and 8 men killed, 12 wounded, and 2 taken prisoners; total, 23. The regiment arrived home on the 3d of August, and was mustered out of service Aug. 14, 1863. It returned ria the Mississippi River, and was said to have been the first to ascend the river after the surrender of the rebel strongholds, Vicksburg and Port Hudson .*

The Rev. James K. ITosmer, who had very recently been settled as pastor of the First Congregational Church in Deer- field, was a volunteer in the 52d Regiment, and held the posi- tion of corporal in the color-guard. He kept a journal of his experiences and those of the regiment during his term of ser- vice, which was sent to his father's family, and others, in the form of letters, and at their request, on his return from the field, he revised the journal and consented to its publication under the title of " THE COLOR-GUARD," making a book of two hundred and forty-four pages. It is written in a scholarly, racy, and most interesting manner, and gives the reader the most graphic and vivid description of the life of a soldier of anything which we remember to have seen in connection with the great Rebellion. From the very beginning in the tent in Camp Miller, at Greenfield, to the close, it fixes the closest attention, detailing the thousand and one things pertaining to the life of the soldier with great faithfulness and a most life- like delineation, which bring before the mind the varied scenes, both grave and gay, that mark the bivouac, the march, the battlefield, and the hospital.

Aside from its value as a narrative of thrilling adventures, skirmishes, battles, sieges, it possesses rare literary merit,-sel- dom found in works of the kind. In perusing its pages the attentive reader lives over again the life on board the crowded ocean steamer, where the soldier is stowed away in the midst of a confused mass of munitions of war, batteries of shining guns, bales of hay, accoutrements, mules, and boxes of pro- visions ; he hears the bugle-call and the roll of the drumn ; be sees the ghastly paraphernalia of the hospital; he stands guard with the weary sentinel amid the pelting storm ; he lies down in the muddy cornfield at night ; he hears the whistling musket-ball and the shriek of the monster shell, and trembles with the terrible sound of battle. He grows weary on the long and perilous march beneath a burning sun ; he sees the brave line of " boys in blue," the gittering bayonets sweeping to the charge, and hears the shout of victory from myriad throats as the rebel rag comes down upon the smoking ramparts, and the " starry banner" flings out its wondrous folds upon the sul- phureous air,

His descriptions of the terrible fever and the death of his brother, the orderly-sergeant of his company, are equal to the finest passages to be found in the language; while his recital of ludicrous and picturesque camp-scenes is true to the very life, vividly recalling the times " when we went soldiering."

* Portions of Gen, Grant's army at Vicksburg had been furloughed and sent up the river at an earlier date. It was probably the first regiment to ascend the river.

156

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

We make some interesting selections from this book :

" Our guns were issued to us the other day,-beautiful pieces of the most approved pattern,-the Springfield rifled musket of 1862. Mine is behind me now, dark, black-walnut stock, well oiled, so that the beauty of the wood is brought out ; hol- lowed at the base and smoothly fitted with steel, to corre- spond exactly with the curve of the shoulder, against which I shall have to press it many a time. The spring of the loek, just stiff and just limber enough ; the eagle and stamp of the Government pressed into the steel plate; barrel long and glis- tening,-bound into its hed by gleaming rings,-long and straight, and so bright that when I present arms and bring it before my face I can see nose and spectacles and the heavy beard on lip and chin, which already the camp is beginning to develop. Then the bayonet, straight and tapering, dazzling under a sun-ray, grooved delieately as if it were meant to illustrate a problem in conie seetions, smooth to the finger as a surface of glass, and coming to a point sharp as a needle."

Of the ocean passage and life on the steamer he thus dis- courses : " I have been down the brass-plated staircase into the splendors of the commissioned otheers' enbin,-really nothing great, after all, but luxurious as compared with our quarters, already greasy from rations and stained with tobacco-juice, and sumptuous beyond words as compared with the unplaned boards and tarry odors of the privates' quarters. Have I men- tioned that now our places are assigned ? The ' non-coms'- non-commissioned meaning, not non compos, though evil- minded ' high privates' deelare that it might well mean that- have assigned to them an upper cabin, with state-rooms over the quarters of the officers, in the after-part of the ship. The privates are in front, on the lower deck, and in the hold. I promise in a day or two to play Virgil and conduet you through the dismal circles of this Malebolge. Now I speak of the cabin of the officers. The hatches are open above and below, to the upper deck and into the hold. Down the hatch goes a dirty stream of commissary stores, gun-carriages, rifled cannon, and pressed hay, within an inch or two of cut-glass, gilt mouldings, and mahogany. The third mate, with voice coarse and deep as the grating of ten-ton packages along the skids, orders this and that, or bays inartieulately in a growl at a shirking sailor.

" Five sergeants in our company, and two corporals of us, have a state-room together,-perhaps six feet by eight. Besides ns, two officers' servants consider that they have a right here. Did any one say 'elbow-room ??

... " The keel of the ship grates harshly upon the bottom. The captain jumps to the wheel, and it is about immediately, until land fades again, and it is once more 'one wide water all around us.' The sun sets gloriously behind this land of ro- mance. A soft crimson haze hangs over it, and smokes up zenithward like rich fumes and vapor from old Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth. A splendor of cloud and light is thrown upon the west,-tall buttressed pillars glowing in the light as if the powers of the air had begun to paint there the proud escutcheon of the Spanish kings. In another moment I shall behold the crowned shield and the rampant lions; but it fades, and now to the eastward rises the moon. The sky to-night is vapory, with fine, clear lines of azure running through the vapor-like veins,-veins how blue and deep, as if filled with the blue blood of the true hidalgos of Old Castile !"

Approaching New Orleans :

" We go below for supper. When we return to the deck night has fallen, and in front we can just begin to see the lights of New Orleans. To the right of the city, in the heavens, glares a conflagration, red like a great light we saw on the night of our arrival at Ship Island, said then to he toward Mo- bile, and perhaps the signal-fire of the enemy. E. and I sit on the paddle-box watching the light,-the hostile city in chains und under our cannon. Now we are close upon it. At our side lies the 'North Star,' when plunge goes the anchor, with

its rattling chain, in twenty-five fathoms water. All is mys- tery about us except that through the night the invisible eity looks at us through its blinking lights,-eyes alone visible, like the wolf that Putnam followed into its cavern. The 'United States,' the 'Boardman,' and other vessels of the squadron come up. The fine band of the 41st, on the 'North Star,' play 'Twinkling stars are laughing, love,' and other pieces, to the delight of all the transports. One of our fellows offers to ' swap our band for yours,' which goes for a great joke aboard the ' Illinois,' we being rather lame in point of music, -a few drums and fifes, with a most limited répertoire of tunes. A certain creeper, the pest of camps from time imme- morial, has made its appearance on the ' Illinois,' as was to be expected, and been the staple horror of the latter part of the voyage. Of course some one must yell out the inquiry if the 41st know anything about them. The answer comes pealing back across the water: ' We've got 'em with U. S. marked on their baeks.' So the jokes go through the evening.

" I sit on deck beneath a June-like sun. A crowd have as- sembled on the levee,-in large part, of contrabands. Boys ery the papers with Gen. Butler's farewell. Behind me, in the river, lie the 'Ilartford,' with Admiral Farragut on board, the ' Mississippi,' ' Pensacola,' and the smaller gunboats. In the distance, down the stream, lie two French war-ships, and the ' Rinaldo' flying the eross of St. George. Up-stream lies a steamer with the flag of Spain,-swarthy watchmen on the paddle-boxes, the space over the forecastle erowded with sailors of the same hue. There are but few merchant-ships, and little appearance of commercial bustle. Big artillery-men (artillery- men always look strong), Boston boys in red-trimmed jackets, wheel the light cannons aboard the ship. These shining pieces are no holiday affairs, that never go out of the arsenals exeept on Fourth of July or after an election, and then only to belch harmless discharges. Each one, on the average, has probably killed its seore of men, and wounded perhaps two or three times as many. Smooth, elegant, polished, quiet, they stand on deek like elegant French swordsmen I have read of, who go with dainty rapiers, almost plaything-like, soft as silk, but dangerous as death.

" My first visit to the hospital put me face to face with its gloomiest spectacles. A mail had come, and it fell to me to distribute to the patients their letters. I had been giving let- ters to well men, had my own pocket full, was happy myself, and had come from among men happy as men ever are ; for I have discovered the secret of happiness to be hidden in mail- bags. I rushed up the stairs leading to the second story of the building, the rooms of which are used as part of the hospital. Two or three doors were before me. I opened the first, and found myself alone in the presence of a corpse. It was the body of a man who had died the night before. He lay in full soldier's dress, decently-brushed coat with military buttons,- ' his martial cloak around him,'-and with a white eloth cov- . ering the face. He was buried in the afternoon, the regiment, drawn up in a hollow square, solemnly silent while the ser- vice was performed, then standing reverently while the body and its escort with the muffled drum moved to the burial. I have heard of the ' wail' of the fife, but never made it real to myself until then, when across the parade-ground, down the street, then from the distance, came the notes of the 'Dead March.'

" In the next room to the one in which lay the corpse the floor was covered with pale, sick men. Now they have rough bedsteads,-' bunks,'-but then there was nothing but the mat- tress under them, and sometimes only the blankets. One or two attendants-as many as could be spared from the regiment -had the care of the whole, but they were far too few. One poor man was in a sad way with inflammatory rheumatism, which made it very painful for him to stir, and at the same time with dysentery, so that he required to he lifted every few minutes. Pale, forlorn men, away from friends, tended by

157

HISTORY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY.

nurses who have no special interest in them and are over- worked, crouching, wrapped up in blankets, over the fire, or stretched out on a floor. God pity the world if it has sights in it more melancholy than a military hospital !"

Approaching Port Hudson :

" Boom ! go the far-away guns. We are moving rapidly to the front ; so the other regiments and the stout batterymen and the yellow cavalrymen give way for us, cheering us on. Down a cross-road toward the river a sweet south wind shaking white cloud-favors in heaven at us, the sun smiling God-speed, and the lady rose-bushes, from fence-corners like balconies, showing their blossom handkerchiefs.

"A sweet woodland by-road ! We rush forward at double- quick. Ah, here is war indeed ! a colonel on the general's staff, just wounded by the retreating rebel pickets, lying by the roadside. I catch a glimpse of him on an extemporized litter of rails as he lies under the surgeon's hands. We rush by, -tramp ! tramp !- at the double-quick, and he pushes himself up a little with his hands, so that we can see his pale face, just wounded ahead here in the road where we are going.

" Cautiously, boys ! A few steps, and we stumble over the handsome horse of the wounded colonel, dead in the middle of the road, with eight bullets in him. There, too, is the bloody boot of his rider, hastily cut off after the wounding was accom- plished. A company are detailed as flankers, and as they go through the wood a few rods distant from the road they hear the groans of other wounded men. They cannot go to them, for to stop would be to expose the whole flank of the column to danger.

" Now we pass other dead horses belonging to cavalrymen, which were shot in the road by the retreating rebel pickets. At length we reach a fork where is a regiment drawn up, and Gen. Glover sitting on horseback with his staff,-a light-haired man, with face sufficiently resolute, his beard cut in a peak, and wearing a cavalier-hat. We halt only for a moment. The general's pointing hand indicates the direction we are to take ; so down we go through a wooded road, driving before us the enemy's pickets, our tlankers in the wood seeing them mount their horses and gallop off as we come within musket-range. Presently we go by their camps, where they have cut on trees some defiance or warning to us: 'Beware, Yankee! This is a hard road to travel.'

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Vol. I, Part 48

Author: L.H. Everts & Co Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts Number of Pages: 700

Author: L.H. Everts & Co
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Louis H. Everts
Number of Pages: 700