USA > Massachusetts > History of the Fifth Massachusetts Battery : organized October 3, 1861, mustered out June 12, 1865, v.1 > Part 11
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
Grows' Journal has the following :- " 'Reveille' was sounded at 2 o'clock in the morning, at 12 past 2 the 'A.s- wembly' was sounded. We were then drawn up in line, and told to prepare to 'break camp.' At 6 o'clock in the morning every tent was down and packed away, our uni- forms on, knapsacks lashed to the spare wheel, and our tations in our haversacks, and all were ready to start. At past 7 the bugle sounded 'Forward,' and we took up our line of march. It was a most glorious morning, and the sun was very warm. We went through the city, the baggage and mule train bringing up the rear. We passed through Georgetown to the Aqueduct. After passing the bridge the order was 'Cannoneers Dismount.' On account of the mud, in some places it was almost over boots, we 1.a.l to go this way for 4 miles when we arrived at our camp ground, and it is a nice place, with a large stream close by ind woods in our rear which will protect us from the winds. There are about 6000 to Sooo men encamped around here. The 1Sth Mass., the 22d "Mass., a Kentucky and a Michi- gan Regt., the 9th Mass. Regt., and Follett's Battery. (Third Mass.). We arrived on this ground at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Took a rest of about one bour, and then went " work pitching our tents, which we had up in good sea- :. n. On our march we passed several forts and concealed batteries built by our troops.
This (Ifall's) hill is so fortified that it is impossible for the rebels to get to Washington. After our tents were up
1
i
130
HISTORY OF THE
I took a walk around the camp. Saw a large body of cav- alry coming, bringing 'secesh' prisoners. They go out scouting every morning. returning at night. We are en- camped only about 8 miles from the rebels, who are at Fair- fax Court House. Our pickets are thrown out for from four to five miles. In about two weeks there will be a grand advance made by our troops."
FORT CORCORAN, ARLINGTON HEIGHTS.
Forts .Runyon and Corcoran commanded the Long Bridge and the Aqueduct. Fort Albany commanded the Columbia and the Aqueduct and Alexandria roads. After General Mcclellan assumed command of the Army of the Potomac the interval between Fort Corcoran at Arlington Heights and Fort Albany near Alexandria was filled by a series of works within supporting distance of each other.
THE REMOVAL, BY LIEUT. PHILLIPS.
"The morning was clear and bright and the moon had not set. By seven o'clock everything was ready and we started. Passing through Pennsylvania Avenue we kept on to Georgetown and crossed the Aqueduct. On the other side of that the Battery halted and one by one the pieces prepared to ford their passage. As the First piece went ahead I remained in the rear, and soon loud shouts of langh- ter from the surrounding soldiers informed me that some- thing had occurred. At first I was afraid the piece was stuck, but I found afterwards that it was one of our men who was stuck in the mud, and who in being pulled out bad left both his boots behind. The Second piece followed the First, and as it disappeared I ordered my section forward and on we went up the end of the bridge, then to the left and over a ditch on the right into the mud, and such mud! However, the horses pulled bravely, and on we went. . 1
131
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
little ahead came the hardest tug, up a little ascent, but we got well over it. The mules followed with the baggage teams, and though they stuck a little we all got through without any accident. Just after crossing the Aqueduct the road passes through an intrenchment for infantry, and then keeps on round Fort Corcoran."
Fort Corcoran he describes as a square, bastion fort three sides mounted with heavy guns, and the side toward the Aqueduct merely a stockade, loop holed for musketry. and defended by small swivel guns. "Bevond Fort Corcoran." he continues,' "the road passes through another breastwork for artillery and infantry, and then keeps on through the mud and the camp of the 3d Penn. Cavalry. Passing. through this we turned to the right down a new corduroy road which carries us straight to camp."
The engineers built the "corduroy" by felling trees and laying them across the road.
LETTER OF LIEUT. PHILLIPS.
"VICINITY OF HALL'S HILL. Feb. 14, 1862.
We are just this side of Hall's Hill proper, on a little hill close by a large house. Our camp is on the right going from Washington, and our parade ground, -- an excellent one, --- on the left. . .
We arrived at our camp at noon, and had everything fixed before dark. Everything is as good as can be. The ground is quite dry comparatively speaking. We have good water at the foot of the hill behind the stables, and wood growing in abundance all round. Two regiments of cavalry passed us this morning on a scouting expedition. We have not yet named our camp."
In another letter Lieut. Phillips thus describes scenes in camp :-
132
HISTORY OF THE
"This morning we had an inspection of blankets, har- nesses, brushes, curry-combs, whips &c., and while we were at this Gen. Porter rode up accompanied by Licut. S. M. Weld of his staff. I went up to Lieut. Weld's quarters the other night, and found him quite comfortably located. .. . Our camp ground is now quite dry . . . all the men have built bunks to sleep in. . . . We are very lucky in having quite a little forest behind us, which supplies us with as much wood as we want. Our stables are down in the woods and are floored with trunks of small trees, so that the horses keep very dry. Some of the camps round here are placed in very exposed situations. The 22d Mass. right on top of Hall's Hill, gets all the wind that blows, and it blows pretty hard here occasionally. Two nights last week we had a perfect hurricane, which tried the strength of our tents pretty effectually. Several went down, and for a time I was in doubt whether ours was going to stand up or not. How- ever, we managed to keep the pole up, and the pins down, but could not succeed in keeping the wind out, so in spite of our fire we had to go to bed early to keep warm. Our tent has suffered a little from the perils of war. The top got burnt a little one day, and as if this were not sufficient for ventilating purposes, Lieut. Scott's horse put his foot through it yesterday afternoon. As we are getting to look at things in a philosophical light we do not trouble our- selves with small trifles. I have forgotten how to take coll or get sick."
Grows' Journal. "Friday morning Feb. 14, 1862. Or- ders were given that after breakfast all of the men clean up the Park. After cating we all went at it, and in about two hours there was not a large stone to be seen on the camp ground. Then we dressed our pieces and caissons and cov- ered them, then went to our quarters. After dinner dressed up and went out. The men were drawn up in line to receive
133
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
Captain Griffin and Aide. (Captain Charles Griffin, Battery D, 5th U. S.) He is the man who lost a portion of his bat- tery at Bull Run. He is a stern looking man, but a splendid artillerist. He will be our drill master. We were marched to our pieces and had a slight drill. We have now four tliree in. dia. long guns of iron, and two brass howitzers, twelve pounders. They are saucy looking dogs. After this we went to our tents. About II boxes have come this after- noon for men in the company, and they are very glad. We are encamped on the grounds once occupied by President William Henry Harrison. His mansion is very near us. It is now used for a Small Pox Hospital. There are now there six or seven cases. A slaughter house is on our camp ground where they kill cattle for the soldiers, so we have fresh beef quite often.
Saturday Feb. 15. Snowing. After breakfast I was de- tailed with Harry Simonds and others, to cut down some trees for a stable. Got the stable built and went to dinner, had fresh beef and bread and water. After dinner was de- tailed with three others to get water for the cooks, after which I went into my tent and had a smoke. Was called at 4 o'clock to fix some shovels for the snow which is now about 3 in. deep. It is snowing very hard. The guard were called out to salute General Barry and staff as they passed the camp."
FORM OF PASS.
DIVISION HEAD QUARTERS HALL'S HILL VA. Feb. 15, 1862.
Pass Lieut. Allen Mass. Art'y, to Washington and return on im- portant private business.
By com. of BRIG. GEN'L PORTER G. MONTEITH. Lt. & A. D. C.
The signature "by com. of" &c. is in red ink, the re- mainder in black ink, plain and clear after forty years.
134
HISTORY OF THE
THE ROLL AT HALL'S HILL.
NOTES OF JOSEPH L. KNOX, SEPT. 25, 1899.
"You will find a list of the men as near as I can remen- ber them, and I think that it is just as it was called at Hall's Hill in 1861."
Allen
Flynn
Manchester
Agen
Freeborn
Nield
Alden
Groves
Newhall
Alton I
Greeley
Newton
Almy
Grows
Olin
Alton 2
Gunning
Pinder
Burt
Gale
Poole
Butler
Gardner
Platt
Brown
Gustine
Parsons
Barry
Gilbert
Proctor
Burkis
Hart
Rice
Barnard
Hayden
Ray
Blanchard
Hall
Saxon
Clark I
Hewitt
Shaw I
Canty -
Hathaway I
Stantial
Cook
Hathaway 2
Shaw 2
Caswell
Jordan
Stiles
Carsley
Tav
Shaw 3
Chase
Kay
Tucker
Crapo
Knox
Townsend
Clark 2
Kanuse
Terry
Dunham
King
Tripp I
Dver
Leach
Tripp 2
Drew
Lapham
Whitcher
Dickerman
Mitchell
Washburn I
Doherty
Murray
West I
Estee
Morrison
Washburn 2
Fitzsimmons
Mack
West 2
McVey
"Sunday Feb. 16, 1862. (Grows' Journal. ) Got up at the usual time feeling awfully stiff with the rheumatism.
135
-
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
The 9th Mass. Regt. and a Regiment of Cavalry went to Fairfax to disperse some rebels. They marched to Vienna but did not see anything. . Five more 'Secesh' were brought in today. They were examined and sent to the Prison at Washington. I must stop now to cut up a chicken for one of the mien, also some pies and cake which he had sent to him in a box. I have made some tea and shall have a glori- ous supper. So much like home. . . . After having a smoke we told stories, sang a little, went to Roll Call at 8. and turned in at 12 past 8."
Chase's Diary. "Feb. 17. 1862, Lieut. Allen announced to the Company that he had been commissioned as Captain. and the other lieutenants were promoted. Serg't. H. D. Scott promoted to 4th Lieut. Company called in line and the great victory of Fort Donelson announced by orders from Head Quarters. Hearty cheers for the great victory and new officers."
Forts Henry and Donelson were the centre of the Con- federate line in Tennessee.
LETTER OF LIEUT. PHILLIPS. "HALL'S HILL Feb. 18, 1862.
While I had my section out this morning, Captain Griffin rode up and drilled us a little. Our men do first rate consid- ering what opportunities we have had. Captain Griffin says we have 'the finest set of men that ever were got together on the face of the earth'! Lieut. Henry W. Kingsbury of Captain Griffin's Battery has been assigned to this Battery as instructor, as General Porter wishes to push us forward as fast as possible, so that we shall not be much behind the rest of the Division.
The following changes have been announced to the Bat- tery :--
Junior 2d Lt. Henry D. Scott.
Sergeant HI. O. Simonds vice Scott promoted.
136
HISTORY OF THE
Corporal C. H. Macomber vice Simonds promoted.
Yesterday we received circular orders from General Por- ter announcing the glorious news from Fort Donelson, fol- lowed by permission to issue a ration of whiskey to the men, and an order to fire a national salute. As we are a temperance battery we did nothing about the whiskey, and having no blank cartridges we had to send to Captain Mar- tin's (Third Mass.) Battery to get them. By the time we . got ready it was dark, and we postponed the salute till this morning, when it was fired in good style."
Chase's Diary. "Feb. 18, 1862. A salute of 34 guns fired by Serg'ts Lall and Smith's Detachments."
Grows' Journal "Feb. 18. 1862. Tuesday. The assembly was sounded at To. We all turned out in line and were informed that my friend Harry Simonds was to be the ser- geant of the 6th Detachment. The men were very glad, for he is well liked both by men and officers. At II we went out to drill under the Drill Captain,-Griffin. He is very strict about drill. At 2 we went to drill again. I had to take No. I's place on account of his being on guard. It is a rather hard berth, but if it is understood it is one of the best berths there is on the piece. Drill was over at 3 when we went to our quarters.
Wednesday Feb. 19, 1862. The rain held up a little this afternoon, and the Detachment went out to drill on the guns. for word has come that we must move in fifteen days with the Division. We expect to go to Manassas Junction. 1 want to go on with the Division and see what is to be seen and not be kept up here in camp like a prisoner.
Thursday Feb. 20, 1862. A splendid morning. About I o'clock Lieut. R. A. Dillingham ordered me to build some feed boxes for the horses, so I went to work on them. At 1/2 past 2 Lieut. Kingsbury of the Regulars came over to drill the men, and he did 'put them through a course of sprouts? they never saw before. Knocked off work at 5 and went to Roll Call, had S boxes made 16 ft. long. Had sup- per at 1/2 past 5 of bread and coffee; the coffee was fair, but the bread was black and very hard.
137
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
A change has been made in the hours of the day in regard to drill. The preparatory call is at 10 minutes of 6 in the morning, the Reveille at 6, giving the men 10 minutes to dress and be out in line. After Roll, breakfast call, at 1/4 to 7 stable call, at 7 the 'Sick Call.' At this last call all that are sick fall into line, and are marched to the Hospital.
It is a good idea, for the men cannot play off sick.
Instead of mounting guard at 9 in the morning as usual, it is now at 5 in the afternoon."
FROM A LETTER OF LIEUT. PHILLIPS.
"Feb. 20, 1862 : The officers, commissioned and non-com- missioned have daily recitations in Artillery Tactics, and Lieut. Kingsbury has the general oversight of the drill and interior economy of the Battery. This morning he took charge of the drill on the guns, and this afternoon he intro- duced several changes in the working of the Battery. He is a gentleman. and a well drilled officer, and a brother-in-law of General Buckner,-lately captured,-who married his sister. Captain Griffin has been here several times. Gen. McClellan and staff rode by here this forenoon on a tour of inspection. Our guard was turned out, sabres presented, and the General touched his cap.
We exchange our two howitzers in a few days for two three inch rifled guns. so that my section will be like the rest. Our ammunition will come in a few days, and we shall com- mence target-shooting."
Grows' Journal: "Friday Feb. 21st. At 9. went to see about some pickets being cut for the feed troughs to be put on for the horses to cat out of. Worked till dinner time. A new rule has been made : the guard of one day will do the police duty of the camp the following day. Today I was stationed over the quartermaster store tent, and I did not want for good things to eat."
. . . :
+
138
HISTORY OF THE
WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY 1862 .- A NOTABLE ANNIVERSARY.
By General Orders No. 16. Head Quarters of the Army. Washington, Feb. 18, 1862, in compliance with concurrent resolutions of Congress that the President should direct that Orders be issued, copious extracts from the Farewell Ad- dress of George Washingon were read to the troops by com- mand of Major General Mcclellan simultaneously with the performance of a similar ceremony before the two branches of Congress in joint session assembled.
In these extracts were emphatic utterances in regard to the unity of government, which might have been spoken in the light of actual events by the orator had he been still at the head of the Army of the United States :--
"But as it is easy to foresee that from different causes, and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth,-as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively,-though often covertly and insidiously,-directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it: accustoming your- selves to think and to speak of it as a palladium of your political safety and prosperity, watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety : dis- countenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned : and indignantly frowning upon the first dawn- ing of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts."
Chase's Diary: "Feb. 22, 1862. Gun drill in the after- noon under Lieut. Kingsbury of the Regular Art'y, in the presence of Gen'l Porter. First and Second Detachments hitched up and practised with shells, and a misdirected one went through a house occupied by a family; shell burst, but no one hurt."
139
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE TARGET SHOOTING BY LIEUT. PHILLIPS, IN A LETTER DATED
Feb. 23, 1862 :- "Lieut. Kingsbury has not yet fairly commenced operations. He has drilled us once or twice. Tomorrow, however, he will pitch his tent and move into camp. The terms upon which we consented to have him come here were that he should act as instructor 'until such time as we were able to take the field alone'; Captain Grif- fin's own words." But I do not know whether Lt. K. quite understands this. He talks of commanding the Battery, and of taking us into the first action, but he can hardly do this against the consent of Captain Allen, his ranking officer. The conclusion I come to is that we can dispense with his instructions whenever we choose. However, I am very glad to have him here as we all need to learn a good deal. He has assigned lessons in the 'Instruction for Field Artillery' to the commissioned and non commissioned officers and has had two recitations. Hyde, Dillingham, Scott and I recited together, and I believe I came out best, not having yet got out of my college practice.
Lieut. K., without troubling himself about the lesson as- signed, skipped all over the book from Battery manœuvres to harnessing a horse, but did not succeed in catching me, so I think I am all right in that quarter.
Yesterday afternoon Captain Griffin and Lieut. Kings- bury came here and ordered out the Right section for target shooting, so taking 40 rounds of ammunition, we started across the country, taking two fences, and a man's back yard on the way, till we got to the top of a hill, and came into battery.
The mark was a stump on an opposite hill, distance Soo or 1,000 yards, as we afterwards ascertained. The day being ioggy and misty, Captain G. and Lt. K. who directed the firing, put the pieces at an elevation of 3 and + degrees, cor- responding to a range of 1300 and 1600 yds. With these
-
140
HISTORY OF THE
elevations changing to 2° and 412°, we fired about 20 shots. some percussion fuzes and some time fuzes, but could not see where any of them. burst.
At first Captain G. laid this to the fuzes, but finally we tried an elevation of 134° and landed a shell half way be- tween the stump and the top of the hill, so we came to the conclusion that we must have been firing over the top of the hill.
Finally, disgusted, and without hitting the mark, we lim- bered up and returned. On our way to camp we met two men on horseback, looking rather frightened, who informed us that we had been shelling their houses. Lt. Scott went over with them to the scene of operations, and found half a mile beyond the hill a bunch of houses where most of our shell had burst. and he picked up quite a number of frag- ments lying round. One shell went through the door of a house, knocked out the underpinning on the other side and was picked up in the mud. Another whistled close by a woman's head, and some of the shrapnel scattered bullets among some children playing round. As soon as the shells began to whistle round the house the inhabitants cleared out. and when Scott got there he found only two dogs left. Al- together it was a pretty narrow escape, and we feel thankful that nobody was hurt. We told the man that we knew nothing about the country, but the shooting was under the direction of Captain Griffin, and General Porter was present. and we supposed that they knew what was in range of our guns."
Carefully preserved in Lieut. Phillips' desk ( see p. 441 ) is a brass instrument for sighting a Gun, showing elevation &c .. length 912 inches.
LIEUT. SCOTT'S VERSION.
Lieut. Henry D. Scott remarks relative to the drill in tactics at this time, and the target shooting episode :---
141
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
"Kingsbury was a gentleman, and treated us very hand- somely. He was afterwards killed at Antietam while mak- ing a charge with the 10th Conn. as its colonel. While the Battery remained here it was ordered out for target practice. It was supposed that the principal object was to try the effi- ciency of the men with rifled guns. The Battery was placed in position on a hill some distance away from Hall's Hill, on our right towards Chain Bridge up the Potomac, an open valley in front, with a wooded hill some 12 to 15 hundred yards distant.
No house was in sight, and the trunk of a large, dead tree on top of the hill was to be the target.
All the general officers of the 5th Corps with staffs were present to witness the practice. After several shots had been fired in which all seemed to have something to say, the target was not hit, nor could any one tell where the shots struck or went. In fact no one of the Battery had ever fired the guns before, and could not have acquired the experience which came to them afterwards in which some fine practice was done.
The firing was kept up, slowly, until towards night, when a citizen rode into the company, his horse all of a white foam, and said: 'Stop firing. You are shelling the village beyond the woods!'
I had only been a spectator up to this time. Of course the practice was ended, and I was ordered to go with the citizen and report the damage, if any had been done. Following the rider a roundabout way of two miles of more, we struck the scene of the excitement in the town of Union. It was a collection of pretty houses, well kept and painted, with one street running parallel to the direction in which the shots had come, and which had been well ploughed by the shots from the Battery. . I saw no one at first, but the people soon came out of cellars and other hiding places, and were soon quieted. They were told that the commander of the Bat- tery could not have known of the village or its nearness, but
142
HISTORY OF THE
he had sent me to inquire into and report any damage to life or property. It was found that several shots had struck one house, one passing through a door and lodging in a cellar; another passing through a kitchen. However, no great damage had been donc. They claimed to be union citizens, and I saw nothing that led me to suppose to the contrary. They certainly could not be blamed for being frightened out of their wits. Returning to camp alone in the darkness, I reported what the result of the firing had been and nothing more was heard about it. It was singular that no one knew of the close proximity of the village. It must have been outside the picket line."
THE DAY IN CAMP .- ANOTHER SHOOTING EPI- SODE. THEY KNEW HOW IT WAS THEMSELVES.
Grows' Journal: "Saturday, Feb. 22, 1862. Washing- ton's Birth Day. Was called at I o'clock this morning to go on guard. Went out to my post and found I had more duty to do. I had to look after six teams loaded with powder and fixed ammunition. I had to see that there were no lights or smoking, within fifty feet of them. Was relieved at 3 this morning, went to my tent and turned in on my bed, for I now have a bedstead. Yesterday four of us cut some trees and built us some bedsteads. They are tip top, but they are not feather beds by any means. After turning in I had some hot coffee, which one of the men made for me while I was out. It warmed me up first rate. Called again at 7 in the morning. It began to rain like fury but I did not mind that, for I had a good post, where I could keep clear of the rain. The Quartermaster gave me some rice and sugar. Relieved at 9 and went to my quarters. At 12 . . . cooked my rice and had a tip top dinner. At 1 o'clock I went on guard. In a few minutes after I was surprised by seeing James Tuttle of Boston. He is in the 22d Mass. Regt. He looks well. He stayed a short time and left for his camp.
143
FIFTH MASS. BATTERY.
Shortly after we were visited by General Porter, Captain Griffin, and their aides. They ordered two of our pieces to be taken out for target practice. They went off over the hill, and were soon out of sight. I was relieved at 3, and went to my tent. Stayed in about one hour, when I went out to see Harry Simonds and C. C. Allen take a ride on horseback. Harry took the lead, and Allen after him on a slow trot. He had not gone more than thirty feet, when Allen's horse slipped on a stone, and broke his nigh hind leg short off in the thigh. Word was immediately sent to the Captain :-- he was off with the pieces on practice, -- about the horse, for we are not allowed to kill a horse, unless it is done in the presence of two commissioned officers. He did not come till most 6 o'clock, and that poor horse lay there all that time, in awful agony. When Captain Allen came, the horse was instantly killed, dragged off, and buried. It was one of the best horses we had.
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.