USA > Massachusetts > History of the Fifth Massachusetts Battery : organized October 3, 1861, mustered out June 12, 1865, v.2 > Part 26
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William A. Martis was wounded in the hip.
Last entry in Lieut. Nathan Appleton's Diary while con- nected with the Fifth Mass. Battery :--
"May 25, 1864. Wounded in the right arm and went home."
LIEUT. APPLETON'S NOTES MAY, 1901.
"I was wounded the second day after the lively artillery engagement we had with the Rebs by Jericho's Ford, just over the North Anna river. The line was being pushed along, always by the left flank, and some of our Brigade batteries had been sent on away from the others. under the command of Major Robert H. Fitzhugh, General Wain- wright's chief of staff, who was generally off with some of the batteries when the Brigade scattered.
General Wainwright asked me to ride down the lines to see and report where these batteries were, telling me not to go far, in case I could not find them, and not to be gone long. I thought I should only be absent a few minutes .--- a half hour at most,-and so started off, not even taking my sabre, a rare occurrence with me, but which in this case
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proved not inconvenient, and unaccompanied by an orderly. So I rode on and on, without coming across the batteries .-- always expecting to,-along by the lines of the Sixth Corps, where I saw General Horatio G. Wright in command, and met Colonel Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and had a chat with him. On and on, several miles, until at last 1 came up with Major Fitzhugh and the others.
Skirmishing with the enemy was going on, and it seemed as if there would soon be work. I asked Fitzhugh if he would like to have me remain with him, as he was quite alone in command, and as he said he would, I decided to take upon myself the responsibility of staying. So we bus- tled about to find some good places to put the batteries in position. I remember going up to General Romeyn B. Ayres, commanding the 2d Division of our Corps, and ask- ing his advice, for he was an old artillery officer,-which he gave me. I dismounted from my horse, and went into the woods with General Griffin, in command of the Ist Di- . vision, and we dodged behind the big trees to keep clear of the Confederate bullets, which seemed to me almost absurd, as they were firing so lightly and irregularly. One of his staff. however. Captain Case of Cincinnati, was badly wounded in the right arm about this time. [ This was Cap- tain Thomas C. Case, 7Ist Ohio Volunteers. ]
At length we found a fair place to put in one of the bat- teries, a little in from the edge of the woods, and close be- hind our skirmish line. The Virginia Central Railroad was not far distant in front, and the nearest station on it was called 'Noel's.' I was directed to stay out there to look after the work of felling the trees, and throwing up some hasty breastworks for our men.
The order was given for our infantry skirmishers not to fire in front, so as not to attract fire from the enemy in re- turn while we were at work. But still, every now and then a shot would come whizzing along, with its peculiar sound.
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ending with a thud. or a crash against some tree. Sharp- shooters were supposed to be firing from the tree tops or branches, and we were told to be careful not to expose our- selves suddenly. I recollect just then one of our artillery boys was hit in the shoulder by a musket ball, and this I can say was the only person I actually saw struck. He threw up his arms, exclaiming, 'My God, I am hit.' He went to the rear, but his wound proved to be no more than a bad flesh wound, as I met him afterwards on the boat going to Washington.
At length my time arrived.
I was reclining on the ground against a small tree, watch- ing our men at work. My right arm and leg were exposed, and suddenly I felt through them both a tremendous shock, as if a big galvanic battery had been let loose upon me. I knew at once I was shot .- it seemed to be all over me, ---- and I saw the blood spirting in a stream from my right arm. I was rather surprised to discover that I could walk. The ball had gone clean through my arm and had stopped at the calf of my leg, striking and glancing off from my boot. It gave my leg a hard concussion, which later became inflamed into quite a wound, but at first it did not trouble me. If I had only thought of it, and preserved my presence of mind. I miglit have picked up the bullet and kept it as a souvenir !
I suppose the ball came from a distance of nearly a mile. and might be called a spent shot, but it went through my arm without any difficulty. One of the artillery boys came to me at once, and tied a handkerchief tightly round my arm above the wound, which stopped the bleeding very much, and then. leaning upon him. I walked through the woods a quarter of a mile to the rear, where the Ist Divi- sion staff was assembled at a turn in the road.
There was a curious jumble of thoughits in my mind as we hobbled along .- Here was I, actually wounded. having gone through that experience every soldier thinks of so
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much and wonders how he will take it when it comes. Was my wound a serious one, would I lose my arm by amputa- tion, would I die from the effects of it by mortification or otherwise, as many did? And so and so, strange reflections dashed through my brain during that short walk of ten minutes. As I met the Ist Division staff they laid me softly on the grass, and the surgeon came up, a nice young fel- low, Ist Lieut. Dr. John Ryan, assistant surgeon of the 9th Mass. Infantry, the famous Irish regiment, 'the bloody 9th,' which I knew so well. He bared my arm. and put- ting his thumb and finger through the hole until they met in the middle, to see just what was the matter, he said heart- ily, 'You are all right, the bone is not touched, the arm is safe, and you have got before you a pleasant "leave of ab- sence," and a chance to get out of this for several weeks at least. It's an elegant flesh wound.' I cannot express how relieved I felt at this, and then the other officers began pok- ing fun at me, and congratulating me upon my great luck, and I could see that indeed I was not an object of commisera- tion in those dangerous times. A stretcher was brought for me, and on it I was carried some ways back to where there was a temporary field hospital, filled with all kinds of wounded men. Before leaving the ground where I was lying with the Ist Division staff, two or three of the boys of our Battery came up to find out what was the matter wih me, and I was much gratified at the interest they took in me. I did not see General Wainwright, but I heard that he was annoyed at my having gone off so far, contrary to his directions, and then staying there, by which I got my wound. However, it was done in good intent and could not be helped. At the hospital I was soon made tolerably comfortable for the night. My servant Joe appeared then to take care of me, and accompany me home, and Case and myself bunked in, side by side, on the ground under a large hospital tent.
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It was a hard sight to see all the other wounded, and hear their groans, but we passed the night and the next day at this field hospital. About dusk, a long train of ambulances and wagons for the wounded was made up, to take us to Washington, though I do not think we at all knew how we were to get there, but supposed it would be mostly by boat .. Case and I had an ambulance between us, in which we could lie down and were quite comfortable. I felt rather ashamed, at being so well off with my slight flesh wound. when there were so many serious cases who were so badly provided for in the rough, springless wagons, but still I was happy enough to take the place allotted me.
By the early grey of the morning we passed through the little town of Bowling Green, some of the inhabitants gaz- ing at us through the windows, and then on and on, the next day, until about two o'clock in the afternoon, when we reached the Rappahannock River at Port Royal, where our train went into park near the water. In the stream was the old Sound steamer 'Connecticut' of the Stonington line, ready to take a boat load of the wounded from the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and other fights, to Washing- ton, and from there to the hospitals or their homes. The wounded all got on the boat during the afternoon, but it took a long while to carry many of them on board, and we started off during the evening. I had a decent berth, and walked around and talked with the others during the pas- sage. There were a good many doctors and nurses who tried to do their best, but it was no easy thing to look after so many, and here I must say that my boy Joe Hunter per- formed most efficient service, making himself generally use- ful to all on board. I remember meeting the artillery man who was shot just before me, and also a soldier who showed me a bible he had through which a bullet had gone, while in his pocket or knapsack. As this is one of those unusual shots you often read of in tracts during war times, I am
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glad to verify it, and say unhesitatingly that I recollect perfectly seeing this one.
On the after dec !: of the steamboat a sheet was spread across, and behind this surgical operations and amputations were going on all the time of our passage. We were two nights and one day going down the Rappahannock and up the Potomac to Washington, where we arrived the morn- ing of the second day after our departure, which must have been May 29th.
Case and I went right up to a small hotel, the Owen House, alongside of Willard's, and set to work without delay obtaining 'leaves of absence,' without which we could not get out of Washington, and to arrange which just then required a good deal of time and red tape formality. At the end of about three days I received the following order :-
HEAD QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF WASHINGTON. WASHINGTON, D. C. May 30, 1864.
Special Order No. 133.
Leave of absence for Thirty (30) days is granted to Lieutenant Nathan Appleton A. D. C. of the Artillery Brig. 5th Corps, on sur- geon's certificate of disability arising from wound, to proceed to his home. At the expiration of this time he will report in person at his command (or hospital), thence notifying these Headquarters by letter.
By command of Major General Augur. CHAS. RAYMOND, Assistant Adjutant General.
By this time my arm was frightfully swollen, sloughing freely, and I was beginning to fcel feverish from it all. I was glad to be off. I engaged my berth in the sleeping-car. and a little before dusk I drove down with Joe to the okl Baltimore and Ohio railroad station. The johting of the hack was painful. I was feeling far from well. thoughi happy enough at the prospect of returning home, when whom should I meet in the street but Professor Eben N
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Horsford of Harvard University, whose aid to the Union catise was strong, and who soon after the war was ap- pointed by Governor Andrew on the commission for the defence of Boston Harbor, and prepared a report of the plans to be pursued in the event of the approach of Confed- erate cruisers. He devised a marching ration for the army which reduced transportation to a very low figure. He stopped the carriage, gave me a warm and pleasant greet- ing, and I started off on my journey encouraged by his cheery words and sympathetic presence.
We were soon en route, but the official would not allow Joe to stay in the sleeping car, simply because he was a negro, and negroes were not then allowed to travel in these cars, quite ignoring the fact that he was the servant of a sick and wounded officer of the Union army. I had not been long in the car when a gentleman, a stranger canie to me and asked if I would not like to go to bed. He called up the porter, had my bed made up at once, and told me his berth was over mine. After helping me undress he said if during the night I wanted water or anything I must call upon him. I availed myself several times of his kindness. and thanked him from the bottom of my heart. The next morning he explained to me that he, himself, had once been wounded. in South America, and knew what it was, and that he had been incapacitated by bad health from taking part in the war. I, stupidly, did not think at the time of asking his name, but I shall never forget him, and I shall only be too glad if he can know through these lines of my gratitude for what he did for me during that long night railroad journey.
On arrival in New York I drove to the Astor House where my friends were sent for and a surgeon to dress my wound. I went to Boston that night by the Stonington line driving up to 39 Beacon street about seven o'clock the next morning. Again at home with all its comforts and
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attentions which had been prepared for me, I was attended by Dr. Henry J. Bigelow, and later by Dr. John Mason Warren.
A month after I was wounded I was given the following
CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION.
Lieut. Nathan Appleton, A. D. C. of the 5th Mass. Battery, having applied for a certificate on which to ground an application for leave of absence, I do hereby certify that I have carefully examined this officer, and find that he is invalided in Boston, suffering from a gun- shot wound in right arm received in action May 25. 1864. The wound is still suppurating. And that in consequence thereof he is in my opinion unfit for duty. I further declare my belief that he will not be able to resume his duties in a less period than twenty days from June 29th, 1864. and is unable to travel without increasing the risk of permanent disability.
Dated at Boston the 25th day of June. 1864.
ANSON P. HOOKER, M. D. Approved . A. N. MCLAREN. Surgeon U. S. A. Med. Director.
At the summer residence of my family at Lynn I had a doctor look after me who did not at all comprehend the case. My arm was bent at almost a right angle, from carrying it in the position it was held in the sling, and he proposed to cut the cords to let it down straight. Fortunately this ex- periment was not tried, and Dr. Warren, as Dr. Bigelow was on his vacation. later took hold of it and straightened it in a great degree, simply by pulling it down by main force every few days, and getting it out a little straighter at each trial, even today ( 1901) it is not perfectly so, and never will be, and two scars are plainly marked on it with a loss of flesh and muscle between them. otherwise it is all right. On the 25th of July. 1896. I had a Roentgen X Ray photograph taken of my arm by Professor Clinton E. Do1- bear, at 20 Tremont street, Boston; about 7 minutes expos- ure. It shows that the flesh has never filled up in the line
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of the wound. The bone was not touched by the bullet.
The wound on the leg made quite a sore for a time, but dressing and plaster soon cured it, as it was merely a shock against the skin and the flesh beyond.
In August, 1864. I received another
CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION OF GUNSHOT WOUND.
Lieut. Nathan Appleton A. D. C. of the 5th Mass. Battery, having applied for a certificate on which to ground an application for leave of absence, I do hereby certify that I have carefully examined the officer, and find that he is invalided in Boston, Mass., suffering from the effects of Anchylosis of the right elbow joint, the result of a gunshot wound received in action May 25th, 1864, and in consequence thereof, he is, in my opinion, unfit for duty. I further declare my belief that he will not be able to restime his duties in a less period than twenty days from: August 28, 1864, and is unable to travel without incurring the risk of permanent disability. Prospect of recovery-not remote.
Dated at Boston this 27th day of August, 1864. WMr. J. DALE, A. S., U. S. A. Approved
A. N. MCLAREN, Surgeon U. S. A .. Med. Director.
But in the mean time I had sent in my resignation, and the circumstances of my promotion and subsequent dis- charge from the service were peculiar.
By Blake's death at the Battle of Petersburg (see p. 877) I was commissioned First Lieutenant, and this of course made a vacancy for another Second Lieutenant in the Bat- tery. Hamblet was promoted and commissioned, but, by some stupid red tape arrangement, it was impossible for either he or I to be mustered in to our new positions except actually in the field, and from the date of muster only could pay be drawn. This was of no importance to me, but it was to him in the matter of pay, and. as I did not wish to return to the army until my arm was quite well. I found I was keeping the other lieutenant out. So. I resigned and was honorably discharged for disability, though all the time
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I had the fixed intention of rejoining after a short trip abroad.
ORDER OF DISCHARGE.
WAR DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 1864.
Special Order
No. 280
Extract.
19. 2d Lieut. Nathan Appleton 5th Mass. Battery, having tendered his resignation, is hereby honorably discharged the service of the United States, on account of physical disability from wounds received in action, with condition that he shall receive no final payments until . he has satisfied the Pay Department that he is not indebted to the Government.
By Order of the Secretary of War. (Signed) E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General. Official :
( Signed) FORD, MORRIS, Licut. and A. A. A. G. Official :
(Signed) CHARLES A. PHILLIPS, Capt. 5th Mass. Battery.
In a letter dated Hd. Qrs. Art'y Brigade, 5th Corps, Sept. 8, 1864, General C. S. Wainwright wrote me :--
'I was very sorry to get your resignation, though I think that it was perhaps the best thing you could do, as your wound continued to trouble you so much. I had anticipated a good deal of pleasure in having you with me. As it is I have not got any one in your place. Matthewson has been made a captain and commands his company. Morris is still A. A. G. and Canfield my only aide.'
While writing this sketch several men of the Battery come to my remembrance with peculiar distinctness on ac- count of their positions in the Battery. There was Winters the bugler, much older than inost of the members of the Battery when he enlisted with some of the first recruits, and the other bugler, Tucker, and also Hayden the Battery
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guidon. The letter carrier too was important in the expe -. rience of the Battery. The young fellow who used to shave she was Niles. The forms of the farriers and teamsters too come back to me, and there were two cooks, Burt and Plippen, the latter waited at our mess, and also drove on the march the two-wheeled battery cart we officers had for our own personal effects, and which was of the greatest convenience and comfort.
On the 18th of March, 1865, I was commissioned As- sistant Inspector General on the staff of the Commander-in- Chief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Governor John A. Andrew, and duly took the oath as Captain on March 27th. I immediately started for the front to report to General Wainwright still in command of the Artillery Brigade, Fifth Army Corps, to whom I was detailed as Volunteer aide de camp.
I was present at the Battle of Five Forks and at the Surrender at Appomattox, and marched with the Army of the Potomac in the Grand Review of May 22d, 1865, riding my favorite horse 'Folko,' who had been left with General Wainwright while I was away from the Army, the little one remaining with the Battery.
COPY OF A PREVET.
THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. [Seal of the U. S. A. War Office. ]
( Picture of an eagle with outspread wings beneath the motto 'E Pluribus Unum.') To All who shall see These Presents Greeting.
Know ye, That I do hereby confer on Nathan Appleton, of the United States Volunteers, in the service of the United States by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. the rank of Captain By Brevet, in said service, to rank as such from the thirteenth day of March, and in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five. for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle on Virginia Central Railroad.
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And I do strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under his command, to obey and respect him accordingly, and he is to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time, as he shal receive from me, or the future President of the United States of America, and other officers set over him, according to law, and the rules and discipline of War, this Commission to continue in force during the pleasure of the President of the United States for the time being.
Given under my hand at the City of Washington this twenty-fifth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and in the ninety-first year of the Independence of the United States.
By the President. ANDREW JOHNSON. EDWIN M. STANTON Secretary of Wl'ar.
At the bottom of the document is an elaborate drawing. representing the arms, munitions, and emblems of the ser- vice, and on the upper left hand corner the words :- "Recorded Volume 5. Page 47, Adj't. General's Office, August 2g. 1865. E. D. TOWNSEND, Ass't Adj't. General.
October 30, 1866, a letter was sent me from the War Department, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, as follows :----
Sir: I have the honor to enclose to you herewith, your commission of Brevet Captain, the receipt of which please acknowledge.
I am sir, very respectfully Your obedient servant
J. C. KELTON, Assistant Adjutant Gen'i.
Brevet Captain NATHAN APPLETON U. S. Volunteers.
This letter did not reach me in regular course, for I had set out on my third voyage across the Atlantic."
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE BATTLE OF BETHESDA CHURCH.
June 3, 1864.
"Thou shouldst die as he dies For whom none sheddeth tears:
Filling thine eys And fulfilling thine cars With the brilliance of battle, the bloom and the beauty, the splendor of spears." -- SWINBURNE.
It has been seen that General Grant's order to General Meade dated Quarle's Mills, Va., May 25, 1864, directed him to observe the following explicit instructions viz.,
"As soon as it is dark tomorrow night, start the Division which you withdraw first from Wright's (Sixth) Corps, to make a forced march to Hanover Town (within 20 miles of Richmond) taking with them no trains to impede the march. At the same time this Division starts. com- mence withdrawing all of the Fifth and Sixth Corps from the south side of the river and march them for the same place ... . . As soon as the troops reach Hanover Town they should get possession of all the crossings they can in that neighborhood."
On the 26th of May 1864. the base of supplies of the Army of the Potomac was ordered to be established at White House on the Pamunkey River. The relative posi- tion of the two armies was as follows :---
The Right of the Confederate Army rested on a swamp east of the Richmond and Fredericksburg railroad and south of the North. Anna River, their Centre on the river at Ox Ford and their Left at Little River. The Second Corps of the Union Army, with one Division of the Ninth Corps.
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had crossed at Chesterfield Ford, and covered the Right wing of Lee's Army. One Division of the Ninth Corps was on the north bank of the North Anna at Ox Ford, con- venient for reinforcing either wing of our army. From a point at a short distance above Ox Ford on the south bank of the river to Little River parallel to the enemy's lines, were the Fifth and Sixth Corps and one Division of the Ninth Corps. The line during the 26th was extended to the Left to join the Ninth Corps. The three batteries with Major Robert H. Fitzhugh, -- 4th U. S. Battery B, the Fifth Mass. Battery, and the 15th N. Y. Independent Bat- tery, were engaged at times on the skirmish line of the front of the First Division Fifth Corps under Griffin, but could elicit no response from the enemy's artillery, although the 15th N. Y. and the Fifth Mass. Batteries suffered consid- erably from the enemy's sharpshooters. The artillery, how- ever, accomplished the object for which it was posted, by silencing in a measure the enemy's skirmishers in front of the First Division.
The Sixth Corps, commanded by General H. G. Wright. had all reached Cold Harbor at 2 p. m. of June ist, and General W. F. Smith, with his command from the Army of the James, arrived there an hour after. General Warren was then in command of the Fifth Corps, and the enemy with all its Corps consolidated, were intrenched in line of battle in front of him. At night Hancock with the Second Corps arrived, and was placed on the left of the Sixth Corps, across the Mechanicsville road. In order to unite with the right of Smith's command. the left of the Fifth Corps was obliged to hold a line three miles in extent, from Bethesda Church to Smith's position. The Ist Division Fifth Corps under Griffin, was massed at Bethesda Church. The cavalry were ordered to protect the Right of the Army from Bethesda Church to the Pamunkey River.
On the afternoon of June 2d, the confederate general
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