USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 43
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The celebration of July 4, 1854, was even more elaborate than that of the preceding year. In the early morning, the various organizations gathered on the Common preparatory to forming the procession. On the west side stood the mem- bers of the two musical societies which, under the efficient instruction and leadership of Mr. Collester, had acquired a great degree of ability. With them stood the ladies, who in those days did not feel it beneath their dignity to take an active part in the celebration; on the east were the school children; on the north the Light Guard with the band, on the south the Continentals. As these stood waiting to form the line, "a gang of slaves, chained together, on their way to Nebraska, approached with their driver urging them for- ward with his whip." The gang stopped for a moment and sang " The Old Folks at Home," but the brutal tones of the driver ordered them to move on. Two attempted to escape but were pursued and shot down.
There were twenty-five hundred people in the procession under A. S. Carleton as marshal. There were musical exer- cises, with a speech by Franklin Forbes, the chairman, an oration by Rev. L. J. Livermore on the state of the nation, and then a collation. Although there were many celebra- tions in later years, there were none as notable as these.
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VIEW NORTHWARD FROM FRANKLIN PARK.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE FIFTEENTH, AND ITS COMPANION REGIMENTS.
CLINTON is the unit of our history, but this unit is made up of many smaller units, the citizens, and is itself a part of the larger units, the state and the nation. There is danger, lest, on the one hand, the unity of the town may be lost sight of, in the emphasis given to the biography of citizens or, on the other hand, that its individuality may appear to be absorbed in that of the state or nation. In the earlier por- tion of our history, the latter danger has seldom been present, but in the period upon which we are about to enter, that of the Civil War, it will be avoided with difficulty. It is true that in times of peace the relations of any community to the nation are as real as in times of war; that the production of ginghams, carpets and combs, which supply the needs of every section of the land, is as conducive to the welfare of the country as service in its armies; that the education of the citizen is of as much advantage to the state as his sacri- fice, and that votes are as potent forces as bullets; yet, in the non-interference of peace, it is not easy to look beyond the smaller community and see the part it plays in national life, while a nation organized for war constrains the attention and the parts are lost in the whole. Moreover, in times of war the heroic sacrifices of the patriot for his country seem to belong to the individual patriot and his country alone, and the town seems to have no part in them.
Clinton, however, did not lose its distinct individuality as a community in helping the nation defend its grand self-
36
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FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS.
assertion of unity, and it may justly be claimed, that the services of its citizens, in maintaining the Union, were given by the town as a whole. Our purpose then in presenting the history of Clinton in the Civil War is to show the community in its corporate capacity, through various organizations, mil- itary and civil, and, especially, through the individual deeds of its citizens, acting as an organic unit, for the salvation of the country.
A knowledge of the general outline of national history must be taken for granted, and Clinton must be considered as one of ten thousand strands in the cable that held our Union together. This strand was often hidden by others, but, at times, it came to the surface.
It was perhaps a matter of accident, rather than an out- growth of an extreme anti-slavery sentiment that Clinton furnished two men for the struggle for Kansas, and one for John Brown's raid. Henry C. Latham, who had left his position as station agent in Clinton, June 28, 1855, was mur- dered in Kansas in December, 1857. Charles Plummer Tidd was a native of Palermo, Maine. He moved to Massachu- setts in 1856. Although other members of his family settled in Clinton, he could not have stopped here long as he joined Dr. Cutler's party of emigrants for Kansas. In 1857, we find his name in the letters of John Brown, by whom he was sent as a trusted agent for securing funds. A price was set on his head, yet he stood by his leader at Osawatomie and assisted him in getting slaves from Missouri to Canada. In the plan of John Brown for his foray into Virginia, Tidd is mentioned as one of the six captains, who were to be placed over the companies of recruits whom they hoped to gather from the slaves and from northern sympathizers. October 16, 1859, when Brown led his eighteen followers to Harper's Ferry, Tidd and Cook were at the head of the line. After the place was taken, Tidd, as his most trusted officer, was put on duty at the school-house about a mile from Harper's
539
EAGERNESS FOR ACTION.
Ferry to receive recruits and supplies. Thus, he was not present when his leader was captured, and he escaped.
In February, Tidd was in Clinton with his sisters. At first, it may be, he lived under the assumed name of Plummer, but soon, openly. His friends were not slow to give him "a generous and healthy grip," notwithstanding the "danger of being summoned to Washington by the investigating com- mittee " as "accessories after the fact."
We find him mustered in the Twenty-first Regiment as sergeant, August 23, 1861, as from Wisconsin, under the name of Charles Plummer. He died on the steamer Northerner, February 7, 1862, and was buried in North Carolina ..
As we turn from this episode to the political history of the town, we find that during the summer, even after the nomination of the presidential candidates, the people were spoken of as in a state of political "apathy." But in the autumn, when the election was close at hand, the town was seething with excitement. The interest centered chiefly on the congressional election. The outcome of this campaign proved that Clinton was the banner town of the district in her opposition to Eli Thayer, the representative of Squatter Sovereignty. The study of the vote at the presidential election and of the discussions that preceded it, shows that Clinton was in sympathy with anti-slavery ideas, and over- whelmingly in favor of the maintenance of the Union and independence of southern control.
The Republican Party of the town had inherited its sentiments, as well as the larger portion of its voters, from the old Whig Party. It is peculiarly noticeable, in contrast with the record of some other towns, that scarcely one of our volunteers has given his feeling toward slavery as a cause for enlistment, while almost all assert that they en- listed to help save the Union. Thus, while Clinton felt as every town in the North must have done, the mighty moral upheaval in the anti-slavery movement, it cannot be claimed that it was one of the centres of this upheaval. The town
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FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS.
has always been rather conservative in ideas, but progressive in action. It has produced few theorists, but many workers.
During the winter which followed the election of Lincoln, the same intensity of feeling prevailed in Clinton which characterized the rest of the country. If we had listened to the talk of the men as they gathered at the noon hour in the mills or in the evening on the street or in the grocery, we should have found that secession and what would come of it was the chief topic of conversation. The local paper, which in former years had been somewhat inclined to shun politics, was now crowded with editorials, contributions and selected articles on the one all-engrossing theme. Ministers preached upon it, and school-boys discussed it with equal zeal. Few believed that the people of the South would act as they had talked. In one thing, almost all were agreed, the Union must be preserved at all hazards.
The eagerness to be ready for action, which we have already noted as the most marked characteristic of Clinton, centered about the Light Guard, or Company C, Ninth Regiment. This local militia company was re-organized August 19, 1860, with Henry Bowman as captain. Many of the foremost young men in town served among its officers or in its ranks. By the Ist of February, while Buchanan was still in office, the company voted "to hold itself in readiness for all demands that might be made upon it by the govern- ment." Captain Bowman reported to Governor Andrew, that the company was "not only ready, but anxious to enter the service." It was not the fault of the Light Guard that Clinton men were not the first in the field. The men little knew the nature of the conflict upon which they were about to enter, but, even if they had, their enthusiasm would not have been diminished. For the greater the danger that threatened the country, the stronger would have been their desire to serve it.
The town in its corporate capacity was no whit behind its
541
THE LIGHT GUARD).
individual citizens and its militia company in readiness for practical action. At the regular town meeting of March 4, 1861, it was voted: "That one thousand dollars be appro- priated for the benefit of the Clinton Light Guard, to be placed in the hands of the selectmen, and to be paid out upon order of the officers of the Guards. Said money to be for the express purpose of purchasing a new uniform for the Guards." By this vote, Clinton, according to the report of the adjutant-general, was the first town in Massachusetts to appropriate money in anticipation of a call for troops. The town may well glory in the fact that it was the foremost town in the foremost state to take financial measures to support the government. As it afterwards appeared that the town had no authority to make such an appropriation under the powers delegated by the state, special action of the legislature was invoked, and the following act was passed April 2d :
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent- atives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: The town of Clinton, in the county of Worcester, is hereby authorized to appropriate the sum of one thousand dollars for the purpose of purchasing a suitable uniform for the members of Company C, Ninth Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia; provided, however, that at a public town meeting, legally held for that purpose, two-thirds of the voters of said town present and voting thereon, shall vote to make such an appropriation."
At a meeting, held April 23d, the sum of one thousand dollars for uniforms was appropriated in accordance with this act.
On the 13th of April, news of the fall of Sumter was received. So intense was the feeling that prevailed in the community that business practically ceased. Then came Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men, and five Mass- achusetts regiments were hurried forward. Still the Ninth Regiment, to which the Light Guard belonged, was not called
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FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS.
out. The lieutenant-colonel, Gilman M. Palmer, and the major, Christopher C. Stone, both displayed that eagerness for immediate action which characterized the town to which they belonged, and urged that the regiment should go at once to the front, but as some of the companies of the Ninth Regiment were not full, it had to wait behind, while the whole regiments went on. On the 19th, came the news that the Massachusetts Sixth was fighting its way through Balti- more. While the hearts of all were still burning, on the 2Ist, a dispatch was received from Governor Andrew order- ing the Light Guard to be ready to go forward at twenty-four hours' notice. In the Courant of April 27th, the following article appeared in the editorial columns :
"Last Sunday was a day that will be remembered by us and our children. At noon, Captain Bowman of the Clinton Light Guard, received word that in all probability his com- pany would be called out within forty-eight hours. Notices had been read in the churches in the morning, requesting our women to assemble at the vestry of the Baptist Church, on Monday morning, to make the flannel shirts for the soldiers ; but neither our wives, daughters, or those who have neither father, mother nor kindred residing in town, thought it prudent to wait until Monday morning, and with- in one hour and a half the vestry was filled and crowded with workers, so that many resorted to the vestry of the Orthodox Church. Every yard of suitable flannel in town was soon cut and a messenger despatched to Worcester for more."
The church services in the afternoon were thinly attended as nearly all felt that there were other duties of greater im- portance. Subscription papers for revolvers were circulated and met ready response. Men were despatched to Worces- ter for these revolvers, who returned about midnight bring ing seventy-five with them. Perhaps, that Sunday afternoon was the one time during the whole struggle, when the people were all swept away with the greatest enthusiasm. No one
543
WAITING FOR THE SUMMONS.
knew what war meant; its dread realities had not yet frozen the souls of men or crushed the hearts of women. On later occasions, many of the most patriotic young men were in the field and many sad and anxious faces might have been seen among the men and women who remained at home, but then the zeal of all knew no bounds. All were blindly hopeful and eager to do their utmost for their imperilled country.
On. Monday morning, the citizens held a meeting in the Clinton House Hall. H. N. Bigelow was chosen chairman and H. C. Greeley, secretary. Speeches boiling over with patriotism were made by the chairman, Rev. J. M. Heard, Rev. C. M. Bowers, Rev. W. W. Winchester, C. H. Waters and others. A subscription of two thousand dollars was raised for the good of the Light Guard. The physicians, through Dr. G. M. Morse, agreed that during the absence of the soldiers, their families should be attended free of charge.
At a town meeting, held on Tuesday, the 23d, in addi- tion to the appropriation for uniforms already mentioned, the following resolution presented by J. T. Dame, Esq., was unanimously adopted: "Whereas, the Clinton Light Guard, most of whose members are citizens of Clinton, are awaiting orders to march to the defence of the national government, and, during the contest now begun, others of our citizens may be called into the service of their country, the families of all of whom should be under our care and protection during the absence of their natural protectors; therefore resolved, that the selectmen be requested to furnish any assistance that may be needed by the families of those who shall be called from this town into actual service, and for this purpose to draw orders upon the town treasurer from time to time, to any amount not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars."
No orders came for the company during the week and, on the following Sunday, union services were held in the Congregationalist Church. "The house was packed and the services throughout were very impressive." Rev. C. M.
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FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS.
Bowers presented each member of the Guard with a pocket Testament, purchased by private subscription.
With hearts sick on account of hope deferred and with the fear, which seems so strange to us now, that the conflict might be over while they were staying ingloriously at home, the members of the Light Guard waited two long, weary months before the final summons came. Meanwhile, fifteen of their fellow-citizens were mustered into service. One of these enlisted for three months in the Third Battalion of Riflemen. This was James McNulty, who was mustered May 19, 1861. He may therefore be considered as the first citizen of Clinton to actually enter the service of the United States, although many others had sought this privilege in vain for a long time before. The fourteen others enlisted for three years.
May 1, 1861, some of the women, "that they might work for the soldiers to better advantage," organized themselves into a society for this purpose. The opening clause of the constitution reads as follows: "Whereas, the present con- dition of our country requires all who have enjoyed the bless- ings of its government to unite in contributing to its support and defence, the undersigned agree to form an association for the purpose of rendering such assistance as lies in our power towards furnishing clothing and other means of health and comfort to the soldiers, called into service." * * * The society held regular meetings and employed their time at first in making havelocks. Afterwards, cloth slippers were prepared for the soldiers, and mittens, with one finger separate from the rest for convenience in handling rifles.
At last, the suspense of the Light Guard was brought to an end; the company was ordered to report at Worcester on the 28th of June. On the evening of the 27th, a meeting of the company was held and the men were addressed by their former commanders, Colonel Palmer and Major Stone, who, although hindered by circumstances from accompanying their fellow-citizens to the seat of war, promised to do their
545
TOWN AID TO SOLDIERS' FAMILIES.
utmost for the good of those in the field and those whom the soldiers left behind them. The final departure is thus de- scribed in the Courant of June 29th:
"The departure of the Clinton Light Guard for Camp Scott, was unquestionably one of the grandest, and at the same time, peculiarly, one of the most touching, incidents that ever transpired in Clinton. At about half-past eleven, the citizens began to gather in the street opposite the armory (Clinton Hall), and in the space of an hour, the way was completely thronged with people, all eagerly but patiently awaiting the appearance of the soldiery. At a quarter to one o'clock, under escort of the Clinton Cornet Band and a procession of citizens, the Guards proceeded from the armo- ry, followed by the cheering multitude, and mid the booming of cannon marched to the time of a lively tune to the station. The company was then drawn up in line upon the platform to await the arrival of the train and to bid adieu to their friends. It is hard to part with friends, especially friends whom we love-harder still when we may never see them again. And, as it is somewhat uncertain whether they will return before proceeding to the seat of war, the parting was indeed very affecting. As friend after friend gave and re- ceived the affectionate shake of the hand or the farewell kiss, tears gathered in the eyes of those to whom weeping was a thing before unknown. But the train soon arrived, and with cheers, music and cannon they left us-all to re- turn again, we trust."
The town, at a meeting held on July 9th, the earliest date possible after the summons came, took the families of the soldiers under its charge by the following action : "Voted, that the selectmen be authorized and instructed, if in their discretion it is necessary, to apply to the aid of the wife and of the children under sixteen years, of any one of our inhab- itants who, as a member of the volunteer militia of this state, may have been mustered into or enlisted in the service of the United States, and for each parent, brother or sister or
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FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS.
child, who at the time of his enlistment was dependant upon such inhabitant for support, a sum not exceeding one dollar per week for the wife, and one dollar per week for each child or parent of such inhabitant, who at the time of his being called into the service of these United States was dependant upon him for support; provided, that the whole sum so ap- plied shall not exceed twelve dollars per month for all the persons so dependant upon any such inhabitant.
"Voted, that the selectmen be requested to furnish any further assistance that may be needed by the families of those inhabitants of Clinton who, as members of the Clinton Light Guard, shall be mustered into the service of the United States, and that, for this purpose, they are authorized and instructed to draw orders upon the town treasury from time to time to an amount not exceeding two thousand dollars.
"Voted, that the town treasurer be authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding five thousand dollars to carry into effect the above votes."
On the 12th of July, the Light Guard ceased to exist as such, and was mustered into the service of the United States as Company C, Fifteenth Regiment .* This regiment was recruited from Worcester County, and bore the same num- ber as the county regiment so noted in the Revolution. The other companies of the regiment came from Leominster, Fitchburg, Worcester, Oxford, Brookfield, Grafton, Webster, Northbridge and Blackstone. The regiment was placed under the command of Col. Charles Devens of Worcester, formerly major of Third Battalion of Rifles. George H. Ward of Worcester was made lieutenant-colonel, and John W. Kimball of Fitchburg, major. William G. Waters of Clinton was commissary sergeant. The remaining men of Company C, in addition to the sixty-three from Clinton, were for the most part recruited from Northboro, Lancaster
* For list of Clinton men in the Fifteenth, see Individual Record.
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IN CAMP AT WORCESTER.
and Worcester. There were three other Clinton men in the regiment. The average age of the Clinton men was about twenty-five years. Most of them were unmarried. They were not men of property. Andrew L. Fuller was the only one among them who paid a tax of forty dollars for 1861. Most of them, however, were employed in lucrative trades and received much better incomes than they could expect to get from military service. It is evident that, in general, they entered the army from patriotic motives and, in the Grand Army Memorial Record, we have the assertion to that effect of all who are now living in Clinton.
During the six weeks they spent in Camp Scott, Com- pany C, under the strict discipline of Captain Bowman, acquired a high reputation for skill in military tactics. In morality, they were surpassed by none. William J. Coulter, upon whose correspondence we shall largely rely for in- formation of the company during the next year, writing to the Courant on July 17th, says: "Not one member of the company has been confined in the guard-house." The boys frequently received delicacies from their friends at home, which added relish to their coarse, but plentiful rations.
The uniforms and equipments were slow in arriving, and were not all distributed until the company had been more than a month in camp. A flag was presented to the regi- ment by the ladies of Worcester, on August 7th. As Com- pany C was the color company of the regiment, the men of this company had the honor of carrying this flag, and one of its members said : "It is their firm purpose, if called upon to defend the flag that floats over them, to do it to the death." Willis A. Cook was color sergeant. At last, on the 8th of August, the regiment left Worcester for the front. The Worcester Spy says : "The long array of muskets borne by a thousand stalwart men presented a novel spectacle to the multitudes who thronged the sidewalks and filled almost every window and balcony on the street." The train of twenty-four long cars left the Common amid the parting
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FIFTEENTH, AND COMPANION REGIMENTS.
cheers of the vast throng that had gathered to bid them farewell.
While the Fifteenth was encamped in Worcester, the disastrous battle of Bull Run had been fought on the 21st of July, in answer to the importunate demand of the North for action. The defeat of the Union troops under McDowell, had taught the people of the loyal states, what the leaders of the army had before fully realized, that thorough disci- pline and organization were essential to success. On the day after that battle, George B. McClellan had been sum- moned from the scene of his successes in western Virginia to take command of the Army of the Potomac. When the Fifteenth was ordered forward, McClellan was devoting all his energies to changing a loose mass of raw recruits into an effective army. We must think of the Fifteenth, like all the other troops in the Army of the Potomac, as undergoing during the next six months such discipline as seemed to the commanders best fitted for making it a part of a smoothly- working machine.
The regiment was at first stationed at Camp Kalorama, which was some three miles from Washington. In about two weeks it was ordered to Poolesville, Maryland, to join General Charles Stone's "Corps of Observation." The march of thirty-five miles was made in two days and a half. The heat was intense and, as the men were unused to march- ing, they had a hard time of it. On the 29th of August, two days after their arrival, Company C, with Company A of Leominster, was ordered on picket duty on the banks of the Potomac, a few miles below Harper's Ferry. They were thus engaged for ten days. Although there was some firing across the river, no one'was injured. Oftentimes, conversation was carried on with the rebels, and once tobacco and papers were exchanged. Company C obtained a "contraband," "a right smart nigger," who having escaped from his master, was taken in charge by the company. He was nicknamed
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