USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 46
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We have already noted that eight of the new recruits enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Regiment and seven in the Fif- teenth. Two entered the navy. There were three who re- ceived town bounties at this time, of whom no record of service has been found. In the Thirty-fourth Regiment, eleven Clinton men were enrolled. Two other men, who were connected with Clinton, but enlisted elsewhere, joined this regiment. This Thirty-fourth Regiment was provided for by Governor Andrew's order of the 29th of May, 1862, before Lincoln's call for three hundred thousand more troops was issued. The first recruits arrived at Camp Gen. John E. Wool in Worcester, as early as June 13th, and the Courant of June 14th, speaks of recruiting being carried on in Clinton and vicinity. It was not, however, until the first of August, that the last of the eleven Clinton men were mustered into the regiment .* George D. Wells of Boston was made colonel; William S. Lincoln of Worcester, lieutenant-colonel ; and Henry Bowman of Clinton, major. The latter had not yet been exchanged, and, before the exchange was made, he had received another commission, so that he never served in the Thirty-fourth. The regiment left Worcester for Washington August 15th, and went into Camp Worcester, three miles from Alexandria. It took little part in any of the exciting scenes of the next few months, as it belonged to the forces to which the defence of the capital was assigned as a special duty. As Horatio E. Turner had been editor of the Courant, the people of Clinton were kept thoroughly informed of the doings of the Thirty-fourth through his interesting letters.
* See Individual Record.
576
CLINTON VOLUNTEERS.
The Thirty-sixth Regiment received thirty of the Clinton recruits,* twenty-five of whom enlisted in Company G. The regiment was organized in Worcester at Camp John E. Wool during the month of August. At first, the office of colonel was offered to Lieutenant-colonel John W. Kimball of the Fifteenth, but it was not thought best to separate him from the regiment, with which he had been so long connected, at so difficult a crisis. Much to the joy of the Clinton men, Henry Bowman was made colonel, and James H. Barker, major. S. Henry Bailey of Northboro was made captain of Company G. On August 30th, soon after Colonel Bowman arrived in camp, he received orders to have the regiment in readiness to set out September 2d. Furloughs had been promised the men before they left for the front, but they had not been granted. They were now hastily given and eagerly taken, yet nearly every man was ready to start on the morning of the appointed date. As had become cus- tomary, a flag was presented to the regiment. The friends of Colonel Bowman in Clinton presented him with a fine horse and its equipments.
The regiment embarked at Boston on the Merrimac, and reached Alexandria on the 6th. The following private letter, received from Colonel Bowman, shows the first move- ments of his command :
"CAMP FORBES, NEAR LEESBORO, MD., September 10, 1862. "My Dear Mr. Forbes:
"Here I am temporarily located with my regiment, in one of the most benighted places that it is possible to imagine. While at Alexandria, where we remained Saturday night, I was ordered to report to General Burnside at this place. On my arrival here, I found that the general, with his command, had left for a point some miles beyond. I go forward in the morning, leaving my command here, to
* See Individual Record.
577
THE THIRTY-SIXTH.
report, which will probably result in joining the general's command. The distance from Washington here is about eleven miles, over a road which was so dusty that I could not see the distance of three companies. We were on the road from half-past five o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon, the men marching with their knap- sacks. It is considered here a great march for men who have so recently taken the field, *
* and I really think it is grand for our first attempt. The rear guard, which is made up of the left flank company, and which always comes after the baggage train, was saved the disagreeable duty of pick- ing up the first thing in the form of equipments, or any article belonging to the men.
"Our train is made up of one ambulance and four baggage wagons. Our motive power consists of eighteen green mules, who never saw a harness until last Monday morning ; they were taken from a lot consisting of some three hundred. The catching and attaching them to the wagons was the most laughable performance I ever wit- nessed. * *
"I have taken the liberty of an order to the regiment naming this camp which we now occupy, and all camps which we may hereafter occupy, after yourself, trusting that it will meet with your approval.
"My experiment of giving furloughs to the men just be- fore leaving the state, was a perfect success, my first morning report giving only five short for the whole regiment -quite as small a per cent as regiments will average."
Notwithstanding the large number of enlistments, the quota of Clinton for the call of July 2d was not quite full, and there was much fear of a draft, although Clinton had sent, before the call was made, far more than her pro- portionate share of troops. This draft was ordered by the President for September 3d. C. G. Stevens was the commis- sioner for Worcester County. As this date approached,
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CLINTON VOLUNTEERS.
there was a remarkable increase in age among a certain class of people. One man, it is said, lived fourteen years in a single night ; another, ten. Diseases before unheard of, be- gan to abound. It was the worst season for chronic com- plaints ever known in our history. Anything to escape the draft ! There were one hundred and forty-three exempts in Clinton. The fatal date arrived, but the draft was postponed to the 17th. It was again postponed to October Ist, and again to October 15th, and finally Clinton escaped it al- together for a season.
At the same time, a vigorous effort was made to fill up the quota of nine months' men asked for under Lincoln's call for troops, August 4th. At a town meeting held August 23d, it was voted : "That the selectmen be authorized to pay the sum of $100 to each inhabitant of Clinton, who shall volun- teer and be mustered into the service of the United States as part of the quota of Clinton, for the nine months' service called for by the President, August 4, 1862, to the number of one hundred." At a citizens' meeting, held August 28th, at which C. G. Stevens presided, C. L. Swan offered ten dollars in addition to the bounty to the first five men who would enlist. J. H. Ring offered five more. J. H. Vose, who had been authorized by the selectmen to recruit a company for a Worcester County regiment, made the principal speech of the occasion. During the afternoon of September 6th, all places of business were closed in Clinton, cannons were fired, bells were rung, and the people gathered in H. N. Bigelow's grove, at the head of Church Street, in a grand patriotic meeting. Hon. A. H. Bullock gave an address. Thirty-five nine months' men enlisted before October from the town which had seemed already depleted of all its able-bodied young men .*
It may be well to pause here, and see how the record of Clinton up to this time compares with that of other towns
* See Individual Record.
THE TOWN HALL, WITH SOLDIERS' MONUMENT.
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579
OUR GLORIOUS RECORD.
in the state. It must be remembered that the Clinton of today is a much larger town than the Clinton of the war. In 1860, the population of the town was three thousand cight hundred and sixty-nine. In 1862, the total number of en- rolled citizens liable to military duty was four hundred and forty-six, of whom one hundred and forty-three were ex- empted on examination for the draft, leaving a total of only three hundred and three liable to military duty. The quota of Clinton, according to the report of the Adjutant-general, was one hundred and fifty-five, and the number of three years' men furnished previous to 1863 was two hundred and sixteen, figures that agree practically with those which have been given, if we make allowance for some eight men who enlisted from other states and were credited to Clinton. The town had thus furnished about one hundred and thirty-nine per cent. of her required quota. Natick, according to the same report, had furnished one hundred and forty-one per cent. of her required quota, but Natick furnished only two nine months' men, while Clinton furnished thirty-five. (The adjutant-general allows the town thirty-seven. )
If we say, then, that Clinton had furnished up to this time two hundred and fifty-two men, this gives the town a record of one hundred and sixty-one per cent. of her quota, or, if we reduce the time of service of the nine months' troops to a basis of three years' service, one. hundred and forty-five per cent. This gives Clinton a slight excess over Natick, and not another town in the state at this time approached these two. Natick's large enlistment came from the great enthusiasm awakened in raising the regiment of her famous citizen, Henry Wilson. For those who under- stand them aright, these figures are wonderfully eloquent. They show that Clinton in the time of the country's greatest need gave the service of her sons more freely than any other town of the Old Bay State, a state whose patriotism was surpassed by none.
Although the honor due to those who entered the army
580
CLINTON VOLUNTEERS.
cannot be overestimated, yet we should err greatly, if we deemed this glorious record of our town due solely to their self-sacrificing patriotism. Patriotism must be inspired, directed and organized before it can act. If the state of Massachusetts places among the foremost on the roll of its war heroes the names of John A. Andrew, Charles Sumner and Henry Wilson, the town of Clinton may well find a place on its rolls for the names of those who kept the fires of patriotism burning and by their efforts made it possible for so many men to leave their homes and enter the army.
We are told that corporations have no souls. But during the war the Lancaster Mills corporation did have a soul, a soul instinct with patriotism, and that soul was Franklin Forbes. Every man in the mills knew that the volunteer would be specially honored; that, if possible, his place would be kept for him until his term of service was over; that every facility would be given to his family for securing sup- port, and that if the worst came to worst, his dear ones would never suffer from want while the blood ran warm in the heart of the agent. Not only in the mills, but throughout the town was his potent influence felt. How often did his ring- ing words arouse men to action ; how often did his generous gifts inspire to patriotic charity; how often did his sagacious counsels lead in the paths of wisdom. Franklin Forbes had many characteristics in common with Joseph Warren of Revolutionary fame. He had the same broad-minded patriotism, fed through liberal culture from all the glorious examples of history ; he had the same philosophic mind which sees the principles underlying facts and can forecast the future from the experience of the past; he had the same executive ability which can change ideas into realities; he had the same burning zeal, ever forgetful of self. We are told that he was scarcely able to be restrained from going to the front where, like Warren at Bunker Hill, he would gladly have laid down his life for his country. Since then he worked no less zealously and no less effectively for the good
FRANKLIN FORBES.
581
of the country than the bravest and ablest who entered the army, let us find some place for his name upon our roll of honor.
And not for his alone, for there were many other men who were obliged to stay at home, who gave without stint of their means and energies. And the women! What sacrifices they paiently endured, nay, eagerly sought ! Sacri- fices as great as those made by their soldier husbands and brothers. The very air of Clinton was electric with patriot- ism. Currents passed from soul to soul, and the zeal of each drew strength from the zeal of all. Hence our glorious record.
CHAPTER XXXV.
FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG.
IN the early autumn of 1862, we find the Clinton troops gathering from various quarters to the banks of the Potomac to help repel the threatened invasion; the men of the Twenty-first from their successes in North Carolina; the men of the Fifteenth and its companion regiments from the dis- appointed hopes of the Peninsular ; the new recruits of the Fifteenth, Thirty-fourth and Thirty-sixth fresh from their northern homes. In all, there may have been a hundred Clinton men on actual duty in the converging forces.
The great drama opened with the defeat of the Army of Virginia under General Pope. When Jackson gained the victory of Cedar Mountain, the Second Regiment with its three Clinton men, was in the discomforted army of Banks. The cautious Halleck, who was then in command at Wash- ington, diverted Burnside's reënforcements intended for the Army of the Potomac to the aid of Pope, and ordered McClellan to hasten to the defence of the capitol. McClellan's withdrawal from before Richmond, gave Lee his opportunity to join Jackson and thus unite the rebel forces in Virginia against Pope before McClellan's troops could join him.
When the blow fell at Manassas Junction on August 29th and 30th, the Twenty-first was present. Under the command of General Reno, this regiment, with the Fifty-first Penn- sylvania and Fifty-first New York, formed the rear guard, and at the close of the second day ably repulsed three successive charges by large forces of the enemy, and thus
583
CHANTILLY.
saved the retreat from being turned into a rout. It was here that Corporal John Quinn was wounded in the arm.
Two days after, our Clinton men of the same regiment were among the victims of the terrible blunder at Chantilly. The Fifty-first New York had been commanded to advance a short distance into the woods and wait for further orders. A little later, the Twenty-first Massachusetts was ordered to follow. As the early darkness was being hastened by a thick thunder cloud, the Twenty-first lost its way and passed by the New York regiment. After struggling through the woods with broken lines, the men suddenly found themselves within twenty yards of a large body of troops. They speedily formed the lines, doubtful whether they had met friend or foe. "Then," says one of their number, "while most of our poor fellows were standing with their guns at the shoulder, one of the deadliest volleys ever fired rolled upon us from our right and front. In the sudden anguish and despair of the moment, the whole regiment seemed to be lying bleeding on the ground; indeed, almost every man who had stood in the more open spaces of the wood, did fall ; yet there still was a Twenty-first, and a Twenty-first that could fight ; some standing still in line, some from be- hind the trees, we opened fire on our brutal enemy." The rain, however, hindered the use of their guns, and they were obliged to retire. On the list of wounded, we find the names of William Cohen, Patrick Malony and Patrick Meehan of Company B, and it was here that John McRobie lost his arm. The Second Regiment, though present at Manassas and Chantilly, had little fighting to do, and no Clinton names appear in the list of those who suffered.
Pope's disasters, and the evident need that all move- ments should be directed by a single head, forced the authorities at Washington to place McClellan in command. He at once began to bring order out of confusion .* When
* In the army of McClellan, as organized September 14th, we find from Clinton: In the right wing, Ninth Army Corps, Second Division,
584
FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG.
Lee passed into Maryland, McCle.lan, through his own de- lays and those of Franklin, lost the opportunity of destroy- ing the rebel army in detail, presented to him through his knowledge of Lee's plans. Having fought with only a doubtful degree of success the two battles of South Mountain, in which the Twenty-first and Seventh were engaged, with- out casualties to Clinton men, he finally met the reunited troops of Lee on nearly equal terms at Antietam.
In this battle, all that remained of the Clinton troops in the Second, Seventh, Ninth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, Nine- teenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty- eighth Massachusetts Regiments were engaged. Although these numbered ninety-three on the rolls, yet it is probable that not more than sixty were on the field, as Company B of the Twenty-first was detailed for duty elsewhere on that day, and many of the Ball's Bluff prisoners from the Fifteenth were not yet exchanged. The First Cavalry, with its three men from Clinton, was present, but not severely engaged. The Thirty-sixth, with its thirty men from Clinton, was near at hand, and was prevented from being in action by a mistake of Colonel Bowman's. On the 15th of September, he received a scrap of paper with an order scrawled upon it in pencil, purporting to come from General McClellan, commanding all the troops to go forward as
Second Brigade, the Twenty-first Massachusetts, seventeen Clinton men. In the centre, Second Army Corps, First Division, Second Brigade, the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, one Clinton man; Second Division, First Brigade, the Fifteenth Massachusetts, sixty-two Clinton men; Third Brigade, the Nineteenth Massachusetts, two Clinton men, and the Twentieth, one Clinton man; Twelfth Army Corps, First Division, Third Brigade, the Second Massachusetts, four Clinton men. In the left wing, Sixth Army Corps, Third Division, First Brigade, the Seventh Massa- chusetts, one Clinton man; the Fifth Army Corps, First Division, First Brigade, the Twenty-second Massachusetts, two Clinton men; Second Brigade, Ninth Massachusetts, three Clinton men. This gives a possible total of ninety-three Clinton men, provided every man of those who had enlisted and had not died or been discharged was in active service.
585
ΑΝΤΙΕΤΑΜ.
rapidly as possible. The colonel did not believe this order to be genuine and waited further developments and, thus, the Thirty-sixth was kept from the battle. The Thirty- fourth was in the force near Washington.
It will be remembered that it was Mcclellan's plan to attack the rebel left with the Union right, supported by such of the centre as should be necessary, and, as soon as success seemed probable, to move the Union left against the rebel right and, according to the success of these movements, to push forward his centre. On McClellan's right, Hooker with the First Army Corps advanced, and, after his troops had been used up, Mansfield with the Twelfth Corps (three Clinton men), followed, too late to help Hooker. His troops, in their turn, had lost all effective force before Sumner's Second Corps appeared. As the majority of the Clinton men engaged were in this corps, in Sedgwick's Division, in the Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Regi- ments, let us follow more minutely the advance of this body. Sedgwick's Second Division advances first, with Gorman's Brigade in the lead. The troops cross the stream, pass through the woods, through a field of high corn, over the pike, by Dunker's Church, where Hooker's wounded and dying lay. Suddenly a withering fire is opened upon them. French and Richardson were supposed to follow immediately after, so that they and Sedgwick might attack together and present a line of sufficient length to prevent the enemy from getting on their left, as they moved toward the right, where they expected to join Hooker and Mansfield. But, as has already been said, the First and Twelfth Corps had ceased to exist as an effective force, so that Sedgwick's Division practically formed the extreme right, and the other divisions of the Second Corps being delayed, Sedgwick was left alone with his three brigades to meet ten brigades of the rebels.
The position is this : Our men are on an elevation; across a small valley, in front, is the artillery of the enemy on an- other ridge. On the slope of this ridge there is a farm-liouse,
39
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FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG.
a barn and many stacks of corn, which offer protection to the rebels. The Union lines are rapidly re-formed under fire, and Gorman's Brigade is on the left, the Fifteenth to the left of the brigade, and Company C on the left of the Fifteenth. You will remember that French was supposed to be close at the left of Sedgwick, but he was not there. The enemy take the advantage thus offered and a large force of the rebels is seen advancing from the left upon the flank. They halt in a ravine. Company C, being on the extreme left, is exposed beyond all others. The rebels fire up hill and therefore can aim effectually, while our boys naturally fire over their heads and accomplish little. Meanwhile, the fire never ceases from the front. Under this cross-fire the air is full of bullets bearing their messages of death. Here is the highest test of courage. In the charge, a wild exulta- tion of spirit sweeps men onward, but to stand unmoved in the midst of certain defeat with comrades falling around like grass under the scythe of the mower, this requires a courage which has in it something that is godlike. In twenty min- utes, from the sixty-eight members of Company C, three have been killed, two taken prisoners and forty-one wounded. Yet the little remnant stand, loading and firing as coolly as upon the field of parade. Finally, Sumner is informed of the situation, and Major Kimball receives orders to move to the right as soon as possible. This is done in perfect order. Sedgwick told Devens the next day, "Your old Fifteenth was magnificent yesterday; no regiment in the regular army ever fought better."
Although the victory at Antietam was afterwards ours, the Fifteenth, and especially Company C, had again been sacrificed to a mistake. Perhaps a little over forty Clinton men entered the fight in the Fifteenth Regiment. Of these, three were killed outright: Zadoc C. Batterson, John Frazer, and Charles E. Holbrook. Two more, Leonard M. Towsley and William Eccles, died soon after, from wounds received in this battle. Hiram A. Chambers, a Clinton man credited
587
LOSSES.
to Worcester, was among the killed. Waldo B. Maynard, a Clinton man credited to Northboro, was wounded so that he soon died. Nineteen others were wounded, more or less seriously: Thomas H. Burgess, John E. Carruth, Thomas Caulfield, Trustum D. Dexter, Joseph S. Dickson, Isaac P. Connig, Charles Frazer, Gustave Graichen, Charles H. Hap- good, Henry B. Holman, Gilman W. Laythe, Oren A. Laythe, Alexander Lord, Theodore E. Lowe, Joseph E. Miner, Her- vey B. Olcott, George F. Osgood, Otis S. Osgood, Alfred Smith. Two were taken prisoners: George F. Osgood and Thomas Caulfield. Not more than one-third of those who went on to the field came back uninjured. Of the seven Clinton recruits, who had just joined the company, every one suffered.
On the Union left, Burnside, with the Ninth Corps, was ordered to carry the stone bridge between himself and the enemy. The carrying out of this order was long delayed, but was at last intrusted to the brigade of General Crook, with the division of Sturgis as a supporting column. The Twenty-first Massachusetts was in this division. Sturgis reached the bridge before Crook, as the latter had lost his way. This division carried the bridge. At this time, the regiment lost about one-third of its men. Here, Patrick Burke of Company E was wounded in the leg, Luther E. Stewart of Company G was wounded in the face, and Charles R. Renner of Company F, in the head. Gilbert A. Cheney of the Second, a Clinton man credited to Newton, also re- ceived a wound here from which he died in October.
The news of the battle of Antietam, with the slowly arriv- ing record of killed and wounded, caused the deepest anxiety and grief in Clinton. Dr. G. M. Morse was sent by the Sol- diers' Aid Society to look after the wounded soldiers and to forward to their homes the bodies of the dead. If we would adequately realize the sacrifices of the war, we must follow the wounded to the hospitals and must see them as their flesh quivers under the steel of the surgeon or festers with gan-
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FROM ANTIETAM TO GETTYSBURG.
grene; we must see them tossing with the fever or slowly wasting away; we must stand by the bedside of the dying; we must enter the northern homes and see the aged mother as she reads the list of the dead, expecting that the next name may be that of her only son; we must see the wife as she strives to reach her wounded husband whom death may claim ere the slow steam can bring her to his side; we must see the widow as she hopelessly mourns her loss.
In a letter written on the 5th of October, from Bolivar Heights, to the Courant, William J. Coulter said: "Company C at the present time numbers seventeen men for duty, in- cluding drummer and bugler. Any one would not recognize in it the 'Clinton Light Guard' of old, who about five months since encamped on these same heights and almost on the same ground they occupy now. Things have changed won- derfully since last March. The company was nearly full then, and each man was confident of at least seeing an end put to this rebellion, if nothing more, by the coming fall. * Now, they see a prospect of being in the service dur-
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