USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Clinton > History of the origin of the town of Clinton, Massachusetts, 1653-1865 > Part 48
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While the Thirty-sixth was in Mississippi, the Fifty-third, with its thirty-one Clinton men, was also in the Mississippi Valley. All but three of these men belonged in Company I. The other members of the company were mostly from Lancaster and Ashburnham. George A. Barrett of Ash- burnham was the first captain of the company.
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IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
No recruits who had gone out from Clinton since the Light Guard departed, were the object of more general interest than these nine months' men. At the time of his enlistment, Lieutenant Vose was the Master of Trinity Lodge, which presented him with a sword, sash and belt. In making the presentation speech, Dr. G. W. Burdett said among other things : "We have but recently called you to be master of our lodge; you were selected for the highest office in this body because we believed you had wisdom to govern and control. But, sir, you have heard another call, more holy, more sacred, than ours. Your noble and gen- erous heart most promptly responded to the demand of your country. As we have already given four of our worthy brothers for the defence of our insulted and bleeding country, who have honored well their stations and in return have been honored by a grateful nation, so, too, now, do we cheerfully give another, in full confidence that whatever may be assigned you, will be well done."
Colonel John W. Kimball took command of the Fifty- third November 29th, to the great satisfaction of all its members. Captain Barrett of Company I was made lieu- tenant-colonel, and James A. Pratt, major. Edward R. Washburn of Lancaster, was promoted to the command of Company I. Josiah H. Vose was made first-lieutenant, and William T. Freeman, second-lieutenant. The commissions were given November 8th, but the muster did not occur until December.
The regiment was ordered to report to General Banks in New York, so that it might be in readiness to embark on the expedition to the Mississippi for which it was destined. It reached New York, November 30, 1862, and was sent to Camp Banks on Long Island. Here, the men had no other shelter than was given by their tents, and suffered extremely from the cold. They were soon transferred to Franklin Street Barracks in New York, but here the rations and accom- modations were so poor, that a riot arose. The conduct of
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THE VOYAGE.
Lieutenant Vose in bearing all these discomforts with his men, while most of the officers of other companies lived in luxury, letting their men suffer alone, greatly endeared him to the soldiers in his charge.
It was not until the 17th of January, that the regiment left New York. The voyage in the steamer Continental was a stormy one, and it was twelve days before New Orleans was reached. The following notes of the voyage were made by Robert Orr, one of our Clinton men: "Just one week from the time of leaving New York, the men were awakened in the early morning by the stopping of the engine, and by looking through the small 'dead lights,' they saw, as if in a frame, a beautiful tropical picture, such as a Northener may dream of but seldom see. There was a quick rush for the deck, and it seemed as if heaven must have opened to their view. Palm trees, orange and lemon trees in full fruit, with bananas, and all the lush foliage of the tropics met their gaze, and filled them with surprise and delight. * ** An early start was effected on the morning following ; and scarcely had the low-lying land of Key West dropped into the ocean, before a tropical thunder storm passed over us. This had scarcely cleared, when directly dead ahead was seen coming toward the steamer one of those sudden-rising storms peculiar to the Gulf of Mexico. A solid wall of water was rolling and tumbling towards us, seemingly threatening to swallow everything in its path. A rush was made by the crew to house the sails, which had been spread to aid the steam in its work, but not quite quick enough to save two of the spars, which snapped like pipe-stems as the storm struck. * * But all things must come to an end, and the storm finally quieted; the staunch vessel proceeded on her way, and soon the men knew they were in the Mississippi River. The ship soon passed Forts St. Phillip and Jackson, the scene of Farragut's famous engagement, and in due time cast anchor in midstream opposite New Orleans."
The regiment encamped at Carrollton, some six miles
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IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
from the city. It was assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division. The brigade was in command of Colonel Gooding, the division of General Emory. March 6th, the regiment embarked on the steamer, Crescent, for Baton Rouge. It went into camp four miles above the city in a beautiful mag- nolia grove. On the 12th, there was a reconnoitering expe- dition, and the pickets of the enemy were driven in. The next day, the regiment set out for Port Hudson to distract the attention of the rebels, while Commodore Farragut passed the batteries with his gunboats. On the night of the 14th, the regiment encamped three miles from Port Hudson and the next day, since everything had been accomplished for which the expedition had been made, they returned toward Baton Rouge.
On the Ist of April, the regiment went down by boat to Algiers, opposite New Orleans. On the 9th, it took the cars for Brashear City, where it started with other troops on an expedition into the Têche country for the purpose of clear- ing out any rebels who might be there. Shooting at alliga- tors from the cars furnished great amusement to the soldiers as they rode through the cypress swamps. On the 12th, the regiment met and pushed back the rebel skirmishing line, and approached the main works, which were some eight miles from Pattersonville. Then, came an artillery engage- ment with the regiment in support, lasting until night. The notes of Robert Orr give the following account of the part taken by the Fifty-third in the battle of Bisland or Irish Bend, which followed during the next two days: "Soon, the right wing of the Fifty-third was directed to advance, while the remaining companies were placed in support of a battery which had been moved from the opposite side of the Têche, and was now engaged in shelling the enemy's works, right over the heads of the assaulting column. Being soon re- lieved from this position, the left wing of the regiment ad- vanced, and were soon in the thick of the fracas. A steady, rapid fire was being delivered from both sides, and its effect
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PORT HUDSON.
was seen as men slightly wounded sought the rear, and those more severely hurt were passed in the advance. The drift- ing of the men to the rear, who had been earliest in the fight, and whose ammunition had become exhausted, soon left the Fifty-third at the front; and as night had begun to fall, the firing gradually ceased. But two ditches intervened between them and the works of the enemy. They were ordered to fall back to the last one occupied, and established there the picket-line. The enemy were heard quietly taking posses- sion of the one nearest their works. The men were utterly exhausted from lack of sleep and the labor and nervous strain of the day, and it required the constant efforts of the officers to keep them awake, although the enemy was so near." Charles H. Thurman of Clinton was killed in the battle.
The pursuit of the retreating rebels took the army to Opelousas, where it stayed for two weeks. May 5th, the troops started for Alexandria, one hundred miles away. This march took only four days. Then, the regiment pro- ceeded rapidly back toward Port Hudson, and rejoined the brigade May 23d. On May 27th, the regiment took part in the attack made on Port Hudson. At first, it acted as a sup- port to the Thirty-eighth Massachusetts, but later, it was moved forward to the skirmishing line within two hundred feet of the rebel intrenchment. Here, under the brow of a hill, it was under fire from sharpshooters for twenty-four hours. June 5th, the regiment went some thirty miles to Clinton, Louisiana, to scatter a band of rebel cavalry which was troubling communications. This was accomplished without other casualties than came from the intense heat and the fatiguing march.
June 14th, was the most memorable day in the history of the regiment, for on this day it made a most heroic and fatal charge on the fortifications of the enemy. The official report of Colonel Kimball thus describes the assault : "At about fif- teen minutes past four o'clock orders came to advance in quick time upon the enemy's works, supporting the Thirty-
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İN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
eighth, who were following a line of skirmishers. They pressed steadily forward, keeping as good a line as the nature of the ground, ravines and fallen trees would admit, until the center had reached to within twenty yards of the works, when we came upon the first line of skirmishers, who had been repulsed and were holding this position. At this junc- ture, General Paine came up, and after examination of the line, gave the order 'to charge forward and into the works.' I immediately repeated the order to my regiment, which sprang forward with an alacrity and determination worthy of veterans, some of the men reaching the works and falling at the ditch, while others entered and were captured. At this time, General Paine fell severely wounded, as did many of my best officers. The fire of the enemy was now so terrible that it was impossible to advance the men under it, and we maintained our position close up to the works during the day, keeping up a fire upon the enemy, receiving no orders until about ten o'clock in the afternoon, when I was ordered to withdraw and return to my position of the morning, being the last regiment to leave the field. I was able to get off all my wounded and most of the dead. The sufferings of the men through this day were severe in the extreme, lying in the hot sun, with no shelter; out of water, and no chance of obtaining a supply, many of them lying in a position where any attempt on their part to move would subject them to the well-directed fire of the enemy's sharpshooters, rendering their condition very critical. They uttered no word of com- plaint, but all-the wounded and well-bore their trials with the fortitude of martyrs."
In this battle, Thomas Roberts fell, and Lieutenant Josiah H. Vose, Corporal Charles W. Moore, Thomas W. Belcher, Patrick Coyle, Charles Hoffman, Robert Orr, Patrick Owens and Thomas W. Reid were wounded. Lieutenant J. H. Vose died from the effect of his wound, June 17th. We have seen him as the superintendent of the Clinton Company, as a member of the school committee and a leader in many
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THIRD CAVALRY.
departments of local affairs. He was so well known and so universally loved, that the intelligence of his death filled the town with gloom. His funeral service marks the moment of deepest solemnity in Clinton throughout the war.
After the supreme effort of June 14th, the regiment rested until June 19th. Then, it went to the front again in support of a battery, where it remained until the surrender of the city, July 9th. On July 11th, the regiment went toward Baton Rouge. On the 15th, it was at Donaldsonville. August 2d, it returned to Baton Rouge. August 12th, it started for home by way of Cairo, Illinois. It reached Fitch- burg, August 24th, and the twenty-three Clinton men, who remained in the ranks, were mustered out September 2d at Camp Stevens in Groton. In order that we may appreciate the work of these men we must remember not only the num- ber of killed and wounded, but also the amount of disease which prevailed among them. Perhaps, the men of this regi- ment brought home the seeds of ill-health implanted in their systems to as great an extent as the men of most three years' regiments. Some have died, and many have suffered from that time to this from diseases then incurred.
No other Clinton men fought in any considerable num- bers in the Valley of the Mississippi during the war, except those of the Third Massachusetts Cavalry and one man in the Second Light Battery, who were with Banks in the Red River Expedition of 1864. There were eleven Clinton men in the Third Cavalry. On the 20th of March, we find these eleven men near Alexandria on the Red River. From this time, until the 20th of May, they were engaged in almost constant skirmishing with the enemy. The fighting at Mans- field and Pleasant Hill, sometimes known as "Sabine Cross Roads," on April 8th and 9th, was their most important en- gagement. Here, the regiment lost seventy-three men, although we have no record of casualties in the case of any Clinton man of this regiment. Thomas Caulfield, originally of the Fifteenth, but since January 16, 1864, of the Massa-
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ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES.
chusetts Second Light Battery, was wounded here and made a prisoner. During the latter part of May and the whole of June, the Third Cavalry rested from the disastrous campaign at Morganza Bend on the Mississippi. Here, on the 19th of June, Joseph Hall died. On June 25th, the regiment was dismounted and armed as infantry. On July 15, 1864, it set out for Fortress Monroe.
After the enlistment of the nine months' men in the sum- mer and early fall of 1862, there was no recruiting done in Clinton for a long time. The only enlistment known to have been made before the following summer was that of John W. Freeman, who entered service February 27, 1863, as a seaman on the ship, Mercidita. He was the only Clinton man in the navy of whom any casualties are recorded. He was wounded in the leg off Wilmington, N. C., November 7, 1863, and was discharged February 1, 1864.
The ill-success of our arms in the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville campaigns offered little encouragement for recruiting in a community, where all the most patriotic young men who were able to go, were already in the field. Moreover, the fear of a draft, which had been to some a strong inducement to help on recruiting from the town as a whole, now lost its effective force in this direction, since it had been decided that the town was responsible for a certain number of men on each new call for troops, notwithstanding it had furnished an excess over the demand in the calls taken as a whole. There was much ill-feeling over this matter, as it had always been supposed by the town authorities on the assurance of the adjutant-general of the state, that full credit would be received for all men furnished by Clinton in excess of her quota, as a satisfaction of future demands, made in advance. Thus, notwithstanding its surplus, this town was subject to the draft of July, 1863, as well as the other towns of the state that had no surplus.
Our quota was eighty-seven, and this number of men
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THE DRAFT.
were drawn and went to Greenfield for examination. J. D. Hayes acted as marshal. When they appeared before the United States Commissioners, eighteen were accepted and sixty-nine were rejected from various causes, such as disa- bility, being aliens, and possibly under the plea of being the only sons of widows or of infirm and aged parents.
None of the eighteen accepted* served personally, but each paid a commutation fee of three hundred dollars. Some of these were willing, since they could not go them- selves, to send others to take their places, while others paid their money in the vain hope that it would be returned when the proper credit had been given to the town for its volun- teers. After repeated attempts to have our state authorities credit our volunteers as they should, Elisha Brimhall, one of our selectmen, and A. L. Fuller, as representatives of the town, went to Washington and laid the matter before Presi- dent Lincoln in person. From this time on, although other towns were subject to the draft, Clinton was exempt.
The close of 1863 and the beginning of 1864 proved a third period of numerous enlistments, about seventy recruits being added to the credit of the town at this time through veteran re-enlistment and fresh volunteering. Most of these, who enlisted from Clinton, entered the artillery or cavalry. Of those who entered the infantry, six went into the Thirty- fourth* in December, 1863, and January, 1864, and one to the Fifteenth*, in March, 1864. Between the summer of 1863 and that of 1864, the Second Heavy Artillery received twelve men from Clinton .* A large proportion of these had only just reached the age of admission to the army. The four from Clinton, who enlisted in the Third Heavy Ar- tillery, were earlier in the field than most of those of the Second, for they were mustered in August and September of 1863 .* The Third Regiment of Cavalry was mustered January 5, 1864, and contained eleven Clinton men .* The Fourth Regiment of Cavalry, containing thirteen Clinton
* See Individual Record.
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ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES.
men, was mustered January 6, 1864 .* In the Fifth Cavalry we find one Clinton man.
This gives us a total of fifty-one new enlistments to add to the two hundred and sixteen already recorded. If we add to these the thirty-two re-enlistments from the field, most of which took place about the beginning of 1864, and the eighteen who paid commutation fees, we have three hundred and seventeen, or, with the thirty-five nine months' men and one three months' man, three hundred and fifty-three. In the summer of 1864, nine men enlisted for one hundred days in the Sixtieth Regiment .* These men went to Washington, and afterwards to Indianapolis, where they did good service in warding off the danger apprehended from the secret dis- loyal organizations, which had their headquarters in this city. They also helped in guarding rebel prisoners. Here Ezra K. Bartlett died October 10, 1864. One enlisted in the Forty- second, also a hundred days' regiment; another in the Sixty- first, a one year's regiment, and one in the regular army, Engineer Corps. Massachusetts received credit for a cer- tain number of men who enlisted in the navy. These were divided between the towns. Clinton received twenty-two men as its proportion. These men never lived here or had any other connection with our town than comes from this credit, yet Clinton would be held responsible for their sup- port if they became paupers and had secured no residence elsewhere since the war.
In the report of the adjutant-general, Clinton received credit for furnishing four hundred and nineteen men for the war, a surplus of forty-eight over all demands. A study of the Individual Record will show that this number is approx- imately accounted for, if we include those who served for the shortest time, allowing for all re-enlistments, together with those who were credited from commutation, and from bounties paid claimed by the town, also those who had their
* See Individual Record.
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EXPENSES OF THE WAR.
homes here and enlisted elsewhere, and substitutes sent by our citizens. The adjutant-general states that twenty-one of the four hundred and nineteen were commissioned officers. This is somewhat in excess of the average proportion of officers to enlisted men.
Of this number enlisted, seventy died during the contest. Of this seventy, about half were killed in battles or died from the effects of wounds; the latter number is so un- certain that it is left indefinite. Eight died in rebel prisons. The others, for the most part, died from diseases caused by the service. Of the other three hundred and seventeen, for we must allow thirty-two for re-enlistments, over half were discharged for disability and fully three-fourths received permanent injuries from the service, either as the result of wounds or of chronic diseases incurred.
The adjutant-general, summarizing expenses, states that fourteen thousand forty-three dollars and thirteen cents were appropriated and expended by the town in addition to state aid. Private subscriptions are reported to have amounted to nine thousand dollars more, making a total expenditure of twenty-three thousand forty-three dollars and thirteen cents. The amount of state aid paid by the town, and afterwards refunded by the commonwealth, was thirty-six thousand one hundred and seventy-one dollars and twenty-eight cents. It is not to be supposed that the pecuniary cost of the war to the people of the town can be estimated by the amount of expenditures stated. We must also take into account the loss of work by the citizens and the increased price of living. Besides all this, we are still paying, as we have been for thirty-five years, through indirect taxation, the national debt and interest thereon incurred by the war and the pensions bestowed upon those who participated therein. The indirect tax has already amounted for the people of the town to many times the sum directly appropriated by the town in its corporate capacity during the time the war was going on.
In order that we may appreciate the sacrifices of those
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ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES.
who remained at home, we must realize that the expenses were paid and obligations undertaken when there was the greatest depression of business. In the month of August, 1862, the Courant says: "Not a man, woman or child in Clinton need be told that times are hard. They all know it; they all understand it. The fact haunts us in our dreams and is ever present by day. * Cotton manufacturers and employers bewail the severity of the times as resulting from the almost fabulous prices at which cotton as a raw material is quoted."
Merchants were often obliged to close up business on account of the large amount of bills that could not be collected from honest but impoverished debtors. The average cost of groceries and articles of dress had increased threefold, while the incomes of the majority of our people had been decreased. From the fact that the times were harder in Clinton than elsewhere, our population decreased so that there was a falling off of eleven per cent. in the num- ber of children between five and fifteen years old in the two years preceding February, 1864.
The stopping of the publishing of the Clinton Courant in December, 1862, shows the hardness of the times, since the community could no longer support a local paper. Yet there were already signs that this depression was being relieved. Although the prices of raw materials were still at their highest, and manufacturers feared to purchase lest the price should grow less before the goods were off their hands, yet the needs of the country at large became so imperative, that orders kept ahead of work, and thus the risk was removed. Our Clinton corporations did not gain that ad- vantage from rise of prices that made more venturesome business concerns in other places suddenly wealthy.
The work of the Clinton Soldiers' Aid Society was continued throughout the war, and its rooms were opened every week day. There was an average attendance of about ten each day from the date of opening in August, 1862, to the
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CLINTON SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY.
close of the war. Whenever any more important engage- ment had occurred, or for any reason the needs of the soldiers in the field or hospitals became more urgent, the numbers were greatly increased, and whenever there was less of need the attendance dropped off. A great variety of articles was made by the members of the society, either at their rooms or at home. The children, too, were often called upon to pick lint or make patchwork. All worked zealously, and there were none who were so devoid of patriotism or of pity for the suffering that they refused to do their part.
When a box was to be sent, everybody contributed, and a most miscellaneous lot of articles were gathered. Here is a random list taken from the society accounts: Magazines and newspapers, delaine for quilt, two pieces calico for dressing- gowns, four jars pickles, seven bags dried apples, table linen, lint, two pairs socks, seven shirts, four sheets, six shirts, two shirts, two bottles wine, one bag hops, two cans jelly, four pounds cocoa, two pounds maizena, two pounds rice, one pound maizena, three bottles wine, three pillows, three slings for the arm, one pair drawers, one pair socks, five quilts. One box that was sent during Grant's advance on Richmond was so heavy that it could scarcely be loaded upon the wagon.
In the latter part of the war, the boxes were sent through the Sanitary Commission, and extracts from some of the letters received from its officers may best reveal the good accomplished by the society :
"I have much pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of another box from the Clinton Soldiers' Aid Society. The delay that you speak of in filling it is certainly more than compensated for by the excellence as well as the quantity of the contributions. The ladies who opened the box were loud in their praise of its contents. They seemed to think they never had seen so many beautifully knit socks before."
" Please accept for yourself and our friends in Clinton our hearty thanks for your acceptable donations of wines and
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ENLISTMENTS AND FINANCES.
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