USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 36
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JOHN KELLEHER.
John Kelleher was born in Ireland. He enlisted in the Forty-eighth, Company E, as a nine months' man, and was at Camp Lander until the re- moval of the troops, first to Readville, and shortly after to New York, and thence, on the 2d of January following, by water to New Orleans. He was at Port Hudson in the memorable attaek upon that place, and fired about twenty-five rounds, as he thinks. The station of the Forty-eighth was im- mediately under the guns of the fort.
THOMAS MAHONY.
Thomas Mahony was born in Ireland. He enlisted in the Forty-eighth Regiment, Company E, and at the same time with other members from Essex. Mr. M. continued with the company all the way to Port Hudson, so that his history, like that of Mr. Kelleher last mentioned, is involved in theirs, and has already to a considerable extent been told, or will be found elosely con- nected with that of Marston, Kimball and Lamont G. Burnham.
CHARLES P. CROCKETT.
Charles P. Crockett's personal history is lost, except to his friends at a distance, and beyond our reach. It is known, however, that he enlisted in Company E, Capt. Howes of the Forty-eighth, Col. Stone. The occasional allusions to him in the sketch by Capt. Howes and others, furnish the melan- eholy facts of his illness and death on the banks of the Mississippi, while en- gaged in the line of his duty.
JAMES B. KIMBALL.
James B. Kimball was a member of the Massachusetts Forty-eighth, Col. Stone, and of Company E, Capt. Howes. Mr. Kimball was detailed with nine others, for the hospital department, on January 1, 1863, and thereby made non-combatant. When not engaged in the duties of this office, the members of this eorps have opportunity for making observations upon pass- ing events more extensively and accurately than officers or soldiers ean gen- erally do. Mr. K. was wide awake to his advantages in this respect, and not slow to improve them. Officially, the ten men in the hospital service are familiar chiefly with surgical instruments, tourniquets, bandages, lint, stretchers and quinine, and a part of their active duty consists in placing wounded men upon stretchers and carrying them to the surgeons in the rear. This implement is believed to be somewhat modern as it is now used, and may be described as consisting of two side-pieces of wood, corresponding to a farmer's hay poles, but connected with a saeking bottom upon which the wounded man is laid. One soldier at each end carries the load with ease. But a preliminary duty is frequently to apply the lint, the bandage, and
381
JAMES B. KIMBALL'S SKETCHI.
1861-1865.]
finally the tourniquet, used to stop blood with. Mr. Kimball early noticed the difference in different men, with regard to the ability to bear heavy surgi- cal operations-some resolutely declining chloroform, though it was always at hand, and declining also to be strapped to the table. He has seen men hold out a right arm to the surgeon and suffer the amputation, not only with- out wincing, but almost with the fortitude of Covey, the English marine, who, after losing both legs by a chain shot, called out to a comrade, "Shove them . along here, and let me have one more kick at the French before I go for 't." Mr. K. was captured by the rebels in May, and was with them forty-nine days, when Port Hudson capitulated. Of the style of living among the rebels Mr. K. is fully competent to speak. It has been remarked by others, that had Vicksburg not fallen, and had a supply of provisions been obtained, we might have knocked at the door of Port Hudson in vain. Any assault might have been attempted with terrible slaughter. "We were allowed four ears of Indian corn per day only," says he, "and yet we fared as well as the rebels. This corn was frequently musty, and whether eaten raw, or as cracked corn, or boiled in lye and made into samp, so called, it was far from being wholesome, pro- ducing diarrhea, though perhaps not in a very aggravated form." He lost twenty-two and a half pounds of flesh in forty-nine days.
Our army took possession of Port Hudson on the 8th of July, when Mr. K. was relieved and returned home with the other nine months' men, their time of service having now expired. Mr. Kimball's experience in the hospitals en- ables him to speak upon matters connected with that department, and his ob- servation in many things has led to the same results at which surgeons them- selves have usually arrived. As before stated, he remarked the usual absence of pain in gun-shot wounds. The exceptions usually made by surgeons are in cases of injury to the joints. Surgical operations among the rebels, so far as witnessed by him, were as skillfully performed as in our own army. One of the evils incident to war, is the impossibility of attending to cases in season. Theophilus Pousley of Salem was taken at the same time Mr. Kimball was. He was wounded by a shell in the leg, taking off all the fleshy part. It was in the afternoon that the injury was inflicted, and his case could not be reached till the next day, when it was too late, his death having taken place in the morning.
Our army, as Mr. K. states, and as agrees with the printed reports, having fought for nine hours at Plain Store, on the 21st of May, made three other distinct charges upon the rebels during the siege. Although our soldiers in the excavation in front of the enbankment entirely escaped the heavy cannon- ading, they yet suffered fearfully from the small arms. Mr. Luther Hayden became acquainted, after the surrender, with a rebel soldier, who, before the surrender, shot fifteen of our men in the ditch. His guns were loaded for him, sometimes by the wounded. When taking aim at the sixteenth Yankee, the soldier entreated for his life. "Throw away your gun and come here," said the half chivalrous rebel, which the Union man, under those circumstances, was nothing loth to do.
382
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
MARK FRANCIS BURNHAM.
Mark Francis Burnham was the son of Mark and Mary C. Burnham. He enlisted December 15, 1863, in the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, Col. Charles Lowell, Capt. MacIntosh. They were first ordered to Long Island in Boston Harbor, where they remained about one month, after which they were sent to join the regiment at Vienna, Va., for drilling, and remained here for some six months. Mr. Burnham represents his first day's work in the sad- dle to have been most exhausting. A part of the regiment, from previous train- ing, were able to sustain the fatigue ; but one hundred and eighty-five like himself were in the saddle, as before said, for the first time. His first day's service lasted from three o'clock in the morning until two o'clock of the next morning, being twenty-three hours, having had but three short stops for re- freshments, and traveling sixty miles. Such was his sense of prostration that on dismounting he fell to the ground. Their first fighting was at Ashby's Gap, and it was heavy. They were then between Washington and the main army defending Washington. In March, 1864, they were at Drainsville, Va., and thence crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry on the 16th of July, where they joined Sheridan's army. Mr. B. was finally mustered out of the service at Fairfax Court House, July 22, 1865.
By way of recapitulation in part, it may be stated that Mr. B. was present at the grand consummation of the surrender of Lee's army, after having fought at Aslıby's Gap, Fort Stevens, Rockville, Poolesville, Summit Point, Hall- town, Opequan, Winchester, Waynesboro, Cedar Creek, South Anna, White Oak Road, Berrysville, Charlestown, Dinwiddie Court House, Five Forks, and Appomattox Court House. Four horses were shot under him in these battles, two having been so at Winchester. He relates one escape which he may well consider providential, as follows : In June, 1864, some seven hun- dred cavalry had been, on one occasion, ordered to Point of Rocks. Six men besides himself were detailed to go up the canal in a boat with rations ; while on shore they were surprised by about forty of Mosby's guerrillas. As they advanced, the seven Union soldiers fired their guns, but had no time to re- load, and retreated. Four were captured at once. He with two others fell into a ditch somewhat concealed by the tall overhanging grass. He was not dis- covered by the guerrillas, but the two other surrendered themselves. In the result, five of the seven died in the horrors of Libby Prison, and one alone besides himself escaped to tell the story.
ALBERT ANDREWS.
Albert Andrews, son of Ira and Martha Andrews, was drafted, July 10, 1863, being the first draft ordered by the President of three hundred thou- sand men. He was assigned to the Sixteenth Massachusetts, Lieut-Col. Waldo Merriam then commander, and Company A, Capt. Joseph S. Hills. They were first sent to Long Island, in Boston Harbor, where they remained about ten days, and thence were ordered to join the main army at Beverly Ford, on the 31st of August, 1863 ; and thence to Culpepper Court House.
383
SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
On the 27th of July, 1864, they were transferred to the Eleventh Battalion of Infantry, commanded by Col. Charles C. Rivers, James F. Mansfield, Captain. He fought in the following battles, viz : Locust Grove, Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Coal Harbor, Hatcher's Run, siege of Peters- burg, which surrendered April 2d, from which time till April 9th, the army followed Lee, when he surrendered. He was discharged, July 14, 1865, at Four Mile Run, having never been wounded. He was, however, taken sick in September, 1864, of chronic diarrhea, and sent to the hospital in New York, where he remained two months. Mr. Andrews speaks well of the hos- pital treatment, and remarked that a free library of some hundreds of volumes was established for the benefit of the soldiers, and he there read the life and works of his townsman, Hon. Rufus Choate, once teacher of the district school in Essex, where his father Ira Andrews was a pupil.
CHARLES E. MARSTON.
Charles E. Marston, enlisted in the Forty-eighth Regiment of Massachu- setts Volunteers, on the 23d of September, 1862, and was stationed at Camp Lander, Wenham. He left with his regiment for Readville, on the 4th of December following, and on the 27th of the same month, the regiment was under marching orders for New York, where they arrived on Sunday the 28th, at seven and a half A. M.
As the diary of Mr. Marston was carefully kept, extracts will be made somewhat freely. The regiment embarked on board the sailing ship Constel- lation, on Friday, January 2, 1863, at twelve and a half, noon. After speaking the ship Crown Point, for New York, one hundred aud forty-five days from Bombay, Mr. Marston shared with others the bane of every voy- age, sea-sickness, but in addition to that had a severe attack of nettle rash, so called, lasting three days. During a gale of some severity on the 5th, the soldiers were all ordered below, and none but sailors were allowed on deck. Cape Henry was made on the 8th, this being the first glance of " Old Virginia's shore." While lying at anchor in the mouth of the Bay on the 8th, J. Peabody was taken sick, and died on the 10th. The New Ironsides arrived there from Philadelphia that day. The ship sailed for New Orleaus on the 15th of January, and after the usual varieties of weather, arrived off the mouth of the Mississippi on or about the 29th. Fort Jackson was passed on the 31st.
On the 12th of February the first general inspection took place, by Lieut. Brown of Ipswich, "a very smart officer and aid-de-camp to Gen. Grover. Gen. Banks passed our camp on the 9th of March."
An incident in negro life is recorded by Mr. Marston, on the 1st of April, 1863, at Bayou, Montecino. After having been down to the river and seen the gunboat Seneca, they came to a negro hut. The negroes were outside. There was a corpse in the house on the table, covered with a white cloth ; it was very small and a woman knelt beside it. There were four candles on the table, one at each corner.
384
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
While at Camp Williams near the State House, on the 6th of April, "had orders to be in readiness to march at a moment's notice, as an attack was ex- pected in the night. On the 7th, started out one mile to cut down trees. On the 9th, we were detailed to go to the funeral of the Captain of the One Hundred and Tenth New York regiment.
On the 19th of May, went to Port Hudson Plains and returned at night. On the 21st of May, started for Port Hudson, Upper Plains ; had a battle ; Benjamin Crowell, killed ; J. B. Kimball, E. Southwick, and T. Pousley, missing, probably taken prisoners." On the 26th, they went to support the Fourth Battery. On the 27th, " an assault on Port Hudson, Col. O'Brien killed." " July 7th, news arrived that Vicksburg was taken, and Port Hud- son surrendered on the 8th of July. The Union troops went in on the 9th. At seven o'clock P. M., same day, left for Donaldsonville on board the Louis- iana Belle, and arrived at seven A. M. on the 10th. Capt. Howes and five others left for Baton Rouge, sick. On the 12th, the Forty-ninth Massachu- setts and Sixth Massachusetts Battery went out, took ten prisoners and re- turned at night. On the 13th, left the river, marched three miles, and bivouacked. A battle commenced at ten o'clock, and ended at four P. M .; had to fall back ; the Forty-eighth and One Hundred and Sixty-first New York, were the last to leave the field. Missing at roll on the 14th, Lewis Burnham, Solomon A. Riggs, J. L. Ford, P. Caldwell ; on the 17th, the two former arrived back." On the 20th, Mr. Marston had an attack of nettle rash and diarrhea with fever, having got wet for two nights; was much re- lieved by ice and lemon. His loss by weight in sixteen days was fifteen pounds. On Sabbath 26th, went to church at the hospital ; got a book and at night another. On the 28th, he was sick again. An inspection took place on the 9th of August. " Went on board the Sunny South same day and left for Cairo, eight hundred and sixty miles up the river ; passed steamers Diana, Autocrat, Baltic and one unknown ; passed Port Hudson at six A. M. Com- modore Farragut burned this place, because the people killed some of his men while ashore. Saw an alligator on the shore ; passed a rebel iron-clad at nine A. M., and two iron-clad rams at twelve o'clock M."
.
On arriving at Natchez they found six steamers, and left on the 11th. " This city is on a hill." In going up the river they passed the mansion of the rebel Gen. Williams, and arrived at Vicksburg on the 12th. "August 15th, arrived at Memphis ; we afterwards went back to Fort Pickering, one mile, and stopped to coal ; a very handsome place, buildings mostly of brick. On the 16th, passed Island No. 10, and on the 17th, Columbus, (Ky.) and at ten o'clock, A. M., we arrived at Cairo, (Ill.)"
Mr. Marston was in three battles during his nine months' service. First, at Port Hudson Plain, the fight lasted nine hours, on the 21st of May; al- ready referred to above, when Benjamin Crowell was killed. In this fight, by far the most considerable of the three, the troops were lying down while loading and firing. Mr. Crowell raised his head upon his elbows in order to see the enemy, when it was taken off by a solid shot.
385
SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
LYMAN B. ANDREWS.
Lyman B. Andrews, son of Capt. Moses and Susan Andrews, born March 20, 1841 ; enlisted August 2, 1862, in Company E, Capt. Howes, Forty- eighth Regiment, Col. Stone. He was with the regiment throughout the campaign, and discharged at the same time.
GEORGE C. CLAIBORNE.
George C. Claiborne was born at Shapleigh, Me., October 30, 1819. His father was William H. and his mother Abigail Claiborne ; came to reside in Essex, in 1845. Mr. C. enlisted in a company of mounted rifle rangers under Gen. B. F. Butler, November 6, 1861, and was sent to Ship Island in the Gulf Division ; but was detailed with ten others to take charge of a load of horses, one hundred and fifty-three in all, sent to that island, by the trans- port Black Prince, of one thousand and sixty tons. The ship encountered a disastrous storm on her passage, during which the horses broke loose, and by the roll of the vessel, were so thrown together that but few reached the island alive. The balance of the company arrived at the island shortly after the Black Prince. This company of rangers, commanded by Capt. James M. McGee, belonged to, or made a part of Gen. Shepley's Brigade. After some three months' service at the island, they were ordered to New Orleans. It was during the service at the island, in the saddle, however, that Mr. Clai- borne received an injury in the artery of his left leg, on account of which he was discharged on or about the 11th of June, 1862, and finally left New Orleans, near the last of July following, for home.
.
NATHANIEL HASKELL.
Nathaniel Haskell, though residing in Gloucester at the commencement of the rebellion, is an Essex boy, and his record is worthy of preservation. He enlisted in Company G, Massachusetts Eighth, and we find him at the Re- lay House, Washington Junction, in Maryland, as early as the 26th of May, 1861. " Who would have thought," says he, in a letter to his mother, " that I would have slept in the capitol of the United States." Yet so it was. He arrived there but a short time before the lamented Col. Ellsworth was killed at Alexandria, and his mortal remains were carried by the place of encamp- ment on the 25th of May, 1861. Mr. H. received with much gratitude clothing sent him by the ladies of Gloucester, Mass., as one of Company G, in the Massachusetts Eighth. He writes his first letter while lying on the ground, with a little box for his desk ; "while in the tent," he says, " some are writing and some are telling stories. But it is Sunday," he writes, " and the bell is now ringing for meeting, and I guess I shall go."
On the 5th of June, we find him rejoicing in having a plenty to eat, and a plenty to wear, and saying he never felt better in his life. " We don't have to work very hard," says he, "but drill six hours a day." On the 5th of June, " there were acres and acres of strawberries close to us, at five cents a quart," and he says that in regard to both the price and the quantity, 49
386
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
. as well as quality, they altogether exceeded anything that Mount Hunger had to show, (the celebrated garden of Abel Burnham in Gloucester, Mass.)
In the immediate neighborhood of Baltimore, on the 10th of July, 1861, Mr. Haskell says in his letter: "Only think ! we are on a secession man's ground, and our stars and stripes are waving over it. When we first came here, he tried to drive us off. There are about fifteen thousand troops in Bal- timore and around the city, besides six pieces of artillery all loaded and point- ing two up each strect, while we are marching through it."
No one can be so ill-tempered as to forbid the soldiers having a little pas- time when safe occasion offers. The soldier, Haskell, in a letter from Annap- olis, dated December 16, 1861, says " to-day, one of our boys had a letter from a lady in New Jersey, although they had never seen each other in the world. I will tell you how it was. As we were coming along, he wrote his name on a piece of paper, with a request that whoever picked it up would write to him. He put the paper into his handkerchief and threw it out of · the cars. The letter received in reply to the request was quite a patriotic one." On the 25th of December, he writes in good spirits (Christmas day) and says " folks may say what they have a mind to, but soldiering is a gay life, and if you don't believe it, judge for yourself. I have weighed one hun- dred and seventy-six pounds to-day, so that my gain in the army has been sixteen pounds." He afterwards re-enlisted for coast defence, and served till the close of the war.
HERVEY ALLEN.
ITervey Allen, son of Joseph and Orpha Allen, enlisted in December, 1864, for one year, for coast defence in forts in the vicinity of Boston.
GILMAN ANDREWS.
Gilman Andrews enlisted in Capt. Babson's Company for coast defence, and like twelve others served to the close of the war.
FRANK E. ANDREWS.
Frank E. Andrews, son of Francis E. Andrews, enlisted like the foregoing for one year for coast defence. Discharged at the close of the war.
ADDISON COGSWELL.
Addison Cogswell, son of John and Elizabeth Cogswell, enlisted in Capt. Babson's Company for coast defence at the same time as the foregoing, hav- ing the same service to perform, and was discharged at the same time. Mr. Cogswell's residence was in Gloucester, but he properly passes for an Essex soldier, as he helps to fill our quota.
WILLIAM B. LOW.
William B. Low, aged 17 years, was born in Essex, and was the son of Caleb and Rachel Low. He enlisted the 3d of December, 1861, in Capt. Bartlett's Company I, Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteers, infantry. After being mustered into camp they were ordered to Poolesville, Md. He was
387
WILLIAM B. LOW'S SKETCH.
1861-1865.]
in the battle at Yorktown under Mcclellan, also in the seven days' battle, so called. He received a flesh wound in the leg at Antietam battle, and another in the thigh at Gettysburg. He was also in the Fredericksburg battle under Burnside and Meade. He was appointed corporal in 1862 ; came home November 16, 1863, and remained twenty-five days, when he re- turned to his regiment at Stephensburg.
In addition to the above, for which obligations are due to J. C. Choate, town clerk of Essex, for the use of the records made by him, not only in this, but in numerous other cases, the following facts and incidents are de- rived from Mr. Low the soldier, himself. They are miscellaneous, and do not follow in strictly chronological order. " At the Fredericksburg battle on the 11th or 12th of December, 1862, out of sixty men in our company, we lost thirty-five." He was wounded by a spent ball at Antietam battle on the 17th of September, 1862, and carried off to the hospital. " Gen. Dana commanded our brigade-Sedgwick the division, and Sumner the corps. At Gettysburg, the rebels shelled us two hours on the last day. I was wounded in the thigh the third day. Col. Revere was killed, and Col.
Nacy had his left arm shot off Only three officers of our regiment came out of the battle unhurt, of the whole seventeen that went in. Our cap- tain, Abbot, son of Judge Abbot, has since been made major. Our regi- ment was near the centre, which is said by the official reports, to have been harder pressed than any other part of the army." In answer to questions put to him, Mr. Low says the music is never played in battle ; and as to disposing of the men in open order to prevent slaughter, it is not done. In the battle of Savage's Station, in July, we first drove the rebels, but after dark they drove us. Col. Meagher's (Irish) regiment was alongside of ours ; a spirited fellow on a mule carried their flag. Savage's Station is, say ten to twelve miles from Richmond ; we could see the steeples at times. Surgical operations are performed in a very short time. I have seen Doc- tor Hazard with his sleeves rolled up and pants all bloody, while amputating® limbs. Chloroform is used freely. At Yorktown, we saw the very spot, as we were told, where Cornwallis surrendered.
DANIEL . CALLEHAN.
Daniel Callehan was born in Ireland ; enlisted in Company E, Capt. Howes, Forty-eighth Massachusetts Regiment. He survived the campaign and returned with the company. It is not known that he was sick or wounded while in the service. It may, however, be added that he has since died, viz : September 18, 1864, leaving a widow and three children.
WILLIAM E. LOW.
William E. Low, aged 19 years, was born in Essex, by trade a shoemaker, was the son of Rufus and Mary Eliza Low. He enlisted October 9, 1861, in Company I, Capt. Hobbs, Twenty-third Regiment Massachusetts Volun- teers, infantry ; ordered to join Gen. Burnside. He was in the battles of Roanoke Island, Newbern, Kinston and others. His regiment remained at
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HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
Newbern about a year, and was then ordered to Hilton Head, S. C., where they remained two days and returned to Newbern, and from that place to Fortress Monroe. He came home on furlough on the 1st of July, and re- turned on the 24th, (1863). On returning to the army he was sent to join Gen. Butler's expedition up the James River, during which he fought in two or three engagements. After this he was ordered to join Grant's army, near Richmond, and at Coal Harbor was severely wounded in his face, receiving a ball at the corner of his mouth. This wound occasioned three months' hospital treatment, at the close of which his, three years had so nearly expired that he was discharged.
WILLIAM H. ANDREWS.
William H. Andrews, aged 34 years, shoemaker, was born in Essex, and the son of Eleazer and Judith Andrews. He enlisted June 30, 1862, for six months, in the Mechanics' Light Infantry, Capt. Staten ; was sent to Fort Warren, Boston harbor, and was discharged January 1, 1863, his term of enlistment having expired.
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