USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 38
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Mr. MeIntire states verbally, that by far the severest fighting which he saw during his three years in the army, was at Newbern. This battle it will be recollected occurred in 1862. He afterwards re-enlisted and was stationed in different forts for coast defense in the vicinity of Boston.
MONSIEUR M. ANDREWS.
Monsieur M. Andrews, aged 24 years, by trade a shoemaker, was the son of Benjamin and Lydia Andrews; enlisted 31st of December, 1861, into the Thirtieth Regiment, Company K. Mr. Andrews was never wounded, but suffered from sickness severely. He was attacked with typhoid fever on reaching New Orleans, which disqualified him from active service for two
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HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
months, commencing about the 10th or 12th of May, 1862. His second attack of illness was about the 1st of June, 1863. His ailment was chronic diarrhea, the bane of the army under a southern sun and lying too often upon a southern soil. This attack lasted four months, and was the cause of his discharge. He was, however, more than a merely passive sufferer by the war. On the 5th of August, 1862, he was in a battle about half a mile in the rear of the State House at Baton Rouge. This occurred shortly after re- turning from Vicksburg, where they were, about the Ist of August. The battle near the State House, referred to, lasted, about eight hours. “ We had," says he verbally, "but about two thousand five hundred men; and more than one in ten were sick ; in our company nearly half. The spies in- formed the rebels of the sickness among our soldiers, and this induced them, with five thousand effective men under Gen. J. C. Breckinridge, to attack us. We contended successfully with them for eight hours and drove them. This, however, was owing to the fact that we had artillery in which they were deficient, viz : The Fourth Massachusetts Battery, the Sixth Massachusetts Battery, Nims' Battery, and the First Maine. The fight commenced at three o'clock in the morning We lost about seventy killed and two hundred and fifteen wounded; and the rebels left three hundred dead and seventy wounded on the field. The rebels had expected the co-operation of their river ram, Arkansas, but she had run aground six miles above, and was hors de combat. They had, however, some fourteen field pieces, but our batteries did excellent service. Gen. Thomas was killed with a rifle ball through the head. The rebels lost their Brig. Gen. Clarke, and his aid, Col. Lovell, also Capt. A. H. Todd, a brother of Mrs. Lincoln, wife of the President of the United States. We also captured thirty prisoners." Mr. Andrews re- enlisted in December, 1864, for one year, for coast defense, in Capt. Bab- son's company, but was discharged at the close of the war.
GEORGE ROSS.
George Ross, born in Ipswich, February 18, 1817, was the son of Samuel Ross; enlisted in the Thirtieth Massachusetts Regiment, Company K. This regiment was at first under command of Lieut .- Col. Joseph H. French. Mr. Ross enlisted for three years, and was mustered in at Lowell. They sailed from Boston in the Constellation, and after a voyage of thirty-three days, says the soldier, with some detention at Fortress Monroe, they arrived at Ship Island. After a detention of five or six weeks, they proceeded to the Mississippi River. At the time of their arrival at Ship Island, it may be stated, the United States fleet of gun-boats and mortar-boats was lying there ; each of the latter carrying one mortar and two guns, and there were, he says, twenty of them, all moved by sails, being of eighty to one hundred tons burthen. This fleet preceded the troops, there being some eighteen to twenty thousand of the latter, up the Mississippi to the capture of Fort Jack- son, which took place after a bombardment of about six days. They were afterwards landed at New Orleans, and quartered in a large sugar store and
399
SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
other large buildings. The place for drilling was an immense building, he thinks an Odd Fellows' Hall, well-carpeted ; here they remained some two months, being drilled twice a day. In July they proceeded to Baton Rouge and thence to Vicksburg, soon after which he was taken sick ; it proved to be an epidemic among the troops. Of one hundred and one men in this com- pany, only eighteen, he says, were fit for duty. On the authority of the Gloucester (Mass.) newspaper, it may be stated, there were but one hun- dred and thirty-two in the whole regiment fit for duty. Mr. Ross states that during the progress of his fever, his hearing, which had long been imperfect, became for the time entirely lost, so that his discharge was on that account.
GEORGE ROSS, JR.
George Ross, Jr., was the son of the foregoing. Although he enlisted on the Rockport quota, yet as he had lived with his father in Essex, he seems entitled to notice with our soldiers. His march was, like far too many others, a short one. He was drowned while lying off Fort Jackson. He seems to have 'stepped upon one side of a small boat which tipped, and as is be- lieved, he went over backwards, and being heavily equipped, sunk to the bottom before his father's eyes ; though no one at the time knew who it was. He was 18 years old, and was married a short time before enlisting.
RUFUS E. MEARS.
Rufus E. Mears was the youngest son of Samuel and Lydia Mears, and was 21 years old when he enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Regiment, Company A, under Col. P. S. Davis and Capt. George S. Nelson. He was in the battles of Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Bethesda Church and Petersburg. He was taken prisoner at the Weldon Railroad, August 18, 1864, and died in a rebel prison at Salisbury, October 26, 1864.
DANIEL BURNIIAM.
Daniel Burnham, aged 30 years, shoemaker ; son of Nimrod and Susan Burnham ; was born in Essex ; enlisted, August 15, 1862, for three years, in the Thirty ninth Regiment, Col. Davis, Company A, Capt. Nelson, and was mustered in at Camp Stanton, at Boxford. Mr. B. left Boxford with the regiment on the 6th of September, 1862, and arrived at Washington city on the Sth ; marched to Arlington Heights on the 9th, and three days afterwards moved to camp Chase. The regiment marched for Edward's Ferry, on the 14th of September, where they arrived on the 17th, and here, on the banks of the Potomac, Mr. B. was first put on picket duty, and on the night of the 22d, the troops were called out to stop the rebels from cross- ing. October 1st, the regiment was sent to Conrad's Ferry, and on the 6th, was again ordered up the river, to prevent another threatened crossing. On the 12th, they were marched to Seneca's Mills, and on the 21st to big Muddy Branch. After remaining awhile at the cross roads, they marched to Poolesville on the 21st of December. Here the regiment remained until the 15th of April, when they again marched to Washington. During
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HISTORY OF ESSEX.
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this march the rain fell heavily, and the mud was in full character with itself in a Virginia soil. The progress on the 15th was but seventeen miles. At Rockville, where the encampment was made, the rain continued through the night, the clothes of the soldiers being wet through, of course. On the next day the progress was still less, viz., but fifteen miles. The weather continued stormy, and the mud, if possible, deeper than before. On the 17th, they made but five miles. Washington seems not to have been reached till the 18th of April, when this soldier went on guard, at the army headquarters, near Gen. Halleck's office. Four hundred of the regiment were now detailed at different parts in the city, for provost duty.
The troops, or a portion of them were allowed to see the lions of the Fed- eral city, of course having themselves been " the observed of all observers." On the 6th of May, says Mr. Burnham, in a letter to the writer, " I had a pass to go round the city ; went into the Capitol, Patent Office, Smithsonian Institute and President's house. Mr. B. kept a journal up to this date, at least, from which the above extracts have been made.
A short description given by Mr. Burnham, of the morals of the Essex soldiers in the Thirty-ninth, Company A, in a letter dated 8th of September, 1862, from Rappahannock station, is so honorable to them that it is tran- scribed entire. After speaking of Sabbath-breaking and other enormities in the army, he says : " With great pleasure I can assure you that the Essex boys respect our meetings, and enjoy the religious privileges which we have, and none of them take any part in the open profanity which prevails in the army to such a great extent; and this for one thing does me good and com- forts me in what I always believe the unspeakable blessing of a Sabbath School education." On turning to the records of the largest Sabbath School in Essex, it is perceived that nine out of the fourteen soldiers in the Thirty- ninth, had been members of that Sabbath school. Mr. Burnham was killed in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
WILLIAM GILBERT DODGE.
William Gilbert Dodge, aged 15 years, was born in Essex ; son of Moses and Sally Dodge, both deceased. He enlisted August, 1862, in Company G, Capt. Trull, Thirty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, infantry ; ordered from Camp Stanton, Lynnfield to Virginia. This regiment had been in no battles down to February, 1864, but was generally on the march ; stationed in camp near Mitchell's Station, Virginia, at the latter date above ..
DAVID LEWIS STORY.
David Lewis Story, shoemaker, aged 19 years, was born in Essex, son of David Story, 2d, and Susan Story ; enlisted August, 1862, in Company K, Capt. E. L. Giddings, Fortieth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, in- fantry. They were ordered to join the army of the Potomac and afterwards sent to Folly Island, Charleston harbor, and from that place to Hilton Head. The regiment had been in no battles up to February, 1864.
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SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
Statements like this last, however, will not apply to the subsequent his- tory of this distinguished regiment. It elevates the sensibilities of any inhabitant of Essex to know that Essex "boys " belonged to it. Unlike many others, this regiment served a part of the time as mounted infantry and was detailed to the column intended to operate in Florida. Here, indeed, it served in that capacity, bearing its part in all the conflicts in which the Fortieth was engaged, especially (as Essex men are pleased to know) at Olustee, February 20, 1864, and at Cedar Creek, March 1, 1864; our idea being that leaden balls have seldom rained as they rained there. And it is most gratifying to add in the words of Adj. Gen. Schouler's report, made January, 1866, that " too much cannot be said of the men composing this regiment. There never was a case of desertion to the enemy, says the report, and though often under the most trying fire, and called 'into duties deemed almost impossible, yet it can never be said that the Fortieth ever run, or even showed the white feather."
The following extracts of a letter from this soldier at a much earlier stage of the war, to his young brother. are introduced to show that our soldiers, although often but young and inexperienced, were still by no means discon- tented or unhappy when away, and even amidst the perils of war. He dates at Camp Ethan Allen, September 26th, 1862 : " Dear brother, I have just come in from the woods and thought you would like to hear from me. About four hundred of us have been out into the woods, detailed to cut down trees, and you better believe we have cut some. There are so many detailed from every company, and they have been at work now for about three days. They let the trees remain just where they happened to fall. The reason for cutting them is partly because they obstruct our view of the rebels, and partly that the trees may obstruct their march. The woods belong to the rebel Gen. Lee, and his house is right in sight of the woods. They estimate the wood we have cut at twelve hundred cords, and it is the very best kind. Our living is good, much better than it was at Boxford. We have been expecting an attack by the rebs every night since we have been here. The place was taken from them about one year ago, and there are graves all round back of the hill. We have picked up lots of balls," etc. Want of room forbids making further extracts.
TIMOTHY ANDREWS, JR.
Timothy Andrews, Jr., was born in Essex, May 7, 1829; spar-maker by trade ; son of Timothy and Susan P. Andrews. Enlisted August 18, 1862, in Company A, Capt. Nelson, Thirty-ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volun- teers, infantry. Went first to Camp Cameron, and thence to Boxford at Camp Stanton. The regiment was first ordered to Poolesville, Maryland, thence to Harper's Ferry, and thence to Washington, where the Thirty-ninth were on guard for some time. They were afterwards ordered again to Harper's Ferry and Hagerstown. On the 15th of December Mr. Andrews was de- tailed on the ammunition train. It was at Poolesville that he slept his first sleep upon the bare ground, and it would not have been very surprising if 51
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it had proved his last. A rain came on in the night, so that when they awoke, the water was some three inches deep around them, yet so deep had been their sleep from fatigue, that they knew nothing of it till morning ! Mr. A. was appointed by the Colonel to go to Washington for horses, and the character of his army life was now so far changed that his time was chiefly spent at regimental headquarters at first, and afterwards he was made carpenter at brigade headquarters. After marching to Poolesville on the 21st of December, his first duty was the erection of a hospital for the sick. In January following he was ordered for the third time to Washington for another supply of horses and mules. The 19th of August, 1864, was a disastrous day for the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, losing in two days, as they did, two hundred and forty men, killed, wounded and prisoners. After this date, Mr. Andrews' duties were chiefly in the ordnance office as an assistant clerk under Capt. Trembly of the One Hundred and Fourth New York Volunteers.
The compiler of this chapter regrets the small amount of space assigned to the sketch of this soldier. By far the most important and interesting page of his army life has come to hand at so late a day, (dated December 21, 1867,) that to make room for it within these limits, is utterly impossible. It will go upon file with much other unpublished though important matter, and remain for future reference.
GEORGE F. BURNHAM.
George F. Burnham, aged 27 years, shoemaker, born in Essex, son of Silas and Sarah Burnham ; enlisted July, 1862, in the Thirty-ninth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, Co. A, Col. P. S. Davis ; mustered into the United States service August 20th, at Camp Stanton, Lynnfield. They were ordered to Washington and were on guard duty for some time. On the 24th of De- cember, 1863, they were in camp at Mitchell's Station. Mr. B. was in the battles of Mine Run, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Gravelly Run and Five Forks. He was wounded at Spottsylvania May 8, 1864, and was then sent to Washing- ton where he remained until September. He was discharged in June, 1865.
JOHN C. CHANNEL.
John C. Channel enlisted in the Thirty-uinth Regiment, Col. P. S. Davis, Company A, Capt. Nelson. For a full description of the operations of this regiment, reference may be had to the sketches of Albert A. Haskell, Daniel Burnliam, Willbur Burnham, and Asa Story, all of whom died in the service or were killed, also to the sketches of George Washington Burnham, James Horace Burnham and others who survived. Mr. Channel was dis- charged for disability under his enlistment, and afterwards was drafted, but exempted on account of disability.
GEORGE F. GUPPY.
George F. Guppy was born in Rochester, N. HI; son of Samuel and Phi- lenia Guppy ; enlisted August 15, 1862, in the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, Col. P. S. Davis, Company A. He was discharged at an early date, on a surgeon's certificate of disability.
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SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
ALBERT A. HASKELL.
Albert A. Haskell, was born February 12, 1843; son of Francis and Mary K. Haskell. He enlisted in July or August 1862, in Company A, Capt. Nelson, Thirty-ninth Massachusetts Volunteers, infantry, Col. P. S. Davis. The regiment left camp at Boxford for Washington, September 6th, remained there and at Poolesville during the winter and spring. Left Wash- ington for Harper's Ferry and Hagarstown in May, 1863, and joined the army of the Potomac, and were held in reserve at the attack on Fredericksburg, under Gen. Meade, after which time they were in camp at Mitchell's Station, until the latter part of April, 1864. As the history of this regiment is like others, minutely described by Adjt. Gen. Schouler in his admirable reports, it seems unnecessary here to go much beyond the personal history of the sol- dier. The circumstances of his capture as a prisoner took place on the 18th of August, 1864. From the letters written by him to his friends, a few in- cidents may be gathered to relieve the dullness of statistics. On the day of Col. Davis' death, July 11, 1864, Mr. H. writes thus : "I am very sorry to write that Col. Davis was wounded by a shell very badly. I am afraid it will prove fatal. He was wounded through the thigh, tearing one leg ter- ribly. He will be missed very much in the regiment. The boys feel very bad about it."
In a previous letter of June 3, 1864, he says " I have been up to the First Massachusetts, this forenoon. They are on the same line as ourselves, but their time is out to-morrow and I suppose they will leave us. I tell you it makes a fellow feel a little homesick sometimes, to see the men going home, right to our own homes, and we can't go ourselves ; but our time will come after awhile, and if we live, happier will be the meeting," a hope alas ! never to be realized ; and as showing that he had a full appreciation of the dangers of army life, he says in the same letter : "Our regiment has four- teen months from to-morrow and what there is left of us on that day will be happy boys ; " a hope as deceptive as the former ; and again he says, " we have advanced the main line, since I last wrote home, about a quarter of a mile. and built new works." The following incident reminds one of a few similar events that occurred in the Revolutionary war, and takes away the idea of personal hatred, even among hostile troops. " A week ago to-day, the pickets that were out, made an agreement not to fire upon each other, unless one or the other advanced. After that, they got to trading our hard tack for their corn bread-coffee for tobacco, &c., but the officers stopped it. Now we hoot at each other a little, but not a gun is fired ; while on our right, where we were about ten days ago, they keep up a firing all the time." Mr H. describes the military works erected by them, and in- serts a drawing of them made by himself which ought to have a place in this sketch, as showing his native tact in delineating objects presented to the eye.
The dreadful process of starvation in the case of this youthful soldier,
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lasted one hundred and sixty-six days, ending only with his life on the 31st of January, 1865. Some of the details of the horrors of Salisbury prison, will be found in the sketch of George Washington Burnham, a fellow- prisoner of Mr. Haskell, but who survived. By a memorandum furnished by surviving friends, it appears that he was taken prisoner of war, at the battle of the Weldon Railroad, was thence carried to Libby prison, thence to Belle Island, and finally to Salisbury prison, where he died at the time above stated. The Wilderness, Weldon Railroad, and Petersburg, were the principal battles in which he fought.
OLIVER HAZARD PERRY SARGENT.
Oliver Hazard Perry Sargent, aged 34, was born in Gloucester; ship carpenter. He enlisted at Essex, in the Twenty-second Massachusetts Vol- unteers, Company G, in October, 1862, the headquarters of which were at Camp Wilson, Hall's Hill, Va. Mr. Sargent, like several others from Essex, was an easy and ready writer, and kept his friends constantly informed of army movements, both great and small. The following extracts of a let- ter from him while at Hall's Hill, in Gen. Fitz John Porter's division, will give an idea of his talent at description, and will also convey an idea of army life, under date of February 17, 1862.
" My Dear Sir : I have no doubt you have found the exact position of Hall's Hill, near which we are encamped. Draw upon the map a straight line from Chain Bridge to Munson's Hill, and from Ball's cross-roads to Miner's Hill. The lines will cross at Hall's Hill. Col. Cass, with the Ninth Massachusetts, is immediately in our front, with the Eighty-third Pennsylvania, Fourteenth New York, Fourth Michigan, the Fourth Rhode Island Battery and Griffin's Battery (Regulars), composing Morale's Brigade. Near us on Hall's Hill, are the Second Maine, Eighteenth Massachusetts, Follet's Battery, and Twenty fifth New York, composing with our regiment, Martindale's or the Second Brigade. Near us on the other side, is the Seventeenth New York, and in our rear the Forty-fourth New York, Sixty-third Pennsylvania, and the New Jersey Stockton Regiment, and on Mount Olivet, a little farther in the rear, the Fifth Massachusetts Battery, composing Gen. Butterfield's Brigade. In ad- dition to these are two cavalry regiments just in our rear, one from Pennsyl- vania, the other (McClellan's Rangers) from Kentucky, altogether composing Gen. Porter's division. It is a grand army. I have seen seventy- five thousand men on one field since I have been here, and on several occasions have seen reviews of forty thousand. Col. Wilson was out to see us yesterday, and told us we had only to wait for the traveling. Two long trains of artillery are in Washington ready to move. One of the trains has one hundred sixty-eight pound cannon ; the other has one hundred one-hundred pound cannon. In addition to these, there are several batteries. of light artillery and two hundred wagons loaded with ammunition. The army has been building a road from Georgetown to Alexandria and Lees- burg turnpike. It is done by laying logs at the bottom and covering them
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O. H. P. SARGENT.
1861-1865.]
with poles and dirt. It is rough, but it keeps us out of the mud. Before this road was built our wheels sank to the hubs. It was awful. The worst thing I have seen in the army, is the management in the hospital de- partment. Every morning the sick are marched up to the hospital tent, and obliged to wait, out of doors, in the open air, whatever the weather may be. It is strange that no more are sick, or that any recover. The sick are well cared for when really in the hospital; and yet I pity any man who is sick here. Another curious matter is the method of punishment adopted. It is often ridiculous. Think of a boy carrying a barrel on his shoulders with his head through a hole in the head of the barrel, and ' thief,' perhaps, written on the side. I saw a boy thus at work for three days, from reveille to tattoo, stopping only to get dinner, until he fell from exhaustion. The lieutenant in charge would not let any one pick him up. I took the boy up, and told the lieutenant to make his charges if he pleased. I have heard nothing from it since. The ball and chain is a common mode of punishment. I have seen a great many men at work on the roads and fortifications, with a six pound ball attached to one end of a six foot chain, the other being round the prison- er's leg. Other modes of punishment are, carrying a log, the gag, cutting down the pay, shaving one side of the head and knapsack drill. .. I am in' the Quartermaster's department, and have charge of all the teams, twenty-five in number. I ride about the country more than any man in the camp. .. . Our Capt., Jesse A. Gove, is a captain in the regulars and has been for ten years. He had command of one thousand men in Utah, and took on eight hundred and fifty of them when he came here. He is a fine officer."
But Mr. Sargent has passed away by the undiscriminating fate of war. As he filled a somewhat larger space in the public eye at home, however, than soldiers often do, it will surprise no one to find one leaf more bestowed upon him here, than there would otherwise have been. He was made an orphan at the age of nine, his father having died in 1832, and his mother in 1836. We find him an apprentice to Mr. Ezra Perkins, senior, of Essex, when ten years old, beginning work at the shoemaking trade. At the dis- trict school he was a diligent scholar. Books were among his dearest com- panions, and yet many avenues to knowledge seemed to open before him, as they always will where the love of it is strong. It is believed there were few lessons recited even by classes to which he did not belong, to which he had not an open ear. Few were the teacher's remarks, especially at a general or miscellaneous exercise, which he did not hear and remember. In looking over his life-long diary of little short of fifteen hundred folio pages, in two large ledger volumes, there is most conclusive evidence of the truth of the above remark. IIe has been known to remark that his school teacher at Essex once recommended the keeping of a journal, to his scholars, but who could have anticipated such a result as this ? The keep- ing of this journal, it is believed, was never intermitted, and it enables us to account for his self-culture, for his close thinking and mental train-
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