USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 39
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406
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
ing generally. He would seem to have adopted Dr. Franklin's rule for the farmer :
" Plough deep, while sluggards sleep, And you shall have corn to sell and to keep."
As a member of the village debating club, he distinguished himself at at once. He saw with ease how error could be assailed and truth defended ; and his flow of language was ready and happy. Notwithstanding the ob- seurity of his beginning in Essex, Mr. Sargent was not slow to find his true level among our young men. He was called to preside at the annual town meeting when but almost a youth, and shortly after, he was made both town and parish clerk, and his records had the public approval, as appears from the fact that he continued to fill both offices, till he laid them down to obey what he believed to be his country's call. Mr. Sargent represented the town in general court in 1857, was one of the special county commissioners till he surrendered his commission on going into the army. He was a justice of the peace for several years, and held his commission till he died. Various other offices also, he was called upon from time to time to fill, a fact showing how well he stood in the estimation of the public.
But the object of this appendix to the town history, compels us to confine ourselves to the soldiers as soldiers, and here we must leave him "alone in his glory."
SIMEON SWETT.
Simeon Swett enlisted in Company I, Twenty-third Massachusetts, Col. John Kurtz, and in 1864 was under the command of Col. A. Elwell. The personal history of this volunteer is not known to the compiler at the present date, December 30, 1867.
WILLIAM P. HASKELL.
William P. Haskell enlisted June, 1862 in the Fourteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, Company A, Capt. Shatswell. It is painful to commence a sketch of the soldiers of the regiment named above, with a record of death; yet such is the Divine appointment. William P. Haskell died at Fort Albany on the 6th of January, 1862, at the early age of 17, of disease contracted in the army, viz. : erysipelas in his left side. The following letter from Lieut. Smith contains the sad details :
FORT ALBANY, Va., January 6, 1862.
MRS. HASKELL,-Dear Madam : It becomes my painful duty, this morn- ing, to inform you of the sudden and unexpected death of your son William P. Haskell. He had been sick but four days and none of us thought him so near his end. Yet 'tis even so. Death has snatched another of our com- rades from our midst, and deeply do we mourn his loss. He was ever will- ing to perform his duties, was alway kind and obliging and cheerful. Little did we think he would so soon be called from us. His sickness was erysip- elas ; it spread all over his left side and looked badly. The doctor said it was impossible to send the body home ; that it must be buried here for he turned so fast ; otherwise we should have sent it home. He was buried this
407
1861-1865.]
SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
morning near Fort Albany. He had the company as an escort, and a cor- poral's guard fired over his grave. A prayer was made by our chaplain, and the funeral procession moved to the grave. Peace to his ashes ! He was a kind, brave and good boy, and a true soldier. He had three dollars in money in his pocket, which I send you by William Burnham, and the rest of his things we will save for you. Deeply sympathizing with you in the loss of your son, I trust his death may be sanctified to you and yours. I am, dear madam, yours most truly, J. C. SMITH,
First Lieut. Com'd'g Co. A, Fourteenth Mass. Regiment.
STEPHEN P. ANDREWS.
Stephen P. Andrews, aged 25 years, son of Eleazer and Judith Andrews, enlisted June 8, 1862, in Company A, Capt. Shatswell, Fourteenth Massa. chusetts Volunteers. His regiment was afterwards made a heavy artillery regiment, designated as the Massachusetts First and was stationed in the forts in the vicinity of Washington up to February, 1864, or later. He was pro- moted Corporal, October 22, 1862, and came home on a furlough of thirty days November 11, 1863, having re-enlisted for three years. He took part in the following named battles, viz : at Spottsylvania Court House, May 19th ; at North Anna River, May 23d ; at Salem Church, June 2d; at Cold Har- bor, June 4th and 5th ; near Petersburg, June 16th. He was wounded in his right shoulder, but returned to duty December 4th. On the 1st of Jan- uary, 1865, he was promoted Sergeant. In addition to the battles above named. he was also in battle on the 5th of February and 25th of March near Hatcher's Run, and on the 31st of March, at South Side Railroad, and was wounded in his right hand. Discharged at Philadelphia, Pa., June 19, 1865, by reason of a gun-shot wound received in battle, after a term of ser- vice of three years, eleven months and fifteen days.
DAVID BRAINARD BURNHAM.
David Brainard Burnham, mason by trade, was born in Essex, and was the son of John S. and Clarissa Burnham. He enlisted August 14, 1862, in Company E, Capt. Sawyer, in the Fourteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, infantry. Ten other Essex men were enlisted about the same time into the same regiment, viz. : William II. Hull, Osgood E. Burnham, Albert F. Burnham, J. J. Parsons, Charles A. Burnham, John S. Jones, J. Frank Hart, Joseph W. Tucker, HI. Nelson Andrews and Jeremiah Poland, Jr. They were ordered to Camp Cameron, in Cambridge, to wait for the filling up of the regiment. They finally left for Washington, August 18, 1862, and arrived there on the 20th. On the day of their arrival there, they were marched over the long bridge and stationed in different forts on Arlington Heights. While at Fort Albany, the above named Essex men were so divided and disposed of as to fill the vacancies in different companies. D. B. Burnham, W. H. IIull, A. F. Burnham, O. E. Burnham and J. J. Par- suns were attached to Company E, and the remaining six to Company A.
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408
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
The regiment was immediately put under marching orders, and had barely time to draw clothing, and none at all to drill, before the march commenced, viz : on the 23d of August, for Cloud's Mills, eight miles from Washington. Other troops soon began to arrive, and on the following morning the field as far as eye could see, was covered with men, tents, artillery, horses, mules, etc. The Eleventh, Sixteenth, Nineteenth and Twenty-second Massachusetts, were among them. These troops had now just arrived from the Peninsula, and the whole corps were to join the army of Gen. Pope. On the 26th of Au- gust, at nine o'clock P. M., the march commenced of twelve miles, halting at two o'clock A. M. After a few hours' sleep, such as could be had upon the bare ground, they commenced a hurried march, as news had arrived that the rebels were cutting the New York Fourth Heavy Artillery in pieces. They met the New York troops retreating in a completely demoralized con- dition, having only two pieces of artillery. They were in a panic and left their two pieces of artillery in their flight. Our troops laid here for twenty- six hours with their rifles loaded, and no less than eleven times in that twenty- six hours were called to arms, as the rebels were trying to flank the Union troops. At six and one-half o'clock, on the 28th, orders were given to re- turn to the forts ; the order, however, was given to each man in a whisper. The object of this was but too well understood during the night following, as the rebels shelled the ground, they had just left, heavily. Our troops on their return to the Heights were so divided as to garrison eight forts, and here they remained from the 30th of August, 1862, until the month of May, 1864. Our troops while here often practiced target shooting with the large guns, the corporals acting as gunners. Each one would naturally try to excel, but it is gratifying to learn that our lamented townsman, Osgood E. Burnham, dis- covered quite uncommon skill in this to him, new mode of warfare. During the twenty months' stay of our troops at this station, they were visited by distinguished persons, as the President, the Russian Embassy and others, who often addressed the troops in patriotic terms.
On the 14th of May, 1864, however, orders were received to march to the front as Infantry, and next day, Sunday, they took transports at Alexandria, and proceeded down the river to Belle Plains. At this time only two Essex men remained in Company E, viz., D. Brainard and Osgood E. Burnham. It may be proper to say, that Parsons and A. F. Burnham, had been dis- charged. W. H. Hull was sick in Washington. The troops arrived at Belle Plains 17th of May, at nine o'clock, A. M., and marched thirty-four miles to Fredericksburg, and from thence to the extreme front. On the 19th says D. B. B. the subject of this sketch, at four o'clock P. M., " we became engaged with Ewell's corps which had attacked a supply train." We lost five hun- dred and seventeen killed and wounded, fifty-four being shot dead. The fight continued till nine o'clock P. M. The result was a Union victory. " It would be hard," says Mr. B., " to describe my feelings when first going into battle, but I determined to do my duty let what would come." A ball struek his rifle out of his hand and also took off the middle finger of his left hand.
409
SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
Just then he saw Osgood E. Burnham fall, having received a rifle ball in his left hip. With the aid of another soldier he carried Osgood to the rear. Osgood was too faint with loss of blood to reach the surgeon's tent and was laid for a short time in a barn, but as soon as circumstances would permit, was put into the surgeon's hands, being carried upon a stretcher by four men. That was the last time, says Mr. B., that I ever saw my much loved cousin and brother soldier. Ile was a model soldier in camp, and a very brave one in battle. His first and highest ambition was to do his duty. When he fell, indeed, the words " wife " and " mother" were almost the only words that fell from his lips. He at length died of lock-jaw, having taken cold probably. Jeremiah Poland, Jr., also received his death wound in that battle, and H. Nelson Andrews was wounded in his hand.
ALBERT FRANK BURNHAM.
Albert Frank Burnham was born in Gloucester, October 2, 1839, and was the son of Francis Burnham, 2d, and Polly Burnham. He enlisted July 23, 1862, in Company E, Capt. Sargent, Fourteenth Massachusetts Volunteers. The regiment was stationed, as before mentioned, in the forts near Washington. He was ruptured in February, 1863, and sent to the hospital, where he remained ten days, when he returned to the regiment, and remained until July, 1863. On the 23d of October, 1863, he was trans- ferred to the Invalid corps ; came home, November 12th, on thirty days' fur- lough ; then returned to the regiment and was with it until February 7, 1864, when he was discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability, by order from the War Department, No. 9, certificate being signed by Surgeon N. R. Mosely. It is painful to add that this soldier died at his father's residence in Essex, August 14, 1866, of consumption. He was an only child.
CHARLES A. BURNHAM.
Charles A. Burnham, painter, aged 25 years, was born in Essex ; he is married, and has a wife and three children. He was the son of John Fiske and Joanna Burnham, and enlisted August, 1862. His regiment, the Four- teenth (infantry), after their departure for the seat of war, was changed to a heavy artillery regiment. The Fourteenth Regiment, above named, left Camp Cameron, at Cambridge, August 18, 1862, and arrived in Washing- ton on the 20th. At Fort Albany, they were divided into squads, and Charles A. Burnham, the above named soldier, became a member of Com- pany A, a large number of the men in that company being from Ipswich. In September, 1862, by order of the War Department, this regiment was organized as before stated, as heavy artillery, and to remain so during their whole term of service, though when ordered to the front in May, 1864, they were to act as infantry.
WILLIAM H. HULL.
William H. Hull enlisted in August, 1862, in Company E, Capt. Sawyer, Fourteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, infantry. They were first 52
410
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
ordered to Camp Cameron, in Cambridge, for the purpose of filling vacancies, but shortly left the State for Washington, and arrived there in the same month. Soon after arriving at Washington and crossing the long bridge across the Potomac, they were stationed in different forts on Arlington Heights. For additional details the reader is referred to the sketch of D. B. Burnham, p. 407.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BURNHAM.
George Washington Burnham was born February 22, 1830, and was the son of Michael and Thirza Burnham. He enlisted in the Thirty-ninth. His history being involved with that of Albert A. Haskell, Rufus E. Mears, Daniel Burnham, and others in the same regiment, and substantially the same, need not be minutely repeated. His verbal statement is that on the 18th of August, 1864, in company with Albert A. Haskell, (see p. 403,) he was captured with some two thousand others, and kept at Petersburg, Va., and at Ship Island, some four days : thence, first to Libby prison, in Rich- mond, where they remained but two days, after which they were removed across the James to Belle Isle. Here they found themselves among seven to eight thousand Union prisoners. The battle in which these prisoners were captured was at Weldon railroad. From Belle Isle they were removed to Salisbury prison, N. C., from which receptacle of living death they were not discharged until February 22, 1865. At first and for a time, they were allowed flour bread, but afterwards corn bread made of the corn and cob ground together. Once in four or five days, and sometimes only once in abont ten days, they were allowed a " bit of beef," if so it might be called, sometimes liver, lights, tripe uncleaned, and once in a while a little sorghum. " There were five days," not consecutive indeed, says Mr. B., " when we had no food whatever." The prisoners were confined by a close board fence, with a guard on the outside so elevated that they could see over. On one occasion our soldiers being driven to desperation by hunger, attempted to break out, but were fired upon by the guard. Sixteen were killed and about forty wounded. There was, of course, no other attempt to break. Mr. B. says there was no sickness, as such, in the prison, but the want of shelter was as destructive to life as hunger itself. After a parole was finally ordered, the soldiers were sent first to Greensborough, say fifty miles, the whole dis- tance, except about fifteen miles, being performed on foot. The effect of prison-life, as might be expected, was different upon different men. Mr. Burnham's eye-sight was impaired, and continued so a long time, so that when sent to Greensborough, he was unable to do night-marching with any safety, falling into culverts, &c. He thinks many others were similarly af- fected. The scurry was also one of the sequels of prison-life, as jaundice had been one of the earlier ailments of it. Chronic diarrhoea did not affect him particularly, until paroled and on the way home. The almost endless fighting at the Wilderness, the battle at Weldon railroad, before mentioned, and that at Petersburg, were the principal, if not the only battles in which
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SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
Mr. B. was engaged. " We had no chaplain or surgeon in the prison except rebels. The soldiers," says Mr. B, "were not all young men by any means, though generally so. In our company one was sixty years old, a Mr. Gibbs, and a ' right good soldier he.' Some others were fifty or over, and yet ex- cellent soldiers." Mr. Burnham believes that explosive bullets were used by rebs to some extent, though the fact has not been referred to by any other Essex soldier, perhaps because not questioned with regard to it. A soldier from Danvers on his immediate left, Mr. B. thinks, was shot with one of these dreadful missiles, as an explosion appeared to him to take place when the ball struck, which it did in the head. The soldier in falling, fell upon Mr. B.
OSGOOD E. BURNHAM.
The sketch of this fallen soldier has already been somewhat fully given by his relative and friend, David Brainard Burnham (see page 407), but a distinct notice is certainly due to so fine a soldier as he. He was born in Essex, December 23, 1835 ; his parents, Luke and Mary Burnham, both sur- vive. He enlisted on the 6th of August, 1862, in Company E, Fourteenth Massachusetts Regiment, the same being afterwards changed to Massachu- setts First, Company A. At the time of enlistment, Col. Green commanded the regiment, and Capt. Sargent the company, but their places were subse- quently and permanently supplied by Col. Tannat and Capt. Thomson. Mr. ยท Burnham was made corporal of Company E, on the 16th of October, 1863, which office he held until his death. He was wounded in the battle of Spottsylvania, on the 19th of May, 1864; was carried first to Fredericks- burg, and afterwards to Washington, D. C., where he died in Campbell Hospital on the 28th of May, being nine days after the wound.
The case of this soldier would afford matter for much useful reflection were we not almost precluded in sketches like these from indulging in it. It may, however, at least be said that it is probably far from being the first time, when very great native modesty has been found to have been united with an equal amount of valor and intrepidity, such as nothing short of the battle- field can well develop. The precious life it is true, is a great price to pay, but he undoubtedly perceived himself becoming more and more equal to the occasion, and could have said perhaps, with Adjutant Stearns in a letter to his father from some part of the same great battle-field, "father, I am twice the man I ever was before."
HORATIO NELSON ANDREWS.
Horatio Nelson Andrews, son of Joseph and Hannah Andrews, was born June 17, 1836. He enlisted August 6, 1862, in Company A, Fourteenth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, infantry, Col. William B. Green, Capt. Nathaniel Shatswell, of Ipswich, Mass. They arrived, says Mr. Andrews, in Virginia just in season to take part in the disastrous campaign of Gen. Pope, in which were fought the memorable battles of Bull Run, Centreville, Chantilly, &c. They were stationed at Arlington Heights for nearly two
412
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
years, most of which time was on detached service at Division or Brigade Ilead-quarters, and during which time, the regiment was changed from the Fourteenth Infantry to the First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Col. Thomas R. Tannat of Manchester, Mass. They crossed the Rappahannock at Fred- ericksburg with the regiment of one thousand seven hundred and fifty men. in time to take part in Grant's campaign, at a battle in Spottsylvania, in which the regiment lost between three and four hundred men, killed and wounded, among whom were Jeremiah Poland, Jr., and Osgood Burnham of Essex. Mr. Andrews states that he was mustered out at the close of his term of service ; the regiment, then consisting of two hundred and fifty men, in front of Petersburg, Va., having lost nearly one thousand four hundred men in about two months. He received his final discharge, July 21, 1864. He states that he received a pension from the United States for injuries re- ceived at Spottsylvania, which consisted of a slight wound in the hip, and in the hand the loss of a finger.
JOHN J. PARSONS.
John J. Parsons enlisted in August, 1862, in Company E, Capt. Sawyer, Fourteenth Massachusetts Regiment, Col. Green. He continued in the same company (E) after a part of the Essex men who enlisted at the same time, were attached to Company A, in the same regiment. His history may be considered as described in'that of others in the same company, except when . personal, and the facts relating to this point we are unable to give at this date, (December 31, 1867).
MORTY DUGGAN.
Morty Duggan, born in Ireland, county of Cork in 1822; enlisted in the Forty eighth Massachusetts, Col. Stone, Company E, Capt. Jlowes. So per- fectly is the personal history of Mr. Duggan identified with his company, and so fully are the services of it set forth by Capt. Howes, (see p. 364 and on- ward,) also by Mr. Aaron Low and Mr. Lamont G. Burnham in their several journals herein contained, that it is conceived no separate description will be . thought necessary.
JOSEPH PROCTER, JR.
Joseph Procter, Jr., carpenter, son of Joseph and Elizabeth G. Procter, born in Essex December 14, 1834; enlisted in the Forty-eighth Massachu- setts, Company E, Capt. Howes, as a drummer. The fortunes and the ser- vices of this ardent and patriotic soldier may be read out in the long sketch given by Capt. Howes, before referred to, to which, as well as that given by Mr. A. Low, the reader is referred.
CHARLES W. PROCTER.
Charles W. Procter, son. of Joseph and Elizabeth G. Procter, was born in Essex, December 12, 1838. He enlisted as a fifer, and was con- nected with Company E, Forty-eighth Massachusetts throughout the entire service of nine months.
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SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
JOHN CRAFTS, JR.
John Crafts, Jr.,.son of John and Nancy Crafts, born October 23, 1819. His first enlistment was on the 9th of November, 1801, in Capt. Tyler Read's Company A, Second Massachusetts Cavalry, and he was discharged July 14, 1862, for disability. Mr. Craft's second enlistment was the 7th of October, 1862, in Capt. Howes' Company E, Forty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteers, Col. Stone. He was in the battle at Plain Store, and at Donaldsonville, for some account of which, see the sketch of Capt. Howes.
FRANKLIN CRAFTS.
Franklin Crafts enlisted two years before the war in the regular army, and was stationed in Nebraska at the commencement of the rebellion. He came to Cincinnati in the summer of 1861, and was thence ordered into Virginia, and was engaged in the battles of Port Republic and at Fredericksburg. He enlisted the second time in October, 1862, in Capt. Howes' Company E, Forty-eighth Massachusetts, Col. Stone, and was with the same regiment and company until their discharge.
WASHINGTON WILKINS JAMES.
Washington Wilkins James, son of John and Eliza James, was born in Essex, February 13, 1841. He enlisted in the Forty-eighth Massachusetts, Col. Stone, Company D, Capt. Noyes. From the statement of Capt. Howes of Company E, we obtain the only facts relating to this youthful soldier. Un- der date of May 5, 1863, Capt. Howes says : " Wilkins James is quite sick in the hospital." And by an entry on the 9th, it appears he was not so well. It is painful in the extreme to add, that " he died on the 13th of May, and was buried the following day." He found his grave where so many multi- tudes of precious lives were laid down for their country's good, on the banks of the rolling Mississippi. Peace to the memory of the soldier wherever his ashes lie.
FRANCIS G. MEARS.
Francis G. Mears, son of William H. and Mary Ann Mears, was born September 1837, at Essex. He enlisted in the Forty-eighth Massachusetts, Col. Stone, Company E, Capt. Ilowes ; died at Baton Rouge, June 21, 1863. The military life and its honorable though painful elose in death, is sufficiently narrated in the sketch of the Forty-eighth, by Capt. Howes, page 364 and onward, but may be recapitulated here in part. He had had a sick- ness at the arsenal hospital previous to that of which he died, but so far re- covered as to rejoin the regiment on the 17th of April, 1863. Ile was, however, taken down again on the 4th of May, following, and was at once removed to the hospital. Ile grew sick rapidly and as Capt. H. states, " ap- peared to be failing fast." He improved somewhat afterwards, it appears, as by the journal of the ever attentive Captain it appears that " on the 9th of the month, Mr. Mears was somewhat improving." It has been often remarked, however, that there is one foe, which even the bravest and the best cannot
414
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
meet, and before which all alike must fall. And accordingly, on the 21st of June, 1863, this youthful warrior laid off his mortal armor forever, and like multitudes of others, many of whom were no doubt equally brave, sleeps on the banks of the mighty Mississippi at Baton Rouge.
It should have been before stated that Mr. Mears was in the line of pro- motion when taken sick, having been made a sergeant.
SAMUEL MEARS, JR.
Samuel Mears, Jr., was the son of Samuel and Lydia Mears. He was 38 years of age at the time of his enlistment, which was in July, 1862, in the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts, Company A, Col. P. S. Davis, and Capt. George S. Nelson. Mr. Mears was not engaged in any regular battle, and was discharged for disability, in January, 1864. He was re-enlisted however, in the same year in the Thirteenth Veteran Reserve, in the month of July, and was finally discharged in January, 1865.
WILLIAM C. HOWARD.
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