USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 41
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423
SKETCHES OF THE SOLDIERS.
1861-1865.]
JOHN VARNUM.
John Varnum enlisted at the age of 28 years, into the Massachusetts Thirty-ninth, Company A, Col. P. S. Davis, and Capt. George S. Nelson. The battles in which he was engaged were those of the Wilderness, Spottsyl- vania, Laurel Hill, Hatcher's Run, and White Oak Swamp. He was slightly wounded at the battle of Laurel Hill.
EZRA F. BURNHAM.
Ezra F. Burnham, was the son of Ezra and Mary Ann Burnham. He served in the United States steamer Gettysburg, Lieut. R. H. Lamson, com- mander. He enlisted at the age of 20 years. While in the service he was in the engagement at Fort Fisher, and received his discharge May 19, 1865.
EDWARD W. LANDER.
Edward W. Lander was born in Salem, Mass., January 9, 1835. His oc- cupation both there and in Essex was that of a barber ; has a wife and three children. He enlisted at Essex, July 19, 1862, in the Fourth Massachusetts Light Battery, Capt. C. H. Manning, (who raised the battery,) although it was afterwards commanded by Capt. George G. Trull. Capt. Trull was not com- missioned until October 21, 1862. Mr. Lander was mustered into the ser- vice July 21, 1862, at Camp Cameron in Cambridge. He says, "I never was wounded nor in the hospital from sickness," and adds, "I never was really hungry, but have caten raw salt pork and hard tack. I never was a prisoner." On the 13th of January, this battery, then at Brashear City, was ordered up Bayou Teche with Gen. Weitzel's Corps to Camp Bisland, where it participated in the fight on the next day with the rebel gun-boat J. A. Cotten and the rebel land forces, and on the 16th returned to Brashear City, after which it went to Fort Pike. In the meantime, the men of the two sections of the battery, which had been left at Carrolton, La., had become so much disabled by the miasma arising from the surrounding swamps, that one hundred and ten out of one hundred and fourteen in camp being unfit for duty, they were ordered to Fort Pike to recruit their health. While here; several expeditions were sent out along the lake; some to Bay St. Louis, where valuable light-house equipments and stores were captured, also to Pass Christian and Pearlington, where starving and destitute families were found and sent to New Orleans. "On the 28th of February our battery was ordered to Baton Rouge, and on the 13th of March it went with the expedi- tion to Port Hudson, whence, after the object of the expedition was accom- complished, we returned to the swamps for rest a short time. On the 21st of May we marched for Port Hudson and were actively engaged throughout the siege. . . . From the time of the surrender of Port Hudson till the 19th of September, we were passing up and down the great river, between Port Hudson and Donaldsonville, and on the 19th we were ordered to Camp Bisland to join the army engaged in the expedition to Opelousas. On the 11th of October we were engaged with the enemy at Vermillionville. On
424
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
the 17th of November we arrived at New Iberia, where the battery, having re-enlisted, was mustered into service for three years more. This re-enlist- ment took place on the 4th of January, 1864. After our furlough had ex- pired, we returned to New Orleans and were stationed for a while in the city. On Monday, September 3d, we were ordered to Morganza Bend, where we spent some time in drill and target-firing." Omitting much which might be related, Mr. Lander states, that on the 13th of October their left section went up Red River on an expedition, and returned in the evening with a few prisoners. On the 10th of November they were ordered on board the Ohio Belle, bound for White River, and landed at Duvall's Bluffs. He calls it a bad place for landing a battery. The mud was up to the hubs of the wheels. On the 25th of November they went on board a steamer for Memphis, Ten- nessee, on an expedition after the rebel General Hood. Hood retreated after a slight skirmish, but they did not follow him on account of the badness of the roads. Other skirmishing took place subsequent to the above, but not of a very important character. The last order before Mr. Lander's dis- charge was issued on Thursday the 9th of February, in pursuance of which they took the steamer Corrinthia for Dauphine Island, where his discharge took place, his time having expired.
JOHN C. BUTMAN.
This sketch of John C. Butmant may also be considered as applying to the following named soldiers, who enlisted at the same time, except wherein it is strictly personal, viz : William A. Andrews, Charles E. Andrews, Reuben Andrews, Ancill K. Butman, Charles F. Morse, Thomas A. Morse, John B. Burnham and William Howe Burnham. John C. Butman, son of John and Hepzibah Butman, was born December 28, 1819. Occupation, vessel- painting, enlisted at Essex, November 27, 1861, and was mustered and sworn in, December 10th, following. The above named soldiers left Salem on the same day, December 10th for Muddy Bank, say thirty-five miles above Washington city, and remained there until the 11th of March, 1862. On that day, they were ordered to strike their tents and move down the Potomac some sixteen miles to Edward's Ferry ; halted there for refreshments the same afternoon, and immediately went on board a canal boat and proceeded up the river till midnight. "On the next morning we were towed to Harper's Ferry. Leaving the boat at that place we crossed the river on a pontoon bridge, and marched in a southerly direction about two miles into Virginia, and thence on to Winchester. At Berrysville, we found the road lined with Union soldiers, shouting victory ; being now returning from the battle of Winchester. We learned that all the dwellings between us and Winchester, were filled with the dead and dying. We were now ordered into line and marched by the very field where John Brown was hanged. We were soon after halted and remained two nights in a grove near Gen. Banks' head- quarters, and thence proceeded to Bolivar, a small town where most of the houses had been evacuated. Our regiment was divided into squads, large or
425
CHARLES H. FIELDS.
1861-1865.]
small, according to the size of the house we were to occupy. The roads were very muddy and the weather very rainy. Some twenty men were detailed to procure a supply of straw for the men to sleep upon. In about one week more we were ordered to the 'Soldier's Retreat' at Washington." [The re- mainder of Mr. Butman's statement, though interesting, is omitted, having already occupied more than the space assigned to it.]
CHARLES H. FIELDS.
Charles H. Fields enlisted in the first battalion of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, Col. Russel, Company B, Capt. Cyrus Emery, December 25, 1863, for three years. Mr. Fields was born in Byfield Parish, Newbury, June 23, 1823. He had been a seaman for about eleven years at one time, and fol- lowed other and laborious occupations previous to enlisting. His wife died while he was absent in the army, leaving several children. The regiment was mustered in at Readville on or about January 4, 1864, and remained there till the 5th of May, following, when they were ordered to proceed to Washington. The three battalions then consisted of about nine hundred men ; they arrived there on the 7th of May, and by Gen. Casey's order were dismounted and marched next day to Camp Stoneman, in Maryland ; shortly after, they were ordered again to Washington, and thence to Camp Casey, two miles from Long Bridge. On the 13th of May they were ordered to Fortress Monroe and to report themselves to Gen. Butler ; they arrived on the 15th, and proceeded the next day to City Point, at the junction of the James and Appomattox, where they remained a month for drill. This regi- ment was the first on the field at Petersburg, on the 15th of June, having commenced their march for that place an hour and a half sooner than the orders required. There had been a battle some four days before, viz., on the 11th of June ; but their first fighting commenced as above stated, on the 15th of June, 1864, and may be said to have lasted eleven days. The whole country between the James and Appomattox, as far westerly at least as Peters- burg on the Appomattox and Bermuda Hundred on the James, and so down to the junction, may be said to have been battle ground those eleven days. Our troops drove the rebels in the first of these battles at Petersburg, June 15, 1864, though it was a hotly contested battle. Mr. Fields belonged to the band (twenty-one in number), and they were used as soldiers in battle, though not required, on any occasion, to stand guard. Our troops captured three forts and three breastworks during those eleven days. It should have been stated that Mr. F. was at City Point about a month before the battle at Petersburg on the 15th, for drilling. After the battle above mentioned they were ordered to Bermuda Hundred, on the James River, when another battle was fought, and the troops continued from that time to be used where most wanted, during the remainder of the said eleven days. At the expiration of this time, they were ordered from Bermuda Hundred to Point Lookout in Maryland, at the junction of the Potomac and the Chesapeake Bay, for the purpose of drilling, and guarding rebel soldiers, there being fifteen thousand 54
426
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
at that place. They remained at Point Lookout from the last of July to the 26th of March, 1865, then left for Deep Bottom, so called, on the James River, five miles from Richmond, and remained there till the 4th of April, and at that time joined in the charge upon Richmond. It ought to be stated that the first colonel, Russell, had been degraded and sent home to Boston. The new colonel ( Adams), had informed the regiment Sunday night (the day before the charge), of the plan of Gen. Grant for the attack on Richmond, and counseled them to show a specimen of their valor, as it would be, he said, a case of life and death.
After the surrender of Richmond, this colored battalion was ordered to the Rio Grande, the great river separating Texas from Mexico. They were lo- cated at the mouth of the river, and were on duty here, five and one-half months, though sickness began to prevail in the form of chronic diarrhoea at an early day. Mr. Fields was sick during the entire campaign of five and one-half months, and indeed, his system was not free from it for at least four- teen months. They were here attached to the Twenty-fifth Army Corps, colored. There were one thousand four hundred and seventy in the regiment who went to Texas. The whole colored army corps consisted of about sixty thousand. Of the one thousand four hundred and seventy above named who went to Texas, only one thousand one hundred and four came back, three hundred and sixty-six having been left either sick or dead. Maj. Gen. Sheri- dan was chief in command. The colored-corps' commander was Gen. Weitzel ; indeed, it was under him that they had entered Richmond. Their brigadier in Texas was Gen. Cole.
MICHAEL COY.
Michael Coy was born in the county of Galway, Ireland, March 9, 1829 ; his occupation had been farming. His statement, verbally made, is as fol- lows, viz : "I enlisted June 9, 1862, in Company F, Capt. Garlick, For- tieth Massachusetts, Col. Dalton. Went into camp at Boxford. Our guns were not furnished us till we left the camp. When we left Boxford, we were ordered to Washington. Our first stop was at Philadelphia, but that was short and only for refreshments, and we proceeded immediately to Balti- more and thence to Washington by rail. Our first destination was to Arling- ton Heights, five miles from Washington, on the Virginia side. We remained at the Heights until March, 1863, when we were ordered down the river to the Peninsula. There we remained on service about a month, during which we were in the battle at Bottom's Bridge, on the 2d of July, 1863, which lasted about half a day. We drove the enemy, although we lost seven hun- dred and fifty men. Our next battle was at Seven Pines." [The soldier may sometimes be inadvertently incorrect, in regard to the order in which events occurred. In this case, I find the battle of Seven Pines was first officially reported in the Tribune of February 6th, instead of being subse- quent to Bottom's Bridge fight]. " While there, we occupied the fortifications of Gen. McClellan early in the war, now nearly in ruins. Our next march was to Alexandria, Va., and thence to Williamsburg, Va., by rail. We were
427
RECAPITULATION BY REGIMENTS.
1861-1865.]
expecting a battle with Lee, but were too late to do any fighting, as a battle had already taken place. We saw the field where it had been fought, and the dead horses upon it. We learned that the Union forces had been victo- rious and Lee had retreated." [On turning to the published reports of events at Williamsburg in 1863, I find but two recorded, viz : that the Union cavalry fell into ambush there on the 7th of February, and that the Union camp was broken up April 11th. Neither of these facts appear to coincide so fully with the soldier's statements as could be wished]. The soldier (Coy) says he never was wounded in battle, nor sick, nor was he ever a prisoner of war, but was once wounded in his ankle, by running against a bayonet lying on the ground in the night. This injury disabled him about six weeks, during which time he was under hospital treatment. On inquiring of him whether he was ever where the balls flew, he replied, that in all the battles where he fought, meu and horses were falling all around him. "At Olustee," says he, " we lost two hundred and fifty in two hours and forty minutes. We were driven off the field in that battle. Previously to this fight we had been used as cavalry about six months, but on arriving at Olustee, we dis- mounted and fought on foot. Every fourth man was detailed to hold the horses during the fight. We were finally discharged in June, 1865, the war being over."
By the Adjutant General's Report for 1864, page 859 and onward, it ap- pears that this regiment (Fortieth Massachusetts), "was one of the few Massachusetts regiments that served in the far-off State of Florida. It took part in the brave battle of Olustee." After a full record of the history of this Fortieth Massachusetts, the report concludes by saying : " No better battalion ever left the old Bay State. The banner which was entrusted to the regiment to defend and honor, has never been lost, and it will be placed beside other battle-stained and weather-beaten colors in the Capitol of the State. The battles enumerated by Coy in which he was actively engaged, should have been before stated. They were at Bottom's Bridge, Seven Pines, Charlottestown ; Saint Mary's Creek, and Olustee, Florida ; Cold Harbor, and Ball's Bluff, Va., these two being the heaviest. There were also a few others not now recollected.
SUMMARY OR RECAPITULATION
OF THE NAMES OF THE ESSEX SOLDIERS, AS ARRANGED IN THEIR SEVERAL REGIMENTS OR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.
The figures refer to the pages where a sketch of each may be found.
MASSACHUSETTS SECOND INFANTRY.
ANDREWS, PRINCE A. 394 DUGGAN, DANIEL . . 417
BURNHAM, ROBERT W., JR. . 417 HOWES, EDWIN A. . 416
BURNHAM, RUFUS .
. 418
MASSACHUSETTS FIFTH.
ALLEN, ROBERT WALLACE . 415 | CHASE, LYMAN H. . . 415
.
428
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
MASSACHUSETTS SEVENTH. Stationed at Fort Warren.
ALLEN, JOSEPH GILMAN . 388 | BURNHAM, JESSE ·
388
ANDREWS, ALBURN
388
BURNHAM, OTIS
389
ANDREWS, IRA, JR.
389
GILBERT JOHN F. .
389
ANDREWS, WILLIAM H. .
388
HOWES, WEBSTER
389
BARTLETT, JACOB O.
389
Low, EDWARD
. 389
BURNHAM, ALFRED M. .
388 MCINTIRE, WILLIAM HENRY . 389
MASSACHUSETTS EIGHTH.
HASKELL, NATHANIEL ·
385
MASSACHUSETTS TWELFTH.
CLIFFORD, DAVID E. .
. 397
MASSACHUSETTS SIXTEENTH.
ANDREWS, ALBERT
. 382
MASSACHUSETTS EIGHTEENTH.
BURNHAM, JAMES HOWE
·
. 415
MASSACHUSETTS NINETEENTH.
ANDREWS, CHARLES EDWIN 419 | BUTMAN, ANCILL K. 396
ANDREWS, REUBEN 419 BUTMAN, JOHN C. 424 .
ANDREWS, WILLIAM A. . 396 HAYDEN, WILLIAM H. · 396
BURNHAM, JOHN B.
395
LEE, JOHN E.
· 391
BURNHAM, WILLIAM HOWE
394
MORSE, CHARLES F.
419
BURNHAM, ZENAS . . 391 MORSE, THOMAS A. . 421
Low, WILLIAM B. MASSACHUSETTS TWENTIETH.
386
MASSACHUSETTS TWENTY-SECOND.
SARGENT, O. H. P.
404
MASSACHUSETTS TWENTY-THIRD.
DODGE, GEORGE 418 | SARGENT, GEORGE H.
HARDY, GEORGE C.
·
390
STORY, AARON HERBERT
.
397
HASKELL, JAMES FREDERIC 395
SWETT, SIMEON
406
Low, WILLIAM E. . 387
MASSACHUSETTS TWENTY-FOURTH.
ANDREWS, CYRUS (LIEUT.) 420 LUFKIN, CHARLES P. 419
BURNHAM, HARLAN P.
.
390
MARTYN, JOHN L. .
415
HOWES, ERASTUS . . 420 McINTIRE, EDWARD E. . 397
MASSACHUSETTS TWENTY-FIFTH, UNATTACHED.
COGSWELL, GEORGE 396
.
·
429
RECAPITULATION BY REGIMENTS.
1861-1865.]
MASSACHUSETTS THIRTIETH.
ANDREWS, MONSIEUR M. 397 Ross, GEORGE · 398
LUFKIN, WILLIAM · 390 Ross, GEORGE, JR. . 399
MASSACHUSETTS THIRTY-FIFTH.
WENTWORTH, GEORGE S.
393
·
MASSACHUSETTS THIRTY-NINTII.
ANDREWS, TIMOTHY, JR. 401 | DODGE, WILLIAM G. 400
BURNHAM, DANIEL
399 GUPPY, GEORGE F. 402
BURNHAM, GEORGE FOSTER .
402 HASKELL, ALBERT A. 403
BURNHAM, G. WASHINGTON .
410 MEARS, RUFUS E. .
399
BURNHAM, JAMES HORACE .
377 MEARS, SAMUEL, JR.
414
BURNHAM, WILBUR 422 STORY, ASA .
393
CHANNEL, JOIIN C.
. 402
VARNUM, JOIIN
423
MASSACHUSETTS FORTIETH.
COY, MICHAEL
426 | STORY, DAVID LEWIS . 400
MASSACHUSETTS FORTY-EIGHTH.
ANDREWS, ISRAEL F. 377
HAYDEN, LUTHER . .
. 378
ANDREWS, LYMAN B. 385 HOWES, CHARLES (CAPT.) 364 ·
BURNHAM, ALBERT F., 2D ·
378 JACKSON, ANDREW . 378
BURNHAM, GEORGE F., 2D · 377 JAMES, WASHINGTON WILKINS
413
BURNHAM, HORACE .
· 377
KELLEHER, JOHN .
380
BURNHAM, IRA F. .
375
KIMBALL, JAMES B. 380
BURNHAM, LAMONT G. 372
Low, AARON 373
BURNIIAM, LEONARD
378
MAHONEY, THOMAS 380
BURNIIAM, LEWIS
.
378
MARSTON, CHARLES E.
383
CALLEHAN, DANIEL .
387
MCEACHEN, JOUN . 379
CALLEHAN, MAURICE ·
379
MEARS, FRANCIS G. 413
CRAFTS, FRANKLIN 413
PREST, ROBERT 379
CRAFTS, JOHN, JR. .
413 PROCTER, CHARLES W. . 412
CROCKETT, CHARLES P. .
380 PROCTER, JOSEPHI, JR. · 412
DUGGAN, MORTY . · 412
RIGGS, SOLOMON A. . 376
HARDY, ALPHONSO M. · 378
FIRST MASSACHUSETTS HEAVY ARTILLERY. All having first enlisted in the Fourteenth Volunteers, infantry.
ANDREWS, H. NELSON 411 HART, JOHN F. 376
ANDREWS, STEPHEN P. . .
407 HASKELL, WILLIAM P. 406
BURNHAM, ALBERT FRANK 409 HULL, WILLIAM H. 409
BURNHAM, CHARLES A. . · 409
JONES, JOHN S. 416
BURNIIAM, DAVID B. 407 PARSONS, JOIIN J. . 412
BURNHAM, OSGOOD E. · 411 POLAND, JEREMIAH, JR. 416
BURNHAM, WILLIAM H. H. . 396 TUCKER, JOSEPH W. 376
430
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS HEAVY ARTILLERY.
BURNHAM, CONSTANTINE . 394 | MEARS, HENRY C. . 396
ELEVENTH MASSACHUSETTS HEAVY ARTILLERY, UNATTACHED.
ANDREWS, RUFUS .
.
394 | LUFKIN, ALFRED
394
TWELFTH MASSACHUSETTS HEAVY ARTILLERY, UNATTACHED. BURNHAM, ABNER.
FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS LIGHT BATTERY.
LANDER, EDWARD W. .
. 423
SECOND MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY.
BURNHAM, MARK F. .
382
FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRY.
FIELDS, CHARLES H. 425 | HASKELL, WILLIAM A. . . 394
CAVALRY OR MOUNTED RIFLE RANGERS.
CLAIBORNE, GEORGE C. . 385 | HATCH, JASON · 393
COOSE, WILLIAM D. . 393 JONES, SAMUEL Q. .
· 392
UNITED STATES NAVY.
BURNHAM, ALBION
415 | PERKINS, GUSTAVUS S. .
418
BURNHAM, EZRA F. .
. 423
AT FORT SUMPTER AND OTHER FORTS.
LUFKIN, ALBERT E. .
.
390
MAINE AND MINNESOTA.
HOWARD, WILLIAM C. . . 414 | BURNHAM, ROLLINS M. .
392
CAPT. BABSON'S COMPANY FOR COAST DEFENSE.
Enlisted for one year from December 4, 1864, but discharged at close of the war.
ALLEN, HERVEY 386 COGSWELL, ADDISON 386
ANDREWS, FRANK E. 386 COGSWELL, GEORGE 396
ANDREWS, GILMAN 386 COOK, MOSES 391
BURNHAM, ALFRED M. . 388 · HASKELL, NATHANIEL 385
BURNHAM, ANDREW F. 391
LUFKIN, HERVEY 391
BURNHAM, FRANCIS
391 STORY, OTIS . · 391
BURNHAM, OTIS
. 389
A part of the above are re enlistments.
2
OBITUARY.
Names of Essex soldiers slain in battle during the War of the Rebellion, or who died subsequently of wounds received, or diseases contracted in the army :
AGED ABOUT. CHARLES EDWIN ANDREWS, killed at the battle of White Years. Mos. Oak, June 1, 1862, - 27
REUBEN ANDREWS, died of fever at Harper's Ferry, October 27,1862, 26
WILLIAM A. ANDREWS, wounded June 30, 1862; not seen afterwards, - 16
DANIEL BURNHAM, killed at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864.
OSGOOD E. BURNHAM, wounded May 19, 1864; died May 28, 1864, - - - WILBUR BURNHAM, died at Washington of fever, May 21, 1863, - 21 JOHN C. CHANNEL, died after arriving home.
-
29
CHARLES P. CROCKETT, died at Baton Rouge, May 6, 1863.
GEORGE DODGE, circumstances and time of death not known. ALBERT A. HASKELL, died in Salisbury prison, June 30, 1865, 22 JAMES FREDERIC HASKELL, died on board the steamer Su- wanee, February 3, 1862, 19
WILLIAM P. HASKELL, died January 6, 1862, "- 17
JASON HATCH, killed in battle at Cedar Creek, October19, 1864. WASHINGTON WILKINS JAMES, died May 13, 1863, 22
CHARLES P. LUFKIN, died of wounds received at Fort Wagner, July 29, 1863, - 20
WILLIAM LUFKIN, died of fever in the vicinity of New Orleans, 57 JOHN L. MARTYN, unknown.
FRANCIS GILBERT MEARS, died at Baton Rouge, June 21, 1863, 26
RUFUS E. MEARS, died in Salisbury prison, October 26, 1864, - 24
CHARLES F. MORSE, died at hospital after a sickness of about two months, 33
JEREMIAHI POLAND, JR., died May 21, 1864, 34
GEORGE ROSS, JR., drowned in the Mississippi River, April 29, 1862, 18 9 OLIVER H. P. SARGENT, wounded at Yorktown, May 4, 1862; died May 30, 1862, 41 -
ASA STORY, died of fever, November 11, 1862,
33
7
432
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 7.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
The following extracts from a " Welcome to the Sol- diers," delivered July 4, 1865, at the town celebration in Essex, by the compiler of the foregoing sketches, may form a not unfitting close to the foregoing chapter :
The 4th of July has opened upon us jubilant, and yet with some clouds of sorrow upon its brow ;- jubilant, because the defiant Palmetto flag is furled as we believe forever, and America for the third time is free. And yet with much of sorrow to many, because it finds us mourning for the unreturning brave. The tear stands upon many a household hearth to-day. The general joy, however, will preponderate and moderate that grief and assuage it. The living soldier has returned from the war with untarnished laurels, and the slain heroes are reposing, every one in his bed of honor.
WELCOME TO THE SOLDIERS.
To the commanding officer of the day, (Capt. Howes of the Forty-eighth, ) late commander on a very different field, and to the brave soldiers all, I would say, you may be familiar with the worthlessness of human praise, and it is not to be denied that it is sometimes empty ; but it does please us, and we cannot help it, to welcome you home from the war this day. It relieved our hearts somewhat, to break your gentle morning slumbers with the music of the village gun, and the bell and the band, and it will please us as much to lull you to sleep in the same peaceful way to-night.
Till an hour ago, I had supposed it would be the agreeable duty of the orator of the day [B. H. Smith, Esq., of Gloucester, ] to pronounce our welcome in his more fitting terms, and I did not intend to make his task the harder by many words of mine. Rather would I have smoothed his part, by informing him that in this phalanx of veteran men, the wounded and the unwounded, he would see the heroes of three and twenty battle fields. Without striet regard to chronological order they have fought at Yorktown, Antietam, Fredericks- burg, Roanoke Island, Gettysburg, Newbern, Kinston, Cedar Mountain, Wilderness, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, South Mountain, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Plain Store, Port Hudson, Winchester, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Olustee, Donaldsonville and in the Red River campaign, besides in numerous skir- mishes, many of them not quite taking the name of battles. And here are the men, who have met no foe on any of these fields of war, before whom they could not stand, though the brown hair of every one of their heads has whistled to the wind of rebel bullets. We do not for a moment forget our glorious, but unreturning twenty-four. Peace, peace, to their hallowed mem- ories ! On the future monument, of which I love to dream, shall all their names be carved.
Essex has put one hundred and forty-three of her own citizens into the
433
ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
1861-1865.]
country's service, besides thirty-nine strangers, and thirteen substitutes ; mak- ing the number of one hundred and ninety-five in all.
Mr. Commander, brave men in arms, ladies, teachers and scholars of the town schools, officers of the town, and citizens generally :- It was the strong declaration of a Fourth of July oration, in 1863, that rather than live under a dishonored flag, and in a broken Union, it would be better that the last man and the last dollar should be followed by the last loved woman and the last dime, and they by the last dear child and the last white cent. This, he admitted, might be called a strong American exaggeration. He could not of course tell how much of life and treasure would be wasted. But you know now how small a portion of that treasure has been needed, and how few of those precious lives have been yielded, terrible as the war has been in both respects. With us, save the " sheeted spirits" of our beloved twenty-four, nearly all are here or on their way home, AND THE WAR OVER ! and the flag not " dishonored," nor the Union " broken." There is "no unfinished con- fliet," no "unrighted wrong ;" and there will not long be, I think, any "un -- settled question." I admit that some say otherwise. Dr. Loring and Mr. Dana think the war not over, I believe. Should there, by any possibility, be another appeal to arms, it must be short, with a million men like you, all ready. The manly energies of these glorious fellows would carry them, at once, if needed, to another Antietam, or South Mountain, or Port Hudson, or Gettysburg, or Fair Oaks, or to cross the Rapidan, as they have done, on a pontoon in the night ! Especially, fellow-citizens, hear me, ESPECIALLY should a delinquent Legislature pass a law, allowing the town to pay the bounty to our first forty-seven enlisted soldiers, which all others have received, which they ought to have had, and which they shall yet have !
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