USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 11
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With true Massachusetts spirit, Thanksgiving day was observed with as much of a feast as circumstances permitted and with other exercises, while there was a similar observance of Christmas. The mouth of Quantico Creek was directly opposite the regimental camp, where the enemy had formidable fortifications, which made
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THE FIRST REGIMENT.
of every passing vessel a target. Under these circumstances there was no lack of excitement and adventure as the winter months wore away ; though the part taken by the regiment, in addition to picket and observation, was confined to some few enterprises which were rather calculated to test the heroic qualities of small details than to make history for the First Massachusetts as an organiza- tion. During the winter a temperance society, a literary organiza- tion and a church were formed by members of the regiment, all of which exerted a valuable influence.
General Henry M. Naglee took command of the brigade on the 19th of February, Colonel Cowdin returning to his regiment. The Confederates abandoned their works March 9, first setting fire to everything that would burn, and immediately detachments of the First were rowed across and planted the Union standards on the evacuated fortifications, which were speedily dismantled. The regiment embarked on the steamer Kennebec April 4, and five days later was landed at Ship Point on the York river, where the brigade remained on duty until the 16th, when it moved to the front near Yorktown.
About this time the command of the brigade passed to General Cuvier Grover, and on the morning of April 6 Company H of the First, supported by Companies A and I of the First and two com- panies of the Eleventh, were selected to capture a lunette in front of Yorktown which had given much annoyance to the Union picket lines. The dash was gallantly made, the offending work being car- ried at the point of the bayonet by the single company set to the task, 15 of the garrison being captured, though at a loss to the charging company of four killed and 14 wounded. The intrench- ment being leveled to the ground by the supporting detachment, the entire party returned to their own lines without further loss.
Following the evacuation of Yorktown on the 4th of May, Hooker's division pursued the retreating enemy with energy, though a heavy rain was falling, and on confronting him near Fort Magru- der the impulsive "Fighting Joe," as he was thenceforth called, accepted the challenge and opened the sharply contested battle of Williamsburg. During the engagement the First Massachusetts were on the skirmish line and fought valiantly, suffering a loss of seven killed, 32 wounded, and a few missing. On the 8th the brig- ade was detailed for provost duty at Williamsburg, Lieutenant
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Colonel Wells being provost marshal of the post, and in the multi- tudinous duties of the position a week was passed, when the march Richmond-ward was resumed. On the 23d the Chickahominy was crossed at Bottom's bridge, and after two days' delay the regiment went into camp at Poplar Hill, an eminence in the vast track known as White Oak Swamp, in which General Heintzelman's Third Corps was located.
The lines of Federal advance being at that time within six miles of Richmond, the First, in common with the other troops of the corps, were kept constantly on the alert by reconnaissances and skirmishes, none of which were of especial note till the sanguinary battle of Fair Oaks, on the 31st of May. In that engagement Grover's Brigade had no active part, being ordered to hold Poplar Hill, which fortunately was not reached by the enemy. After the repulse of the Confederates on the 1st of June, Casey's Division of the Fourth Corps, which had suffered severely in the first dash of the foe, was retired to Poplar Hill and Grover's command took its place on the Williamsburg road in the midst of White Oak Swamp,-a very trying position. The unburied bodies of men and horses tainted the air ; the malaria of the swamps was sufficient to destroy the most vigorous constitution ; the labor required was severe. While here Lieutenant Colonel Wells was assigned to temporarily command the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania, and Grover's Brigade was strengthened by the addition, June 12, of the Six- teenth Massachusetts Regiment, Colonel Powell T. Wyman.
General Hooker was ordered soon after to feel the enemy in the direction of Richmond, and early on the morning of June 25 he pushed Grover's Brigade forward through the swamp, the First Massachusetts on the lead. The Confederates were soon located by their line of fire-for nothing could be seen through the thicket -when the First made a gallant dash and captured the rifle-pits. The enemy being reinforced regained them soon after, but the Massachusetts boys made a second charge with such valor that they again drove out the southerners and this time the works were held, notwithstanding repeated assaults during the day and evening. The loss of the First was nine killed and 55 wounded.
During MeClellan's "change of base," which immediately en- sued, the regiment had many a post of honor. On the morning of the 29th it was marched to the front to hold a certain redoubt till
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THE FIRST REGIMENT.
the rest of the division had withdrawn to a safe distance, which a fog enabled it to do without observation ; but at noon the brigade, forming the Union rear guard, was overtaken by the pursuing Con- federates at Savage's Station -McClellan's former head-quarters. During the sharp engagement which resulted in the repulse of the enemy the First supported Battery K of the Fourth United States Artillery.
In the battle of Glendale the next day, where a most determined attempt was made to cut the Federal army in two, the First again suffered heavy loss. In making a charge at evening, with the rest of the brigade, it penetrated to a position where it received a fire from three sides, and only escaped annihilation by making a rapid retreat. In killed, wounded and missing the loss was 62, among the slain being Major Chandler and Lieutenant Sutherland.
The regiment was not actively engaged at the battle of Malvern Hill on the 1st of July, and the following day moved with the army to Harrison's Landing, where more than a month was given to re- cuperation, while the next move in the great game of war was being decided upon. 'At this time the regiment bade adieu to its band, the government having decided that one brass-band must furnish the music for each brigade ; but in lieu of the band an additional assistant surgeon was allowed to each regiment, that officer for the First being Dr. T. Fletcher Oakes of South Dartmouth. Lieuten- ant Colonel Wells also left the regiment at this time, to become colonel of the Thirty-fourth.
The only military event of importance during the stay at Har- rison's Landing was a reconnaissance by General Hooker's Division on the 4th of August, which encountered the enemy the following morning and took a hundred prisoners-the total loss of the First being one man slightly wounded. On the 15th Grover's Brigade covered the retreat of the Army of the Potomac from the Landing, the First embarking at Williamsburg on the 20th and four days later landing at Alexandria, a few miles from which it went into camp, but only for a few hours. That afternoon cars were taken and the regiment rode to Warrenton Junction, which brought it so near to the enemy that the train on its return trip was captured and de- stroyed.
One day of comparative rest followed, but before light of the 27th the regiment was called from slumber to share with the rest
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
of Hooker's Division in the movement in search of Stonewall Jack- son, who was getting to the rear of General Pope's retiring army. In the defeat of the Confederate force under General Ewell at Bris- toe's Station that afternoon, after a sharp march, Grover's Brigade had not an active part, being in support of the troops actually en- gaged. The First remained near the Station till the middle of the following afternoon, when it marched to the Bull Run battle-field and halted for the night, but before daybreak was in motion again.
For a time after reaching the field of the Second Bull Run bat- tle, some hours after the opening of the engagement, Grover's Brig- ade supported a battery ; but about the middle of the afternoon, the artillerists having been driven from their pieces by the severity of the enemy's fire, General Grover was ordered to charge the woods in his front. It was a forlorn undertaking, with no supports or artillery assisting, but the gallant brigade forced its way over the natural difficulties and through two opposing lines of battle to a railroad bank, where it received a terrible fire from a third line, when the First and its fellow-regiments, having done all that human valor could do, fell back to the shelter of the Federal artillery. This charge, though hopeless from the start, was one of the finest and bravest of the war. The loss of the First regiment was 20 killed and fatally hurt, 51 wounded and two missing, among the killed being First Lieutenant John M. Mandeville of Chelsea.
Following the battle of Chantilly on the 1st of September, Hook- er's Division fell back to the vicinity of Alexandria, where, a short distance from Fort Lyon, the First went into camp September 5. Soon after a considerable number of recruits joined the regiment, and as many of those wounded in the early part of the campaign returned, the command again presented a battalion line of respecta- ble numbers. A number of important changes in officers occurred while the division rested in the Washington defenses. General Hooker, being appointed to the command of the First Corps, bade adieu to his well-tried division after stipulating that it should have a season of rest in recognition of its heroic services. He was suc- ceeded by General Grover, which again placed Colonel Cowdin tem- porarily in command of the brigade ; but the latter being promoted soon after and assigned to a different command, the brigade was given to General Joseph B. Carr. The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Baldwin, promoted from captain of Company
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TIIE FIRST REGIMENT.
E, Captain Gardner Walker of Company C being commissioned major.
The dash of General Stuart's cavalry around Mcclellan's army on the 10th of October created general alarm, and in consequence the FirstRegiment was detailed to garrison the works on Munson's Hill, a strategic point some six miles from Washington. Here it remained for ten days without event of importance, when prepar- ations were made to co-operate in the southward movement of the army under Mcclellan. On the 31st the division, then commanded by General Sickles, received marching orders and set forth the next morning. After proceeding a short distance the First Regiment was detached for provost duty at Fairfax Court House and Fairfax Station, and at these points, incidentally guarding the railroad for several miles in either direction, the command remained till the 25th of November. Orders were then received to join the division, which was overtaken in front of Fredericksburg on the 3d of December.
In the battle of Fredericksburg the First did not have an im- portant part. . They crossed the river about noon of the 13th, and at once proceeded to relieve a part of the picket line below the city connecting the right under General Sumner with the left under General Franklin. This position they retained till the retreat, and were among the last to leave the field, the loss of the regiment being 34, of whom three only were killed or fatally hurt. On the following morning Colonel Napoleon B. MeLaughlen, promoted from captain in the Regular Army, assumed command of the First, which he held till the close of its service.
No sooner was his command settled in camp after the battle than the new commander gave it a thorough reorganization, bringing it to a high state of discipline. Early in January the division shifted its camping ground to a more favorable locality, where substantial winter quarters were constructed, the monotony of inaction being broken only by drill, picket and camp duties. With the rest of the army, the First had its full share in the dismal flounderings of the "Mud March," which began January 20, and a more extended trip up the Rappahannock was made on the 5th of February, the regi- ment going out to guard a ford while a cavalry column proceeded to destroy a bridge at Rappahannock Station. The expedition was successful, though made in a dismal storm.
The Chancellorsville campaign began, so far as the First Regi-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
ment was concerned, on the afternoon of April 28, when the divis- ion-then commanded by General Berry-broke camp and marched toward the lower crossing of the Rappahannock, where the follow- ing morning some troops of the Sixth Corps crossed and bridges were laid. That being successfully accomplished the Third Corps proceeded up the river to join Hooker's main body at Chancellors- ville, the First Massachusetts being detailed to escort a wagon train and rejoining its brigade, then in reserve, just at the close of the fighting of the 1st of May.
The position then assumed was not changed till the breaking of the Eleventh Corps the following afternoon called the division to check the Confederate advance, which it was largely instrumental in doing. As the First were firing down the Plank road at the time Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded upon it that evening, it is probable that he received his wounds from their bullets. The Federal lines, being established and valiantly held at this point through the night, were desperately attacked the following morn- ing. A determined resistance was made till the ammunition of both infantry and artillery gave out, when some of the defenders retired, exposing the rest on the flank so that the entire first line had to be withdrawn. A line some distance to the rear was firmly held, however, though in trying to repair the mischief of the first break General Berry lost his life. Forty-two members of the First Regiment were captured in the retreat to the second position, and the other losses were ten killed, including Captain Rand of Com- pany I, and 46 wounded. Captain Parkinson of Company G was captured, and of his two lieutenants, one was wounded and the other made prisoner.
The regiment returned to its old camp on the 6th of May, but soon moved to a new one on the road to Potomac Creek; notwith- standing which officers and men suffered much from sickness, among those dying from disease being Assistant Surgeon Neil K. Gunn of Boston, June 3, who had only been in the service since March 18. For five weeks following the return to camp the regiment performed routine duty and awaited the next summons. During this time the Third Corps was consolidated into two divisions, General Birney continuing to command the First, while General A. A. Humphrey's was assigned to the Second, of which Carr's continued to be the First Brigade.
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THIE FIRST REGIMENT.
On the 11th of June the northward movement of the regiment began, that day's march being to Hartwood Church and the next day's to Beverly Ford, which was reached at 10 o'clock in the even- ing. Then for two days no movement was made, the ford being held in force while the strategy of the campaign developed. Within that time it became clear that the enemy's main army was moving northward, and the ford was turned over to a body of cavalry while the First Regiment marched all night to reach Warrenton Junction. After a brief rest there the journey was continued to Bristoe's Sta- tion and thence to Centerville, where a halt of a day was made- Gum Spring on the Leesburg pike being reached on the 19th. There the regiment rested for six days while the whereabouts and evident intentions of the enemy were further canvassed.
The next move, on the 25th of June, was by way of Edwards Ferry to the mouth of the Monocacy, through a very disagreeable storm. The Potomac was crossed at 5 and the command plodded through the darkness along the canal tow-path till after midnight before reaching its destination. The regiment had never seen a march so disheartening and demoralizing; of 360 who accompanied its colors in the morning, only 40 maintained their places in the column till bivouac was reached. For four days succeeding the march was kept up, leading by way of Jefferson, Crampton's Gap and Taneytown to Emmittsburg, which was reached at 2 o'clock July 1. There the men pitched their tents, but had barely done so when tidings of the battle at Gettysburg came, with a call for their assistance. Taking a wrong road after dark, the column narrowly escaped marching directly into the Confederate lines; but by very quietly countermarching when the mistake was discovered and mak- ing a detour the corps reached its assigned position in reserve near Round Top sometime past midnight.
In forming the Federal line on the 2d of July, as is well known, General Sickles advanced his command about noon to the higher ground in his front near the Emmittsburg road, the First Massa- chusetts being on the extreme right of the corps. In the early part of the conflict with Longstreet that afternoon this regiment was not involved, but as the left of the corps was broken and driven back the wave of fire in all its fury swept upon and over the right. Smitten in front and flank, the gallant brigade was crumbled to the rear in fragments after valiant and prolonged resistance. The total
CHAPTER VIII.
THE LAST TROOPS RAISED-OUTSIDE ENLISTMENTS-KIND OFFICES OF THE CITIZENS-THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN-CONSTITUTIONAL ABOLITION OF SLAVERY-DEATH OF EDWARD EVERETT-FALL OF RICHMOND-ASSASSI- NATION OF LINCOLN -MILITARY STATISTICS - DEPOSIT OF THE BATTLE FLAGS-THE DRAMA CLOSED.
W HILE the four Veteran regiments of infantry were being recruited during the winter of 1863-4, the efforts of the state were strongly put forth in other directions. Not only were several thousand recruits sent to strengthen the Massa- chusetts organizations already in the field, but new commands were being continually filled and dispatched to the seat of war. The Fourth and Fifth Regiments of cavalry, the Eleventh, Fourteenth and Sixteenth Batteries of light artillery and the Third Regiment of heavy artillery were all placed in the field during the early spring of 1864. The latter, like the Second, had been composed of com- panies raised from time to time and most of whom had served in the coast defenses of the state.
There was a brief respite in the work of recruiting and organ- ization after these troops were sent, while the terrible struggles of the spring campaign took place. As the campaign developed, it be- came necessary to call all the available soldiers from garrisons and fortifications to active duties at the front, and on the 1st of July the secretary of war called for militia regiments to take charge of the fortifications thus to be vacated. Massachusetts responded with her usual alacrity, and within a month furnished five regiments to serve for 100 days. Four of these- the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Forty- second -were troops that had served under the nine-months' call, reorganized for this occasion, while one regiment-the Sixtieth- was enlisted complete and commanded by Colonel Ansel D. Wass, a capable and experienced officer. A notable incident in connection with the Forty-second Regiment was the fact that Colonel Isaac
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THE FIRST REGIMENT.
before dark the Confederates delivered a sharp attack without de- cisive results ; the First, at that time in support of Union batteries, losing one killed and eight wounded. Then followed the advance to Mine Run, the suspense, the abandonment of the plan to attack and the return to camp, which was reached on the 3d of December.
An uneventful winter followed at Brandy Station, broken, so far as the First Massachusetts were concerned, only by an expedition on the 6th of February, 1864, to the Rapidan in conjunction with a crossing lower down by the Second Corps, but none of the Third Corps crossed, and all were back in camp in two or three days.
With the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1864 the Third Corps was broken up, the Third Division- which had joined it after the battle of Gettysburg-going to the Sixth Corps, while the First and Second Divisions became respect- ively the Third and Fourth of the Second Corps. The make-up of the First Brigade was changed, the Eleventh Massachusetts and the Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania going into the Second Brigade, while the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth New Jersey and One Hundred and Fifteenth Pennsylvania were added to the First Brigade, com manded by Colonel Robert McAllister of the Eleventh New Jersey. The division was commanded by General Gershom Mott.
Marching orders were received on the 3d of May, and that night the regiment set forth, crossing the Rapidan at Ely's Ford the fol- lowing forenoon and at night occupying ground very near where it fought a year before at the battle of Chancellorsville. . At the open- ing of the battle of the Wilderness, on the afternoon of May 5, the First advanced into the terrible tangle at the command ; but the difficulties were so great and the lines became so much disorganized that on receiving a heavy fire from the enemy it fell back to in- trenchments which it had previously partially constructed. As the Confederates advanced in pursuit they were checked in turn and a stubborn conflict raged for hours. That night Lieutenant Colonel Baldwin was made prisoner while establishing a picket line. In the general advance of the next morning and the sanguinary fight- ing back and forth which followed the First bore an honorable part. At one time the brigade found itself with a hostile line of battle in its rear, and only escaped capture by the density of the forest hiding from the Confederates their advantage. That afternoon the First assisted in repelling the last attempt of the enemy against the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN TIIE WAR.
Federal left, which was made under cover of a conflagration rag. ing along the Union breastworks which had driven the defenders temporarily to the rear to escape the smoke and heat.
Quitting the Wilderness at the close of the fighting there and marching with General Hancock's Corps to Spottsylvania, the regi- ment took part there in the various engagements of the Second Corps, including the successful assault at " The Angle" on the morning of May 12 and the obstinate struggle which ensued for the possession of the captured works. Its losses from the opening of the Wilderness campaign to that time had been 49 killed, wounded and missing,-among the dead being Captain Moses H. Warren of Dorchester, killed on the 12th.
When on the 20th orders were issued for a further movement of the Army of the Potomac to the southward, the First Regiment, after a transfer of its re-enlisted men and recruits to the Eleventh Massachusetts, bade adieu to war's alarms and took its homeward way, having closed three years of faithful service. Marching to Belle Plain the command took the steamer Utica for Washington, whence the journey to New York was made by rail, steamer to Fall River and cars to Boston completing the total of 3,312 miles traversed by the regiment while in the service. Arriving on the 25th of May, it received a grand " welcome home," and three days later on Boston Common it was mustered out of service.
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THE SECOND REGIMENT.
T HE Second Regiment was the first volunteer organization in the state to begin to take form after the dispatch of the Massachusetts militia to the front in April, 1861. The master spirit in the enterprise was Major George H. Gordon, an ex- perienced officer who had served with distinction in Mexico, and who was ably assisted by a number of influential men, later identi- fied with the organization. The initial measures were taken on the 18th of April, and in a few days several recruiting offices were opened at different places in Boston, but they were almost im- mediately closed, as there was no authority from Washington to raise such a body of troops as was proposed, and the state officials could give none. To obtain the desired authority, Messrs. George L. Andrews and Thomas Dwight of Boston set out for the national capital. After some difficulty on the way, owing to the obstructed communication with Washington, the commissioners reached the secretary of war and after much persistence secured permission to raise a three-years' regiment, with the understanding that it should be accepted if a call should be made for such troops.
The welcome permission was telegraphed home, the recruiting offices were re-opened and others were added in different cities through the state, Major Gordon's head-quarters being at Boston. To his discretion much-practically everything-concerning the composition of the regiment was intrusted, both men and officers being selected by him. The regiment was made up and officered as follows, Boston being the residence unless otherwise specified :-
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