USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 29
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Company I-Captain, Jonathan F. Plimpton; first lieutenant, Christopher C. Sampson, both of Boston; second lieutenant, William Palmer of Salem.
Company K, Tiger Fire Zouaves of Boston - Captain, Ansel D. Wass; first lieutenant, Eugene Kelty; second lieutenant, Edward P. Bishop.
The command reached Washington at evening of the 30th of August, and next day marched to Camp Kalorama at Meridian Hill, where for two weeks it devoted its time to drill, much needed, as many of its members had been enlisted during the few days previous to leaving Massachusetts. As it had come out with something less than 800 men, the original .Company HI was broken up during No- vember and distributed among the other companies, a new company being recruited and sent on to take its place. Lieutenant Hale of the original company was transferred to Company I, the other two officers resigning. On the 12th of September orders were received assigning the regiment to General Lander's Brigade of Stone's Division and directing it to report to Poolesville, then the head- quarters of that division, known as the Corps of Observation. A march of three days took the regiment to its destination, near Ed- wards Ferry, a few miles from Poolesville, the other troops of the brigade being the Twentieth Massachusetts and Seventh Michigan Regiments and the First Company of Massachusetts Sharpshooters.
. Six companies were detailed from the Nineteenth to picket the Potomac between Conrad's Ferry and Shelden's Island, and this ar- rangement continued till the battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21. On the afternoon of that day eight companies of the regiment were gathered at the crossing by way of Harrison's Island to the Virginia shore, where Colonel Hincks, the senior officer present, superin- tended the crossing of the detachments which were to precede his own command. It was not till sunset that the Nineteenth reached
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THE NINETEENTHI REGIMENT.
the island, and by that time the battle had been fought and lost, and the fragments of the defeated commands were being driven back down the bluff and into the river. The regiment advanced to the side of the island facing the Virginia shore and formed line of bat . tle, but as there was no fighting to be done there devoted its energies during the night to rescuing Union fugitives from the river, caring for the dead and wounded on the island and transporting them back to the Maryland side. Before daylight disposition was made to re- sist an attack from the Confederates, but a rain storm set in and after a time, when it became evident that there was to be no further fighting, a flag of truce was displayed and arrangements were made for burying the Federal dead on the battle-field, at which a detach- ment worked all through the day. At night the party returned to the main body and the island was vacated.
Owing to the wounding of General Lander and the capture of Colonel Lee of the Twentieth, the command of the brigade devolved on Colonel Hincks. Two days later the regiment returned to camp, and under the efficient direction of Lieutenant Colonel Devereux devoted itself assiduously to drill and discipline. On the 4th of December it left Camp Benton, near Poolesville, and marched to Muddy Brook, some miles nearer Washington, where it relieved troops of General Banks's Division and remained during the win- ter; its arduous duties requiring the picketing of 13 miles of the Potomac, the building of three block-houses, provost duty at Rock- ville and Darnestown, in addition to the ordinary requirements of a winter camp.
The regiment was engaged in this duty till the 12th of March, 1862, when it was ordered to rejoin its brigade, marched to Har- per's Ferry and thence to Charlestown and Berryville, where the three brigades, of the division were united under command of Gen- eral John Sedgwick. The division was not destined to remain with General Banks in the Shenandoah Valley, however, for on the 15th it started back to Harper's Ferry, stopped there till the 24th and was taken by rail to Washington. After two days in camp, trans- ports were taken on the 27th for Fortress Monroe. That night a storm caused the landing of the regiment at Point Lookout, at the mouth of the Potomac, but next day the destination was reached ant the Nineteenth marched to Hampton, where it joined the Army of the Potomac operating against Richmond, the regiment forming
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part of the Third Brigade, Second Division, Second Corps, General Sumner commanding.
The first experience of the Nineteenth in action was on the 7th of April, when having arrived before the Confederate works at Yorktown, the regiment with the Twentieth under command of General Dana made a reconnaissance to locate and develop the enemy's position near Wynn's Mills, which was executed creditably under a sharp musketry fire by which one man was killed and a number wounded, including Captain Wass. After the month of siege operations which followed, the Nineteenth were among the first troops to become apprised of the evacuation by the Confede- rates, on the 4th of May ; but after marching in pursuit the next day as far as Yorktown, in a driving rain-storm, the division halted and on the 6th went by transports to West Point. Thence it pro- ceeded up the Peninsula. The Nineteenth were not engaged in the battle of Fair Oaks, being on picket on the flank during the first day and in reserve the next day ; but after the battle they were con- stantly on duty; either on picket at the front or protecting the rail- road and supplies of the army. At the battle of Oak Grove on the 25th of June the regiment was sent to the assistance of General Hooker, forming the right of his line, where it was heavily engaged and suffered a loss of 11 killed and 40 wounded-among its killed being Second Lieutenant Charles B. Warner.
This engagement was immediately followed by the famous Seven Days' battles and the change of base of the Army of the Potomac to the James river, in which the Nineteenth Regiment had an honorable part. With its corps it held the works on the night of the evacuation, falling back at morning light to Peach Orchard and awaiting the pursuit of the enemy and the fight which followed ; then after having supported Battery A of the First Rhode Island Light Artillery, the regiment fell back to Savage's Station, where another action ensued. The Nineteenth at that time formed the right of the brigade and lay exposed to artillery fire, though not actively engaged. Being ordered on picket, the regiment obeyed only to be at once withdrawn and followed the army to and through White Oak Swamp, halting at daylight. After resting some two hours the brigade made its way to Glendale, but was recalled by a sharp fight at White Oak Bridge, and retraced its steps almost at a double-quick. After being placed in support of General Franklin,
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THE NINETEENTHI REGIMENT.
Dana's Brigade remained in position some two hours, when it was recalled by the fierce battle raging at Nelson's Farm or Glendale. Reaching the battle-field, the regiments were hastily formed and took position where they were most needed. Some of the troops in front giving way, the Nineteenth were thrown into the gap to op- pose the exultant enemy, and though the situation was critical the regiment stood its ground nobly and by well-directed volleys sent the foe back in confusion. This success was won at a heavy cost, the loss of the regiment for the day-nearly all in the last encounter --- being 19 killed, 84 wounded and 42 missing. Major Howe and First Lieutenant David Lee were among the killed, Colonel Hincks was severely wounded, as were several other officers, placing the regiment under command of Captain Rice till Lieutenant Colonel Devereux, who was absent sick, returned to duty a few days later. At Malvern Hill the brigade was posted at the extreme right of the Union line and was not actively engaged, retiring with the army to Harrison's Landing during the night.
The Nineteenth marched from the Landing to Fortress Monroe, embarking from Newport News on the 24th of August, landing at Alexandria four days later and being dispatched to Chain Bridge to occupy the defenses at that point. Colonel Hincks was at that time in command of the brigade, and had been sent with it to Ten- nallytown, across the Potomac, when other orders directed him to take it to the succor of General Pope's Army of Virginia. Start- ing on the morning of the 30th, the brigade crossed Aqueduct bridge and reached Fairfax Court House the next morning, having marched more than 60 miles in the same number of hours, much of the time through a heavy rain-fall. The Nineteenth were left at the Court House as the Confederate cavalry hovered in the vicinity, while its fellow-regiments went on ; but next morning the defeated Union army falling back on Washington relieved the regiment, and with its division it returned to Chain Bridge, forming with the First Minnesota the rear guard of the column. This was a trying posi- tion, in which the regiment acquitted itself creditably, but on re- joining the main body the two regiments were fired into by the Union troops under some misapprehension, one of the sad results being the mortal wounding of Assistant Surgeon John E. Hill of Charlestown, who had but just joined the regiment. He died of his injuries at Georgetown on the 11th of September.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
The Nineteenth with its corps marched northward through Mary- land in the Antietam campaign, witnessing but not participating in the battle of South Mountain and winning for itself high praise at Antietam on the 17th, though the fortunes of the division of which it formed part were especially disastrous. Sedgwick's Division was taken into action by General Sumner, the corps commander, in per- son, about the middle of the forenoon, at the Union right, after Hooker's and Mansfield's corps had fought and been decimated. It went in in column of brigades, the three lines in close order, with- out connection or support on either flank. Pressing forward till the enemy was encountered, the division soon found itself almost surrounded. A terrible fire was received from front and flank and rear; the division was helpless and a third of its number were cut down in a few moments. Some of the regiments faced by the rear rank and fired, others broke from the death-trap with little attempt at resistance. Two regiments only stood their ground, and one of these was the Nineteenth. It had formed the right of the second line, as had the First Minnesota of the first line, and these two maintained their organization, the First falling back into line with the Nineteenth. Facing to the rear these two regiments fought their way back, stopping four times in the terrible retrograde to give the foe a taste of their indomitable courage. At the last halt, which was still in advance of any other portion of the Union line, the rebels gave up the pursuit and the remnants of the two heroic regiments were no further tried. The loss of the Nineteenth in this sanguinary contest cannot be exactly given, but 16 of its num-' ber had been killed on the field, while the proportion of wounded was large. Captain George W. Batehelder was among the killed, while Colonel Hineks was again severely and Lieutenant Colonel Devereux slightly wounded. The latter being soon after given leave of absence the regiment was for a time in command of Captain Weymouth.
During the ten weeks which followed there were numerous changes in the commanders and their commands throughout the Army of the Potomac, and the Third Brigade was no exception to the rule. General Burnside having succeeded General Mcclellan in the command of the army, it was reorganized in three grand divisions, the right being commanded by General Sumner and con- sisting of his own Second Corps and the Ninth. General D. N. Couch commanded the corps, General O. O. Howard the division,
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and Colonel Norman J. Hall of the Seventh Michigan the brigade, which in addition to the four regiments which had so long served together had been strengthened by the addition of the Fifty-ninth New York and One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania Regiments. In the advance to Fredericksburg the right grand divis- ion led and was first to occupy the Falmouth shore, and it was when the laying of the bridges was attempted on the 11th of December that the Nineteenth Massachusetts, with other regiments of its bri- gade, made its most notable record. The engineers being unable to lay the ponton bridges on account of the Confederate sharp- shooters on the opposite bank, a portion of Hall's Brigade volun- teered to cross the river in open boats and drive out the marksmen at the point of the bayonet. Two companies of the Michigan regi- ment led, landed and captured those of the enemy nearest to the river's margin ; the Nineteenth followed, and charging up the bank by companies advanced to the main street of Fredericksburg, where line of battle was formed. Company D, Captain Dunn, was then deployed as skirmishers and the balance of the regiment retired to the river bank. As the fighting between the skirmishers and the reinforced enemy grew sharp, Companies E and K were sent for- ward to the support of D, and presently as the Confederate line of battle drew near, the remainder of the regiment with the Twentieth Massachusetts, which had also crossed in the boats, advanced to Caroline street, where a sharp action ensued. The bridge being rapidly completed, other troops crossed and the rebels retired.
The Nineteenth were not further engaged till the morning of the 13th, when they were moved to the front to occupy some works which had been thrown up. This movement was executed under a severe fire, Captain Weymouth who had thus far commanded the regiment being wounded with other officers and the command fall- ing upon Captain Plympton. After occupying the position till their ammunition was exhausted, the survivors were ordered back to their brigade, and were not called upon for further sacrifice, recrossing the river with the rest of the army on the night of the 15th. Out of about 300 taken into action, the regiment had lost in the battle 14 killed, 83 wounded and seven missing; eight color-bearers were either killed or wounded. Second Lieutenant Thomas Claffey of Lowell was killed, and First Lieutenant Edgar M. Newcomb of Boston received wounds from which he died on the 19th.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN TIIE WAR.
The regiment remained in camp near Falmouth during the winter and early spring of 1863, numerous changes occurring in its roster of officers. The death of Major Howe had been followed by the promotion of Captain Wass to the vacancy ; but the latter had on the 6th of September, 1862, been appointed lieutenant colonel of the Forty-first Massachusetts Volunteers and Captain Edmund Rice succeeded him as major. In the early spring of 1863 the connec- tion of Colonel Hincks with the regiment terminated, he having been made brigadier general of volunteers to date from the 29th of November previous ; Lieutenant Colonel Devereux was promoted to the colonelcy, and Lieutenant Colonel Wass was soon transfer- red back to the Nineteenth. Chaplain Cromack had at an early period in the regiment's history been transferred to the Twenty- second regiment, being succeeded by Ezra D. Winslow of Chester ; the latter was discharged for disability in December, 1862, and the office was not again filled.
In the Chancellorsville campaign the division to which the Nine- teenth belonged, then commanded by General Gibbon, was assigned to the assistance of General Sedgwick's Sixth Corps at Fredericks- burg and breaking camp crossed the Rappahannock at the city dur- ing the night of May 2. Next morning the division was moved to the right, the Nineteenth in advance, where it demonstrated against the hostile works till the charge of storming columns from the Sixth Corps carried the hights. While Sedgwick pushed on toward Salem Church, Gibbon was left to hold the town and cover the bridges, which he did until sometime on the 5th, fighting the Con- federates as they came back into the works from which they had been driven. The Nineteenth took part in all these duties and operations, but sustained little loss, and after the close of the struggle returned to the old camp on the Falmouthi side.
There the regiment remained till the 16th of the following month, when it joined the army in its move toward Gettysburg, forming with a section of artillery the rear guard of the column. It reached Thoroughfare Gap on the 21st and stopped there for three days, when the northward movement was resumed, via Gum Springs and Edwards Ferry to Frederick City, where another halt of three days took place. Thence the command marched on the 30th to Uniontown, where the Nineteenth did provost duty till an order was received at noon of the 1st of July to repair at once to
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Gettysburg. Late in the evening the line halted within a short dis- tance of the field and at daybreak of the 2d the regiment went to the front, taking position at the left of Cemetery Hill, where it re- mained till late in the afternoon. It was then with the Forty- second New York advanced toward the right of the Third Corps, which was being driven back by the force of Longstreet's attack. Taking a favorable position, it waited till the broken troops in its front had passed, and delivered its fire at the advancing Confeder- ates. It then fell back to the support of a battery, where it re- mained till after dark when it returned to its brigade, which con- sisted of the same troops as at the battle of Fredericksburg, save the transfer to another command of the Pennsylvania regiment.
Next morning the Nineteenth were placed in support of a battery near by, and remained there till the opening of the cannonade which preceded the final attack on the Union lines by Pickett's Division of Confederates. The battery force was soon so reduced that the guns could not be properly worked, and its captain called on tlie Nineteenth for volunteers. Twenty-four men and officers at once responded. As the enemy struck Webb's Brigade, to the right of Hall's, and made a lodgment within the Union works, Colonel Devereux asked of General Hancock as he passed the priv- ilege of leading his men to the point of peril, which was granted. The command at once moved to the conflict, followed by three other regiments of the brigade, engaging the foe fiercely almost hand to hand. In that final struggle, which broke and scattered the attack- ing force, capturing so large a part, no regiment had a prouder record than the Nineteenth Massachusetts. Its handful of men captured the battle-flags of four Virginia regiments -the Four- teenth, Nineteenth, Fifty-third and Fifty-seventh, three of which were of Armistead's Brigade, Pickett's Division. The regiment had brought to the field 141 enlisted men, with the due proportion of officers-about 160 all told. Of this number it lost nine killed, 63 wounded and five missing,-about 50 per cent. First Lieuten- ant Herman Donath of Roxbury and Second Lieutenant Sherman S. Robinson of West Newbury were killed; Lieutenant Colonel Wass, Major Rice, and seven other officers were wounded.
The regiment then moved to the left where some of its members were detailed to man a battery which had suffered severely, others being engaged in provost duty. The next day was given up to
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patient waiting for a renewal of the battle, and the 5th to the burial of the dead ; but on the 6th the march southward was begun and took the command by way of Taneytown and Frederick to the vicinity of Williamsport, where the two armies faced each other for a time. On the 14th it was known that the Confederates had crossed the Potomac and while they moved southward on the west side of the Blue Ridge, the Union army passed down the river to Berlin, crossed by a ponton bridge and executed a parallel movement on the east side of the Ridge. The regiment reached Warrenton Junction on the 24th, stopped there five days and then changed position to Mor- risville, where with the exception of a reconnaissance to the vicin- ity of Falmouth it remained till the 12th of September, when camp was broken, and on the 16th the Rapidan was reached in the vicin- ity of Raccoon Ford. The regiment encamped there till the close of the month, then went to Mitchell's Station and did guard duty till the 5th of October, when it fell back to Culpeper and staid till the 11th.
Line of battle was formed that day, a conflict being expected, but it did not occur and the following morning the command began its march northward, crossing the Rappahannock that day and on the 14th taking part in the engagement at Bristoe Station. This affair opened very unexpectedly, the regiment being on the march along the railroad when the enemy appeared. Position was taken behind the embankment, from which a well-directed fire sent the enemy back in confusion. Two companies were thrown out as skirmishers as soon as the repulse was assured, capturing quite a number of prisoners and assisting in bringing in three pieces of artillery which the Confederates had been obliged to abandon. The loss of the regiment was one sergeant mortally and three commissioned officers slightly wounded, including Lieutenant Colonel Wass who was in command of the brigade.
This little engagement over, the regiment was not again called to exchange shots with the foe till the Mine Run campaign, though in the mean time it followed all the movements of the army. It en- camped a few miles from Brandy Station from the 10th of Novem- ber till the 26th, when it started on the last movement of an event- ful year. Crossing the Rapidan at Germania Ford, it advanced the following day to Robertson's Cross Roads, in the vicinity of which the southern troops were encountered and the Nineteenth were de- ployed on the skirmish line at two or three points, having one man
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THE NINETEENTH REGIMENT.
killed and one wounded. The regiment was not further engaged during the maneuvers which followed, and returned to its camp. near Brandy Station on the 2d of December, changing location once or twice before settling into winter quarters. Severely as the com- mand had been tried, it had not lost heart, as was attested by the re-enlistment of 160 of its number on the 20th of December for an additional three years. A furlough of 35 days was granted on ac- count of this re-enlistment, but it was not till the 4th of February, 1864, that the veterans were enabled to leave Stevensburg for home. They reached Boston on the 8th, went to Salem the same day, re- ceiving enthusiastic receptions at both places ; mustering every man when the time arrived for the return and reporting back to the Army of the Potomac with no comrade missing.
As the time for opening the spring campaign approached the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac into three corps caused many changes in divisions and brigades. In the case of Gibbon's- Division, which. retained its number as Second Division, Second Corps, the Third Brigade, of which the Nineteenth formed part, was consolidated with the First, under General A. S. Webb, who had previously commanded the Second Brigade. As thus made up, the brigade consisted of the Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts, Nineteenth Maine, Forty-second, Fifty-ninth and Eighty-second New York and Seventh Michigan Regiments with the Andrew Sharpshooters. Colonel Devereux had resigned his commission from the 27th of February, and in regular order Lieu- tenant Colonel Wass, Major Rice and Captain Moncena Dunn were promoted dating from the following day, these being the last actual promotions during the regiment's term of service.
Camp was broken for the spring campaign on the night of the 3d of May, and with seven officers and 211 men present for duty the Nineteenth took its place in the column and next day crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford. In the battle of the Wilderness, the regiment had but one serious encounter with the enemy. This was during the morning of the 6th, when the brigade being ordered forward to the support of other troops suddenly found itself at close quarters with the Confederates, the Nineteenth being flanked and in danger of capture. . A brief engagement followed, in which the regiment lost three killed, nine wounded and 17 captured. Re- tiring in some confusion, the brigade reformed its line, and that.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
afternoon was again advanced, moving through the tangle, but soon returned to the works and remained there during the night. It ad- vanced again during the afternoon of the 7th, engaged the enemy and pressed back his outposts some distance, holding the ground gained till after dark when the Union forces once more retired to their works, the Nineteenth having lost nine men wounded.
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