USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
Webb's Brigade formed the rear guard of the Army of the Potomac as it moved to the left toward Spottsylvania, and setting out in the morning of the 8th marched as far as Todd's Tavern, in the vicinity of which it remained till afternoon of the 9th, occupying various positions, much of the time in line of battle or engaged in the erection of temporary fortifications, guarding the flank and rear of the Union column against sudden attack from the Confede- rates by way of the Catharpin road. The regiment then joined in the southward movement and crossed the Po, lying in line of battle during the night. It withdrew to the north side of the stream next morning, moved further to the left and advanced against the strong position of the enemy, being under fire most of the day and making two umsuccessful charges, its loss being 23, of whom five were killed. During the afternoon and night of the 11th the regiment with most of its corps was engaged in the preparations for the des- perate charge of the Confederate position at " The Angle " which General Hancock had decided to attempt. This charge was heroi- cally made and was successful, but at serious cost to the Union troops. The Nineteenth, now reduced to a comparative handful of men, suffered severely in the early part of the contest, having four killed, including First Lieutenant John J. Ferris of Boston, and many wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Rice with several men who had got considerably in advance of their comrades fell into the hands of the enemy. The regiment assisted in the capture of the Confederate artillery which was taken at the time, and brought off one of the enemy's battle-flags in triumph, after which it helped to hold the works which had been taken, being relieved at night.
In the subsequent operations before Spottsylvania, while the Nineteenth had their full share of the duties, marches and maneu- vers, they were not scriously engaged except on the 18th, when they took part in the general attack of that morning. This proved a fruitless attempt, though it cost the regiment several brave men wounded. At midnight of the 20th the Second Corps headed the
305
TIIE NINETEENTII REGIMENT.
movement of the army still further to the left, the Nineteenth going on picket after crossing the Matapony on the 21st and remaining in that vicinity till the morning of the 23d, in the mean time ex- changing shots with the enemy's pickets. Evening of that day brought the brigade to the North Anna, where fighting was already in progress. The river was crossed by the command the next morn- ing and soon after the Nineteenth again went on the skirmish line. This proved a trying place, the day being very hot and many men suf- fering sun-strokes. The Confederate pickets were driven back be- yond their works; but later the men of the Nineteenth found them- selves flanked, though the flankers were defeated after a sharp fight, the regiment having on that day four men killed and several wounded. During most of the time that the two armies confronted each other there the Nineteenth were on picket on different parts of the field, but were relieved at night of the 26th and recrossed the river.
The lines at the North Anna were evacuated on the 27th and the regiment moved toward the Pamunkey, crossing it on the 28th and at once throwing up such intrenchments as circumstances required. An advance of some two miles was made on the 30th to the Jones House, where the regiment went on picket in the course of the after- noon, meeting a sharp fire, and later in the day assisting in the repulse of a Confederate advance, but suffering no loss. It was less fortunate the next morning, when the lines were advanced, driving the hostile skirmishers back to their main line, but at a cost to the regiment of one valued officer-Captain Dudley C. Mumford-killed. During that night and the following day the Nineteenth were on the skir- mish line ; but the desperate struggle at Cold Harbor had opened and at dusk of the 1st of June General Hancock began to withdraw his corps from the Union right to place it beyond the Sixth Corps at the left of the lines. The destination was reached at noon of the 2d, and with its accustomed fortune, the Nineteenth Regiment was at once sent out upon the skirmish line under fire. It suffered no serious loss, however, till the morning of the 3d, when it joined in the at- tack on the Confederate position and met the fate of all portions of the Union army engaged-heavy loss with nothing gained. Seven members of the regiment were wounded and two killed, one of the latter being First Lieutenant John B. Thompson of Lawrence. The command retained a position close to the hostile works, where slight intrenchments were thrown up during the ensuing night, giving a
306
MASSACHUSETTS IN TIIE WAR.
partial shelter from the incessant sharp-shooting of the enemy. Still several men were lost while there, two of whom were killed.
Cold Harbor was evacuated in the evening of the 12th, the regi- ment making a sharp march to the James river, where it arrived and crossed by steamer on the 14th. It moved next day with its corps toward Petersburg, where it at once took part in the opera- tions against that city on the 17th, 18th and 19th, having two men killed and several wounded, but finding the works of the Confede- rates too strongly held to be carried by direct attack. On the even- ing of the 20th, it withdrew from the front and passed one quiet night at the rear. This was all, however, for next morning the regiment marched to the left, where an attempt was being made to extend the Union lines so as to cut the Weldon railroad. The Jerusalem Plank road was crossed and the Nineteenth once more went on picket, remaining till noon of the 22d, having one man killed and three wounded by the enemy's sharp-shooters. Position was then taken in the main line, when it was suddenly found that the Confederates had passed the flank and gained the rear of the left of the corps. As a result the regiment was almost wholly captured, only a few of those present by chance and daring making their escape. These, with such convalescents and detached men as returned to duty were reorganized into the semblance of a command by First Lieutenant William F. Rice of Brighton, the senior officer left for duty, under whom the little band was employed on fatigue duty and in drill, being for a time relieved from the front where it had been so long and constantly exposed.
On the afternoon of the 26th the regiment with its division marched to the Appomattox and took part in the movement to the north side of the James, where it was engaged in skirmishing and constructing earthworks till dusk of the 29th, when the return be- gan. On reaching the position held by the Fifth Corps, on the 30th, that command was found in conflict with the enemy and General Hancock's corps remained in support till dusk, when it resumed the march and at a late hour reached the camps left four days before. Early in August Lieutenant Colonel Rice, who had escaped from captivity, rejoined the regiment and resumed command. Colonel Wass had been mustered out on the 28th of July, his term of service having expired, but the depleted numbers of the regiment did not allow promotion to fill the vacancy.
307
THE NINETEENTII REGIMENT.
Another movement to the north of the James took place on the 12th of August, the Nineteenth with other troops embarking on transports at City Point and proceeding to Deep Bottom, where they debarked on the morning of the 14th and soon after joined in the battle of Strawberry Plains or Deep Bottom Run. Late in the afternoon a charge was made on the enemy's works, and the outer pits were for a time occupied, but after dark they were evacuated and the Union troops proceeded to intrench their own position. In this attack the regiment met a loss of eight wounded, and won praise, as most of its members were new recruits. Orders to with- draw were given on the night of the 20th, and the regiment returned to its former camp before Petersburg. As on the former occasion, the Second Corps found the Fifth engaged with the enemy and went to its support, remaining thus till evening of the 23d, when it set out for Reams Station on the Weldon railroad. During the 24th the railroad was effectually destroyed in the vicinity of the depot, the Nineteenth acting as skirmishers while the work was in progress and afterward resuming their place in the brigade. Some changes of position were made during the 25th, and in the early part of the afternoon the brigade was in support of the First Divis- ion, General Miles, when the latter repulsed an advance of the Confederates. Later the regiment was placed in an exposed posi- tion in the rear of the first line of its own division (Gibbon's), where it was lying under a severe fire when a flank attack was made. The front line broke in confusion, and though the Nine- teenth tried to avert the calamity and started on a counter-charge, their efforts were not supported by the remainder of the brigade and were abandoned. Being under fire from front, left and rear, the regiment withdrew from its exposed position, having lost one killed and 23 wounded or missing.
From this time till the 24th of October the regiment was on fatigue duty or in garrison, most of the time at Battery Eleven and Fort Rice. The men whose original term of enlistment had ex- pired, 98 in number, had been mustered out and returned to Massa- chusetts about the last of August, and the remnant of the Twen- tieth Massachusetts Regiment was temporarily attached to the Nineteenth. Another movement to the left began, on the 26th of October and on the following day the Second Division. then com- manded by General Egan, reached the Boydtown Plank Road. There
308
MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
a sharp engagement ensued, in which the Nineteenth bore honorable part. Half of the regiment were deployed as skirmishers, and im- proved their opportunities so well that they captured the colors. five officers and 50 men of the Forty-seventh North Carolina. When the Union troops were withdrawn the following night some 30 men with two officers were left on the skirmish line, and before they could re- join the regiment had the misfortune to fall in with the Confederate cavalry, by whom three were captured. The total loss of the Nine- teenth in the engagement was 12 wounded and missing. From this time till the close of the year the regiment was variously employed in garrison and picket duty, mining from Fort Stedman to meet an expected mine from the other side ; moving thence to the left and commencing winter quarters, but before they were completed being again sent back to garrison duty-this time to Fort Emory, in con- nection with the Seventh Michigan.
Fort Emory was located on the Vaughan road, and there the regi- ment remained , till the operations of the spring campaign began. It was first called to active service on the 5th of February, 1865, to take part in the expedition which ended in the battle of Hatch- er's Run. The Second Corps was at that time commanded by Gen- eral Humphreys, who had succeeded General Hancock ; the division by General William Hays, though at this particular time it was in charge of General Thomas A. Smyth of the Third Brigade, while the First Brigade was commanded by Colonel William A. Olmstead of the Fifty-ninth New York. Having reached the vicinity of the Run, the corps halted while a regiment was sent forward to locate the enemy, and this important duty was intrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Rice and the Nineteenth. The hostile pickets were soon encountered, and the Massachusetts boys deploying as skirmishers engaged them sharply, forcing them back upon their main lines. In this contest the regiment had three killed and as many wounded, among the former being Second Lieutenant William H. Tibbetts of Roxbury. Intrenching as much as the circumstances would allow, the regiment held the ground gained, maintaining practically that position during all the events of the next few days, which mingled successes with some reverses so far as the operations of the Union troops were concerned ; a cold storm of rain, snow and sleet making the occasion one of great discomfort and suffering. But the posi- tion gained was held, works were at once constructed and in their
309
THE NINETEENTHI REGIMENT.
vicinity the regiment with other troops built a winter camp in which a few weeks were passed.
The Nineteenth left this camp on the morning of the 25th of March, and were in support of the troops engaged in advancing the lines of the Second Corps, but took no active part, and after the movement was over returned to their quarters, remaining till night of the 28th. They then went upon picket, and next morning on being relieved joined the brigade which with the rest of the corps was operating against the enemy near Dabney's Mills. Various movements occupied the next few days, but it was not till the morn- ing of the 2d of April that the regiment was called into serious conflict. At that time the Confederate lines had been pressed back to the Burgess Mill, near the junction of the Boydtown and White Oak roads, where were two carthwork forts with three guns. These forts the regiment charged and captured, with the guns and 150 prisoners, some of the companies with the Seventh Michigan of the same brigade pursuing those who were attempting to escape from the works and bringing in a large number of other prisoners. The loss to the regiment during the affair did not exceed a half-dozen, principally wounded. The Boydtown road toward Petersburg was then followed for some distance, when the brigade turned from it to the left and that night bivouacked at Sunderland Station on the Southside railroad.
Returning next morning nearly to Petersburg, the regiment was gratified by the intelligence that the city had fallen, and at once set out in pursuit of the retreating army. This pursuit was continued till the surrender, six days later, but during that time some severe engagements took place. The regiment was not actively engaged in any of these final struggles, but during the fight at Farmville on the 7th Captain Isaac H. Boyd, who had been commissioned but not mustered as major, was mortally wounded while serving on the staff of the First Brigade, First Division. Two days later the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered, and on the 11th the Second Corps marched back to Burkesville, where it remained till the 2d of May. It then marched by way of Richmond, Fredericksburg and Vienna to Bailey's Cross Roads, where it went into camp on the 15th. After taking part in the grand review of the Army of the Potomac in Washington on the 23d, the regiment resumed camp life and waited for the special order which should end its existence as a
310
MASSACHUSETTS IN TIIE WAR.
military organization and allow its members to return once more to the pursuits of civil life.
This order came on the 30th of June, when the command was mus- tered out of the United States service and departed at once for Bos- ton, reaching that city on the morning of July 3 and going into camp at Readville to await final payment and discharge. These came on the 20th, and the Nineteenth Massachusetts Volunteers became an organization of the past. The regiment had rendered valuable service in whatever situation it had been placed, having captured seven stands of colors and six pieces of artillery.
THE TWENTIETH REGIMENT.
T T HE Twentieth Regiment gathered at Camp Massasoit in Read- ville, where ten skeleton companies were ordered by the gov- ernor early in July, 1861, the line officers being mustered on the 10th of that month, while the field and staff had been commis- sioned on the 1st. The filling of the companies went on slowly, however, and when in August the secretary of war called for all regiments and parts of regiments to be sent forward the command mustered scarcely half its maximum. It escorted the Eighteenth Regiment to the depot when that organization left for the front, but itself remained in camp till the 4th of September to gather as many additional recruits as possible. It then, with less than 600 mem- bers, received the state and national colors, was armed with the Enfield rifle, and late in the afternoon took the cars for Providence, going by way of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore and reach- ing the capital early in the morning of September 7. The regi- mental band was to follow in a few days, and two officers were left behind to obtain recruits to bring the regiment up to the standard. The roster of officers :-
Colonel, William Raymond Lee of Roxbury; lieutenant colonel, Francis W. Palfrey; major, Paul J. Revere; surgeon, Henry Bryant, all of Boston; assistant surgeon, Nathan Hayward of Roxbury; ad- jutant, Charles L. Peirson of Salem; quartermaster, Charles W. Fol- som of Cambridge; sergeant major. Sylvanus R. Harlow of Waltham; quartermaster sergeant, Henry F. Lander of New York; commissary sergeant, Edward Hennessey; hospital steward, Joseph Hennard, both of Boston; leader of band, John F. Gibbs of Waterville, Me.
Company A-Captain, Henry M. Tremlett of Dorchester; first lieu- tenant, Oliver W. Holmes, Jr., of Boston; second lieutenant, Charles A. Whittier of Bangor, Me.
Company B-Captain, John .Herchenroeder of Boston; first lieu- tenant, John W. LeBarnes of Nantucket; second lieutenant, August Muller of Dorchester.
Company C-Captain, Ferdinand Dreher; first lieutenant, Alois
312
MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
Babo, both of Boston; second lieutenant, Reinhold Wesselhoeft of Dorchester.
Company D-Captain, Caspar Crowninshield of Longwood ; first lieutenant, George B. Perry; second lieutenant, Nathaniel T. Messer, both of Boston.
Company E-Captain, George A. Schmidt; first lieutenant, James J. Lowell; second lieutenant, William L. Putnam, all of Cambridge.
Company F - Captain, Edward A. Walleston ; first lieutenant, Charles F. Cabot; second lieutenant, Charles O. Day, all of Boston.
Company G-Captain, Henry J. Sweeney; first lieutenant, Henry Capen; second lieutenant, William F. Milton, all of Boston.
Company H-Captain, John C. Putnam of Boston; first lieuten- ant, N. P. Hallowell of Cambridge; second lieutenant, Henry H. Sturgis of Boston.
Company I-Captain, William F. Bartlett of Winthrop; first lieu- tenant, George N. Macy of Nantucket; second lieutenant, Henry L. Abbott of Lowell.
Company K-Captain, Allen Shepard; first lieutenant, Allen W. Beckwith; second lieutenant, Charles L. Tilden, Jr., all of Boston.
On reaching Washington the regiment went into Camp Kalorama on Meridian Hill, where it remained till the 10th of September, Colonel Lee in the mean time commanding a provisional brigade under General Burnside. Then the regiment changed its location to Camp Burnside, but two days later began a march northward which ended at evening of the 14th near Poolesville, where the Twentieth, with the Nineteenth Massachusetts, Seventh Michigan and the First Company of Andrew Sharpshooters formed General Lander's Brigade of General Stone's Corps of Observation. The encampment of the brigade, known as Camp Benton, was located about half way from Poolesville to Edwards Ferry, and the regi- ment remained there till the unfortunate battle of Ball's Bluff, with no more exciting event than picket duty and such occasional alarms as were inevitable with an active foe on the other side of the Potomac. ยท On the afternoon of October 20 seven companies, numbering in all but about 300 men, commanded by Colonel Lee and Major Revere, marched to Edwards Ferry and then up the river to op- posite Harrison's Island, where the men slept on their arms till about midnight, when the command crossed to the island on flat- boats. Companies I and D crossed to the Virginia side in the early morning, to support the detachment of the Fifteenth Massa- chusetts already over the river, and after some fighting by these two companies the rest of Colonel Lee's command crossed, about noon
313
THIE TWENTIETHI REGIMENT.
of the 21st. In the formation of the line of battle the Twentieth had the center, with two of its companies deployed on the flanks as skirmishers. Three of the companies were at first in reserve, till the strength of the Confederate attack called them into action ; but the small Union force could not withstand the determined assaults of superior numbers and when the fight was wholly lost the broken fragments of the regiment did their best to escape capture. This many succeeded in doing, though some were drowned in the attempt to reach the island, including the two lieutenants of Company C, Babo and Wesselhoeft. Colonel Lee, Major Revere, Adjutant Peir- som and Assistant Surgeon Edward H. R. Revere (who had been commissioned to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of Sur- geon Bryant to be brigade surgeon and of Assistant Surgeon Hay- ward in course) were made prisoners, and the three former were held in captivity for many months. Lieutenant Putnam was killed, Captain Putnam lost an arm, and several other officers were wounded or taken prisoners. The entire loss of the regiment was 15 killed, 44 wounded and 135 missing,-almost two-thirds of those engaged.
Companies B and F, which were posted on picket below Edwards Ferry, hearing of the battle, hastened toward the scene, but only arrived in time to succor such of their wounded comrades as had been helped across the river. Next morning Lieutenant Colonel Palfrey, who had been left in charge of the camp, rallied Company K and every available man of the command and crossed the river at Edwards Ferry, with other troops, skirmishing with the Confede- rates that afternoon and the following day, recrossing to the Mary- land side during the night of the 23d without loss to the Twentieth, though the swollen condition of the river created apprehension that all the loyal troops on the Virginia side might be captured. The regiment was temporarily reorganized as a battalion of six com- panies till reinforcements arrived from Massachusetts, when it was returned to its normal condition and remained at Camp Benton, on detail to picket the river from Edwards Ferry to Seneca Mills.
During the winter General N. J. T. Dana, promoted from the colonelcy of the First Minnesota Regiment, took command of the brigade and General John Sedgwick of the division. The Twen- tieth Regiment remained under command of Lieutenant Colonel Palfrey. The winter camps were broken on the 25th of February, 1802, the regiment making a temporary encampment near Pooles-
314
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
ville which was named Camp Lee, in honor of its captive colonel, The spring campaign began on the 11th of March, when Dana's Brigade crossed the Potomac and advanced to Berryville, joining its division, which was moving forward to co-operate with the column under General Banks. The latter having occupied Win- chester, however, Sedgwick with his division was returned toward Harper's Ferry, halting at Bolivar, where the Twentieth were quar- tered in some deserted dwellings. The brigade was taken to Wash- ington on the 25th, two days later the regiment embarked on the transport Catskill, and landed at Hampton, Va., on the 31st. For the purposes of the Peninsular campaign, Sedgwick's Division had been made part of the Second Corps, General E. V. Sumner com- manding. To the three regiments which had constituted the brigade the previous autumn, the Forty-second New York had been added,- the subsequent changes in the make-up of the brigade are noted in the sketch of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment.
The march up the Peninsula began on the 5th of April for Sum- ner's Corps, which on the 7th joined the rest of the army before the fortifications in the vicinity of Yorktown. Two days later Dana's Brigade went on a reconnaissance to more accurately locate the works of the enemy, returning that night without casualty to the Twentieth. Some days later the corps was placed in position closer to the Confederate lines, near the center of the army. The entire ground occupied by MeClellan's forces was known as Camp Winfield Scott ; but the particular portion of Camp Scott occupied by the Twentieth was located in a swamp, which was very unhealthy for the soldiers, while the vengeful picket firing from the opposing lines resulted in the wounding of a considerable number of the regiment,-among the rest Captain Bartlett, second in command, who received a wound in the knee necessitating the amputation of the leg. In addition to the picket duty, large details were con- stantly called for to construct fortifications, roads and other works, making the period a very trying one to officers and men.
Just before the evacuation of Yorktown by the Confederates Colonel Lee and Major Revere returned from their captivity and the former resumed duty. From Yorktown the regiment embarked on the steamer Vanderbilt for West Point where it landed on the 7th of May and was in support during the action there, but suffered no less. It then marched across country from the York river to the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.