USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 32
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THE TWENTIETHI REGIMENT.
in a few weeks brought the total strength up to 70, a company organization being formed of which Captain Magnitskey took com- mand September 11, on his return from escorting the detachment to Massachusetts. A few days later others having come in from hospital, three companies were organized, and the battalion served in various forts till late in October, having during the time a num- ber killed and wounded. On the 24th of that month it joined in the movement to Hatcher's Run, taking part in the action there on the 27th, penetrating to the Boydtown road where being in advance it was deployed and attacked the rebels, losing nearly a dozen in wounded and missing and retiring during the night. Captain Albert B. Holmes of Nantucket returned to duty on the 31st and took com- mand, the regiment on the same day being stationed in Battery XI, in the front line of works, where it remained four weeks, being re- lieved on the 29th of November, having during the time lost ten in killed and wounded. A few days before Captain Kelliher, whose terrible wound at Spottsylvania has been referred to, returned to the regiment and took command, being promoted to major. With the close of November, the Twentieth moved to the left of the Union lines, changed location several times, and finally built their winter quarters near Fort Emory.
Lieutenant Colonel Curtis returned to the regiment on the 12th of January, 1865, and on the 5th of February it participated in the movement across Hatcher's Run, being on the skirmish line during the fighting of that day, and remaining in the vicinity during the succeeding days on which the enemy strove to prevent this ex- tension of the Federal lines. Its loss was but one killed, six wounded and five captured. All suffered severely, however, from the inclement weather. The Confederates submitting to the inevi- table and withdrawing from the contest, the ground gained was in- trenched and the camps of the Second Corps were pitched in ; that region. Then the usual routine went on till near the close of March. The regiment turned out on the 25th of that month when the enemy captured Fort Stedman, but after marching some distance found that its services were not required and at night returned to camp.
Three days afterward orders came to prepare for the final cam- paign, and on the morning of the 29th the command broke camp, marching by the Vaughan road across Hatcher's Run. It was one of the fortunes of war that this veteran regiment, which for three
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
.
years and a half had borne the brunt of almost every conflict in which the Army of the Potomac had engaged, should during the final struggle escape without a casualty. It took part in all the movements of its corps, joined in the advance against the enemy's works on the morning of April 2, entering them without opposition, and thence marching toward Petersburg, halting at night within three miles of the city. Next day it moved to Sunderland Station on the Southside railroad, and afterward followed in the pursuit of the Southern army. After the surrender, on the 9th, the regiment remained in the vicinity of Appomattox Court House till the 11th, when it marched to Burke's Station and rested there till the 2d of May. It then marched to Richmond, reaching the late Confederate capital on the 5th and being reviewed there on the 6th; the weary battalion passed through Fredericksburg on the 10th, and three days later halted within the defenses of Washington-defenses that were no longer needed, for there was no hostile army in the field.
The few remaining events of note in the history of the regiment transpired at what seemed long intervals, for the soldiers who had so faithfully performed their duties were impatient to return to home and civil life. The great review in Washington occurred on the 23d, and Lieutenant Colonel Curtis resigned on the 29th. The veterans and re-enlisted men of the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts joined the Twentieth June 22. They numbered, present and absent, 223, including five officers; Lieutenant Colonel Lincoln of the Thirty-seventh being the senior officer took command of the con- solidated forces. Orders for making the final rolls were received early in July, and on the 15th of that month the organization was mustered out of the national service. It left for Massachusetts on the 17th reaching camp at Readville on the 20th. Eight days later its members were paid and discharged.
The roster of the Twentieth bears the names of 3,230 members, ineluding re-enlistments, promotions, the detachments from other regiments which were incorporated with it near the close of its ser- vice, and the 500 or so unassigned recruits, very few of whom ever joined the command. Of this number 50 died in Confederate pris- ons, and 533 are unaccounted for on the records of the adjutant general's office. The regiment was exceptional in the number of general officers which it gave to the service, no less than 11 attain- ing the brevet rank of brigadier general or higher grade.
THE TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
T HE Twenty-first Regiment began to gather on the Agricult- ural Grounds at Worcester, then named Camp Lincoln, in honor of ex-Governor Levi Lincoln, in July, 1861, Companies A, F and G arriving on the 19th and four or five others having been filled by the close of the month. The majority of the regiment were Worcester county men, though Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties were represented, with a few from other sections. The camp was under command of Major General Augustus Morse of the state militia. The men were mustered into the United States service from the 16th to the 23d of August by Captain Goodhue of the Eleventh Regulars, and the commissions of most of the officers bore date of the 21st. The roster was as follows :-
Colonel, Augustus Morse of Leominster; lieutenant colonel, Alberto Maggi of New Bedford; major, William S. Clark of Amherst ; sur- geon, Calvin Cutter of Warren; assistant surgeons, James Oliver of . Athol and Orin Warren of West Newbury; chaplain, George S. Ball of Upton (from November 11); adjutant, Theron E. Hall of Holden; quartermaster, George F. Thompson of Worcester; sergeant major, William H. Valentine of Worcester; quartermaster sergeant, Harrison A. Royce of Newton; commissary sergeant, William E. Richardson of Boston; hospital steward, James S. Green of Fitchburg ; principal musician, John L. Cook of Worcester ; leader of brass-band, Renben K. Waters of Webster.
Company A-Captain, George P. Hawkes: first lieutenant, Charles W. Davis; second lieutenant, John Brooks, Jr., all of Templeton.
Company B-Captain, Charles F. Walcott of Boston; first lieuten- ant, Wells Willard; second lieutenant, James W. Hopkins, both of Springfield.
Company C-Captain, James M. Richardson of Hubbardston; first lieutenant, William T. Harlow of Spencer; second lieutenant, Ira J. Kelton of Holden.
Company D-Captain, Theodore S. Foster; first lieutenant, Charles Barker; second lieutenant, Eben T. Heywood, all of Fitchburg.
Company E-Captain, Pelham Bradford of West Boylston; first
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
lieutenant, Solomon Hovey, Jr., of Boston; second lieutenant, Wood- burv Whittemore of Lancaster.
Company F-Captain, B. Frank Rogers of Worcester; first lieuten- ant, Charles K. Stoddard of Upton ; second lieutenant, Sammel O. Laforest of Boston.
Company G-Captain, Addison A. Walker; first lieutenant, Alonzo P. Davis; second lieutenant, Samuel A. Taylor, all of Ashburnham.
Company H-Captain, Joseph P. Rice of Ashburnham; first heu- tenant, John D. Frazer of Holyoke; second lieutenant, Solomon C. Shumway of Belchertown.
Company I-Captain, Henry H. Richardson of Pittsfield; first lieu- tenant, Frazar A. Stearns of Amherst; second lieutenant, Joel W. Fletcher of Leominster.
Company K-Captain, Thomas S. Washburn of Worcester ; first lieutenant, Matthew M. Parkhurst ; second lieutenant, John B. Williams, both of Barre.
Marching orders came on the morning of the 23d of August ; the men were armed with smooth-bore muskets changed from flint to percussion locks, and marched to Worcester, where Hon. Alexander H. Bullock in behalf of the ladies of the city presented a fine national flag. Cars were taken to Norwich that afternoon, a night ride on the steamer landed the regiment at Jersey City next morn- ing, and the journey by rail was resumed, reaching the abundant hospitality of the Philadelphia Cooper Shop in the evening. Balti- more was reached Sunday forenoon, and after reporting to General Dix, waiting for several hours on the street, the Twenty-first were informed that they would remain at Baltimore for a time ; they ac- cordingly marched through the city to Patterson Park, receiving neither insult nor welcome from the curious crowds which lined the way. In the dusty inclosure, which was christened Camp Lincoln, in honor of the President, the command remained three days, when it was ordered to Annapolis, which was reached on the morning of the 30th, six companies garrisoning the Naval School at that place while four companies remained at Annapolis Junction to picket the railroad. Lieutenant Colonel Maggi, on joining the regiment early in September, took command of the latter detachment, the com- panies being changed from time to time.
A second muster was had September 17, on account of some in- formality in the previous one, and from that time till the middle of December the regiment remained on duty with no experiences more startling than an occasional night alarm such as new troops very often indulged in. A sad event was the shooting of Lieutenant
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THE TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
Charles K. Stoddard by a picket on the night of September 30, Corporal Hayden having met his death in a similar manner a few days before, both occurring through the misunderstanding of one or both parties as to the duties of the sentries. On the 20th of De- cember it was settled that the regiment was to form part of the Burnside expedition, and the fact gave much satisfaction, as the men had been disappointed that through some misunderstanding it had not taken part in the Sherman expedition to the South Carolina coast some time previous. At the making up of the brigades for Burnside's command, the Twenty-first was the first regiment selected by General Reno, its associates being the Fifty-first New York, Fifty-first Pennsylvania and Ninth New Jersey.
At this time Lieutenant Colonel Maggi took command of the regiment, Colonel Morse remaining in charge of the post at An- napolis, a position more to his taste. . The worthless weapons of the men were discarded on the 21st, the right and left companies being armed with Harper's Ferry rifles with saber bayonets and the balance of the command with Enfield rifles. The regiment went aboard the transport Northerner on the afternoon of January 6, 1862, and sailed on the 9th, the head-quarters of General Reno being on the same vessel. Fortress Monroe was reached at evening of the 10th, and after stopping a day the flotilla set forth for Hatteras Inlet on the North Carolina coast, when the destination of the ex- pedition for the first time became known. The entrance to the In- let was reached at evening of the 12th, but owing to a storm it was not till the following day that a passage was effected and the steamer anchored off Forts Hatteras and Clark, which had been captured by the Federal gun-boats some months before. That night a severe storm set in, which continued with little interruption for two weeks, during much of which time the Northerner was aground and nar- rowly escaped destruction, the men being repeatedly shifted to other craft in the effort to float the vessel, and suffering from want of proper food and the natural discomforts of the situation. Finally on the 5th of February the flotilla was in sailing condition and moved up Pamlico Sound to within a few miles of Roanoke Island, where it lay till the morning of the 7th in a heavy fog. The mili- tary force of the expedition was known as the Coast Division of the Army of the Potomac, was commanded by General Burnside and consisted of three brigades, of which General Reno commanded
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
the Second, the First and Third being respectively under Generals John G. Foster and John G. Parke.
Most of the 7th was occupied by a sharp engagement between the Union and the Confederate gun-boats, the latter assisted by the fire of Fort Bartow on the island, but late in the afternoon when the fire of the latter had been silenced the division was transferred to lighter draught boats and landed at a convenient point without opposition. The Twenty-first were selected for skirmishers and faithfully picketed the ground during the night, losing one man wounded as they deployed. Soon after the opening of the engage- ment next morning the regiment went forward and worked its way through the deep swamp on the left of the road leading to the hostile fort which was the object of attack. The two flank com- panies, G and D, accompanied by General Reno and Colonel Maggi, advanced in line of battle, pushing back the enemy gradually while the main part of the regiment followed by the flank owing to the nature of the ground. On firmer ground being reached line of battle was formed and the entire regiment charged and drove the Confederates from the fort, planting the regimental state flag first upon the rebel works. The regiment joined in the pursuit till the surrender of the enemy, and then assisted in preventing the escape of the southerners from the island.
The loss of the command was 13 killed or fatally hurt and 44 others wounded, among the latter being Captain Foster, whose leg was badly shattered, and Acting Adjutant Stearns. The flag of the battery which had been captured by the charge of the Twenty-first was sent to Boston and placed on exhibition at the State House. That night the regiment passed in the comfortable new barracks recently completed by the Confederates, and nearly a month was spent on the island. During this time Lieutenant Colonel Maggi resigned, Major Clark was promoted to the vacancy from February 28 and took command, Captain Joseph P. Rice being made major.
The regiment again embarked on the Northerner March 4, lying at anchor till the 11th, when it sailed to Hatteras Inlet and the fol- lowing day ascended the Neuse river, anchoring at the mouth of Slocum's Creek, 16 miles below Newbern. Disembarking the next morning at 9 o'clock the column advanced some ten miles, passing on the way many deserted fortifications and other evidences of recent Confederate occupation, but meeting no resistance. The day, as
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THIE TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
well as the following, was rainy and foggy, making the movements of the soldiers very difficult. On the morning of the 14th the regi- ment with Company G as advance guard led the brigade through the thick woods on the left of the railroad. Encountering the enemy's intrenchments, some four miles below Newbern, Lieutenant Colonel Clark with four companies of his right wing was ordered to charge across the railroad and occupy a brick-yard, which he did with severe loss, driving out the foe, after which he charged upon a battery and captured one gun, when a counter-charge by three North Carolina regiments forced the brave battalion to make the best of its way out. It then rejoined the left wing, which was fighting steadily in front of the redans to the left, and was in time to share in the general advance at the giving way of the Confederate lines.
The loss of the Twenty-first in the battle of Newbern was 19 killed and 39 wounded, four of the latter dying soon after. Ad- jutant Stearns was among the killed and was one of the first to fall. The brass gun which had been captured by Colonel Clark's detach- ment was afterward suitably engraved and sent to Amherst College to be preserved as a memorial of him and of the other members of the regiment who were killed in the battle. While the rest of the army followed up the retiring enemy the Twenty-first were left in charge of the battle-field, but on the 19th they rejoined the brigade and took possession of a former Confederate camp near Newbern, which was renamed Camp Andrew. This camp, despite all possible sanitary measures, proved very unhealthy, and the regiment suffered much from fevers. On the 24th Miss Carrie E. Cutter, daughter of the surgeon, who from her devotion to the sick and wounded had been called " the Florence Nightingale of the regiment," died on board the Northerner, to the great grief of the command. Second Lieutenant Charles Coolidge of Sterling also died of fever on the 31st.
During April an expedition was planned threatening Norfolk, and the Twenty-first were selected as a part of the force. With the Fifty-first Pennsylvania, the regiment embarked on the Northerner April 17, and sailing up Pamlico Sound the command was joined at Roanoke Island by three regiments under Colonel Hawkins of the Ninth New York, the whole commanded by General Reno. Sailing up the Pasquotank river the force debarked three miles be- low Elizabeth City during the forenoon of the 19th. Hawkins's Brigade had some hours the start, but 12 miles out they were over-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
taken. The Fifty-first and Twenty-first then took the lead ; four miles further on they were fired upon by artillery before the pres- ence of the foe was suspected, and found a Confederate force of some 2,000 men with 14 guns strongly posted. The two Union regiments made a detour to the right, the Twenty-first getting a favorable position in the rear of the artillery and driving back the opposing skirmishers. An advance was made as soon as the other regiments were in position and the foe was driven from the field, but no at- tempt at pursuit was made.
After dark the Union column began to retrace its steps, such of the wounded as could not bear transportation being left at a house in the vicinity under the care of Assistant Surgeon Warren. These were well treated by the Confederates and as soon as they recovered sufficiently were sent into the Union lines on parole. The return march was very difficult, the mud being deep and the men exhausted, but within 24 hours after leaving them the transports were regained, the command having marched from 35 to 45 miles, besides fighting a battle and winning a victory. The loss of the Twenty-first had been four killed, 11 wounded and one missing. Camp was reached on the afternoon of the 22d.
A reorganization of the troops took place on the 25th of April, when the Twenty-first became a part of the Second Brigade of Reno's Division, its fellow-regiments being the two Fifty-firsts and the Eleventh Connecticut, Colonel Ferrero of the Fifty-first New York commanding. Twenty-three recruits from Massachusetts were received on the 7th of May. The monotony of camp life was broken on the 17th, when the regiment was sent out be- fore daylight to assist the Second Maryland, which had been cut off from camp and was in danger of capture. The Twenty-first marched rapidly for 11 miles through the rain and mud, when the Confederates retired and the half-famished Marylanders were greeted by their deliverers with a hot breakfast and escorted back to camp in triumph. On the 15th of May Colonel Morse left the service and in due time Lieutenant Colonel Clark was promoted to colonel, Major Rice to lieutenant colonel and Captain Foster to major,-but the latter, disabled by his wound, did not join the regiment.
Rumors and orders for moving came toward the close of June, and on the 2d of July the regiment took transports, in common with other troops, and at evening of the 3d reached Hatteras Inlet,
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TIIE TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
where tidings were received which caused a return to Newbern dur- ing the 4th. That night was passed on the transport and the fol- lowing on shore in the old camps, when the command re-embarked and steamed to Newport News, where it debarked and encamped. Other troops rapidly gathered there, General Parke coming from North Carolina and General Stevens from South Carolina with de- tachments, and on the 22d of July the Ninth Army Corps was organized. Colonel Ferrero's command, consisting of the Twenty- first and the two Fifty-first Regiments became the Second Brigade of the Second (Reno's) Division. This division, followed by the First under General Stevens, was sent to the assistance of General Pope, going by steamer on the 2d of August to Acquia Creek, where on the 4th cars were taken for Fredericksburg. The division re- lieved General King's Division of the Third Corps, the Twenty-first going into camp about a mile from the city and remaining till the 12th, when it was ordered to reinforce General Pope on the Rapidan.
Marching to Bealton, the regiment took cars on the 14th, rode to Culpeper Court House and camped for the night. The next day an advance was made to the vicinity of Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan, where the regimental brass-band was mustered out. On the night of the 18th Pope began to withdraw, Reno's Division which formed the rear guard not getting under way till nearly daybreak. It marched till late the following afternoon, when the Rappahannock was crossed at Kelly's Ford, the Army of Virginia taking position on the north bank and intrenching with outposts on the other side of the river, where skirmishing was of daily occurrence.
The regiment left Kelly's Ford on the morning of the 22d and moved up the river to Rappahannock Station, where there had been fighting across the river, while Jackson's force was reported to be crossing at the fords above, and the column moved forward spas- modically till on the 24th the regiment reached Sulphur Springs; where a portion of Ewell's Division had crossed, made a little fight with Sigel's troops and retreated, burning the bridge behind them. Next day the Twenty-first marched in the morning to Warrenton and formed line of battle, expecting an attack from Jackson's troops, known to be across the river; but none came, for that shrewd chieftain was marching rapidly northward, to the rear of the Union army. At evening the regiment started for Warrenton Junction, which was reached at midnight; on the morning of the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
27th started back toward Warrenton, but after marching a few miles returned to the Junction and moved northward to Greenwich. The next forenoon it marched eastward to Manassas and on toward Bull Run, which was crossed on the morning of the 29th, and through Centerville the command pressed toward the battle-field.
Soon after noon the brigade took position near the center of the . Union lines, and was soon placed in support of 20 pieces of artillery. Near sunset, after having witnessed two similar charges by mere handfuls of Union troops against the Confederate position, it was ordered to attack, unsupported, and had nearly reached the edge of the fatal woods when General Reno ordered a halt and made a pro- test to General Pope, as a result of which the brigade was with- drawn and rested on its arms during the night. The command, though sometimes under fire the day following, was not engaged till near night, when the Union army was mostly in retreat. Then under the direction of the gallant Reno it was moved by the left flank a half-mile to the Henry House Hill, covering the turnpike across Young's Branch and Bull Run, where the three regiments with Captain Graham's Battery took positon. The enemy soon came on in strong force, but the sharp fire of the artillery and infantry drove them back with heavy loss. Half an hour later a sudden at- tack was made on the Fifty-first New York, but the Twenty-first changed front to its assistance and the enemy was again repulsed.
The Union army was now falling back, General Reno being as- signed to cover the rear, and when the way was clear his command, including the Twenty-first, withdrew across the Rim, where line of battle was formed ; but the enemy showed no disposition to follow -did not in fact know of the retreat of Pope's forces till next morning-and later in the evening Ferrero's Brigade continued on to Centerville. The loss of the regiment during the day had been slight, being but seven wounded and Surgeon Cutter taken prisoner while as division medical officer accompanying the First Brigade on a charge. Assistant Surgeon James Oliver was also left behind to care for the wounded lying on the field when the regiment fell back. Both of these officers rejoined the command in a few days.
But if the Twenty- first Regiment had escaped lightly at the Second Bull Run battle, it was to have the most terrible experience in its history two days later at the battle of Chantilly. On the morning of the 1st of September the brigade moved about a mile
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TIIE TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
and pitched its camp in a fine locality, but at 2 o'clock it was or- dered to march and took the road toward Fairfax Court House, soon approaching the scene of conflict, as was indicated by the fir- ing in advance. About 5 o'clock the regiment in line of battle en- tered a thick piece of woods, a sudden storm raging with great severity. While still pressing forward, the line much disorganized by the darkness and difficulties of the forest, troops were observed in front, but were supposed to be the Fifty-first New York, which had entered in advance of the Twenty-first, till a murderous volley at short range was poured in from front and flank. The loss of the regiment was terrible, but the men fought as best they could till the soaking rain rendered the guns on both sides useless when Colonel Clark gave the order to retire.
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