USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 1 > Part 44
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
ninth engaged, though not without loss to the defenders. The Fifty- ninth Massachusetts under Major Gould was now brought up as a reinforcement by General MeLaughlen, commanding the brigade,- the latter riding from the fort directly into the enemy's lines, where he was captured. Going out soon after to establish a picket line in the rear of the battery, Major Richardson found on falling back as the enemy advanced for a second assault that most of the garrison had evacuated the works, seeking safety in Fort Haskell. The re- sult was the capture of the major, Captain Taylor and a consider- able number of their brave subordinates. The entire corps was by this time under arms and the lost ground was speedily regained. Battery 11 was soon retaken, Color Bearer Conrad Homan of the Twenty-ninth being the first to enter it, for which he received a commission as first lieutenant and a Medal of Honor. Apart from the wounded and the captured, whose numbers were not reported, the regiment lost ten killed, including First Lieutenant Nathaniel Burgess of Plymouth. The officers and men exhibited much bravery in the severe test to which they had been subjected, and many brevet promotions were bestowed in recognition thereof.
After the re-establishing of the lines the remnants of the regi- ment resumed duty as garrison of Battery 11, supported by the Fifty-seventh and Fifty-ninth Massachusetts, and the command was not further engaged during the remainder of the siege, though em- ployed somewhat in the demonstrations of the 1st and 2d of April, in connection with the storming of the Confederate lines. On the morning of the 3d the regiment passed over the lately hostile works and through the city of Petersburg, going on picket beyond the Ap- pomattox but on the 5th recrossed that stream and proceeded by easy stages to Wilson's Station, whence on the 21st the corps was ordered to Washington. The regiment reached Alexandria on the 2Sth and the day following was detached as provost guard for Georgetown and for duty at General Willcox's district head-quarters. It thus did not participate in the grand review of the 23d of May, being employed in guarding the streets.
Colonel Clarke returned to the command on the 7th of June, and on the 9th the portion of the Thirty-fifth Regiment whose term of service did not date from the original muster of that organization was transferred by the election of the officers and men to the Twenty- ninth. On the same day Colonel Clarke's command marched to
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THE TWENTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
Tennallytown, Md., where it remained till the 29th of July, when it was mustered out of the national service and set out for Massa- chusetts, in company with the Fifty-seventh. The two regiments paraded in New York as they passed through and were addressed by General Burnside, continuing their journey homeward by the Shore Line railroad. It was not till the 11th of August that the Twenty-ninth were finally paid off and discharged, for which events the men waited at Readville, completing thus for seven of the com- panies a continuous service of four years and three months.
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THE THIRTIETH REGIMENT.
T HIE Thirtieth Regiment was one of those raised by General Butler during the fall and carly winter of 1861-2, at the time of the unfortunate misunderstanding between that ofli- cer and Governor Andrew. It was at first known as the Eastern Bay State Regiment, and was organized at Camp Chase, Lowell, where recruits began to gather carly in September and were mustered at various times during the remainder of the year and the early part of January. . As no agreement was reached between General Butler and Governor Andrew as to its officers, the regiment left the state under the command of Acting Lieutenant Colonel Jonas HI. French and Major Charles J. Paine, both of Boston, with an incom- plete corps of subordinates selected by General Butler. Leaving Camp Chase on the 2d of January, 1862, nine companies embarked on the steamer Constitution, and after lying in Boston Harbor till the 13th sailed for Fortress Monroe, where they arrived on the 16th. Debarking on the 20th, the command encamped at Camp Stanton till the 2d of February. Re-embarking then, after making one or two vain efforts to get under way, it finally sailed on the 6th, and on the 12th reached its destination at Ship Island, where General Butler's force for the capture of New Orleans was being gathered and organized. The Thirtieth at once debarked and pitched their tents on the sandy expanse of the island, naming the location Camp Thompson. Company K arrived on the 9th of March, and during that month the matter of officers for the regiment was settled, the commissions issued by Governor Andrew being dated February 20, 1862, and the name of the organization was changed to the Thirtieth Massachusetts. The following roster of officers includes the field and staff commissioned by the governor and the line officers serving with the several companies at the time they left Camp Chase :-
Colonel, Nathan A. M. Dudley of Roxbury; lieutenant colonel, William Warren Bullock of Cambridge; major, Horace O. Whittemore
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THIE THIRTIETHI REGIMENT.
of Boston; surgeon, Samuel K. Towle of Haverhill; assistant surgeon, Alfred F. Holt of Cambridge; chaplain, John P. Cleaveland of Low- ell; adjutant, Charles A. R. Dimon of Salem; quartermaster, James E. Estabrook of Worcester; sergeant major, Selden II. Loring of Marlboro; quartermaster sergeant, H. Warren Howe of Lowell; com- missary sergeant, Alfred F. Fay of Boston; hospital steward, Joseph Davis of Medford ; principal musician, Royal S. Ripley of North Chelmsford.
Company A-Captain, Henry C. Welles; first lieutenant, William G. Howe, both of Cambridge; second lieutenant, William H. Gardner of Boston.
Company B, Lowell-Captain, Cadwallader O. Blanchard; first lieu- tenant, James Farson ; second lieutenant, Edward A. Fiske.
Company C, Lowell-Captain, Samuel D. Shipley; first lieutenant, William Lovering; second lieutenant, Richard A. Elliott.
Company D-Captain, Marsh S. Ferris of Boston: first lieutenant, J. S. Fox; second lieutenant, Nathaniel K. Reed, both of Lowell.
Company E-Captain, Robert B. Brown; first lieutenant, Gurdon S. Brown; second lieutenant, William F. Clarke, all of Boston.
Company F-Captain, Timothy A. Crowley; first lieutenant, Brent Johnson, Jr., both of Lowell; second lieutenant, H. A. Fuller of Dover.
Company G-Captain, Daniel S. Yeaton; first lieutenant, Francis H. Whittier, both of Lawrence ; second lieutenant, Frederick II. Norcross of Lowell.
Company H-Captain, John A. Nelson; first lieutenant, Harry Finnegan; second lieutenant, Adams Emerson, all of Chelmsford.
Company I, Fire Zouaves-Captain, Eugene Kelty of Boston; first lieutenant, George Barker of Newburyport; second lieutenant, Josepli B. Prince, Jr., of Chelsea.
Company K-Captain, Jeremiah R. Cook of Gloucester; first lieu- tenant, William H. Seamans of Roxbury; second lieutenant, Alfred F. Tremain of Gloucester.
While the refusal of Governor Andrew to commission the field and some of the line officers selected by General Butler was a source of disappointment and vexation to those who had taken the places and given their time and effort in good faith to the organization of the regiment, General Butler provided on his staff and in other ways for many of the disappointed ones, and the appointments made, especially of the field officers, were well adapted to bring out the best that was in the regiment. Colonel Dudley was a captain in the regular army who had received leave of absence to take the higher rank in the volunteer service; Lieutenant Colonel Bullock was a veteran of tlie Massachusetts militia, who held at the time of his appointment the rank of brigadier general ; while Major Whitte-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
more had served as adjutant of the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment during its three-months' term in the spring of 1861. The colonel and major assumed command on the 22d of March, and the lieuten- ant colonel on the 5th of April. In the organization of the expe- dition the regiment formed part of the Third Brigade, composed in addition of four Maine regiments, from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth inclusive, the First Maine Battery and one company of Massachu- setts cavalry. The brigade was commanded by Colonel George F. Shepley of the Twelfth Maine.
The regiment embarked on the ship North America April 15, anchoring three days later at the head of Southwest Pass in the Mississippi river, where it remained while the operations against the forts were being carried on. On the surrender of the forts General John W. Phelps with the Thirtieth Massachusetts, the Twelfth Con- neeticut, and some detachments of other arms of the service, was ordered to occupy the strongholds. The regiment therefore sailed up the river on the 28th, and a detachment of some 200 under Major Whittemore landed and garrisoned Fort St. Philip ; but before prepa- rations for permanent occupation were made General Phelps was ordered to turn over the care of the forts to the Twenty-sixth Mas- sachusetts Regiment, Colonel Jones, and proceed with his command to New Orleans, which he did, landing there on the 2d of May, the Thirtieth being quartered in Odd Fellows' Hall building. After a short stop in the city the regiment sailed up the river to Baton Rouge, from which soon after arriving it joined in a reconnaissance some 18 miles into the country, gathering some forage and captur- ing a few guerrillas. Lieutenant Colonel Bullock was detached from the regiment on the 19th of June and placed in command of Fort Macomb, where he remained for some months. The reports of this period also indicate a reorganization of the brigades, the Thirtieth Regiment at that time forming a part of the Second Bri- gade, General Thomas Williams commanding, the other regiments of which were the Ninth Connecticut, Seventh Vermont, Sixth Michigan, Twenty-first Indiana and Fourth Wisconsin, with two batteries of artillery and a company of cavalry.
Preparations had meantime been made for sending General Will- iams with most of his brigade, the fleet under Farragut co-operat- ing, up the river to Vicksburg; the intention being that a canal should be cut across the tongue of land opposite the city, to divert
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THE THIRTIETHI REGIMENT.
the river from its course, open communication past the stronghold, and perhaps secure its fall. The Thirtieth set out on the 16th, four days in advance of the main body, going by steamer Iberville and making several stops along the river to drive away guerrillas, secure articles contraband of war, and the like. The rest of the expedition joined the regiment on the 20th, and the ascent of the river was continued, the most important stop being made in the vicinity of Grand Gulf City, where guerrilla bands had been especially active in firing on transports and similar outrages. After a long and severe march their camp was reached, but it had been deserted an hour before. The town which had harbored them was burned as a warning, and the troops re-embarked and came in sight of Vicks- burg on the 25th. The command at once landed, and while Company E of the Thirtieth acted as pioneers, establishing the lines and clear- ing the ground for the laborers, large details at once set about the work of excavating. Not only did the soldiers labor, but as well they scoured the surrounding region and gathered negro laborers to the number of 2,000. For 25 days the task was prosecuted, and a cut 12 feet wide, the same depth, and one and a quarter miles in length was made. But it was all labor lost. The river fell so fast that it was found impossible to get its waters into the canal ; the health of the men gave way, and on the 23d of July the brigade embarked for Baton Rouge, which it reached on the 20th, the Thir- tieth being quartered in the State House.
The regiment was still suffering from the sickness induced by the exposure on the Vicksburg expedition, when intelligence was re- ceived of the approach of the enemy in force; the command, 350 strong, formed line on the afternoon of August 4 and marched to the outskirts of the city, where position was taken with the right wing of its brigade, which under command of General Williams composed the entire Federal force at that place. The battle of Baton Rouge began the following morning and the Thirtieth Regi- ment after moving to various points took post in support of the Second Massachusetts Battery, the enemy soon opening a heavy fire from a thick piece of woods in front. Colonel Dudley being ap- pointed to the command of the right wing of the brigade, the regi- ment was left in charge of Major Whittemore, who handled it with ability. The fight was long, considering the numbers engaged and the close quarters at which they fought-not over 50 yards separat-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
ing the antagonists during much of the contest ; but about 9 o'clock, after five hours of vain effort to crush the Union lines, the Con- federates withdrew and did not again renew the battle, though a renewal was awaited during the day and evening. The loss of the Thirtieth was comparatively slight, in numbers, being three killed and 15 wounded ; but among the dead was the brave Captain Kelty, who fell while deploying his Zouaves as shirmishers almost in the face of the enemy's line of battle,-the acting adjutant and the quartermaster were among the wounded.
The regiment remained in bivouac just at the rear of the scene of battle till the 10th, when there being no signs of a renewed at- tack it returned to the State House and next day joined with the brigade in forming an intrenched camp at the United States Arsenal Grounds, where with the gun-boats in the river covering the flank the command for ten days waited in constant expectation of the coming of the enemy. The post was then abandoned, the regiment embarking on transports and descending the river to Carrollton. There it went into camp near the river, the health of officers and men being badly broken by the exposures to which they had been subjected and the general effect of the climate, so that very few men were fit for duty. Two days later the camp was changed to Materie Ridge, some two miles distant, where the encampment was named Camp Williams, in honor of the brigade commander who had lost his life at Baton Rouge. While there a new brigade was formed, consisting of four infantry regiments, three batteries and a cavalry company, to the command of which Colonel Dudley was appointed, it being known as the Fifth Brigade.
Major Whittemore remained in command of the regiment till the Sd of November, when Lieutenant Colonel Bullock returned. Mean- while, on the 15th of September the camp had been changed to Car- rollton in the hope of bettering the health of the soldiers. Many died of disease,-no less than 53 from October 1 to November 10,- and among those lost in this manner during that fatal antumn were Captains Crowley and Yeaton, who died on the 25th of October and 28th of November respectively. On the 3d of November the regi- ment moved to the United States Barracks, four miles below New Orleans, where its camp was established, and with the Ninth Con- neeticut and Twenty-sixth Massachusetts Regiments and three bat- teries of artillery it became part of the garrison of the city, under
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THIE THIRTIETHI REGIMENT.
command of T. W. Cahill. It was largely scattered during the win- ter, detachments being on duty in the city and at various other points, 100 men being engaged in provost duty 40 miles down the river.
This disposition continued tili January 13, 1863, when General Banks having taken command of the Department and his fresh troops, largely nine-months' regiments, beginning to arrive, his forces were organized as the Nineteenth Army Corps. The Thir- tieth Regiment was transferred by the steamer Iberville to Baton Rouge, where with the Second Louisiana, One Hundred and Sixty- first and One Hundred and Seventy-fourth New York Regiments, to which the Fiftieth Massachusetts was added on its arrival, it formed the Third Brigade, First Division. Colonel Dudley was the commander of the brigade and General Grover of the division, but the latter was soon succeeded by General C. C. Augur.
Some months passed in organization and preparation, during which the duty of the regiment was comparatively light. It joined in the diversion to the rear of Port Hudson on the 14th of March, co-operative with the attempt of Commodore Farragut to run his fleet past the batteries, and after one day's march bivouacked near Montecino Bayou till the 18th, though on the 17th Dudley's Brigade made a hurried march of a few miles with the vain expectation of meeting the enemy. Returning to the camp at Baton Rouge the regiment proceeded at once up the river on the steamer Empire Parish to Winter's plantation, nearly opposite Port Hudson, where it debarked and encamped till the 26th, making one effort to pene- trate the country beyond, but the roads a few miles out were found impassable owing to a crevasse. It then returned to Baton Rouge and remained quietly there till the opening of the active campaign against Port Hudson.
Camp was broken on the 12th of May and the regiment marched some 18 miles, crossing to the Bayou Sara road, where it encamped till the 21st, though several expeditions of a few miles were made in search of the enemy during the time. The movement was resumed on the 21st, with the Thirtieth leading the column ; but after mak- ing some five miles the advance encountered the Confederate out- posts near Plains Store, and the battle of that name began. Several companies of the Thirtieth were deployed as skirmishers, the others being assigned to the support of artillery, with which the battle was mainly fought. After the enemy had been driven from their position
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
in front, they delivered another attack, just as the Union troops were about bivouacking, by a force which had worked itself around to the rear; but that too was repulsed and the victors bivouacked on the field of action. The loss to the regiment had been but four wounded. The advance was resumed on the 24th, when the Thir- tieth deployed as skirmishers in front of the enemy's works about Port Hudson, Quartermaster Fuller with the pioneers being sent forward to assist in working a battery from which it is claimed the first shots against the enemy were fired at noon of that day. From that time until the 17th of June the regiment was constantly on the alert, skirmishing, sharp-shooting, supporting batteries, moving hither and thither, performing all the duties of besieging troops. Its loss during this time was 19 wounded. For the remainder of the siege it was on picket near Plains Store. Twice when volun- teers for storming parties were called for did it respond nobly; on the first occasion 52 and on the second 30 promptly stepping forward.
Port Hudson having surrendered, the Thirtieth with other troops marched through the town on the 9th of July, taking transports at evening for Donaldsonville, where they debarked next morning, one man having been wounded on the way down by guerrilla fire from the shore. Two or three days elapsed, during which the vicinity was "felt " in quest of the enemy ; but on the morning of the 13th some companies of the Thirtieth acting as skirmishers found him in force at Kock's Plantation, near to the bivouac of the previous night, and a sharp engagement ensued in which the body of the regiment soon became involved, and though flanked and forced to fall back with heavy loss, brought off by hand one of the two pieces of artillery which it had been supporting. Its loss in this engage- ment was eight killed, 37 wounded and one missing. On the 31st it took passage for Baton Rouge, returning to the old camp and re- maining there for a month.
The resultless " Sabine Pass expedition " called the regiment from camp on the 2d of September. It took passage to New Orleans, where it re-embarked and on the ship Graham's Polly, towed by a steamer, made the futile trip and returned to New Orleans, bivouack- ing at Algiers on the 12th. The time of service of the nine- months' troops having expired, the brigades, much reduced in num- bers, had been reorganized, the Thirtieth now forming part of the First Brigade, First Division ; Colonel George M. Love of the One
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THIE THIRTIETHI REGIMENT.
Hundred and Sixteenth New York commanded the brigade, General Weitzel the division, and General Franklin the corps. After four days passed at Algiers the regiment was transported by rail to Brashear City, whence on the following day it crossed to Berwick, within a few miles of which it remained till the 26th, when it marched to Camp Bisland, and stopped there with the exception of a day or two when absent on a foraging expedition till the 3d of October. It then joined in the expedition up the Bayou Teche, involving some heavy marches and various perplexing duties, but being on its part bloodless. Carrion Crow Bayou was reached on the 11th, where the regiment remained till the 21st, when a day's march took it eight miles beyond Opelousas. There it encamped till the 1st of November, when the column began falling back, the Thirtieth reaching Vermillionville next day. An atttack was ex- pected there during the afternoon of the 3d, and before light the following morning the brigade started back to Carrion Crow Bayou, marching the 13 miles within four hours ; leaving there on the 7th the regiment moved southward once more and at New Iberia on the 9th went into winter quarters.
There it remained till the 7th of January, 1864. During that time 357 members re-enlisted and were mustered as veterans, for which they were to receive a furlough of 30 days. Lieutenant Colonel Bullock resigned on the 25th of November and Major Whittemore was promoted, Captain Francis II. Whittier being made major. About the same time the chaplaincy was filled by the com- missioning of B. Frank Whittemore of Berlin, Chaplain Cleaveland having resigned in the spring of 1862. On the 7th of January the quarters at New Iberia were quitted, and on the 9th the regiment camped at Franklin. It remained there till the 18th of February, when escorted to the landing by the rest of the brigade it embarked by steamer for Brashear as the first stage of its trip homeward on furlough. Cars continued the journey as far as Algiers, where on the 19th the organization went into camp awaiting further transpor- tation. It crossed to New Orleans on the 4th of March and took part in the inauguration of Michael Hahn as governor of the state, which had been readmitted to the Union, and the succeeding day took passage by the steamer Mississippi for New York ; there it was transferred to the Empire State for Fall River, going thence by rail to Boston, various delays along the route having prolonged the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
passage till early morning of the 19th. At noon there was a public reception at Faneuil Hall, after which the men were furloughed till the 18th of April, when the command re-assembled at Boston and on the 20th went into camp on Gallop's Island waiting for trans- portation to Louisiana.
The return voyage began the 3d of May by the steamer Cassandra, and New Orleans was reached on the 16th. The regiment debarked next day and encamped at Chalmette on the famous battle-ground of 1815, where for a day or two Colonel Dudley resumed command. A fine new flag was presented on the 28th, the gift of Massachusetts women. At the same time Lieutenant Colonel Whittemore, having resigned his commission, took leave of the regiment which he had commanded during a considerable portion of its service. Major Whittier was promoted to lieutenant colonel, but in his absence the regiment was commanded by Captain S. D. Shipley. It left camp on the 12th of June, going by the steamer Iberville to Morganzia, where it was for a few days attached to the First Brigade, First Division, Thirteenth Corps. It formed part of that brigade less than a week, however, and on the 26th was returned to the First Brigade, First Division, Nineteenth Corps, with which it had been formerly associated. That brigade consisted in addition of the Twenty-ninth Maine, Ninetieth, One Hundred and Fourteenth, One Hundred and Sixteenth and One Hundred and Fifty-third New York Regiments, being commanded by Colonel George L. Beal of the Twenty-ninth. In the duty to which it was abont to be sum- moned, General William Dwight commanded the division and Gen- eral William H. Emory the corps.
The regiment sailed from Morganzia for New Orleans on the 2d of July, arriving there next day and at once embarking on the steamer Mississippi with two other regiments of the brigade, under scaled orders. These when opened were found to be for Fortress Monroe, and reaching there on the 12th the troops were at once ordered forward to Washington, which was threatened by a Con- federate force in Maryland under General Early. The three. regi- ments debarked at the national capital the following afternoon, and that night began marching north in pursuit of the enemy, who had been beaten back by the Sixth Corps, which had arrived from the Army of the Potomac a day or two previous. The Thirtieth moved by way of Poolesville, Md., forded the Potomac at Edwards Ferry,
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