USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 16
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Company D-Captain, George W. Prouty; first lieutenant, Luther Capron, Jr. ; second lieutenant, Joel H. Pronty, all of Worcester.
Company E-Captain, William F. Wheeler of Worcester; first lien- tenant, Charles P. Winslow of Westboro ; second lieutenant, George F. Jourdan of Grafton.
Company F-Captain, Joel S. Baldwin; first lieutenant, Charles II. Peck; second lieutenant, Samuel S. Eddy, all of Worcester.
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THE FIFTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
Company G-Captain, Thomas D. Kimball of Oxford ; first lieu- tenant, Charles O. Storrs; second lieutenant, Silas S. Joy, both of Webster.
Company H-Captain, Horace Hobbs of Worcester; first lieuten- ant. Marcena B. White of Charlton ; second lieutenant, Jacob M. Baker of Dudley.
Company I-Captain, William Hunt of Douglas ; first lieutenant, Harrison F. Bradish of Upton; second lieutenant, Lucius M. Thayer of Douglas.
Company K-Captain, Daniel W. Kimball of Millbury ; first lieu- tenant, Joel II. Howe of Blackstone ; second lieutenant, Horace U. Coleman of Mendon.
With the muster of its field officers, all from active service in the field, orders came to the regiment to proceed to North Carolina for service under General Foster, by especial request of that officer. Cars were taken for Boston on the 25th of November, and that afternoon the command went aboard the transport Merrimac, sail- ing that evening. Beaufort, N. C., was reached on the 30th after a stormy voyage, cars were taken to Newbern, and the regiment was quartered in barracks which were being built on the south side of the Trent river. It was assigned to Colonel Amory's Brigade of Massachusetts troops, the other regiments being the Seventeenth, Twenty-third, Forty-third and Forty-fifth.
The regiment was not armed till the 9th of December, and on the 11th it was ordered to form part of the Goldsboro expedition- a movement in co-operation with General Burnside's battle of Fred- ericksburg. Setting out that morning, it marched with the main column till the following afternoon, when it was detailed with a section of artillery under Captain Ransom of the Twenty-fourth New York Battery to guard Beaver Creek bridge and the main roads to Kinston and Trenton, in the rear of the advancing col- um. At sunrise on the morning of the 14th, in charge of some prisoners which had been picked up by the Union cavalry, it marched to join the brigade, which it overtook that evening, and was under fire in the engagement at Whitehall the 16th, though not taking an active part. During the operation at Goldsboro on the 17th the regiment was on duty as guard of the rear of the col- umn and the long baggage train, from which it was relieved when the force again marched toward Newbern, the railroad bridge at Goldsboro having been destroyed,-news of the defeat of Burnside at Fredericksburg being received en route. The barracks on the
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Trent were reached on the 21st, the loss of the command during the expedition having been but two wounded. On the 30th Com- pany G was detailed for garrison duty at Brice's Ferry, where it remained till the expiration of its term of service.
On the 17th of January, 1863, seven companies of the regiment. took part in the expedition to Pollockville, whence on the following morning two companies went with the main column to Trenton while the five remaining, with some cavalry, held Pollockville till the return of the force. The five companies were then sent on in advance to Young's Cross Roads, passing which they encountered at White Oak Creek the enemy's ontposts and drove them back. On the 20th they crossed the river and formed an outpost on the Jacksonville road, the entire force returning next day to the camps about Newbern.
During this time the Fifty-first suffered much from the ravages of disease, many of the members having died of cerebro-spinal meningitis, and on the 2d and 3d of March the regiment was dis- tributed at various points along the railroad between Newbern and Morehead City, relieving the garrisons at those places and also at Beaufort and Evans's Mills, with head-quarters at Beaufort, Major Harkness being provost marshal of that town and Morchead City ; Colonel Sprague was assigned to the command of the District of Beaufort, which included Fort Macon. After two months of this service the health of the command having greatly improved, the regiment returned on the 4th of May to the barracks at Newbern.
A reconnaissance was made on the 7th by Colonel Sprague with five companies of his regiment, a section of artillery and a small cavalry force, the infantry going as far as Cedar Point and the cavalry penetrating several hours' ride beyond, but encountering no enemy and returning to Newbern on the 10th. This proved the last active campaigning of the regiment in North Carolina. The barracks were vacated on the 22d and Camp Wellington was es- tablished near the junction of the Neuse and Trent rivers, and there the time was passed till the 24th of June, when the Fifty-first were ordered to Fortress Monroe and sailed that afternoon, leaving behind 183 siek members. Arriving on the morning of the 27th, the regiment, with other Massachusetts troops from North Car- olina, was ordered to report to General Dix at White House, and did so the following morning, only to be directed to return to the
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THE FIFTY-FIRST REGIMENT.
Fortress and thence to Massachusetts for muster ont, General Dix having abandoned, if he had really entertained, the plan of attack- ing Richmond at that time.
The return to the Fortress was made that evening, but while wait- ing for transportation home, on learning from General Naglee of the advance into Maryland by the Confederates under General Lee, Colonel Sprague tendered to the secretary of war the services of his command during the emergency. The offer being accepted, the regiment was directed to report to General Schenck at Baltimore, commanding the Middle Department, and reached that city on the 1st of July. It was quartered in the Belger barracks on the out- skirts of the city, and details were at once put to work on the fortifi- cations which were being erected in anticipation of a Confederate movement against the city. Other duties came to the command, as on the 4th, when it was detailed to search the houses of the citizens for arms, collecting a large quantity which were placed under guard; and on the 5th, when six companies under Lieuten- ant Colonel Studley escorted from the railroad station to Fort Mc- Henry 2,300 prisoners of war captured at Gettysburg.
Early next morning, with three days' rations and 60 rounds of ammunition, the regiment reported to General HI. S. Briggs at the Baltimore and Ohio depot, where it was attached to a provisional brigade under his command, the other regiments being the Eighth, Thirty-ninth and Forty-sixth Massachusetts, and going by rail to Sandy Hook, reached there the next afternoon. That night the three nine-months' regiments of the brigade, with a Pennsylvania battery, all under command of Colonel Sprague, climbed Maryland Hlights through a driving rain-storm and intense darkness, reach- ing Fort Duncan abont daylight next morning. There the. Fifty- first remained till the 12th, when orders were received to join the Army of the Potomac, and that evening at 9 o'clock the brigade began its march.
The Federal lines near Funkstown were reached at 3 o'clock the next afternoon, when the brigade was attached to the Second Divis- ion, First Corps, and took position in the second line of battle con- fronting the Confederate army before Williamsport. So severe had been the ravages of disease resulting from the malarial poisoning of the North Carolina swamps and the exposure of the men that at this time the regiment was reduced to 275 for duty out of 800 on
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
the rolls. During the following night the Confederates disappeared, having recrossed the river into Virginia, and the Union army ad- vanced to Williamsport, where the regiment bivouacked the night of the 14th. On the 15th it marched back through Funkstown and across the Antietam, over the mountains to near Berlin, where a ponton bridge was thrown across the Potomac.
While resting there on the 17th orders were received for the regiment to proceed at once to Massachusetts to be mustered out. Baltimore was reached the following morning, and by easy stages the command made its way to Worcester, which was reached on the 21st; the men were furloughed for six days while their final papers were being made out, and on the 27th were mustered out by Captain Lawrence of the Fourth United States Infantry, after a service of nearly ten months.
THE FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
T HE Fifty-second Regiment was recruited in Franklin and Hampshire counties, in response to the call for troops for nine months' service, the companies and detachments gath- ering at Camp Miller, Greenfield, and the command filled promptly. Companies A and C were mustered on the 2d of October, 1862, and the remaining eight on the 11th, though the field and staff were not mustered till the 19th of November, at which time the regiment was ordered to New York to take passage for Louisiana as a portion of the Banks expedition. The roster of officers with which the regiment went forth follows :-
Colonel, Halbert S. Greenleaf of Shelburne; lieutenant colonel, Samuel J. Storrs of Amherst; major, Henry Winn of Boston ; sur- geon, Frederick A. Sawyer of Greenfield; assistant surgeon, John II. Richardson of Chesterfield ; chaplain, John F. Moors of Greenfield : adjutant, Jefford M. Decker of Lawrence: quartermaster, Edwin C. Clark; sergeant major, Henry M. Whitney: quartermaster sergeant. Edward A. Whitney all of Northampton; commissary sergeant. Henry L. Boylston of Greenfield ; hospital steward, George D. Clark of Northampton.
Company A-Captain, Alanson B. Long of Greenfield; first lieu- tenant, Eben S. Hurlburt of Bernardston; second lieutenant, Frank- lin C. Severance of Greenfield.
Company B-Captain, Alvah P. Nelson of Coleraine; first lieuten- ant, Leonard B. Rice of Charlemont; second lieutenant, John W. Buddington of Leyden.
Company C, Northampton-Captain, Mark H. Spaulding: first lieutenant, John R. Hillman; second lieutenant, Luther A. Clark.
Company D-Captain, Horace Hosford of Conway; first lieutenant, Samuel F. Edwards of Southampton; second lieutenant, Oliver P. Edgerton of Conway.
Company E-Captain, Josiah A. Richmond of Buckland : first lieutenant, Ansel K. Bradford of Plainfield: second lieutenant, Sam- uel H. Blackwell of Shelburne.
Company F-Captain, Lucian HI. Stone of Montague ; first lieu-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
tenant, Alphonzo A. Ballou of Orange; second lieutenant, Marshall S. Stearns of Northfield.
Company G-Captain, George L. Bliss of Northampton ; first lieu- tenant, Justin P. Kellogg; second lieutenant, Asa A. Spear, both of Amherst.
Company H-Captain, William Perkins of Hadley : first lieutenant, S. Alonzo Williams of South Hadley ; second lieutenant, Malcolm Bridgman of Granby.
Company I-Captain, Charles E. Tileston of Williamsburg ; first lieutenant, Lucius C. Taylor of Chesterfield ; second lieutenant, James W. Clark of Northampton.
Company K-Captain, Edwin C. Bissell of Westhampton ; first lieutenant, Lewis Clapp of Easthampton ; second lieutenant, Henry P. Billings of Hatfield.
On the day that its field officers were mustered the regiment was ordered to New York, and so complete were its preparations that it left Camp Miller the 20th, and on reaching New York crossed to Long Island, where with the other regiments gathering for the " Banks Expedition" it went into camp for a short time. On the 2d of December it embarked on the steamer Illinois and sailed for Louisiana, touching at Ship Island and at New Orleans and reach- ing Baton Rouge on the 17th. There the regiment encamped in the easterly portion of the town, within a mile of the river, being brigaded with the Forty-first Massachusetts, Twenty-fourth Con- nectient and Ninety-first New York Regiments. The latter some- what later gave place to the Twelfth Maine, Colonel William R. Kimball of that regiment commanding the brigade, which was known as the Second Brigade, Fourth (Grover's) Division.
The Fifty-second remained at Baton Rouge, perfecting them- selves in the art of war, till the reconnaissance to the rear of Port Hudson in aid of Admiral Farragut's attempt to run the batteries with a portion of his fleet, when they advanced on the 13th of March some seven miles and bivouacked for the night. The next day, supported by a small cavalry force, the regiment penetrated to within a few hundred yards of the hostile intrenchments, reaching a point more than a mile in advance of the other regiments, and winning praise for its deportment. Returning to its camp at Baton Rouge on the 20th, the command remained there till the 27th, when it took steamer to Donaldsonville, and on the 31st began the march with the rest of Grover's Division up the Bayou Lafourche to Thi- bodeanx. That place was reached April 2, and on the 4th the regi-
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THE FIFTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
ment was transported by rail to Bayou Bœuf, whence on the 9th it marched to Brashear City. Two days later it took steamer and on the 13th landed at Indian Bend on Grand Lake, 35 miles from Brashear,-the intention being that Grover's Division should obtain a position to cut off the retreat of the Confederate force at Bisland, against, which other portions of Banks's army were moving.
Advancing a few miles, the division drove before it such of the enemy as were encountered, and the following day the battle of Indian Ridge (also called Centreville, Bayou Teche, etc.,) was fought, Kimball's Brigade not participating. The pursuit of the retreating foe was taken up on the 15th, and two days' marching took the regiment to New Iberia, where Companies 1, E, F and G were detached and remained as provost guard while the rest of the regiment went on to Opelousas, reaching there on the 20th and six days later marching to Barre's Landing on Vermillion Bayou, nine miles distant. With a section of Nims's Battery, the six companies of the Fifty-second remained at this point, gathering and guard- ing forage and supplies of all kinds, caring for the negroes, loading and unloading vessels, Colonel Thomas E. Chickering of the Third Massachusetts Cavalry taking command of the post May 12. On the 19th the companies left at New Iberia rejoined the regiment, coming by boat from Brashear City, and two days later the Fifty- second set out on the return march to Brashear, escorting over the route a large number of negroes and a long supply train. For some days an average march of 18 miles was made, but on the 25th the distance was more than doubled, as an attack at the rear of the column called the regiment baek five miles, though its services were not needed to drive off the annoying force. The column moved on all night, making the day's march 40 miles, and on the 26th reached Brashear City. The regiment went by rail to Algiers on the 28th, the day following took steamer to Springfield Landing, a few miles above Baton Rouge, which was reached on the afternoon of the 30th, whence the command marched to join its brigade before Port Hudson, 13 miles distant, reaching there about midnight and closing a season of severe exertion.
The regiment formed a part of the column under General Paine which was sent on the 5th of June to disperse a threatening force of the enemy near Clinton, and having performed that duty with- ont an engagement returned to the lines on the 8th. In the assault
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR ..
of the 14th the regiment formed part of General Weitzel's attack- ing column; but as the fight developed it was deployed and skir- mished to the right to protect the flank of the Union advance, doing its duty faithfully through the trying day and suffering a loss of three killed and seven wounded,-of the latter Captain Bliss of Company G mortally.
Till the 20th the regiment occupied the advanced ground gained on the 14th, within easy rifle shot of the hostile line, losing several killed and wounded by the fire of sharp-shooters. On that day, accompanied by some cavalry and a section of artillery, all under command of Colonel Greenleaf, the Fifty-second escorted a forage train to Jackson Cross Roads, and while the wagons were being loaded an attack was made by a stronger force of Confederates, who were repulsed with a loss to the Fifty-second of two taken prisoners, though the enemy succeeded in stampeding a considerable number of the teams.
The regiment returned that night to its position at the front, where it remained till the surrender of Port Hudson, its total loss in killed being nine. Directly afterward the term of service of the command expired, and on its homeward trip it had the distinction of being the first regiment to ascend the Mississippi after the river was opened to navigation by the surrenders of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, reaching Greenfield on the 3d of August. The men were furloughed for a short time while the final papers were being pre- pared, but re-assembled and were mustered out on the 14th. Dur- ing its service the command lost 90 men by death from disease, and but three by desertion,-the latter a showing equaled by not more than one other regiment from the state.
THE FIFTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
T HE Fifty-third Regiment was made up from the towns of Northern Worcester county and the adjoining portions of Middlesex. Its rendezvous was at Camp Stevens, Groton Junction, the post being commanded by Captain Wesley C. Sawyer. Seven companies were mustered October 17, 1862, H and I on the 18th, but C was not filled to the requisite standard till November 6. The field and staff, though commissioned November 8, were not mastered till December, after the regiment had reached New York, when the roster stood as follows :-
Colonel, John W. Kimball of Fitchburg ; lieutenant colonel, George HI. Barrett of Ashburnham; major, James A. Pratt of Sterling ; sur- geon, John Q. A. McCollister of Groton ; assistant surgeon, William L. Bond of Charlestown ; chaplain, Benjamin F. Whittemore of Ber- lin ; adjutant, Henry A. Willis of Fitchburg ; quartermaster, Edward A. Brown of Royalston ; sergeant major, Harlan P. Partridge of Fitchburg ; quartermaster sergeant, Herman M. Partridge of Royal- ston ; commissary sergeant, James R. Brown : hospital steward, Charles G. Allen, both of Barre; drum major, Edwin D. Atherton of Fitchburg.
Company A, Fitchburg-Captain, Eugene T. Miles; first lieuten- ant, George G. Nutting ; second lieutenant, Daniel W. Tuttle.
Company B-Captain, James Corey; first lieutenant, Carlos B. Wilson, both of Fitchburg; second lieutenant, Oscar A. Battles of Ashby.
Company C-Captain, Joel A. Stratton of Leominster ; first lieu- tenant, Alfred R. Glover of West Roxbury ; second lieutenant, James W. Hall of East Boston.
Company D-Captain, Andrew J. Clough of Shirley ; first lienten- ant, Anson D. Fessenden of Townsend ; second lieutenant, Stephen W. Longley of Shirley.
Company E-Captain, Farwell F. Fay of Athol ; first lieutenant, Benjamin II. Brown of Royalston ; second lieutenant, Varnum V. Vaughn of New Salem.
Company F-Captain, John G. Mudge of Petersham ; first lieu- tenant. Pliny HI. Babbitt ; second lieutenant, Abijah HI. Shattuck, both of Barre.
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Company G-Captain, John F. Ashley ; first lieutenant, Charles W. Upham, both of Gardner; second lieutenant, John D. Edgell of Templeton.
Company HI-Captain, Lyman Woodward of Hubbardston ; first lieutenant, George E. Priest of Watertown ; second lieutenant, Rus- sell Carruth of Phillipston.
Company I-Captain, Edward R. Washburn of Lancaster: first lieutenant, Josiah II. Vose ; second lieutenant, William T. Freeman, both of Clinton,
Company K-Captain, Samuel B. Beaman of Princeton : first lien- tenant, Pierson T. K. Burpee ; second lieutenant, Edward W. Toombs, both of Sterling.
The regiment received orders on the 18th of November to report to General Banks at New York, and 11 days later left for that city under command of Lieutenant Colonel Barrett. Colonel Kimball, who during the summer and fall had as lieutenant colonel been in command of the Fifteenth Regiment, joined the Fifty-third and took command upon their arrival at New York. Reaching that city on the 30th, the regiment was ordered to Camp Banks on Long Island, where it remained but a few days, the men having no other protec- tion from the severe weather than was afforded by their shelter tents. The command was then transferred to the Franklin Street Barraeks in New York, where it remained till January 17, 1863, when it embarked on the steamer Continental, reaching New Orleans after a stormy passage of 12 days and going into camp at Carrollton, being assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division. The other regiments of the brigade were the Thirty-first and Thirty-eight Massachusetts, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth and One Hundred and Seventy-Fifth New York. Colonel Gooding of the Thirty-first com- manded the brigade and General Emory the division.
After six weeks devoted to drill, discipline and camp duty, the regiment on the 6th of March took steamer and ascended the Mis- sissippi to Baton Rouge, where troops were being concentrated in readiness for the preliminary movements against Port Hudson. Encamping three miles below the city, the command was on the 12th ordered on a reconnaissance up the river, and embarking on two transports, convoyed by a gun-boat, it ascended some five miles, when it debarked and with a squad of cavalry in advance penetrated to the Bayou Sara road, driving in the enemy's outposts and return- ing by the road to Baton Rouge, which was reached the same after- noon, some forage being brought in. Next evening the regiment
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THE FIFTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
marched with the rest of the division in the direction of Port Hud- son, within some three miles of which it bivouacked on the after- noon of the 14th. During that night Admiral Farragut ran the batteries with a portion of his fleet, and the object of the expedition being thus accomplished the land force marched back toward Baton Rouge next day, the Fifty-third halting some five miles short of the city and remaining in camp there till the 20th-in the mean time taking part in an eventless excursion toward Clinton.
The division returned to Baton Rouge on the 20th, and the regi- ment reoccupied its camp below the city, remaining there till the 1st of April, when it embarked for Algiers, opposite New Orleans. Reaching there the 2d, it encamped for a week, when cars were taken for Brashear City, from which an expedition was abont to set forth across the Teche country,-the object being to rid that region of any formidable bands of Confederates previous to the movement in force against Port Hudson. On the 11th the regiment marched eight miles to Pattersonville, and the next day moved for- ward some four miles, pushing the enemy's skirmishers back the last half of the distance till his main works were approached. An artillery engagement took place during the rest of that day, and was resumed the following morning, with the regiment in support of a battery, but in the afternoon it advanced toward the hostile fortifications, halting for the night in a position within 400 feet of the enemy's lines. During the day the loss of the Fifty-third was three killed, including Lieutenant Nutting, and 11 wounded. At daylight of the 14th the regiment moved forward, to find that the enemy had retreated during the night, and its colors were the first to wave over Fort Bisland.
At noon of that day the pursuit of the Confederates was begun, the Fifty-third marching up the left bank of the Teche to Franklin, foraging by the way, and next day rejoining the division, which had marched on the other bank of the river. The pursuit, with some skirmishing with the enemy's rear guard, was continued to Opelou- sas, which was reached on the 20th, after a very fatiguing march. There a halt was made till the 5th of May, when the column set out for Alexandria on the Red river, making the hundred miles in four days. After resting there ten days the retrograde movement toward Port Hudson began, the march to Simmsport on the Atehafalaya beginning on the 15th and ending on the 18th. There the Third and
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR. .
Fourth Divisions gathered for the movement against the Confederate stronghold from above, while the other two divisions of the corps co-operated from below, the main body leaving Simmsport on the 21st. The Fifty-third remained on guard at Simmsport till even- ing of the 22d, when they took a transport for Bayou Sara, and on reaching there at once marched to join the division, which, 12 miles distant, was already drawing near to Port Hudson.
Rejoining its brigade during the 23d, the regiment was that night placed on picket, and the following day was selected as guard to the engineer corps, leading the column in the advance. Some skir- mishing took place during the day, while the engineers were select- ing the route through the forest, and the night which followed was passed by the regiment in the woods remote from support. The command returned to the brigade in the morning, but soon after noon was advanced to support the skirmishers, relieving a portion of the line at dusk and soon after finding itself fired upon by troops from the rear as well as the enemy in front. It was relieved in the morning after having repulsed an advance of the Confeder- ates, and was not further engaged till the assault on the 27th.
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