USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 18
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Camden was reached on the 17th, and the following day at Boy- kin's Mills the enemy was encountered in some force but was driven back, the Fifty-fourth losing two killed and 20 wounded. among the former First Liententant Edward L. Stevens of Brighton. Next day one man was killed and four wounded,-this being the last en-
THE FIFTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.
gagement in which the regiment had part. On the 21st news was received of the truce between Generals Sherman and Johnston, and on the 25th Georgetown was re-entered. During the raid, track and cotton had been destroyed and many slaves liberated, the division subsisting upon the country.
The regiment returned to Charleston on the 6th of May, where. head-quarters and a portion of the command remained, but a large part of it was distributed at various points in the state engaged in guard and garrison duty. This arrangement continued till the 17th of August, when the command was assembled at Mount Pleasant for the making of the final rolls preparatory to the muster-out. That event occurred on the 20th and the following day the regiment embarked, the right wing on the C. F. Thomas and the left on the Ashland, United States transports, which reached Gallop's Island in Boston Harbor on the 27th and 28th respectively. The men were paid on the 1st of September, and the next day, after proudly march- ing about the city, the command disbanded on Boston Common.
THE FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
T HE Fifty-fifth Regiment, like the Fifty-fourth, was composed of colored enlisted men, with white officers, and was re- cruited in the spring of 1863 for three years' service. Its rendezvous was at Fort Meigs, Readville, and its organization was begun as the ranks of the Fifty-fourth were filled, several of the officers commissioned for the latter regiment being detailed to in- struct and discipline the recruits for the Fifty-fifth, of which they eventually became officers. On the 31st of May, 1863, three days after the departure of the Fifty-fourth Regiment, the first five com- panies of the Fifty-fifth were filled and mustered; of the remain- ing five, F and G were mustered June 15 and the other three on the 22d. The officers were commissioned from the 15th of May till near the close of June, the complete list being as follows :-
Colonel, Norman P. Hallowell of Cambridge ; lieutenant colonel, Alfred S. Hartwell of Natick; major, Charles B. Fox of Dorchester; surgeon, Willliam S. Brown of Boston; assistant surgeons, Burt G. Wilder of Newton and Warren M. Babbitt of Braintree (from August 11); chaplain, William Jackson of New Bedford; adjutant William P. Hallowell of Boston; quartermaster, George B. Mussey of Edgar- town ; sergeant major, James M. Trotter ; quartermaster sergeant, Martin F. Becker of Fitchburg ; commissary sergeant. Richard W. White; hospital steward, Richard Hecker; principal musician, Eli Lett.
Company A-Captain, Charles P. Bowditch of Boston; first lieu- tenant, James D. Thurber of Plymouth; second lieutenant, Joseph T. Nichols of Royalston.
Company B-Captain, Charles E. Grant of Boston; first lieutenant, John O. Mowry of Athol; second lieutenant, William D. Messenger of Peterboro, N. Y.
Company C-Captain, Wheelock Pratt of Sterling: first lieutenant, Robertson James of Newport, R. I .; second lientenant, Leonard B. Perry of Natick.
Company D-Captain, William Nutt of Natick ; first lieutenant, George M. Woodward of Worcester ; second lieutenant, Leonard C. Alden of Cambridge.
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THE FIFTY-FIFTII REGIMENT ..
Company E-Captain, Frank Goodwin of Boston; first lieutenant, Wyllys Gannett of St. Louis, Mo .; second lieutenant, Thomas L. Harman of Cambridge.
Company F-Captain, Sigourney Wales of Dedham ; first lieuten- ant, Edward S. Stimpson of Salem; second lieutenant, Ezekiel Fow- ler of Amesbury.
Company G- Captain, Robert J. Hamilton of Springfield ; first lieutenant, William HI. Torrey of Foxboro ; second lieutenant, Nathaniel E. Ladd of Groveland.
Company H-Captain, William D. Crane of Boston; first lieuten- ant, Ephraim A. Wood of Chelsea; second lieutenant, Winthrop P. Boynton of Boston.
Company I-Captain, John Gordon of Exeter, N. II .; first lieu- tenant, Dennis HI. Jones of Boston ; second lieutenant, Alphonso Marsh of Fitchburg.
Company K-Captain, Charles C. Soule of Brookline; first lieuten- ant, Harrison Holt of Andover; second lieutenant, George T. Garri- . son of Boston.
The regiment was armed and equipped on the 23d of June, re- ceiving the Tower pattern Enfield rifle, and on the Sunday evening following the first dress parade was held in regular form. Thence- forth during the remainder of its stay in camp the command was drilled in the use of weapons and the various branches of military discipline and deportment. A band was also organized from the enlisted men of the regiment, instruments being furnished by in- terested friends ; while colored women of Ohio contributed a national flag and a fine heavy regulation infantry color, the latter of which the regiment was not entitled to carry. It was therefore left in Boston, and on the 18th of July Governor Andrew presented the command with the other and the state flag of Massachusetts. Two days later the regiment left eamp, going by railroad to Boston, where it embarked on the steamer Cahawba, under instructions to report to General Wild at Newbern, N. C.
. It debarked at Morehead City on the morning of the 25th and going thence by cars reached Newbern that evening bivouacking on the river bank below Fort Spinola. Brigade and other drills were at once ordered, and on the night of the 29th orders were received for Wild's Brigade to set out at once for Charleston Harbor in light marching order. Six companies of the Fifty-fifth embarked on the steamer Maple Leaf from Fort Spinola, while the other four went to Newbern and took passage on schooners. The steamer deposited its quota at Pawnee Landing on Folly Island August 3, the men
684
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
encamping for a few days in the sand on the beach at the south end of the island but afterward occupying a camp in a palmetto grove vacated by the Forty-seventh New York near Light House Inlet, where on the 9th and 10th the remainder of the regiment arrived after a tedious passage. The Fifty-fifth now became a part of Wild's Brigade, Vigdes's Division, Tenth Corps, General Gilmore commanding. The First North Carolina Colored Troops were bri- gaded with the Fifty-fifth. The bombardment of Fort Sumter hay- ing been begun, very heavy details for fatigue duty were required from the colored troops, the Fifty-fifth for some time furnishing an average of 350 daily; this work, owing to the summer heat, and much of it being performed under fire, taxed officers and men severely. Through September and October these details gradually lessened to endurable proportions.
During September the regiment lost the service of Colonel Hallo- well, through disability resulting from a wound received at Antic- tam, and November 2 he resigned, being succeeded in the coloneley by Lieutenant Colonel Hartwell, while Major Fox and Captain Wales were advanced to lieutenant colonel and major respectively. On the 5th of October, Second Lieutenant Leonard C. Alden-the first officer commissioned in the regiment and who had taken a very active part in its early organization and instruction-died of yellow fever. Several of the line officers also resigned about that time from illness and other causes, while General Wild relinquished the command of the brigade to return to North Carolina and was suc- ceeded by Colonel Beecher, the latter on the 6th of November being relieved by Colonel M. S. Littlefield of the Fourth United States Colored Troops. A new camp for the regiment was laid out near the center of the island on a wooded slope, where with the exception of considerable parties on detail at Light House Inlet and Otter and Botany Bay Islands the command was very comfortably located.
As in the case of the Fifty-fourth Regiment, the matter of the pay of these soldiers became a very serions one. They had enlisted with the agreement that they should receive whatever white soldiers received, and were much and justly offended when the United States paymaster offered the enlisted men but $10 a month. This amount they refused to receive, and as in the case of the sister regi- ment also declined to allow representatives of Massachusetts to supply the difference between that sum and $13 a month, which
685
THIE FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
they came to the camp prepared to do. In some few cases this mat- ter of pay gave rise to trouble with the men; but almost without exception they preferred to wait for the full recognition of their rights, even though dependent ones at home must suffer meantime for the necessaries of life.
With the exception of numerous details and changes therein, no event of general interest occurred till the 13th of February, 1864, when the command was ordered to Florida and Companies A, C and I under Lieutenant Colonel Fox embarked on the steamer Peconic for Jacksonville, being followed next day by the rest of the regiment under Colonel Hartwell on the steamer Collins. With the exception of two companies left as a baggage detail at Jackson- ville, the regiment moved on the 16th to Camp Finnigan, but the next day was ordered back to the city as a garrison ; Colonel Hart- well being post commandant and Captain Nutt provost marshal. On the 19th six companies marched out as far as Barbour's in sup- port of the main force under General Seymour, which was fighting the battle of Olustee. As the Federal forces were defeated in the battle the entire column fell back to Jacksonville, where the Fifty- fifth encamped for a time outside the main works, but were drawn inside in anticipation of an attack by the Confederates, which was not made. Lieutenant Colonel Fox with Companies B and I was sent on the 28th to Yellow Bluff, half way to the month of the St. John river, Company K following next day and C a few days later, where assisted by a squad of New York Engineers the detachment fortified the place and built a signal tower, remaining till April 17. While there Lieutenant Dennis H. Jones was fatally shot by accident.
With the exception of these companies and Company F, which was garrisoning Fort Fribley, near Jacksonville, the regiment was ordered on the 11th of March to Palatka, Fla., farther up the river. Here strong fortifications were erected under the supervision of Colonel Hartwell and the command passed some five weeks very enjoyably, a few slight skirmishers and several alarms preventing monotony. During this time Captain Hamilton under the lead of a rebel deserter made an excursion of some 40 miles into the interior, penetrating to the vicinity of the Confederate camps. At this time, also, Chaplain Jackson having resigned was succeeded by Rev. John C. Bowles of Chillicothe, O. Palatka was abandoned April 18, the main body of the Fifty-fifth going aboard the propeller Sentinel and
686
MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
the detached companies being taken off by the Neptune. These steamed to Folly Island, which had been nearly deserted by troops, and after some changes the regiment was located as follows: Com- panies A and B garrisoning Fort Green under command of Lieutenant Colonel Cox, Company B at Pawnee Landing, and the remainder of the regiment in camp near the intrenched line above the Landing.
The details were once more very heavy, owing to the small num- ber of troops on the island. On the 8th of May the garrison at Fort Green was relieved by troops of the Fifty-fourth, and on the 18th the camp of the regiment was moved to Stono Inlet, where a very favorable location near the beach was occupied. On the 21st four companies, with detachments from others, took part in a re- connaissance by way of Long, Tiger, James and Cole's Islands back to Folly, skirmishing with the enemy's pickets on James and hay- ing one man wounded, returning to camp at night of the 22d. Next day the entire regiment joined in a diversion by steamer up the Stono river, the gun-boats accompanying the expedition ex- changing shots with the enemy's batteries.
No other movement occurred till the last of Jime, when it being believed that the defenses of Charleston were weakly held, a move- ment against them was made. On the night of the 30th the Fifty- fifth regiment with its brigade crossed to Long Island, but the order for attack was contermanded and the column returned to camp. Soon after dark on the night of July 1, the movement was resumed, the force consisting of the One Hundred and Third New York, Thirty-third Colored and Fifty-fifth Regiments, all under command of Colonel Hartwell. The movement during the night was by way of Long and Tiger Islands thence across the marsh to James Island. In the mist of early morning the column crossed the marsh by the flank in the order given above, and on reaching firm ground formed line of battle with the Fifty-fifth in column by companies in sup- port of the other two regiments. The latter suddenly encountered a section of Confederate artillery in an earthwork with a support of cavalry and infantry, and were thrown into confusion. The Fifty-fifth were at once deployed into line. charged the guns under a sharp fire and captured them. The support was driven in disorder, while Company F of the captors, having been well drilled in artil- lery practice, turned the guns upon the routed rebels and sent shells among them with effeet. These two 12-pounder Napoleon
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THE FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT:
guns were the only artillery captured by the Union soldiers in the Department of the South, up to that time, and the regiment was by special order authorized to keep them in front of regimental head-quarters during its service in the Department.
The sounds of this engagement having put the entire hostile force on the island in readiness to dispute the further advance of the Union troops, a position was occupied a little distance beyond the captured post and fortified, being held during the day under heavy fire. At night the brigade under Colonel Hartwell fell back to near Cole's Island and formed a junction with the troops which had crossed at that point, and there behind rifle-pits the whole force remained till evening of the 10th, under a desultory artillery fire, when the regiment returned to camp, its loss during the expedition having been 11 killed or mortally wounded and 18 less severely hurt. On returning to camp Colonel Hartwell was detailed to com- mand the post on Folly Island, and did not again return to the regiment till the expiration of its term of service, leaving the com- mand in the able hands of Lieutenant Colonel Fox. Many details, both in the regular line of duty and of a more permanent nature, were required from the regiment in the succeeding months, so that few men were left for the ordinary exercises and drills were almost unknown. 'In addition the dissatisfaction in regard to the pay of the men increased, and serions outbreaks were only averted by the skill of the officers and the strong patriotism of most of the enlisted men, who discouraged the attempts of the turbulent to precipitate trouble. Tardy justice was at last done, and at the close of September the regiment was paid to the first of that month; and it is worthy of note that of the amount received by the men over $60,000 was sent home to their families by Adams Express Company alone.
The events of the early autumn were not momentous; a few very good recruits were received and distributed among the companies during October, and on the 21st of November Major Wales left the regiment, having resigned, and being succeeded by Captain Nutt. Three companies which had been on detail rejoined the regiment on the 25th and the following day eight companies embarked on steam- ers under sealed orders. These proved to be to report at Hilton Ilead, where after some delay it was found that Colonel Hartwell had been assigned to the command of a brigade consisting of his own regiment, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts and the Twenty-sixth
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR. .
and One Hundred and Second Colored troops. The expedition, consisting in addition to Hartwell's Brigade of one under General Potter, moved up the Broad river, where after several of the transports had grounded, including the Mary Boardman carrying the Fifty-fifth, the troops landed at Boyd's Neck on the evening of the 29th, and next morning moved toward Grahamville, Pot- ter's Brigade in advance.
That afternoon occurred the battle of Honey Hill, in which the Fifty-fifth performed a noble part and suffered heavily. The enemy's outposts having been driven in, their main position was found to be on a bluff beyond a marsh-bordered creek, with very dense undergrowth obstructing all military movements on the part of the assailants. In attempting to bring the regiment into double column it became separated, three companies with the two field officers moving some distance to the right and connecting with the Twenty-fifth Ohio, moving forward half a mile and halting at the edge of a stream under heavy musketry fire from the other bank. In the mean time the other five companies, under the im- mediate command of Colonel Hartwell, vainly made repeated efforts to charge through the narrow defile by which the road crossed the marsh and reach the hostile works. The concentrated fire from the Confederates at short range struck down Colonel Hartwell and his staff, half the officers of the regiment and nearly that propor- tion of the musket-bearers. There was nothing for the survivors but to fall back to a sheltered position and reform the line, where they were joined by Lieutenant Colonel Fox, who remained in com- mand. Near night the two detachments were reunited, after having been sharply engaged during the entire afternoon, and later joined the column in retreat to Boyd's Neck, most of the survivors of the Fifty-fifth being detailed to carry back the wounded. The loss of the regiment in the battle was 31 killed, 108 wounded and one taken prisoner. Among the dead were Captain Crane, who was serving on Colonel Hartwell's staff, Lieutenant Boynton, and Color Ser- geant Robert King, blown to pieces by an exploding shell. Of the wounded 13 died of their hurts.
Next morning the regiment was moved forward some two miles and took position under direction of General Hatch on the right of the Grahamville road, the brigade being commanded by Colonel Silliman of the Twenty-sixth Colored Regiment, and this position,
689
THE FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
being intrenched, was held with slight skirmishing till the morning of the 7th of December, when the other troops having been with- drawn 24 hours before, the Fifty-fifth retired to Boyd's Neck, where with a section of artillery, a battalion of cavalry and a detachment of engineers, who were soon withdrawn, it remained to construct fortifications and hold the position. On the 9th First Lieutenant Edwin R. Hill of Salem, who had but recently been promoted from a sergeant of cavalry and who was serving on Colonel Silliman's staff at Devean Neck, whither the main part of the expedition had gone, was killed on the skirmish line. At the same time the artillery force at Boyd's Neck was removed, and on the 11th of January, 1865, the Fifty-fifth also abandoned the position and embarked on transports.
The regiment, under orders for Savannah, reached Hilton Head aboard the steamer Fountain on the morning of the 12th, and at once sailed thenee; but the boat giving out near Seabrook Landing the regiment debarked there and waited till the steamer Sylph reached the scene on the 13th and took the command to its desti- nation at Fort Thunderbolt, near Savannah. That city and vicinity were occupied by General Sherman's army, then about to move northward through the Carolinas, and the care of the city and fortifications was turned over to General Foster, commanding the Department of the South. Accordingly the Fifty-fifth were ordered on the 16th to occupy Forts Jackson and Bartow and Battery Lee. These being put in habitable condition were occupied till the close of the month, when the regiment received marching orders and on the 1st of February embarked on the steamer Cosmopolitan, reach- ing Hilton Head that evening. During the night the regiment was transferred to the steamer Louisburg and set out next morning with the One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York aboard another steamer for an expedition up the Edisto river, which without re- sults worthy of note occupied the time till the 6th, when the Fifty- fifth were orderded back to their camp at Stono Inlet to report to General Ilartwell. At night of the 9th the regiment with the Fifty-fourth and One Hundred and Forty-fourth New York, com- manded by General Hartwell, forming the right of an expedition under General Schimmelfennig destined for James Island, crossed to Cole's Island and the next morning to James. Skirmishing en- sued during the day and near night the Fifty-fifth assisted in driv-
690
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
ing the Confederates from their rifle pits, returning afterward to Folly Island with the loss of but one man wounded.
At night of the 11th the regiment embarked as part of an ex- pedition under General Potter, sailing to Bull's Bay, ten miles north of Charleston Harbor. After much difficulty the regiment landed on the north side of the bay on the 18th, and next day re- ceived the intelligence that the rebel forces had evacuated Charles- ton, when an advance toward the city was at once ordered, and without meeting any opposition the regiment on the morning of the 20th entered Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, being the first body of Union troops within the city. An enthusiastic welcome was accorded the command by the overjoyed colored people of the city, and a pleasant camping ground was selected between the village and Sullivan's Island. This was not long occupied, how- ever, for next day the regiment was transported across to the city proper, through which it marched to Charleston Neck, and on the morning of the 22d took its place in a column which, under com- mand of General Potter, was destined for the interior of South Carolina, to watch the retreating garrison under the Confederate General Hardee. The force consisted of two brigades, one of which was commanded by General Hartwell, and it penetrated as far as the Santee river at St. Stephen's Depot. At this point the last of the Confederates had just crossed the river and adjacent swamps, burning the bridges behind them ; and as the rainy season had made the water very high, no attempt was made to follow further. Re- turning by way of the Cooper river, the regiment reached Charles- ton on the 10th of March and went into eamp at Riekersville. During the expedition some skirmishing had occurred, with but slight loss to the regiment, though the service in building bridges, on seonting expeditions and the like, with the rainy weather, had made the march an exhausting one.
The provisional brigade with which it had been serving having been broken up, the regiment on the 17th left camp and with its band playing marched through the streets of Charleston, whenee it was ferried to James Island, where three companies under Captain Hamilton were stationed at Fort Pemberton, three companies under Captain Thurber at Battery Pringle, while the remainder of the regiment encamped on MeLeod's Plantation. Marching orders were received again on the 5th of April, and next day the regiment
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691
THE FIFTY-FIFTHI REGIMENT.
with the Fifty-fourth New York and a section of artillery, all com- manded by General Hartwell, set out on an expedition to the north of the Santee, penetrating as far as Eutaw Springs, in support of a movement made by General Potter, and returning to Charleston on the 12th, accompanied by some 2,000 colored refugees. The regiment encamped at St. Andrew's till the 7th of May, when it was moved up the Ashley river to Summerville, 21 miles away. Hart- well's Brigade remained at that point till the 19th, when cars were taken for Orangeburg, 60 miles west, where the brigade head-quarters were established for the remainder of the regiment's term of service.
Only a portion of the regiment remained at Orangeburg as a pro- vost gnard; the remainder was scattered through the surrounding region, by companies and smaller detachments, to preserve the peace, to assist in arranging contracts between the late slaves and the whites, seeing that they were faithfully observed, and other like matters which demanded in many cases a firm hand in those days of recent turbulence and chaos. In all this labor, officers and men acquitted themselves so as to win the hearty commendation of all fair-minded persons. Now that the war had ended, and there seemed a prospect that the regiment would be retained in service for most of its term of enlistment, some of the officers resigned to return to their business interests, among the number Lieutenant Colonel Fox, on the 24th of June. Major Nutt and Captain Pratt were promoted respectively to be lieutenant colonel and major.
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