USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 2
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Company E-Captain, William B. Bacon of Worcester; first lieu- tenant, George Macomber of Oakham; second lieutenant, Levi Lin- coln, Jr., of Worcester.
Company F -- Captain, Charles L. Chandler of Brookline; first lieu- tenant, Charles W. Elwell; second lieutenant, Thomas W. Ripley, both of Greenfield.
Company G- Captain, Dexter F. Parker of Worcester; first lieu- tenant, Chauncey R. Chauncey of Northampton ; second lieutenant, Jerre Horton of Westfield.
Company II-Captain, Henry P. Fox; first lieutenant, Albert C. Walker, both of Worcester; second lieutenant, Malcolm Ammidon of Southbridge.
Company I-Captain, Daniel Holden of Ware ; first lieutenant, Alexis C. Soley of Worcester; second lieutenant, George E. Goodrich of Fitchburg.
Company K-Captain, William HI. Cooley; first lieutenant, Lyman W. Van Loan: second lieutenant, Samuel HI. Platt, all of Pittsfield.
Colonel Wells was promoted from lieutenant colonel of the First Massachusetts Regiment, and Major Bowman from a captaincy in the Fifteenth; but the latter, having been captured and paroled, only accompanied the regiment to Washington, and a few days later when exchanged he was made colonel of the Thirty-sixth, when Captain Harrison W. Pratt became major of the Thirty-fourth.
A national flag was presented to the regiment on the 12th of August by the ladies of Worcester, Alexander HI. Bullock making the address, and the command was directed to start for Washington the next day ; but it was not till the 15th, after the men had been armed with the Springfield rifled musket, that Camp Wool was finally quitted. Going by cars to Norwich, steamer was taken to Jersey City, whence rail was resumed to Washington direct, the regiment passing through Philadelphia and Baltimore, sharing the never-failing hospitality of the former and the sullen coldness of the latter. Washington was reached in the afternoon of the 17th and the command was quartered that night at the " Soldiers' Home," whence it marched on the following day to its camp of instruction near Hunter's Chapel, between Arlington and Munson's Hill, the location being officially known as Camp Casey.
The camp was soon left, however, for on the 21st the regiment was ordered to Alexandria, to be furnished transportation to Cat-
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THE THIRTY-FOURTHI. REGIMENT.
lett's Station and join the forces of General Banks; but though Alexandria was reached in due time, the transportation was not forthcoming, and very fortunately for the Thirty-fourth, since the Station was raided by the enemy's cavalry the following night, and the regiment, though well supplied with other ammunition, had not a single percussion cap and could not have fired a shot! While awaiting definite disposition of his command, Colonel Wells estab- lished "Camp Worcester," some three miles from Alexandria on the line of the railroad and near .Cloud's Mills.
Here the Thirty-Fourth remained during the exciting events which followed in rapid succession-the battles about Groveton, the arrival at Alexandria of the remains of the Army of the Potomac return- ing from the Peninsula, the retirement of Pope's broken battalions, the restoration of McClellan to the command of the united armies and his departure to Maryland in pursuit of the invading Confeder- ates. The latter event left the regiment in the extreme front of the forces defending Washington, and in addition to several companies daily detailed for duty in Alexandria, and like demands which had been made during its occupancy of Camp Worcester, it was now called on for picket and outpost duty. The expectation of a hostile movement in front led to the ordering of the regiment back of Fort Ellsworth on the 9th of September, to Camp Slough, whence three days later it was moved a mile to the front, reporting to General Grover near Fairfax Seminary, where it joined the Thirty-third Massachusetts, Eleventh New Jersey and One Hundred and Twen- tieth New York, all new troops, in forming a brigade, which Colonel Wells as senior officer commanded.
This had a brief existence. On the 16th the Thirty-fourth were ordered to the immediate vicinity of Fort Lyon, Colonel Wells being made commandant of the fort and its defenses. A permanent camp was established, in which the regiment remained for months while other troops came and went. Much of this time the Thirty- fourth picketed the front, and in addition the men worked to ex- tend and complete the fortifications in the vicinity, drilling also with the heavy guns in the fort. There was an occasional alarm from the incursion of some marauding band of the enemy, but no hostile shots were exchanged.
The regiment was not again brigaded till the 19th of January, 1863, when it became a part of the command of General Robert O.
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Tyler, the other regiments of the brigade being the First and Nine- teenth Connecticut and the Fourteenth Massachusetts. The troops in the Washington defenses were about this time designated as the Twenty-second Corps, General Heintzelman commanding. General Tyler was relieved from this command toward the close of April, and Colonel Wells with his regiment had been assigned to the gar- risoning of several forts and redoubts in the vicinity of the winter . quarters, when orders were received on the evening of the 3d of May to march at once to Upton's Hill, between Munson's and Min- er's Hills, where a month of garrison and outpost duty followed.
On the 1st of June the Thirty-fourth were very unexpectedly ordered to Washington, and on reporting to General Martindale were assigned quarters on East Capitol Street, only a short distance from the Capitol ; wooden barracks were occupied, and large details were at once sent out on duty in different parts of the city. This detail continued for more than a month, but on the evening of the 9th of July orders were received and the regiment quitted the city by the Baltimore Railroad, proceeding to Relay House and thence by rail to Sandy Hook, opposite Harper's Ferry, and climbing to a position on Maryland Hights became a part of General Negley's command. The Thirty-fourth with the Thirty-ninth Massachusetts, One Hundred and Seventy-third Pennsylvania and two squadrons of cavalry were constituted a brigade under command of Colonel Wells, stationed in the vicinity of Fort Duncan ; but the Thirty-ninth were detached to join General Briggs's Brigade en route to the Army of the Potomac, then encamped near Williamsport.
For a few days the river divided the hostile forces, but on the morning of the 15th the Thirty fourth where ordered to force the passage of the Potomac, which was gallantly done by details in boats, the enemy's skirmishers being driven from the southern bank ; after which ponton bridges were laid, the Union cavalry crossed and the occupation was made permanent, though for some days the regiment was the only infantry force across the river, and was consequently severely taxed by the manifold duties of the posi- tion. During this time General Negley was transferred and was succeeded in the command of the post by General Lockwood, the commander of the "Potomac Home Brigade" of Maryland troops. Soon after, the time of the One Hundred and Seventy-third Penn- sylvania Regiment having expired, it left the brigade and its place
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THIE THIRTY-FOURTHI REGIMENT.
was taken by the Ninth and Tenth Maryland six-months' regiments. On the 15th of October General Lockwood was relieved and Colonel Wells succeeded to the command of the post and the brigade.
The regiment saw its first engagement on the 18th of October. Early that morning Imboden's cavalry dashed upon the Federal outposts near Charlestown, surprised and captured most of the Ninth Maryland and pressed back the small force of Union cavalry. The Thirty-fourth, in camp near Bolivar, were soon under arms and hur- ried to the scene. It was found that the enemy had begun to fall back along the Berryville pike and the regiment, under command .of the lieutenant colonel, pursued. A running fight followed for some distance, the ground being favorable for frequent stands by the retiring enemy. As the regiment fought almost alone, and was often under severe fire, it was fortunate in escaping with a loss of two of the color guard killed and eight men wounded. The enemy having been driven some distance, the pursuit was abandoned and about midnight the victors returned to camp, having marched 36 miles, fighting their way for six miles. This affair is variously called the battle of Ripon, of Berryville and of Charlestown.
No further movement of importance occurred till the 10th of De- cember, when a midwinter expedition of the brigade up the Valley was begun in support of the raid of General Averell's cavalry against the salt-works of Western Virginia. The Thirty-fourth led the column, which moved by way of Berryville and Winchester to Strasburg, where a halt was made from the afternoon of the 12th to the morning of the 16th, most of the time in a cold, disagreeable storm. During this time the enemy's outposts extended along the right bank of the North Fork of the Shenandoah, while the federal force in a very thin line held the left. The little column started forward again on the 16th, and three days of very severe marching brought it to Harrisonburg on the evening of the 18th. Bivouac was made, with large fires, the cold being intense, when intelligence was received that General Jubal A. Early was within a few miles with his corps, and the brigade, numbering only some 1,700 men, started in retreat, leaving the fires burning to mislead the enemy. The column moved rapidly, leaving its cavalry at Winchester and its artillery at Charlestown, and late in the afternoon of the 24th the Thirty-fourth reached their former camp, sadly exhausted but hav- ing suffered no loss and bringing back nearly a hundred prisoners.
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Early pursued the daring brigade to within a few miles of its in- trenchments; but though there were many rumors and alarms and some slight collisions, the Thirty-fourth being called from camp several times, no engagement of note occurred. Colonel Wells being detailed on court-martial, Lieutenant Colonel Lincoln was as- signed to command the brigade, and the regiment was thus left in the hands of Major Pratt. Ninety recruits were received on the 14th of January, 1864, and two days later the brigade was discon- tinued, the Thirty-fourth being temporarily assigned to Wheaton's Brigade of the Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac, which had been sent to the vicinity for service while the Army of the Potomac was in its winter quarters. On the 20th, however, the regiment was made an independent command under the immediate direction of General Sullivan commanding the division.
It took cars on the 1st of February for Cumberland, Md., where General Kelley anticipated an attack from Early, reaching the town that evening and remaining till the evening of the 7th with no sight of the enemy, though his raiding parties were occasionally heard from in the near vicinity. Then the command returned to its.camp, finding 40 reernits in waiting, and save multitudinous details and an occasional alarm no events of importance occurred till the open- ing of the spring campaign. On the 24th of February an order was issued returning the regiment to Wheaton's Brigade, and on the 5th of March the command was sent to Point of Rocks, near the month of the Monocacy; where danger was anticipated but not re- alized. After three days of ontpost duty there it was ordered to Martinsburg, where Colonel Wells was made post commandant and acting brigade commander, the force consisting of his own regiment the One Hundred and Sixteenth and One Hundred and Twenty- third Ohio, with the Fifth United States Battery.
But the regiment was wanted again at Harper's Ferry, and late in March orders were issued for its return to that post ; in pursuance of which it marched on the 2d of April through a terribly severe storm, suffering greatly on the march through the mingled snow and mud, bivonacking that night in a forest a mile or two short of the destination on Camp Hill, which was reached next morning. Within two weeks the brigade was broken up and reconstructed of abont the same troops which had composed it at Martinsburg, Colonel Wells-who in the mean time had been transferred to the command
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THIE THIRTY-FOURTHI REGIMENT.
of the post at Harper's Ferry and relieved of it-again taking the brigade. Once more the regiment was ordered back to Martinsburg, marching on the 17th and reaching there on the following day, when Colonel Wells was again made post commandant. This continued till the 25th, when being relieved he returned to the command of the Thirty-fourth, after an absence of nine months.
Thus far in its history the experiences of the regiment had been mainly of garrison and outpost duty, with some hard marches and decidedly trying situations, but it was now to enter upon service of a more deadly nature. General Sigel commanding the department was directed to take vigorous action in concert with the movement of the other Union armies, and while a portion of his force under General Crook operated in the Kanawha Valley, Sullivan's Division and Stahel's cavalry, in all a little more than 4,000 men, under Sigel's immediate direction, were put in marching order and ad- vanced to Winchester. The Thirty-fourth, forming part of the Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Thoburn of the First West Virginia, marched on the 29th of April to Bunker Hill and on the 2d of May to Winchester, where a stop was made till the 9th, when the little column again set forward, moving to Cedar Creek and halting a day for the building of a bridge, when the movement was continued to Woodstock.
There the regiment remained till near noon of the 14th, when it was suddenly called under arms and at once went forward, with orders to report to Colonel Moor of the Twenty-eighth Ohio com- manding the First Brigade. Rapid marching till near night took the command nearly to New Market, where it met the scattered frag- ments of Boyd's First New York Cavalry, which had been roughly handled by a strong force of the enemy, and the Thirty-fourth soon came under fire. Finding a section of Federal artillery in the viein- ity unsupported the regiment went to its assistance, and in the woods in its rear the men laid on their arms through the night. This position was found during the night to be to the right of Colonel Moor's force. The next day witnessed the battle of New Market, in which the regiment suffered severely.
Soon after breakfast it was ordered back to a point some two miles in the rear, where line of battle was formed, but it was almost immediately advanced to the former position, where Companies B and I were deployed as skirmishers and checked the advance of a
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considerable Confederate force, but were soon rallied and joined the regiment in forming a line somewhat to the rear. There the attack of Breckinridge's troops in two strong lines was received, which brushed away the skirmishers but was checked by the heavy fire of the Thirty-fourth and the artillery, which broke the first Con- federate line. A counter-charge was then ordered, and the regiment went forward magnificently under a very severe fire; but the troops on both flanks retiring almost as soon as the hostile fire was en- countered left the Thirty-fourth opposed to a vastly outnumbering force. Yet it was with great difficulty that the advance of his brave fellows was checked by Colonel Wells, who seized the color-bearer by the shoulders, faced him to the rear and finally led the remnant of his command back to its former position. The entire Union line was now giving way, but the Thirty-fourth and some other troops contested the Confederate advance, making frequent stands till Rude's Hill, a mile to the rear and near the North Fork of the Shenandoah, was reached, where the line was again established, and the enemy did not attempt to pursue their advantage further. After a time this position was evacuated, the Union forces retiring over the river to Mount Jackson and burning the bridge, which tem- porarily checked the Confederates.
The Thirty-fourth had taken into the action some 500 men, of whom it had lost more than one-half. Captain Bacon and 27 men had been killed, eight officers and 166 men wounded, of whom Lieu- tenant Colonel Lincoln, Captain Fox and Lieutenant Walker with 32 enlisted men severely wounded fell into the hands of the enemy, as did Captain Chauncey, Lieutenant Ammidon and nearly 20 nn- wounded men of Company C, cut off from the skirmish line. Colonel Wells was slightly wounded, but did not leave the field. The seriously wounded of the regiment were collected at Mount Jackson and placed in charge of Assistant Surgeon Allen, after which the retrograde movement was continued during the night and after a short stop for breakfast all the next day, Cedar Creek being crossed the following morning, when the faces of the weary soldiers were again turned toward the foe.
Early on the morning of the 18th the Thirty-fourth, Captain Pot- ter in command, with the Twelfth West Virginia and a small force of cavalry and artillery, all under command of Colonel Wells, ad- vanced through Strasburg to Fisher's Hill, which was held for a day
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THIE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.
or two, when the force fell back to Strasburg, where the regiment was rejoined by Major Pratt, Adjutant Woods, and other officers who had been absent on detached duty. On the 22d General Hun- ter succeeded General Sigel, and four days later another advance began. On the 26th the Thirty-fourth marched to Woodstock, and on the 29th advanced to the battle-field of the 15th, where a tem- porary encampment was made.
The forward movement was continued on the 2d of June, the march of that day being to Harrisonburg, where several hundred wounded from both armies had been gathered by the Confederates after the battle of New Market. Imboden's rear guard was driven from the place, but intelligence being received that the enemy in force were gathered a few miles in advance the Union troops went forward on the 4th, passing through Port Republic and bivouacking a short distance beyond on the Staunton road in a pouring rain. Soon after the advance began next day the Confederates under General Jones were encountered and the battle of Piedmont was fought. After the Union line had been deployed the foe was gradually pressed back till his main line was felt. Moor's Brigade was on the right, and Thoburn's was directed to co-operate with it in a charge, the Thirty-fourth being detached and moved by the left flank to an ad- vantageous position, from which they were directed to charge the enemy in the woods in their front.
The regiment advanced, receiving a heavy fire, pressed the enemy back into the woods for some distance, when he rallied and a sharp fight ensued for some 20 minutes. A strong Confederate force then came down the road and struck the two left companies of the Thirty-fourth, inflicting heavy loss, but after a desperate fight of 15 minutes the Federal line was pressed forward, driving the enemy and winning the field. The Thirty-fourth advanced into the next piece of woods where they bivouacked for the night. Their loss during the day had been 13 killed and 97 wounded, among the lat- ter being Adjutant Woods and Lieutenant Albert C. Walker fatally, the last named dying in the enemy's hands, and Major Pratt and Captain Potter seriously. The casualties in the two left companies numbered 54.
The regiment marched to Staunton next day and on the 7th made an excursion of a few miles into the country beyond, a day or two being devoted to the destruction of railroads, bridges and public
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property in the neighborhood. At this time Colonel Wells suc- ceeded Colonel Moor in command of the First Brigade, to which the Thirty-fourth also went, changing places with the Eighteenth Connecticut. Colonel Wells's Brigade consisted of his own regi- ment, the One Hundred and Sixteenth and the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio, with four companies of the Fifth New York Heavy Artillery.
Two days' march, beginning on the 10th, took the regiment to Lexington, which it occupied on the 12th, joining with other forces in the destruction of public property, and while there Wells's Brigade was strengthened by the addition of two short term regiments, the One Hundred and Fifty-second and the One Hundred and Sixty-first Ohio. Again forward on the 14th to Buckhannon, the Thirty-fourth formed a portion of the train guard, and the next day over the Blue Ridge toward Lynchburg, which was reached on the 17th, or rather the enemy's lines were encountered, behind which the reinforce- ments from Lee's army under Early were rapidly arriving. After some skirmishing the regiment passed the night in line of battle, and during the 18th was engaged, at times quite sharply, charges and counter-charges being made with no advantage to either side, the loss of the Thirty-fourth being five men killed and over 40 wounded.
That evening the retrograde march began, and 25 miles were made before morning, taking the regiment some distance beyond Liberty. There were few more dismal experiences in the entire war than the scramble of Hunter's command through the mountains of West Virginia to escape from the trap into which it had deliberately walked. After this severe night march two hours only were allowed the tired column for rest, and of food it had at no time more than half rations, frequently none at all. For two or three days no stop of more than a few hours was made, and then a long daily march to the full possibility of the jaded men and teams took the fugitive column by way of Salem, New London, New Castle, White Sulphur Springs, Lewisburg, over the Little Sewall and Big Sewall Mountains, reaching Gauley Bridge and the Union lines on the 20th, where food and rest were had.
But even after this trying experience there was to be no extended period of rest. The movement of General Hunter had left the way open for General Early, and that officer was walking into the fertile regions of the North, to knock even at the doors of the national
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THIE THIRTY-FOURTII REGIMENT.
capital, and the tired column at Gauley Bridge was ordered to march on the 2d of July, the Thirty-fourth reaching Piatt the following day, where on the 4th eight companies took boat down the river to Blennerhasset's Island, marching thence to Parkersburg and taking cars to Cherry Run, which was reached on the evening of the 8th, the other companies coming two days later.
The brigade being reunited marched on the 11th to Martinsburg, stopped there for a day, and on the 13th and 14th went on to and through Harper's Ferry, across the Potomac by the ponton bridge, camping that night near Knoxville. The 15th saw the regiment marching along the tow-path of the canal nearly to Berlin, where the Potomac was forded, the water up to the waists of the men, and via the Leesburg pike to near Hillsboro, where bivouac was made. After noon of the 16th the march was resumed as far as Waterford, some skirmishing occurring along the way, when orders were re- ceived from General Crook, who had taken command of the First Division, for the brigade to join him at Purcellville, which it did very late at night.
The command started in the morning of the 18th for Snicker's Gap, where the Union cavalry was reported to be engaged with the enemy in force, and when in the early afternoon the summit of the mountain was passed the Confederates were seen on the opposite bank of the Shenandoah. Colonel Thoburn, commanding the divis- ion, was directed to cross, which he did a mile or so below the Ferry, the Thirty-fourth leading, fording the river in the face of the enemy, forming and driving back his lines some half a mile to the cover of a forest, and taking some 20 prisoners. Thoburn's line was then prolonged to the right by the other brigades, but a strong attack soon after crumbled that part of his command and forced it back into the river. The Thirty-fourth changed front and made a charge, driving back the Confederates and holding them till the regiment had exhausted its ammunition, when it was ordered back across the river, having lost four killed and 11 wounded.
That night the Thirty-fourth bivouacked in Snicker's Gap, where they remained the next day, on the 20th crossed the Shenandoah, from which the enemy had now retired, and bivouacked beside.their recent field of battle till the morning of the 22d. Going that day to Winchester, they were ordered out next morning to meet the enemy a mile or so to the south, built a line of breastworks, and as
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the Confederates made no demonstration retired again to the vicinity of the town. The succeeding morning-the 24th-found the foe in strong force, and severe fighting took place till it was evident that the Union forces were inadequate to cope with the numbers opposed to them, when a retreat was ordered, the brigade being put in charge of the trains and bivouacking that night at Bunker Hill. Skir- mishing was resumed next morning in a severe rain storm, the brigade, forming the Union rear guard, beginning to fall back at 9 o'clock and at noon halting at Martinsburg, where the desultory conflict lasted most of the afternoon, the enemy being pressed back for a considerable distance, the Thirty-fourth afterward retiring by way of the Williamsport pike to the banks of the Potomac, where the night was passed.
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