USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 20
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On the 20th of September the regiment with its division took part in a movement still further to the left, which, though primarily intended to divert attention from a stronger movement to the north of the James river, resulted in an obstinate engagement on the 30th. The regiment shared in this fight, losing one killed and seven wounded, this action being known as the battle of Peebles Farm. This ground was also held, and on the 8th of October the regiment, Captain James Doherty commanding, took an important part in a reconnaissance to the Boydtown Plank road. It formed part of the skirmish line, and in advancing, driving the enemy's outposts, it became detached from the skirmishers of the division at the left, so that the flank of the line of the Fifty-seventh was exposed. The foe took advantage of this fact and obliged the line to change front and fall back a short distance, which it did under heavy fire, tak-
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THE FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
ing and holding until night a position a few hundred yards to the rear. The column was then ordered back to camp, the Fifty-seventh having lost two men killed and 12 wounded.
The regiment had surely had enough severe fighting for one sea- son, and it is pleasant to record that from that time it was not seriously engaged for some months. It remained in camp near the Pegram House till the 30th of November, with the exception of tak- ing part in the expedition toward the Southside Railroad late in October, when it had one man wounded on the skirmish line. The Ninth Corps then relieved the Second in the trenches near the city of Petersburg, where it remained till the fall of the city. On the 9th of December the regiment was temporarily detached from its brigade and assigned to a provisional command destined for an ex- pedition southward for the purpose of destroying the Weldon Rail- road in that direction. This occupied from the 9th till the 13th, and was without casualty so far as the Fifty-seventh were concerned, though there was much suffering from the inelement weather. There was another expedition toward Weldon during the month of February, 1865, in which the regiment was detached from its bri- gade once more, and was absent for some days, suffering as before from stormy weather and cold. With that exception, however, the command remained in the works during the winter and early spring, being located near the point whence the first charge of the regiment had been made against the hostile lines when the corps arrived be- fore Petersburg the previous summer.
In the fighting of the 25th of March, when the Confederates tem- porarily captured Fort Stedman, the Fifty-seventh had an honor- able part. It had just relieved the Fifty-ninth in the lines to the right of the fort, so that when the Union lines were broken the position of the regiment was flanked and it was obliged to fall back. Reaching a favorable position, it held its ground till assist- ance came when a heroic advance was made and the works and its camp were regained after a stubborn resistance, in which Sergeant Major Pinkham of the Fifty-seventh captured the flag of the Fifty- seventh North Carolina Regiment. In this affair the loss of the regiment was but four killed, though a number were wounded, in- cluding Captain James Doherty, a brave and versatile officer, whose loss was severely felt. He had been commissioned major dating from July 21, 1864, but had not been able to muster on account of
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR. .
the depleted numbers of the regiment, which he was gallantly lead- ing when he received the wound from which he died the following day. Among the killed was First Lieutenant Albert M. Murdock of Worcester, formerly sergeant major.
After the Fort Stedman affair there was much activity on that part of the lines, both sides being constantly on the alert ; but there was no serious fighting, nor were the Fifty-seventh again engaged with the enemy except upon the skirmish line, and on the 2d of April, when the day was passed in demonstrations and maneuvers but without actual fighting so far as the regiment was concerned, though some portions of the Ninth Corps were heavily engaged. The following morning found the city evacuated and the Fifty- seventh Regiment was among the troops that entered soon after; but it passed through and across the Appomattox to guard the roads to Richmond and Chesterfield. Recrossing the river on the 4th, it was engaged in gnarding the Southside Railroad and the Cox road which ran near it, moving from point to point till it reached Wilson's Station, where its head-quarters were established. Directly after the assassination of President Lincoln the Ninth Corps was ordered to Washington, where it reported late in April, going on duty on the Maryland side near Tennallytown. From that time till early in August following the regiment was on duty at various points in that vicinity, being for a portion of the time provost guard. The Fifty- ninth Regiment was consolidated with the Fifty-seventh on the 20th of June, the name of the latter being retained.
The combined organizations were mustered out of the United States service on the 30th of July, and at once set ont for Massa- chusetts. Arriving at Readville, the command went into camp for a few days, but on the 9th of August the men were paid and dis- charged. During the service of the Fifty-seventh Regiment it lost 112 officers and men killed in action, 137 died of wounds and dis- ease and 34 missing in action. As these casualties occurred in a membership of little more than 1,000, and nearly all of them within six months from the time the regiment left the state, it will be realized how severe was the ordeal to which it was subjected. It is not too much to say that the command nobly met all the de- mands made upon it.
THE FIFTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
T HE Fifty-eighth (Third Veteran) Regiment was the last three-years' infantry organization from Massachusetts to be mustered into the national service and to leave the state. It encamped at Readville, recruiting for it beginning about the middle of September, 1863, but it was not till the 14th of January follow- ing that Company A was ready for the mustering officer; B followed on the Sth of February and C on the 20th, D and E on the 1st of March, F on the 12th and G on the 26th. HI, mustered on the 18th of April, was the last company completed when the call came for departure for active service and the eight companies were sent for- ward. Silas P. Richmond of Freetown was commissioned colonel of the regiment, but he resigned before being mustered and was never actively identified with its interests, Major Ewer, whose com- mission dated from October 27, 1863, being most of the time in command during the stay at Readville. The roster of officers with which the Fifty-eighth left the state was as follows :-
Lieutenant colonel, John C. Whiton of Boston; major, Barnabas Ewer, Jr., of Fairhaven ; surgeon, Alfred A. Stocker of Cambridge ; assistant surgeons, Frank Whitman of Roxbury, N. II., and Thomas Dawson of Boston; chaplain, William A. Start of North Bridgewater; adjutant, F. Gilbert Ogden of Boston; quartermaster, Theodore A. Barton of New Bedford.
Company A-Captain, Charles M. Upham of Chatham; first lieu- tenant, Frank II. Kempton of New Bedford ; second lieutenant, Franklin D. Hammond of Chatham.
Company B-Captain, Robert Crossman, 2d; first lieutenant. Simcon G. Blandin, both of Taunton; second lieutenant, John W. Fiske of Dedham.
Company C-Captain, Everett S. Horton; first lientenant, Charles H. Johnson, both of Attleboro; second lieutenant, Nahum Leonard of . West Bridgewater.
Company D-Captain, Charles E. Churchill; first lientenant, Linus
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MASSACHUSETTS INN THE WAR. .
E. Hayward, both of West Bridgewater; second lieutenant, John P. Townsend of Bridgewater.
Company E-Captain, William E. Mason; first lieutenant, Charles H. Tobey; second lieutenant, Allen Almy, all of New Bedford.
Company F-Captain, Thomas McFarland: first lieutenant, Charles D. Copeland, both of Fall River; second lieutenant, Jere C. Vaughn of North Bridgewater.
Company G-Captain, Samuel B. Hinckley of Fall River; first lieu- tenant, Charles HI. Morton; second lieutenant, James Cox, both of Fairhaven.
Company H-Captain, William H. Harley of Chatham: first lieu- tenant, Clement Granet of Boston; second lieutenant, Isaac Il. Folger of Nantucket.
Lieutenant Colonel Whiton had served for nine months with the same rank in the Forty-third Massachusetts Regiment, and nearly all of his command, officers and men, had seen more or less service in the field. The eight companies were ordered to the front late in April, 1864, and left Readville on the 28th, reaching Alexandria, Va., on Saturday the 30th. Pausing there for a couple of days, to store such surplus baggage as could be dispensed with in the field operations on which it was about to enter, thie regiment took cars on the afternoon of May 2 for Bristoe Station, reaching there the same evening, and being assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Corps. The other regiments of the brigade were the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, Seventh Rhode Island, Fifty-first New York, Forty-fifth and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania. Colonel Zenas R. Bliss commanded the brigade, Brigadier General Robert B. Potter the division, and General A. E. Burnside the corps, which was to co-operate with, though not for a time formally attached to, the Army of the Potomac.
The corps began its forward movement on the morning of the 4th, passing Warrenton and making some 20 miles, which exhausted the men very much, as they were unused to long marches. Next day both the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers were crossed, a still longer march being made and many of the men falling out, some of whom were said to have been captured by bushwackers. A few miles on the morning of the 6th brought the command to Wilderness Tavern, where line of battle was formed and the division, with the Third under General Wilcox, moved forward through the dense tangle in the effort to fill the gap between the right and left wings of the Union army. The enemy was found in the early
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THE FIFTY-EIGHTHI REGIMENT.
afternoon, intrenched on the opposite side of a swampy ravine, and an engagement ensued, indecisive in its results, in which the Fifty- eighth sustained a loss of seven killed, 23 wounded and four missing. The position gained was held till the following afternoon, the regi- ment being on the picket line, when the movement to the rear and eventually to Spottsylvania began. During the 8th the command rested at Chancellorsville, and from the 9th to the 11th the regi- ment took part in the marching and maneuvering which brought the corps into position for the battle of the 12th. In these pre- liminary contests the loss of the Fifty-eighth was two men killed and one or two wounded.
Early on the morning of the 12th the brigade moved to the right and formed line of battle, joining in the assault on the intrench- ments held by the left of Hill's corps of Lee's army. The works were captured, but the enemy only retreated to another line which enfiladed those taken, and being reinforced later in the day regained possession of the contested works, the men of the Ninth Corps re- tiring to a ravine a short distance in the rear and the Confederates showing no disposition to pursue the fighting further. In this stub- born encounter the Fifty-eighth lost 13 killed, 90 wounded and two missing. Captain Harley and Adjutant Ogden were among the killed. The command remained near the scene of this engagement during the remainder of the operations before Spottsylvania. skir- mishing frequently and losing three killed, six wounded and three missing, but taking part in no further heavy actions. The move- ment toward the North Anna began the 21st, and in the skirmish- ing at that point the regiment lost two or three wounded and as many missing from the picket line. The river was recrossed at evening of the 26th, and the sonthward march took the regiment across the Pamunkey late in the evening of the 28th. The Toto- potomy was reached next day, and a day or two of maneuvering and skirmishing ensued in which the Fifty-eight lost four wounded and missing. On the afternoon of June 2 the regiment marched toward Shady Grove Church, skirmishing with the enemy and hav- ing one killed and seven wounded.
At daylight of the 3d the Fifty-eighth moved forward and joined in the assault on the Confederate lines before Cold Harbor. Through a deadly fire it advanced to within 50 yards of the hostile works, where the men with bayonets and tin cups threw up slight defenses
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
of earth, being ordered to maintain the position at all hazards,- which they did during the day, though at heavy loss, 18 being killed and 67 wounded. Among the dead were Major Ewer and Captains Upham and McFarland.
Next morning it was found that the foe had retired from that part of the field, and soon afterward the regiment was joined by its ninth company, I, which had just arrived from Massachusetts via White House Landing. This company was commanded by Cap- tain Nathan S. Oakman of Hanover, his lieutenants being William II. Burbank of Medford and Lorenzo D. Munroe of Plympton. From this time till the close of the operations before Cold Harbor on the 12th the regiment was constantly on duty and under fire, losing during the time two killed, 12 wounded and 16 missing, Lieu- tenant Burbank dying of his wounds at White House Landing on the 11th. Then the march southward across the James began, and on the 17th the command joined in the assault and capture of the outer defenses of Petersburg, the loss of the regiment being 16 wounded.
An effort next day to gain possession of the Norfolk and Peters- burg Railroad was only partially successful. After obtaining some advantage the regiment found itself exposed to a severe fire from three sides, and took shelter in the bed of a creek, where it remained till after dark, when it was withdrawn to a less exposed position, having met a loss of two killed, 22 wounded and one missing. From that time to the 30th of July it was on duty in the trenches, meet- ing the additional loss of five killed, including Second Lieutenant Franklin D. Hammond of Chatham, and nine wounded.
In the " Battle of the Crater" July 30, the regiment with its bri- gade charged into the chasm of the exploded fort, whence it was ordered to capture a battery a quarter of a mile beyond. Two at- temps were made to execute the order, but owing to the confusion, and the heavy fire from the enemy, they failed and the regiment finally found itself huddled back in the fort with the other disorgan- ized troops. Few could escape, still fewer could fight, and when the Confederates advanced in force the great body of Union troops were easily made prisoners. The loss of the Fifty-eighth was five killed, including First Lieutenant Granet, 30 wounded and 84 captured.
The remnant of the regiment occupied positions in the breast- works and trenches till the 25th of September, when the Sunday services were interrupted by orders to march immediately; various
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THE FIFTY-EIGHTHI REGIMENT.
movements occupied the time till the 30th, when the regiment crossed the Weldon Railroad at Yellow House and immediately joined in the battle of Poplar Spring Church. The Fifth and Ninth Corps failing to connect as they advanced, the enemy penetrated the opening and after a very brief contest captured nearly the entire Fifty-eighth Regiment. Two of its members had been killed- Second Lieutenant John W. Fiske and First Sergeant Ephraim H. Haskins, Jr., of Freetown, who had been commissioned but not mustered as second lieutenant, ten were wounded and 99 captured; only about a dozen, including one officer, escaped. However, de- tailed men, returning convalescents and 54 recruits from Massachu- setts in a few weeks brought the regiment up to respectable num- bers. It took no further part in the military operations of the autumn, but about the last of November moved to Hancock Station where it went into winter quarters, garrisoning Fort Meikle. In addition to the officers mentioned as killed in action, Captain Charles II. Jolmson had died of wounds October 27, while a pris- oner of war, and Second Lieutenant Samuel J. Watson at his home in New Bedford died of disease December 11.
During the winter the only notable incident was the arrival Feb- ruary 20, 1865, of Company K, commanded by First Lieutenant Albion M. Dudley of Provincetown, the second lieutenant being Heman Chase of Harwich. The casualties meantime were few, one man being killed and a few wounded. The Fifty-eighth joined in no action till the morning of April 2, when it formed a part of the attacking column which made a lodgment in the Confederate works west of Fort Mahone. The position gained was maintained till 4 o'clock that afternoon, with stubborn fighting, when it was relin- quished, the regiment having lost five killed, 17 wounded and 14
captured, all the latter rejoining the regiment a week later on the surrender of Lee's army. That event found the Fifty-eighth and its brigade at Burkesville Junction guarding the railroad. from which point it marched to Farmville where it remained for ten days on like duty. Its return march began on the 20th, being by way of Petersburg to City Point, where it took transports for Alexan- dria, reaching that city on the 28th and encamping in the vicinity. It took part in the grand review of May 23 in Washington, the re- turn to Massachusetts began July 15, Readville being reached on the 18th, and on the 20th the men were paid and discharged.
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THE FIFTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
T HE Fifty-ninth (Fourth Veteran) Regiment was numerically the last of the four new infantry regiments authorized and raised during the winter and spring of 1863-4-which were also the last of the three-years' regiments sent out. In fact, how- ever, its organization was completed and it left the state before the Fifty-eighth, though both were recruited at Camp Meigs, Readville. The first company of the Fifty-ninth was mustered December 5, 1863, but it was a full month before the next company was ready for the mustering officer. . B and C were filled during Jannary, 1864, E, D and F in February, G and II in March, and I on the 2d of April; but it was not till the 21st of that month that K was ready for the mustering officer. On the 26th of April the command left for Washington with the following list of officers :-
Colonel, Jacob P. Gould of Stoneham; lieutenant colonel, John Hodges, Jr., of Salem; major, Joseph Colburn of Roxbury; surgeon, William Ingalls of Winchester; assistant surgeons, Thomas Gilfillan of Cummington and Edward W. Norton of Blandford ; chaplain, Hiram L. Howard of Boston; adjutant. Horace M. Warren; quarter- master, Benjamin F. Barnard, both of South Reading; sergeant major, James Gibson of Boston; quartermaster sergeant, James W. Rand of Weymouth; commissary sergeant, William H. Aldridge of Melrose; hospital steward, William B. Dorman of Georgetown; prin- cipal musician, William Nichols of Reading.
Company A -- Captain, Francis M. Smith of Lyn; first lieutenant, Henry M. Cross of Newburyport; second lieutenant, Henry A. Smith of Charlestown.
Company B-Captain, Warren S. Potter of Roxbury; first lieuten- ant, Henry L. Swords of Charleston ; second lieutenant, John Foley.
Company C-Captain, John H. Chipman of Beverly; first lieuten- ant, Joseph Church of Boston ; second lieutenant, James Dunlap of Topsfield.
Company D-Captain, George W. Field of Lowell; first lieutenant, Benjamin F. Milward of Salem ; second lieutenant, Charles Cotting.
Company E-Captain, Frederick Cochrane of Methuen: first lieu-
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THE FIFTY-NINTHI REGIMENT.
tenant, William A. Fifield of Lowell ; second lientenant, Charles P. Welch of Cambridge.
Company F-Captain, Lewis E. Munroe of Roxbury ; first lieuten- ant, Richard II. Chute of Chelsea; second lieutenant, Joseph E. Moody of Newburyport.
Company G-Captain, Francis A. Wildes of Topsfield ; first lieu- tenant, George J. Morse of Woburn ; second lieutenant, Ward B. Frothingham of Boston.
Company H-Captain, Edward B. P. Kinsley of Cambridge; first lieutenant, Benjamin F. Chesley of Haverhill ; second lieutenant, Sandford K. Goldsmith of Andover.
Company I-Captain, Ezra P. Gould of Cambridge ; first lieuten- ant, Humphrey H. Buttrick of Concord ; second lieutenant, Albert Pinder of Lowell.
Company K-Captain, Samuel A. Bean of Natick; first lieutenant, George C. Burrill of Brookline; second lieutenant, Charles II. Lang of Reading.
The regiment proceeded to Washington by rail, arriving there on the 28th; it stopped over night at the Soldiers' Rest near the depot and next day was transferred by boat to Alexandria, whence after passing one night at the Soldiers' Rest of that city and two days in camp in a field some two miles out, cars were taken on the after- noon of May 2 for Bealton Station. Thence the regiment marched to Rappahannock Station, where it bivouacked till the 4th, going on that day to Brandy Station and the 5th to Germania Ford, where it reported to General Stevenson, commanding the First Division, Ninth Corps, and was assigned to the First Brigade of his division, being associated with the Thirty-fifth, Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Massachusetts and the Fourth and Tenth United States Regulars, the brigade being commanded by Colonel Sumner Carruth of the Thirty-fifth. The next day-ten days after leaving the state and having had absolutely no opportunity for that season- ing and discipline which come from camp life and drill under a capable commander-the regiment took part in the battle of the Wilderness. In general features the story of its experience was similar to that of the other regiments of the brigade, though its loss was not so severe as that of the Fifty-seventh, being 12 killed, 27 wounded and five missing. Soon after the battle Colonel Gould was prostrated by illness, and on recovering was assigned to the command of the brigade, leaving the regiment in the efficient hands of Lieutenant Colonel Hodges.
Marching toward Spottsylvania Court House, the Fifty-ninth
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
formed line of battle near the Po river, and, intrenching, held the position till the 12th, when they took part in the general action of that day, suffering a loss of 11 killed, 45 wounded and three miss- ing or prisoners. Among the killed was First Lieutenant George J. Morse. Maneuvering, building earthworks and skirmishing occupied the time till the army was ready for another southward movement, and the regiment next faced the foe on the afternoon of the 24th, after having crossed the North Anna at Quarles Mills. In the action there the brigade was taken at a disadvantage by a sudden onset of the enemy, and in falling back to a tenable posi- tion met with considerable loss in which the Fifty-ninth shared to the extent of two killed, 20 wounded and 16 missing, most of whom, including two officers, were prisoners. First Lieutenant George C. Burrill of Brookline was among the killed.
Recrossing the river when it was found to be impracticable to fight a battlo at that point, the regiment shared in the marching and maneuverings of its brigade till the 3d of June, when it again joined battle in earnest, in connection with the general assault on the Confederate lines at Cold Harbor. The part taken by the Ninth Corps in this battle was somewhat less destructive than that of corps further to the left, but the result was no more satisfactory, since no decided impression was made on the enemy's lines and the loss of life was without recompense. The Fifty-ninth had two killed, 15 wounded and as many captured or missing. For five days from the 5th of June the regiment was located near Allen's Mills, some distance to the rear of the scene of action of the 3d. Then followed the move sonthward to the James river, the crossing at Windmill Point on the 15th and the arrival before Petersburg on the morning of the 17th.
Late that afternoon the division under command of Colonel Gould charged the enemy's lines at a point where another division had charged and failed; this attempt was more successful, making a lodgment in the hostile works by virtue of the. bayonet alone, after a long struggle. The loss of the regiment was severe, being 13 killed, 49 wounded and eight missing. Captain Samuel A. Bean was mortally wounded, dying three days later. Although the Con- federate troops had simply been driven from their outer lines to a stronger position in the rear, the Union soldiers held, changed and strengthened what they had gained, and in these duties, as well as
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THE FIFTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
that of picketing the front, the regiment passed its time till the explosion of the mine beneath the Confederate works on the morn- ing of the 30th of July, when the brigade, under command of General Bartlett, headed the column of assault: The story of the disaster need not be repeated ;- the Fifty-ninth shared the general fortunes of the day, having eight killed, 25 wounded and losing 47 prisoners and missing. A sad blow to the regiment was the death of its gallant commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hodges, who was killed in the action, as was First Lieutenant James Dunlap. On the 22d of August the painful intelligence reached the command of the death of Colonel Gould, who while in command of a brigade had been wounded, losing a leg, from the effect of which he died. Colonel Gould was a brave and capable officer, who entered the service at the organization of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Regi- ment as its major, serving in that capacity for almost three years, until selected to command the Fifty-ninth. Major Colburn being absent from the effects of a wound received June 17, the remnant of the regiment remained under command of the senior captain till his return to duty, August 15. He was soon afterward pro- moted to lieutenant colonel, and Captain Ezra P. Gould was made major dating from August 20; the vacant coloneley was never filled owing to the depleted numbers of the regiment.
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