USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 25
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Returning to Poolesville, the regiment was at once ordered to Dawsonville, where it remained from the 3d to the 9th of July, con- stantly scouting the neighborhood, when it returned to Brightwood, stopped there for a night and was ordered to Alexandria, passing through Washington and going into bivouac at Camp Wyndham. The stop there could be called no more than a bivouac, for the fol- lowing day, the 11th, the regiment was ordered on a reconnaissance to the Blue Ridge, which was reached at Ashby's Gap on the 12th. The enemy was found there and a sharp skirmish ensned, resulting
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in the Confederates being driven through the Gap, but the Second had one man killed, seven wounded and a number taken prisoners, including Lieutenant Norcross. Having pushed the enemy across the Shenandoah river, Colonel Lowell returned by way of Bright- wood, where his command passed the night of the 14th, going next day to Alexandria. The regimental camp was removed on the 19th to Centerville, whence on the following day a tour of investigation was made to Warrenton, Catlett's and Bristoe Station, which was accomplished in two days, the weather and the distance making it a severe tax on the command.
The regiment had head-quarters at Centerville for some time, the duty on which it was engaged being constant and frequently arduous. There were various expeditions and frequent skirmishes, the most severe of which occurred on the 24th of August when Mosby's troopers were encountered at Coyle Tavern near Fairfax Court House, and in the fight the Second had two killed, two wounded and several captured. Mosby himself was among the wounded on his side and his command was vanquished, leaving several of its dead and wounded on the field. Previous to this, on the 6th of August, the regiment had been reunited by the arrival of the five companies from southern Virginia; but it did not long remain a unit, for on the 15th of September Companies C, F, G and I, forming the Third Bat- talion under command of Major Thompson, left for detached service in Maryland, being stationed at Muddy Brook, where they remained during the autumn and winter without notable experience. The two battalions remaining at Centerville were commanded respectively by Major Forbes and Captain Read, the regiment by Major Crown- inshield, and the brigade of three regiments which formed the cavalry force of the Department of Washington by Colonel Lowell, who had already won high commendation as an officer of that arm of the service. These regiments, in addition to his own, were the Thirteenth and Sixteenth New York.
During this time the duties of the Second were very trying. Mosby with his daring band hung as near as possible to the Federal supply trains, and his blows fell now here, now there; but wherever he struck or threatened, Colonel Lowell, depending especially upon his old regiment, met and generally foiled or punished the "partisan." On the 6th of October the Second changed quarters to Fairfax Court House, and three days later to Vienna, where they remained
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during the fall and winter, maintaining a long line of outposts and being frequently called out in pursuit of the guerrilla bands. Few of these expeditions resulted in severe engagements or much loss of life, but an exceptional instance occurred on the 22d of February, 1864, when a scouting party of 125 under Captain Read was sur- prised near Dranesville and severely defeated after a short and hope- less struggle. Ten of the party were killed, including Captain Read, seven wounded and 57 made prisoners, including Captain Manning, and Lieutenant Manning. Captain Read was the first officer of the regiment killed in action, though two of its second lieutenants, William L. Wells and Edward B. Mason, had died of disease during 1863,-on the 26th of July and 14th of September respectively.
Some time previous to this disaster a tragic event transpired when a former member of the Second who had recently deserted to the enemy was captured while leading a party against his former com- rades. He was at once tried by court-martial and shot in the presence of the brigade. From the middle of February till the 4th of April Colonel Lowell was absent on detached duty, the brigade being com- manded by Colonel Lazelle of the Sixteenth New York. The four companies at Muddy Brook were relieved on the 8th of March by Com- panics B, D, E and M, but the latter soon after rejoined the regiment. Several of the line officers were about this time discharged from the Second to be commissioned in the Fourth and Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, the latter a colored regiment, and at the same time Lieu- tenant Colonel Russell, who had not served in the field with the Second, was made colonel of the Fifth. The lieutenant colonelcy of the Second was filled by the promotion of Major Crowninshield, . while Captain George Blagden became junior major.
During April the regiment participated in three successful raids, on the last of which $25,000 worth of blockade-run goods were captured and the secret quarters of Mosby were discovered and some of his personal effects confiscated, including his commission as "major of Partisan Rangers." The loss of the Second in these expeditions was two men killed. During the carly part of May the regiment assisted in keeping open the Orange and Alexandria Rail- road; the camp being moved on the 24th to Falls Church, some miles nearer Alexandria. Early in June a detachment of the regi- ment with some others accompanied an ambulance train to the Wil- derness battle-field, brought in about 50 wounded Union soldiers
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who had been left there, and were voluntarily accompanied by ten of the Confederate attendants. While most of these adventures had produced gratifying results, the last days of the command within the defenses of the national capital were to be marked by another disaster. Major Forbes, in command of a detachment of about 100, met Mosby's forces at Mount Zion Church, near Aldie, on the 6th of July and suffered severely; eight of the detachment were killed, nine wounded and 38 made prisoners, including Major Forbes and Chaplain Humphreys; Captain Stone was mortally wounded, dying on the 18th.
General Early was now threatening Washington, and on the 10th Colonel Lowell received from General Augur, commanding the de- fenses, orders to send a regiment of cavalry at once to Tennally- town to operate against the enemy. With the natural chivalry of his nature, Colonel Lowell selected his own regiment for the service and asked to be relieved from the command of the brigade that he might accompany it in person. This request was granted, and with a following of 800 reliable sabers he repaired to the scene of danger. The history of the following few days is full of credit to the Second. They operated against the army of Early, and when that chieftain was obliged to fall back after the battle of Fort Stevens on the 12th, pressed his rear closely. At Rockville on the 13th Lieutenant Colonel Crowninshield with a battalion of the regiment charged the Confederates with spirit, but was met by a counter-charge of superior numbers which forced the battalion back into Rockville upon its sup- ports, where a rally was made and the successive charges of the Con- federates were handsomely repulsed. In these operations the loss of the Second reached six killed and about 100 wounded or captured. The regiment accompanied the forees under General Wright in pursuit of the invaders till they were driven across the Shenandoah river, when it returned to the camp at Falls Church on the 23d, after two weeks of exciting service.
But the period of rest was brief, for after two days in camp the Second was again called on to join General Wright, to whom Colonel Lowell reported on the 26th at Rockville. It is impracticable to detail the various movements of the regiment during the month of August; they were such as might have been anticipated from an able body of troopers holding a responsible position. On the 9th the first arrival of cavalry from the Army of the Potomac took
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
place, and the Second Massachusetts, with the First Maryland and Twenty-fifth New York Regiments, became the Third Brigade, First Division. General Torbert commanded the cavalry corps, General Merritt the division and Colonel Lowell the brigade. During the month but few days passed in which the regiment was not engaged, more or less severely, with the enemy, the loss in the several affairs being eight killed, 30 wounded and 20 captured.
A reorganization of the cavalry was made on the 9th of Septem- ber, when the Second Regiment was transferred to the Reserve Bri- gade of the First Division, being brigaded with the First, Second, Fifth and Sixth United States. Colonel Lowell was again the bri- gade commander, and it was no slight mark of appreciation that he was placed in command of a brigade so largely composed of regulars. Previous to the battle of the Opequan numerous recon- naissances were made, all of which were attended with skirmishing, in which the regiment had three men killed and 12 wounded. In the fierce battle of the 19th of September the regiment shared in all the movements and charges of Merritt's Division, but lost only two killed, six wounded and two captured. It followed the Con- federates to Cedar Creek, then moved as part of a heavy cavalry column by way of Front Royal to the Luray valley. Some fighting occurred there in which the Second without loss captured one battle flag and some prisoners, and rejoined the army at Harrisonburg on the 26th. During the remainder of the campaign there was little rest for the troopers; on the flanks, in front or rear, as the nature of the movement might demand, covering a retreat or feeling the way for an advance, with various expeditions for the destruction of mills, railroad, depots or bridges, the trained riders were constantly engaged .. The most severe engagement of this period so far as the Second were concerned occurred at Waynesboro, where after de- stroying an iron railroad bridge the Union cavalry encountered the Confederate infantry, the loss of the Second Massachusetts being three killed, five wounded and two captured.
Sheridan's army began falling back toward its base of supplies on the 6th of- October, and the movement demanded even greater activity on the part of the cavalry. On the 8th, near Round Top Mountain, the Reserve Brigade, which had been sent back to recon- noiter, encountered a more numerous force of the enemy, and after being reinforced by a part of General Devin's brigade Colonel Lowell
THIE SECOND CAVALRY. 763
joined battle and fought till dark, the loss to his regiment being two killed and eight wounded. The following day occurred the brill- iant battle of Tom's Brook, familiarly known as "The Woodstock Races," in which the southern cavalry under Lomax and Rosser were defeated by the Union divisions under Merritt and Custer. Lowell's Brigade led the attack of the former, and after the rout of the foe his command, reinforced by a regiment from each of the other brigades, pursued Lomax for 20 miles. In this engagement the Second captured four pieces of artillery, wagons, forges and prisoners, its total loss being two men wounded.
The battle of Cedar Creek, on the 19th, was a sad event for the regiment, for while it won high praise for its services, it was called to mourn the loss of its gallant and accomplished colonel, who had that day been commissioned a brigadier general of cavalry volun- teers. The Second with its division was posted at the right of the Union army during the early part of the battle, but later was trans- ferred to the left, taking a position in front of Middletown near the Winchester pike. There Lowell's Brigade did valiant service in restraining the Confederates and in the final charge which swept Early's army back in a rout. Just as the last charge (the fourth by the regiment that day ) was ordered, Colonel Lowell received his second and mortal wound, the command of the brigade devolving upon Lieutenant Colonel Crowninshield. The latter led the brigade in the resistless charge from Middletown to Fisher's Hill, and the following day pursued the discomfited rebels to Mount Jackson, re- turning thence to the old camp in rear of Cedar Creek.
The loss of the regiment in the battle had been ten killed on the field and 22 wounded; of the latter Captain Rufus W. Smith died on the evening of the battle and Colonel Lowell on the 21st. Pre- vious to this, since the opening of the campaign three brave officers of the regiment had met death on the field,-Captain Eigenbrodt having been killed on the 25th of August, First Lieutenant Charles E. Meader of Vassalboro, Me., on the 26th, and Second Lieutenant Henry F. Woodman of San Francisco, mortally wounded on the 28th, dying on the 9th of October. In addition to these losses and those by wounds and capture, a vacancy had been created by the resignation of Major Thompson from the 9th of August. This was filled by the commissioning of Captain MeKendry as major, while the death of Colonel Lowell caused the following promotions: Lieu-
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tenant Colonel Crowninshield to be colonel, Major Forbes to be lieutenant colonel and Captain Rumery to be major.
During the remainder of the month the regiment remained in camp, but from the 3d to the 28th of November, with other regi- ments of its brigade it guarded the construction of the railroad from Harper's Ferry to Stevenson Station. It then rejoined the division which was scouting beyond Snicker's Gap, and on the 3d of December returned to camp near Winchester; but on the 19th it set out on the expedition under General Torbert to Gordonsville, which lasted ten days and was very trying. The close of the year found it encamped on the Front Royal road a few miles from Win- chester, Major McKendry being in command and the soldiers and' their animals comfortably quartered. Colonel Crowninshield re- turned from leave of absence soon after, but much of the time he was in command of the brigade. On the 20th of January, 1865, the num- ber present with the regiment for duty was increased by the coming of 175 recruits, mostly from Camp Remount in Pleasant Valley, Md.
With no more stirring occurrence than an occasional review the Second remained in camp till the 27th of February, furnishing heavy details for the outpost and scouting duty incident to the service. On that date they bade adieu to the Valley and with the rest of Sheri- dan's cavalry, under the personal lead of that inspiriting officer, be- gan the march overland to join the Army of the Potomac before Petersburg for the final campaign of the war. This movement, which occupied 20 days, was in itself a campaign. Coursing hither and thither through the country, the sweeping columns burned, de- stroved and captured whatever could be found in the way of stores, supplies, mills, factories, railroads, bridges and the like. The Second Massachusetts had its full share in the daring and doing of those scenes. At the railroad crossing of the South Anna on the 14th of March, the regiment under the lead of Colonel Crownin- shield charged the Confederate intrenchments, capturing them with three pieces of artillery, which after being used to hasten the re- treat of the defenders were spiked and thrown into the river. On the 18th White House Landing was reached, and next day the column crossed the Pamunkey river, going into camp for the rest and repair so much needed. During the three weeks in which they had been moving, men and horses had been exposed to most disagreeable weather, rain falling nearly every day and the roads being in horrible
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condition. Many of the animals were completely broken down, so that the riders were obliged to report to City Point for remounting. The remainder, having been refreshed, reclothed and provisioned, crossed the James river at Deep Bottom on the 25th and at Hancock Station joined the Army of the Potomac, in front of Petersburg.
The regiment stopped there for a few days while the preparations were completed for the grand combination of movements by which it was intended to crush the southern forces. The movement began on the 29th, when camp was broken and the regiment marched to Dinwiddie Court House, where the night was passed. It led the advance the next day and at White Oak road found the enemy. A charge followed in which the Second gained considerable advantage with but slight loss-one man wounded and four taken prisoners. Being reinforced the command held the ground till noon of the fol- lowing day when the enemy gathered in strong force and by persist- ent fighting forced the Union troops back to Dinwiddie. The Second contested the ground determinedly, fighting through the forest dis- mounted much of the time, and when the final assault by the Con- federates was made the regiment, partially sheltered by a breastwork of rails, met the attack with a fire from their carbines that broke the charge. That night the Second bivouacked with the rest of the Union troops at Dinwiddie, while the Confederates fell back to Five Forks in preparation for the battle of the following day. In the fighting on the 31st of March the loss of the regiment had been some 12 or 14 killed and wounded, among the slain being Second Lieutenant Lewis Munger of California.
In the battle of Five Forks, on the 1st of April, the First Division of cavalry under command of General Devin advanced directly against the enemy's works, dismounted, and met and answered the Confederate fire while the other movements were being made which broke the hostile line and decided the battle in favor of the Union arms. The Second Regiment was one of the first in the captured works, and took many prisoners, its loss being but one killed and seven wounded. The next day the Southside Railroad was struck and destroyed, and from that time till the surrender of General Lee on the 9th the cavalry of the Union army was constantly en- gaged in the skirmishing and severe fighting which alternated with incessant marching and maneuvering. On the 4th Lieutenant Colonel Forbes, who had long been a prisoner in the hands of the
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enemy, rejoined his command and resumed duty. The regiment was active in the fighting of the 6th, in which great damage was inflicted on the retreating enemy, the loss of the Second being but about a half-dozen wounded. On the morning of the 9th it was on the skirmish line, and some of the last shots fired by the Army of Northern Virginia were aimed at these skirmishers.
The regiment, which at this time had by the various experiences through which it had passed been reduced to some 200 officers and men present for duty, moved back by casy stages to Petersburg, in the vicinity of which on the 18th it went into camp for six days. During this time Lieutenant Colonel Forbes resigned, while Captain Manning, who had been a prisoner of war for 14 months, returned to the regiment, and with him came 150 remounted men. A move- ment toward North Carolina, to operate against the rebel General Johnston, began on the 24th; but the intelligence was soon received that he, too, had surrendered, so the regiment returned to the north side of the Appomattox, where it camped till the 10th of May. It then moved toward Washington, being reviewed in Richmond by General Halleck and reaching Alexandria on the 16th, encamped near Long Bridge till the 21st. It then crossed to the Washington side of the Potomac, stopping at Bladensburg till the grand review of the Union armies on the 23d in which it took part. Near the close of the month it recrossed to the Virginia side, where it was quartered during most of June. While there the prisoners of war on parole and officers and men unfit for active duty were mustered out, and the regiment lost its last commissioned officer to die in the service-Second Lieutenant Huntington F. Walcott of Boston-on the 9th of June from disease. Colonel Crowninshield, whose name had been so prominently identified with the fair fame of the regiment from its organization, resigned his commission on the 20th and re- turned to civil life, now that his country no longer needed his sword.
The location of the Second was changed on the 26th to Fairfax Court House, but soon after the new camp had been established the welcome orders were received to prepare for muster out. The final rolls were made without delay and that interesting event took place on the 20th of July. Two days later the command left Washing- ton for Massachusetts, returning to the old camp at Readville whence they were paid and discharged on the 3d of August, after two and a half years of exceptionally active service.
THE THIRD CAVALRY.
T HE Third Regiment of Cavalry was organized from troops already in the field, being composed of the Forty-first Mas- sachusetts Regiment (a sketch of which has already been given) and the three unattached companies, sometimes designated as the Independent Battalion, of Massachusetts Cavalry, which had accompanied General Butler's expedition to the Department of the Gulf and remained on duty there during the interim. A resume of the previous history of these companies is in order. Two companies were first proposed, to be known as " Mounted Rifle Rangers," the en- listment office being opened at 55 State Street, Boston, on the 17th of September, 1861. The recruits were rigorously selected, both for respectable standing in the community and personal fitness for the service, none being accepted under five feet nine inches in hight or if weighing over 160 pounds. The encampment was at Camp Chase, Lowell, where the First Company was organized on the 15th of November, 1861, with the following officers: Captain, S. Tyler Read of Attleboro; first lieutenant, Jonathan E. Cowen of Fair- haven ; second lieutenant, Benjamin Pickman of Salem.
The Second Company was filled before the elose of the year, its officers being: Captain, James McGee of Lowell; first lieutenant, Albert G. Bowles of Roxbury ;. second lieutenant, Joseph W. Mor- ton of Quincy. The Third Company was filled about the same time, and its officers were : Captain, Henry A. Durivage of Boston; first lieutenant, Solon A. Perkins; second lieutenant, Reuben F. Yeaton, both of Lowell. The two latter companies were organized December 27, 1861, and on the 2d of January the three companies went aboard the Constitution under orders for Ship Island, off the Mississippi coast, where the forces of General Butler were to ren- dezvous; but the weather being cold the transport remained in Bos- ton Harbor till the 13th. Sailing then to Hampton Roads, a stop
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
was made there till the early days of February, Ship Island being reached on the 12th. There the three companies were by order of General Phelps, commanding the post, organized as a battalion, with Captain Read acting as major, and this organization continued till the division of the forces on the island into three brigades, when the battalion organization was dissolved and one company was at- tached to cach brigade.
The First Company was among the first troops to land at New Orleans, and in that city or its vicinity much of its time was passed during the year that followed, the company forming part of the garrison. It was most of the time at Camp Williams, at Carroll- ton, but on several occasions made extended excursions into the surrounding country. The Second Company remained on Ship Island till the 21st of May, when it was ordered to New Orleans, and soon after joined the brigade at Baton Rouge, taking part in the battle there, and in various reconnaissances and skirmishes, in which during the summer a loss was sustained of two men killed and six wounded, two mortally. First Lieutenant Charles J. Batchelder of Lynn died of disease, September 9, 1862. After the evacuation of Baton Rouge the company returned to New Orleans, and was thenceforth much of the time attached to Weitzel's Brigade, for which it performed in an admirable manner the various duties re- quired of a cavalry force. The Third Company had the misfortune at the outset of its active career to lose its captain, who was acci- dentally drowned in the Mississippi river April 23, 1862; the vacancy was filled by the promotion of Lieutenant Jonathan E. Cowen of the First Company, but as he was at home on sick leave, the company remained for many months under command of Lieu- tenant Perkins, who discharged the duties in a manner to win high compliments from his superior officers. His company was most of the time posted at or near Plaquemine, and was frequently in action, though meeting no serious loss till the spring of 1863, shortly be- fore the consolidation, when it had three men killed and some wounded, most of the loss being at Bayou Jack in May, though Lieutenant Perkins was killed at Clinton June 2, the day on which First Lieutenant Pickering D. Allen of Salem of the First Company was killed at Brashear City.
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