USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 26
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In the consolidation, the companies of the Forty-first Regiment retained their original letters; the Second Company was designated
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769
THE THIRD CAVALRY.
L and the Third M, while the First received no letter, as the regi- ment consisted of 13 companies, but continued to be known as "Read's Company." Under the new organization the roster of offi- cers was revolutionized. Colonel Chickering continued in com- mand, but those immediately associated with him were: Lieuten- ant colonel, Lorenzo D. Sargent; majors, John F. Vinal, James Magee, Jonathan E. Cowen. Lieutenant Colonel Wass had carly in the year been transferred back to the Nineteenth Massachusetts Infantry. A multitude of changes naturally occurred among the officers of lower grade; in fact few regiments with the same term of service had as many changes in the roster of officers from pro- motions, transfers, and the like. Very soon after the transformation to a cavalry regiment, Major Cowen was transferred to a command of colored troops, his place in the Third being filled by the promotion of Captain S. Tyler Read to be major. Chaplain Lane resigned in August, and his place was not filled till near the close of the war.
The regiment remained at Port Hudson until the close of the year 1863, very actively engaged in such duties as naturally fell to a cavalry force, guarding trains, collecting forage, scouting and escort. Numerous collisions with the enemy occurred during this time, more or less serious, the more important being on the 3d of August, at Jack- son, La., when the regiment had four men killed, and on the 30th of November at Plains Store, when four or five were killed, as many wounded and five captured. Early in 1864 preparations for the Red River campaign began, and the Third, reporting to General A. L. Lee, chief of cavalry of the Department of the Gulf, were assigned to the Fourth Cavalry Brigade, the other regiments of which were the Second New Hampshire and Second Illinois Cavalry, with the Thirty-first Massachusetts Mounted Infantry. The brigade was commanded by Colonel N. A. M. Dudley of the Thirtieth Massa- chusetts, and the Third by Lieutenant Colonel Sargent in the absence of Colonel Chickering.
The regiment reached Brashear City on the 18th of March, and continuing the movement by way of Franklin, Newtown and Ope- lousas, arrived on the 20th within six miles of Alexandria on the Red river where it joined the force under General A. J. Smith which had taken possession of that place and was to join the army under Banks. Next morning the regiment was sent forward to Henderson's Hill, where a force under General Mower had en-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
countered the enemy, and while three companies under Major Ma- gee led a flank movement to the Confederate rear and left, the others took post at the right to cut off the retreat of the foe. The attack resulted in the capture of the position, with four pieces of artillery and a complete regiment of infantry, the Third guarding the captures during the night and next morning taking them to the rear. After some further service the regiment returned to its bri- gade on the 23d and took part in the advance of the army during the following days. Cane river was crossed on the 30th, the enemy falling back to Natchitoches after some skirmishing. The Third were on picket that night, being attacked at daylight and repulsing the assailants, but with a loss of 13 wounded.
The first week of April was full of severe duty-marching and skirmishing-of which the lion's share fell to the cavalry; but the regiment met no serious loss till the 8th, when it took an important part in the battle of Sabine Cross Roads. The Confederates had made a stand in force at that point, and in the advance of the morn- ing the Third led on the left of the Mansfield road, fighting its way till the main body of the enemy was descried. The regiment then attempted to capture the Confederate skirmish line, and charged unsupported into a most critical position, the skill of its officers only saving it from a dangerous flanking movement. Falling back to the supporting line, it again advanced to its former position, de- ploying Companies D and M as skirmishers, and under orders to hold their ground the brave fellows fought the superior numbers of the enemy as the latter in turn advanced, the men falling back and again facing to the front five or six times during the long afternoon hours, and repeatedly emptying their carbines and revolvers into the dense masses of the foc. Toward the close of the afternoon the brigade was flanked and ordered to fall back, and at night the regiment retired to Pleasant Hill, its loss during the day having been 73 men, nine of whom were killed, and 157 horses.
The Third were not engaged in the battle of Pleasant Hill on the 9th, being detached on train guard and duty at the flanks; but on the 12th eseorted a flag of truce with three wagons loaded with supplies for the Federal wounded within the Confederate lines. The Union army had now fallen back to Grand Ecore, where it remained till the 21st, though the cavalry took the field two days previous to feel the way for the retreat of General Banks and his forces
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771
TIIE THIRD CAVALRY.
down the river. For several days following, until and after the battle of Cane River, the Fourth Brigade-Colonel E. J. Davis of the First Texas Cavalry having succeeded Colonel Dudley in the command-skirmished and fought, driving the enemy before it and clearing the way for the general column, and after the battle taking post on Henderson Hill, which was held till the Union army had passed. The loss of the Third Regiment in these continued en- gagements had been but two or three wounded. The Union army having passed, the brigade took position in the rear, skirmishing continually with the closely following Confederates. On the 25th, General Banks having reached Alexandria, the cavalry established a picket line some seven miles from the city, and the following day fell back to a stronger position, two miles nearer the city, the entire line of outposts being composed of the Third Massachusetts under command of Lieutenant Colonel Sargent. Soon after daylight a de- termined attack was made by the Confederates which developed into a sharp fight, the Third holding their position until noon, repeatedly ex- hausting their ammunition. Some artillery was brought up on both sides, and the Confederates were finally repulsed, when the regiment was relieved and retired to Alexandria, its loss having been slight.
The brigade crossed Red river on the 29th and marched some 20 miles to the north, where it encountered Quantrell's notorious band and had a sharp engagement on the 1st of May, soon after starting on its return. The enemy were routed by a determined charge, the loss to the Third being four men killed and six wounded. The army resumed its movement down the river on the 9th, and again the Third formed the rear guard much of the time, with frequent skirmishing. One man was killed and two wounded on the 15th, and another conflict occurred on the 18th at Bayou de Glaize, also known as Simmsport, Yellow Bayou, and Calhoun Station. The latter became a general engagement, during which the Third charged and scattered a column of hostile infantry, its loss in the battle being two killed and 12 wounded ; 39 horses also being lost. The army under General Banks then continued its way to Morganzia on the Mississippi, where it rested after its disastrous campaign.
There was a respite of a few weeks for the weary soldiers of the Third, when they were called to a different scene of action. The regiment was dismounted on the 25th of June and armed as infantry for temporary service, being ordered to Algiers on the 3d of July.
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772
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Camping there for a short time, the command sailed on the 15th for Fortress Monroe to report to General Grant, seven companies on the General Lyon under Lieutenant Colonel Sargent and the balance of the regiment on the E. L. Clark under Major Read. The former detachment was first to reach its destination, being ordered at once to Washington, and on reporting to General Halleck being directed to join that part of the Nineteenth Corps which under General Emory was operating against the Confederates under Gen- eral Early in Maryland. At night of the 28th the regiment re- ported at Chain Bridge, but the following afternoon returned to Washington and took cars for Monocacy, where it went into camp; but it was not till the 15th of August that the companies under Major Read arrived. The Third had now become a part of the Second Brigade, Second Division, Nineteenth Corps, regiments of the brigade being in addition the Thirteenth Connecticut, One Hundred and Thirty-first and One Hundred and Fifty-ninth New York, Eleventh Indiana and Twenty-second Iowa. Colonel E. L. Molineux commanded the brigade and General Cuvier Grover the division.
Various changes had occurred or were about to occur in the field roster of the Third which may here be noted. Major Magee had resigned from the 6th of August, and was followed September 1 by Colonel Chickering. The vacancies thus created were in due time filled by the promotion of Lieutenant Colonel Sargent ( who had long been in actual command of the regiment) to be colonel, Major Vinal to be lieutenant colonel, and Captains Bunker and Noyes to be majors.
Meantime the regiment participated in the various movements of the Army of the Shenandoah up and down the Valley in the stra- tegic contest with General Early, but without notable engagement till the important battle of the Opequan on the 19th of September. In that action the Third with its brigade formed part of the first line and shared in the charge which at first pressed back the oppos- ing forces. The check to the Union arms due to the breaking of the connection between the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps carried the regiment back, but twice again during the day did it join in a de- termined charge, sharing in the final victorious result, though at a heavy cost; of some 600 taken into action, it lost 104 officers and men, 18 of whom were killed and the remainder wounded or miss- ing. Among the slain were Second Lieutenants Jasper A. Glidden of Lawrence and Jolin H. Pool of Randolph. The command fol-
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THE THIRD CAVALRY.
lowed the retreating Confederates to Fisher's Hill, and had part in the action there on the 22d, losing two killed and as many wounded in the final charge which drove Early from his chosen position. Then followed an all-night pursuit of the retreating foe, continued during the following days till the Union army on the 26th reached Harrisonburg and went into camp. On the 29th the regiment with its division advanced to Mount Crawford to destroy Confederate supplies in that vicinity, returning to the main body next day, and on the 6th of October beginning the retrograde movement to Cedar Creek, where a halt was made on the 10th.
Intrenchments were thrown up there, and the position was held till the battle of the 19th of October. Fortunately for the regi- ment, its brigade had been ordered to make a reconnaissance that morning, and after a very early breakfast it was standing in line, ready to set forth, when the unexpected attack from the rebels fell on the Eighth Corps, very soon involving the Nineteenth. With the Iowa regiment of the brigade, the Third were soon ordered to support a battery at the left, and were thus separated from the corps till near the middle of the afternoon. Being repeatedly obliged to fall back, they did so, fighting heroically, now with the Eighth Cerps and anon with the Sixth, opposing the advance of the enemy wherever a stand could be made. The regiment rejoined its bri- gade at 2 o'clock, constructing a breastwork of rails, and when another attack was made by the enemy, it was not only repulsed but a counter charge was made, in which the Third took part, driv- ing the discomfited Southrons back through and past the camps from which the Unionists had been so unceremoniously routed in the morning. These were reoccupied that night by the Third in common with the other regiments, but the battalion line had been seriously shortened by the events of the day, the total loss of the regiment being 77, five of whom were killed, the rest being wounded or missing. Second Lieutenant Lyman James of Boston died of his wounds on the 6th of December.
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The regiment remained in camp near the scene of the battle till the 9th of November, when it marched to the Opequan Creek, some two miles from Winchester, where strong earthworks were built and log huts suitable for winter quarters constructed. But a large part of the force which had served in the Valley was withdrawn to other fields of usefulness, and the Third soon left their comfortable cab-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
ins. The regiment marched on the 26th of December to the railway station where it took a train for Harper's Ferry, escorting a quantity of artillery, and from the Ferry marched through deep snow and mud and intense cold, making a terribly trying journey, to Remount Camp in Pleasant Valley, Md., where it arrived on the 28th and again began the work of preparing winter quarters. When these were completed the regiment was comfortably settled and remained so till the middle of February, 1865, when the horses for remount- ing arrived, and within a few days a cavalry organization was re- sumed. Among other equipments a fine set of Massachusetts colors were received, marked with the battles of the regiment.
The movements of the spring campaign, so far as the Third Mas- sachusetts Cavalry were concerned, began on the 24th of February, when they marched for Duffield Station, Va., remained on duty there for a few days and then proceeded to Winchester, where they reported to General Chapman on the 1st of March and encamped at Camp Averell near the town, till the 20th of April, sending out many parties on scouting expeditions. On the 12th of March Colonel Sargent resigned on account of disability, the command being taken two weeks later by Colonel Burr Porter, formerly of the Fortieth Massachusetts Regiment. On the 20th of April the Third marched toward Washington, via Jeffersonville, Harper's Ferry and Frederick City, encamping at Falls Church on the 22d.
While the regiment remained in camp there further changes in its composition occurred. About the close of the previous year the three original Independent Companies had finished their term of enlistment and been mustered out, and their place had been taken by two companies of one-year troops formed from the surplus en- listments for the battalion of Frontier Cavalry raised in Massachu- setts about that time. On the 20th of May the original members of the Forty-first Regiment were ordered mustered ont and left for home. The regiment joined Sheridan's Cavalry Corps at Bladens- burg two days later, took part in the grand review at Washington on the 23d, and on the 29th marched by way of Alexandria to Cloud's Mills. There it remained till the 14th of June, when camp was broken under orders for St. Louis, Mo. Going by way of Par- kersburg and Cincinnati, the regiment reached its destination on the 20th, but the day following took steamer for Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where it eneamped on the 25th. The horses were soon after
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TIIE THIRD CAVALRY.
turned over to the Fourth Michigan cavalry, and on the 31st of July the Third were reduced to a battalion of six companies. Several officers were mustered out on account of this change, including Colonel Porter, Major Noyes and Surgeon Leavitt. Lieutenant Colonel Vinal was absent from the command at the time and did not again return to active duty with it, being honorably discharged on the 18th of August. Major Frederick G. Pope was in command of the battalion during its service as such, his companies being designated by the first six letters and commanded respectively by Captains W. M. Gifford, J. A. Comerford, D. P. Mnzzey, Charles Stone, M. V. Barney and First Lieutenant J. H. Hilton. As soon as the reorganization was completed fresh horses were drawn, and on the 24th of July Major Pope received orders to report with his conunand to General Dodge at Fort Kearney, Neb.
Provided with 25 days' rations and forage the battalion set out over miserable roads on the 27th, and the 16th of August arrived at the Fort, weary with the tedious jaunt. After resting till the 24th the battalion was ordered to Julesburg, Colorado, starting at noon, but on the 28th, at Cottonwood Springs, received orders to return to Fort Kearney, thence to go to Fort Leavenworth for mus- ter out. This was no unwelcome order, and the battalion, moving with alacrity, reported at Fort Kearney on the 1st of September. There the best of the horses were turned in, and on the 8th the march was resumed for Fort Leavenworth, the dismounted men being transported in wagons. The mounted men reached that post on the 18th, the wagons coming in five days later, and the gov- erment property pertaining to the command was surrendered, the final papers were made, and the battalion was mustered out of the United States service on the 28th setting out the next day for Boston. The homeward journey was by way of Chicago and De- troit and the Great Western Railroad, by which the command passed through what was then known as Canada West-the only case, it is believed, where a body of American soldiers entered the British possessions in connection with the wa". Boston was reached on the 5th of October, and three days later the men were paid off and discharged from Gallop's Island, having been in service more than 35 months from the time of muster in of the Forty-first Regiment. During that time the regiment had traveled 15,000 miles and taken part in more than 30 engagements.
THE FOURTH CAVALRY.
T HE Fourth Regiment of Cavalry was organized as such in accordance with orders from the War Department, dated February 12, 1864, consolidating the Independent Battalion of Massachusetts Cavalry then in South Carolina under General Gilmore with the First Veteran Battalion then being formed in Mas- sachusetts. Lieutenant Colonel Arnold A. Rand, formerly captain in the First Cavalry Regiment, under whom the battalion was being recruited, was made colonel, and by the first of March the differ- ent companies or squadrons had been filled and mustered-the First Battalion being still stationed in South Carolina, and commanded by Major Stevens. The original roster of officers follows :-
Colonel, Arnold A. Rand of Boston ; lieutenant colonel, Francis Washburn of Lancaster; majors, Atherton H. Stevens of Cambridge, David B. Keith of Boston and Louis Cabot of Brookline; surgeon, Frederick W. Mercer of Boston; assistant surgeons, Edward Russell of Quincy and John H. McGregor of Needham; chaplain, Albert Z. Gray of New York City; quartermasters, John D. B. Goddard of Bos- ton, Preserved Bullock of New Bedford and Benjamin Thomas of Hingham; sergeant major, Leon II. Kendrick of Lincoln; quarter- master sergeant, Warren A. Fuller of Worcester; commissary sergeant, Allen F. Belcher of Foxboro; hospital steward, Henry Viall of Paw- tucket; chief bugler, Henry T. Daggett of South Weymouth.
Company A-Captain, Charles A. Keith of Boston; first lieutenant, Charles E. Thomas of Malden; second lieutenant, William Chickering of Dedham.
Company B-Captain, George R. Hurlbut; first lieutenant, Joseph C. Brotherson, both of New Bedford; second lieutenant, James E. Mulligan of Boston.
Company C-Captain, Edwin B. Staples of Blackstone; first lieu- tenant, Henry G. Dorr of Brookline; second lieutenant, George F. Davis of San Francisco, Cal.
Company D-Captain, Joseph W. Morton of Quincy; first lieuten- ant, John L. Perley of Newburyport; second lieutenant, Edwin R. Sterling of San Francisco, Cal.
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THIE FOURTH CAVALRY.
Company E-Captain, Frederick H. Rand of Boston; first lieuten- ant, Edgar W. Goodnow of Haverhill; second lieutenant, John H. Carter of Watertown.
Company F-Captain, Joseph I. Baker of Boston; first lieutenant, Philip Dolan of Concord; second lieutenant, Ammi R. Mitchell of Roxbury.
Company G-Captain, Edward T. Bouve; first lieutenant, John A. Caldwell of Lowell; second lieutenant, II. Walworth Smith of North- ampton.
Company H-Captain, Albert F. Ray of Haverhill; first lieutenant, James Miller of Salem; second lieutenant, William N. Percy of San Francisco, Cal.
Company I-Captain, Lucius Richmond of North Bridgewater; first lieutenant, Charles V. Holt of Cambridge; second lieutenant, Henry M. Phillips of Springfield.
Company K-Captain, James HI. Case of Bridgewater; first lieuten- ant, Charles O. Phillips of Deerfield; second lieutenant, Sheldon Leavitt, Jr., of Great Barrington.
Company L-Captain, Moses F. Webster of Boston; first lieutenant, Orson O. Baxter of Waltham (died as second lieutenant at Williams- burg, Va., October 14, 1864, not having been mustered); second lieu- tenant, Joseph H. Lathrop of Dedham.
Company M-Captain, Lucius H. Morrill of New Bedford; first lieutenant, Thomas Miles of Waltham; second lieutenant, William T. Soule of New Bedford. .
The four companies of the Second Battalion, Major Keith, sailed on the 20th of March by the transport steamer Western Metropolis for Hilton Head, S. C., reaching there on the 1st of April. On the 23d the same steamer left Boston with the remainder of the regi- ment,-the Third Battalion under Major Cabot and 150 recruits for the old First Battalion. On reaching Hilton Head the Third Bat- talion was ordered to return to Fortress Monroe and report to Gen- eral Butler, which was done, the command encamping at Newport News on the 3d of May. Five days later the First Battalion arrived from the south and debarked at Bermuda Hundred under command of Captain Richmond. It was immediately put into service in the movements of the Army of the James from the 9th to the 16th of May, ending with the disastrous battle of Drewry's Bluff, the bat- talion losing but two men wounded during the week. From the 9th to the 16th of June the battalion took part in the cavalry opera- tions against Petersburg, having one killed and two wounded.
The Third Battalion moved from Newport News to City Point, Va., on the 23d of May, and the regimental head-quarters were established at the latter place, Companies E and HI being detailed
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
on the 16th of June for duty at head-quarters of the Eighteenth Corps. Five days later head-quarters were removed to Bermuda Hundred, and August 15 the six companies remaining under the immediate command of Colonel Rand were attached to head-quarters of the Tenth Army Corps at Hatchers. From that time to the 20th the regiment was engaged in the operations north of the James river, covering the recrossing to the south side on the latter date. On the 23d Company G was detached for duty at Yorktown, and on the 24th the remaining companies with the Tenth Corps occupied the position in front of Petersburg formerly held by the Eighteenth Corps. A week later Company M was detailed to Harrison's Landing. Four companies only remained at head-quarters, and these accompanied the movements to the north of the James from September 28 to October 5 and again on the 27th and 28th of October. Early in November a detachment commanded by Captain Richmond made an incursion under the provost marshal of the Tenth Corps into Charles City and Henrico counties, arresting suspected persons and securing horses and cattle.
Meanwhile the Second Battalion remained in the Department of the South under command of Major Keith, with head-quarters at Hilton Head. Two companies set out under command of Captain Keith on the 22d of May to ascend the Ashepoo river, but one of the transports grounded in the night within range of the enemy's batteries, when it was fired and abandoned, the expedition return- ing to camp with the loss of 74 horses. A smaller detachment took part in the expedition to John's Island on the 1st of July, and in the various skirmishes there from the 2d to the 9th lost one man killed and two wounded. Previous to this, on the 6th of June two companies under Captain Morton had sailed for Jacksonville, Fla., going into camp there until the early part of August, when they took part in the expedition to Palatka. In the skirmish on the 6th and the engagement at Gainsville on the 17th the command suffered a loss of six killed and 50 taken prisoners, including three officers. On the 17th of October Major Keith resigned on account of disabil- ity, and the vacancy was filled by the promotion of Captain Webster.
To complete the record of the Second Battalion, it may be said that while well occupied with the manifold duties pertaining to cavalry, it was not heavily engaged in action after the battle of Gainesville. The two companies at Hilton Head encamped at Dc-
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THE FOURTII CAVALRY.
vean Neck in the autumn, and remained there through the winter. In April, 1865, they took part in various slight engagements with the enemy during an expedition through the central part of South Carolina from the 8th to the 20th of the month. The detachment in Florida also crossed sabers with the foe on the 4th of February at Picolata Road, but no casualties of note were sustained.
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