USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
823
THE SEVENTH BATTERY.
and forming the right of the Union column. Three days later it returned to the Fortress and remained there till the 19th of June, when its organization as a battery having been completed, with its ranks filled and an equipment of guns and horses secured, it re- moved to Newport News, encamping there until July 25. It then marched to Yorktown, where it encamped for two months, being di- rected on the 29th of September to proceed to Suffolk, Va., which was reached on the 2d of October, reporting to General John J. Peck and remaining till midwinter, one section being sent out each night to guard the crossing of the Nansemond river.
Orders were received on the 29th of January, 1863, for the bat- tery to report to General Michael Corcoran, and at midnight it set out on the march toward the Blackwater river. Nine miles out the enemy under General Roger A. Pryor were encountered and an en. gagement ensued lasting till morning. The Confederates then fell back some two miles and made another stand, when the battery with four pieces, two being disabled, carried on the fight for two hours, until the foe retired across the Blackwater. This was the most severe engagement in which the battery participated, its loss being 13 men, two of whom were killed and two mortally wounded. Changes had already occurred among the officers of the command. First Lieutenant Fifield had resigned on the 15th of November, and February 17 Second Lieutenant Devoll was dismissed. To fill these vacancies, Second Lieutenant Hartwell was promoted and Sergeants Wilbur G. MeCurdy and George F. Critchett, both of Lowell, were commissioned second lieutenants.
The battery joined an expedition under Colonel Samuel P. Spear of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry on the 17th of March, travel- ing 46 miles in 17 hours and engaging the enemy at Franklin. Gen- eral Longstreet laid siege to Suffolk on the 11th of April, and during his investment the battery was on the alert with horses harnessed day and night, being engaged on the 12th, 14th and 15th of April. On the 3d of May, as the siege was being abandoned, the battery crossed the Nansemond with a force under General Getty and went into action on the Providence Church road, silencing an opposing battery. On the 13th, under command of General Robert S. Foster, the Seventh joined in the expedition to Carrsville, being absent eight days, one section being engaged at Holland's House, near Carrsville on the 15th with a loss of one man wounded.
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
More active duty began on the 27th of June, when the command marched to Portsmonth, took transports to White House, and on the 1st of July set out from that place with a force under Colonel Spear, going by way of Brandywine Creek and Taylorsville to the crossing of the Virginia Central Railroad and the South Anna river, where on the afternoon of July + the enemy was encountered and the command was under fire from 6 o'clock till midnight. During the ten days which followed the battery made its way back to Fort- ress Monroe, passing Hanover Court House. White House and York- town, among other places. On the 15th it was transported to Portsmouth, going into camp at Bower's Hill the following day, but on the 20th embarked for Washington, finding quarters at Camp Marshall on the 22d.
It crossed to Alexandria on the 18th of August and took passage on the steamer De Molay for New York, to guard against a repeti- tion of the draft riots. Debarking on the 21st, it encamped on Madison Square, remaining there with no call for service till the 11th of September, when the steamer Salvor took it back to Washı- ington. Locating at Camp Barry, the battery remained there till the close of the year. During this time an almost entire recon- struction of the roster of officers occurred. First Lieutenants Farrar and Hartwell resigned on the 29th of September and 5th of October respectively ; Captain Davis was promoted to be assistant adjutant general of volunteers October 7; Second Lieutenant Critchett died of disease at Lowell October 30, and Second Lieutenant Mc- Curdy, promoted to first lientenant, resigned January 9, 1864, after his commission as captain had been issued. As reconstructed, omit- ting some preliminary changes, the new list of officers was: Captain, Newman W. Storer; first lientenants. Charles II. Williams and James W. Bean ; seconds lieutenants, Sammel W. Benson and Charles S. Robinson. Benson was of Tewksbury, the others of Lowell.
The battery remained at Camp Barry till the 24th of January when it took cars to Baltimore, embarking on the 26th on the steamer Arago for Louisiana, sailing the following day. The Cres- cent city was reached February 5, and the command went into quarters at Apollo Stables. During the following month it was at- tached to General Grover's Division (the Second) of the Nineteenth Corps, and March 19 crossed the Mississippi river and loaded the gums upon cars under orders for Brashear City. The order was
825
THE SEVENTHI BATTERY.
changed, however, and the Seventh went into camp at Algiers till the 27th, when they recrossed to New Orleans, taking passage on the steamer Luminary for Alexandria, where they arrived on the 31st. Except that one section was stationed at Pineville, the bat- tery remained at Alexandria inactive till early in May, when it began a series of movements which continued intermittently during the entire season. The four pieces in camp were 'embarked on two small steamers May 4 as part of a force under General Niekerson intended to clear the river of guerrillas below Alexandria; but after going as far as Wilson's Plantation and learning that a strong force was posted further down the attempt was abandoned.
A movement in force toward the Mississippi river began on the 11th, the battery being united and accompanying its division. taking part without loss in an engagement at Mansura on the 16th, con- tinuing the march next day to Simmsport, and thence to Morganza Bend on the Mississippi where the division encamped. On the 29th the battery joined an expedition under General Lawler to Lavonia and the Atehafalaya river, returning to Morganza on the 2d of June. One seetion went by steamer on the 20th as part of an expedition under General Grover to Turnica Bend and Fort Adams, getting back to camp on the 22d, but apart from this the battery rested in camp till the 13th of July. It then took passage on the steamer Colonel Colburn to the mouth of the White river in Arkansas, changed to the America and continued its journey to St. Charles, Ark., where it landed and encamped on the 23d. On the 6th of August it went aboard four small steamers and sailed back to Mor- ganza Bend, encamped there from the 13th to the 3d of September, when it returned to St. Charles, reaching there on the 11th and re- maining without incident till October 23. It then proceeded by steamer to Duvall's Bluff, Ark., where two sections debarked and were posted, while the other returned to St. Charles, and thus dis- posed they remained till the end of the year.
The battery embarked on the steamer Reseue January 10, 1865, and on the 15th landed at Kennerville, La., and went into camp till the 9th of February, whem it again took steamer, sailing aboard the St. Mary to Dauphin Island, Ala., where it landed, forming part of the army gathering for operation against Mobile. The movement began on the 17th of March, when the battery crossed the bay and was attached to the First Division, Thirteenth Corps. Slow march-
-
826
MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
ing through heavy rains took the division into position in front of Spanish Fort, seven miles east of Mobile, on the 27th, and the bat- tery engaged the fort for some two hours that day, having three men wounded. The fort and its supporting works being so strong as to require siege approaches, the position of the battery was strengthened and it operated from various points against the enemy till the'8th of April. That day the fort was captured by the Union soldiers, and the Seventh Battery was at once ordered to Blakely, where its division had already gone to assist in the reduction of the fortifications at that point.' One section of the battery went into position that night, and next day opened fire, having one man killed, the works in front being carried by assault. This success on the part of General Canby led to the evaenation of Mobile by the Con- federates, and on the 15th the battery took the steamer White Cloud, crossed into the city and went into eamp.
The movements of the command which followed were long and numerous, but bloodless. Steamer Colonel Cowles was taken on the 20th and the battery reached Selma, Ala., on the 27th, going thence to Montgomery, where it rested from the 30th till May 9, when it broke camp and marched to Providence Landing on the Alabama river, sailing thence by steamer to Mobile and going into camp at Spring Hill on the 16th. On the 30th of June it left for Galveston, Tex., sailing on the steamers N. P. Banks and Montauk, reaching that port July 3. It remained there till the 9th, when it moved to Houston, stopping for a time, but returned to Galveston, turned over its equipment and prepared to return to Massachusetts. Delays ensned, and the command did not leave New Orleans till October 14, when it sailed on the steamer Guiding Star. The vessel grounded on the bar at the mouth of the river that evening, and was not floated till the 19th, when it once more got under way. On the 22d a severe gale came on, increasing to a tempest the following night, the steamer getting into the trough of the sea and the men working the pumps for 36 hours, when, the wind having abated, the vessel put in to Port Royal for coal, finally reaching New York on the 2d of November. The soldiers of the battery arrived at Boston the next day, going into camp on Gallop's Island in the Harbor till the preparations for their muster out were completed. That event occurred on the 10th, and two days later they were paid off and discharged, after a service of over four and a half years.
THE EIGHTH BATTERY.
T HE Eighth Battery of Light Artillery was organized in re- sponse to the call of the President of the United States on the 26th of May, 1862, for the active militia of Massachu- setts to be sent forward at once, the call being due to the danger felt at Washington owing to the defeat of General Banks in the Shenandoah Valley. On the following day Captain Cook, who had commanded the First Battery during the three-months' term of 1861, was authorized to raise a battery for six months. In three days 40 men were sworn into service, and encamped at Camp Came- ron, North Cambridge. Additional squads were mustered almost daily till the ranks were filled, and on the 25th of June, with guns. horses and equipments complete, the command set out for Washing- ton. The officers were as follows :-
Captain, Asa M. Cook of Somerville; first lieutenants, Charles M. Griffin of Boston and John N. Coffin of Somerville; second lieuten- ants, James W. Garland of Boston and George W. Evans of Somer- ville; sergeant major, James W. Kirk of South Scituate; first ser- geant, Daniel W. Merritt; quartermaster sergeant, Harry D. Little- field, both of Boston.
A serious disaster occurred during the journey to the capital. A little distance beyond Trenton, N. J., the train left the track, several of the cars being thrown into the canal; two men and 13 horses were killed, several other men were injured, and much of the bat- tery property was destroyed. The command returned to Trenton to refit where it was most kindly entertained till ready to resume the journey on the 27th. On reaching Washington it remained near the railroad till the 1st of July, when it crossed Long Bridge, being assigned to Cook's Brigade of Sturgis's Reserve Corps, and till the 8th of August encamped near Fairfax Seminary. It was then detached under orders to join General Burnside's Ninth Corps,
.--
--
828
MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
and marched to Alexandria, where it took steamer to Acquia Creek, marching thence to Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, where it joined the corps, being assigned to General Stevens's Division. It remained in camp from the 11th to the 14th, when it marched to join the Army of Virginia under General Pope, then located near Culpeper, and on the 17th took position near the right of the army. From the 20th to the 23d the battery guarded Barnett's Ford while the army was falling back to the Rappahannock, one section being detached and engaged in a skirmish at Sulphur Springs at the same time. In the battle of Manassas, or the Second Bull Run, the bat- tery took part with its division, and again at Chantilly, without loss. In the battle of Sonth Mountain, on the 14th of September, the Eighth, still attached to the First Division, Ninth Corps, then con- manded by General Willcox, was posted in an exposed position at the left of the Union lines, and suffered its greatest loss of men in action, having one killed and four wounded. At the battle of An- tietam it also took an active part. On the 17th it occupied several positions on each side of the Antietam, receiving hearty commen- dations from General Willcox for its efficient service. During the following night it held a position on the west side of the creek, being probably the only battery of General Burnside's left wing on tha' side, and maintained its position till late the next day, when it was relieved, having lost but one man wounded.
After the battle it encamped near the Potomac at the month of An- tietam Creek till the 5th of October, when it was ordered to Wash- ington to exchange its armament for guns of longer range, but being unable to doso returned to the Army of the Potomac in season to take part in the advance into Virginia. A detachment from the company while returning through Maryland captured several members of Stuart's cavalry with some recruits for his command, and consider- able contraband property, all at the house of a disloyal Marylander.
It accompanied the Army of the Potomac for a few weeks, but soon after General Burnside took command, the term of enlistment having about expired, the battery was ordered to Washington where it was mustered ont of the United States service and set out for Massachusetts November 29. One change only occurred in the ros- ter of officers during the period of service; Lieutenant Griffin re- signing on the 20th of September, each junior officer being pro. moted and Sergeant Major Kirk being made second lieutenant.
THE NINTH BATTERY.
T HE Ninth Light Battery was recruited during the summer of 1862, its officers being commissioned July 31 and August 6 and most of the men being mustered on the 10th of the latter month. For a time the rendezvous was at Camp Stanton, Lynnfield, though later at Camp Meigs, Readville. On the 3d of September it left for Washington, with the following officers and a full comple- ment of enlisted men :---
Captain, Achille De Vecchi of Boston; first lieutenants, Christopher Erickson of Boston and Alexander H. Whitaker of Roxbury; second lieutenants, George Warren Foster of Charlestown and Richard Swett Milton of West Roxbury; quartermaster sergeant, James W. Reed, Jr., of West Roxbury; first sergeant, George H. Prescott of Boston.
The battery arrived at Washington on the 7th, and on reporting to General Casey in command of the defenses was assigned to Camp Seymour on Capitol Hill, where it remained for two weeks. It was then ordered to Camp Chase on Arlington Hights in Virginia and located there till the 27th of October, when camp was shifted across the river to Camp Barry, near the Bladensburg Toll Gate, where the command was vigorously drilled in artillery tactics. The location was again moved across the Potomac on the 19th of November, and within a few days the right section was quartered at Fort Buffalo and the rest of the battery at Fort Ramsay,-the latter at Upton's ITill and the former a mile beyond at the crossing of the Leesburg Turnpike. Here as part of the Twenty-second Army Corps it re- mained, with an occasional movement through the surrounding coun- try, till the spring was well advanced. Captain De Vecchi, who as an artillery officer had seen much service in Europe, resigned Janu- ary 26, 1863, and was succeeded by John Bigelow of Brighton.
The battery moved to Centerville on the 17th of April and re- mained there till the Gettysburg campaign, when it broke camp and
830
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
on the 25th of June marched to Fairfax Court House, going thence by way of Edwards Ferry and Frederick City to Taneytown, Md., which it reached on the 30th. It was at that time attached to the First Volunteer Brigade, Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Potomac, Lieutenant Colonel McGilvrey commanding, the other batteries of the brigade being the Fifth Massachusetts, Fifteenth New York and Independent Battery of Pennsylvania. On the 2d of July it marched to Gettysburg and took part in its first battle, being placed in support of, the Third Corps at the left of the Union lines. As that corps was forced back in the battle of the afternoon, it was among the last of the artillery to retire, and on reaching the angle of two stone walls was ordered to hold the position to the last moment to give time for the formation of a line in the rear. In effect, Captain Bigelow was ordered to sacrifice his battery to save the others, and nobly responded to the demand.
The guns had been fired by prolonge till this point was reached, when a Confederate brigade having closed in on both flanks and 50 of the battery horses having been killed, four of the guns were necessarily abandoned, such of the artillerists as could do so ex- tricating themselves from the enveloping lines of the foe. The guns were later regained under cover of the fire from the reformed batteries in the rear. The loss of the command was very severe, 11 having been killed or mortally wounded, including both first lieutenants; 16 were wounded, and two were taken prisoners. Lieu- tenant Erickson was killed on the spot, and Lieutenant Whitaker received wounds of which he died on the 20th. The battery was left with but one commissioned officer and one sergeant for duty; yet it was engaged the following day on Cemetery Hill, meeting a further loss of five horses.
From Gettysburg to the winter quarters of the Army of the Potomac at Brandy Station, which were reached December 3, the battery accompanied the army in all its marchings back and forth, including the attempted Mine Run campaign; but it was not in action during all these wanderings. To fill the vacancies in the roster of officers, the two second lieutenants were advanced to first lieutenants, and the quartermaster sergeant and first sergeant were made second lieutenants. Up to the close of the year 1863, cight recruits had been received and the loss from all causes had been 39, reducing the original membership of 146 to 115. With this well-
831
THE NINTH BATTERY.
disciplined force the Ninth set out upon the spring campaign of 1864. It was at that time attached to the Third Brigade of Reserve Artillery, Major Robert H. Fitzhugh commanding, the associate bat- teries of the brigade being B and C of the Eleventh New York, Battery H, First Ohio, and E, Fifth United States.
The camp at Brandy Station was quitted on the 4th of May and the battery during the day crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford. As next to no artillery was employed on either side during the battle of the Wilderness, the Ninth were not engaged, but the battery was detached from the reserve and was in position during the battle pro- tecting the supply trains and the camp; one man was wounded. It was not till the 16th that it rejoined the reserve, and on the follow- ing day, having been reduced to a four-gun battery, it reported to the Artillery Brigade of the Fifth Corps, commanded by Colonel Wainright. From that time to the 21st it formed part of the line of the Fifth Corps in front of Spottsylvania, but was not engaged.
Moving southward on the 21st in company with the First Divis- ion, the battery reached the North Anna the following day, and on the 23d crossed at Jericho Ford, taking part in the engagement which followed, having one man killed. After remaining in position till the 25th, it was relieved and the day following recrossed at Quarles Ford. On the 27th the Pamunkey was crossed near Han- over Town, and on the 30th the battery moved across Totopotomy Creek and was in action during the fighting of that afternoon. It moved to the vicinity of Bethesda Church next day, and to the Mechanicsville Road on the 2d of June, where it engaged and silenced a Confederate battery which had an enfilading fire on the Union line. Three days later the Fifth Corps was withdrawn from the right of the Union line and took position in reserve at Cold Harbor, pending the movement across the James river.
In this change of position the Fifth Corps took the advance, and after crossing the Chickahominy deployed across the roads leading toward Richmond, while the other corps in the rear pushed for the James. In carrying out this program the Ninth set forth on the evening of the 11th and reached Wilcox Landing on the James the 13th. That river was crossed the 16th, a night march followed, and the battery halted in front of Petersburg on the 17th. It was sharply engaged on the Baxter road, near the Avery House-the left of the Union line-on the 18th, when it covered the advance of
832
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
the charging brigades of the Fifth Corps, in the general attempt to advance the Union lines, the battery taking and holding a position. for three days within 500 yards of the Confederate inner line, and having a loss during the day of two killed and five wounded.
The Ninth were on the 21st assigned to the Third Division, Fifth Corps, (Pennsylvania Reserves, ) General Crawford commanding, and on the 24th took position in a redoubt on the Jerusalem road, directly in the rear of which Fort Davis was being constructed. This position was occupied till the 12th of July with a loss of but one man wounded, when, Fort Davis having been completed, the battery took position within it, commanding the ground to the left of the Plank road. It was relieved from garrison duty there on the 14th of August, and on the 18th moved with its division to the Weldon Railroad, going into battery between the Second and Third Divisions of the Corps and becoming engaged that afternoon, with a loss of one wounded. That night the position was intrenched, and the battery assisted in repulsing the two attacks of the follow- ing day. The nature of the ground being unfavorable to the Union lines, which narrowly escaped a disastrous flank attack by General Mahone's Division on the 19th, a stronger position was taken to the rear, where on the 21st a heavy attack was repulsed, the battery being in action some three hours. On the 2d of September it joined in a reconnaissance by its division and a cavalry force toward the Southside Railroad, and on the 3d was located in Fort Dushane, a fortification near the Weldon Railroad at Globe Tavern, or Yellow Tavern, named in honor of Colonel Dushane, commander of the Maryland Brigade, killed in the battle of the 21st of August.
The Battery was at this time commanded by Lieutenant Milton, Captain Howard being absent on leave from August 10 to December 12. On the 30th of September it accompanied a column to Peebles Farm, but was not engaged, and on returning resumed its quarters in Fort Dushane, but October 6 relieved the Eleventh Massachusetts Light Battery in Fort Howard, some distance to the right and in the front line of works. On the 27th it went with Crawford's Divis- ion to Hatcher's Run and assisted in covering the withdrawal of a part of the Second Corps, when it returned to camp near Globe Tavern and was once more made a six-gun organization. It was on the 2d of December assigned to General Ayers's Second Division, Fifth Corps, and on the 7th started on a railroad-destroying trip south-
833
THE NINTHI BATTERY.
ward, following the line of the Weldon road beyond the Nottaway river. Returning to camp near Yellow Tavern, the battery on the 12th welcomed back Captain Bigelow, and a week later went into winter quarters near "Red House," the guns being for a time placed in Fort Rice, in the line of works held by the Ninth Corps. After re- maining there a few weeks they were returned to the camp of the cais- sons, and through the winter alternated between the two locations.
During the year the battery had gained 50 in numbers, 69 recruits having been received, while the total losses had been but 19. Soon after returning to the command of the battery, Captain Bigelow, who had received the brevet of major, resigned on account of ill- health, as did Second Lieutenant Prescott, followed a month later, January 16, 1865, by Second Lieutenant Reed. To fill the vacancies thus created, Lieutenant Milton was promoted to captain ; First Sergeant George Murray of Boston was made second lieutenant and soon after first lieutenant; George Booth, Jr., of Boston was ap- pointed from civil life, and William Park, Jr., of Boston was pro- moted to fill the second lientenancies.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.