USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 34
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WE RHT
857
THIE FIFTEENTII BATTERY.
commanded by the senior first lieutenant, Captain Pearson being absent. On the 29th of December it left the forts, and January 2, 1864, embarked on the steamer Kate Dale, fitted with six guns and used as a gunboat, taking part in the expedition to Madison- ville under Colonel Kimball of the Twelfth Mainc.
The Fifteenth remained aboard the steamer till the 15th of Feb- ruary, when they landed at Lakeport, returned to New Orleans, and on the 5th of May removed to Terrell's Press, where they were stationed till the 17th of October. At that time the command, again under Lieutenant Rowse, took steamer up the Mississippi to the mouth of White river, Arkansas. In that vicinity, changing camp several times, the battery remained till the 7th of November, when it ascended White river 190 miles to Duvall's Bluff, remaining there for 20 days. It then sailed to Memphis, landed there on the 2d of December and staid till the 1st of January, 1865. The com- pany having received many recruits, and being above the standard of membership, the surplus was shortly afterward transferred to the Sixth Massachusetts Battery. Kennerville, La., was reached January 5, and at that place the command encamped till the 13th of February, when camp was changed to Greeneville, and a week later the battery embarked at Hikok's Landing on Lake Pontehar- train and sailed to Mobile Bay, where it remained three days, whence going to Barrancas, Fla., it reported to General C. C. Andrews, com- manding the Second Division, Thirteenth Corps, and was attached to his division, in preparation for the movement against Mobile.
The division marched to Pensacola March 11, where the force under General Steele was assembling, and on the 20th the movement northward by the Escambia river began. The battery with the ac- companying troops arrived before Fort Blakely on the 2d of April, and took an active part in the siege operations which followed, re- sulting in the surrender of the stronghold on the 9th. For their part in this affair the battery and its commander, Lieutenant Rowse, were highly complimented by General Andrews. On the 20th the Fifteenth accompanied the division on transports up the Alabama river to Selma, remained there till the 11th of May and then re- turned to Mobile. The guns and horses were "turned in" on the 30th of June and the command repaired to Fort Gaines in Mobile Bay. Thence on the 20th of July it embarked for Massachusetts, arriving at Readville Angust 1 and being mustered out on the 4th.
THE SIXTEENTH BATTERY.
T HE Sixteenth Light Battery was the last organization of that arm of the service to be sent out by Massachusetts. Its ren- dezvous was at Camp Meigs, Readville, where most of the men and the officers were mustered on the 11th of March, 1864. An addition to bring the number of men up to the full complement was made on the 4th of April, and on the 17th orders were received to proceed to Washington. The roster of officers was as follows :-
Captain, Henry D. Scott of New Bedford; first lieutenants, Lewis V. Osgood of Charlestown and Philip T. Woodfin, Jr., of Marble- head; second lieutenants, James MeCullum of Boston and Alonzo B. Langley of Brookline; quartermaster sergeant, James S. Savage of Boston; first sergeant, Anson S. Comee of Hardwick.
Leaving Massachusetts April 19, the command reached Washing- ton on the 21st, where by direction of General Howe, inspector of artillery, it reported to Major James A. Hall at Camp Barry. About a week later it was supplied with three-inch guns and with horses and equipments, going on the 14th of May to Fort Thayer, one of the fortifications to the northeast of Washington, located near the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Here it re- mained but eight days, when it was relieved and returned to Camp Barry; the horses and guns were turned in a few days later, and on the 1st of June the batterymen reported at Fort Lyon, southwest of Alexandria, one seetion going to Fort Weed, the command be- coming a part of the garrison of those forts and devoting them- selves to heavy artillery drill.
As General Early's army approached Washington by way of Maryland, some six weeks later, the command was ordered to Fort Reno, Tennallytown. Leaving Fort Lyon at night of July 10, the Sixteenth went by rail to Washington and marching thence to their destination reported to General Harding, by whom they were as-
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THE SIXTEENTII BATTERY.
signed to Fort Kearny, and remained there till the arrival of the Sixth Corps from the Army of the Potomac and the battle in front of Fort Stevens caused the withdrawal of Early's forces. On the 12th the battery reported again to Major Hall at Camp Barry to be remounted, the following day drew four light 12-pounders with horses, and with the exception of a march to Fort Stevens and an immediate return on the 2d of August, remained at Camp Barry till September 5. It was then ordered to report to Albany, N. Y., and set out at once, reaching its destination on the afternoon of the 7th. Reporting to the assistant provost marshal, General Townsend, it was quartered in the Troy Road Barracks and re- mained there till the 16th of November.
At that time orders were received to return to Washington, and on the morning of the 19th the battery re-entered the familiar quar- ters at Camp Barry. A week later two more 12-pounders were issued to the company, completing the armament, and on the 6th of December the Sixteenth erossed Long Bridge into Virginia, report- ing to Colonel William Gamble commanding the First Separate Brigade, Twenty-second Corps, at Fairfax Court House. There the head-quarters remained, one section being sent to Vienna and one to Fairfax Station, the winter and spring passing with no more notable event than a march to Loudon Valley during March, 1865, accompanying the Eighth Illinois Cavalry.
Preparations for the return of the battery to Massachusetts began on the 17th of June, when the preliminary orders were received. The guns, horses and other government property were taken to Washing- ton on the 18th and " turned in," and the following day the home- ward journey began. Readville was reached on the 22d, but it was not till the 13th of July that the men were paid and discharged.
THIRD BATTALION OF RIFLES.
T HE Third Battalion of Rifles, at the outbreak of the rebellion, had its head-quarters at Worcester, two of the three com- panies being located in that city and the other at Holden, the towns in the vicinity being generally represented in the ranks of the latter. To these Company D, recruited in Boston on the 19th of April, 1861, was afterward attached, the entire battalion being made up and officered as follows :-
Major, Charles Devens, Jr .; adjutant, John M. Goodhue; quarter- master, James E. Estabrook; surgeon, Oramel Martin; sergeant major, Arthur A. Goodell; quartermaster sergeant, George T. White, all of Worcester.
Company A, City Guards of Worcester-Captain, Augustus R. B. Sprague; first lieutenant, Josiah Pickett; second lieutenant, George C. Joslin; third lieutenant, Orson Moulton; fourth lieutenant, Elijah A. Harkness.
Company B, Holden Rifles-Captain, Joseph II. Gleason; first lieu- tenant, Phineas R. Newell, both of Holden; second lieutenant, Edward F. Devens of Charlestown; third lieutenant. Samuel F. Woods of Barre; fourth lieutenant, George Bascom of Holden.
Company C, Emmet Guards of Worcester-Captain, Michael P. Mc- Conville ; first lieutenant, Michael O'Driscoll ; second lieutenant, Matthew J. McCafferty: third lieutenant, Thomas O'Neill; fourth lieu- tenant, Maurice Melvin.
Company D, Boston - Captain, Albert Dodd ; first lieutenant, Charles Dodd; second lieutenant. Cornelius G. Attwood; third lieu- tenant, George A. Hicks; fourth lieutenant, Joseph Nason.
Major Devens was directed on the 20th of April to report at Washington with his three companies at once, and at 5 o'clock that afternoon the battalion stood in line in the streets of Worcester ready for the departure. The command was addressed by the mayor of the city and others, and that evening took cars for New York, where it arrived early the following morning. It was entertained at the armory of the Seventh New York Regiment during the day,
861
THE THIRD BATTALION OF RIFLES.
being visited and addressed by Senator Sumner, and that evening took the transport Ariel for Annapolis, reaching there on the morn- ing of the 24th. There the battalion remained till the 2d of May, when it was ordered to garrison Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, and went thither by steamer, reaching the fort next morning.
Company D was meantime being equipped, drilled and disciplined at Boston, and on the 2d of May it left that city on the steamer Cambridge under scaled instructions, not to be opened till Boston Light was passed. These directed the captain to proceed by way of Fortress Monroe and the Potomac to Washington, expressing the wish of Governor Andrew that " the ship Cambridge shall reach Washington and demonstrate that a Massachusetts ship manned with Massachusetts men, shall be the first ship to arrive by that route, as our Sixth Regiment was the first to arrive at Washington, through the hostile city of Baltimore." These instructions wore strictly carried ont, and the company was the first organization to reach the capital by that route. After remaining at Washington 12 days it was sent to join the battalion at Fort MeHenry, and on the 19th of May the four companies were mustered into the gov- ernment service.
The history of the battalion was marked by no notable event. The men were drilled in handling the heavy guns and in infantry tactics, winning much praise for their good conduct, and at the re- quest of General Dix, commanding,the department, remaining two weeks after the expiration of their term. Major Devens was mean- time promoted to the colonelcy of the Fifteenth Regiment and Ad- jutant Goodhue to a captaincy in the regular army. The command returned to Massachusetts and was mustered out on the 3d of August. It was commanded by Captain Sprague after the promo- tion of Major Devens, and during its service lost two men by death from disease.
THE FIRST SHARP-SHOOTERS.
T HE First Company of Sharp-shooters, generally known as the Andrew Sharp-shooters, in compliment to the governor of the Commonwealth, was recruited at Lynnfield during August, 1861, and left for the front on the 2d of September, being mustered into service on that day. The commissioned officers of the com- pany were :--
Captain, John Saunders of Salem; first lieutenant, William Gleason of Lexington; second lieutenant. George C. Gray of Salem.
The enlisted men were 98 in number, and were armed with the telescopic rifle, each man providing his own weapon. These, while very heavy, were considered the most efficient rifles then known. They weighed from 20 to 70 pounds, and were necessarily fired from a rest. They were made by gunsmiths in various sections of the country to suit the individual, the one feature in common being that each was provided with a telescopie tube running the length of the barrel, at the front of which fine threads were crossed, allowing great nicety in sighting. The rifles were muzzle loaders, shooting a coni- cal ball used with a patch and propelled with a very heavy charge of powder; an expert in their use could load, aim and fire about once in two minutes.
On reaching Washington the company was, by request of Gover- nor Andrew, assigned to General Lander's Brigade, then forming part of General Stone's Corps of Observation near Poolesville, Md. Their first experience with the enemy was in a skirmish near Edwards Ferry on the 1st and 2d of October, the results of which were eminently satisfactory to the riflemen. On the second day some 10 of the sharp-shooters, posted behind a fence, naided checked the advance of a Confederate regiment. The company had a part in the subsequent operations in that vicinity, extending through
863
THE FIRST SHARP-SHOOTERS.
most of the month, and when General Lander left the brigade to take command of the division posted on the upper Potomac near Rom- ney the sharp-shooters accompanied him, being familiarly known as his body guard. After his death in March, 1862, the company re- mained for a time under General Shields, his successor, being nomi- nally attached to the Third Brigade, Colonel E. B. Tyler commanding.
Soon after the opening of the Peninsular campaign the command was ordered to report to the Fifteenth Massachusetts Regiment, then forming part of the First Brigade, Second Division, Second Corps. General Sumner commanded the corps, General Sedgwick the divis- ion, and Colonel Alfred Sully the brigade, which consisted of the First Minnesota, Thirty-fourth and Eighty-second New York, in ad- dition to the Fifteenth, with the Russell Company of Sharp-shooters of Minnesota. On joining the regiment in front of Yorktown the company was at once put into service to annoy the Confederate gun- ners, and won much commendation for the skill displayed during the siege which followed. The marksmen themselves escaped with few casualties, having but three or four men wounded during the entire Peninsular campaign. In that, as in subsequent campaigns, the routine of the company was identical with that of the regiment to which it was attached.
Important changes occurred among the officers during the early part of 1862. First Lieutenant Gleason resigned on the 3d of April and was succeeded by William Berry of Boston. On the 30th of May Second Lieutenant Gray resigned, John L. Perley being com- missioned to the vacancy. The latter resigned July 12 and was succeeded by Henry Martin of Newburyport, all of the promotions being of sergeants. At Antietam, on the 17th of September, the company went into the battle with the regiment and suffered severely, having ten killed and 17 wounded, among the former being Captain Saunders and First Lieutenant Berry. Second Lieutenant Martin took command of the remnant of the company. Ile was in due time promoted to be first lieutenant and L. Emerson Bicknell of Boston succeeded him as second lieutenant.
The company had become reduced to 18 men present for duty when on the 9th of December William Plumer of Cambridge, who had been commissioned captain, arrived with 40 recruits. On the 11th, while the engineers were attempting to lay the bridges at Fredericksburg, the sharp-shooters were placed along the northern
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864
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
bank of the river to oppose the southern marksmen who were firing upon the bridge-builders. After the bridges were completed the company crossed and remained that night on pieket near them ; ad- vancing into the town next morning, the command remained there for 24 hours, till on the morning of the 13th the preparations were being made for the attack on the hights. It then accompanied the Fifteenth Regiment into the fields in the rear of the city, but was presently withdrawn and deployed from the Gordon house to the cemetery to give its attention to the Confederate artillerists, which it did with effect during the afternoon. At night the company with- drew to the city, and remained there till the troops recrossed the river, when it returned to the camp formerly ocenpied, having lost but two wounded during the battle.
On the 17th of April, 1863, the company was detached from the Fifteenth Regiment, of which it had been practically a part, and whose routine duties it had shared, and was attached to head-quarters of the Second Division, Second Corps. At the battle of Chancellors- ville that division, commanded by General Gibbon, laid bridges and crossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg in co-operation with General Sedgwick's Sixth Corps, and the sharp-shooters were sent across on the 3d of May and again on the 4th to assist the skirmish- ers, but met no loss. The company then returned to its camp on the north side of the river, and while there First Lieutenant Martin re- signed his commission.
On the 9th of June, the picket lines of the Sixth Corps on the south bank of the river near Deep Rim, below the city, being much annoyed by the enemy's sharp-shooting, Captain Plumer with ten men went to the scene. The following day Lieutenant Bicknell with a larger force went over, and after a day or two of sharp prac- tice forced the Confederates to ask for a cessation of picket firing. The position across the river was soon after abandoned, and the entire Union army moved northward, the sharp-shooters accompany- ing the Second Division, Sixth Corps, till Wolf Run Shoals were reached, when they rejoined their own division and accompanied it to Gettysburg, going npon the field during the forenoon of the 2d of July and serving through the remainder of the battle. During the third day, Lieutenant Bieknell, who had command of the larger part of the company, posted near the left center of the Union lines, rendered valuable service in connection with the charge and repulse
865
THIE FIRST SHARP-SHOOTERS.
of the enemy on that part of the field. The loss of the company was eight, four of whom were killed or mortally wounded.
The sharp-shooters followed the fortunes of the Army of the Potomac till the 16th, when it reached Sandy Hook, opposite Har- per's Ferry. There Lieutenant Bicknell was discharged for dis- ability and Captain Plumer went to the hospital, from which he also was discharged. The company was left in command of First Sergeant Oscar H. Clement, who had received a commission as first lieuten- ant. Before being mustered, however, he was dismissed the service by order of court-martial October 5. Samuel G. Gilbreth of Bel- fast, Me., who had entered the company as a private at its organiza- tion, was made first lieutenant dating from September 26, though not mustered till late in the year. .
On the 5th of August the company, then in camp at Morrisville, near Warrenton, was attached to head-quarters of the Third Bri- gade, Second Division, Second Corps, Colonel Norman J. Hall com- manding. A week later, however, it was attached to the Twentieth Massachusetts, a regiment of the brigade, commanded at the time by Major Abbott. Though taking part in all the experiences of the regiment from that time, it was not till the engagement at Bristoe Station, October 14, that the sharp-shooters took a prominent part. In that affair, while a detachment of ten sent out to the right as skirmishers brought in a number of prisoners, the remainder of the company under First Sergeant Gilbreth, (not yet mustered as lieu- tenant,) going to the left, captured three Confederate cannon, from which the gunners had been driven, and dragged two of them within the Union lines. The loss of the company was two wounded. From Bristoe's the command moved that night northward to Centerville, awaiting battle there till the 19th, then following the Southern army southward again to near Warrenton, and remaining there till the 7th of November. The company then crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford in connection with the capture of Rappahannock Station by General Sedgwick, moving on a few miles and encamping near Brandy Station till the Mine Run movement.
Camp was broken for that fruitless expedition on the morning of the 26th and that afternoon the Rapidan was crossed at Germania Ford. The enemy were encountered next day at Robertson's Tay- ern, and in the skirmishing which ensued during the three or four days on which the armies confronted each other the company had
866
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
its full share, losing two men wounded and having one killed by guerrillas on picket near Germania Ford, where a small detachment had been left when the main body advanced. The return march began in the evening of December 1, and 25 hours later the old camp near Brandy Station was reached, a distance of 35 miles, made with only a stop of one hour and without a man absent from the ranks.
As a separate organization the company had practically no further experience. It entered the Wilderness campaign of 1864 with the Twentieth Regiment, and shared with that organization the hard- ships which followed, its small membership constantly diminishing from casualty and exposure. Lieutenant Gilbreth, its only com- missioned officer, was killed in the assault on the works before Petersburg June 18, and soon after the remnant of the company was attached to the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment, with which its service and experience were thenceforth blended.
THE SECOND SHARP-SHOOTERS.
T HE Second Company of Sharp-shooters was organized at Lyn- field after the departure of the Andrew Company, in Septem- ber, 1862. The commissioned officers were as follows :-
Captain, Lewis E. Wentworth; first lieutenant, Charles D. Stiles; second lieutenant, Alvin 1. Evans, all of Salem.
Some 25 of the men were provided with telescopic rifles, similar to those of the First Company, while the others had heavy open sight weapons. The recruits were mustered at various times during August and September, and the organization left the state with Colonel Henry Wilson's Regiment (the Twenty-second), to which it was attached and with which its history is completely identified. Of its officers, Lieutenant Evans resigned July 5, 1862, and was succeeded by Sergeant Robert Smith of Salem. First Lieutenant Stiles resigned on the 4th of August, and was succeeded by Sergeant Edward Upton of Salem, who in turn was discharged for disability on the 29th of January, 1863, the vacancy being filled by the pro- motion of Second Lieutenant Smith, who on the 19th of May was commissioned captain, vice Wentworth discharged for disability, and commanded the company till its muster out. Ivory Leach of Lowell was made second lieutenant from January 30, 1863, but was discharged for disability on the 20th of June following, the vacancy not being filled. Winsor M. Ward of South Danvers was promoted to first lieutenant vice Smith, and was discharged for disability on the 21st of September, 1864. The company during its service lost eight enlisted men killed in action, most of them at or about Spott- sylvania, in May, 1864. It was mustered out of service October 17, 1864, those on the roll whose term had not expired being trans- ferred to the Thirty-second Regiment.
UNATTACHED COMPANIES.
N addition to all the regiments, batteries, battalions and the com- panies of sharp-shooters heretofore sketched, Massachusetts at various times during the war furnished 38 companies which were mostly enlisted for short terms of service. As in some cases the same company served for more than one term, this list com- prises but 31 different organizations. These except when otherwise designated were known simply as Unattached Companies of Infan- try, and served in the forts along the Massachusetts coast or at . other points in the state where their services were needed. Thirteen companies were organized during April and May, 1864, and served for 90 days; one of these with nine new ones followed with a 100- days' term, and when that expired six of the latter companies, with four new ones were mustered in for a year's service, but before the time expired the war had closed and the organizations were dissolved. The rosters and dates of service of the several organizations were as follows :-
First Company, Boston-Captain, Lewis J. Bird; first lieutenant, Moses E. Bigelow; second lieutenant, John E. Alden. Served from . April 29 to August 1, 1864.
Second Company, Beverly-Captain, Francis E. Porter; first lieu- tenant, Hugh J. Munsey ; second lieutenant, Eleazer Giles. This company was first mustered May 3, 1864, and served till August 6 fol- lowing; on the succeding day, with the same officers but many changes among the enlisted men, it took up the 100-days' term from which it was discharged November 15, and the next day was mustered for one vear. Leonard G. Dennis of Gloucester succeeded to the captaincy at that time, and the rank and file was largely changed, the entire com- pany with few exceptions being credited to Gloucester. It was mus- tered out July 7, 1865, three of its members having died of disease during the last enlistment.
Third Company, Newburyport-Captain, Luther . Dame; first lieu- tenant, Tristram Talbot; second lieutenant, Charles L. Ayers. This company served from May 3 to August 5, 1864.
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THIE UNATTACHED COMPANIES.
Fourth Company, Chelsea-Captain, Alpheus J. Hillbourn; first lieutenant, John Quincy Adams; second lieutenant, Hadley P. Burrill. Served from May 3 to August 6, 1864.
Fifth Company, Fall River-Captain, David H. Dyer; first lieuten- ant, Thomas J. Borden ; second lieutenant, Bradford D. Davol. Served May 4 to August 2, 1864.
Sixth Company, Westboro-Captain, Charles P. Winslow; first lieu- tenant, John Jones; second lieutenant, William H. Fay. Same as Fifth Company.
Seventh Company, Boston-Captain, Albert E. Proctor; first lieu- tenant, George G. Nichols; second lieutenant, Thomas A. Cranston. May 4 to Angust 5, 1864. One member died of disease.
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