USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 39
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
of July, 1863, and in front of Petersburg July 19, 1864. He was mustered out July 1, 1865, having received the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers, "for meritorious conduct in the field," from March 13 of that year. His health was permanently broken by his wounds and hardships and he died of consumption resulting therefrom in 1881.
Brevet Major General Oliver Edwards
Of Springfield entered the service as adjutant of the Tenth Regi- ment, but was soon detailed as senior aide on the staff of General D. N. Couch commanding the division, in which capacity he served
BREVET MAJOR GENERAL. OLIVER EDWARDS
with distinction till early August, 1862, when he was commissioned major and directed to organize the Thirty-seventh Regiment, of which he was made colonel. He served in that capacity till May 9, 1864, when he was given command of his brigade, which he retained till the 6th of July, when the remnants of the brigade were transferred to the Third Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps, of which Edwards was given the command. With this force he fought at Fort Stevens
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and Opequan in the campaign against Early. At the latter battle he commanded the division after the death of General Russell and the wounding of General Upton, and in recognition of his services on that occasion he was made post commandant at Winchester with his brigade and some other troops as garrison. This position he retained for some time after the return of the Sixth Corps to Petersburg to rejoin the Army of the Potomac, and was offered by General Sheridan the position of provost marshal general on his staff; but Edwards preferred the command of his old brigade, to which, at his special request, he was returned in February, 1865. In the assault of April 2 on the lines at Petersburg his brigade took an important part, being the first to break through the Confederate works, and next morning General Edwards received from the mayor of Petersburg the surrender of the city, very soon after its evacua- tion by General Lee. For his services at this time he received the commission of brigadier general to date from May 19, having been brevetted for his gallantry at Opequan; and in the sharp fight at Sailor's Creek April 6 he won the brevet of major general of vol- unteers. On the 15th of January, 1866, he was honorably dis- charged from the United States service.
Brigadier General Henry L. Eustis
Was a graduate of West Point in the class of 1842, standing · at the head of his class, (of which Robert E. Lee, the Con- federate commander, was a member,) and served in the Engineer Corps as a lieutenant till the fall of 1849. The opening of the war found him a professor in the Lawrence Scientific School at Cambridge, Mass. He was commissioned colonel of the Tenth Regiment August 15, 1862, vice Colonel Henry S. Briggs, pro- moted, and during the battle of Salem Church, May 3, 1863, took command of his brigade as senior colonel, Colonel Browne, the acting brigadier, being severely wounded. This command he retained till the 9th of May, 1864, when he was transferred to the Fourth Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps. His commission as brigadier general dated from September 12, 1863. He resigned from the service June 27, 1864, and returned to his professor- ship, which had been held for him, and in which he continued till his death in January, 1885.
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Brevet Brigadier General Charles Everett
Of Boston was instrumental in the formation of the Sixth Massa- chusetts Light Battery, of which he was commissioned captain on the 20th of January, 1862. He accompanied the battery to New Orleans and remained its commander till the 6th of September fol- lowing, when he was transferred to the Second Louisiana Volun- teers, an organization of white men recruited in and about New Orleans, of which he was made lieutenant colonel. His services were thenceforth with that regiment, of which he became colonel, serving till the close of the war and receiving the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers to date from the 13th of March, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General William O. Fiske
Of Lowell entered the service April 15, 1861, as clerk to General Butler when the latter responded to the call of the general govern-
BREVET BRIG. GEN WILLIAM O. FISKE.
ment for a brigadier general to accompany the Massachusetts militia then called into service. After reaching Annapolis he was made confidential clerk and private messenger and served in that capacity
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GENERAL OFFICERS.
till General Butler returned to Massachusetts as commander of the Department of New England to recruit six regiments for special service. At the capture of Hatteras Inlet Clerk Fiske swam ashore from the fleet with dispatches for the commander of the land forees -a piece of heroism which received wide notice and praise. On the establishment of the rendezvous at Camp Chase, Lowell, he was given a place in the commissary department, and was later named by General Butler for a lieutenancy, but was not commissioned' by the governor. At Ship Island he was promoted to captain and made commissary of subsistence to General Shepley, serving for a portion of the time in that capacity while that officer was military commander of Louisiana. When General Butler received authority to raise recruits in the Department of the Gulf, Captain Fiske was made quartermaster and commissary at United States Barracks in New Orleans, and was soon after advanced to major of the first (white) Louisiana Regiment. That command took part in nearly all the battles which followed in the department, Major Fiske being wounded in the leg at Irish Bend, April 12, 1863. The colonel of the regiment having been killed in the same engagement, Fiske was promoted to the vacancy and commanded his regiment till the close of the war, except during a portion of the Red River campaign in the spring of 1864, when he was in command of the brigade. ITis brevet rank dated from March 13, 1865. On being mustered out of service, July 12, 1865, he returned to Lowell and engaged in busi- ness, where he died February 2, 1886.
Brevet Brigadier General Jones Frankle
Of Haverhill assisted in the organization of the Fourteenth Mas- sachusetts Regiment, with which he served as captain at Fort War- ren, but was not mustered with it, transferring his sword to the Seventeenth, of which he was commissioned major August 1, 1861. IIe served with that rank for nearly two years in North Carolina, being upon the staff of General Foster as inspector of the depart- ment; he was provost marshal on the Tarboro and Goldsboro ex- peditions, and was engaged in the construction of several of the Newbern forts, in addition to his duty with the regiment. On the 13th of May, 1863, he was commissioned colonel of the Second Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, and was for a time in command of
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
Fort Norfolk, Virginia. On the 1st of January following he was placed in command of the defenses of Newbern, and was in com- mand of the District of Newbern during the yellow fever epidemic of the autumn of 1864. In October he was made military gover- nor of Plymouth, N. C., and while there commanded the expeditions
BREVET BRIG. GEN. JONES FRANKLE.
to Colerain and Hamilton, N. C. After the capture of Wilming- ton, carly in 1865, he was placed in command of the defenses of the Cape Fear river, and was thus during nearly the entire term of his service on detached duty which demanded much military and executive ability. He was mustered out with his regiment on the 3d of September, 1865, and from that date received the brevet rank of brigadier of volunteers.
Brevet Brigadier General Arthur A. Goodell
Of Worcester entered the service April 19, 1861, as sergeant major in the Third Battalion of Rifles, serving for three months and re- turning as adjutant. At the organization of the Thirty-sixth Regi- ment,in the summer of 1862, he was commissioned captain of Com-
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pany C, August 16, promoted major January 29 following, and lieu- tenant colonel July 31. From that time he commanded the regi- ment till October 10, when he received a severe wound at the battle of Blue Springs, Tenn. Returning to the regiment on the 1st of
BREVET BRIG. GEN. ARTHUR A. GOODELL.
April, 1864, he resumed the command for a short time, but being incapable of active service in the field resigned May 5 of the same year, subsequently receiving the brevet of brigadier general to date from March 13, 1865, "for gallant and meritorious couduct in the field during the war." General Goodell died at Worcester on his 43d birthday, June 30, 1882.
Brevet Brigadier General William Gates
Was at the opening of the war of the rebellion the oldest living Massachusetts graduate of West Point on the rolls of the United States Army, having entered the military academy March 2, 1801, and graduated March 6, 1806, when he received a commission as second lieutenant in the regiment of artillerists. He served during the war of 1812 as acting adjutant of the regiment of light artillery,
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
being promoted captain March 3, 1813, and on the reorganization of the army, June 1, 1821, was transferred to the Second Artillery. He was on duty in Charleston Harbor during the threatened nulli- fication of 1832-3; was engaged in the the Indian War in Florida from 1836 to 1838, and in the war with Mexico, 1846-8, as governor of Tampico. He had then attained the rank of colonel of the Third Artillery, dating from October 13, 1845, which he held up to the outbreak of the rebellion. He had then been on waiting orders from 1854, and was on leave of absence until 1863, when on the 1st of June he was retired from active service, " having been borne on the army register more than 45 years." He did not, however, with- hold his sword in the time of his country's need, but was during 1863-4 in command of Fort Trumbull near New London, Ct., and for the two years following of Fort Constitution, at Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire. He was brevetted brigadier general United States army, March 13, 1865, " for long and faithful services in the army." General Gates died at New York October 7, 1868.
Brevet Major General Oliver P. Gooding
Of Indiana, while not a resident of Massachusetts, ably filled for three years the position of colonel of the Thirty-first Massachu- setts Volunteers. He was graduated at West Point in the class of 1858 and attached to the Fourth United States Infantry as brevet second lieutenant, being promoted in February, 1859, to second lieutenant in the Tenth Infantry. He shared in the Utah Expedi- tion of that and the following years under General Albert Sidney Johnston, and with a portion of his regiment was on duty in the defenses of Washington from October, 1861, as a part of General Sykes's command of regulars. Being then first lieutenant in the regular service, he was on the 8th of February, 1862, commissioned colonel of the Thirty-first Massachusetts.with which he accompanied General Butler to Ship Island and thence to New Orleans. During that year he served at New Orleans and Fort Jackson, but about the beginning of 1863, General Banks having taken command of the department with an increased force, Colonel Gooding was placed in command of the Third Brigade, Third Division, Nineteenth Corps. This brigade he commanded during the year, its designa- tion being changed after the capture of Port Hudson to Second
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GENERAL OFFICERS.
Brigade, First Division. In the winter following, Colonel Gooding was appointed to the command of the Fifth Brigade of the Cavalry Division, Department of the Gulf, and served with that organization during the Red River campaign, being in command of the division for a short time and of the brigade until November following, when the Thirty-first Regiment being reduced to a battalion by the ex- piration of its original term of enlistment, he was mustered out of the volunteer service. During the winter of 1864-5 he served at New Orleans on inspection duty, and March 20, 1865, as captain in the Tenth United States Infantry, resigned his commission. He received the brevet rank of brigadier general and also that of major general of volunteers from the 13th of March of that year, "for gallant conduct in the assault on the enemy's works at Port Hudson in 1863, and gallant and distinguished conduct throughout the Red River campaign in 1864."
Brevet Major General George HI. Gordon
Graduated from West Point in 1846 and with the brevet rank of second lieutenant in the Mounted Rifles went at once into service in the Mexican war. He took part in all of General Scott's battles, was twice wounded and received the brevet of first lieutenant. He afterward served with his regiment in Oregon, on the frontier, and for a year in the coast survey, resigning his commission of first lieu- tenant in October, 1854. Entering the legal profession at Boston he served till the firing on Fort Sumter, when he gave his energies to the formation of the Second Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, of which he was commissioned colonel. At Cedar Mountain, on Pope's retreat and at Antietam he commanded the Third Brigade, First Division, Twelfth Corps, with signal ability, his commission as brigadier general dating from June 12, 1862. Relinquishing this command on account of failing health, he was later placed in com- mand of a division in Southern Virginia, having part in the defense of Suffolk when besieged by the Confederate Longstreet, and in the movements of the Union forces against Richmond from that direc- tion under General Dix. Joining the Army of the Potomac during the pursuit of Lee from Gettysburg, his division was soon after ordered to assist General Gilmore in his operations on the South Carolina coast, where he remained till July, 1864. Going then to
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
the Gulf, he operated on the Mississippi in keeping open communi- cation with General Steele in Arkansas and later under General Granger in the operations against Mobile. During the following winter he was selected by General Grant for the command of the
BREVET MAJ. GEN. GEORGE H. GORDON.
District of East Virginia, with head-quarters at Norfolk, where he remained till the giving way of his health in 1865, being mustered out April 24 of that year, two weeks after the date of his brevet of major general. General Gordon died suddenly at his home in Framingham, August 31, 1886, aged 61.
Brevet Brigadier General Patrick R. Guiney
Of Boston was commissioned on the 11th of June, 1861, as captain of Company D, Meagher Guard, Ninth Massachusetts Volunteers. He was promoted to major on the 24th of October, and to lieuten- ant colonel on the 28th of January, 1862. Colonel Cass of the Ninth being mortally wounded at the battle of Gaines. Mills, Lieu- tenant Colonel Guiney succeeded to the command of the regiment,
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GENERAL OFFICERS.
of which he was commissioned colonel July 26, 1862. He served in that capacity till the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, when
BREVET BRIG. GEN. PATRICK R. GUINEY.
he was wounded in the face and temporarily disabled. He was mus- tered out of service with his command June 21 following, and re- ceived the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers dating from the 13th of March, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General Edward N. Hallowell
Of Medford was engaged in mercantile pursuits at the opening of the war and saw his first military service on the staff of General John C. Fremont in Missouri in 1861. On the 11th of January, 1862, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Twentieth Mas- sachusetts, and was advanced to first lieutenant November 12 follow- ing. On the 6th of March, 1868, he was discharged for promotion, being made captain in the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (colored) Regiment, then being formed, and when the regiment was fully organized he became its major, dating from April 17. The lieuten-
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MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
.
ant colonel being transferred to the Fifty-fifth, Major Hallowell was in due course promoted to the vacancy, to date from May 31, and in leading the left wing of the regiment in its charge upon Fort Wagner, July 18, was seriously wounded. Colonel Shaw being killed at the same time, Hallowell was promoted to the colonelcy, and when his wounds were healed took command of the regiment. In the autumn of 1864 he was in command of the post on Morris Island, from which in the early part of December he went to com- mand the Second Brigade, of which his regiment formed a part. During most of the time thereafter he was acting brigadier, render- ing distinguished service during General Potter's raid into the in- terior of South Carolina in April, 1865. He was mustered out with his regiment August 20 following, his brevet of brigadier general dating from June 27, 1865. General Hallowell died at his home in West Medford, July 26, 1871, being at the time a member of Gov- ernor Claflin's military staff.
Brevet Brigadier General Alfred S. Hartwell
Of Natick, who had graduated at Harvard College in 1858, was at the outbreak of the rebellion a teacher at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. Recognizing at once his duty as a patriot, he entered the Third Regiment Missouri Reserve Corps and served as a cor- poral under the three-months' call of April, 1861. Returning to his native state, lie joined Company F of the Forty-fourth Regiment, nine-months' troops, of which during September, 1862, he was com- missioned first lieutenant and served in that capacity till conmis- sioned captain in the Fifty-fourth Regiment, March 31, 1863. He did not accompany that regiment to the field, however, but assisted in the organization of the Fifty-fifth, of which he was made lieu- tenant colonel May 30. On the resignation of Colonel Hallowell he was advanced to the vacancy, dating from November 3, 1863. At the battle of James Island, July 2, 1864, Colonel Hartwell had command of a brigade, and on the 13th of that month lie was placed in command of the post of Folly Island and did not there- after for more than a few days return to the command of his regi- ment, being again appointed to the command of a brigade just pre- vious to the battle of Honey Hill. In that engagement he was wounded and had his horse killed under him while charging the
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GENERAL OFFICERS.
enemy's works at the head of his troops. He was extricated with difficulty by some of his soldiers and while being borne from the field received two additional wounds. For his gallantry on this oc- casion he received the brevet of brigadier general, dating from De- cember 30, 1864. In January following, having recovered suffi- ciently from his wounds, he was placed on special duty at Hilton Head; but a few days later he was again at the head of his brigade making incursions into the coasts in the vicinity, and thus engaged he was active till the surrender of the Confederate armies ended active hostilities. He was afterward with his brigade encamped at Summerville and Orangeburg, remaining at the latter place during the summer of 1865, and though accompanying his favorite Fifty- fifth Regiment to Massachusetts at its muster out, he remained in the service till the 3d of April, 1866.
Brevet Brigadier General George P. Hawkes
Of Templeton served with honor in the Twenty-first Regiment, being one of the captains at the organization of that command, promoted to major September 2, 1862, and to lieutenant colonel in December following. After the resignation of Colonel Clark, in April, 1863, he commanded the regiment in its varied service, with which his history was identical, until July 3, 1864. when failing health re- quired his resignation. Probably the most noteworthy military event in his experience was the recapture of the Union skirmish line during the siege of Knoxville, when Lieutenant Colonel Hawkes admirably directed with perfect success a charge of two regiments placed under his command. His brevet of brigadier general of volunteers dated from March 13, 1865.
Brevet Major General Joseph Hayes
Of Boston was commissioned major of the Eighteenth Massachusetts Regiment at its organization, July 26, 1861, and on the promotion of Lieutenant Colonel Ingraham succeeded to the vacaney, his ad- vancement dating from the 25th of August, 1862. He became colonel of the regiment on the promotion of Colonel Barnes to brigadier general, November 29, 1862, and on the 1st of Septem- ber, 1863, took command of the First Brigade, First Division, Fifth
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Corps, which he held till the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac for the campaign of 1864. He then returned to the com- mand of his regiment, and gallantly led it in the battle of the Wilderness, where he received a severe wound in the head during the fighting of the first day. He was commissioned brigadier gen- eral of volunteers from the 12th of May, 1864, and on recovering from his wound was assigned to the command of a brigade in Ayers's Division of the Fifth Corps. At the battle of Weldon Rail- road, August 21, 1864, he was taken prisoner and was not again in active command in the field, being mustered out on the 24th of August, 1865. His brevet of major general of volunteers dated from March 13, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General Guy V. Henry
Represented Massachusetts only as the colonel of her Fortieth Regi- ment. He was born in Indian Territory, being the son of Major William S. Henry of the United States Army, was appointed from the state of New York to the military academy, graduating in 1861. At the battle of Bull Run he was an aide on the staff of General McDowell, winning complimentary mention, and subsequently serv- ing in the Department of the South. He commanded a battery at the battle of Pocotaligo, S. C., and took part in the operations on Folly Island, commanding batteries during all the operations against Forts Wagner and Gregg. In November, 1863, he took command of the Fortieth Massachusetts Regiment, and when, two months later, that regiment took the field as mounted infantry he was given command of the Light Brigade, including his own regiment, a bat- talion of cavalry and a battery of artillery. With this command he took an important part in the battle of Olustec, Fla., and in numerous skirmishes. When the brigade was broken up in April, 1864, he accompanied his regiment to Virginia and was from that time to the surrender of Lee in command of a brigade in the Army of the James, his commands being successively the First Brigade, Second Division, Tenth Corps; First Brigade, Third Division, Eight- eenth Corps ; and Third Brigade, Third Division, Twenty-fourth Corps. In the various operations against Petersburg and Richmond, including the battle of Cold Harbor, he commanded with marked ability, receiving the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers from October 28, 1864. Ile also received brevets in the regular line
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GENERAL OFFICERS.
¥
"for gallant and meritorious services" at Pocotaligo, Olustec, in front of Petersburg and during the war, giving him the brevet rank of colonel. Following the surrender of Lee, he was transferred to the plains, where he has since rendered important service, being transferred to the Ninth Cavalry in 1869. During the winter of 1874-5 he was badly frozen in an expedition into the Black Hills, and the following June at the battle of Rosebud, Montana, with Sitting Bull's tribe, he was shot through the face, losing the sight of his left eye.
Brevet Major General Edward W. Hincks
Of Lynn had been for years a capable officer in the Massachusetts Militia, and when the Eighth Regiment was called for three months'
CON.
BREVET MAJ GEN. EDWARD W. HINCKS.
service after the firing upon Fort Sumter, he went to the front as its lieutenant colonel. Previous to this, anticipating the coming of war, he had personally visited Washington and asked to be com- missioned in the regular army. ITis request received favorable con-
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sideration, and on the 26th of April, 1861, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Second United States Cavalry ; but re- signed on the 4th of June following, that he might devote himself to the volunteer troops. On the 16th of May he was promoted to the coloneley of the Eighth, Colonel Munroe having resigned, and with it he served till the 1st of August when it was mustered out. Two days later he was commissioned colonel of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment, then being organized under the three- years' call, and led that worthy organization to the field. At the battle of Ball's Bluff, he was in command of the Union forces on Harrison's Island during and succeeding the engagement. In the Peninsular campaign of the following spring he was severely wounded at the battle of Glendale; and while not fully recovered, rejoined his regiment in time to take command of the brigade at the Second Bull Run, though not engaged. At Antietam, where his masterly handling of his regiment won great praise, he was again wounded, his right arm being shattered, and he was also shot through the body. These injuries were expected to prove fatal, but he finally rallied and in March, 1863, having been commissioned brigadier general of volunteers dating from the 29th of November, 1862, he was ordered to report to the adjutant general at Washing- ton for light duty. For some three months he was engaged on a court martial, and late in June was ordered to New Hampshire, in connection with the draft and other duties, after which he served as chief mustering and disbursing officer and in command of the draft and reerniting rendezvous at Concord till March, 1864, when after repeated requests to be sent to the field he was assigned to the com- mand of the District of St. Mary's and the camp of prisoners of war at Point Lookout, Md. About the last of April he was as- signed to command the Third Division, Eighteenth Corps (colored troops) of the Army of the James, and for three months remained in the field at the head of his division, taking valiant part in the operations against Petersburg. Early in July he was ordered back to command the District of St. Mary's, but on reaching Point Look- out was ordered to the defenses of Washington, that city being then threatened by the raid of General Early. Soon after, he was made president of a court-martial, which sat for some two months, when he was placed in command of the depot for recruits and drafted men and the camp for prisoners of war at Hart's Island in
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