USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 42
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Brevet Brigadier General Francis W. Palfrey
Of Boston, a graduate of Harvard College, was in the spring of 1861 a second lieutenant in the Fourth Battalion, M. V. M., and as such took part in the garrisoning of Fort Independence from the 25th of April to the 25th of May of that year. He then assisted in raising and organizing the Twentieth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, of which he was commissioned lieutenant colonel from the 1st of July. He served as second in command of the regiment till the battle of Ball's Bluff, when Colonel Lee being captured he commanded the regiment during the fall and winter and until near the termination of the siege of Yorktown carly in May following, when Colonel Lee returned to duty. At the battle of Nelson's Farm, June 30, he was again in command of the Twentieth, and though wounded there continued to lead the regiment to the close of the Peninsular campaign. He was again second in command at the battle of the Antietam, where he was very severely wounded in the shoulder by a grape shot, in consequence of which he resigned his com- mission on the 13th of April, 1863, having been promoted to the rank of colonel from the 18th of December, 1862. He was brevetted brigadier general March 13, 1865, and died at Cannes, France, December 5, 1889.
Brevet Brigadier General Henry L. Patten
Of Cambridge was one of Harvard's patriotic sons who gave his life for his country. He was commissioned second lieutenant in the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment, November 25, 1861, joining the
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command in the field subsequent to its sad experiences at Ball's Bluff. He was promoted first lieutenant October 1, 1862, captain May 1, 1863, and major June 20, 1864. During this time he was wounded at Nelson's Farm, June 30, 1862, and twice at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. At Spottsylvania, on the 18th of May, he became by the fortunes of war the senior officer present for duty with the regi- ment and assumed command, which he exercised in a most able manner. At the battle of Weldon Railroad the Twentieth under his command checked the success of the Confederate column and changed the fortunes of the day, for which he was warmly compli- mented by his superior officers. At Deep Bottom, on the 16th of August following, he was wounded in the leg, necessitating amputa- tion. He was sent to Philadelphia for hospital treatment, where he died on the 10th of September,-from which date his brevet of brigadier general of volunteers was conferred.
Brevet Brigadier General Charles L. Peirson
Of Salem entered the service as first lieutenant and adjutant of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteers, and served in that capacity till the battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861, when he was made prisoner and he was held as such at Richmond for some months. After being exchanged he rejoined his regiment in the field, and served with it on the staff's of Brigadier General N. J. T. Dana and Major Gen- eral John Sedgwick, through all MeClellan's battles before Rich- mond, until the retirement of the Army of the Potomac to Harrison's Landing. He was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Thirty- ninth Massachusetts Regiment August 30, 1862. Accompanying that organization to the front, he was once more returned to the scene of his former experiences on the upper Potomac, and remained in that vicinity till after the battle of Gettysburg, the following summer, having during a portion of the time been in command of the Thirty-ninth. The regiment then joined the First Corps and served with it till the spring of 1864, when it was made part of the Fifth Corps and entered upon the campaign of that year. Lieuten- ant Colonel Peirson was wounded by a shell at Spottsylvania on the 10th of May, but after an absence of a month returned to duty. Colonel Davis being killed before Petersburg on the 11th of July, 1864, the command of the regiment devolved upon Lieutenant
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Colonel Peirson and his commission as colonel was issued, but owing to the absence of the mustering officer he had not been mustered to that rank when, at the battle of the Weldon Railroad, August 18 following, he was very severely wounded, and not being able to return to duty within six months was by the operation of a General Order of the War Department declared mustered out from the 4th of January, 1865, He was deservedly brevetted brigadier general of volunteers from March 13, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General Jod.h Pickett
Of Worcester gave his first service to his country as first lieutenant of Company A of Major Devens's battalion of riflemen, with which he went to Fort MeHenry in May, 1861, and returned in August.
BREVET BMG. GRY LOAD PILI
following. He then interested himself in the enlistment of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, in which he was commissioned captain of Company A, October 12, 1861. On the resignation of Major Mc- Cafferty he was promoted to the vacancy, dating from March 20, 1862, being from that time frequently in command of the regiment.
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His commission as colonel bore date of October 29, 1862, and most of the subsequent notable service of the Twenty-fifth was under his direction. At the disastrous battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16, 1864, his was the only regiment of Heckman's Brigade not practically destroyed, and gathering the remains of the other regiments with his own, Colonel Pickett bravely beat back the exultant foe and saved the right of the Union line from further disaster. He re- tained the coloneley till the 10th of January, 1865, when he was mustered out, and from the 13th of March following received the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers "for gallant and meritori- ous services during the war, especially at the battle of Cold Harbor where severely wounded."
Brigadier General Joseph B. Plummer
Was a native of Massachusetts, from which he was appointed to the Military Academy at West Point, entering in 1837 and graduating July 1, 1841, when he was commissioned second lieutenant in the First Regiment, United States Infantry. During the Mexican war he was in garrison at Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico. He attained the rank of captain in the First Regiment May 1, 1852, and most of his service was at the various stations in Texas, though the open- ing of the rebellion found him at Leavenworth, Kan. He was prominently engaged in the early operations in Missouri, command- ing a battalion of three companies of regulars and one company of rifle recruits in the battle of Wilson's Creek, August 10. 1861, where he was wounded. After the retreat of the Union forces to Rolla he was commissioned colonel of the Eleventh Missouri volunteers and placed in command of the station at Cape Girardeau, Mo., though his commission was not for some time confirmed. On the 18th of October he led an expedition against a body of Confederates at Frederickstown under General Jeff Thompson, whom he defeated and pursued for 22 miles. For his part in this action he was highly complimented by General Grant, then in command of the District of Sontheastern Missouri, as he had been by General Fremont for his services in the battle of Wilson's Creek. He also received the commission of brigadier general of volunteers dating from October 22. 1861. ITe remained with his Fifth Brigade in command of the post at Cape Girardeau till about the 1st of March, 1862, when he
اشينة شرب
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joined the Army of the Mississippi, General Pope commanding, and in command of the Fifth Division shared in the operations against New Madrid, being located at Point Pleasant, Mo., where he suc- cessfully opposed the efforts of the Confederates to land and gain possession of that point, thus rendering important assistance to the operations of General Pope against Island No. 10. After the evacu- ation of the latter place, General Plummer took part in the expedi- tion against Fort Pillow in April, and the campaign against Corinth and the operations and engagements connected therewith occupying the two months following. During this time he was generally in command of a division of the left wing of the army, displaying his excellent military judgment and skill. While yet engaged in these operations he sickened and died near Corinth on the 9th of August, 1862, at the age of 43.
Brevet Brigadier General Carroll H. Potter
A native of Rhode Island, was appointed to the Military Academy at West Point from Massachusetts July 1, 1855, but remained there only till the 15th of January, 1857. He was commissioned captain and assistant adjutant general of volunteers on the 21st of October, 1861, and saw his first active duty in the field in the Peninsular campaign of the following spring, when he served on the staff of General Jameson, winning high commendation for gallantry in several battles. He was subsequently chief of staff to Generals Robinson, Stoneman, Heintzelman and others, being promoted to major on the 25th of February, 1865, and his brevet of brigadier general of volunteers, "for meritorious services during the war," dated from the 13th of March following. On the 27th of the same month he was commissioned colonel of the Sixth United States Vol- unteer Infantry, serving as such till the 10th of October, 1866, when he was honorably mustered out. He had meantime been commis- sioned first lieutenant in the Eighteenth Regular Infantry from the 28th of July, and was promoted to captain March 20, 1870, which rank he still holds.
Brevet Brigadier General George L. Prescott
Of Concord responded to the first call of his country as captain of Company G, Fifth Regiment, with which he served from the 19th of April, 1861, when the regiment was called into the field, till the
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31st of July. At the organization of the First Battalion of Massa- chusetts Infantry for the garrisoning of Fort Warren, Captain Pres- cott recruited a company at Concord which was mustered into ser- vice November 15, 1861, as Company B. When this battalion after taking the field the following summer became fully organized as the Thirty-second Regiment, Captain Prescott was made its lieutenant colonel, dating from August 13, 1862, and on the resignation of Colonel Parker at the close of the year, Prescott succeeded to the
BREVET BRIG GEN. GEORGE L. PRESCOTT.
coronelcy. He was not present at the battle of Chancellorsville, but returning to duty soon after was assigned with his regiment to guard the railroad from Acquia Creek, commanded the Thirty-second at the battle of Gettysburg and at the opening of the 1864 campaign. In the attack on the Confederate position at Laurel Hill, in front of Spottsylvania, May 12, he commanded the Second Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, and in the same capacity, on the 18th of June following, in the attack upon the Petersburg defenses, he received a wound from which he died the following day. On the ground which was gained by the charge a fort was built bearing his name, and his
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heroism was indorsed by the brevet of brigadier general of volun- teers dating from the day when his death-wound was received.
Brevet Brigadier General Samuel M. Quincy
Of Boston entered the service as captain of Company E, Second Massachusetts Regiment, and as such was severely wounded at Cedar Mountain, fell into the hands of the enemy and was taken to Libby Prison, from which he was paroled in October following but
BREVET BRIG GEN. SAMUEL M. QUINCY.
was unable to rejoin his regiment till March 6, 1863, when he became its colonel, his commission dating from the 9th of November pre- vions. He commanded the regiment in the Chancellorsville cam- paign, but being unable to endure active service in the field resigned and on the 20th of October was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Seventy-third United States Colored Troops and detailed as in- spector on the staff of General Andrews at Port Hudson. In the following May he was transferred to the Ninety-sixth Colored Regi- ment, from which on the 13th of March, 1865, he received the brevet
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of brigadier general. He became colonel of the Eighty-first Colored Regiment January 5, 1866, but was soon afterward mustered out of the service, having been for a time military mayor of the city of New Orleans. General Quincy died March 24, 1887, at Keene, N. H., whither he had gone from his Boston home for medical treatment.
Brevet Brigadier General S. Tyler Read
Of Boston organized the First Unattached Company of Massachu- setts Cavalry, or Mounted Rifle Rangers, in the autumn of 1861, of which he was commissioned captain on the 20th of February fol- lowing, the company forming a portion of General Butler's expedi- tion against New Orleans. Captain Read remained in command of his company, doing valuable service in different portions of the De- partment of the Gulf, till the 13th of August, 1863. Some two months previous to that time his company, with the two other in- dependent cavalry companies from Massachusetts, was attached to the Forty-first Massachusetts Regiment, which was then transformed into the Third Cavalry Regiment, and Captain Read received a well-earned promotion to the rank of major. This position he held till the expiration of his term of enlistment, November 1, 1864, when he was mustered out, having taken part in nearly all the opera- tions of his company and regiment during the three years of con- stant and arduous duty. In recognition of his services he received the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers, dating from the 13th of March, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General Paul J. Revere
Of Boston, a graduate of Harvard University, entered the service as major of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteers, his commis- sion being dated July 1, 1861. As such he accompanied his regi- ment to Washington and thence to the upper Potomac. In the bat- tle of Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861, he was wounded in the leg and made prisoner, being confined at first in Libby Prison and afterward being one of seven Federal officers made hostages for the lives of Confederate privateersmen held by the United States government on the charge of piracy. For three months he was with his fellow- hostages confined in a wretched cell of Henrico county jail. He was paroled on the 22d of February, 1862, and being exchanged
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May 2 rejoined his regiment before Yorktown. He was detached from the Twentieth shortly before the battle of Antietam, and being commissioned lieutenant colonel took the position of assistant in- spector general on the staff of General Sumner, commanding the Second Army Corps. He was wounded at the battle of Antietam and was at home on leave till the following spring, when he was commissioned colonel of the Twentieth Massachusetts Regiment and joined it some time before the battle of Gettysburg. In that engagement he was mortally wounded at evening of the 2d of July, dying from his injuries on the 5th, his brevet of brigadier general of volunteers dating from the day of receiving his fatal wound. Among her fallen sons, Massachusetts had to mourn none truer or braver than Colonel Revere.
Brevet Major General David A. Russell
Of Salem, N. Y., though not a resident of Massachusetts, is entitled to record among the heroic sons of the Old Bay State from his able services in command of her Seventh Regiment. At the opening of the war he was a captain in the Eighth United States Infantry, hav- ing been appointed to West Point from New York-his native state- in 1841 and graduating in 1845. He was commissioned colonel of the Seventh Massachusetts Regiment January 31, 1862, and in Gen- eral Mcclellan's advance up the Peninsula from Williamsburg to Fair Oaks, Colonel Russell was in command of the skirmish line, handling it with eminent ability; being fitted for the service by his previous training in Indian warfare. When the change of base to the James river was decided on, it was Colonel Russell with his Seventh Regiment that preceded the advance guard, feeling the way carefully through a strange region. Following the battle of Fred- ericksburg he was placed in command of the Third Brigade, First Division, Sixth Corps, receiving the commission of brigadier gen- eral of volunteers to date from November 29, 1862. In the severe fight of the Sixth Corps at Salem Church on the 3d of May, 1863, Russell's Brigade was among the first troops engaged, and fought heroically during the entire action. In the skirmishing and maneu- vering preliminary to the Gettysburg campaign his brigade had its full share, as it had in all the movements that followed during that important summer. One of the most brilliant of the able general's
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military acts was the assanlt and capture of the Confederate works at Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863. General Russell was then in temporary command of the division, but when the assault was ordered he charged at the head of his own brigade and was one of the first over the parapet. In the battle of the Wilderness, Rus- sell's Brigade received and repulsed a strong attack soon after going into position. At Spottsylvania, when General Wright succeeded the fallen Sedgwick in the command of the Sixth Corps, General Russell took Wright's former place in command of the First Divis- ion, holding it till his death. As a division commander Russell did notable work during the remainder of the engagement at Spottsyl- vania, on the movement to and at Cold Harbor, before Petersburg and at Washington in meeting and repelling the advance of Early's troops at Fort Stevens. Proceeding thence to the Shenandoah Val- ley, General Russell had his full share of the arduons duties which followed till the battle of the Opequan, September 19. In the early part of that engagement his division was in reserve; but it was called into action by the peril to the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps soon after. Throwing his command into position and leading them forward with great bravery, General Russell turned the tide of bat- tle and began to drive back the lately triumphant foe. In this movement he received a severe bullet wound in the left breast, but gave no heed to it, not even mentioning the fact to a member of his staff. A few minutes later, while directing the forward sweep of his battalions, he was struck by a fragment of shell which passed through his body, inflicting a wound from which he died after a few minutes of great suffering. In recognition of his ability he received the brevets of major general, both of volunteers and in the regular army, dating from the day of his death.
Brevet Brigadier General Henry S. Russell
Of Boston had just graduated from Harvard College and entered upon mercantile pursnits at the beginning of the war. Having had some experience in the Fourth Battalion, "New England Guards," he was on the organization of the Second Massachusetts Volunteers commissioned first lieutenant of Company G, May 28, 1861, and on the 13th of December of the same year was promoted to captain. At the battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, he was taken
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prisoner, and after being exchanged was commissioned lientenant colonel of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry from January 22, 1863. This commission he held till the 5th of April, 1864, when he was made colonel of the Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry, and after reaching Washington with that regiment he was for a time assigned to the command of a provisional brigade of colored troops at Camp Casey; but on the 13th of May was ordered with his regiment to City Point and joined General Hincks's Division of the Eighteenth Corps, the regiment serving as infantry. In the advance against Petersburg, June 15, Colonel Russell was wounded, rejoining the regiment Sep- tember 30 at Point Lookout, Md., where it was engaged in guarding Confederate prisoners of war. Colonel Russell retained the com- mand till February 14, 1865, when he resigned. His brevet of brigadier general dated from March 13, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General Horace Binney Sargent
Of West Roxbury was senior aide on the staff of Governor An- drew at the opening of the war, having previously served for two years on the staff of Governor Banks, and having had military ex- perience with the Boston Cadets running back to 1843, the year of his graduation at Harvard College. He retained his staff position till the following autumn when the voice of duty called him to the field and he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the First Mas- sachusetts Cavalry from October 12, 1861. Accompanying the regi- ment to the South Carolina coast the ensuing winter, he served there till the larger part of the command was ordered to Virginia in August, 1862, his health being seriously affected by fever during the time. The return of Colonel Williams to the regular army ad- vanced Lieutenant Colonel Sargent to the full colonelcy of the regi- ment dating from the 30th of October, 1862, and he retained that rank till the close of his service. He was much of the time in command of the First Brigade, Second Division, of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, having a full share of the ad- venturous duties devolving upon a capable cavalry commander. On the 12th of October, 1863, he was ordered to report to General him the position of " chief of cavalry." During the delay of Colonel Sargent's transfer, however, the position was filled, and declining
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other positions which were proffered he accompanied General Banks on his Rio Grande expedition, but before it was over an attack of fever compelled his return to New Orleans. From that time he served as assistant to General Charles P. Stone, Banks's chief of staff, till the opening of the spring campaign of 1864. The chief of cavalry being ill, he volunteered at the request of officers of high
BREVET BRIG. GEN. HORACE B. SARGENT.
standing in the department to act as aide on the staff of General Mower at the action of Henderson Hills or Bayou Rapides, March 21, 1864. In that engagement he was severely wounded, and re- ceived for his distinguished services the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers. While helpless in hospital he was again offered the position of chief of cavalry, but being wholly disabled he was dis- charged September 29, 1864.
Brevet Major General Rufus Saxton
Was one of the sons of Massachusetts whom the opening of the war found in active service in the United States Army. A native of Greenfield, graduating from the Military Academy in 1849 and
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entering the Third Artillery as brevet second lieutenant, he served during that and the following year in the Florida war, after which he was for two years in Texas as acting assistant quartermaster. In 1853-4 he was chief quartermaster of the Northern Pacific ex- ploration and survey and commanded an expedition which starting from the mouth of the Columbia river crossed the continent by a route never before traversed by white men, and almost on the pres- ent line of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1859 he was assigned to West Point as assistant instructor in military tactics, and the
BREVET MAJ. GEN. RUFUS SAXTON.
spring of 1861 found him advanced to the regular rank of captain. At the first call for volunteers he served as major of a Missouri regiment and was appointed colonel, but was not allowed by the War Department to accept. He was quartermaster on the staff of General Lyon during the latter's Missouri campaign, and filled a like place on the staff of General MeClellan during his West Virginia campaign. When in the fall of that year Senator Wilson organized the Twenty-second Massachusetts Regiment, Captain Saxton was offered the colonelcy, but the War Department again declined to
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allow of his acceptance He was chief quartermaster of General Sherman's expedition to Port Royal in the autumn of 1861, his ves- sels with supplies for a six-months' siege passing safely through a very severe storm off the North Carolina coast, and Captain Saxton receiving high praise from his superior officers for his efficient ser- vice. He was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers April 15, 1862, and for a time held command at Harper's Ferry, receiving June 17 the thanks of the War Department for his defense of that place against General Jackson. He had already been assigned to duty in the Department of the South, where in July following he became Military Governor of the department, in which position he served with eminent ability till January, 1866. His duties were multi- tudinous and important. In addition to organizing the late slaves into military commands, both for labor and for active service as vol- unteer soldiers, schools for the freedmen were established, superin- tendents of plantations appointed, the ripe cotton was gathered from the abandoned estates and in succeeding seasons millions of dollars worth of crops were raised by the freedmen under his direction, while thousands of the blacks were employed in the army and navy of the United States. Of these the First South Carolina, com- manded by Colonel T. W. Higginson, was the first ex-slave regiment mustered into service. General Saxton's jurisdiction extended over South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Under an order issued by General W. T. Sherman January 16, 1865, General Saxton settled 40,000 freedmen on the islands south of Charleston, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers and in the country bordering St. Johns river in Florida. Under President Johnson, General Saxton was notified that it would relieve the government from an embarrassing position if he would quietly dispossess these colored people of the lands which had been bestowed upon them, that the former owners might again be put in possession. His high sense of honor revolted at the idea of thus breaking faith with the confiding and helpless blacks, and he declined without positive orders to do so. He was thereupon relieved of his command and on the 15th of January, 1866, was honorably mustered out of the volunteer service, resum- ing his duties in the quartermaster's department of the regular line, where he has since remained. He received the brevet of major general of volunteers January 12, 1865, and of brigadier general . in the regular army the 9th of April following.
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