USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 44
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Brevet Brigadier General William S. Tilton
Of Boston was a member of a mercantile firm at the outbreak of the war, and at once relinquished bright business prospects to serve his country, entering the Twenty-second Massachusetts at its forma- tion in September, 1861, as first lieutenant and adjutant, for which position he had been well qualified by membership of the Indepen- dent Cadets of Boston and by diligent study of military text-books. At the completion of the regiment's organization, October 4, he was commissioned major, and served with that rank till the battle of Gaines Mill, June 27, 1862, where he was wounded and taken prisoner. After six weeks in Libby Prison he was paroled and came home. Upon newspaper intelligence of his exchange he rejoined his regiment and marched in command of it to the battle of Antie- tam, commanding also at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville; at
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the latter being the first on the field and the last to leave, his regi- ment leading the advance and forming the infantry rear guard. He had received the commission of colonel, dating from October 17, 1862, and soon after Chancellorsville was put in command of the First Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, which he retained during the Gettysburg campaign and till the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1864, when by the breaking up of the brigade he was temporarily returned to the command of the
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BREVET BRIG. GEN. WILLIAM S. TILTON.
Twenty-second Regiment. This command was held till the 18th of June, when in the movement against the works before Petersburg Colonel Tilton was placed in command of a brigade of Griffin's First Division of the Fifth Corps. This brigade he commanded during the summer, having the advance at the movement of the corps against the Weldon Railroad and its capture, August 19, 1864. Early in October the term of service of the regiment expired, and Colonel Tilton returned with it to Massachusetts and was mustered out on the 17th. He had early in the campaign of 1864 been recom- mended by General Grant for commission as brigadier general, but
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the number of brigadiers allowed by law being filled he could not be commissioned, consequently serving during almost half of his three years as a brigade commander with the pay and rank of a colonel. ITis brevet of brigadier general of volunteers dated from the 9th of September, 1864, and was most honorably carned. In September, 1869, General Tilton was appointed superintendent of the Soldiers' Home at Togus, Me., which position he filled with great credit till his resignation in 1882. He died at his home in Newton- ville, March 23, 1889.
Brevet Major General Zealous B. Tower
Was born in Cohasset, Mass., January 12, 1819. After a three- years' course of studies at the English High School in Boston he was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point
BREVET MAJ. GEN. Z. B. TOWER.
in 1837, was graduated at the head of his class July 1, 1841, and commissioned second lieutenant, Corps of Engineers. His first year's service was at Washington, D. C., the second as assistant professor of engineering, and thence till the war with Mexico he was engaged in the construction of the defenses of Hampton Roads,
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Va. In Mexico he served with much distinction, led General Riley's column of attack at Contreras, was wounded at the storming of Chapultepec, and with the commission of first lieutenant attained to the brevet of major for gallant and meritorious services. Com- missioned captain July 1, 1855, he served till the opening of the rebellion in the construction of various harbor and sea-coast works, in travel abroad and on special duty in Washington. During the first year of the war, while stationed at Fort Pickens, Fla., he was promoted to major in the Corps of Engineers for his services as chief engineer of the defenses, received the brevet of lieutenant colonel, and dating from November 23, 1861, was commissioned brigadier general of volunteers. General Tower returned to Wash- ington in June, 1862, and was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, Second Division, Third Corps, of the Army of Virginia under General Pope, and took part in the various engage- ments of the campaign which ended with the defeat of the Union arms at Manassas, August 30, 1862, where he was severely wounded. Owing to his wound he was absent on leave till June, 1864, and from July till September was superintendent of the Military Academy. From September 28, 1864, to June, 1865, he was chief engineer of the defenses at Nashville, serving on the staff of Gen- eral Thomas during the battle of December 15 and 16. At the same time he was acting as inspector general of fortifications of the Military Division of the Mississippi, and after the close of the war was a member of the Board of Engineers for Fortifications and Harbor and River Improvements from 1867 till 1880 when he was assigned as the president of the Board and served until January, 1883, the date of his retirement from active service. For gallant and meritorious services he received brevets of brigadier general and major general in the United States Army from March 13, 1865, and of major general of volunteers from the 12th of June, 1865. He was mustered out of the volunteer service January 15, 1866, and on the 13th of January, 1874, was commissioned colonel of engineers in the regular line.
Brevet Major General Edward D. Townsend, U. S. A.,
Was born at Boston, received his education at the Latin School of that city and at Harvard College, being appointed to the Military Academy at West Point which he entered July 1, 1833. Graduat-
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ing four years later, he was commissioned second lieutenant of the Second United States Artillery ; and was appointed adjutant of the regiment in July, 1838, a position which he held for more than eight years with rank of first lieutenant. He was appointed brevet captain and assistant adjutant general in August, 1846, and was ad- vanced to the full rank of captain of artillery in April, 1848. He was promoted brevet major and assistant adjutant general in July, 1852. For some years previous to the outbreak of the war he was on duty in California and in the adjutant general's office of the War Department. In April, 1861, the then adjutant general resigned and went south, which promoted Colonel Lorenzo Thomas from chief of staff for General Scott to be adjutant general of the army, and Major Townsend, being commissioned lieutenant colonel, took the place on General Scott's staff, being next in rank. He was com- missioned full colonel in August of that year, and on the retirement of General Scott in November reported for duty to General Me- Clellan and was again ordered to the adjutant general's office as chief assistant. In the spring of 1863 General Thomas was ordered on detached duty, placing Colonel Townsend in charge of the office. This extremely responsible position he held to the close of the war, and thereafter till General Thomas was retired, when on the 22d of February, 1869, he was commissioned brigadier general and form- ally appointed to the office he had so long filled. He was retired on the 15th of June, 1880, being over 62 years of age and having served his country continuously for almost 47 years. He received the brevet of brigadier general in the regular army September 24, 1864, "for meritorious and faithful services during the war," and that of major general from March 13, 1865, " for faithful, merito- rious and distinguished services in the adjutant general's depart- ment during the war."
Brevet Major General Adin B. Underwood,
A graduate of Brown University and the Harvard Law School, was engaged in the practice of law in Boston at the outbreak of the re- bellion. He at once gave his energies to the formation of the Second Regiment, in which he was commissioned captain and with which he served till July, 1862, when he was made major of the Thirty-third Regiment, then being organized, and went into service as its lieutenant colonel, being commissioned colonel April 3, 1863.
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He led the regiment bravely at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and under Hooker at Wauhatchie, where he was very severely wounded, so that his life was despaired of. For his gallantry in this action he was at the request of General Hooker commissioned brigadier general, and on recovering sufficiently was made president of a
BREVET MAJ. GEN. A. B. UNDERWOOD.
military commission at Washington. Dating from the 13th of March, 1865, he was brevetted major general of volunteers, and on the 1st of September ensuing his resignation was accepted and he was appointed by the President surveyor in the Custom House at Boston, where he served for 21 years. He died at Boston, Janu- ary 14, 1888.
Brevet Brigadier General Charles F. Walcott
Of Boston was commissioned a captain in the Twenty-first Regiment on its organization, and served in that rank, much of the time dis- charging the duties of a field officer, from August 21, 1861, till April 23, 1863, when he resigned his commission. On the 16th of May, 1864, he was commissioned captain of the Twelfth Unat-
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tached Infantry Company of Cambridge (90 days), serving in that capacity from the 16th day of May to the 15th of August, 1864. On the formation of the Sixty-first Regiment Captain Walcott was given its command, being commissioned lieutenant colonel Septem- ber 22, 1864, and leaving the state for duty on the 7th of October with the first battalion of five companies. He was made colonel November 9 and commanded the regiment till the close of the war with much ability. For gallant conduct at the storming of Peters- burg, April 2, 1865, he received the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers, dating from April 9. General Walcott died suddenly June 12, 1887.
Brevet Brigadier General Francis A. Walker
Of North Brookfield enlisted in the Fifteenth Regiment, Massachu- setts Volunteers, and was mustered as sergeant major of the regi-
BREVET BRIG. GEN FRANCIS A. WALKER.
ment August 1, 1861. He went into the field in that capacity, being subsequently commissioned second lieutenant of Company K, but was never mustered to that rank. ITe was instead commissioned
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captain and assistant adjutant general on the 14th of September, 1861, and assigned to duty on the staff of General Darins N. Couch, then commanding a brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He re- mained on General Couch's staff till the battle of Chancellorsville, when he was severely wounded, having been promoted major August 11, 1862, and lieutenant colonel January 1, 1863. Returning to duty at Second Corps head-quarters in August, 1863, he served under Generals Warren and Hancock for about a year, being taken prisoner by the Confederates at the battle of Reams Station, August 25, 1864. On the 6th of October he was paroled from Libby Prison, being sick, and on the 12th of January, 1865, resigned his commis- sion on account of disabilities incurred in prison. Dating from the 13th of March following, he was brevetted colonel " for gallantry and good conduct during the campaign of 1864," and brigadier general of volunteers "for gallantry and good conduct and severe wounds at Chancellorsville." .
Brevet Brigadier General George Hall Ward
Of Worcester was at the opening of the war a brigadier general of the Massachusetts Militia, -- an accomplished and skillful officer. Being disappointed in the hope that his entire brigade might be called into service, he gave his fine energies to the work of recruit- ing the Fifteenth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, being in command of the camp at Worcester during the organization, and accepting the commission of lieutenant colonel of the regiment July 24, 1861. Accompanying the regiment to the field, and taking part in its first disastrous battle at Ball's Bluff, October 21, 1861, he suf- fered the loss of a leg. Returning to his home in January, he ap- plied for duty as soon as he had recovered sufficiently, and for nearly a year was in charge of recruiting camps at Worcester and elsewhere, rendering valuable service. Early in 1863, though still suffering from an imperfectly healed wound, he returned to the front and resumed command of the Fifteenth Regiment, of which he had been commissioned colonel on the promotion of Colonel Devens to a brigadiership April 29, 1862. On the march to Gettys- burg Colonel Ward was in command of the brigade to which his regiment was attached, but being relieved on reaching the field he returned to the Fifteenth and gallantly led it forward to the Emmitts-
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burg road in support of the imperiled Third Corps, late in the afternoon of July 2, 1863. The disaster to that corps necessitating a
BREVET BRIG. GEN. GEORGE HL WARD.
change in the position of his regiment, he was in the act of moving it toward the rear when he fell mortally wounded, dying in a few hours. In recognition of his eminent worth he received the brevet rank of brigadier general of volunteers dating from the day of his death.
Brevet Brigadier General Lucius H. Warren
Of Charlestown was a member of the Harvard Law School at the opening of the civil war, having graduated from Princeton College in 1860. On his graduation from the Law School he was admitted to the Bar of Massachusetts, but feeling that his country demanded his services he enlisted in the summer of 1862'and before leaving the state was commissioned second lieutenant of Company I, Thirty- second Massachusetts Regiment, dating from July 31. On the 14th of December following he was promoted to first lieutenant, and dur- ing the winter of 1863-4 served on court-martial as judge advocate. In March following he was appointed major of the Thirty-eighth
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United States Colored Troops, then being organized at Norfolk, Va., and later became lieutenant colonel of the same regiment. The command formed a part of the Eighteenth Corps till the organiza- tion of the Twenty-fifth, composed exclusively of colored troops, when it went into the new corps. It had part in the operations against Petersburg and Richmond, and was among the first troops to enter the latter city at its fall, being probably the first colored regiment to do so. Colonel Warren was often in command of the brigade, and was brevetted brigadier general from March 13, 1865. In command of the regiment General Warren accompanied General Sheridan to Texas to watch the operations of Maximilian and the French in Mexico, being stationed at Brownsville, Brazos Santiago and Indianola, most of the time in command of the brigade, and in the fall of 1866 commandant of the district of Indianola and San Antonio. IIe was mustered out of the volunteer service February 22. 1867, but had previously been appointed first lieutenant and afterward captain in the Thirty-ninth United States Infantry, though he never served with the regiment. He was aide and inspector on the staff of Major General Robert C. Buchanan, commanding the Department of Louisiana and Texas, and served with him during the reconstruction period, 1867-9, and in that capacity was called upon to depose the military mayor of New Orleans in 1868 and in- stalled the mayor elected under the new constitution of the state. He was also adjutant general of the Freedman's Bureau of that state. He resigned his commission December 31, 1870, having been bre- vetted lieutenant colonel in the regular service, and removed to Phila- delphia, where he entered upon the practice of his profession.
Brevet Brigadier General Francis Washburn
Of Lancaster left his studies in Germany upon hearing of the civil war in his own country, and returned to offer his services in any manner in which they might be required. His first position was that of second lieutenant in the First Massachusetts Cavalry, which he accepted on the organization of the command, winning steady and highly honorable advancement. This commission dated from December 26, 1861. He was promoted to first lieutenant on the 7th of March following, and at the formation of the Second Regiment of Cavalry he was on the 26th of January, 1863, made one of the
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original captains of that command. After a year's service in that regiment he received the commission of lieutenant colonel in the Fourth Cavalry, accompanied that organization into the field and served with distinction. On the resignation of Colonel Rand he was advanced to the vacancy February 4, 1865. On the retreat of the Confederate army under General Lee from Petersburg, Colonel Washburn with three companies of his regiment accompanied the head-quarters of the Army of the James to Burkesville, reaching there on the night of April 5. Next morning with two infantry regiments he was sent to High Bridge, over which it was feared the enemy might escape, and in the desperate fight which ensued with a vastly superior force of the enemy, Colonel Washburn, while gal- lantly leading his handful of cavalry to a fresh charge after having twice broken through the opposing lines, was shot in the head while engaged in a sword fight with a Confederate officer. After having fallen from his horse he was struck in the head with a saber, and remained in the hands of the enemy, who held him a prisoner for two days, giving no care to his wounds. After the surrender of Lee he received every attention that surgical skill could bestow, but died from his wounds on the 22d. As a trifling mark of apprecia. tion of his gallant conduct, he was brevetted brigadier general to date from the day of his last magnificent fight.
Brevet Brigadier General Ansel D. Wass
Of Boston left the counting-room at the first call for volunteers and went to the front as first lieutenant of Company K, Sixth Regi- ment, in April, 1861. Returning at the close of the three-months' service of that command, he was immediately commissioned captain of the "Tiger Fire Zouaves," Company K, Nineteenth Regiment, on the 22d of August, 1861, holding the command till July 1, 1862, when he was promoted to major, but on the 6th of September was made lieutenant colonel of the Forty-first Regiment-afterward the Third Cavalry. Accompanying that regiment to Louisiana, he served with it till the 31st of January, 1863, when he resigned, and was on the 23d of May commissioned heutenant colonel of the Nineteenth. He was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, where the regiment distinguished itself, and again at Bristoe Station, Octo- ber 14 following, where he was in command of the brigade. He
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was made colonel of the regiment from February 28, 1864, and held that commission till the Nineteenth were mustered out at the ex- piration of the term of service, July 28, 1864. Within a week he was made colonel of the Sixtieth Regiment, then being enlisted for 100 days; and with his new command reported to Washington early in August, being stationed at Indianapolis, Ind., during the term of enlistment. As the regiment was about to return to Massachusetts it received from Governor Morton the hearty thanks of the state of Indiana for its service, with the eulogistic compliments of that ex- ecutive. It was as colonel of the Sixtieth that General Wass received his brevet rank, dating from March 13, 1865. Although suffering in health from his long service, General Wass would not sheathe his sword so long as his country demanded his further efforts, and on the 2d of March, 1865, he was commissioned colonel of the Sixty- second Regiment, then being recruited. Before the command was filled, however, or had been mustered, the collapse of the rebellion removed the necessity for its organization, and the companies which had been enlisted were dismissed. After some months spent in re- gaining his broken health, General Wass entered the Boston Custom House, where he remained till 1878, when he became a confirmed in- valid. He died at his home in Boston on the 24th of January, 1889.
Brevet Brigadier General Stephen Minot Weld, Jr.,
Of West Roxbury began his service as volunteer aide-de-camp on the staff of General Horatio G. Wright, commanding a brigade in the Port Royal expedition, which sailed from Annapolis late in October, 1861. Returning north during the following winter he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Eighteenth Massachusetts Volunteers January 24, 1862, and was assigned to duty on the staff of General Fitz John Porter. He served in that capacity with dis- tinction, winning complimentary mention from General Porter for gallantry and ability during the siege of Yorktown and at the bat- tle of Gaines Mill. Near the close of the latter action, June 27, 1862, Lieutenant Weld was captured and taken to Libby Prison at Richmond, where he remained for six weeks, when he was ex- changed and rejoined General Porter at Harrison's Landing. His staff duty with that officer continued during the campaign under General Pope and that of Antietam under General MeClellan. On
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the 24th of October he was commissioned first lieutenant and served on the staff of General Benham till after the battle of Chan- cellorsville. At Gettysburg he was on the staff of General Rey- nolds, commanding the First Corps, and after that officer's death he served his successor, General John Newton, in the same capacity. He had been promoted to the rank of captain, dating from the 4th of May, 1863, and on the 22d of July was commissioned lientenant colonel of the Fifty-sixth Massachusetts (First Veteran ) Regiment, the organization of which had been begun. With that rank he went to the front in the spring of 1864, and the killing of his superior, Colonel Griswold, at the battle of the Wilderness devolved upon him the command of the regiment, of which he was commissioned colonel, dating from that time. Colonel Weld was in command of the brigade during the action before Petersburg on the 17th of June, and in the disastrous battle of the Crater, July 30, with a score of his men, he was for the second time made a prisoner, being sent to Columbia, S. C. He was held there till the 15th of December, when he was paroled, and on the 31st of March, 1865, he was regularly exchanged, rejoining his regiment before Petersburg on the 4th of April. He served with it till the command was mustered out, July 12, 1865, receiving at the age of 23 the brevet of brigadier general of volunteers, dating from the 13th of March, 1865.
Brevet Brigadier General George D. Wells
Of Boston entered the service as lieutenant colonel of the First Mas- sachusetts Regiment at its formation, in which position he served with distinguished ability and gallantry, sharing the fortunes of that regiment till the close of the Peninsular campaign. He was in command of the Union skirmish line at the battle of Blackburn's Ford, and subsequently in the presence of Colonel Cowdin was in command of the regiment. He was commissioned colonel of the Thirty-fourth Massachusetts July 11, 1862, and led that regiment into the field; but though retaining his commission as its colonel he was really in immediate command of the regiment but little. On the 9th of September he took command of the brigade to which his regiment was assigned, and a few days later was placed in command of Fort Lyon. There he remained till the following Jannary, when he returned to the command of the Thirty-fourth, but in July the
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regiment was ordered to Harper's Ferry when he again became acting brigadier, and till the following spring he was variously engaged in court-martial duty or the command of some post or brigade, frequent changes being made in the forces in that vicinity at that time. In the December expedition up the Valley in co-operation with Averell's cavalry, Colonel Wells commanded the column. Near the last of April, 1864, he returned temporarily to the regiment and commanded it in the severe fight at New Market the following month and at Piedmont in June, soon after which he was made commander of the First Brigade, First Division of the Army of West Virginia, of which his regiment became part. In this capacity Colonel Wells served till his death, through the Lynchburg expedition under Hunter and the desperate retreat by way of the Kanawha valley, in the battles of Snicker's Ferry, the Opequan and Fisher's Hill. On the 13th of October, in the affair variously known as the battle of Tom's Brook, Stickney Farm and Cedar Creek, he was mortally wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy, dying before he could be conveyed from the field. His body was sent within the Union lines the following day under a flag of truce. His brevet of brigadier general of volunteers reached camp after his death, bear- ing date October 12, 1864.
Major General Amiel W. Whipple,
Born at Greenwich and appointed from Massachusetts to the Mili- tary Academy at West Point, graduated in the class of 1841 and was commissioned second lieutenant of the First Artillery, but later in the year was transferred to the Topographical Engineers, with which branch of the service he was engaged in the survey of the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions from 1844 to 1847, and that with Mexico during the five years fol- lowing. He was in command of the party engaged 1853-5 in the exploration for a railroad route from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean, and was the author of the report of the survey. Having risen to the. rank of captain, he served principally in and about Florida till the war broke out, when he was at his own re- quest transferred to the defenses of Washington and was appointed chief topographical engineer on the staff of General McDowell, serving with the Army of the Potomac in the Bull Run campaign,
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