USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts in the war, 1861-1865 Pt. 2 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
539
THE THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
At the explosion of the mine on the 30th of July, the regiment followed its brigade and immediately began changing the fortifica- tions about the crater to face in the other direction. Scarcely had the work begun when Captain Blanchard was wounded in the shoulder and disabled. The officer next in rank, Lieutenant Hatch, had been shot through both legs previously, and the next, First Lientenant Samuel G. Berry of Lynn, was killed. Three officers only remained and under their direction the men worked with desperation until the wounded and stragglers accumulated in such numbers that it was impossible to do more. Then the order was given to retire and a few at a time succeeded in running back to the shelter of the Federal lines. Of 160 taken into action, 12 had been killed and 34 wounded. Captain Ingell took command of what were left of the Thirty-fifth. He was soon obliged to go to the hospital for treatment of a former wound and Lieutenant Farrington succeeded temporarily to the command. On the 1st of August, under flag of truce, the regiment assisted in burying the dead lying between the lines and then the old routine of duty was resumed.
The regiment rejoined its brigade during the night of August 14, and marched some four miles to the left, relieving some troops of the Fifth Corps. Captain Ingell left the hospital, where on account of his wound he had been selected for transfer to the Veteran Reserve Corps, to take command of the Thirty-fifth. On the 18th, the Fifth Corps moved to the left, striking the Weldon Railroad, and the Ninth Corps was ordered into the gap between the Fifth Corps and the established line. The movement was made on the 19th and as the brigade went forward to its position the fighting had already begun. The Thirty-fifth were just in time to encounter Colquitt's Brigade of Mahone's Division which was charging through the woods upon the flank of the Union lines. The regiment opened a well-directed fire and fought steadily for half an hour when the enemy fell back, leaving their dead and wounded and many prisoners, two men of the Thirty-fifth capturing and taking to the rear 13. The regiment never did better service than during that trying half-hour, but the cost was great. Captain Ingell and First Lieutenant Austin J. White of Chelsea were mortally wounded, five enlisted men were killed, 25 wounded and five taken prisoners. The close of the action left the regiment with two officers and abont 100 men for duty. These few assisted in intrenching and holding the new line.
540
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
They were relieved from engineer duty about the 1st of Septem- ber, when a reorganization of the corps took place. The Thirty-fifth were assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, its fellow- regiments of the brigade being the Twenty-first, Thirty-sixth and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, Fourth and Seventh Rhode Island, Fifty- first New York, Forty-fifth and Forty-eighth Pennsylvania. General Curtin commanded the brigade and General Potter the division. The detached officers returned to the regiment, Captain Hudson, commissioned major, taking command, and there also came as re- cruits 385 German and French substitutes fresh from Europe and unable to speak a word of English. These were distributed among the different companies and great efforts made to teach them their duty and the elements of the English language. On the 25th another movement to the left took place in co-operation with Gen- eral Butler's assault on the right, and on the 30th the regiment marched westward to Peebles Farm. There it formed the extreme left and was still moving forward when fire was opened upon it from front, left and rear simultaneously. Composed as the com- mand was, resistance was out of the question. Those who could do so escaped, formed a new line and attempted to make a stand, but in a few moments were again almost surrounded and fell back in detached fragments as best they could. Ten were known to be killed and some 15 were wounded while 163 were missing, most of whom were captured.
A permanent position was taken on the 2d of October at the point where Forts Welch and Fisher were afterward built, and with the exception of one or two expeditions to the left, the regiment re- mained there nearly two months. During that time the Thirty-ninth New Jersey and One Hundred and Seventy-ninth New York were added to the brigade. After a quite elaborate celebration of Thanks- giving day on the 26th of November, the regiment moved back to the right, taking position in the rear of Fort Sedgwick, where with light duty the rest of the year was passed. Major Hudson was commissioned lieutenant colonel in January, 1865, Captain Mirick becoming major. The regiment relieved the Forty-eighth Pennsyl- vania as part of the garrison of Fort Sedgwick on the 7th of March, and this unenviable position under heavy fire day and night was maintained till the fall of Petersburg, with only a few casualties from the hundreds of shells thrown into the fort during that time.
5-41
THIE THIRTY-FIFTHI REGIMENT.
Early in the morning of April 2, the Ninth Corps charged the works in their front, made a lodgment and held on valiantly. The Thirty-fifth, nominally remaining as garrison of Fort Sedgwick, were really occupied during the day in carrying ammunition across to their comrades who were stoutly resisting the efforts of the Con- federates to drive them back, and in this work lost three killed and nine wounded. The next day Petersburg was found to have been evacuated and the regiment at once joined in the pursuit of Lee's army. Burkesville was reached late at night on the 6th and Farm- ville on the 10th, where the news of Lee's surrender was received. The command remained there for ten days when the return march began. Petersburg was reached on the 23d and on the 26th steamer was taken at City Point for Alexandria, the regiment going into camp. near Fort Lyon on the 29th as a part of General Parke's gar- rison of the District of Columbia. On the 22d of May they crossed the river into Washington and the following day took part in the review of the Army of the Potomac, Colonel Carruth commanding the brigade and Lieutenant Colonel Hudson the regiment of 318 muskets. About 250 recruits with 11 officers were transferred to the 29th Massachusetts Regiment on the 9th of June and the Thirty- fifth were mustered out of the national service. The next day, in company with the Seventh Rhode Island, they set out for home, going by rail to New York and steamer to Providence, where they took part in the reception of the Seventh on the morning of the 13th, thence by rail to Readville, where on the 27th the men were paid off and discharged.
-
THE THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
T HE Thirty-sixth Regiment was formed at Camp John E. Wool on the Agricultural fair-grounds at Worcester, and was com- posed principally of Worcester county men, with some de- tachments from neighboring localities. Captain T. L. Barker of Fitchburg brought into camp the first considerable quota for the new regiment, on the 1st of August, 1862, the Thirty-fourth being then practically filled, and from that time the organizing was rapidly car- ried forward. Company B was an exception in regard to locality, having been formed at Charlestown and intended as a flank con- pany for the Thirty-fourth; but permission to attach to that organi- zation not being secured it formed a part of the Thirty-sixth. With the exception of G, H and K, the companies were made up from single or adjacent towns, the three named being composed of the various smaller detachments reporting to the rendezvous. The muster of the enlisted men was completed on the 27th of August, and the officers, who had been commissioned at various dates in July and August, but mostly on the 22d of the latter month, were mustered into the United States service on the 2d of September, when the regiment was under orders for immediate departure to the seat of war. The colonelcy had been tendered to Lieutenant Colonel John W. Kimball of the Fifteenth, but it was not deemed best at that time to separate him from the latter organization, and the ros- ter of officers of the Thirty-sixth was made up as follows :-
Colonel, Henry Bowman of Clinton; lieutenant colonel, John B. Norton of Charlestown; major, James HI. Barker of Milford; surgeon, James P. Prince of Lynn; assistant surgeons, Warren Tyler of North Brookfield and Albert H. Bryant of Natick; chaplain, Charles T. . Canfield; quartermaster, Francis B. Rice, both of Worcester; sergeant major, Henry S. Burrage of Roxbury; quartermaster sergeant, Joseph II. Sawyer of Bolton; commissary sergeant, Edward F. Emory of Fitchburg; hospital steward, William H. Blake of Lynn; principal musician, Alfred Chaffin of Holden.
543
THIE THIRTY-SIXTII REGIMENT.
Company A, Fitchburg-Captain, Thaddeus L. Barker; first lieu- tenant, George L. Chipman; second lieutenant, Joseph A. Marshall.
Company B, Charlestown-Captain, Albert Prescott; first lieuten- ant, T. Edward Ames; second lieutenant, P. Marion Holmes.
Company C, Worcester-Captain, Arthur A. Goodell; first lieuten- ant, Edwin A. Morse; second lieutenant, Henry W. Daniels.
Company D-Captain, Amos Buffum ; first lieutenant, Levi N. Smith, both of Templeton; second lieutenant, John C. Cutter of Winchendon.
Company E-Captain, Stephen C. Warriner of Monson; first lieu- tenant. Robert M. Cross of Palmer; second lieutenant, Julius M. Tucker of Worcester.
Company F', Milford-Captain, William F. Draper; first lieutenant, Otis W. Holmes; second lieutenant, Augustus S. Tuttle.
Company G-Captain, S. Henry Bailey of Northboro; first lieuten- ant, Edward T. Raymond of Worcester; second lieutenant Henry S. Robinson of Clinton.
Company H - Captain, Christopher Sawyer of Templeton; first lieutenant, Joseph W. Gird of Fitchburg; second lieutenant, William HI. Hodgkins of Charlestown.
Company I-Captain, Christopher S. Hastings of Berlin; first lieu- tenant, William F. Brigham of Marlboro; second lieutenant, Frederick H. Sibley of Fitchburg.
Company K-Captain, James B. Smith of Cambridge; first lieuten- ant, Austin Davis of Oxford; second lieutenant, Wilder S. Holbrook of Sutton.
No appointment of adjutant was made at that time, the position being filled by Lieutenant Chipman of Company A. A fair pro- portion of the officers had already seen service in the earlier Massa- chusetts organizations, Colonel Bowman, formerly a captain in the Fifteenth Regiment, having been captured at Ball's Bluff and but recently exchanged. He had been commissioned as major of the Thirty-fourth, but had not joined that regiment for service. Lieu- tenant Colonel Norton had been captain in the Fifth Regiment at the close of its three-months' service in 1861.
Colonel Bowman reached Camp Wool-which was in charge of Colonel Ward-late in August, and on the 30th of that month re- ceived orders to have his command in readiness to set out for the front not later than the 2d of September. A very brief furlough was given most of the men, and on the day appointed Enfield rifles were issued, the mayor of Worcester presented a fine national ban- ner, and at noon the line was formed, the regiment marched to the Common and took cars for Boston. Thence, in company with the Twentieth Maine, it went on board the large ocean steamer Mer-
544
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
rimac and next morning set sail for Alexandria. There the 'Twen- tieth landed on the 6th; the day following the Thirty-sixth were transferred to the City of Norwich and continued up the Potomac to Washington, landing near the Navy Yard.
For two days the regiment bivouacked near the Capitol, when it was assigned to the Ninth Corps, then moving northward in pursuit of General Lee's invading forces. On the 9th Colonel Bowman marched his command to Leesboro to report to General Burnside, but the latter was no longer there and several days elapsed before further orders could be secured, though on the 12th the regiment was marched 12 miles to Brookville. . Five days later definite in- telligence was received that the march might be made in safety, and the column pressed forward steadily by way of Frederick, South Mountain and the Burnside bridge across the Antietam, through Sharpsburg, encamping near the head-quarters of General Burnside, and being at once assigned to the Third Brigade, First Division, Ninth Corps. The division was commanded by General O. B. Will- cox, and the Brigade-which in addition to the Thirty-sixth con- sisted of the Forty-fifth and One Hundredth Pennsylvania-by Colonel Thomas Welsh. -
From the 21st to the 26th the regiment remained there in camp constantly expecting orders to march, but it was not till the 26th that the order came for changing the camp to the vicinity of Antic- tam Iron Works, where another stop was made. On the 29th a special service of thanksgiving was held in recognition of the suc- cess of the Union arms at Antietam, by order of General Willcox, in which the entire division joined; after which much of the time was given up to inspections and reviews, including one by President Lincoln and General Mcclellan on the 3d of October. On the 7th the corps marched over the mountains into Pleasant Valley, en- camping some ten miles from Harper's Ferry.
During dress parade of the 11th orders came to the brigade for an immediate departure, and with a section of artillery the three regiments marched to the nearest station on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. The Thirty-sixth with loaded weapons at once took a train of platform cars which was in waiting and rode to Frederick, reaching the city about midnight and resting on the streets till morning, when they moved to a field on the edge of the town and later to a position on the Washington road. This sudden movement
545
.
THIE THIRTY-SIXTHI REGIMENT.
was caused by the raid of Stuart's cavalry into Pennsylvania, around the rear of the Union army, and it was feared that an attack would be made upon the stores collected at Frederick; but the enemy, although coming within a few miles, had no wish to encounter any considerable force of MeClellan's soldiers and hurried across the Potomac into Virginia. This fact being learned, the regiment took cars again that evening in a drenching rain and rode to Point of Rocks, where three companies went on picket. Next morning camp was made in a field near the railroad, where the command remained till the 15th, when it was ordered back to Pleasant Valley, rejoining the brigade on the way.
The Potomac was crossed on the ponton bridge at Berlin on the 26th, in a heavy rain-storm, and the corps moved steadily forward till the 7th of November, when in a snow-storm it advaneed to near Waterloo, halting there for some days. As there was difficulty in, getting the supply trains up, the entire army was short of rations at this time, so that the encampment became known among the men as "Hungry Hollow." The command of the Army of the Potomac now passed from General MeClellan to General Burnside; the Ninth Corps was placed under General Willcox, the command of the First Division being given to General W. W. Burns. The regiment marched on the 15th of November to White Sulphur Springs, where a skirmish was in progress, and formed line of bat- tle; but no engagement resulted, and the following morning the march was resumed, continuing steadily till the 19th, when camp was made in an open field opposite Fredericksburg. The encamp- ment proving very uncomfortable owing to the almost incessant rain and resulting mud, a change was made on Thanksgiving day, the 27th, to a pine woods, where the regiment was comfortably quartered till the preparations for the battle of Fredericksburg were completed.
The Third Brigade, under Colonel Leasure of the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, was on the field near the river early on the morning of the 11th of December; but owing to the opposition by the enemy's sharp-shooters, delaying the work of the engineers in laying the bridges, it was not till morning of the 12th that the Ninth Corps began to cross the Rappahannock. During the passage of the bridge two of the Thirty-sixth were wounded by the artillery fire of the enemy, the only loss of the regiment in the battle. During the 12th the division remained near the river below the city, and on the
.
546
MASSACHUSETTS IN THIE WAR.
following day it was moved still further to the left, across Hazel Run, where it covered the Franklin bridges, the regiment going to the support of a battery at night.
The result of the day's fighting having been very disastrous to the Union army, General Burnside contemplated forming a column of attack from the Ninth Corps, and leading it in person against the Con- federate fortifications the next morning, Colonel Leasure's Brigade to head the column. In pursuance of this idea the One Hundredth Pennsylvania was during the night pushed as close as possible to the enemy, and the other regiments of the brigade were placed in support, in readiness for the ordeal; but there was so unanimous and emphatic protest from all grades of officers that about morn- ing General Burnside abandoned his purpose. The corps retired near to the city where it remained during the 14th, returning to its former position at night and staying there till night of the 15th, when the brigade moved up to the city and assisted in covering the withdrawal of the right wing of the Union army. The Thirty-sixth were among the last troops to cross at the upper bridges, mak- ing their way back to the camp which they had left in the rear of the Phillips house. There drill, pieket and other camp duties were taken up, and though marching orders were issued occasion- ally, notably at the time of the " mud march" fiasco, the men stand- ing in line in the mud and storm for some hours, the regiment re- mained in its winter quarters till the order came separating the corps from the Army of the Potomac.
General Willcox returned to the command of the division on the 8th of February, 1863, and on the 10th the Thirty-sixth received orders for immediate departure. Marching to the railroad station, cars were taken for Acquia Creek, and that evening the regiment went aboard the steamer South America. sailing next morning for Newport News. On reaching its destination, two or three days later, it encamped on a bluff a mile and a half from the landing, and being provided with A tents and comfortably located, passed the next six weeks in drill and camp duty. During this time, Major Barker having resigned, Captain Goodell was commissioned in his stead, and at the review of the corps by General Dix, commanding the department, on the 25th, he first commanded the regiment.
Marching orders came on the 18th of March, but owing to a storm the regiment did not move till the 22d, when on the steamers
547
THIE THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
Kennebec and Mary Washington it sailed for Baltimore. That city was reached on the 24th, where cars were in waiting, by which the command set out that evening for the west, going via Harper's Ferry and Piedmont to Parkersburg, whence on the steamer Bos- tonia the journey was continued by the Ohio river. Cincinnati was reached on the evening of the 27th, the river was crossed to Cov- ington the following day, the steamer was exchanged for cars, and morning of the 29th found the Thirty-sixth at Lexington, Ky., where they encamped in a fine black-walnut grove, Colonel Leasure, the acting brigadier, taking command of the post. The regiment passed its time in building a fort in the vicinity and in provost duty in the city till the 5th of April, when at evening it took cars for Covington, being thus placed within reach in case of trouble at the Cincinnati elections the following day. Its services not being re- quired, it remained encamped near Covington during the day and on the morning of the 7th returned to camp at Lexington.
The brigade received marching orders the following morning, passed through Lexington to Nicholasville and on the next day to Bryantsville, where it took possession of Camp Dick Robinson, from which General Bragg had retreated at the Federal advance. There on the 13th Brigadier General Thomas Welsh took command of the division. On the 20th Colonel Bowman with 400 picked men set out on a circuitous march by way of Harrodsburg and Danville which occupied two days, and on the 30th the brigade again broke camp and moved southward, halting on the 2d of May at Middle- burg, where it remained till the 23d, moving thence to Columbia, near which it encamped on the morning of the 26th. Next day the Thirty-sixth with the One Hundredth, a section of artillery and a squadron of cavalry, set forth on a search for guerrillas, returning to camp on the evening of the 30th, having marched 47 miles and bringing in 25 captives.
The brigade was reorganized on the 1st of June, to consist of the Thirty-sixth, the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, the Seventeenth and Twenty-seventh Michigan Regiments, Colonel Bowman still com- manding. That night the regiment marched to Jamestown, on the Cumberland river, which was reached at daybreak of the following morning, in time to prevent Confederate cavalry from occupying the town. They had just driven in the small force of Union cavalry at the place, but on sighting Companies A and F of the Thirty-sixth
5-48
MASSACHUSETTS IN THE WAR.
deployed as skirmishers beat a hasty retreat. At noon of the 4th orders were received to march at once for Lebanon, 60 miles north- ward; and though the heat and dust were terrible and the men heavily loaded, the place was reached at noon of the 6th-48 hours after the receipt of the orders. The Ninth Corps was on its way to reinforce General Grant at Vicksburg.
Leaving Lebanon by rail on the afternoon of the 7th, the regi- ment, numbering some 760 officers and men, went to Louisville, crossed the Ohio to Jacksonville, Ind., and reached Cairo on the 9th. There it went aboard the steamer Meteor and began the de- scent of the river, halting at Memphis for three days till the trans- ports with the rest of the division came down, when the flotilla of five large steamers escorted by a gun-boat, running by day and "tying up" at night, continued the journey, being fired on by a party of guerrillas from the shore near Columbus, Ark., but none of the Thirty-sixth being hurt. The regiment debarked at Snyder's Bluff on the Yazoo river during the 17th and marched some four miles inland to a magnolia grove, where it remained till the 20th, when the location was changed to a cross road where Durrell's Bat- tery was posted, the point being considered an important one in view of the known purpose of General J. E. Johnston to come upon . the rear of Grant's army and raise the siege. The camp of the regi- ment was arranged in a semi-cirele covering the road, with a strong picket posted a mile in advance, all being strongly fortified, and there the Thirty-sixth remained till the fall of the city. Sickness in the regiment rapidly increased owing to the exposure and the unfavorable surroundings, there being some cases of small-pox, of which Second Lieutenant William L. Howe of Orange died on the 7th of July ..
The surrender of Vicksburg on the morning of July 4 was no sooner assured than General Sherman, of whose command the Ninth Corps formed a part, was in motion in search of Johnston's threatening army. On receipt of the information the outposts were called in and the Thirty-sixth at once started on the march but did not overtake the brigade, which was already under way, till the following day, so rapid was the movement of the troops. A strong bridge was con- structed over the Big Black river at Birdsongs Ferry on the 6th by the mechanics of the Thirty-Sixth and other regiments, over which the army passed, and then the march was kept up till the 10th with great energy,-the men being almost entirely without rations dur-
519
THE THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
ing the time. On the afternoon of the 10th, Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, was sighted, to the defenses of which the Confeder- ates had retreated, and as the Union army emerged from the woods within view of the town it formed in order of battle, the Thirty- sixth on the extreme right of the Ninth Corps, connecting with the Sixteenth. The line advanced steadily till the enemy's main position was developed, when it halted for the night.
Next morning the advance was continued till the main body of the foc, strongly intrenched, was encountered, and the regiment lay all day under a heavy fire; but the only loss was by Company F., which in going upon the skirmish line had two members killed and six wounded. From this time on the regiment remained much of the time at the front during the siege operations which followed. but . was not engaged and suffered no further casualties. On the night of the 16th General Johnston evacuated Jackson, and as soon as the fact was known the Thirty-sixth, with other regiments of the division, marched eight miles northward to Grant's Mills, bivouack- ing for the night. Next morning the Central Mississippi Railroad was reached, ten miles of which had been destroyed by noon of the 19th, when the division returned to Jackson. There it learned that the corps had been ordered back to Kentucky, and next day the re- turn march toward Vicksburg was begun. The weather being very trying and the men weakened by previous hardships and short rations, the long marches of the next two days proved very fatiguing, two members of the Thirty-sixth dying on the 20th from exhaus- tion. The regiment reached the old camp at Milldale on the 23d, and during the few days that it stopped there it was in a sad plight. While it had a total of 368 officers and men present for duty, it had 167 sick in hospital, 16 of whom had small-pox. Two worthy officers died soon after-Captain Hastings on the 8th of September and Second Lieutenant Sibley August 17. From Milldale, Colonel Bowman commanding the brigade and Lieutenant Colonel Norton commanding the regiment left for home, their resignations having been accepted, and Major Goodell assumed command of the rem- nant of the Thirty-sixth. Colonel David Morrison was assigned to connand the brigade, which was reorganized to consist of his own regiment, the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, the Eighth and Seventeenth Michigan, in addition to the Massachusetts organization, the entire brigade scarcely numbering 500 men fit for duty.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.