USA > Massachusetts > Record of the service of the Forty-fourth Massachusetts volunteer militia in North Carolina, August 1862 to May 1863 > Part 19
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1 The committee of arrangements consisted of Messrs. J. M. Cumston, J. C. Bur- rage, J. G. Lombard, W. II. Odiorne, and W. H. Baldwin. Colonel Francis Boyd was chief marshal. Another authority gives General Tyler as chairman.
FORTY-FOURTHI MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
received brief furloughs ; and one squad, on invitation of the father of Corporal Gardner of Company D, who felt as keen and warm an interest in the regiment as if all the members had been his children, partook of a sumptuous breakfast at Parker's.
Our escort reached the wharf shortly after 10 A. M. Major J. Putnam Bradlee was in command. The New England Guard Reserve turned out with 93 guns; the Massachusetts Rifle Club, Captain Moore, 114 guns; the Battalion of National Guards, Major C. W. Stevens, 102 guns ; and the Roxbury Reserve Guard, Captain Wyman, 80 guns. Gilmore's and the Brigade bands fur- nished music. Our regiment fell in and formed promptly, the usual salutes were exchanged, and in charge of our escort we started for Boston Common. The number of spectators on State Street was immense; we had intended to march up that street company front, but the crowd was so dense that we had to form by column of platoons, and even then, in spite of the efforts of the guides, it was impossible to keep a perfect alignment. The right guide of the second platoon of Company D we know had actually to figlit his way through, and probably most of the other guides had a similar experience. Old Dan Simpson and Si Smith, the veteran drummer and fifer of the Guards, marched at the head of column, and our band received many encomiums from the spectators.
On reaching the Common, the regiment wheeled by company into line, the right resting on the Beacon Street Mall, when Mayor Lincoln, accompanied by Colonel Kurtz, Chief of Police,1 chair- man of the committee of arrangements, took position in front, and in behalf of the city of Boston welcomed the regiment home. In concluding his remarks he returned thanks to Colonel Sisson and the Fifth Rhode Island for their gallant action in running the blockade at Washington. Colonel Lee responded, the regiment wheeled into column of companies, stacked arms, and broke ranks. During the speaking the boys had been wistfully eying their " sis- ters and their cousins and their aunts," as well as many others of the gentler sex who were not related by such ties of consanguin- ity; although some of them frankly acknowledged afterward that their thoughts had been directed to a row of ten tables- one
1 Another authority says " accompanied by General Tyler."
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PROVOST DUTY, VOYAGE HOME, AND MUSTER OUT.
opposite each company - in the rear of the ladies. As soon as the order to break ranks was given the greetings indulged in on the wharf were repeated on a larger and more demonstrative scale. We were the " heroes of the day," and probably there was not a member of the regiment who did not enjoy the distinc- tion. It is said that the collation was choice and bountiful, - it must have been, as it was provided by J. B. Smith, - but the writer has thus far been unable to find even one man who could speak from experience. Each acknowledges that he got a mouth- ful or so, but claims that he was so busy in shaking hands with this one, answering earnest questions from that, replying to sin- cere congratulations of the other, that he found no time to inspect the tables or sample carefully what they bore.
After an hour or so the regiment was called to attention and then furloughed to the following Monday, June 15, at sunset; at which time the members were ordered to report at the old camp at Readville.
The day following our arrival home, Colonel Lee received a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. Browne, Jr., the military secretary of Governor Andrew, written in obedience to a request from the Governor (who at that time was in New York City), that the Forty-fourth be given an official welcome. Hc quotes from Governor Andrew's letter of instructions: "I beg that you will cause a proper expression to be officially made to Colonel Frank Lee and the Forty-fourth Massachusetts, announced by telegraph this morning to be now in Boston Harbor, of my in- terest in this fine and most exemplary corps and its commander. It will meet a splendid popular reception." In Colonel Browne's letter he refers to the fact that General Foster requests our arms and equipments to be returned at the earliest possible moment, so they could be used in arming General Wilde's brigade of colored troops which he was then recruiting in North Carolina.
Company B was the only distinctively local company in the regiment, all its members, with but two or three exceptions, having enlisted from Newton. Shortly after the muster out of the regiment the citizens of that town gave Company B a recep- tion at Newton Corner. The stores were closed and the schools dismissed. William O. Edmands was chief marshal and Hon. J.
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Wiley Edmands presided. Several appropriate speeches were made, and the exercises concluded with a banquet in Elliot Hall.
On June 15, pursuant to orders, the regiment assembled at Readville. Much to our disappointment we were not permitted to occupy our old barracks, as they were in possession of the Fifty-fifth, but were quartered on the other side of the road, far- ther east, where the Forty-third and Forty-fifth had been located during our first residence in that town. . On the 16th we went into Boston and performed escort duty for the Third Regiment, which had performed like duty for us on our departure from New Berne.
The morning after we reached camp, Special Order No. 71 was received, as follows : -
HEADQUARTERS, CAMP MEIGS, READVILLE, June 15, 1863.
Special Order No. 71.
Copy of General Order No. 17 from these headquarters is herewith transmitted to Colonel F. L. Lee, commanding Forty-fourth Massachu- setts, who will govern himself accordingly.
R. A. PEIRCE, Brigadier-General.
The order to which this referred was the following : --
HEADQUARTERS, CAMP MEIGS, READVILLE, June 10, 1863.
General Order No. 17.
On and after June 10 the following will be the daily duty throughout the entire camp : -
I. Reveille. Roll-call 5 a. m.
2. First sergeant's call. Report to adjutant . 5.30 a. m.
3. Breakfast . 6.30 a. In.
4. Surgeon's call 7.30 a. m.
5. Guard-mounting 8 a. m.
6. Drills
9 to 12 a. m.
7. Dinner
8. First sergeant's call.
Report to adjutant . I p. m.
9. Drills
1.30 to 4 p. m.
IO. Dress parade
II. Supper 5 p. m.
6 p. m.
12. Retreat and roll-call Sunset.
13. Tattoo . 8.30 p. m.
14. Taps 9 p. m.
12 m.
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PROVOST DUTY, VOYAGE HOME, AND MUSTER OUT.
Regimental adjutants will make their returns to these headquarters at 7.30 A. M. each day. There will be three stated roll-calls daily, attended by at least one commissioned officer to each company ; namely, at reveille, retreat, and tattoo. Lights will be extinguished at taps in the quarters of enlisted men. Length of drills at the discretion of the different com- manders.1 One copy of this order will be placed in each barrack.
By command of
R. A. PEIRCE, Brigadier-General.
Lieutenant H. HOLT, Post Adjutant.
The men, who had naturally been talking over the matter of their muster out, generally understood that their term of service having expired, the only duties that could be demanded of them, as they were not in the presence of an enemy, -when, of course, none would have thought for an instant of taking advantage of any technicality, - were that of policing and guarding the camp. We were proud of our proficiency in drill, we were most anxious to be given an opportunity to show the results of our nine months' experience and instruction, and we had all indulged in pleasant dreams of the astonishment we would create by our steadiness in the Manual and battalion movements when given an opportunity for an hour or two each afternoon to exhibit on the plains of Readville. But when we found that the above order was to be enforced literally, that we were expected to attend " squad drill," and were to be treated in all respects like " raw recruits," we were very indignant; but the discipline to which we had been subjected for the previous nine months was not without its effect and the opposition was passive rather than active. Our officers were no more in sympathy with this order than the men, but their position made them more circumspect in expressing it. We may have done the commandant of the camp injustice, but he was not popular with the regiment when we were here the previous fall, - a fact which he himself fully recognized at the time; and now that we were enduring the restlessness engen- dered by the nearness of our muster out, the anxiety to be again
1 No copy of the order as actually posted in the barracks has been found; but according to the recollection of all who have been consulted, this sentence, owing probably to an omission in copying, was not contained in the order as it reached us, and the first drills were specified as "squad." The order having caused some dis- cussion at the time and since, is here given in full.
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
free from the restraints of army rule, and the natural reaction from the strict discipline under which we had been kept, we were probably incapable of judging calmly or dispassionately. Colonel Lee was absent from camp at the time the order was posted. On his return he had the obnoxious features modified.
Thursday, June 18, we were mustered out of the service of the United States.
CHAPTER XII.
NORTH CAROLINA REVISITED.
N January, 1884, Colonel C. G. Attwood, formerly of the Twenty-fifth Massachu- setts, issued a circular in- viting all who had served in North Carolina to join a party on a trip to the old North State. Like many others, I had always in- tended to revisit the places connected with the history of the Forty-fourth, and at this time the first opportunity was presented. Comrade Charles J. McIntire, of Company G, and I decided to join; but when we called on Colonel Attwood we were informed that owing to vari- ous causes the proposed expedition had been abandoned. We had talked about the trip so much that it was a great disappoint- ment, and as it would be very inconvenient for us to be away in March, - the time named in Colonel Attwood's circular, - we decided to wait until the fall and go, with or without others. In August, after consulting with Colonel Attwood, eight hundred circulars were issued in his name, reviving the project suggested the January previous. A few favorable answers were received, but an equal number of resignations followed, and the party was finally composed of McIntire and myself.
I left home Tuesday evening, Sept. 30, 1884, with feelings hard to describe. It seemed almost as though I was again "going to war." The old barracks, the river, camps, troops, drilling, and
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
various scenes of a wholly warlike nature were in my mind. I could not picture New Berne without plenty of soldiers moving about, the old forts bristling with cannon, war vessels in the river. I could hardly realize that I was to travel about without a "pass," unmolested, in covered railway cars, or ride over the country roads instead of marching. However, I was on my way to the never-to-be-forgotten places, and must expect great changes.
For many years I had had a strong desire to visit Gettysburg. I started a little in advance of Comrade McIntire, whom I was to join at Baltimore. Having had quite an experience in photog- raphy (as an amateur), I decided to take my camera and a supply of dry plates, so as to secure views of the most interest- ing points; and in this sketch of the trip the number enclosed in parentheses following the mention of any place indicates that I succeeded in getting a picture of that locality, and is the number of the negative.
Space will not permit giving an account of the Gettysburg visit. It will be sufficient to say that I made some most pleasant acquaintances, who were engaged in and thoroughly familiar with the action of the battle, and I felt well repaid for the time spent.
On Friday morning, October 3, I boarded the south-bound train at Baltimore, where I joined McIntire. Passing through Washington, Fredericksburg, Petersburg, and Weldon, we reached Goldsboro' at 7.30 P. M. Selecting the nearest hotel, we told the landlord the object of our visit, expressing a desire to meet some of our late opponents. He soon found some, with whom we passed a very pleasant evening.
Having arranged to send our baggage to New Berne by train, on Saturday morning we took a carriage and drove to the Golds- boro' battlefield. To our surprise it was nearly five miles from the village. As we approached the field (568) by a different road from the one we had followed twenty-two years before, it was difficult to locate the various points. The railroad bridge was unmistakable; but we at last concluded that the trees had grown so that now we could not see the bridge from the memo- rable turnip-field in which we had rested Dec. 17, 1862. Time
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NORTH CAROLINA REVISITED.
was precious; as one view of the field was sufficient, we were soon in motion for Whitehall.
Our driver professed to know the route, but by noon he ac- knowledged he had not been over it for many years and had lost his way. We were disappointed, as we had hoped to ride over the same road that we marched over in 1862. Stopping at a farm-house for directions, the woman replied in the familiar North Carolina phraseology, " It's a right smart distance fur- ther this way, but I've heared my husband say this road is a heap better than the other; " and so we kept on. About 2 P. M. we turned into the main street (574) of Whitehall,1 at the point where Newcomb and Slocum, of Company A, were killed, Dec. 16, 1862.
Driving immediately to the Seawell House and ordering lun- cheon, we proceeded to view the position occupied by the Forty- fourth at the time of the action. Fortunately we found a Mr. Whitfield, who owned most of the land about there and was a resident of the place during the war. We found the little burial- lot (570) on the river-bank near Company G's position. We were shown the places where many of the killed had been buried, and were told that since the war all the bodies had been re- moved, - he supposed to the Federal Cemetery at New Berne,- with the exception of one whose name or regiment was unknown, and a house having been built over the soldier's last resting- place, the body could not be disinterred. Walking out on the bridge (569) we took a view of the bank opposite our position (572), and then of the spot where the Confederate gunboat was built (571). The place had changed greatly. The south bank is now thickly studded with young trees, so that it is difficult to find a place from which the river can be seen. The half-dozen buildings which formed the town of Whitehall, and in 1862 were burned when we left, have been replaced by some twenty or thirty, among them a church, hotel, and saw-mill. About half a mile west of the main street is a hotel for summer guests near some springs which have been found to possess medicinal prop- erties. There are seven of them, and the name " Whitehall " has
1 The map shows Whitehall Bridge. The village of Seven Springs, formerly Whitehall, or, as maps say, "Jericho," is on the south bank of the river.
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
been discarded, the place now being known as "Seven Springs." The main street of the town extends to about where Newcomb and Slocum were killed (573), which at the time of our first visit was an open field. A gentleman pointed out a tree in his garden under which they had been buried.
After luncheon we drove over the bridge on our way to La Grange, where we were to take the train for New Berne. Four miles an hour appears to be the maximum rate of driving in North Carolina, and it was 5.30 P. M. when we stepped on the platform of the railway station at that place.
At half-past six the train from Goldsboro' arrived, and glad enough we were to get on board. We frankly stated to those we met the object of our trip, and the greatest cordiality was shown us. On this train we had the pleasure of meeting Captain Car- roway. He had been in the Confederate cavalry, and while the Forty-fourth was in the department, commanded the pickets on the north side of the Neuse, with headquarters at or near Street's Ferry. McIntire remembered, when detailed on a flag-of-truce boat to carry some refugees up the river, having seen him near that place. Captain Carroway stated that for a long time he belonged to the " unreconciled," but at last realized that it was no use "kicking against the pricks." Now, he says, he can see that the war had its good results; that the people of both sections are becoming better acquainted, are discovering good points in each other that they knew not of before, and that their minds are being gradually cleared of prejudices. For his part he "was right glad to see us." Hle got off at Kinston, expressing a wish that he might be able to be of service.
At 9 P. M. the train stopped and the brakeman shouted " New Berne." We were as glad to reach our journey's end as we had been twenty-two years before, and we alighted at the same spot, opposite the railway round-house and machine-shop (606). We were not at all anxious to try that caravansary again. Dim memo- ries of the reputation of the Gaston House rose in our minds, - those old fairy tales of realms of bliss to which enlisted men were not admitted; of beds with sheets; of tables with white cloths and napkins. We decided to go there, regardless of the expos- tulations and praises by another stage-driver of a rival hotel.
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NORTH CAROLINA REVISITED.
Unlike, too, our original method of proceeding, we rode from the station through Craven Street to our destination (579). It was like, yet unlike. No sentries parading up and down, no officers lounging on the piazza, none of that bustle we had known in 1862 and 1863. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and we could not resist the inclination to stroll about the town. Up Craven Street, by the house occupied by the colonel when the regiment was on provost duty (601) ; down Pollock Street, by the quar- ters of Company D (602, 603), and the old guard-house of Dis- trict No. 1 (608). All were closed, no signs of life visible. Passing up Broad Street, we stopped in front of Company E's old quarters (604, 605). The front door was open and a young lady seated in the hall reading. Our escort was evidently well acquainted; he called her out and introduced us. She was very agreeable, and said that her recollections of the war were very dim, as she was but a baby when it broke out. On being told that we proposed photographing the places with which we were familiar as soldiers, she kindly offered to stand on the piazza; but as we could not appoint an hour, she unfortunately was absent when we returned for that purpose.
Sunday morning we started for a longer stroll, but the intense heat soon drove us back to cover. In the afternoon Mr. Street, to whom we had letters of introduction, took us to drive - out in view of the old camp-grounds of Stevenson's brigade; to the National Cemetery (577, 588), where we looked up the recorded burials of the Forty-fourth men (578, 587) and visited their graves.
The National Cemetery is located on the westerly side of the field on which we used to have our brigade and battalion drills, on the left of the wagon-road which, passing Fort Rowan (or Star Fort), runs in a northwesterly direction till it crosses the swamp near where Fort Stevenson was located. The grounds are about eight acres in extent, surrounded by a substantial brick wall. On entering, the first object to attract attention is the keeper's lodge, a one-story and French-roof cottage, built of North Carolina marl. Opposite the house maple-trees have been set out in such a way that when fully grown there will be an en- closure in the shape of a cross, roofed by the arching of the
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
limbs. It is known as Sylvan Hall. Trees in every variety that will flourish in the locality are scattered through the enclosure in profusion, together with flowering shrubs. Every grave is marked with a marble headstone engraved with the name of the soldier, if known ; in many cases relatives have erected handsome monuments. By enriching the ground with soil from the swamp, a beautiful turf has been secured, which is green when all grass out- side is dry and parched by the summer heat; and the whole effect is such that a visitor, on entering, can easily imagine that he is in a Northern cemetery. The friends of those buried there can feel assured that the last resting-place of their loved ones is as well cared for and as beautiful as any but the most expensive of our own " cities of the dead." The National Government has pro- vided that in these respects its dead heroes shall be perpetually honored.
One woman only is buried here. In 1864, learning that her . betrothed, Charles F. Colledge, private in the Twenty-fifth Mas- sachusetts, had been stricken with yellow fever, Carrie E. Cutter went to New Berne to nurse hin. He died, and she, heart-broken, fell an easy prey to the same disease. Her last wish has been gratified in allowing her remains to forever rest beside those of him she loved so well.
Returning, we saw the mounds of earth representing Forts Rowan (581) and Totten (582, 533). On Monday we went again to these places and photographed then.
By advice of many who learned we were to visit " Little" Washington, we engaged a carryall, driver, and pair of horses, and left New Berne at 4.30 P. M. At the end of an hour we had gone three miles, and it was after seven when we reached Street's Ferry, only ten miles from New Berne. At 2.30 A. M., Tuesday, October 7, we drove into Washington. After disturbing the peaceful sleep of several citizens, we found a boarding-house kept by Mr. Adams, where we secured accommodations.
In the morning we engaged the services of one Joe Chauncey to drive us to Rawle's Mills. Some seven or eight miles out we came to the first swamp (595), though not the last, of which we ascertained the depth while accompanying General Foster in his North Carolina expeditions. A two-months drought had had its
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NORTH CAROLINA REVISITED.
effect, and we might have walked through without having the water come over our shoes. Wishing to reach Rawle's Mills before it was too late to photograph, we hurried on. We came to a sharp bend on the left, a small house on the right, open fields on both sides, and in front a ford between steep banks. We thought we had reached the location of our first action. After photographing it (596) we sought for the graves of our men, but could find no trace of any. Returning to the house and consulting an old lady who well remembered " Foster's raid," we learned that we were mistaken regarding this place being Rawle's Mills. We drove on some two miles, when we reached a saw-mill owned by a Mr. Lilly, with whom our driver was ac- quainted. Mr. Lilly said the place we were seeking was about a quarter of a mile beyond the bend. He was not on the ground at the time of the fight, but knew all about it, and told us where some of our men had been buried, including one named Rollins. Their graves were originally under some trees which have been felled since the war, and the ground is now a cornfield. We drove to Rawle's Mills (585). The deepest part of the stream is now spanned by a substantial wagon-bridge. The course of the road has been somewhat changed, that part in which we were standing when ambushed being overgrown with bushes. The old breastworks have been levelled, but the field in which we bivouacked (584) is still cultivated. We then returned to Washington.
On Wednesday morning we began our inspection of Washing- ton. We met a Colonel Carrow who offered to guide us, and found the accounts of his war experience very entertaining. We first went to Fort Washington (584), and then to the Grice place (590). The colonel's son had married one of the Misses Grice, and on invitation we entered the house, where we passed a most delightful half-hour with the family. Leaving the place, we paused to take a parting shot (591) and then went to the bridge. A Mr. Winfield, whom we fortunately encountered, gave us much valuable information. It appears that what our boys took to be a bend in the road near where Companies A and G were ambus- caded March 30, 1863, was a breastwork formed by felling a cypress-tree six feet in diameter across the road. Part of the
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
trunk still lays there slowly rotting (594). Mr. Winfield claims to have assisted in removing three men, one of whom was wounded in the breast (Sergeant Hobart), one in the eye (John Leonard), and another in the neck (T. J. Lawrence), to his mother-in-law's house, where they were nursed until able .to stand removal to a hospital in the interior.
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