USA > Massachusetts > Record of the service of the Forty-fourth Massachusetts volunteer militia in North Carolina, August 1862 to May 1863 > Part 6
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Again, Oct. 3, 1862, he addressed a letter to the War Depart- ment requesting reinforcements of infantry to be sent, "if it is expected of me to go .into active service during the cool weather."
" Further reflection on this subject has convinced me of the propriety of my request, and especially as regards new regiments ; and I beg leave to re-urge this matter, and to further say that even if it is not intended that I should make any decided movement, this place presents very great facili- ties as a camp of instruction for a very large body of troops, and would be more available for operations on the flank of the enemy, should that be rendered necessary by their retreat from Richmond, or from any other cause. Even if thirty or forty new regiments be sent, I will devote my personal time to drilling and perfecting them in their duties. I am
56
FORTY-FOURTHI MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
advaneing the defences of the town, and they are now strong enough to require a siege to take, I think."
In answer to these suggestions a number of new troops (prin- cipally nine months' regiments) were sent to New Berne in October. After the Tarboro' expedition General Foster asked again for more troops, in these terms: -
" The enemy have much increased their force and their activity in this State. They show a determination to withstand my advances in their rich country of the eastern sections, and also, if possible, to diminish my hold in that section. On the other hand, the weakening influences of the past malarious season have so weakened the strength of my old regiments that for hard active service I have scarcely available one half their nominal strength. The Third, Fifth, Forty-third, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and Forty-sixth Massachusetts Regiments, arrived here, are good troops. I would most respectfully suggest that if possible I should be allowed at once ten thousand troops in addition to my present force. The sooner I have this force, the sooner I will endeavor to prepare my plans of cutting the Weldon and Wilmington Railroad, and the taking of Wilmington and the works at the mouth of the Cape Fear River."
Additional troops were sent in response to this appeal, until the Federal troops in the Department of North Carolina num- bered (in January, 1863) nearly thirty thousand men.
The relative strength of the opposing forces in the State dur- ing the period in which we are especially interested is shown in the following tables, taken from the Appendix to Admiral Am- men's " Navy in the Civil War: The Atlantic Coast : " -
Abstract from Returns of the United States military forces serving in North Carolina.
Present for duty.
September, 1862 .
6,642
Aggregate present. 8,647
October,
8,967
11,415
November,
12,872
15,569
December,
18,468
21,917
January, 1863
25,023
28,194
February,
15,806
18,548
March,
14,672
17,105
April,
13,962
15,920
May,
16,643
19,715
In August the forces had been reduced to 7,699 present for duty.
57
NEW BERNE AND ITS GARRISON. -
Abstract from Returns of the Confederate military forces serving in North Carolina. (No returns accessible for September, October, and November, 1862.)
Present for duty.
Aggregate present.
December, 1862
11,074
12,207
January,
I863
26,958
31,273
February,
15,904
19,894
March,
20,733
April,
7,501
8,385
May,
22,149
26,838
In August there were 7,391 present for duty.
A small portion of our forces were distributed as garrisons along the coast, and in towns like Plymouth and Washington, at the head of navigation in the larger rivers. The larger portion of the troops remained in and around New Berne, occupying per- manent camps in the outskirts of the town, on both sides of the Trent River, within a strong line of forts which had been con- structed after our occupation. The picket line lay six or eight miles out, following on the west, or side toward the enemy, the course of Batchelder's Creek. The sparsely inhabited country around New Berne is flat, low, swampy, heavily wooded with pines, and traversed by numerous creeks. The roads are wet, sandy, heavy, and unfavorable to the movement of troops.
The Rebel force in North Carolina in November, 1862, was dis- tributed somewhat as follows: -
Between New Berne and Raleigh, with headquarters at Golds- boro', eight thousand men, including two regiments of cavalry and a small force of light artillery.
At and near Wilmington, three thousand men.
Between the Tar and Roanoke Rivers, a movable force of three thousand men.
A regiment was also stationed at Weldon, where further forces could be readily and speedily concentrated from Petersburg and Richmond.
The aggregate of these detachments would appear to be nearly fifteen thousand men, - three thousand more than the returns given above indicate for the following month of December.
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1
58
FORTY-FOURTHI MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
When the Forty-fourth reached New Berne the Union forces under Foster were known as the " Department of North Caro- lina." Nov. 21, 1862, General Orders No. 58, Department Head- quarters, formed the infantry regiments into temporary brigades, our regiment being assigned to the Second (under command of Col. Thomas G. Stevenson), consisting of the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts, Lieut .- Col. Osborn ; Fifth Rhode Island, Major Arnold; Tenth Connecticut, Colonel Leggett; and Forty-fourth Massachusetts, Col. Francis L. Lee. The First Brigade, about 4,500 men, was commanded by Col. T. J. C. Amory; the Second, about 4,000 men, by Col. Thomas G. Stevenson; the Third, about 4,000 men, by Col. Horace C. Lee; and there were unas- signed about 3,200 men, - a total of about 16,000 men, infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
On the 24th of December the following general order was issued from the War Department at Washington: -
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, Dec. 24, 1862.
General Order No. 214.
By direction of the President, the troops in North Carolina will con- stitute the Eighteenth Army Corps, and Major-General J. G. Foster is assigned to the command.
Four days later, General Order No. 84, Corps Headquarters, was issued as follows: -
HEADQUARTERS EIGHTEENTH ARMY CORPS, NEW BERNE, N. C., Dec. 28, 1862.
General Order No. 84.
The assignment of infantry to brigades from this date will be as follows, and commanding officers of regiments will report at once to their brigade commanders : -
BRIG .- GEN. L. C. HUNT.
85th Pennsylvania . Col. J. B. Howell.
103d Pennsylvania .
Lieut .- Col. W. H. Maxwell.
85th New York
Lieut .- Col. A. J. Wellman.
92d New York .
101st Pennsylvania . Lieut .- Col. D. M. Armor.
96th New York . Capt. George W. Hindes.
BRIG .- GEN. THOMAS G. STEVENSON.
24th Massachusetts Lieut .- Col. F. A. Osborn. 44th Col. F. L. Lee.
59
NEW BERNE AND ITS GARRISON.
5th Rhode Island .
Maj. Tew.
roth Connecticut
Lieut .- Col. Leggett.
BRIG .- GEN. C. A. HECKMAN.
9th New Jersey
Maj. Zabriskie.
23d Massachusetts
Maj. J. G. Chambers.
3d
Col. S. P. Richmond.
5Ist
Col. A. B. R. Sprague.
COL. T. J. C. AMORY.
1 7th Massachusetts
Lieut .- Col. J. F. Fellows.
43d
Col. C. L. Holbrook.
45th 66
Col. C. R. Codman.
8th
Col. Coffin.
COL. HORACE. C. LEE.
27th Massachusetts
Lieut .- Col. Luke Lyman.
25th
Col. Pickett.
46th ¥
Col. George Bowler.
5th 66
Col. G. W. Pierson.
First Division of the Eighteenth Corps will consist of Brigadier-General Hunt's and Stevenson's brigades, to be commanded by Brigadier-General Wessells. Brigadier-Generals Hunt and Stevenson will report at once to Brigadier-General Wessells.
By command of
Major-General JOHN G. FOSTER,
J. F. ANDERSON, Captain and A. A. A. G.
[Official] :
WILLIAM PRATT, A. A. A. G.
On the 29th, General Orders from Division Headquarters was read : -
HEADQUARTERS FIRST DIVISION, EIGHTEENTH ARMY CORPS NEW BERNE, N. C., Dec. 29, 1862.
General Order No. I.
I. Pursuant to orders from Headquarters Eighteenth Army Corps, 28th inst., the undersigned assumes command of this division, composed of Hunt's and Stevenson's brigades. The following are announced as staff officers of this division : -
Capt. Andrew Stewart, A. A. G. = R. C. Webster. A. Q. M. John Hall, C. S.
60
FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
Surg. D. G. Rush, Chief of Medical Staff. ist Lieut. Daniel F. Beigh (101st Pennsylvania), A. D. C. 2d " M. C. Frost (92d New York), A. D. C.
The brigades will be known as First and Second in the order above enumerated.
H. W. WESSELLS,
Brigadier-General Volunteers, Commanding Division.
[Official] : WILLIAM PRATT, A. A. A. G.
The force at New Berne was considerably increased in January, 1863, by the arrival of troops ordered to this department from the Department of Virginia, Major-General Dix, Brigadier-Gen- erals Ferry, Wessells, Spinola, and Naglee reporting with their respective brigades. A reorganization of the Army Corps fol- lowed, and five divisions were created.
The monthly reports subsequent to this date (January 12) show that the First Division was commanded by Brig .- Gen. I. N. Palmer, the Second Division by Brig .- Gen. Henry M. Naglee, the Third Division by Brig .- Gen. O. S. Ferry, the Fourth Division by Brig .- Gen. Henry W. Wessells, the Fifth Division by Brig .- Gen. H. Prince. The first North Carolina Union volunteers were com- manded by Capt. C. A. Lyon, the artillery brigade by Brig .- Gen. J. H. Ledlie, and the Third New York Cavalry by Col. S. H. Mix.
The Fourth Division, General Wessells, comprised the two brigades of Hunt and Stevenson as defined in General Order No. 84 above.
Under this organization the Forty-fourth Massachusetts Regi- ment was in the Second Brigade of the Fourth Division of the Eighteenth Army Corps, with Major-General Foster as our corps commander, Brig .- Gen. Henry W. Wessells our division com- mander, and Brig .- Gen. Thomas G. Stevenson our brigade commander.1
1 There has been considerable discussion among our members as to which divi- sion we belonged to. The writer has examined carefully all the papers on file at the State House, including the regimental order-book, and all the official documents in Washington to which he could get access. He has failed to find any order assigning the regiment to the Fourth Division, while there is one (General Order No. 14) assigning it to the First ; yet all the official papers subsequent to January 12 speak of General Wessells as in command of the Fourth Division. So far as we can see, there is at present no means of settling the question satisfactorily.
Brigadier General HENRY W. WESSELS,
Comd'g 4th Div., 18th Army Corps.
Major General JOHN G. FOSTER,
Comd'g 18th Army Corps. 1863.
Brigadier General THOMAS G. STEVENSON,
Comd'g 2d Brigade, 4th Div., 18th A. C.
HELIOTYPE PRINTING CO. BOSTON, MASS.
61
NEW BERNE AND ITS GARRISON.
Our corps commander, Jolin G. Foster, Major-General of Volunteers, was born in New Hampshire in 1824, was graduated at West Point in 1846, and appointed a brevet second lieutenant in the corps of engineers. He was brevetted as first lieutenant for gallantry during the Mexican War at Contreras and Cherubusco, Aug. 20, 1847, and as captain for gallantry at Molino del Rey, Sept. 8, 1847, where he was one of the party which stormed the Mexican works and was severely wounded. He was assistant professor of engineering at West Point in 1854, became a cap- tain July 1, 1860, and was brevetted as major, Dec. 26, 1860. On April 28, 1858, he took charge of the fortifications in North and South Carolina, which duty he was performing on the break- ing out of the Civil War in 1861. He was one of the garrison of Fort Sumter under Major Anderson, and participated in the defence of that fort. After its surrender he was employed upon the fortifications of New York. He was appointed a brigadier- general of volunteers, Oct. 23, 1861, and commanded a brigade in the Burnside expedition, taking a leading part in the capture of Roanoke Island and New Berne. After the capture of New Berne he was made governor of that place. In August, 1862, he was appointed major-general of volunteers. After General Burnside left North Carolina to join the Army of the Potomac, General Foster became the commander of the department, and on the creation of the Eighteenth Army Corps he was appointed to the command.
From July 15 to Nov. 15, 1863, he was in command of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina. From Dec. 12, 1863, to Feb. 9, 1864, he commanded the Army and Department of the Ohio. This command he was obliged to relinquish on account of severe injuries which resulted from. a fall from his horse. After remaining two months on sick leave at Baltimore, he assumed command of the Department of the South, retaining it from May 26, 1864, to Feb. 11, 1865. From August, 1865, to December, 1866, lie commanded the Department of Florida. He was mustered out of the volunteer service, September, 1866, and died at Nashua, N. H., Sept. 2, 1874.
General Foster was made Lieutenant-Colonel in the Engineers of the regular army March 7, 1867; and was brevetted March 13,
62
FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
1865, Brigadier-General and Major-General, also of the regular army.
By a general order dated New Berne, Jan. 12, 1863, the follow- ing-named officers were announced as constituting the staff of the major-general commanding : -
Brig .- Gen. Edward E. Potter, chief of staff.
Lieut .- Col. Southard Hoffman, assistant adjutant-general.
Capt. James H. Strong, aide-de-camp and assistant adjutant and in- spector general.
Maj. J. L. Stackpole, judge-advocate.
Maj. John F. Anderson, senior aide-de-camp.
Maj. Edward N. Strong, aide-de-camp.
Capt. George E. Gourand, aide-de-camp.
Capt. Louis Fitzgerald, aide-de-camp.
Capt. Daniel Messinger, provost marshal.
Lient .- Col. Herman Briggs, chief quartermaster.
Capt. J. C. Slaght, assistant quartermaster.
Capt. Henry Porter, assistant quartermaster.
Capt. William Holden, assistant quartermaster.
Capt. J. J. Bowen, assistant quartermaster.
Lieut. Joseph A. Goldthwaite, acting commissary of subsistence.
Surg. F. G. Snelling, medical director.
Lieut. F. W. Farquhar, United States Engineer Corps, chief engineer.
Lieut. M. F. Prouty, acting ordnance officer.
Lieut. J. Myers, United States Ordnance Corps, ordnance officer.
Our division commander, Henry W. Wessells, was born in Litchfield, Conn., Feb. 20, 1809. At the age of nineteen he entered a military school at Middletown, Conn., and the following year went to West Point, where he was graduated in 1833. He was brevetted second lieutenant in the Second Infantry; was engaged in the Creek War in Georgia in 1835, and the Seminole War in Florida in 1837-43; was promoted to be first lieuten- ant in 1838, and captain in 1847; was brevetted major for gallantry at Contreras and Cherubusco during the Mexican war, in the former of which engagements he was wounded. After the close of the war with Mexico he went with his regiment to California, and thence in 1854 to Kansas and Nebraska. In June, 1861, he was appointed major in the Sixth Infantry. During the winter of 1861-62 he was granted leave of absence and organized
63
NEW BERNE AND ITS GARRISON.
the Eighth Regiment of Kansas Volunteers. In the spring of 1862 he joined his own regiment before Yorktown in General Sikes's command, and was wounded at the battle of Fair Oaks. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers, April 25, 1862, serving in the Department of Virginia, Major-General Dix. In December, 1862, he was transferred from the Department of Virginia to the Department of North Carolina. In May, 1863, he was assigned to the defence of Plymouth, N. C., which place he was compelled to surrender, April 20, 1864, after a fight of four days, and was taken prisoner and held until August, when ex- changed. He was mustered out of the volunteer service, January, 1866. In February, 1865, he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the Eighteenth Regular Infantry. He was retired Jan. 1, 1871.
Our brigade commander, Thomas G. Stevenson, was born at Boston in the year 1836. He became an active member of the State Militia, rising from the ranks to become major of the Fourth Battalion of Massachusetts Infantry, which body, under his care and instruction, attained a high degree of excellence in discipline and drill. In the fall of 1861 he was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers. He participated in the battles of Roanoke Island and New Berne. In an official report, dated New Berne, Nov. 12, 1862, to the War Department, after the Tarboro' expedition, General Foster writes : -
" I recommend Colonel Stevenson, for his efficient services on this march and in the affair at Little Creek and Rawle's Mills, as well as previous services at the battle of Roanoke Island and New Berne, be promoted to the rank of brigadier-general."
In November, 1862, Colonel Stevenson was appointed brigadier- general. In the Richmond campaign of 1864 he commanded a division of the Ninth Corps, and lost his life at Spottsylvania Court House, May 10, 1864.
With this description of New Berne, the forces which occupied it, and the commanders under whom the Forty-fourth served, this chapter might be considered as complete; but it may be well to include here one or two incidents connected with our stay in the town which do not come within the scope of any other chapter.
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FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
In January the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts and Tenth Con- necticut of our brigade, under General Stevenson, were sent with other regiments of the Eighteenth Army Corps, first to Beaufort, N. C., and thence to South Carolina, where they joined the forces operating against Charleston.
The concentration of troops in North Carolina, and their sub- sequent embarkation at Beaufort, puzzled and alarmed the Con- federate authorities, who anticipated a simultaneous attack upon Weldon at the north and Wilmington at the south. General D. H. Hill was assigned to the command of the troops in North Caro- lina, then (Feb. 1, 1863) composed of Daniels's and Pettigrew's infantry brigades, Robertson's cavalry brigade, and some artil- lery. In March, Garnett's brigade, from Petersburg, was ordered to report to Hill.
When it was ascertained that Charleston, and not Wilmington, was the objective point of the new expedition, General Hill planned a strong movement against New Berne and the other Federal positions along the coast. About this time General Foster wrote to the War Department: -
" I have received information that the corps of Major-General D. H. Hill is within the limits of this State and that he commands this department. I referred, in my last letter, to some iron-clads being constructed on the Tar and Roanoke Rivers. I understand that the iron-clad on the Roanoke River is nearly completed, and to prevent its being destroyed by our gun- boats before it is ready for service, the enemy have assembled a large force at Hamilton, said to be 7,000 infantry, 1,000 cavalry, and seven batteries of between six and eight pieces each. The fortifications at Rain- bow Bluff, just below Hamilton, destroyed by me last November, are being repaired and heavy guns being mounted from Weldon. . \ considerable force is at Weldon, and the enemy are busily engaged in fortifying that point. . . . To prevent the enemy from putting their threat into execution of taking the town of Plymouth, taking the gunboats or driving them out of the river, I propose to reinforce that point, and at the same time I have prepared a strong reconnaissance, under General Prince, to move in the direction of Wilmington and so prevent too great an accumulation of force on the Roanoke until such time as I shall be strong enough to attack with advantage. The command is only waiting for a suitable con- dition of the roads to move, the recent rains having rendered them almost impassable."
65
NEW BERNE AND ITS GARRISON.
As before stated, General Hill's force was increased by the arrival of Garnett's brigade on the 10th of March. The com- bined force numbered some 15,000 men. On the 11th of March General Hill moved his army towards New Berne. On the after- noon of Friday, March 13, the enemy's scouts were seen in various directions. Belger's Battery, the Fifth and Twenty-fifth Massa- chusetts Regiments, were sent out on the Trent road, leading towards Kinston. At dawn on the 14th a strong force under the Confederate General Pettigrew placed sixteen guns in posi- tion near a small fort opposite the town on the north, across the Neuse River. This fort was almost directly opposite the camp of the Forty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment. Two or three thousand infantry supported the artillery. They came into a clearing about sixty yards from the fort and began a rapid fire of shell and canister. After a few rounds they sent in to Colonel Anderson, of the Ninety-second New York (four hun- dred and fifty of whom held the place), a flag of truce, demand- ing a surrender, saying that a combined attack was to be made that day on New Berne, and that resistance was useless. To gain time for the gunboats to get into position, Colonel Ander- son asked for half an hour to send and consult General Foster. The flag of truce went back, and returned granting the half-hour, and when the time had expired, returned again for the response. Colonel Anderson replied, "My orders are to hold this place, and I shall never surrender it." During this interval the Con- federates had put all their guns in position, straightened their lines, and formed their infantry in three lines behind the guns. General Pettigrew was mounted on a large white horse, and was constantly riding up and down the lines, giving orders. When the flag of truce went back the third time, and the result was known, the Confederates opened a rapid and terrific fire. The men in the fort, not wishing to show their strength, lay close behind the sand wall and waited for a charge. The soldiers in the fort prepared for the expected charge by biting off car- tridges and putting them up before them on the logs, so as to be ready to fire fast. The camp in the fort was completely rid- dled with balls. A thirty-pound Parrott threw shells across the river, striking near our camp. The Union gunboats came
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66
FORTY-FOURTH MASSACHUSETTS INFANTRY.
around from the Trent River, and getting into position, began a vigorous shelling of the woods beyond the fort, causing the enemy to retire. A thirty-pound siege-gun of the enemy burst, and killed a number of their own men. In the afternoon they attempted to creep up and plant a battery in the woods, but were prevented from so doing by the constant shelling of the fleet.
About noontime a train of platform cars with a locomotive in the rear stopped before the camp of the Fifth Rhode Island. In twenty minutes that regiment was on the train and moved rapidly out to the camp of the Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, doing picket duty some eight miles out from New Berne, on the Kinston road. Reports came that a force of 8,000 or 10,000 men, with thirty pieces of artillery and some cavalry, had reached a point on the flank of the picket force nearer New Berne than they werc. Colonel Jones, of the Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, com- manding the picket-post, was ordered, if pressed, to retire on New Berne, fighting his way as he came in. At dusk the outer pickets were driven in. At night tattoo was beaten at several points and the cars were kept running, to give the enemy the impression that a large force was near. The entire force in and around the town were kept constantly under arms. Every preparation was made for an attack.
After threatening the town at various points, the enemy during the night disappeared from New Berne. It was supposed that Washington, N. C., might be in danger, and to reinforce and strengthen the garrison of that town, on the following day (March 15) eight companies of the Forty-fourth Massachu- setts Regiment were ordered to Washington. Companies B and F of the regiment were at this time doing picket duty at Batch- elder's Creek, a few miles out of New Berne towards Kinston. Between this date (March 15) and April 22 the main body of the regiment was at Washington, N. C., the greater part of the time surrounded and hemmed in by the Confederate troops under General D. H. Hill, as narrated in another chapter.
General Foster was with the small force at Washington, N. C., during the siege of that town. During his absence Brig .- Gen. I. N. Palmer, commanding First Division of Eighteenth
1 I :
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NEW BERNE AND ITS GARRISON.
Army Corps, was in command at New Berne. On April 1, 1863, he wrote from New Berne to the War Department, stating that General Foster was at Washington, N. C., and that that place was being attacked by the enemy in force; that there were only parts of two regiments there as garrison; and that three regi- ments and a battery of artillery had been sent him, but they were unable to reach there, the enemy having two batteries on the river below the town. Commander Davenport, United States Navy, sent from New Berne all the available gunboats to engage the batteries. The enemy were reported as being in large force in North Carolina, and as acting on the offensive. On the same date (April 1) an urgent request by letter was made by General Palmer to Major-General Dix, commanding Department of Vir- ginia at Fortress Monroe, for assistance. He says: " There is a fair prospect of success for the Rebels at Washington [N. C.], and if they succeed this place will be attacked. I only suggest to you, General, as ' food for thought,' whether it would not be best to reinforce this place with, say, 5,000 men temporarily. . . We are sadly in need of gunboats."
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