USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > The Melrose memorial : the annals of Melrose, county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, in the great rebellion of 1861-'65 > Part 11
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During the battles of the succeeding days he was often cautioned and warned from going ahead of his men dur- ing action. His answer was : " If you want your men to go anywhere, you must lead them."
He seems to have had a presentiment before leaving home, and more especially before entering his last battle, that he should be killed, as was manifested by messages
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left behind, and from the fact that just before the " Battle of Spottsylvania," or as it is sometimes called the " Battle of the Angle," he took a paper from his pocket, directed it to his mother, and requested Sergeant Bearce, of his company, to see that she received it, as he felt that he should not survive the coming battle.
He led his company into that battle, and a ball pierced his right side, shattering at the same time a pistol in his belt. Placing him upon a stretcher, two of his men started with him for the hospital four miles in the rear. When about half way there, he became faint, said that he was dying, and requested them to stop: after leaving with them messages for the wife, mother, and other dear ones at home, he said : "Tell the boys I die like a soldier"; after which his spirit took its flight to that other and bet- ter world. And thus did he die the "proudest of all deaths," as he termed the death of a comrade in arms, killed in the battles before Richmond in 1862; saying of him, in a letter to his mother :
Poor fellow! he is at rest, with the proudest of all names ; and he died the proudest of all deaths, a soldier fighting for his country.
His body was taken to the hospital, and buried under the direction of his Colonel, who was then at the hospital on account of a sun-stroke, received during the " Battle of the Wilderness"; and there, in the blood-stained soil of Virginia, lies one who was, in the words of Colonel Gould, who wrote his parents a few days afterwards, "a very brave soldier." His remains were afterwards re- moved by the Government to the National Cemetery in Fredericksburg, Va., Grave No. 201, Division A, Sec- tion C.
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GEORGE JAMES MORSE.
Lieutenant Morse was a member of Guiding Star Lodge, No. 28, Independent Order of Good Templars, in Melrose, and at a meeting, held May 26th, 1864, a series of resolutions was offered and adopted, one of which was as follows :
Resolved, That we tender our deepest sympathy to his be- reaved wife, parents and relatives, in this our mutual affliction, and we unite with them in mourning the loss of a worthy brother, an affectionate son, husband and father ; and we also seek to participate with them in the only consolation to be derived from the circumstances of his decease; that his life having illustrated his unbending courage, he merits the martyr's crown by being able, amid the allurements of wife, child and home, to lay down his life upon the battle-field, exclaiming with other dying heroes :
" It is sweet to die for one's country."
The following incident is told of Lieutenant Morse while in the trenches before "Port Hudson ": One day. he was ordered to have his men build some breastworks on a certain portion of the line, very much exposed to the enemy's fire. While overseeing this labor, a colonel rode out to the spot, saying that he had been told that there · was a coward out there ; the bullets flew by, and close to the colonel, and off he started for a more retired position. Very soon after a major rode out, and made the same assertion. Lieutenant Morse said nothing ; but the flying bullets spoke for him, whistling such a melody about the major's ears, that he soon turned his horse, and followed the course of the colonel before him. Nothing more was heard about cowardice.
Remarks made by those who go from us and return again are seldom remembered ; but let them be made by one that is taken from us, and they are recalled and treas-
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ured. A remark made by Lieutenant Morse to his mother, just before leaving home for the last time, was : " If I am worthy to go and wear a soldier's uniform, I am worthy to fill a soldier's grave."
We close this sketch with a stanza from a poem entitled " The Dying Soldier," suggested by the death of the two brothers, - George and Sidney, - and written by a resi- dent of Melrose :
Thou Southern clime ! e'en thou must be " His Chancel, Nave and Sacristy "; Death ended many a bright career Whose noble forms lie buried here ; Ye winds and rains, a requiem raise, And chant it o'er these warriors' graves. They've ended here all dreams of fame, But leave behind an honored name.
OUR "ROLL OF HONOR." 169
AUGUSTUS GREEN.
Private in Co. G, Twenty-Second Massachusetts Regi- ment ; killed at the " Battle of Bethesda Church," June 3, 1864.
" He sleeps where he fell, 'mid the battle's roar, With his comrades true and brave ; And his noble form we shall see no more, --- It rests in a hero's grave."
Augustus Green, the oldest son of Levi and Sarah (Davis) Green, was born in Malden on the 28th of May, 1841.
He enlisted in Co. G, Twenty-Second Massachusetts Regiment, in September 1861. The Twenty-Second Regiment was organized by Hon. Henry Wilson, and left the State in October 1861. It was encamped a num- ber of months at Hall's Hill, Va., after which it was engaged in the battles of the Peninsular campaign, under General McClellan, followed by " Antietam," "Fredericks- burg," "Chancellorsville" and "Gettysburg," and then in the final campaign under General Grant. For a month pre- vious to the " Battle of Bethesda Church," it was engaged in constant fights and skirmishes. Up to this time, Green had followed the fortunes of his regiment without receiv- ing a wound. On the second day of the fight at this place, -which besides the church, a small, one-story, unpainted building, consisted of only three or four houses, - the Twenty-Second had been in line of battle, behind its breastworks, all day, and Green had occupied a position behind a large oak-tree during this and the pre- vious day. Just before night he ventured to put his head
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out from behind the tree, to take a look at the enemy's line, when a sharpshooter shot him through the forehead, and he expired almost instantly. He was buried by his comrades on the field of battle, and there his body now rests. He is spoken of by his comrades in arms as a bold soldier, and one that fought well, never shrinking from his duty.
" He fought and died. A nameless grave Where no sad willows o'er him wave, Or sculptured stone extöls the brave In chiselled numbers, Was his. The bird's shrill symphonies, The restless murmur of the trees, The sighing of the evening breeze, Mar not his slumbers."
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OUR "ROLL OF HONOR."
ALBERT WATERSTON CROCKETT.
Private in Co. K, Seventeenth Regiment ; died in “ An- dersonville Prison," Ga., Aug. 1, 1864.
Albert Waterston Crockett, - brother of George F. Crockett, who served in the Third Battery, - was the son of George B. and Adeline D. Crockett, and was born in Boston, Jan. 3, 1843.
At the time of his enlistment, August 1861, he was employed in French's daguerrotype and photographic material establishment on Washington Street, Boston. His regiment was sent to and served its time in the "De- partment of North Carolina," and Crockett was one of the best of soldiers, performing his duties well and faithfully up to the time of his captivity, which was at the "Battle of Batchelder's Creek," Feb. 1, 1864. On that day, at four o'clock, A. M., the rebels made an attack on the pickets and camp of the One Hundred and Thirty-Second New York Regiment, near Batchelder's Creek, nine miles from New Berne. Lieutenant-Colonel John F. Fellows, with portions of the five companies stationed near Fort Totten -D, E, H, I and K, - the other five being in New Berne, went to assist in repelling the attack. The Seventeenth arrived just as the enemy, numbering fifteen thousand men, had succeeded in carrying the bridge, and, under cover of woods and fog, it succeeded in flanking our small force ; and, finding resistance useless against such overwhelming numbers, orders were given to fall back to the crossing of the railroad and Trent road, there to make another stand. At this time, the remainder of the Union force had retreated, leaving the Seventeenth alone to check the advance of the enemy. Soon after, Lieuten- ant-Colonel Fellows, together with seven other officers
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and fifty-eight enlisted men, were taken prisoners. Three were killed, and three severely wounded. Lieutenant- Colonel Fellows was one of the Union officers who were placed by the rebel authorities in the city of Charleston, they thinking to prevent our gunboats and batteries from shelling it. He was afterwards exchanged, and returned to his regiment. Crockett, with others, was taken first to "Belle Isle," and thence to " Anderson- ville "; and while performing these marches became very foot-sore. Before his imprisonment he was one of the most cleanly and careful of soldiers as regarded his bodily health ; but afterwards, while being slowly starved to death, he became disheartened, and was careless of him- self; in consequence of which, dirt and vermin, ever abounding in those Southern prisons, aggravated his troubles, - and chronic diarrhea and scurvy seizing upon him, soon ended his life. He died a very hard death, suffering terribly from his disease, and for want of proper care and nourishment. At the time of his death, he had bartered everything he had for food, excepting an old pair of drawers and a blouse ; the latter given him by his fellow prisoner and sufferer, John E. Quinn, who first went out from our town, in 1861, in the Thirty-Second Regi- ment, but was discharged for disability, and afterwards re-enlisted in the Seventeenth Regiment, and was taken prisoner at the same time with Crockett, but who survived all the horrors of " Andersonville" and " Belle Isle," and returned to tell the tale.
Crockett was buried outside the " prison pen," where so many thousands of our brave boys are now sleeping, and the number of his grave is 4,483 ; and there he will sleep with his comrades " till a clarion, louder than that which marshalled them to the combat, shall awake their slum- bers."
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OUR "ROLL OF HONOR."
JAMES ROWLAND HOWARD.
Private in Co. K, Thirty-Eighth Massachusetts Regi- ment ; died Aug. 16, 1864, of disease contracted in the service.
" The least in rank, but not in honor."
James Rowland Howard, the fourth son of James and Mary (Holt) Howard, was born in Melrose, Feb. 15, 1841. His father and grandfather were also natives of Melrose, or, as it was then called, North Malden. When the Rebellion broke out, James was in Charlestown, Mass., learning the harness-maker's trade, and he expressed a very strong desire to enlist in the service of his country at once ; but, as he was not then of age, yielded to the remonstrances of his widowed mother.
In July 1862, when the renewed and earnest call came for more men, he could no longer withstand the appeal. The spirit and desire to serve his country, which actuated so many thousands of our young men at this time, was his ; and listening to the lines of Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Listen, young heroes ! your country is calling ! Time strikes the hour for the brave and the true ! Now, while the foremost are fighting and falling, Fill up the ranks that have opened for you !
and the mother telling him to act as he thought best, as he was then free, he enlisted during the latter part of July, with several other Melrose men, in Co. K, Thirty-Eighth Regiment, and was mustered in at "Camp Stanton," Lynnfield, Aug. 12, 1862, and left the State Aug. 26th.
The Thirty-Eighth was ordered to join the "Banks'
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Expedition," and was sent into the " Department of the Gulf," where it experienced hard service ; having been en- gaged, previous to the time that Howard left it, in the " Bat- tle of Bisland," the "Siege of Port Hudson," and many severe marches through the "Teche," and other portions of Louisiana, one of the marches being ninety-six miles in four days. It was during the "Siege of Port Hudson," and while encamped in the woods, that his system became thoroughly impregnated with the poison of the miasmas from the swamps and bayous of the surrounding region ; so much so as to deprive him of nearly all sense of feeling in his flesh.
Chronic diarrhea seized upon him, very much reducing his strength and ability for duty; and yet, although so reduced, he would not listen to appeals to enter the hospital, saying that he " entered the service to work, not to be waited upon." Upon being examined by the sur- geon, he saw that it was necessary that he should be sent North ; and in August he was granted a furlough, but, owing to detentions, he did not arrive home until October. His furlough expiring in December, he reported himself, with the intention of returning to the field; but the authorities would not receive him, and ordered his dis- charge, which was given Dec. 5, 1863.
Disease had so firmly seated itself upon him, that con- sumption was engendered, and he lived but a few months after his discharge, dying Aug. 16, 1864.
Howard is highly spoken of by his companions in arms as a true soldier, and one that performed every duty incum- bent upon him. He has gone to his reward. He did not die upon the battle-field, nevertheless he gave his life for his country.
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OUR "ROLL OF HONOR."
FRANCIS PEABODY.
Private in Co. G, Twenty-Second Massachusetts Regi- ment ; discharged April 21, 1862, for disability ; re-en- listed in Co. A, in the Seventeenth Massachusetts Regiment, Aug. 11, 1862 ; died at New Berne, N. C., Oct. 3, 1864, of yellow fever.
Francis Peabody, son of Torrey and Matilda (Alley) Peabody, was born in Lynn, Mass., Dec. 31, 1845. He enlisted in the Twenty-Second Regiment, -raised by Hon. Henry Wilson, -and was mustered into the service Oct. 5, 1861, but was discharged for disability, April 21, 1862. In the July following, when the exigency of the country demanded a large accession to the ranks in the field, young Peabody, having recovered his health, heard again the cry :
Our country 's calling ! Go forth ! go forth ! To danger and glory, ye gallants !
and enlisted in Co. A, Seventeenth Massachusetts Regi- ment, being sworn into service, Aug. 11, 1862. This regiment experienced severe and honorable service in the "Department of North Carolina." Peabody joined his regiment at New Berne, -two other recruits from our town, Edward W. Kendall and James S. Macey, joining at the same time, - and served his country faithfully and with true soldierly bearing, through the various marches, skirmishes and battles incident to the North Carolina campaigns.
He again re-enlisted, Jan. 4, 1864, as a veteran volun- teer, under General Order No. 191 from the War Depart-
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ment. Soon after this re-enlistment, in February 1864, he became Orderly for Brigadier-General I. N. Palmer, and served in that capacity until the time of his death, Oct. 3, 1864. He died of yellow fever, at New Berne, during the prevalence of that epidemic. His body now lies in the "Old Cemetery " of that city. The father and brother of Francis both served in the army, and both are now suffer- ing from the effects of services then rendered.
We close this sketch with the following testimonial from General Palmer, now Lieutenant-Colonel 2d U. S. Cavalry :
FORT LARAMIE, D. T., } Jan. 6, 1868. 1
Mr. E. H. Goss, Melrose, Mass :
Dear Sir : - Your letter of the Ist of August only reached me a short time since, as I was absent for a few months from this Post, and my letters were not forwarded to me.
With regard to the young man, Francis Peabody, late of the Seventeenth Mass. Volunteers, I can only say that he was on duty at my Head-Quarters at New Berne, North Carolina, for some time before his death, which occurred during the terrible season of yellow fever in 1864. He was always a remarkably quiet, well behaved, trustworthy man. Although he did not meet a soldier's death on the battle-field, his name should nevertheless be enrolled with the list of the heroes whose lives were given so freely in the service of their country during the Rebellion.
I am, sir, Very respectfully, yours, I. N. PALMER, Lieut .- Col. 2d Cavalry, Bt. Brig .- General.
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OUR " ROLL OF HONOR."
GEORGE ELWYN RICHARDSON. [COMMUNICATED.]
The subject of this notice was born May II, 1844. He enlisted in Co. K, with other young men from this town, in the Thirty-Eighth Massachusetts Regiment.
At the early age of eighteen, he left a pleasant home and associations to endure the hardships, and meet the dangers of a soldier's life. He went into camp at Lynn- field, Aug. 15, 1862, and left the State, Sept. 24, for Balti- more, and remained there until the 10th of November, when his regiment left for New Orleans; and, after being delayed at Fortress Monroe and Ship Island, arrived safely at that city, Dec. 31. For nearly two years he served under General Banks, in the "Department of the Gulf," sharing with his regiment the dangers and honors of the Western Louisiana and Port Hudson campaigns. He left Louisiana with his regiment, and joined the army of General Sheridan, in the Valley of the Shenandoah, in the fall of 1864.
At the battle of "Cedar Creek " he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner. He was carried first to Richmond and then to Salisbury, N. C., where he died on the 3d of November following, in the rebel prison of that place. Thus he died at the early age of twenty, a martyr in the cause of his country. We have no remarkable incidents of his soldier life to record, but we have the testimony of his comrades, that he was a good soldier, always cheer- fully doing his duty ; and although he fell thus early, he will not die in the memory and love of his friends. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
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Sabbath School, and all that knew him had confidence in the purity of his character, and cherish the hope of meet- ing him in that home above, "where no sorrow shall come," but where the redeemed of the Lord shall enjoy an eternal heaven of joy on high. C. H. U.
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OUR "ROLL OF HONOR."
GEORGE THOMAS MARTIN.
[COMMUNICATED.]
George Thomas Martin was born in Boston, May 7, 1840. In April, 1846, his parents removed to Melrose, which continued to be his home until his death. He early sought to enter the service of his country, and was commissioned 2d Lieutenant of Co. K, Thirty-Eighth Massachusetts Volunteers, took an active part in recruit- ing his company, and proceeded with his regiment to Baltimore. While encamped here, he was wounded in the ankle by the accidental discharge of a pistol, and though he soon appeared to recover from it, yet it is prob- able that it was an indirect cause of his death. The Thirty-Eighth was assigned to General Banks' corps, and sailed soon after for Ship Island. From here it pro- ceeded to Carrollton, La., and thence took part in the first movement on "Port Hudson." At the "Battle of Bis- land," young Martin was promoted to be Ist Lieutenant. In the long marches of this campaign, and in the "Siege of Port Hudson," he bore a part. The hardships of this service induced a varicose vein, and he was compelled to ask his discharge, which was given, and he returned to Melrose. Some months' rest followed, when he re-en- tered the army, and was commissioned Senior Ist Lieu- tenant of Co. C, Fourth Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Aug. 16, 1864. He was ordered to the fortifications near Washington. About the Ist of March, 1865, he obtained leave of absence, and entered the Massachusetts General Hospital at Boston, in order to have the varicose vein removed. This was in part successfully accomplished ; but pyæmia ensued, causing his sudden death, March 13,
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1865. To die, for him, however, "was gain." His dying hours were full of triumphant joy, for he was sustained by a hope in Christ, which did not fail. He united with the Congregational Church in Melrose, in June 1858, and had been active in the Sabbath School and prayer meet- ings, as well as the more social gatherings of the church. He was also an active member of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association.
Thus in merest outline is the brief life of one of our soldiers sketched! How they loved him and how they miss him at home, in the social gathering, the prayer meeting, the church, the Sabbath School, cannot here be told ; we know that his merry laugh, his earnest, cheerful tones are hushed and still here forever! We know, too, that we shall meet him again, where every sound of carthly strife is ended, and where " there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying." C. N. C.
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OUR "ROLL OF HONOR."
JOHN EASTMAN STILPHEN.
Private in the Second Massachusetts Battery ; died June 25, 1865, of disease contracted in the service.
John Eastman Stilphen was born in Dresden, Maine, June 18, 1830. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, and for a few years previous, he was living in Melrose, following his occupation as a carpenter. He enlisted in Nims' Second Battery, which was mustered into the ser- vice July 31, 1861, and sent to Baltimore, Md. While here it took part in the " Eastern Shore Virginia Expedi- tion"; and, in April 1862, was ordered to report to Major- General B. F. Butler, commanding "Department of the Gulf," where it saw much and arduous service ; taking part in the "Siege of Vicksburg," "Battle of Baton Rouge," "Siege of Port Hudson," " Red River Expedi- tion," and other battles and skirmishes, besides many hard marchings and counter-marchings throughout that Depart- ment. Stilphen was one of the best of soldiers, perform- ing every duty incumbent upon him, although suffering from his disease - hemorrhoids - during all the latter part of the period of his service ; so much so, that most men under like circumstances would have sought for and obtained a discharge ; but Stilphen remained at his post until his time was out; and one who served with him during these many campaigns, says that "he was as true as steel, and never flinched when under fire." He was mustered out of the service, Aug. 11, 1864, after which time he was able to do but little work, gradually failing under the fatal hold of his disease. He died June 25, 1865, leaving a wife and three children to mourn his loss,
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and was buried in Wyoming Cemetery. A handsome head-stone bears, besides his name and date of death, the following inscriptions :
A SOLDIER'S GRAVE.
HE HAS LEFT US FOR HIS HOME IN HEAVEN.
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OUR "ROLL OF HONOR."
GEORGE WARREN LYNDE.
Private in Co. A, Seventeenth Massachusetts Regiment ; commissioned Brevet Ist Lieutenant, Dec. 31, 1864; died Jan. 30, 1866, of disease contracted in the service.
George Warren Lynde was the youngest son of George and Harriet (Favor) Lynde and was born in Melrose, Sept. 2, 1846.
This was another of our boy-soldiers, he being but fifteen years of age at the time of his enlistment. He was then attending school, and, on the morning of the 23d of August, 1861, as had been his custom, he drove his father's cows to pasture ; but instead of returning home, he kept on his way to "Camp Schouler," at Lynn- field, and at once enlisted in Co. A, Seventeenth Regi- ment, giving his age as eighteen. For some time previous to this he had been in the habit of asking his father and mother, nearly every day, for their consent to his entering the service of his country. A negative answer was inva- riably given, until the day before he started for Lynnfield, when, in answer to the question, his father, half sportively and half in earnest, said "yes." This was enough, and George took the first opportunity that offered and started off on foot for the camp, eight miles distant. He was at this time captain of a boy's military company, organized a month or two previous, in which he took a great inter- est; and undoubtedly his taste for military matters was enhanced by his experience in this company. .
He left the State with his regiment, which was assigned to the "Department of North Carolina," and served throughout its period of service with much honor to him-
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self and his country. He was in the battles of " Kinston," " Whitehall " and " Goldsborough," besides many skir- mishes and long marches over the wretched and swampy roads, and almost impenetrable jungles of North Carolina.
His comrades bear evidence that during his absence as a soldier he did not become addicted to any of the habits and vices which cursed so many ; but so straightforward and soldierly had been his career, that his colonel fre- quently recommended him for promotion.
While at New Berne, he suffered severely at times with the fever and ague, and was also otherwise unwell ; but he remained at his post, fighting the good fight well, and performing every duty satisfactorily until his period of service expired, when he returned home, and was mustered out on the 3d of August, 1864; but he was never well. Comsumption had marked him for its victim. From the day of his muster-out he was never warm, suffering almost constantly from feeling cold until his death, which took place on the 30th of January, 1866.
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