USA > Massachusetts > Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment [circular no. 13] > Part 6
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He seemed to think it was rather shabby on our part to repeat his confidential communication, but how were we to know that he wished his good deeds hidden under a bushel? Anxious to make known his good intentions in our behalf, we mentioned it to the very man, of all others, whom we felt would be pleased at the intelligence of a brother officer. Nor was it our fault that others treated his good intentions with hilarity. As he left the club we inquired of General D- his name, but he could only remember that his initials were D. F. Like General Mclellan, we were so long making up our mind whether to reply by the retort courteous or the retort
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direct, that he disappeared from the club without even receiving from us the proper military salute.
Now it so happened that we were introduced as a "colonel " to our old brigade commander, General Gibbons. In order that he might know we were not posing as colonel of the Thirteenth we at once informed him that our only rank was that of a private soldier. His cordiality was so hearty and so sincere that we forgot to be " lonely," as was expected of us. He introduced us to General Parke, who was pleased and as affable as could be, and certainly with the backing of these two eminent soldiers we had no reason to feel ashamed of having been " only a private soldier."
In all walks of life there will be seen men who become inflated with importance and conceit as they are lifted into prominence, however slight a rise it may be. During our service in the army this was particularly noticeable among those who, having neither sense nor ability, made up for the loss by arrogance toward those whom they considered their inferiors. Some of these men did nothing during the war, and did it mighty well.
With the ending of the war it was supposed this feeling of superiority would disappear, but the amusing part of it is that it has not. These men still feel the importance of command, though they have it not, and many of them feel uncomfortable when finding themselves in the company of private soldiers. They don't exactly like to be seen on terms of familiarity with men who only carried a gun. There is something about " only a private " that disturbs their equanimity. If a private happens to be in their company he must be introduced to their friends as a captain, major, or colonel, as if ashamed to acknowledge being found in such companionship. We recall an instance which happened to us some years ago. We were introduced to an ex-officer of the navy by an old comrade of Com- pany B, who, having served three years in the ranks of the Thirteenth, received, on his return to Boston, an appointment as assistant pay- master in the navy, though at the time of which we are writing he had risen to the rank of a full paymaster. We both were invited to a meeting of the Loyal Legion, which was to take place the same evening at Young's Hotel. Not anticipating any difficulty, we
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inquired rather jocosely if there was any objection to our presence, inasmuch as we were only a private soldier. " Is that so? " said he, " Well, I am sorry for you !" and on that account felt obliged to withdraw his invitation. We had on several occasions been given to understand that difference in rank had not become obliterated by the lapse of time, but we were wholly unprepared for this exhibition of priggishness. While he was absent procuring a card, we inquired what his rank and service might be, and we learned that during the month of April, 1865, he received an appointment as assistant pay- master in the navy, and after an arduous campaign of two weeks with his tailor, he reported at Washington for duty, and was promptly discharged. Fourteen days' service as assistant paymaster in the navy ! How thrilling must be his recollection of the startling events that comprised his appointment and discharge ! There are reasons for believing him to be a descendant of the great naval hero Casa- bianca, who was admitted to membership in the orders of A. S. S. and D. F. through the influence (curiously enough) of Mrs. Hemans who, though not herself a good sailor, knew how to immortalize one that was. His eldest son followed him in these orders, and so on down to our hero. It will be seen, therefore, that he came naturally by that instinct for tar which prompted him to enter the navy rather than the army. It falls to the lot of few naval heroes to compress a naval career into so compact a space as fourteen days. In this respect he excels the most distinguished naval heroes of which there is any mention in history.
What a noble career for the eldest son to inherit, and how proud he will feel as he gazes on the bronze tablet placed in a conspicuous place by the Loyal Legion, that future generations may know when the descendant of the great Casabianca passed away ! It is interesting to note that, notwithstanding the inscription on the bronze tablets says they are placed to the memory of - by the Loyal Legion, the expense is borne by the family or friends of the deceased. The opportunity is thus afforded the younger sons to chip in toward pay- ing the expense of honoring the " old man." How the eldest son of the eldest son will search among libraries for a biography of the campaigns and sea-fights of his grandfather, and how his eldest son
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will curse his grandfather for not having a biography written at a time when everybody knew about the glorious deeds of his G. G. F. ! And how his eldest son will crib from many books to satisfy the crav- ings of the next eldest son who will have a portrait of his ancestor painted and framed, with the inscription -
" The flame that lit the battle's wreck Shone round him o'er the dead,"
so that his eldest son may know that he was a descendant from one of the great naval heroes of the Rebellion, and he will pass along to his eldest son the biography that has been written to go with the portrait !
How much the Loyal Legion has been the means of fostering or encouraging the priggishness exhibited by some of its members and some of its " eldest sons " on many occasions it is difficult to say.
Nothing can be said against the propriety of an association of officers who served during the war of the rebellion or any other war. The error made by the Loyal Legion was admitting to membership persons who were not in the army at all, thereby implying a reproach on the rank and file as not being good enough for companionship, no matter how honorable their service. We have many friends in the Loyal Legion, who detest the pretence and humbug exhibited by those silly specimens that feel they have a dignity to uphold. Nor do we think any of them believe in so ridiculous a perpetuation, in a republic like ours, as the eldest son of the eldest son and so on ad infinitum, which is a very unrepublican custom, to say the least. It will be grand sight when the final trump is sounded and "officers and gentlemen," having grabbed their bronze tablets, march into Paradise between two lines of private soldiers at "present arms." On that occasion let no man grin until the last " officer and gentle- man " has passed in and the gate closed.
Lest it be thought we are prompted by envy to write in such wise, we have to say that we would not exchange our experience as a private soldier for that of any man who only wore shoulder-straps. Of course the fighting in the civil war does not compare with the - slaughter at San Juan hill, where several men were killed, but such
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knowledge as we did gain has satisfied our longing for the profession of arms, which is said to make bad men worse.
Some months ago we were in company with a man - captain of a company during the Civil War - who was explaining that the cause of the present lack of respect shown by young people toward their elders, and persons of rank, was due, in a large measure, to the ex ample set by their fathers, many of whom served in the ranks of the army, for very soon after the war he noticed how men ceased to show that deference toward their former superior officers that would naturally be expected of men trained in an atmosphere of subordi- nation and discipline. Under the impression that this was a stroke of humor, we laughed, but the captain, having no sense of humor, failed to understand our mirth until it was explained to him that we had served as a private soldier. Our hearts are filled with pity for these men when we think of the disappointment that awaits them at the gates of Paradise as they behold the sign, " No jackasses admitted here." They will not be admitted to the other place, for that is filled with rollicking, good-natured fellows who would not submit to airs of superiority in any one. Alas, how lonely they will be ! Long may it be before these men see their own silliness, for when they do, the private soldier will have lost one of the humorous sides of his army life !
In concluding this gibe of ours, we must not forget to mention the names of those two distinguished privates whose names have been honored all over this broad land and even in other lands. We refer to Private Way and Private Grounds. Their deeds have been re- corded among the records of the probate courts, and both rich and poor alike have honored their memories by tablets placed in con- spicuous spots in every city and town, and in every hamlet and village where brave deeds are honored. The Loyal Legion may exclude them from membership, but the world will continue to cherish their names. The words " Dangerous passing" which are seen so often on memorials to Private Way, are an additional tribute to his valor as well as to the impetuousness of his temper, and few people have the temerity to step on Private Grounds. Meantime the names of General Disaster and General Debility are by-words of reproach.
C. E. DAVIS, JR.
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[ Circular No. 18.]
THIRTEENTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT.
THIRTEENTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT.
BOSTON, Dec. 1, 1905. To the Members of the Thirteenth Massachusetts Association :
The annual meeting and dinner will take place at Young's Hotel in this city on Tuesday, the twelfth of December, at six P.M. Tickets for the dinner will be $1.50 each.
Our last meeting occurred on the fifteenth of August, 1904, during , the annual encampment of the G.A.R. in Boston. To this fact we are indebted for the unusual number present at our gathering.
The enclosed postal is for sending word to the secretary whether or not you will be present. It will assist him very much if you will answer as early as possible.
The Executive Committee of the Association is as follows :
CHAS. E. HOWE, President. FLORENTINE A. JONES, Vice-President. CHAS. E. DAVIS, JR., Secretary. GEORGE E. JEPSON. LYSANDER P. PARKER.
The following comrades were present :
Thomas L. Appleton.
Geo. D. Armstrong, Lewiston, Me. James Bacon.
Chas. H. Bingham. Alfred H. Blake. J. P. Blake. Edwin H. Brigham.
Austin C. Beck.
Clarence H. Bell.
Alfred H. Brigham.
Geo. H. Brigham.
James H. Belser. Herbert Bent.
Ralph P. Brigham.
N. F. Berry.
Abraham Bigelow.
C. H. Brown. Chas. F. Bryant.
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Walter C. Bryant. John C. Burke. Chas. E Coffin, Berwick, Me. J. W. Colcord. Chas. Collis, New York. John F. Cook.
Wm. L. Coon. Wm. L. Crowe. Seth K. Cushing. James Dammers. A. O. Davidson.
E. P. Davis.
Wm. Wallace Davis.
Ambrose Dawes.
Thomas J. Downey.
Freeman H. Duren. E. A. Emerson.
W. G. Johnson. W. De Haven Jones. Henry Kellogg, Jr. Geo. Kimball. John F. Klenert. Anton Krasinski. Geo. H. Lehmon.
S. A. Langley. A. C. H. Laws.
Fred A. Libby. Thomas J. Little, Portland, Me.
Chas. S. Liscom. O. C. Livermore.
J. S. Lockwood.
S. W. Lufkin.
Geo. A. Lyford, Rouseville, Pa.
Geo. H. Maynard.
John McElroy, Chicago, Il1.
John H. Moore.
J. M. Morrill. A. E. Morse.
John A. Neill, San Francisco, Cal.
Chas. J. Noyes.
John A. Nye.
Geo. E. Orrok.
James Orrok.
C. E. Page.
Elmer Parker.
Geo. H. Parker.
L. P. Parker.
P. L. Parker.
W. H. H. Pierce, Chicago, Il1. Elliot C. Pierce.
Enoch C. Pierce, Greenfield, Mass.
John M. Hill.
Jacob A. Howe.
Josiah R. Howe. W. H. Howe.
Wm. H. H. Howe.
Harrison Hume. George A. Hussey.
H. E. Renfrew, Bradford, Vt.
Geo. S. Hutchings. C. F. Jackson. Wm. P. Jackson. L. W. Jennison. Edwin R. Jenness. Geo. E. Jepson.
W. H. H. Rideout. F. B. Ripley. Wm. Ross, Cranston, R.I.
L. H. Russell. Thomas Ryan. J. M. Sawtell.
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Henry Epple. S. S. Everett, Washington, D.C. Frederic H. Fay.
John S. Fay. John C. Ford, Keokuk, Iowa.
Eugene Foster. Jas. B. Fuller. S. E. Fuller.
Chas. R. Gardner. J. Henry Gleason. James M. Gleason.
S. S. Green. Samuel H. Griffin, New York.
Joseph Halstrick. R. B. Henderson. Samuel A. Hildreth.
J. Frank Pope.
Eben Pratt. W. R. Pratt.
J. F. Ramisay. Milton Reed.
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Wm. D. Serrat.
Horace S. Shepard.
Morris H. Shepard.
B. C. Waldron, Sobieski, Wis.
Warren E. Shepard.
D. G. Walker.
Joseph P. Silsby.
M. H. Walker.
David Sloss, Chicago, III.
Winsor Smith.
M. R. Walsh.
W. W. Sprague, St. Johnsbury.
Win. R. Warner. Lee Webster, St. Louis.
A. E. Stearns.
A. C. Stearns.
Samuel D. Webster, St. Louis.
Fred W. Stuart.
A. D. Whitman, Auburn, Me.
Jeremiah Stuart.
W. W. Williams.
Walter E. Swan.
Frank P. Wilton.
. Geo. A. Tainter. Frank E. Trask. Thomas F. Trow.
E. A. Wood.
Jas. A. Young.
Our gathering was a notable one. As a rule we have depended upon ourselves for the intellectual part of our entertainment and much credit is due to those of our comrades who have endeavored to do their part of the work in this line when called upon, and often at considerable sacrifice to their personal feelings. Exception to the rule has occurred when we have been honored by the presence of Hon. Milton Reed and Hon. Harrison Hume, who have occasionally attended our gatherings, as guests of two of our comrades. They have cheerfully contributed to our enjoyment, not only by their pres- ence, but by words of eloquence, and thoughts that have left a last- ing impression on our minds. On this occasion we had the additional pleasure of listening to Lieutenant-Governor Curtis Guild, Hon. John C. Burke, of Lowell, and Hon. Charles J. Noyes, formerly Speaker of the House of Representatives, and we were highly entertained. We were pleased to have with us comrades George Kimball of the Twelfth Massachusetts and George A. Hussey of the Ninth New York, repre- sentatives of two regiments associated with us for many months in Hartsuff's brigade. They are as gifted in speech as they were in valor during their service, and that is saying a good deal.
One of the most interesting features of this gathering was the address of our comrade, Melvin H. Walker, who had recently returned from a trip around the world. His description of customs of other countries, of armies, and scenes within his observation, showed how alive he was to all that was transpiring about him, and how profitable
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Wm. H. Trow. Samuel Vaughn
Robt. J. Walker, Washington, D.C.
Stephen B. Winchester, Co. E, Portland, Me. . Apr. 4, 1905 John McElroy, Co. E, Chicago, Ill. July 16, 1905 Silas B. Ball, Band, Homer, Ill. . July 20, 1905
Jeremiah P. Blake, Co. E, Boston Nov. 7, 1905
Frederick H. Morse, Co. F, Marlboro, Mass.
Nov. 13, 1905
The Librarian of the Congressional Library has requested to be supplied with the following numbers of our annual circular to com- plete the set now in its possession : 1889, 1894, 1895. Any one who can spare these numbers will confer a favor by sending them to the secretary at Old Court House, Boston, and he will forward them to Washington.
Capt. Charles F. Morse, who has consented to the republication of his reasons for not meeting Mosby, was a commissary of subsistence and a graduate from the Thirteenth. At one time he was commissary of all the armies operating under Grant. He had exceptional op- portunities for knowing the doings of Mosby's men, and Charley Morse never made a statement that was not true. In this instance he has been obliged to refrain from relating all he knew about Mosby's guerillas, because a consideration for the decencies of our language will not permit the publication.
C. E. DAVIS, JR., Secretary.
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3
AN APOLOGY.
It is not often that we are called upon to make an apology, but circumstances have occurred to make it necessary for us to do so. In writing our recollections we expressed somewhat freely our opinion of the military snob, and gave illustrations of our experience upon several occasions. We are told that a private in the Thirteenth, who was fortunate enough, through the influence of his friends, to obtain an officer's commission in a colored regiment, says that if anything would make him join the Loyal Legion it is what we wrote, and that we are mad because we did not receive a commission.
We would not intentionally hurt the feelings of any comrade of the Thirteenth, but we are obliged to admit that our old comrade has just ground to be offended for not being included in our list of " Little Jack Horners." No one can feel more humiliated than the writer at so grave an omission, and therefore we offer our sincere and humble apology, and beg him not to bear additional ill-will against other meek and lowly privates, whom he may accidentally meet, because of anything we have written.
A man must be an insufferable ass to think that anybody cares whether or not he is or ever was an officer in the army. It takes no more intelligence to be the captain of a company than to be a cowherd. It is necessary that he be able to count as high as one hundred and one, -- the complement of a company. It is important that he be able to sign his name and that he listen to a roll-call of his men without smiling. It would be convenient, when an order is given, " On sixth company deploy column," to know when his com- pany should move by the right or left flank, though not necessary if his men have average intelligence.
When a person, by reason of education, or through the influence of friends or other fortunate circumstances, has climbed a little higher than his fellows on the ladder of life and then looks with disdain upon those beneath him, he ought to be considered a pretty poor specimen of the human race, and if he was south of " Mason and Dixon's line " would be considered a " d-d ornery cuss."
The Thirteenth furnished from its ranks many officers for other regiments, but with this solitary exception, so far as we know, they were a credit to the regiment and our drill-master, - the colonel.
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In some instances they exhibited a high order of intelligence besides conspicuous bravery, and were rewarded therefor by promotion. In returning to companionship with their old comrades of the Thir teenth, they evince none of the snobbishness we are ridiculing, and which is frowned upon by every intelligent officer we ever met.
C. E. DAVIS, JR.
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WHY WE WOULDN'T MEET MOSBY.
BY CHARLES F. MORSE.
Some years ago we received an invitation to meet Col. John S. Mosby, at Young's Hotel, Boston, where some misguided but well-intentioned men, having little acquaintance with his career, sought to show him attentions which, in our opinion, were unmerited. We didn't accept it. We didn't want to see him then, and we never wanted to when he was a bushwhacking guerilla down in Virginia, and was murdering Union soldiers. The war is over, and all its strifes, animosities, bitternesses and hates ought to be laid forever at rest. We have met a large number of men, both officers and privates, who were engaged in the war on the wrong side, and have been only too glad to fraternize with them, and talk about the old unpleasant- ness ; but they were soldiers, who bravely fought and nobly suffered in a wrong cause, which now they see was wrong. They were brave soldiers and honorable enemies. Col. John S. Mosby was neither a brave soldier nor an honorable enemy. All through the war he led a gang of bushwhacking outlaws, who, though preying only on the Union army and its supplies, were none the less a gang of execrable thieves, robbers and murderers, and John S. Mosby was as villainous a scamp as any of the detestable gang with which he was connected.
It is all very well for him to glibly talk about what he and General Stuart did in the way of raids on our supplies, but we have faith enough in J. E. B. Stuart's manliness and soldierly qualities to believe that if he were where he could hear this blustering braggart boast of his achievements, he would promptly disown him, and deny that he ever availed himself of the dastardly cut-throat's help. Stuart was a fighter as well as a raider. Mosby was an assassin as well as a thief. All through the war he hung on the rear of the army, seeking chances to pillage and murder, and many a noble officer and soldier has been murdered and robbed by him and his outlaw gang.
In the fall of 1863, while the army under General Meade was advancing toward the Rapidan, after falling back to Manassas Junc- tion, when Lee's feint on Washington made that move prudent, a staff officer of our army had occasion to go from the vicinity of Warrenton to Bealton Station. His business was urgent, and it not being con- venient to take an orderly along with him, he rode alone. When
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near Fayetteville he was joined by another person wearing a staff officer's uniform, but without anything to indicate the corps he belonged to. Thinking, of course, that it was one of our own officers he rode along unsuspectingly, until a piece of woods was reached, when the stranger suddenly drew a revolver and shot the officer, and, leaving him lying on the ground, apparently dead, hastily rode away with his horse and equipments, probably not daring to stop long enough to strip him of his uniform.
That stranger was one of Mosby's men, if not Mosby himself.
On the occasion of that falling back of Meade's, one of the guards of the Third Corps supply train, a young man from Malone, N.Y., belonging to the One Hundred and Sixth N.Y. Volunteers, was shot down in the road, near Wolf Run Shoals, by a bushwhacker concealed in the bushes by the side of the road.
That is the kind of work Mosby's men were continually doing, and of which Mosby boastingly claimed the credit.
After the Sixth Corps had repulsed the attack on Washington, in 1864, it moved up the Potomac to Harper's Ferry, where it crossed into the Shenandoah Valley. As the corps pushed on up the valley, the supply train followed, taking the route via Charlestown, where John Brown was hung five years before. Capt. Evan M. Buchanan, of Lochiel, Penn., a relative of the Camerons, was commissary of sub- sistence of the third division. When near Charlestown some of the officers with the train rode a little distance away from the road, to visit a substantial looking residence - a not unfrequent custom, - and stayed chatting with the ladies of the household until the rear of the train had passed, when they started to catch up with it. Captain Buchanan, always rather moderate in his movements, was lingering behind, when one of the party advised him to hurry up or he would be gobbled by Mosby's men. But he didn't hurry, and the rest of the party started off, leaving him behind with his orderly. Scarcely was the party out of sight when a squad of Mosby's men swooped down on the house. The orderly escaped, but Captain Buchanan was captured, and was never seen alive again.
James Harris, Captain Buchanan's clerk, was a cousin of Don Cameron's also and, with the Cameronian influence at Washington, was able to make diligent search for his chief. It was found that he had been taken to the vicinity of White Plains, on the other side of
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the mountains, and there killed and buried. After long search the place of his burial was found, and the body exhumed, when it was discovered that his body had been shockingly mutilated, and that in all probability the mutilation had been done before the death of the victim of the diabolic cruelty !
This was the work of Col. John S. Mosby and his gang.
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AN ARMY CONTRACT. BY C. E. DAVIS, JR.
The battle of Manassas occurred on Saturday, Aug. 30, 1862, and is memorable to the writer on account of the remarkable con- tract then made by a comrade who, during the carnage of that battle, was overtaken, and his warlike feelings completely subdued by the " Angel of Peace." While on his way to the rear the writer was attended by Comrade A- of Company B, who insisted on accompanying him in spite of remonstrance against a useless and for a moment thought to be a well-intentioned service. He was urged to return and take his place in the ranks where every man was needed. The writer, for reasons not worth mentioning, was obliged to stay and watch the impending rout, a privilege Comrade A- was not invested with. He was reminded of the certainty of his being taken prisoner, to which he replied, " I would rather spend a thousand years in prison than go into another battle." As often happens in fairy-land so it did with him. His wish was gratified He was taken prisoner, and as he has never been seen since is, presumably, carrying out the offer so hastily made.
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