USA > Massachusetts > Wearing the blue in the Twenty-fifth Mass. volunteer infantry, with Burnside's coast division, 18th army corps, and Army of the James > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
Rio Coffee -5 pounds ground or 7 pounds raw per one hundred men. Tea - 18 ounces per one hundred men.
Soap-4 ounces per one hundred men.
Adamantine Candles-5 candles per one hundred men.
Tallow Candles -6 candles per one hundred men.
Salt-2 quarts per one hundred men.
Molasses-1 quart per one hundred nien.
Potatoes-30 pounds per one hundred men.
When beans are issued, hominy or rice will not be."
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CRUELTIES COMMITTED.
In writing of Andersonville, we might give page upon page of sickening details, instances of heartless cruelty which would curdle the blood ; we might picture the effects of the starvation system there inaugurated by hideous agents of the Richmond government, leaving thousands of breathing, animated skeletons within those stockades. But we have no desire to excite un- necessary horror, and, while giving so much of fact as is necessary to show that our descriptions, in some instances furnished by members of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Regi- ment, are not overdrawn or exaggerated, we have chosen to deal with the oppressions of the Andersonville stockade in the abstract rather than enter largely into details.
WEARING THE BLUE. 379
In depicting the cruelties our soldiers underwent during their captivity in Andersonville and other places of confinement, we do not charge the responsibility of such treatment upon Robert E. Lec, or any considerable number of the armed men against whom we were contending. That it was approved by the authorities at Richmond, and incited by the demands of the masses of the unarmed populace, cannot be doubted. We cite some facts to sustain this assertion. Dr. Hamlin in his work " Martyria, or Andersonville Prison," already noticed, says : --
"Even women and young girls came from a distance to view our soldiers in the Andersonville stockade. They climbed the parapets and gloated and made merry over the scene of suffering. They threw crusts of bread over the palisades, to see the starving wretches struggle for the morsel of life.
"They even reviled the condition of the dying. This surpasses the ferocity, the depravity, the wickedness of gladiatorial times. ' The fury of women when once excited?' says the French his- torian, 'soon rises to profanation and excess.' When the love of humanity vanishes from our breasts, it is the death of nature. There were, however, a few noble exceptions to those strange aets of delight in cruelty ; and the deeds of kindness of a few women in other parts of the South, shine with increased brilliancy from the terrible contrast."
The Committee on the Conduct of the War, after an ex- haustive investigation, conclude their report as follows: ---
" Your committee, therefore, are constrained to say that they can hardly avoid the conclusion, expressed by so many of our released soldiers, that the inhuman practices herein referred to are the result of a determination on the part of the rebel authorities to reduce our soldiers in their power, by privation of food and clothing, and by exposure, to such a condition that those who may survive shall never recover so as to be able to render any effective service in the
380
TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS.
field. *
* In respect to the food furnished to our men by the rebel authorities, the testimony proves that the ration of each' man was totally insufficient in quantity to preserve the health of a child, even had it been of proper quality, which it was not. It consisted usually, at the most, of two small pieces of corn bread, made in many instances, as the witnesses state, of corn and cobs ground together, and badly prepared and cooked; of, at times, about two ounces of meat, usually of poor quality and unfit to be eaten, and occasionally a few black, worm-eaten beans, or something of that kind. Many of our men were compelled to sell to their guards and others, for what price they could get, such clothing and blankets as they were per- mitted to receive of that forwarded for their use by our government, in order to obtain additional food sufficient to sustain life ; thus, by endeavoring to avoid one privation, reducing themselves to the same destitute condition in respect to clothing and covering that they were in before they received any from our government. When they be- came sick and diseased in consequence of this exposure and privation, and were admitted into the hospitals, their treatment was little, if any, improved as to food, though they doubtless suffered less from exposure to cold than before. Their food still remained insufficient in quantity and altogether unfit in quality."
As presenting additional evidence of the fact that the treat- ment our prisoners received was for a purpose, studied, and not concealed, we report an incident recorded by General Wm. S. Lincoln of Worcester, in his interesting work -" Life with the Thirty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry," and in giving the quota- tion, we premise by saying that the incident occurred when General Lincoln was a prisoner of war with others, in the Virginia Valley, and that the conversation given was between Major Meem, the Confederate Medical Director, and the General : -
" Once, before our Surgeon (Dr. Allen) came up, as he (Mcem) entered the room, I asked him if he would not look at a little fellow of ours, whose wrist was terribly shattered by a minie ball. 'I sup-
381
WEARING THE BLUE.
pose you want I should look at you, too? Why didn't you leave one of your own surgeons to take care of you?' said he : but the little fellow had already taken off his handkerchief, and held out his wrist, swollen, mangled, and of a dark, deep red color. 'Erysipelas there, Major, isn't there?' ' Yes.' 'His arm will have to be amputated, won't it?' . Yes.' 'Won't you operate?' ' We can't be troubled with your men, Colonel ! We've got our hands full with our own,' said the Major, as he turned off and walked away. So life went on with us; till, on the afternoon of the 25th, ten days after the battle, we were gladdened by the arrival of Dr. Allen, one of our own sur- geons, who had come up to take care of our wounds. Finding that we were packed too closely, he at once applied himself to procuring other and more airy, and comfortable quarters; and having effected our removal, set about examining our wounds. The little fellow, whose wrist was so badly shattered, and whose arm Major Meem had at a later day amputated, was among the first to receive attention. Upon removing the bandage from the stump, the bone was found to project three and one-half inches beyond the ' flap': this, by actual measurement. Was this accidental ? or was it in furtherance of the interest, as explained below, in the case of Ryan, whose left knee- joint was shattered badly, and who now was low and sinking. 'This man,' said Dr. Allen to Major Meem, 'ought to have had his leg amputated immediately after being wounded.' 'Yes!' said the Major, ' I thought so.' 'You saw him, then ?' ' Oh yes!' ' Well, why didn't you operate ?' 'Oh, Doctor,' was the reply, 'you know it's for our interest to kill all your men we can' - and the conversation ended."
MISS CLARA BARTON.
We cannot write of Andersonville, without reference to Miss Clara Barton, a native of Worcester County, whose philanthro- pic efforts during all the war in behalf of our soldiers, called .
forth the warm acclamations of a loyal country. When the Sixth Massachusetts were quartered in the National Capitol, she was the first lady to call, bringing a basket loaded with delicacies for the sick. That was her pioneer effort for the patriot soldiers. She called daily at the Capitol while we
382
TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS.
were there, in pursuit of her noble work, which from that time to the close of the war, distinguished her as the " angel of the battle-field." She visited Camp Lincoln at Worcester before the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts left for Maryland, and it was the writer's privilege to present her to the members of his company, and their privilege to give her hearty cheers in recognition of her noble services. We saw her many times during the following years of suffering, always about her noble work. After the war, she hastened to Andersonville to honor the graves of those she could not succor while in prison. There she caused the graves to be identified and properly marked, causing a list of the dead to be made, which has been of incalculable value to the country and to the friends of the deceased. In her report of that work, she says : -
" But after this, whenever any man who has lain a prisoner within the stockade of Andersonville, would tell you of his sufferings, how he fainted, scorched, drenched, hungered, sickened ; was scoffed, scourged, hunted and persecuted, though the tale be long, and twice- told, as you would have your own wrongs appreciated, your own woes pitied, your own cries for mercy heard, I charge you, listen and believe him. However definitely he may have spoken, know that he has not told you all. 'However strongly he may have outlined, or deeply he may have colored his picture, know that the reality calls for a better light, and a nearer view than your clouded, distant gaze will ever get. And your sympathies need not be confined to Ander- sonville while similar horrors glared in the sunny light, and spotted the flower-girt garden fields of that whole desperate, misguided, and bewildered people. Wherever stretched the form of a Union prisoner, there rose the signal for cruelty and the cry of agony. and there, day by day, grew the skeleton graves of the 'nameless dead.' "
Many of the Southern newspapers, representing the senti- ment of the masses in their locality, justified the atrocities
-
WEARING THE BLUE. - 383
committed in the prison-pens. The Richmond Examiner exclaimed : ---
" Let the Yankee prisoners be put where the cold weather and scant fare will thin them out in accordance with the laws of nature."
Northrop, rebel Commissary-General, urged the Confederate Secretary of War, to reduce the rations to gruel and bread, but Seddon refused to comply. Northrop, taking the matter into his own hands, withdrew the meat ration in the prisons about Richmond, and the Davis government sustained him, refusing to allow supplies to be sent prisoners by the United States authorities.
Northrop and Winder were both denounced in the Confed- crate Congress, and Mr. Foote proclaimed the former to be a Monster, but Davis and his coterie took no notice of the denunciation and continued the twain in their positions.
* The fiendish Winder asserted that he was " doing more for the Confederacy than a dozen regiments at the front," and Howell Cobb, pointing to the graves of our dead, exclaimed - " that is the way I would do for them."
In this connection, we cite Confederate authority to show that our picture of cruelty is not overdrawn. We present the inspection report of Colonel Chandler, a Confederate officer, of date, July 5th, 1864, which was forwarded to the Confederate government at Richmond : -
" No shelter whatever, nor materials for constructing any, has been provided by the prison authorities, and the ground being entirely bare of trees, none is within reach of the prisoners; nor has it been pos- sible, from the overcrowded state of the enclosure, [Andersonville] to arrange the camp with any system. Each man has been permitted to protect himself as best he can, by stretching his blauket, or what- ever he may have about him, on such sticks as he can procure. Of other shelter there has been none. There is no medical attendance within the stockade. Many, [twenty yesterday ] are carted out daily,
384
TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS.
who have died from unknown causes, and whom the medicul officers have never seen. The dead are hauled out by the wagon-load, and buried without coffins, their hands in many instances, being first mutilated with an are in the removal of any finger-rings they may have. Raw rations have to be issued to a very large portion, who are entirely unprovided with proper utensils, and furnished so limited a supply of fuel they are compelled to dig with their hands in the filthy marsh before mentioned for roots, etc. No soap or clothing have ever been issued. After inquiry, the writer is confident that, with slight exertions, green corn and other anti-scorbutics could readily be obtained. The present hospital arrangements were only intended for the accommodation of ten thousand men, and are totally insufficient, both in character and extent, for the present need --- the number of prisoners being now more than three times as great. The number of cases requiring medical treatment is in an increased ratio. It is impossible to state the number of sick, many dying within the stockade whom the medical officers have never seen or heard of, till their remains are brought out for interment."
THE GUILTY KNOWLEDGE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS.
That official report of Colonel Chandler and others of the like general tenor, made by the same Confederate officer, were, with the endorsement of the Confederate war office, forwarded to Jefferson Davis at the executive chamber of the Confederate government. That government never interfered to ameliorate the condition of Federal prisoners of war and Jefferson Davis never exercised his authority to cause a change in the treat- ment of Union prisoners. The inhuman tools of the Richmond dynasty - Winder and Wirtz, were allowed to go on in their fiendish work. Thus, by the evidence of their own witnesses, the crime of inhumanity, equalling anything ever known among the Algerine pirates and in excess of the barbarism of slavery itself, is brought home to the Executive chamber at Richmond, where let it rest, until God shall pardon or decree the punish- ment a too generous nation did not impose.
WEARING THE BLUE. 385
DEATHS OF TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS IN REBEL, PRISONS.
The following named soldiers of the Twenty-fifth Massachu- setts Volunteers died in the prisons and at the dates designated. The table is mostly prepared from data furnished by John B. Moulton, of Company K, obtained while in Andersonville and other prisons, and brought home with him, and also from data furnished by Corporal Bugbce, of Company A. We confess that the table is not perfect -- we only claim that it is as much so as one can be made.
Total deaths in rebel prisons.
.61. - 2250
Names.
Rank.
Co.
Date of Death.
Place of Death.
Jerome H. Fuller.
Corporal.
A.
Oct. 25,
1864.
Florence, S. C.
John B. Savage
Private.
March 1,
Richmond, Va.
Benj. C. Greent.
Sept. 11,
68
Unknown.
Henry C. Dunton,
Corporal.
B.
July 31,
Richmond, Va.
Robert Cottrell ..
Private.
Ang.
July
8,
66
Henry H. Gibson.
Sergeant .:
D.
.
July
22,
IS64.
66
Patrick MeDonough .. Alfred Piper.
Corporal. 66
F.
Sept. 18,
Andrew J. Goodnow.
66
Oct.
2,
Charleston, S. C.
Peter Brady
Private.
Oct.
2.
66
Florence, S. C.
William Fernley.
7,
Andersonville, Ga.
William MeDevitt.
"
July
31,
Dennis ('Neill ..
66
Aug. Sept.
2,
Andersonville, Ga.
Patrick Lamb ..
66
Nov.
25,
Florence, S. C.
Robert Empey.
July
16,
Andersonville, Ga.
Cornelius Farrel.
Feb.
23,
1863. Charleston, S. C.
David Gardner.
Sept.
1,
1864. Andersonville, Ga.
Cyrus Putnam
F.
Oct. 18,
Florence, S. C.
Chas. Il. Neal
Wm. F. Adams.
July
23,
Richmond, Va.
George P. Cotting ..
Dec.
29,
"
Annapolis, after exch'ge.
Sept.
9,
Andersonville, Ga.
Harrison T. Bosworth
66
Preston A.Champney* John W. Partridge*
Private.
66
Otis II. Knightt.
Ang. 26,
66
Robert C'arson.
Nov. 24,
6,
Unknown.
Timothy MeCarthy ...
*Transferred to Signal Corps.
+Killed by a sentinel.
49
Charles O'Neill.
Aug. 29,
386
TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS.
Names.
Rank.
Co.
Date of Death.
Place of Death.
William McIntire
Private.
G.
Aug. 26, 1864
Andersonville, Ga.
Luke Bergen
66
Aug. 28,
Joseph Schusser
Ang. 16,
66
Patrick Hogan.
66
July 20,
Geo. A. Bixby
Corporal. Private.
H. "
June 17, 1864. Not known.
Henry H. Ware.
Chas. L. Rice. .
Ang. 29, 1864. Andersonville, Ga.
Aaron B. Metcalf.
66
1.
Oct. 6, 1864. Charleston, S. C.
Clarence W. Jennison
Private.
Feb. 26,
Florence, S. C.
Saml A. Snow ..
Oct 30, 1864 Unknown.
Andersonville, Ga.
Geo. W. Blood ..
Silas Flagg.
Frank Loverly
John W. Hunting
6.
66
July 30, Aug. 29, Aug. 30,
David B. Day.
66
Dec. 28,
Annapolis, on way home. Florence, S. C.
Robert T. Chapma
Sergeant.
K.
Nov. 1,
1865 .;
1864. Richmond, Va.
Andrew Shaw.
66
Aug. 24,
Andersonville, Ga. 66
Eli E. Clark
Sept. 12,
60
William Latham.
66
Sept. 24,
Jeliu Perry
Oct. 7,
Charleston, S. C. Florence, S. C.
Clayton Witt
Stanley W. Edwards.
86
Feb. 26,
66
Jerome Johnson.
Corporal.
$6
Feb. 10, June,
James W. Goodnow. Gardner F. Barnes
Private. 66
66
May 26,
Aug. 29, 1864.
66 June 15, Sept. 11,
Richmond, Va. Andersonville, Ga.
Geo. H. Barrett ..
66
May 18, Not known.
Richmond, Va.
Amasa S. Hyde ..
Joseph F. Moulton.
Sergeant. 66
George Trask ..
March, 1865. After parole, on wayhome.
Geo. D. Browning
Sumner Frost ..
Augustus Adams.
Nov. 26, Feb. 9, 1865.
Richmond, Va.
David O. Lovell.
..
CHAPTER XIX.
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE REGIMENT-OUR HOSPITAL NURSE -ROSTER OF MEDICAL OFFICERS.
AT this time it may be proper to notice briefly the medical department of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, a branch of the service more important than any other, because to it is committed the lives of every member of the battalion. Indeed, the commissariat may furnish something more palatable than quinine or pills, but without health, the supplies of the commissary would be vain offerings to the soldiers. Upon the watchful care of the surgeon, depends very much the number of duty-men, and after a battle, many officers and soldiers were grateful that they were in the hands of conscientious medical men, skilled in their profession, and tenderly careful to save life and limb. In having experienced surgeons, the Twenty- fifth Massachusetts was peculiarly fortunate during its term of service, and this remark may be extended to the surgeons of the Eighteenth Corps. A more devoted, conscientious body of men, than the medical officers who had charge of the field and corps hospitals of the Eighteenth Corps, it would be difficult to produce.
The medical officers of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, at the commencement of the service, were, Surgeon, J. Marcus
388
TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS.
Rice, M. D., of Worcester, and Assistant Surgeon Theron Temple, M. D., of Belchertown, both of whom joined at Worcester, and proceeded with the regiment to Annapolis. While in Camp " Hicks," at Annapolis, the battalion suffered from the ordinary diseases incident to camp life among newly `enlisted troops. As cold weather came on, " camp measles " were prevalent and quite severe, and a few cases of diphtheria also occurred. An ambulance organization was completed, and the men detailed for this service were trained in the removal of the wounded from the field. A. detail of men from the regiment was also made, to act as hospital attendants. When the battalion embarked at Annapolis, the sanitary con- dition of the men was good, and all endured the privations and exposures on transports with cheerfulness. The night of February 7th, after the regiment landed at Roanoke, was cold and rainy, and all were exposed without shelter to the pitiless storm, yet, when the morning of the 8th broke, with the storm unabated, the morale of the battalion was good, and not a man was reported as unfit for duty when the line of march was formed.
As no horses had been landed, the medical officers and attendants, carrying the most necessary articles with them, marched on foot with the regiment, and, after the engagement commenced, selected a place in rear of the line of battle, and began to care for the wounded as they were brought in. While thus engaged, Surgeon Rice was struck in the chest with a piece of shell, which produced a fractured rib, and disabled him from further service in the field during the day, although he was able to assist in the care of the wounded who were sent on board the transports. The further professional treatment of the wounded during the day, devolved upon Assistant Surgeon Temple, and the medical officers of other regiments present.
Soon after this engagement, Assistant Surgeon Temple ob- tained leave of absence, and not being able to return at its expiration, resigned his commission.
J. MARCUS RICE, M. D.
Heliotype Printing Co. Boston.
389
WEARING THE BLUE.
The regiment remained without an Assistant Surgeon until March 31st, 1862, when Dr. J. C. Batchelder was appointed. He was compelled to leave the service by reason of disability, resigning his commission August 19th, 1862. Dr. Samuel Flagg, who went out with the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts as Hospital Steward, was appointed to fill the vacancy. After more than a year's service in that capacity, Dr. Flagg resigned August 9th, 1863; Dr. Horace Mecorney, who was appointed Assistant Surgeon in September, 1862, resigned his position July 13th, 1863. The next Assistant Surgeon was Dr. Samuel E. Shantz, of Boston, who was appointed July 16th, 1863, and resigned in December of the same year. Dr. Alpheus E. Hoyt was appointed Assistant Surgeon in 1863, and upon the expira- tion of the commission of Surgeon Rice, was appointed Surgeon, in which capacity he served to the end of the war.
Surgeon Rice, upon expiration of the term of his service with the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts in October, 1864, was apppointed to the corps of staff surgeons, and remained on duty to the close of the war. During the campaign of 1864, Dr. Rice was stationed at the Eighteenth Corps field hospital, and was one of the consulting surgeons. For some time he served as Medical Director of the corps.
The history of the Medical Department of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts would not be complete, without reference to the service rendered the sick and wounded soldiers by Miss Ellen E. Whelan, a native of Boston, devoted to the loyal cause, and who felt it her duty to contribute her service to the country. Under the auspices of Chaplain James, she volunteered as a hospital nurse, and moved with the regiment from Worcester, and from that time, while remaining at her post of duty, ren- dered most efficient service, caring tenderly, and only as woman can, for those who, sick aud wounded, knew how to appreciate her delicate administrations. Unfortunately for our hospital service, an attachment grew up between Miss Whelan and one of the officers of our regiment, and at New Berne, on the 6th
390
TWENTY-FIFTH MASSACHUSETTS.
of May, 1862, Captain William Emery and Miss Whelan were united in marriage. The married life of this couple, thus . united, was happy, but terminated August 19th, 1877, by the lamented death, at Milford, Mass., of Mrs. Emery.
ROSTER OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS.
Names.
Rank.
Residence.
Date of Muster.
Expiration of Service and cause.
J. Marcus Rice.
Surgeon.
Worcester.
Sept. 16, 1861.
¡Oct. 20, 1864, expira- tion of service.
Alpheus E. Hoyt.
Surgeon. Ass't
Milford.
Oct. 21, 1864.
June 29, 1865, expira-
tion of service.
Theron Temple.
Surgeon.
Ass't
town.
Oct. 15, 1861.
March 27, 1862, re- signed.
Jos. C. Batchelder ..
Surgeon. Ass't
Templeton. March 31, 1862.
August 19, 1862, rc- signed. August 9, 1863 re- signed.
Samuel Flagg.
Surgeon.
Worcester. July 31, 1862.
Horace Mecorney.
Surgeon. Ass't
Worcester.
Sept. 26, 1862.
Samuel E. Shantz. Surgeon. Boston.
July 16, 1863.
July 13, 1863, re- signed. Dec. 15, 1863, re- signed.
Ass't
Surgeon.
Milford.
Sept. 25, 1863.
Oct. 21, 1864, pro- moted.
15th Corps.
Alpheus E. Hoyt.
Ass't
Belcher-
CHAPTER XX.
RELIEVED FROM THE TRENCHES --- RETURN TO NORTH CAROLINA -YELLOW FEVER -- HOMEWARD JOURNEY -- ESCAPE FROM FORTRESS MONROE-QUARANTINE IN NEW YORK -RECEP- TION IN WORCESTER -- MUSTER OUT.
WE left the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts Volunteers in the trenches at Petersburg, and we fully realize how inadequately we have portrayed the hardships there experienced. From the 15th of June to the 25th of August, it was one continued engagement, even the darkness of night did not prevent the constant rattle of musketry, the booming of cannon and the whizzing of shell. A Spartan band of the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts passed through all this service, and lived day and night in the trenches, half under ground. Officers and men, absolutely worn out by the hard- ships and privations of such a life, yet served with equal fidelity, and all of them deserve the highest meed of praise that men can bestow upon their fellows. On the 12th of August, Captain Foster returned to the regiment for duty, and being senior in rank, assumed the command, thus relier- ing Captain Parkhurst who had led the battalion from Cold Harbor, and shared with his comrades, officers and men, all the fortunes and dangers of the siege of Petersburg. Park- hurst commanded during the most eventful weeks the regiment had seen. That he commanded well, is proved by the fact that, during all that season, though exposed at times to unusual
392
TWENTY-FIFTHI MASSACHUSETTS.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.