USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester county; a narrative history, Volume II > Part 5
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"The horse that carried Shadrach and other fleeing fugitives from Fitch- burg toward the land of freedom became quite famous, receiving the sobri- quet of 'Shadrach.' Everybody was interested in the faithful animal that had done such good service in the cause of freedom and humanity.
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Fugitive slaves recently escaped from their Southern masters, were not the only sufferers on the Fugitive Slave Act. Negroes who had run away to liberty in Massachusetts long before now lived in constant terror that they would be recognized and seized. To proceed with the narrative: "Another instance of the working of that odious law occurred in Fitchburg during these dark times. A family named Williams, consisting of a man, his wife and two daughters, living in Boston, became alarmed, as one colored person after another was seized in the city and sent back South. Mr. Williams had been a slave in Kentucky, and was manumitted a few years before, had free papers, but feared, notwithstanding his papers, for his own safety and that of his family. His wife was formerly a slave in Virginia, and by a very bold and hazardous effort, escaped with her two little girls and came North. She married Mr. Williams, and they lived industriously and comfortably up to these times. Feeling that it was not safe to live in Boston longer, they came to Fitchburg. A little cabin was fitted up for them on Mr. Crocker's land, where they lived several months, the family all obtaining employment. The two girls worked in the mill. Mrs. Williams was a capable, energetic woman, and found plenty of work to do. Several evening hours every week were devoted to teaching the family, as some of them could not read.
"They were all comfortable, contented and happy up to the time of Burns' arrest, when their peace and happiness ended. When the girls first entered the mill to work, it made quite a disturbance among the help. One of the best girls presented herself before one of the proprietors and called for a settlement, saying that she was going to leave. Mr. Crocker asked her rea- sons, and she replied she wouldn't work with 'Niggers.' He said, 'Very well,' and paid her off, probably very much to her surprise and disappoint- ment, she thinking no doubt, that the 'niggers' would be discharged and her- self retained. The promptness by which her request was responded to was sufficient for the rest of the employees, who made no further trouble.
"One of the family was taken ill, and Dr. Pillsbury was called. He asked the old lady what she should do if she heard the slave hunters were in town. She replied : 'I should start right quick! I always keep my heels greased'; adding, 'I would rather go to the bottom of the near mill-pond than to be found by them.'
"The family finally, through fear, left all that was comfortable and pleas- ant and went with the others to Canada, enduring the cold rigors of that land in order to be where slave-masters and hunters would trouble no more. Ever after the arrest of Burns, until they left, whenever Mr. Williams came about the Crocker house and met any one, the poor old man would shake his head and exclaim : 'Drefful times, drefful times !'
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Historic Bell Peals for Emancipation-"January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln sent forth to the world his 'Proclamation of Emancipation.' On that memorable day, a bell pealed forth in the town of Fitchburg which thrilled the hearts of every lover of liberty. It pealed forth for the first time for freedom. Hitherto it had clanged for slavery on the soil of the South. Many had been waiting long to hear it, but it had kept silent. A citizen had given it to the church with this one stipulation-that its first peal should tell of freedom to the slave.
"Benjamin Snow, Jr., of Fitchburg 'bid off' this bell at an auction in Boston. It had been captured with many others by General Butler from the rebels at New Orleans. They had stripped them from their churches and plantations to convert them into munitions of war.
"As was intended, it was first rung on the day of the President's Eman- cipation Proclamation and Mr. Snow rang it himself !"
The Old Plantation Bell, as it is known, has been ringing from a belfry in Fitchburg ever since it rang for Emancipation. It tolled for Abraham Lincoln, and for others good and great. When Gettysburg was won, when Lee surrendered at Appomattox, when Dewey smashed the Spanish fleet at Santiago; when the glorious news of the Armistice told the end of the World War, and on many another momentous occasion, it has sent forth its patriotic message. And year after year it has summoned the people to worship.
A strange history, that of the old Plantation Bell, eight hundred pounds of metal, cast in the Buckeye Foundry at Cincinnati in 1856. When the Civil War came it was calling slaves to labor on a Mississippi plantation. It was waiting its turn to be cast into a cannon when Farragut and Butler captured New Orleans, and was sent North.
It was first hung in the tower of the Trinitarian Church, where the Abolitionists worshipped. With the close of the war and the complete aboli- tion of slavery, the need disappeared of a church where that institution could be preached against as the extreme anti-slavery people believed. So the congregation disbanded and its members joined with other churches. The First Congregational Church bought the bell and hung it in its belfry. There, for nearly three-quarters of a century, its musical ringing has been a familiar sound among the people.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Civil War
Scores of volumes have been published on the history of Massachusetts in the Civil War, including several thousand pages relating to the military and civilian activities of Worcester, city and county. To these the serious student of this period in the annals of Worcester must be referred, since the fol- lowing review can only be a summary. In the preceding chapters of this work attention has been drawn to the valor of a relatively unmilitary citi- zenry displayed in wars, Indian, Colonial, Revolutionary and others, without, however, endeavoring to indicate the development of the militia, or volunteer, system of defense, the strength and weakness of which has made itself felt in every military crisis of America. The first settlers of Worcester were familiar with the militia system of old England under county lieutenants, and followed it when founding early towns. Every able man was compelled to have arms, ammunition and equipment, to drill occasionally, and to come to the aid of his neighbor. These loosely-knitted organizations were seldom called out for service away from their own locality. Prior to the Revolution the militia companies often emphasized the social element over the military. Despite the criticisms of Washington and other officers, the militia of the Worcester region made substantial and worthy contributions to the armed forces in the Revolution. Some of the companies formed at that time have creditable records in the several wars of the Nation since that day, notably the Civil War. It was not until 1840 that the "territorial company" was abolished, and an act passed, "that the active militia of this Commonwealth shall consist, and be composed of, volunteers of companies raised at large."
In the Civil War the M. V. M., or the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, a terminology retained by the State until 1916, when a national law compelled a change to National Guard, gave an especially good account of itself when most sections of the country had but few trained, organized, and equipped troops to offer the Federal Government. Solidarity was lacking it is true and
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there was no equivalent to a standing or national army. Each militia com- pany had its own color and style of uniform, elected its own officers, owned its armory and had a special name, as for example, the Worcester Light Infantry, the Worcester City Guards, the Emmet Guards, the Holden Rifles, Fitchburg Fusiliers, and others. There were local jealousies, indifference to drills, and the town meeting style of government which was not conducive to the selection of efficient officers. No warfare had stirred Massachusetts deeply since the Revolution, for both the War of 1812 and the Mexican con- flict were unpopular in New England. Whatever the faults of its militia system, Massachusetts sent the first regiment to the rescue of the Nation's Capital, and in this unit was a large number of Worcester militia. The city and county had representatives in three of the first five regiments assembled in the State. Incidentally, Massachusetts was in the van of the Union in the immediate response to the call of President Lincoln for troops, and the Commonwealth was equalled by no other State in the fitness, arms and equipment of its volunteers. A similar boast can be made also in connection with the Spanish-American and the World wars.
Worcester County, like the most of the other parts of the State, in 1861, was divided in sentiment in regard to the growing discord between the North and the South. It had cast the majority of its votes for the radical John A. Andrew as Governor, but, as a whole objected to the holding together of the Union at the price of war. Governor Andrew, in January, 1861, went ahead with preparations of war, securing an emergency appropriation of $100,000, and establishing a war council of military experts. The militia units were required to weed out its members unable to render active service and requested to fill to the full limit its ranks. The Worcester Light Infantry, Emmet Guards, and other M. V. M. organizations throughout the county, set about perfecting their organizations, without regard to political opinion. On April 14, 1861, came the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter, at Charleston, South Carolina. All differences of opinion were cast aside, and upon the following day, Monday, the Worcester militia companies gathered in their armories. A day later, they were prepared to reply to any call from the government. On that very day, April 16, orders came for the Worcester Light Infantry to join the 6th Regiment in Boston, and proceed to Washington. There was confusion, the liberal cutting of red tape, greetings and partings, but it is notable that somehow, within forty-eight hours, the Worcester troops were on their way, and within fifty hours, Massachusetts' first regiment was ready to start South.
In Worcester a patriotic mass meeting was held in the City Hall, and the people called to arms. Posters throughout the county urged: "Enroll and
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Drill your men. Be true to the Spirit and Blood of your Ancestors. Respond with Promptness to the Call of your Country." In the chill of the morning an address was made to the departing Worcester volunteers, a Bible presented to each, and then the raw soldiers marched to the railroad station under the command of Captain Harrison W. Pratt. By noon of the next day, the Worcester Light Infantry, now a part of the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, had exchanged their old smooth-bore muskets for new rifles, and the formal act of the presentation of the colors to the regiment took place. This scene was repeated many times during the following four years, and to this day may be seen reproduced in the soldiers' monument on Boston Common.
The experiences of the 6th Regiment in making their way to Washington brought home to Worcester and New England the reality of war with a shock that was profound and alarming. Nothing untoward happened as it passed through New York, or even Baltimore, until after railroad cars drawn by horses through the streets of that city, carrying seven companies, had passed with safety. Then the cars containing the other three companies were stopped by a mob of Southern sympathizers, and the troops forced to fight their way to their companions ahead. In the mêlée four soldiers were killed and thirty- six wounded. Obliged to fire on the mob, many were slain. Bridges were burned on the route to Washington, and the Capital thus isolated from the North. The 6th reached Washington on April 19, 1861, and were reviewed by President Lincoln and General Scott, while Clara Barton, of Oxford, later to become famous in connection with the American Red Cross Society, and Mrs. B. B. Vassall, of Worcester, directed their reception and attended to their needs. It was the first regiment in the country to answer to the call of the President, and Lincoln told them: "I begin to believe there is no North. The 7th Regiment (New York) is a myth. Rhode Island is another. You are the only real thing."
It was the evening of the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington that the word came: "The 6th Regiment had been cutting its way through the streets of Baltimore, whose pavements were reddened with its blood . . . . Never after did any news so lift us above ourselves, so transform earthly weakness into heavenly might." (Governor Andrew.) Worcester had spent an exciting week in getting its boys off to Washington, but the conflict with a rebel mob, the cutting off for a time of all communications with the National Capital, brought home the knowledge that a state of warfare existed and a sober recognition of this fact must be faced. Emotional enthusiasm was replaced by exalted consecration. There was such an outpouring of patriotism as seldom had been witnessed. Men and women offered themselves for any service. Great quantities of food, clothes and all manner of supplies were
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donated. Money was proffered by individuals and financial institutions. Drs. George H. Lyman and William J. Dale took charge of furnishing medi- cal supplies, and with other physicians laid the foundation of a military medical department in Massachusetts, which was a model for other states. The women then, and all through the war, made remarkable record-Clara Barton, of Oxford, and Mrs. B. B. Vassall, of Worcester, were but the fore- runners of hundreds of their sex who rendered notable service. Worcester County women were not the first by a few days, to form the committees which became the nucleus of the Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross, but the name of Clara Barton stands out in the limelight. Worcester County was among the foremost in the country in the organization of Women's Auxiliary Societies of the Sanitary Commission. It must not be forgotten in our familiarity with the work of the Red Cross, that the ladies of the 'sixties broke new ground in their work and were the pioneers in this field of mercy in the time of war.
There is neither the need, nor the space, for extended accounts of the civilian and military activities of Worcester during the long years of the Rebellion. Books have been written that have to do with the history of regi- ments and even smaller military units. There were more than a dozen Mas- sachusetts regiments that contained large numbers of Worcester soldiers, and very many more in which some from the county's cities and towns enlisted. Almost coincident with the departure of the Worcester Light Infantry, with the 6th Massachusetts Regiment, was the mobilization of the Emmet Guards, Worcester City Guards, and the Holden Rifles, all included in the 3d Battalion of Rifles, attached to the 5th Regiment, Colonel Lawrence commanding. The battalion left Worcester on April 20, 1861, embarked the following day at New York for Annapolis, Maryland, and arrived on May 3, at Fort McHenry. These were the last of the "three-months" men sent to the front in the first emergency. On May 3, 1861, the President issued a proclamation calling for volunteers for a period of three years service, or the duration of the war. As in the World War, the original National Guard units or the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia were received as a whole but later dis- tributed among all branches of the military, although in Civil War this disin- tegration was not nearly so complete as in the later conflict. As to the value of the activities of these pioneer regiments, which included so many Worces- ter volunteer organizations, the Adjutant-General's report of 1861, said in part :
"They were the first to respond to the call of the President; the first to march through Baltimore to the defense of the Capital ; the first to shed their blood for the maintenance of our Government ; the first to open the new route
Wor .- 29
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to Washington by way of Annapolis ; the first to land on the soil of Virginia; the first to make the voyage on the Potomac and to approach the Federal City by water, as they had been the first to reach it by land. They upheld the good name of the State during their entire term of service, as well by their good conduct and gentlemanly bearing, as by their courage and devotion to duty in the hour of peril. They proved the sterling worth of our volunteer militia. Their record is one which will ever redound to the honor of Massa- chusetts, and will be prized among her richest historic treasures. These men have added new splendor to our Revolutionary annals; and the brave sons who were shot down in the streets of Baltimore on the 19th of April, have rendered doubly sacred the day when the greensward of Lexington Common was drenched to the blood of their fathers."
In a less oratorical fashion it may be pointed out that one of the most important features of the services rendered by these early regiments was in providing experienced officers to companies and regiments formed later. Many won general's stars and all grades of commissions were earned. Major Devens, of the 6th Regiment, together with Lieutenant-Colonel George H. Ward, of Worcester, and Major John W. Kimball were the senior officers of the famous "Fifteenth" Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. A statue of General Devens was erected to his honor and placed near the State House, and one of the great cantonments of the World War bore his name. The 15th Regiment was recruited mainly in Worcester as was the 15th Regi- ment of the Massachusetts Line, organized in January, 1777, and commanded by Colonel Timothy Bigelow. This Revolutionary unit was in the field to the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown. The Civil War "Fifteenth," after less than six weeks training was sent to Washington, and soon after partici- pated in the fateful fight at Ball's Bluff. Only three hundred and eleven out of six hundred and twenty-one who entered the engagement were able to report for duty the following day. Its depleted ranks, of course, were again brought to full strength and went on to further and more bloody battles. General McClellan, said of the action at Ball's Bluff, "Nothing had occurred in the war yet equal to the heroic conduct of the 15th Massachusetts."
The 6th, 5th, 15th, were the first of the numerous regiments containing Worcester's volunteers. There were three others which were recruited in 1861 : the 21st, Colonel Augustus Morse, which left Worcester on August 23, which was with the General Burnside expedition into Virginia, and won "great praise and distinction in the second battle of Bull Run, and altogether took part in twenty-three battles of the war." The 25th Massachusetts Vol- unteer Regiment, best known as the "Worcester County Regiment," dated from September, 1861, with Colonel Upton and Lieutenant-Colonel Sprague
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as senior officers. It continued under arms until July, 1865. The 36th Regi- ment, was also of Worcester origin, and of September, 1861, formation.
The year 1862 brought understanding to the enthusiasts of the North, but not during the early months. Expectation and campaigning had been con- ducted so far on the notion that one crushing battle would end the war. The Army of the Potomac was sent against Richmond, and so certain were the military authorities that there were troops enough already in the United States Army to accomplish all purposes, that on April 3, 1862, all recruiting in the country was ordered stopped. When two opposing armies met, com- prising 200,000 men, and the Union troops came out a back second-best, knowledge came of what warfare meant and its tremendous man-power requirements. On July 4, 1862, President Lincoln issued a call for 300,000 men, for three years' service. In modern fashion Governor Andrew had sent to every city and town in Massachusetts the quota of men each was required to provide. The Worcester section was in no wise dismayed by new demands and organized to meet the new requirements, and did so in about two months. In the midst of this recruiting, came a Presidential call for another 300,000 troops by draft. However just the draft system, it was then, and probably at a later period, unnecessary in Massachusetts. The additional contingent was supplied by voluntary enlistment.
Without attempting to treat of the progress of the war until the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865, the brief naming of most of the regiments and units containing Worcester men raised after 1861, is the minimum tribute that may be paid to the devoted efforts of the people of the city and county during those long and disheartening years of the Civil War. As summarized by E. Melvin Williams from voluminous records, and here still further con- . densed : The 34th Regiment was composed of Worcester and Western Massa- chusetts men. It left in August, 1862, for Virginia. It suffered heavy casu- alties at the battle of Piedmont, and at Winchester in September, 1863, lost one hundred and ten men out of three hundred engaged. During the year's campaign it marched a thousand miles, fought in nine battles; the colonel, major, two captains, three lieutenants and seventy-three men were killed, the lieutenant-colonel, a captain, and a lieutenant severely wounded and captured ; twenty-nine other officers and six hundred and thirteen men were wounded, leaving only eight officers and three hundred and two men fit for duty. The 5Ist Regiment, under Colonel Ward, sailed from Boston in November, 1862, for North Carolina, and within a week was in action. The regiment returned to Worcester in July, 1863, with a loss of one hundred and thirty men. The 42d Regiment had some Worcester men in Company E. Company I, of the 50th Regiment, was from Worcester, Captain Nicholas Power commander. Worcester was well represented in the 57th Regiment, raised in April, 1864.
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The 2d Regiment of Heavy Artillery had ninety-four men from Worcester, including Lieutenant-Colonel A. B. R. Sprague. The 4th Artillery, enlisted in 1864, for one year, contained two hundred and thirteen men from Worcester. First Battalion Heavy Artillery had 65 men from Worcester. The 2d Regi- ment of Cavalry held 55 Worcester men, serving from 1863 to the end of the war, and participating in the Grand Review at Washington afterwards. Twenty-four men of Worcester served in the 4th Regiment of Cavalry, and were among the first troops to enter Richmond after the surrender of Lee. Twenty-five Worcester men joined the 5th Regiment of Cavalry, the only regiment of colored cavalry, in the spring of 1864. Worcester's naval record embraces service by about one hundred and sixty men, including Commodore George C. Blake, who was superintendent at the Naval Academy from 1858 to 1865. Captain J. C. Dutch commanded the U. S. barque Kingfisher in 1863. Worcester army surgeons include Drs. Oramel Martin, Joseph N. Bates, J. Marcus Rice, Samuel Flagg, Horace Mecorney ; and three chap- lains are named : Revs. Charles T. Canfield, Gilbert Cummings, and Horace James.
The apportionment of credit for the number of soldiers provided by Worcester and the towns of the county is even to this day practically impos- sible. Men from the towns and villages enlisted in the cities and there is duplication of records and differences in methods of reporting. Quotas were more than filled in almost all of the towns. It is not unusual to find municipalities that sent ten per cent. of their population into the armies. Webster made the best record in the county as regards the surplus of volun- teers. Berlin, then a place of 1,100 population sent one hundred and thirty- nine soldiers, twenty-two of whom were killed. Bolton had men in twenty- eight regiments during the war although its population was less than eight hundred. The names of two hundred and fifty-seven residents of North- bridge are listed in connection with forty-three different military organiza- tions of the war. Petersham had but one hundred and eighty-eight men of war service age, and there were one hundred and seventy-seven enlistments. Out of the fifty-four towns of importance in the county, all but six enrolled more than a hundred men each. Athol furnished three hundred and thirty- five men; Barre, three hundred and nineteen; Clinton, four hundred and nineteen ; Grafton, three hundred and ninety-three; Leicester, three hundred and twenty ; Leominster, four hundred and four ; Millbury, four hundred and three; Northbridge, three hundred and eleven; Oxford, three hundred; Southbridge, four hundred; Spencer, three hundred and nineteen ; Uxbridge, three hundred; Westboro, three hundred and thirty-seven.
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