USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Waldoboro > History of old Broad Bay and Waldoboro, Volume 2 > Part 37
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This quota enlisted for three years, and along with thirty men from Bristol and twenty from Union made up Company E of the Twentieth Maine Infantry. They were mustered August 29, 1862. The most distinguished Waldoboro soldier in this group was Captain Atherton W. Clark, who was in action constantly from Antietam to Appomatox. He was twice brevetted on the field for conspicuous action in battle - brevet major, October 25, 1864, for gallant services at the battles of Pebble's Farm and Hatcher's Run, Virginia, and brevet lieutenant colonel in 1865, for gallant conduct before Petersburg. Promoted from the ranks of this company were James H. Stanwood, wounded at Gravelly Run and raised to the rank of first lieutenant; Sergeant Henry F. Sidelinger who rose through the ranks and became brevet major for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Appomatox campaign, and Sergeant Thomas R. Hogue, shot in the thigh at Fisher Hill and promoted to second lieutenant. The men in this enlistment went through the Virginia campaigns, the hardest of the war. Corporal Raymond W. Hoffses was wounded in the Wilderness and had a foot amputated by a Confederate surgeon; private Calvin Bates, taken prisoner, lost both feet from exposure in prison; George Gilbert Benner was wounded in the Wilderness campaign; Lowell Prock was taken prisoner and never heard of thereafter; Edward K. Chapman suffered a shoulder wound at Bethesda Church; Lewis G. Flanders died in Andersonville Prison; George Allen Hoch was wounded and captured in the Wilder- ness; Frederick Kinsell fell at Rappahannock; Leander M. Mink died of wounds; Orchard F. Mink was wounded at Gettysburg; Gardner Schwartz fell at Fair Play, Maryland; Orrin G. Mink,
8Waldoboro was no exception to this expedient.
9Town Clerk's Records, Waldoboro.
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who joined the regiment in 1864, never returned and is presumed to have died in prison camp, and Charles Keizer fell at Laurel Hill. On June 17, 1865, eleven of the survivors of this quota reached home after three years of service and were tendered a public reception in Union Hall.
From the record of this "gallant fifty" there are two episodes related by members of the outfit which, written in later years from points in the West, were printed in the local paper. The first has to do with the death of Charles Keizer, after whom the local G.A.R. Post was named:
It was at the battle of Laurel Hill, the 20 Me. was in company with the 118 Penn. on the skirmish line. While waiting after drinking coffee and eating pork and hard tack, Chas. Keizer said to Henry Levensaler of the 32nd Mass. "Let's make more coffee and eat our last supper." 'This they did after which they were ordered to the front, formed line and advanced. Now as we were making our way towards the enemy through a pine thicket, night was creeping upon us. Soon dusk and then darkness. We supposed a skirmish line was in our advance, but they were not there. Entirely unprotected we were feeling our way in the darkness. Just now we heard an order to drop, and as we did so we could hear a rustle, and they were upon us. There was a fearful conflict, men firing in each otlı- ers' faces. I don't think they were more than eight or ten feet distant when the first shot was fired. Lieut Keene told me after the battle that the first warning he had had was when a rebel officer came upon him and said, "Surrender, you damned Yankee sons of bitches!" At this he dis- appeared and I think it very doubtful he gave orders after that. He was probably riddled by a dozen bullets. Keizer was at my right hand on his knees and when they returned the fire he fell against me. I suppose he was shot dead and then we lost one of our best men. No braver man ever shouldered a musket. At the same time Henry Levensaler was also shot, and after the battle the conversation just before going in occurred to me: "Let's eat our last supper!"10
The second brief record is a narration of the departure and the arrival home:
It seems but a day that that gallant fifty, or Waldoboro's quota for "Three hundred thousand more," left Waldoboro with their very souls fired with patriotism, amid tears and cheers, with flags flying; and then those years which you and I, and all of Co. E that are alive, remember so well. And then that procession of eight or ten "relics" marching down Sproul's Hill in June 1864, to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," and the re- ception we received. All these events seem but a dream at the present time.11
Following the enlistment of this company in the Twentieth Maine, a call came almost immediately from Mr. Lincoln for 300,000 more men, of which Maine was to provide eight regiments to serve nine months. Under this call Lincoln County was to
10 Lincoln County News, 1885, by W.H.L. (Probably Wm. H. Levensaler).
11Waldoboro Monthly News, Feb., 1873, by C.H.M. (Charles H. Mero).
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provide 410 men, and Waldoboro's quota was ninety. The two levies coming so close together filled the coastal towns with mis- givings in reference to filling their quotas. By early September only twenty men had enlisted in Warren and "on the sixth the militia was notified to turn out and meet on the tenth at the town house for the purpose of drafting men for the town's required quota."12 Waldoboro must have felt equally uncertain with its numerous Copperheads, but it lost no time in starting its drive for recruits. A "United People Meeting" was held on a Saturday afternoon and evening. No hall being sufficiently large to ac- commodate the crowd, a stage was erected in the open air from which "soul stirring, patriotic speeches" were made by General Oliver O. Howard and others. The Waldoboro Cornet Band Was stationed near the platform and played patriotic airs between the speeches. In the evening the meeting adjourned to Union Hall where addresses were made by Reverend Brown, Chaplain of the Fifteenth Maine Regiment, General Henry H. Kennedy, and Gen- eral Oliver O. Howard. At a late hour the meeting adjourned "with three rousing cheers for Liberty and Union."
The citizens aimed to keep the volunteer movement going at this tempo until the quota was filled. An aroused and vocal public was one way of cowing the dissidents. A correspondent from Waldoboro writing in the Bath Sentinel and Times seems to utter a sense of relief in the following:
Everything went off harmoniously and we are a united people, united for the overthrow of treason and rebellion if it costs the last man and dollar there is in the community. ... Our purpose is that we shall obtain our full number without a draft. This week our merchants are to close stores and suspend business, and all are to spend the entire week work- ing for our Glorious Union.13
Mere oratory, sound and lights, however, were not enough to swell Waldoboro enlistments. More tangible tokens were defi- nitely needed, and on August 23, 1862, the town appropriated $5000, "for raising the town's quota of volunteers to answer the President's call of August fourth, 1862, for 300,000 by draft, in- stead of drafting men for that purpose." The towns in this area definitely feared that a draft would meet opposition and be at- tended by rioting and bloodshed. Hence the unremitting effort to meet the quotas by volunteering and to receive the credit for any excess enlistments. The $5000 bonus was not enough, and at a meeting held on September 9th the town voted an additional $9500, the two banks loaning the town $4500 each. Because of this openhanded policy the town did not face the dangerous
12Cyrus Eaton, Annals of Warren, 2nd ed. (Hallowell, 1877), p. 410. 13Bath Daily Sentinel and Times, Aug. 9, 1862.
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necessity of resorting to the draft, but exceeded its quota and furnished the entire complement of Company A of the 21st Maine Regiment. The senior captain of the regiment was Isaac W. Com- ery, a colorful figure in Waldoboro life until well into the present century. The first lieutenant was Aaron W. Wallace, with Daniel W. Demuth as second lieutenant. The citizens of the town pur- chased regulation swords for the officers, and the presentations were made at the camp ground in Augusta by the Honorable Isaac Reed. Responses were made by Captain Comery and both lieu- tenants, whereafter the soldiers were addressed by the Chairman of the Selectmen, Samuel W. Jackson.
The company was mustered into service on October 13, 1862, and was assigned to the command of General Banks in Louisiana to participate in the Red River campaign and the sieges of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. Disease, especially malaria, was even more deadly than rebel bullets. Lieutenant Wallace died in action in a charge on the enemy's works at Port Hudson; Horace A. Nash died of wounds received in the same charge; Henry Wheeler was wounded at Port Hudson; Richard Flannigan, Addison Keizer, Ambrose Hoch, and Nelson Kaler were also wounded in the siege. The following died of disease and lie buried in the National Cemetery at Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Corporal Orchard L. Sidelinger, Lowell H. Benner, George T. Cole, Levi Crammer, Orrin Creamer, Benjamin Flanders, Newell W. Genth- ner, Edward F. Manning, Henry J. Mink, William D. Nash, Austin E. Oliver, and Charles M. Wallace.
On July 8, 1863, Port Hudson surrendered. On July 24th the regiment having enlisted for nine months only, made over all arms and equipment to the Government and embarked on steamers for home via Cairo, Chicago, and Boston. This trip was not with- out its casualties among the diseased and weakened men. On the 16th of August Freeman C. Benner died at Mound City, Illinois, and Byron M. Castner was left behind there in the hospital. Cyrus H. Genthner died on the steamer and was buried on the shore by his comrades. On the 7th of August the survivors reached Waldoboro where they were tendered a homecoming reception in Union Hall.
In offering the story of a war the historian can lay bare its causes, chart the course of campaigns, define their objectives, evaluate the genius and strategy of commanding generals, enum- erate battle costs in terms of deaths and wounds, and interpret the over-all significance of objectives gained or lost, but he can- not record, in a true or graphic way, the life of a common soldier in the field, his attitude, viewpoint, privations, sufferings, hopes, apprehensions and fears as he follows the filthy and bloody course of war through a great campaign. To meet this historical inade-
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quacy there is set forth in this chapter the day-by-day observations of a young Waldoboro private of Co. A, 21st Maine, as he records with epic brevity in his diary "the way it all looked to him" in the great Red River campaign of 1863.
The object of this campaign was to split the Confederacy in two by wresting control of the Mississippi River from the Rebels and then to detach Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas from the eastern section of the Confederate Union. In this campaign Admiral Far- ragut forced entrance to the great river on the south, capturing New Orleans; on the north Grant hammered his way down to Vicksburg to effect a union with Farragut. In between lay the Rebel stronghold at Port Hudson, at the mouth of the Red River, the last remaining link binding the eastern and western states of the Confederacy together. The capture of this stronghold was entrusted to General Banks, and the 21st Maine was one of the units of this army. It is in the record of this campaign from the point of view of a private in the ranks that the diary sets forth the life, thought, and feelings in reference to events now nearly a century past - a simple, touching document to the reader who is trained to let his imagination linger between the lines.
The diary opens on New Year's Day, 1863. Co. A, 21st Maine is in New York waiting transportation to Louisiana. The first notation will be given as entered in the diary. Thereafter the entries will be briefly summarized up to the time when the com- pany reaches the scene of operations along the Mississippi: "To- day is New Year's and a very fine day it is; no snow on the ground, no drilling today. We are going to have Geese for Dinner. Captain gave the Orderly $10.00 to buy us Geese and other things. I was in St. George last year at this time on a Sleigh Ride. What changes in life."
For a few days Private W- wanders about New York with his eyes wide open. The great cemeteries seem to fascinate him, but he also notes with interest the Great Eastern lying in the East River, "the horse cars," a captive "Rebel Steamer mounting 28 guns," and the prevalence of dire poverty. "We have plenty of poor people around camp picking up pieces of Coal and Bread, old Kegs and such things. They are very filthy, covered with rags. They are here every morning regular & great many chil- dren doing the same filthy business. They are very poor."
On Friday, January 9, 1863, six companies embarked on the ship Onward, 700 tons burden, commanded by Captain Coombs. This same day Private W- notes: "I got a letter from home to-day with some money and a chew of gum. This was a great treet to me. It made me think of spruce trees at home." The private re- counts details of the trip south along the coast. At Hampton Roads
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he notes: "This is the place where the Monitor and the Merrimac fought. Fort Monroe is built for beauty as well as strength. It is laid with granite and beautified with trees." On Saturday, Jan. 17th, the ship was in the Gulf Stream, and the private noted:
The water has changed from dark green to a very dark blue . . . and is milk warm. The men are bathing on deck. I do not like a life on ship board where there are so many men. It is very unhealthy. Nothing seems natural. I stay on deck most of the time thinking of home, sweet home and the dear ones at home. While off the coast of S.C. we had a little trouble on board. One of the sailors, a Prussian, was put in irons and put in the hold of the ship. ... The soldiers made a noise about it and had him taken out of the hold and irons taken off.
On Sunday, Jan. 25th, the private noted: "Ship hove in sight. They supposed it to be the Alabama.14 Her course was directly for us. All hands ordered below. The officers trembled in their shoes, and their straps fell off. Swords were worth about a shilling. They run up the English flag. All hands came on deck and had a good laugh." On Monday, Jan. 26th, the private ob- served:
We shall soon make the mouth of the River.15 The color of the water of the river is very muddy. It extends far out in the sea. You can see it before you can see land. You come into it all at once. To-morrow is my birthday. I am 24 years old.
Wednesday, Jan. 28th. We are going up the River. The water is very muddy, and snags floating down. The day is fine and the scenery beautiful. We are passing by fine plantations with orange groves full of delicious fruit. The river is very narrow. We went very near the shore, so that I could have thrown a stone in the windows. The negro huts look neat and are in two rows.
Jan. 29th. We are now in a place called Carrollton. We got here last night. It appears to be very sickly here, for there is many funerals. I saw them bury one soldier. It was a sad sight. The grave was full of water. I saw a man stand on the coffin to sink it. It made me feel lone- some and sick of war.
Jan. 30th. Nothing of any note throughout the day. We started from Carrollton this evening, went on board the steamer, Laurell Hill, bound to Baton Rouge. It is very cold. The men have to sleep on the deck. I carried the colors into the cabin and stayed there. Had no chance to sleep. It was full of sick soldiers. We had a fire.
Jan. 31st. I had plenty of oranges on board the steamer. There was a lot of such things between decks. The boys broke them open and took what they wanted. We had a pleasant time going from Carrollton to Baton Rouge; saw some very pretty plantations. The negros came run- ning to the bank of the river to see us pass by. All seemed happy.
Sunday, Feb. 1st 1863. Landed at Baton Rouge this morning. I car- ried the colors on shore, and planted them on the Parade Ground, and gave them into the care Sergt. Potter. I went to my Co. and helped pitch my tent. We had the tents pitched before 9.00 o'clock, and dinner at 12 o'clock.
14The great Confederate raider.
15The Mississippi.
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HISTORY OF OLD BROAD BAY AND WALDOBORO
Feb. 2nd. Roll call at 5.30 o'clock; Surgeon's call 7.00. Breakfast call 7.30 o'clock. Guard Mounting 8.00. Inspection after G. Mounting. Drill from 9-10, from 11-12. Dinner call 12.30 o'clock. Brigade or Battalion Drill from 2 till 4 o'clock P.M. Dress Parade 5.00. Retreat sundown. Tat- too at 8.00. Taps 9.00 o'clock, then go to bed.
Feb. 3rd. Went out to view the Battleground. We saw where the balls had struck the trees, and in the ground. We saw where they had buried their dead. Many splendid Houses are torn down here by the soldiers. They have been left by the owners to the mercy of the army. They do not have much.
Feb. 4th. Part of our company went out to get some molasses 11/2 miles from camp. The plantation had been left by the owner. He left all the molasses in the Sugar House and lots of furniture in the dwelling House. There is a great many dwellings left in this shape.
Feb. 5th. Sargeant and 17 men from Co. A detailed for Picket duty. I was sargeant of the Guard. Was on the 1st Relief, Bartlett, Lieut. of guard, H. P. Wyman, Sergt., Webber Corp. We did not see any Rebells. I was up all night. Did not have any sleep. We put out all fires at dark. My beat was 1 mile in length.
Feb. 6th. 10 o'clock came from Picket Guard. Did not have any sleep and was tired. Went in my tent, tok my towel and soap and went out to wash. Felt somewhat refreshed, laid down and slept, then went out on drill. I fired my rifle the first time at a mark. Hit within 4 inches of cen- ter. Chance shot.
Feb. 7th. Morning Roll Call at 5.30 o'clock. Eat my breakfast. Had baked beans. They were good. Went to the hospital with the sick, then went out on Company drill. Came in, eat dinner. I had nothing to do for the rest of the day but go out on Dress Parade. Eat my supper, bread and tea. Evening Roll Call at 9.00 o'clock.
Sunday, Feb. 8th. Sargeant and 17 men from Co. A. I was detailed as Sargeant for Picket duty. Put the fires at dark. Lieut. Russell, Lieut of Guard. He was somewhat timid, did not do his duty. At 11 o'clock 5 negroes brought in by Cavalry. 1 man and wife, 2 children, negro woman. They run away from their master. They were brought into camp.
Feb. 9th. We were put in a Brigade with the 48 Mass., 116 New York. 116 N.Y. commanded by Col. Chapin, who is acting Brig. General. We have a very good band in our Brigade. They play many pieces that we used to play. Their leader is Martin.
Feb. 10th. To-day we were mustered in for pay. The company was taken out in part of the Adjutants O. The Pay Master was there with the money. Co. A was paid off first. We went up one to a time and took our cash. I received $62.90 for my part.
Feb. 11th. To-day I have been taking the names of the company who wish to send their money home. Put the money all in one package and sent by Adams Express. Put in the package $30.00, paid 11/2 per cent for sending it. I went down to the city with the Captain and saw it sealed up. Paid $25.00 for uniform and kept $7.90.
Feb. 12th. Nothing of any account to-day, except the rest of our Regiment came up and joined us at Camp Banks. We left them in East N.Y. We were very glad to meet them again. Our Col. Elijah D. John- son came with them. They did not have so pleasant passage as we did, but got here all right.
Feb. 13th. Sent on Provo guard. The guard was detailed from 3 Regts and should have been from one. The detail was a Sergeant and 20 men. There was a forage party sent out to-day and took 40 wagons of corn from the Rebells, about 3000 bushels.
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Now that Private W- was in the field and facing the uncer- tainties of life in a campaign, he found it expedient to inscribe his diary as a means of recognition. Possibly he also felt that if he fell in action the diary, with good luck, might some day reach his folks at home. Accordingly he inscribed himself as
Sergt. William H. P. Wyman Co. A 21st Maine Regt. 1st Brigade, Auger's Division Col. E. D. Johnson Baton Rouge, Feb. 13th, 1863
Camp Banks
Sergt. Wyman continued his daily entries until the regiment was mustered out and reached Augusta on Friday, August 7, 1863. No effort will be made in the following to repeat routine matters; only those entries will follow where events are new, significant, and represent deviations from the normal routine of life in the field.
Tuesday, Feb. 17th. The day is rainy. It is very muddy around camp. One of our men died this morning in the Hospital. His name is Oren Creamer. 6 o'clock P.M. Have been to the funeral of the above named person. The funeral was escorted by 8 men with the arms reversed. A mournful sight.
Thurs. Feb. 19th. I am on Pickett to-day. Went on this morning at 10 o'clock. I am on the Reserve Guard. Several Rebells passed the Picket to-day. They had passes signed by the Provost Marshall. That is the way the war is carried on in the South.
Fri. Feb. 20th. Came off Guard this morn at 10 o'clock. Two Planters was halted by the Pickets this morn. They were going in to have their passes renewed. They thought we had a particular like for Negroes, be- cause we passed one before we did them. She had a pass for ten days. I feel very tired to-night. We had to go out on Brigade drill this after- noon. There were 13 Regts drilling at the same time on field.
Feb. 21st. Nothing to-day. I went this morn with a squad of men to get some wood. We get wood without price here. Go and cut where we choose. If we had to buy it we should have to pay an awful price. Eggs is 75 cents per Doz. Butter 40 cents. Flour 40.00 per Bbl. Other things in proportion.
Feb. 28th. I went on picket duty to-day. It rained very hard. My boots were half full of water. It cleared off by noon very pleasant. I went out to see a planter's home now in desolation. The place was a very fine one and very costly, but the hand of the spoiler had been there. The furniture broken to pieces - everything going to ruin. The man's name was Thomas Bird.
Mon. March 2nd. Took a squad of men this morning to get wood, then went on Company drill. ... We are expecting to see some hard fighting soon, either at this place or at Port Hudson. The fleet is com- ing up the River under Commodore Farragut. Port Hudson is a strong- hold.
March 3rd. Nothing to-day. I took the Company out to drill for the first time. Done as well as I could expect for one not acting Orderly Sergeant. Company all well except Austin Oliver not expected to live. I expect we shall leave here to go up River. The Rebels are about 10 miles from here. Their Pickets less than that.
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Mar. 4th. Col. Johnson drilled this morning the non-commissioned officers in the Manual of Arms. Grand Review 2 o'clock P.M. of the Brigade by Major Gen. Auger. All passed off well. Austin Oliver died to-day out of our company while out to the sink. This evening I came near being shot. The ball out from a pistol came near my head and lodged in the ground.
March 5. This morning attended the funeral of A. E. Oliver who died yesterday with typhoid fever. The services were read by Capt. Comery, Prayer by Jerome Hall. .
Mar. 7th. Nothing to-day except making streets and getting wood. It seems as though we were going to stop in this place to guard it, but we cannot tell. Everything is uncertain. I saw to-day 64 wagons full of wood go past our camp. It was taken from the Rebels. It was followed by artillery to guard it.
Mar. 9th. The orders came last night for to prepare for a forward movement. I went to the Adjutants to copy the orders for the Com- panies. This morn we commenced to get ready to pack all surplus cloth- ing, and have two days cooked rations in Haversacks. We march in the morning for a brush with the Rebels.
Mar. 10th. Everything all confusion this morn. Had orders to strike our tents. We did so, and had all ready for marching. The camp ground looked like a desert. We waited for orders, but none came. I suppose we shall march in the morning. We lay on our arms to-night. Such is camp life. I like it much.
Mar. 12th. I am on Pickett to-day. The day is very fine. I have writ- ten home to-day. We expect to march up river at a moment's warning. There is another Review to-day. The report is that Vicksburg is taken. It will be joyful news if true. 'The 48th Regt moved to-night about 12 o'clock. All quiet on Pickett.
Mar. 13th. Came off Pickett this morning, quite beat out, pitched my tent and laid down. The Fleet of Farragut is moving up the River to Port Hudson. Brigade of Infantry is also moving in the same direction. We shall go to-morrow morning without doubt. I am not afraid to fight with my company.
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