USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 49
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Lieutenant Farr was promoted to the captaincy of his com-
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pany January 1, 1862, and served with distinction. At the battle of Williamsburg his right arm was shattered by a ball while he was in the act of firing his revolver. Recovering the revolver, which had dropped to the ground, he made his way to the regimen- tal hospital, where the arm was amputated. He soon after re- turned to his New Hampshire home on furlough. Early in September he resigned his commission in the Second to become Major of the Eleventh Regiment.
George E. Pingree was a son of Capt. Joseph Pingree. His mother, Polly Webb Savage, was a daughter of Elder Osias Sav- age, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was the youngest of a family of eleven children, all of whom were born in Littleton ; the Rev. E. M. Pingree, the noted Universalist divine, being the eldest. At the battle of Williamsburg he was severely wounded by a volley from the Fourteenth Louisiana, the ball passing through . the right arm below the elbow. This wound was very trouble- some and did not entirely heal for several years. Before the ex- piration of his furlough he was discharged as disabled from the Second, and on the 4th of September was commissioned Captain of Company G of the Eleventh Regiment. While connected with the Second, he wrote a series of letters which were printed in the " People's Journal." These letters were of more than ordinary interest and value, as they gave in clear and graphic language a description of army life and of the country through which the regiment passed in its campaigns. They were also instrumental in disabusing the public mind in this section of the State of the false idea that the contest was to be of brief duration.
A valuable and unique contribution of the town to this regi- ment was made in the person of George C. Coburn. He had been with the regiment but a short time when he was detailed as the Colonel's orderly, and served in that capacity under the successive colonels of the regiment during most of his term of service with that command. He was voluble of speech, with a tendency to disregard the meaning of words, possessed a ready wit, the cour- age of a lion, and the friendship of every man in the regiment whose good-will was worth having. He was wounded at Gettys- burg, and mustered out at the expiration of his term of enlistment in June, 1864, to re-enlist in the First New Hampshire Cavalry in April, 1865, and after one month's service was mustered out. In 1886 he removed to Lisbon, where he died, June 10, 1891.
Another man of note in the regiment who has survived the hardships and perils of three years' service in the ranks is William W. Weller. Through an error in the record he was returned as ab-
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sent without leave, when in fact he was on detached service. After some trouble, owing to the tendency of the War Department to stand by its record, the blot has been removed. No one who knew his services to his country could doubt his patriotism or his courage. He was often detailed for important special service. At the time General Hooker's command was stationed at Point Lookout in the winter of 1861-1862, he acted as mail agent on the govern- ment transport plying between that point and Washington, and held other important positions of trust while in the service. The regiment with which these men were connected earned an enviable reputation for long-continued and faithful service and bravery in action as well as for the number of gallant officers it contributed to other regiments that were sent out by our State. In nineteen engagements it had men killed or mortally wounded. Twenty- four of its men perished in Confederate prisons ; one hundred and fifty-nine were killed or died of wounds received in battle, and one hundred and seventy-eight died of disease during the term of their enlistment. Where all were brave and devoted soldiers it would be invidious to attempt to particularize, but the men from this town are entitled to share in the honor and glory of the splendid regiment whose fortunes many of them followed until the battle- flags were furled and the banners of peace again floated on the silent air.1
From the day of the departure of the troops enlisted for the First Regiment there was a gradual subsidence of the war fever for a brief period. Public meetings were held from time to time, and the patriotic impulses of the people stirred to action as the several calls for additional men were issued by President Lincoln. When the Third Regiment left for the seat of war on September 3, it bore on its rolls the names of eight residents of Littleton, one son of the town who was a resident of Manchester, and of three men who on re-enlistment were to be credited to our town. All who went directly from here, with the exception of Cyrus E. Burnham, who was a member of the regimental band, were members of Company H. All were engaged in the affair at
1 The engagements in which the regiment participated were Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861 ; siege of Yorktown, Va., April 11 to May 4, 1862; Williamsburg, Va., May 5; skirmislı at Fair Oaks, Va., June 23; Oak Grove, Va., June 25; skirmish near Fair Oaks, Va., June 28; Peach Orchard, Va., June 29; Glendale, Va., June 30 ; Malvern Hill, Va., July 1, August 5; Kettle Run, Va., August 27; Bull Run (2d), August 29; Chantilly, Va., September 1; Fredericksburg, Va., December 14; Get- tysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863; Wapping Heights, Va., July 23; Swift Creek, Va., May 9, 1861; Drewry's Bluff, Va., May 16; Cold Harbor, Va., June 1-9; Port Wathall, Va., June 16; Petersburg, Va., August 18 to September 1; Reconnoissance near Wil- liamsburg, Va., October 27; occupation of Richmond, Va.
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Secessionville, June 16, 1862, and there Charles E. Harris and Isaac H. Kingsbury were wounded. While the company was stationed at Pinckney Island, S. C., on outpost duty, it was sur- rounded early on the morning of the 21st of August, 1862, by a rebel detachment, and all but sixteen were killed or captured. Among the men who thus became prisoners were George W. Burn- ham, Edward Bickford, John Lochling, and John Brady of the Littleton contingent. These men were confined in the Confederate prison at Columbia, S. C., and were paroled early in November, 1862, and soon after rejoined their regiment. The record of these men while in the service was of the best, but in 1864 Brady and Lochling when on furlough failed to return to duty, and after a service of more than three years they had re-enlisted, but their record as soldiers ends with the word " deserted." Brady had been a resident of this place but a short time, and Lochling, it appears, was never a citizen of the town.
George W. Burnham, son of Joseph and Mary K. (Snow) Burn- ham, was born in Littleton in May, 1841. He enlisted July 22, 1861, and was appointed Corporal and subsequently promoted Sergeant. He was killed in the assault on the " ridge " near Fort Wagner, Morris Island, S. C., August 26, 1863. His body re- poses in the National Cemetery at Beaufort, S. C. On the records his grave is marked 160, section 128. Colonel Linehan closes a reference to him with this tribute : " He was a loyal citizen, a brave soldier, and an honest man." 1
James A. Callahan was a son of Daniel and Mary Callahan, who settled in this town when they, as emigrants, came to this country. James was born in Ireland in 1841, and was educated in the common schools of this town. He enlisted in the Third Regiment, August 20, 1861, and served with credit until the ex- piration of his term of enlistment, when he was honorably dis- charged August 23, 1864. Since the war lie has been engaged in mercantile and hotel business most of the time. He is now a prosperous citizen of Marshall, Texas.
Lieut. William Davis was of English descent, and born at Gib- raltar, Spain, in 1844. He learned the printer's trade on the " Democratic Republican " at Haverhill, and came to Littleton to enter the office of the " People's Journal " as a journeyman printer, where he continued until, in company with William J. Bellows, he purchased that newspaper of Colonel Rovell and acted as its publisher until his enlistment, August 20, 1861. He was assigned to Company H of the Third Regiment. His intelligent and sol-
1 Address at Camp-fire, Marshal Sanders Post, December 26, 1895.
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dierly conduct recommended him to the officers of his company, and he was promoted several times, becoming successively a Corporal, Sergeant, Orderly-Sergeant, and was commissioned Second Lieu- tenant of Company G in January, 1864. He was severely wounded in the approach to Fort Wagner, in the same engagement in whichi G. W. Burnliam lost his life. He was discharged for disability in September, 1864. He then went to Lexington, Mich., and was employed in the office of the " Jeffersonian." For a brief period he was a resident of Missouri, but returned to Lexington, where he continued to reside until his death, January 31, 1874. Colonel Linehan says that " too muchi cannot be said of his character as a citizen and a soldier, for he was equal to the best."
Another of these recruits was Isaac H. Kingsbury, a brother of Newell, who enlisted for the First Regiment and failing that in the Third Regiment Vermont Volunteers. Isaac enlisted July 30, 1861 ; was promoted to Corporal and failing to recover from the wounds received at Secessionville, was discharged for disability in May, 1863. But mingled patriotism and love of the excitement attending the life of the soldier prompted him again to enter the service, and he enlisted in the First Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Cavalry, in which he became a Sergeant. He was taken prisoner while on Wilson's raid on the Weldon Railroad, and died of disease in Andersonville Prison, November 13, 1864. He was a faithful soldier, always ready for an adventure and willing to discharge every duty.
Cyrus Eastman Burnham was a son of Major Elisha Burnham, of the old militia, and a grandson of Capt. James Dow, a veteran of the War of 1812. He was a musician of some celebrity, and joined the Third Regiment as a member of its band. When, by general orders, the band was mustered out, August 31, 1862, at Hilton Head, S. C., he left the service to enter it again in No- vember following as a private in the Seventeenth Regiment for nine months. With other men of this regiment he was transferred to the Second Regiment in April, 1863, and was mustered out in the ensuing October. He again entered the army as a member of the First Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Heavy Artillery in August, 1864, and was mustered out at the close of the war, in June, 1865. Colonel Linehan says of him : " As an associate of Comrade Burnham in the same band, I am glad to say that he was one of the most sociable and genial comrades in the regiment . . and a square, honest, and upright man." He died Decem- .. ber 16, 1900.
The first native of Scotland from this town to enter the military
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service during the war was John H. Cameron, who enlisted on August 12, 1861, was made a Corporal, served the full term of his enlistment, and then re-enlisted. For some misdemeanor he was reduced to the ranks, but was again appointed Corporal, was pro- moted to Sergeant, and mustered out with his regiment July 20, 1865. Sergeant Cameron was something of a bird of passage, who could not decide whether he preferred Lisbon, Littleton, or Lan- caster as a place of residence, and would live in each at dif- ferent times for a few years and then move to one of the other towns. During his military service he managed to be credited to Lisbon on his second enlistment.
The Commissary Sergeant of the Third Regiment, George H. Miner, was a son of Salmon G. and Sarah ( Wheelock) Miner, was born in this town June 21, 1844. His father was a hatter, with a shop in the store with Francis Hodgman. He was living at Portsmouth when the war broke out, and enlisted with the com- pany from that city that joined the Third Regiment. Colonel Linehan, in the address before referred to, spoke of him as follows : " He was one of the neatest-looking and one of the brightest young men in the regiment, and was but eighteen years of age when he was mustered in. He was appointed Commissary Ser- geant of the regiment, and served in that capacity for three years, to the satisfaction of his superior officers, but as well to his comrades of the rank and file. It was my good fortune to be well acquainted with Comrade Miner, and a more agreeable, gentle- manly, or companionable man it has never been my pleasure to meet. He went West after the war and became a prominent business man, being at one time President of the Chicago Board of Trade. He died at Oconto, Wis., October 21, 1889, leaving be- hind him the reputation of being an honest, upright man, and a progressive, public-spirited citizen."
The same authority says of another member of the Third, a native son of Littleton, Samuel H. Little : "He enlisted on August 21, at the age of twenty-four, and was assigned to Co. A. He was one of the best soldiers of the regiment, serving with it continuously from the time of his enrolment until the 13 of May, 1864, when he was killed in action at Drewry's Bluff, - an engagement that the comrades of the Third New Hampshire who survive have good reason to remember with sorrow on account of the number of men killed and mortally wounded. Where he is buried is unknown. His record is, like that of his comrades named, without reproach."
It is a singular fact that of the twelve men who served in the Third
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Regiment to the credit of Littleton but one, Cyrus E. Burnham, returned to make this town his permanent abode. Perhaps the wanderings of the regiment through the Carolinas, Florida, and Virginia, during the years of the storm and stress of war had served to weaken old attachments and to strengthen the natural desire common to young men to " see the world." Then, too, but one of the wanderers, John H. Cameron, had given to fortune hostages in wife and children, and they were therefore free to seek their fortunes wheresoever they would. Those whose career we have been able to trace were valued citizens in the home of their adoption. All but one or two have fought their last battle and left a record for enduring courage to be cherished by the town that sent them forth to suffer and endure that the Union might survive.1
The Fourth Regiment from this State was forming at the same time with the Third. This town was credited with but one man on its rolls, though four others who marched under its battle-rent flags were natives of Littleton, and the town claims to share with the place of their adoption the honors to which they are justly entitled.
Milo E. Wells enlisted in this regiment from this town August 31, 1861, and on January 19, 1862, was discharged for disability. On the 4th of June following, he again enlisted in the Ninth Regiment, was wounded at Antietam, and discharged in October at Washington. He enlisted for the third time, June 21, 1864, in the Veteran Reserve Corps, and was discharged in November, 1865.
Marshall and Melvin F. Hutchins, born in Littleton,2 joined this regiment in August, 1861, at Manchester, where they then resided, and were discharged at the expiration of the three years for which they enlisted. Marshall re-enlisted in February, 1865, and in the following June was transferred to Company C of the Second Regiment.
1 The engagements in which the regiment participated were Port Royal, S. C., November 7, 1861; James Island, S. C., June 8-15, 1862; Secessionville, S. C., June 16; Pinckney Island, S. C., August 21; Pocataligo, S. C., October 22; Morris Island, S. C., July 10, 1863; Fort Wagner, S. C. (first assault), July 11; Fort Wagner, S. C. (second assault), July 18; Siege of Fort Wagner, Morris Island, S. C., July 10-September 6; Siege of Fort Sumter, S. C., September 7, 1863, to February 29, 1864; Chester Station (or Port Wathall Junction), Va., May 9; Drewry's Bluff, Va., May 13-16; Bermuda Hundred, Va., May 18, June 2; near Petersburg, Va., June 9; Ware Bottom Church, Va., June 16; Deep Bottom, Va., August 16; Siege of Petersburg, Va., August 29 to September 28; New Market Heights, Va., September 29; Near Richmond, Va., October 1 ; New Market (or near Laurel Hill), Va., October 7; Darbytown Road, Va., October 13, 27; Fort Fisher, N. C., January 15, 1865; Sugar Loaf Battery, N. C., February 11; Wilmington, N. C., February 22, 1865.
2 It is claimed that these brothers were born in Whitefield. They are the authority for the statement that Littleton was the place of their birth.
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History of Littleton. "
Zebina N. Annis, son of Amasa S. and Mary (Goddard) Annis, was born in Littleton in 1838. At the time of his enlistment he was employed in Manchester, where the Fourth was mustered. He enlisted in Company G, and was soon after appointed Sergeant. At the expiration of his term he re-enlisted in the same regiment and company for three years, was wounded at Cold Harbor, and mustered out August 23, 1865, having served with honor for four years.
Albert Little Fitzgerald, son of Samuel and Anna (Stratton) Fitzgerald, and a brother of Ai, for a long time a manufacturer in this town, was born in Littleton December 28, 1828. He too, like his comrades, was at Manchester at the time of enlistment, though a resident of Sanbornton. He enlisted September 14, 1861, was Corporal and discharged for disability at Morris Island in October, 1863. He contracted a fatal disease while in the service, and died at his home in Sanbornton February 7, 1864.
The record indicates that these men, with a single exception, were faithful soldiers, sharing the fortunes of their regiment with fortitude to the end of their service. The exception is the case of Marshall Hutchins, and this, like many others at that time, was an error that could have been corrected had he taken sufficient inter- est for that purpose. The muster rolls state that he deserted at Rappahannock, Va., September 8, 1865, several months after the close of the war, and after his regiment (the Second) had been mustered from the service.
The Fourth Regiment was enlisted and mustered into the ser- vice September 3, 1861, and became a part of the expedition to Port Royal, S. C., under the command of Gen. Thomas W. Sher- man, where it continued to serve until it joined the Army of the James at Bermuda Hundred, Va. It remained with this com- mand until it became a part of the Army of the Potomac under General Meade. Prior to the battle of Cold Harbor it was with General Terry in the successful attack on Fort Fisher January 15, 1865, and was mustered out on the 3d of August of that year at Concord.
In the summer of 1861, when heavy calls for additional volun- teers were made by President Lincoln, it was found necessary to make a change in the method of securing recruits. The system at first employed of stationing recruiting agents in important cities and towns had been found inadequate. The men, as a rule, wished to know the officers under whom they were to serve, and it was found expedient to select competent and experienced men who had seen service, and send them into sections of the State where
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they were known and respected for probity and courage, with an assurance that they should receive a commission, with rank to be determined by the number of men they were instrumental in securing. Under these conditions William A. Moore aided Colonel Rowell in enlisting several men for the Fifth, and Samuel G. Goodwin a large number for the Sixth Regiment.
The Fifth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry won a name and fame for honor, courage, and valor that will grow brighter with the flight of the passing years, and endure while our country holds its place among the nations.
It was the fortune of a score of the sons of Littleton to serve in this regiment under the leadership of the peerless Cross, and a line of successors who imitated his lofty example. To surpass it was hardly within the range of human endeavor, yet this man, who created this magnificent regiment and led it through a lane of fire from Fair Oaks to Gettysburg ; who left his dead nearer the Stone- wall at Fredericksburg than any other regiment; who gave it the character, intrepid spirit and power to act as a unit which " placed it at the head of the list of Union infantry regiments suffering the greatest loss in battle during the war," - this man fell at Gettys- burg, leading his brigade, wearing the same straps and bearing the same commission under which he entered the service. He had been mentioned many times in the reports for bravery and skill in action, and his superior officers had again and again urged his promotion, - a promotion earned on many a stricken field in defence of his country, but destined never to be reached, because a governor of this State barred the way and declared that " so pro- fane a man ought not to be entrusted with a larger command." 1
The men in the Fifth from our town were worthy of such a commander and such a regiment. They bore their part bravely and well ; some of them entered the service under the first call for troops, and left that service only when their lives were sacrificed or the last shot of the conflict had ceased to echo. The record shows that the following Littleton men served in this regiment, and were credited to the town: William A. Moore, Theron A. Farr, John F. Moulton, Luther M. Chase, Philip Wilkins, Albert H. Quimby, George Wright, George W. Williams, Peter Thebeaux, Alonzo Place, Oliver Vine, Hugh Carrigan, Steven L. Hicks, Charles Parker, and Norman D. Corser, while Charles J. Farr,
1 This account of the men of the Fifth Regiment, with slight changes, is from an address delivered by the writer at a Camp-fire held by Marshal Sanders Post G. A. R. on the occasion of the presentation to that Post of a Memorial Record Book by Hon. Harry Bingham, December 26, 1895.
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Ezra S. Nurse, Albus R. Fisk, and William Stanley, who were born in our town, marched in its ranks, but were credited to other towns. Henry D. Bishop and Charles S. Pushee, soldiers of tlie Fifth, became citizens of Littleton after the close of the war.
Hugh Carrigan and Jolin Lickey were substitutes, - the former an Irishman, the latter a native of Canada, - but each was of the same fighting Irish stock. We are apt to think of the substitute as a patriot upon whose name rests an unfading stain. But these substitutes were true men and good soldiers, who shirked no duty, and did their part to sustain the credit of the regiment. Carrigan was mustered in August 9, 1863, and was mustered out at the close of the war, June 28, 1865. Lickey was discharged for dis- ability in 1864, at Point Lookout, Md.
Oliver Vine enlisted in September, 1861. Vine was something of a character, and suffered in consequence of his inability to get 011 well with his comrades of Company C, who were inclined to make him the butt of their sports. Irritated and discontented, he sought to escape from his unpleasant surroundings by deserting in August, 1863, while the army was following Lee through Mary- land after the battle of Gettysburg. That act was not prompted by cowardice, for in a few days he re-enlisted in the Third Mary- land Regiment, with which he continued to serve until that regi- ment was mustered out in September, 1865.
There was one, a son of our soil, who in the hour of trial, and to his everlasting disgrace and the discredit of the town that bore lim, deserted, and has since found a home in a foreign land.
Philip Wilkins was a son of Philip C. Wilkins, long intimately connected with the history of the town. He was a young man of high character and fine attainments. The hardships incident to the march which the regiment made to the Maryland peninsula early in November, 1861, exhausted his vital force, and he died at Camp California the following month. He was the first of the sons of Littleton to sacrifice his life in the war.
George W. Williams 1 joined the regiment with the rest of the contingent from this town. His services were not important. He was mustered out in February following his enlistment.
Luther M. Chase, one of the best of soldiers, was born on the " Old Chase place " at North Littleton. He was early promoted to be a Sergeant, and was severely wounded at Fair Oaks, and again in the charge on the Confederate centre at Fredericksburg. He was a slight man, but possessed great endurance, and faced
1 He was not the man of the same name from this town who served in the Thir- teenth Regiment.
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PHILIP C. WILKINS.
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the enemy with a courage that knew not fear. He met the great enemy that conquers all, June 17, 1891, at Milwaukee, Wis.
George Wright, born in Canada, was a resident of Littleton when the first call to arms was issued. He early enlisted and served with credit until, disabled by disease, he was forced to relinquish the fight. He was discharged from the service in February, 1863.
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