USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 50
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All members of the original Company C of the Fifth will re- member Peter Thebeaux. He was one of the first to join the squad that went from this town. He was not of sufficient stature to pass successfully the requirements of army regulations, but the man who took his measure thought he saw in Peter's diminutive form the making of a soldier and was blind to the figures, so he was passed and was mustered with his companions. The subaltern who thus became responsible for Thebeaux's admission to the army made no mistake, for Peter fought his way through battle-scarred Vir- ginia, with great gallantry, to a soldier's grave. At Cold Harbor he volunteered to leave a place of comparative safety in the lines to go to the rear for water for his companions, and received a mortal wound. Born in France, he gave his life for a land to which he was bound by no ties of kinship, but for a cause that was not cir- cumscribed by national bounds and that appealed to every man who worshipped at the shrine of liberty.
Albert H. Quimby left a prosperous business to enter the ser- vice of his country. He did not, as the event proved, possess the physical stamina required for army life, and after a few months' faithful service he returned to his home to continue, under more favorable conditions, the struggle with a disease contracted in the swamps of Virginia, until 1866, when he surrendered to the relent- less foe. His wife was a daughter of Capt. James Dow, and he seems to have caught the musical step of the family.
Henry D. Bishop, though credited to Lisbon, may justly be num- bered with the men of Littleton who served in the glorious Fifth. He is a lineal descendant of Capt. Nathan Caswell, who erected the first cabin within the limits of this town, and who earned his title as the commander of a company of rangers in the War of the Revolution. Since the close of the struggle Mr. Bishop has been a citizen of our town. As a soldier he displayed the same charac- teristics that have marked his business career ; self-reliant, strong of purpose, he struck sturdy blows for the cause he served. He was wounded at Antietam, but stuck to the regiment until it was mustered from the service in 1865.
Alonzo Place was a member of this regiment from October,
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1863, to April, 1864, when he was transferred to the navy. His career as a soldier will be spoken of more at length in another place.
Stephen L. Hicks, thoughi credited to another town, was a mem- ber of a family that resided in this town during the war, and was himself a citizen of Littleton both before and after his enlistment. He joined the Fifth as a substitute in August, 1863, when the regiment was recruiting at Concord. We judge from the record that he was a good soldier, as he was promoted to the position of Corporal. He was made prisoner at Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865, and paroled some ten days later. He was discharged in June, and died in California January 27, 1888. It is worthy of note that the three substitutes in the Fifth who were connected with this town were excellent soldiers, one of whom was dis- charged on account of sickness, the others serving to the close of the war.
Norman D. Corser, a fine soldier, was of Bristol, from which town he entered this regiment before it left Concord in 1861. His only connection with this town was to re-enlist to its credit upon the expiration of his first term of enlistment. He became a Ser- geant and was twice wounded, first at Fair Oaks and then at Cold Harbor. He now resides in Colorado.
Charles S. Pushee is another soldier of the Fifth whose war con- nection with this town is rather slight. He was from Lyme, and came here in the eighties, and was Chief of Police for several years. He had an excellent war record. He was wounded at Deep Bottom, Va., in July, 1864.1
Of Capt. Theron A. Farr and John F. Moulton much might be said in regard to their long and meritorious service, but they are as modest as brave, and I forbear. One to the manor born; the other a son by adoption, and a citizen for nearly half a century. The truth of history, however, demands that this much should be said. Jolin Frank Moulton was one of the bravest of the brave, ever ready to respond to the call of duty, and in the hour of battle calm as a summer's morning. He bore upon his person marks of the conflict received at Antietam and Petersburg that spoke more eloquently than words can of hairbreadth escapes where messengers of death rode upon the air.2
Theron Allen Farr was among the first to offer his services to his country in the hour of supreme danger. In spite of many discouragements arising from ill-health, which a change of climate
1 He died in Littleton April 21, 1897.
2 He died in this town, August 14, 1898.
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and the hardships of the new life brought upon him, with charac- teristic Farr grit he held on and conquered his early enemy and won an enviable fame as a soldier. He rose through all the grades of the service from private to a captaincy, achieving this not by favor but by hard work and meritorious service. In the last battles of the conflict he led his company with a valor worthy of the regiment in which he served.
When the first note of alarm echoed from the guns trained on Fort Sumter, William Adams Moore was a student at Cooper Union in New York. He was a son of Adams Moore, for many years a leading physician of our town. His mother was a grand- daughter of Col. Moses Little, from whom our town derives its name. On both sides he traced his ancestry to Revolutionary stock, - a fact that had no inconsiderable influence in moulding his char- acter. In figure he was of medium height, erect, strong, and sturdy ; in bearing, every inch the soldier. His head was large, the forehead both wide and high ; the eye large, full, open, dark, and commanding ; the features well formed, with the lower face rather heavy, indicative of strength and resolution. His complexion was dark; his hair black and straight as an Indian's, and worn rather long. In general appearance and demeanor he was most attractive. His intellectual qualities were of a high order, his mind robust, and the perceptive faculties both quick and accurate. These were strengthened and cultivated by incessant study.
He was educated in the schools of his town, Thetford Academy, Appleton Academy, and New Ipswich, where he was graduated in 1860, valedictorian of his class. He then took a course at Cooper Union, intending to enter Dartmouth College in 1861. But Fate liad reserved for him a higher destiny.
The Fifth New York Regiment, known as Duryea's Zouaves, was the first to respond to the President's call for troops, and in this regiment he enlisted, and was present at the engagement at Great Bethel, June 10, 1861. He thus became the first man from the town to be actually engaged in battle. When the Fifth New Hampshire was authorized, his father secured his discharge from the New York regiment, and he was commissioned Second Lieu- tenant in Company C, to rank as senior officer of that grade. He was soon promoted to a First Lieutenancy, and held a Captain's commission before lie had attained the age of twenty-one years. As a soldier he won the confidence of his superior officers and associates, and retained it to the end, while his men respected him for his soldierly qualities, and loved him for his unfailing kind- ness and solicitude for their welfare. He had no part in the dis- VOL. I. - 29
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sensions, born of conflicting ambitions, which once marked the relations of some of the officers. He was content to discharge every personal and soldierly obligation and leave the results to the future. To him the path of duty was clear, and he trod its shin- ing way unmindful alike of its perils and its glories. Brave, generous, enlightened, no stain marred the beauty of his soul, and when his young life went out on the heights of Fredericksburg no purer spirit entered the portals of heaven. He sleeps in an un- known grave under Virginia skies, but his spirit lives, and will live, to inspire us, and those who shall come after us, to strive to imitate liis lofty example, his unselfish and patriotic love of country.
" Green be the turf above thee, Friend of my better days; None knew thee but to love thee, Nor named thee but to praise."
While at the head of his company in the charge of the First Brigade against the Confederates, entrenched behind the stone wall, Captain Moore was wounded in the arm, and started for the rear over a field swept by a storm of shot and shell from the hot throats of thousands of muskets and eighty cannon, and when near the brick house he was instantly killed. The particulars con- cerning his death were not known to his friends for some monthis. It was supposed he had been struck in the left side by a solid shot. The members of the regiment who saw his body could not pause to bring it off or even to give it a hasty examination. During the winter it was learned that he was buried on the field where he fell by a detachment from the First Minnesota Regiment. Under date of March 3, 1863, Major Adams, of that regiment, wrote Dr. Moore, giving the facts as follows : -
" On the night of December 14 my regiment was ordered out on the ground where the battle of the day previous had been fought. . . . We moved at once to the position assigned us, which was well advanced upon the battlefield, in the very midst of the stiffened, mangled corpses of the noble slain. . . . When the early dawn of the 15 broke upon us, it revealed hundreds of our dead ; and among them an officer lying face downwards, his head towards Fredericksburg, but a few yards in front of the centre of my regiment and just upon the verge of the 'terrace crest' above me. I noticed that his sword, belt, boots, and pantaloons had been removed. The cap was resting on the back of his neck or rather between his shoulders, as though placed there by some friendly hand. The Rebel Sharpshooters being but a short distance in front, and commanding the ground on which the body lay, it was im-
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possible to approach it during the day. When evening arrived and darkness rendered it safe to do so, I ordered the Pioneers of my regi- ment to dig a suitable grave near where the body lay, in which to bury it, but before committing it to the ground . . . to examine the pockets of the coat and vest, and ascertain if any evidence of identification could be found ; and also to examine the location and character of the wound that had caused his death. The memorandum book, knife, and letter I sent you by Maj. Cross were all that could be found. The wound was located in the immediate vicinity of the heart, and was made by a rifle ball that passed through the body. If either of his arms were broken, it escaped observation. I am inclined to think they were uninjured."
The memorandum book and other effects brought by Major Cross placed the identification of the body beyond question. The Doctor made every effort to recover the body, but without avail. It rests in hallowed ground, and there awaits the trumpet sum- mons of the resurrection morn. Captain Moore was not only the first son of Littleton to be engaged in battle, but was the first, and only one of equal rank, to fall upon the battlefield.
It was not an uncommon incident during the war for men to be impressed with a premonition of approaching wounds or death. An incident of this kind came to Captain Moore. Soon after Antietam, and while the Second Corps was stationed at Bolivar Heights, the Captain, accompanied by a friend, visited Washing- ton. One night he awakened his companion with the statement that he was suffering severe pain in the arm. An examination disclosed no indication of inflammation or other physical disturb- ance, yet it was some time before the pain ceased and he found rest in slumber. The next day, while walking up Pennsylvania Avenue engaged in conversation, the pain suddenly returned with great severity, as it did on other occasions after his return to the regiment. While in Washington he was greatly depressed, and stated that the next battle was to be his last, and that he was to be hit in the arm and receive a mortal wound, a prophecy that was to receive a fearful realization. After he rejoined the regiment he recovered to some extent his buoyancy of spirits, but the premoni- tion remained, and he seemed to accept it as the decree of fate from which there was no escape. His last words to Colonel Cross, as the regiment was about to move forward in the charge, . were : " Colonel, this is to be my last battle."
There were four sons of the town, Charles J. Farr, Albus R. Fisk, Ezra S. Nurse, and William Stanley, who, when the war be- gan, were residing elsewhere, and each was an original member
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of the Fifth. Farr was a son of Ephraim W. and Lovina (Hunter) Farr ; he was born in Littleton in 1840. He was mortally wounded at Fair Oaks June 1, 1862, and died there on the 5th of the same month. Albus R. Fisk, born in this town in 1842, was wounded at Chancellorsville May 3, 1863, captured May 30, 1864, paroled November 20, 1864, and discharged at Concord June 8, 1865, for disability. Ezra S. Nurse was wounded at Fair Oaks June 1, 1862, and disabled, for which reason he was discharged on the 13th of the following December. William Stanley was born in 1844, enlisted August 18, 1862, and discharged in Virginia April 19, 1863.
The Fifth Regiment was officered, with few exceptions, by men who had seen service in other organizations. Colonel Cross had served in the regular army of Mexico as an officer, Lieutenant- Colonel Langley in the Second Regiment, and Major Cook in the Massachusetts Militia. Before its first battle it had been thor- oughly drilled, not only in the manual of arms and field ma- nœuvres but in siege work. It had been moulded into a machine, an engine of destruction, to be wielded by its commander for the accomplishment of the deadly work destiny held in store for it. It was noted throughout the corps for its reliability and soldierly accomplishments.1
The Colonel of another regiment from this State, whose courage and patriotism were never doubted, has said that "Cross was proud of the large number of men he had lost in action, but for his part he did not think the record one to boast of. It had always been his care to see how few men his regiment should lose in battle." The statement was a credit to the kindly heart of a valiant soldier. But the object of war is to destroy the enemy, and hard, relentless blows and death must be the price of victory. Colonel Cross was careful of his men, and supplied them with every attainable comfort, restrained them from excesses, guarded their
1 The Fifth Regiment participated in the following engagements: Rappahannock River, Va., March 28, 1862; Yorktown, Va., April 25 to May 4; Fair Oaks, Va., June 1; Peach Orchard, Va., June 29; Savage Station, Va., June 29; White Oak Swamp (Glendale or Charles City Cross Roads), Va., June 30; Malvern Hill, Va., July 1 ; Boonsborough, Md., September 15; Antietam, Md., September 17; Snicker's Gap, November 2; Fredericksburg, Va., December 13; Chancellorsville, Va., May 1-5, 1863; Gettysburg, Pa., June 2, 3; Cold Harbor, June 2-12, 1864; Siege of Petersburg, Va., June 16 to July 26, July 30 to August 12, August 21 to December 7, December 10, 1864, to April 2, 1865; Jerusalem Plank Road, Va., June 22, 1864 ; Deep Bottom, Va., July 27, August 16; Reams Station, Va., August 25; Reconnaissance to Hutcher's Run, Va., December 8, 9; Fort Stedman, Va., March 25, 1865 ; Dinwiddie Court House, Va., March 31 ; Sailors Creek, Va., April 6; Farm- ville, April 7.
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health, preserved their strength, and esteemed their lives of priceless value. But in the hour of battle he withheld not his hand, and paid with his blood the final sacrifice that the flag, the symbol of unity, might wave over an undivided country.1
When the Sixth Regiment was raised, Samuel G. Goodwin, of Ellsworth's Fire Zouaves, was at home on a self-issued furlough, and, accepting a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Sixthi, did not return to the New York Regiment.2 On its muster rolls he stands recorded as absent without leave, equivalent to deser- tion to this day. Men in those days did not know, or were care- less of, the requirements of army regulations, and so long as they were fighting rebels, or raising men to do so, it did not matter to them under what colonel or in what organization their work was accomplished. So it came about that these dread words stand as a menace to the fair fame of Captain Goodwin, and of many others as brave and devoted lovers of their country as he, on some regimental muster roll, because of neglect to comply withi the necessary formalities for obtaining a discharge from the old regiment before mustering with the new. Lieutenant Goodwin had arranged with Gen. Samuel P. Adams, whose title was a legacy from the State Militia, to enlist men for the company which he was then recruiting for the Fifth Regiment at Haverhill. In the "People's Journal " of September 20, 1861, appears an advertisement calling for recruits for his company. It was found that the ranks of the Fifth were filled. Capt. James B. Perry, of Hanover, having succeeded in filling a company from this county before General Adams, he joined the Fifth, and the General with his company went into the Sixth. The advertisement was then altered to suit the changed conditions. This advertisement was characteristic of the times. It calls upon men to " Fall into line for the Union " and enlist in the Sixth Regiment, and as an induce- ment to do so, they were told that the regiment was to be armed with " rifled muskets and sabre bayonets and directed by bugle
1 He was mortally wounded in the second day's fight at Gettysburg, and died about midnight of that day. He was then the senior colonel of the Army of the Potomac, and for months had commanded the First Brigade of the First Division, Second Army Corps. He had been recommended for promotion by Mcclellan, Burnside, Sumner, Hancock, Casey, Couch, Richardson, Sedgwick, French, Hooker, Howard, and Caldwell; but lacked the approval of Governor Berry, without which the War Department would not act.
2 The Captain gave this explanation of his presence here when he first returned : "At the battle of Bull Run the regiment was ordered to retreat. I have heard no order to the contrary, and have been retreating ever since." The death of Colonel Ellsworth left the regiment without its master spirit, and it went to pieces after Bull Run.
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call." As a further inducement, the men were told that they would receive the following financial reward : "ten dollars bounty from the State when mustered in; thirteen dollars per month pay, three dollars for clothing per month and thirty cents per day for rations, and one hundred dollars bounty from the United States at the expiration of his term of service."
In his Centennial Address Capt. George Farr states that twenty-seven men from the town joined this regiment.1 We have been able to find the names of but twenty-six who are credited to the town, and two of these ought, in fairness, to have been credited to Bethlehem. As the record stands, three of the twenty-six were Littleton born ; these were Lieutenant Goodwin, Milo E. Fulford, and Wilbur F. Palmer. Wallace Bean and Nathaniel Bullock were of Bethlehem; Moses P. Bemis of Lisbon ; and George P. Brown, Stephen Brooks, Guy W. Hill, Smith Morse, George B. Messer, Stephen L. Hicks, Lyman W. Dodge, George W. Russell, Ephraim Rowe, Jr., and Jason Smith were residents of the town. Another member of the regiment, Alvin A. Lewis, was born here but enlisted from Plymouth, and William W. Burnham was of an old Littleton family which for a brief period resided in Bethle- hem, where this son was born. Samuel McGill, James McGuyer, Thomas Nolan, and Charles Taylor joined the regiment, the first two in 1863 and the last two in 1864. McGill is recorded as missing at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and it is probable that he was killed in that action. McGuyer is supposed to have deserted en route to the regiment. Nolan and Taylor served creditably until the close of the war. None of these men were residents of Littleton.
Milo E. Fulford enlisted in the Ninth Regiment, and was trans- ferred to the Sixth June 9, 1865, and mustered out July 17, 1865. He died at home in 1867. Wilbur F. Palmer enlisted in 1861, re-enlisted January 3, 1864, and was mustered out with the regi- ment July 17, 1865. He was promoted to be Corporal and Ser- geant. His record is clean. George P. Brown was taken prisoner at the second battle of Bull Run, released in December, 1862, and discharged for disability February 6, 1863. Stephen Brooks was drowned in the Potomac River by the foundering of the steamer " West Point" August 13, 1862. Guy W. Hill, son of Samuel Hill, an old resident of the town, was wounded at the second battle of Bull Run, August 29, 1862, and died of his wounds Sep- tember 16, 1862, at Washington. George B. Messer was killed in the same action. He was a son of Capt. John Messer, of the old militia, who resided in town many years. Lyman W. Dodge died
1 1884.
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of disease in January, 1862. Jason Smith was discharged for dis- ability in October, 1862, to re-enlist subsequently in the Ninth Regiment. Stephen L. Hicks was discharged before the regi- ment, and left Concord and joined the Fifth. George W. Russell was wounded May 6, 1864, at the Wilderness, and was mustered out July 17, 1865. Ephraim Rowe, Jr., was wounded at the en- gagement at Bull Run, August 29, 1862, and discharged for dis- ability in November following. All the men who were residents here were excellent soldiers, who were a credit to the regiment and an honor to the town.
Lieut. Moses P. Bemis was of kin to Capt. Henry Bemis, the pioneer, who kept tavern at North Littleton before the beginning of the last century. His career as a soldier was of the most honorable character. He enlisted in November, 1861; was taken prisoner at the second battle of Bull Run; released with others of the regiment captured at the same time, in December following; was promoted Sergeant in 1863; re-enlisted in Jan- uary, 1864; was wounded at the mine explosion, Petersburg, and appointed Second Lieutenant, and mustered out with the regiment in July, 1865. Few men in the regiment saw more service than Lieutenant Bemis, and none had a record that surpassed his for good soldiership. His promotions were rewards of merit. They were reached slowly after many months of service, and were not the results of the industrious importunities of friends.
Samuel Graves Goodwin was a son of Samuel and Martha (Nurse) Goodwin, and a grandson of Jonas Nurse, who made the first settlement on Fitch Hill and there opened the first tavern in town on the road between Haverhill and Lancaster. Captain Goodwin was born at the homestead on Mann's Hill, June 2, 1835. He was a man of peculiar physical appearance, under medium height, broad-shouldered and deep-chested, and after he retired from the army weighing upwards of four hundred pounds. His muscles were developed until they were like steel, and the grip of his hand was like that of a vise. His mighty strength was sup- plemented by a courage that knew not fear ; he was in fact a born figliter and, while in civil life never seeking a personal encounter, never shirked one or came off second best from the encounter. While yet under age he went to New York City, where he was employed by the Fitch Brothers, driving an ice cart, and then by the Fairbanks Scale Company on their delivery wagon. He joined the Volunteer Fire Department in that city, and was con- sidered among its most valuable members. He was always ready for an emergency, and his bravery and strength enabled him to
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accomplish feats that most men would not have undertaken. Stories of his encounters among the rough frequenters of the slums of the city are still current, but these occurred in quarters where his prowess was unknown, and after one exhibition of its might he was ever after treated with the consideration due the conqueror.
He was among the first to enlist, having joined Company H, Eleventh Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry (Ellsworth's, or Fire Zouaves) on the 20th of April, 1861, and was present at the affair in which Colonel Ellsworth lost his life, and at the first battle of Bull Run, in which he distinguished himself for fighting qualities, if not for discipline. Early in August, 1861, he re- turned home. While here he was active in securing men for the service, and barely missed joining the Fifth Regiment, being but a few days too late for that purpose. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant and assigned to Company B in the Sixth Regiment, then going into camp at Keene. The regiment started for the front on the 20th of December, and soon after joined Burnside's expedition for Hatteras Inlet. The regiment subsequently cam- paigned with the Army of the Potomac in Kentucky, and again with the army under Grant and Meade in the campaign that ter- minated at Appomattox Court House in the spring of 1865.
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