USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume IV > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
An officer was shot in the rear of the battery and a sharp- shooter was sent to fix the rebel who was shooting in that direction. "I was much amused at his manner of going to work. He took off his cap and putting it on his ramrod showed it over the earthwork. Of course Johnnie Reb let go at it, thinking to kill the careless man under it. His bullet struck into the bank, and instantly our sharpshooter sprang over the bank and run the ramrod down the hole make by the Johnnie's ball, then lying on his back and sighting along the ramrod he instantly perceived from the direction that his game was in the top of a thick, bushy elm tree, about one hundred yards in front. It was then the work of less than a second to aim his long tele- scope rifle at that tree, and crack she went. Down tumbled Mr. Johnnie like a great crow out of his nest and we had no more trouble from that source."
Here is the way it looked at Cemetery Ridge, in the battle of Gettysburg. "It was a dreadfully hot spot; on the top of a rise of ground not more than three hundred yards from the enemy's line, which reached round us on three sides, they could concentrate their fire upon our position, and the great wonder is, as we look back upon it, that they did not knock us all to pieces. The ground was strewn with broken carriages, dead horses and dead and dying men,-poor fellows who had faithfully served the guns of their own battery and were now left to take their chances in the rear of our guns. And to crown all and make the picture still more hideous, every few minutes a shell from the enemy would come tearing through the ground and knocking down the headstones would scatter
50
NEW HAMPSHIRE
the broken stone, the sand, earth, and bones of the deceased among the living, adding stench, horror and sacrilege to the rest of the awful scene."
Here is an illustration of ruse de guerre: "Gen. Howard sent a staff officer with orders that all the batteries should load their guns, leave three or four rounds of ammunition on the ground close to the guns, and then the men were, upon a given signal, to leave their guns and run back under cover of the hill and the woods, so as to give the impression that we were retreating. This was done, and the ruse worked charmingly. Lee, supposing we were preparing to evacuate our position, sent a heavy column across the plain to attack our left center. When they had got fairly started our expected signal was given and rushing back to our guns we gave them as warm a reception as we could; but when they still kept on, closing up the great gaps in their column, and the order was shouted from battery to battery, 'Load with canister,' then came a slaughter that was terrific. Hundreds fell, and hundreds more, including Gen. Archer's whole brigade, threw down their guns, and leaping the low stone wall in front of our infantry line at the foot of Cemetery Hill, they poured on through our lines as prisoners of war, saying it was much safer and easier to come our way than to attempt to pass back over that open field under such a fire."
Troops then fought in the open, not sheltered in dugouts. The artillery did its work at close range, not at a distance of five, ten, or more miles. The charge after charge with the bayonet was made by men shoulder to shoulder, not deployed in Indian fashion. It was not an uncommon thing for a regi- ment to lose half or more of its men in a few hours, sometimes in twenty minutes. Is war growing more deadly, or has mili- tary science lessened the slaughter?
In April, 1863, a company of Heavy Artillery was raised to garrison Fort Constitution, in Portsmouth harbor, and Charles H. Long was its Captain, who had been Lieutenant- Colonel of the seventeenth. In August of the same year another company was raised to garrison Fort McClary, in Kittery, com- manded by Captain Ira McL. Barton, formerly a Captain in the fifth regiment. These companies remained at their posts till May, 1864, building meanwhile barracks and a hospital. Then
51
A HISTORY
they went to Washington and were assigned for duty in the defense of that city. In the latter part of 1864 Captain Barton returned to New Hampshire and raised four more companies, and recruits offered themselves in such numbers that soon there was a whole regiment of Heavy Artillery, consisting of eleven companies. Captain Long was commissioned Colonel, and Cap- tain Barton Lieutenant-Colonel. The remainder of the Light Battery formed the twelfth company, though it acted somewhat independently of this regiment, which only did guard duty in forts and was not engaged in any battles. The end of the re- bellion was drawing nigh. The Heavy Artillery was mustered out June 15, 1865, and arrived at Concord four days later.
New Hampshire furnished three companies of Sharpshoot- ers, which formed part of Colonel Berdan's First and Second Regiments of United States Sharpshooters and continued in service throughout the war. Company E took part in thirty battles and skirmishes, including most of those fought in Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania. It was commanded by Captain Amos B. Jones, who was promoted to Major of the Second United States Sharpshooters. It was afterwards commanded by Cap- tain William P. Austin, who was discharged on account of wounds, May 16, 1863, and by Captain William G. Andrews, who was also wounded but remained to be mustered out with his company. Both enlisted as lieutenants. Companies F and G contained ninety-five men and three officers each and entered service in November and December, 1861. Company F was commanded by Captain Henry M. Caldwell of Dunbarton, who died July 12, 1862; by Edward T. Rowell of Concord, who was promoted to Major, July 1, 1864; by Samuel F. Murray of Auburn, who was honorably discharged December 29, 1864; and by Asel B. Griggs of Orford, who was transferred to Com- pany K Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers, December 23, 1864. Company G was commanded by Captain William D. McPherson of Concord and Captain Howard P. Smith of Hudson. These companies served in all the principal engagements of the army of the Potomac, including Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and the battles of the Wilderness. Some were mustered out in November and December, 1864, but the major- ity re-enlisted and were consolidated into Company K of the Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers. All these sharpshooters
52
NEW HAMPSHIRE
rendered good service as skirmishers, on picket duty, and in battle, and are credited with having killed, disabled, and cap- tured more rebels than any other arm of the United States service, a distinction that sets the thoughtful questioning. It is sad that anyone's chief duty should be to shoot as many of the enemy as possible, but when a righteous war demands it, the duty must be fulfilled.
New Hampshire furnished the Second Brigade Band of the Tenth Army Corps. It contained at different times twenty- three musicians and was led by Gustavus W. Ingalls as Band Master. It served as a post band at Hilton Head, South Caro- lina. It was organized February 10, 1863, and remained in serv- ice till July 4, 1864. It played inside Fort Sumter and in Charleston after the evacuation.
A few other organizations did garrison duty. The Strafford Guards, of the State Militia, were mustered into United States service for sixty days, to guard Fort Constitution at New Cas- tle. This company was commanded by Captain Israel B. Little- field of Dover. The National Guards, commanded by Captain James O. Chandler of Manchester, rendered similar service at the same place. There were about eighty in each company. The Martin Guards, commanded by Captain George E. Hough- ton of Manchester, served ninety days at Fort Constitution, having about the same number of men. The Lafayette Artil- lery, commanded by Captain John H. Tarbell of Lyndeborough was composed of men largely from that and adjacent towns. They did garrison duty at Fort Constitution for ninety days in 1864. An unattached company of volunteers was stationed at Fort Constitution in 1862, many of whom were transferred to Company E of the Ninth New Hampshire regiment.
A company of Dartmouth Cavalry was organized toward the end of the war, composed of thirty-five students from Dart- mouth, twenty-three from Norwich University, four each from Bowdoin and Union colleges, while Williams and Amherst con- tributed one each, and twenty-seven were non-college men. The governors of New Hampshire and Massachusetts refused to accept the company, but Governor Sprague of Rhode Island accepted their offer, and they did duty in the army of the Potomac, for three months, the time for which they enlisted.
In the United States Marine Corps were 366 men from New
53
A HISTORY
Hampshire. The State also had 2122 men enrolled in the regi- ments of other States. The United States Navy had 3160 men from the Granite State, of whom 300 were officers. Of the men in the navy one hundred and twenty went from Dover and two hundred and forty-eight from Portsmouth.
The total of soldiers in New Hampshire organizations was 32,486, of whom 1,934 were killed or died of wounds. The total deaths from battle and disease were 4840. There died in rebel prisons 242. The deserters numbered 4,260, most of whom had been paid big bounties as substitutes, and many of whom found protracted residence in Canada, whence some of them had come. Two hundred deserters voluntarily returned or were captured, and thirteen were executed for desertion, with- out any apparent effect upon the remainder. The aggregate of all men accredited to New Hampshire in army and navy and State organizations that saw service was 38,943, or more than one out of ten of its population at that time.
Chapter IV NATIVE SONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE CIVIL WAR
Chapter IV
NATIVE SONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THE CIVIL WAR
Gen. Benjamin F. Butler-Gen. Christopher C. Andrews-Gen. John G. Foster-Gen Fitz-John Porter-Gen. John B. Sanborn-Gen. John D. Webster-Col. Franklin F. Flint-Gen. Everell F. Dutton-Gen. Benja- min F. Kelley-Col. Edward E. Cross-Col. Fletcher Webster-Col. Thornton F. Brodhead-Gen. Byron Mccutcheon-Major Edgar A. Kimball-Gen. Reuben D. Mussey-Major Henry L. Patten-Col. Jesse H. Gove-Col. Charles E. Blunt-Gen. Richard N. Batchelder-Gen. George W. Gile-Commander Tunis A. M. Craven-Rear Admiral George E. Belknap-Rear Admiral George H. Wadleigh-Commodore John G. Walker-Commodore George H. Perkins-Rear Admiral Enoch G. Parrott-Capt. James S. Thornton-Commodore Charles W. Picker- ing-Surgeon John M. Brown-Surgeon Luther V. Bell-Surgeon Alpheus B. Crosby-Surgeon George F. French.
I N addition to the numbers mentioned in previous chapters many sons of the Granite State, scattered throughout the northern States, enlisted in other regiments. Some of them rose to prominence. Here can be sketched briefly only a few who rendered distinguished service.
General Benjamin Franklin Butler made his national repu- tation as a military commander rather than as a lawyer and politician, though in the courts of law he was keen, aggressive and successful, and the State of Massachusetts had to reckon with him in politics for many years. He was born in Deerfield, November 5, 1818. His father died when he was quite young, and his mother with her two children moved to Lowell, Mass. Here he fitted for college and entered Waterville, now Colby College, Maine, graduating in 1838. The practice of law 'was exactly suited to his natural abilities, and an office at Lowell and another at Boston, with a partner in each, kept him and them busy. In politics he ranked with the Democrats till the firing upon Fort Sumter. He was a member of the national Democratic convention at Charleston, South Carolina, which could not agree on a presidential candidate after fifty-seven
57
58
NEW HAMPSHIRE
ballotings. A portion withdrew and at Baltimore nominated Stephen A. Douglas for President of the United States, and Mr. Butler was a member of that convention. At the beginning of the Civil War he was acting as brigadier-general of militia in Massachusetts and in that office was sent by Governor Andrews to Baltimore with troops. The city was kept quiet. Then he was moved on to Fortress Munroe as a Major General. His refusal to return negroes to their southern masters because they were "contraband of war" made him and the phrase famous throughout the North. The expedition to Hatteras Inlet was commanded by him, in which Forts Hatteras and Clarke were captured. Later he was sent to New Orleans as commander of the fifteen thousand men that constituted the land forces. As governor of that city he was firm, stern, and in southern esti- mation atrocious. Jefferson Davis proclaimed him an outlaw. This was because he would not tolerate insults offered to northern soldiers by women of New Orleans and issued an order concerning them that was threatening and might well be considered insulting in turn. Here cotton was contraband of war, and the merchants were incensed because they were not allowed to ship cotton bales to England. It is said that they offered him increasing sums of money for such a privilege, till at last he ordered them out of his presence, because they were getting too near his price. But with some faults perhaps he seemed to be the man for his place, for New Orleans then needed a firm and determined governor. Later he conducted the unsuccessful expedition against Fort Fisher. After the war he was elected a member of Congress from Massachusetts as a Republican and sought to be the candidate of that party for the governorship of the State. In this he failed, but finally the Democrats seated him in the gubernatorial chair, in 1882, and again he made himself admired and hated for investigating and reforming the eleemosynary institutions of Massachusetts. He died in Washington, D. C., January II, 1893. His loyalty and ability never were questioned. Evildoers, North and South, never had any friendship for him. He was an upholder of law and order, and that is right, when the law is what it ought to be. Otherwise, change it,-peaceably if you can,-forcibly if you must. Constitutional law favored slavery in the South; the law had to be changed by force of arms.
59
A HISTORY
Christopher Columbus Andrews was born in Hillsborough, October 27, 1829. After studying at Francestown Academy and teaching a district school he pursued the study of law at Har- vard and was admitted to the bar in 1850. Boston was his place of residence for a short time, whence he went to Kansas. Then he served in the Treasury Department at Washington and settled in the practice of law at St. Cloud, Minnesota, in 1857. He was correspondent for several Boston papers and edited the Minnesota Union. When the Civil War began he enlisted as Captain in the Third Minnesota regiment and was advanced to the office of Colonel in 1863, being present at the capture of Vicksburg and of Little Rock. In the following year he was promoted to Brigadier-General, and March 9, 1865, was brevetted Major-General. His command lay in Alabama and in Texas. In 1869 he was appointed Minister to Norway and Sweden, in which post he continued eight years and a half. In 1882 he was appointed by President Arthur Consul General to Brazil and was recalled by President Cleveland in 1885. Later he was chief forest-fire warden of Minnesota. He was author of several military and legal works and contributed frequent articles to periodicals.
Gen. John Gray Foster was born at Whitefield, May 27, 1823. He graduated at West Point in 1846 and served in the Mexican War, being wounded severely at Molino del Rey and brevetted Captain of Artillery at the close of the war. In 1854 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Engineering at West Point. He had charge of the repairing of Fort Moultrie and building of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor and was second in command at Fort Sumter when it was bombarded, April 14, 1861. For this service he was made brevet Major of Engineers and Brigadier-General of Volunteers. He accompanied the Burnside expedition into North Carolina, participated in the battle of Roanoke Island and in the capture of Newbern, where two thousand rebels were surrendered, with batteries and de- fences. He was left in command of the Department of North Carolina and defeated General Hill in his attack on Washington, N. C., in April, 1863. He commanded a little later in the Depart- ment of Ohio and then in the Department of the South. In March, 1865, he was promoted Major of Engineers and brevet Major-General in the regular army. He conducted important
60
NEW HAMPSHIRE
submarine operation in Boston and Portsmouth harbors. His professional abilities were manifest in whatever position he was placed and his whole life was an honor to the place of his birth. He died at Nashua, September 2, 1874.
Gen. Fitz-John Porter was born in Portsmouth, in 1822, son of Captain John Porter of the United States Navy. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, and graduated at West Point in 1845. He served throughout the Mexican War and was brevetted Captain and Major for gallant and meritorious conduct. After that war he was on duty at West Point as Adjutant and Instructor till 1855. Then he became chief of staff of General Johnston in the Utah campaign for suppression of the Mormon rebellion. In the autumn of 1860 he was at army headquarters in New York City as Assistant Inspector-General. He helped to organize the three months volunteers of Pennsyl- vania, serving on the staff of General Patterson and later of General Banks. He was promoted to be Colonel of the 15th United States Infantry and Brigadier-General of volunteers in 1861. Later he commanded a division in the Peninsula cam- paign. After the surrender of Yorktown he had command of the Fifth Corps and was successful in several engagements, par- ticularly at Gaines's Mill and Malvern Hill. This campaign won him promotion to be Major General of volunteers and Brevet Brigadier-General in the regular army. He served under General Pope in the second battle of Bull Run and subsequently under General George B. McClellan, commanding a corps of twenty thousand men, which was held in reserve at the battle of Antietam. On the 12th of November, 1862, he was relieved of his command and was soon after placed under arrest for trial by court-martial on charges made by General Pope. He was charged with disobedience to orders at the battle of Bull Run and for failure to co-operate. The court-martial found him guilty of the charges preferred, and he was dismissed from the service January 27, 1863, disqualified from ever holding any office, civil or military. Then began an endeavor, lasting through twenty-five years, to vindicate and reinstate him. The board of examination of old and new evidences reported an absolute vindication. General Grant expressed himself as fully convinced that injustice had been done General Porter and that it would have been better for the country and would have
J. Porter
61
A HISTORY
shortened the war, if Porter's advice and plans had been fol- lowed. In 1886 Congress passed a bill, restoring his name to the army rolls and he was placed upon the retired list, without allowing him pay for the years lost. The attempt to make him the scapegoat for the defeat of Pope's army was historically a failure. General Porter was for many years one of the most prominent citizens of New York City, a gentleman of culture, a soldier of marked ability, a patriot of persistent type. An equestrian statue of him adorns the city of his birth.
John Benjamin Sanborn was born in Epsom, December 5, 1826. He was educated at Dartmouth College, admitted to the bar in 1854 and settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. He became Adjutant-General of the State in 1858 and was Quartermaster- General at the beginning of the Civil War, in which office he equipped and sent to the front the first five regiments from Minnesota, besides a regiment of cavalry and two batteries. In 1861 he was commissioned Colonel of the 4th Minnesota regi- ment, and was promoted to be Brigadier-General of Volunteers. He fought in the campaign under General Grant that led to the fall of Vicksburg. Then he was made commander of the De- partment of Southwest Missouri and defeated the rebel General Price in several engagements. After the war he led a campaign against the Indians and quieted them. He died in St. Paul, Minn., May 16, 1904.
John Dana Webster was born at Hampton, August 25, 1811, and died in Chicago, Ill., March 12, 1876. He was son of the Rev. Josiah Webster of Hampton. After graduating at Dart- mouth College in 1832 he read law and became a clerk in the engineer and war offices in Washington. In 1838 he entered the army as second lieutenant of topographical engineers, served throughout the Mexican War and was promoted Lieutenant and Captain. He resigned his commission in 1854 and entered into business in Chicago. Offering himself for service when the Rebellion broke out he was commissioned Colonel of the First Illinois Artillery, and acting as chief of General Grant's staff was present at the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson and at the battle of Shiloh. He was detailed in October, 1862, to make a survey of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Again he received a military commission, this time as Brigadier-Gen- eral of volunteers, and was military governor of Memphis. Again
62
NEW HAMPSHIRE
he was General Grant's chief of staff in the Vicksburg campaign and he held the same post under General Sherman from 1864 to the end of the war. He was brevetted Major-General of Volunteers, March 13, 1865. Afterward he was assessor of internal revenue for Chicago, 1869-72, assistant United States Treasurer, and collector of revenue.
Franklin Foster Flint was born in Walpole, August 29, 2821. He graduated at West Point in 1841, and served in the Florida War and on the western frontier, as Lieutenant and Captain, taking part in the Utah campaign in 1858. In the Rebellion he was Major in the 16th Infantry, in charge of mili- tary posts and Inspector-General of the Department of Ohio. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1863 and had com- mand of a regiment at Tallahassee, Florida, up to 1868, when he was made Colonel of the 4th Infantry in command of posts in Wyoming and Arkansas. He retired from service in 1882 and died at Highland Park, Illinois, September 13, 1891.
Everell Fletcher Dutton was born in Sullivan county, N. H. At the age of eight he moved with his parents to Sycamore, Illinois. He enlisted as First Lieutenant in the 13th Illinois Infantry and was afterwards Major in the 105th Illinois and promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel. At the end of the war he was made Brigadier-General, by brevet, "for gallant and meri- torious conduct." He later served as county clerk of the su- preme court for the northern division of Illinois; also as presi- dent of the national bank in Sycamore, where he died June 8, 1900.
Gen. Benjamin F. Kelley was born in New Hampton, April 10, 1807. At the age of nineteen he settled in Wheeling, Vir- ginia, and he raised the first Union regiment south of Mason and Dixon's line. He also won the first battle fought, in which he was severely wounded by a ball passing through his breast and lung. This was at Philippi on the third of June, 1861, after a night march of twenty-six miles. He was commissioned Brigadier-General and did active service during the war in his section of the country. At the end of the war he was brevetted Major-General of volunteers. Afterwards he held the offices in succession of collector of internal revenue and examiner of pensions. In 1886 Congress by a special act gave him a pen- sion of one hundred dollars a month, the motion being seconded
63
A HISTORY
by several who had served in the rebel ranks, who spoke of his manly and noble conduct. "General Kelley never struck a foul blow and never failed to put forth his arm-and to put it forth vigorously and promptly-for the protection of defense- less non-combatants." He died in Oakland, Maryland, July, 1891.
Colonel Edward E. Cross won as much fame as any of the men of New Hampshire who fell on the field of honor. He was born in Lancaster, April 22, 1832, son of Hon. Ephraim Cross. With a common school education he entered a printing office at the age of fifteen and remained two years. Then he assisted his father in steamboat-building in Canada and visited the prin- cipal cities in the Dominion. At the age of twenty he went to Cincinnati and was employed as reporter and local editor of the "Times." For two sessions of Congress he was special cor- respondent of that paper in Washington, and wrote letters for the New York Herald and other papers. Some years were spent in company with trappers and buffalo hunters on the western plains, and sketches of adventures and experiences were contributed to the press. He also wrote sketches and poems over the signature, "Richard Everett." While in Ohio he stumped the State in favor of the American party. In 1858 he started for Arizona with a mining company, taking along the first steam engine and the first printing press that ever crossed the Rocky Mountains. The Journey lasted six months and over seventeen hundred miles were traversed. There were some encounters with the Apaches and Mr. Cross had a bloodless duel with an officer. He was sometimes called upon to preside at lynch courts. He led expeditions against the Indians, and during one of these the mining company, with which he was connected, were massacred. Then he went over into Mexico and held a lieutenant's commission in the Mexican Liberal Army, and was given command of a large garrison in El Fuerto. When he heard of the firing on Fort Sumter, he resigned his office and came back to New Hampshire and offered his services to Governor Berry. As its Colonel he organized "the fighting fifth," and they fairly earned the name. Here is the way he described their conduct at Antietam :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.