USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Washington > History of Washington, New Hampshire, from the first settlement to the present time, 1768-1886 > Part 14
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During the progress of the fight Lieutenant Wilson was sent to the left of the battle line, with twenty-one of his men, to prevent the enemy crossing a ford. The fight lasted from daylight until nearly dark, when General New- ton was obliged to retreat. Wilson had been ordered to hold the ford at all hazards, and an orderly, sent by Gen- eral Newton to him with orders to withdraw and join the retreating column, having been killed in conveying the message, he was left, along with his few remaining men, and knew not what to do.
General Newton had withdrawn in the night to a posi- tion twenty miles in the rear, leaving Wilson with his
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handful of men still on the field of battle. Morning broke and Wilson took in the situation by intuition, and then in- dependently commenced his own retreat toward Newton's forces. The enemy, largely outnumbering him, followed. Then commenced one of the most stubborn little fights of the war. The line of retreat was through a country cov- ered with large cypress and other trees, no "opens" or roads intervening. With great skill Wilson handled his men so as to ambush his pursuers. A staggering volley from unsus- pected cover enabled him to again move to the rear, and these tactics, at the end of four hours, placed him seven miles from his starting point of the morning.
Wilson being the only white man in the party was singled out by the enemy's sharpshooters as the man of all others whom they would kill, and thus end the fight. Four bullets went through his clothing, but he escaped without a scratch.
Lieutenant Scott, with a full company, was his pursuer. At the end of the seven miles fight, Captain Gwinn, with a company of confederate cavalry, hearing the firing, formed in line in his rear, blockading his further retirement and forcing him to surrender. Lieutenant Scott swore he would shoot him and attempted to do so, but Captain Gwinn put him in his place by threatening his arrest, and telling him no one but a coward would shoot an unarmed prisoner and as brave a man as Wilson had proved him- self to be.
Scott paid Wilson the compliment of saying that, had General Newton fought with Wilson's stubbornness, he would have won the victory and gained Tallahassee.
It is a privilege to say here that Wilson's colored sol- diers, unknown though they are, behaved with the great- est gallantry, obeying every order given them with the bravery of veterans. This brief mention is probably all they will ever get, though fully deserving a bright page somewhere.
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The squad, now prisoners of war, was marched to New- port, thence to Tallahassee, where Wilson was thrust into jail. He remained there nine days, and from thence was taken to Columbus, Georgia, where he spent another week's incarceration. He was next taken to Anderson- ville, a prison more famous for its terrors than any other in history, not excepting the "Black Hole" of Calcutta. But the war was now drawing to a close, and after a stay of one month, Wilson, with three thousand three hundred others, was marched out for exchange, their destination being Jacksonville, Florida. This was the last detach- ment that ever leit nelle gates, thirty-five com- rades only remaining behind to die, unable to be moved.
Two weeks were spent in marching and stopping, when news of the surrender of Lee and the assassination of President Lincoln reached the officers in command of the guards. The prisoners were at once abandoned and left to find their way to Jacksonville as best they might. Without direction or supplies, in a country made barren by the march of armies, these men suffered untold mis- eries of hunger and fatigue, reaching Jacksonville, mere starved and ragged wrecks of humanity. Stopping here a few days, Wilson was then shipped to. Annapolis, Mary- land, and went into camp of paroled prisoners. A stay of four weeks was made here, when he was mustered out by an order from General Grant to discharge all officers away from their commands. There ended the service of a soldier who in all his varied experiences bore himself with credit to himself and honor to his town.
Hiram F. and Frank A. Barney, though enlisting at Nashua, were natives of Washington, and ought to be briefly mentioned in these memoirs. Both were members of company A of the 8th regiment, and both served cred- itably. The first was a corporal, but served largely on de- tached service, being considered a very valuable man in the commissary department, where his untiring industry
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and sterling integrity gained him an enviable reputa- tion.
By the accidental discharge of a musket at Donnellson- ville, Louisiana, in the summer of 1863, he lost a leg, and was discharged, September 27, of the same year.
Frank A., the younger brother, though a mere boy at enlistment, went through all the hardships of numerous campaigns in that deadly climate, and was finally mustered out January 18, 1865.
I cannot close this hasty sketch without paying a brief tribute to three members of the "Washington Squad" who enlisted from the town of Deering, but who, I think, were natives of Washington,-Samuel - , J. Harvey, and John W. Crane, the latter now a resident of Washington. There were no better soldiers than each of these. Samuel died of disease contracted by his hard service in Louisi- ana's jungles, and J. Harvey was drowned at Natchez, Mississippi, July 27, 1865, each as clearly a victim of "war's cruel hate" as though they had died charging the cannon's mouth.
This article may be considered too fulsome, but I as- sure the reader that nothing is herein recorded that will not stand as cold hard facts. Lucky is the town that can furnish for the country's defence men like these of whom I have written. Heroes every one ! I am proud to have been associated with them, and this sketch is a labor of love for my comrades, for their duty well performed. To the "Washington Squad" hail and farewell.
CHAPTER XXVII.
TENTH NEW HAMPSHIRE VOLUNTEERS.
BRIEF history of the Ioth New Hampshire vol- unteers seems necessary in order to give a faith- ful record of the men of Washington whose for- tune it was to serve their country in an "Irish Regi- ment."
This regiment was recruited in the summer and early autumn of 1862, and known as the Irish regiment. Al- though the commanding officer and many of his subordi- nates were gallant sons of Erin's Isle, and several of the companies were largely of the same nationality, it is doubt- ful whether there were really more Irishmen in the regi- ment, as a whole, than there were in the 3d or 8th regi- ments. Be that as it may, the roth New Hampshire never faltered in its line of duty, or cast a shadow of reproach upon the good reputation of New Hampshire soldiers, or a stain of dishonor upon New Hampshire men.
The regiment was mustered into the United States ser- vice at Manchester, September 5, 1862, numbering nine hundred and thirty-eight officers and men, commanded by Col. M. T. Donahoe, of Manchester, whose service as cap- tain of company C, in the 3d New Hampshire, had thor- oughly fitted him for the position. The Tenth left camp at Manchester on the morning of September 22, and after a trip interspersed with pleasant incidents and painful ac-
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cidents, reached the national capital on the 25th of the same month.
Worcester, Massachusetts, Jersey City, New Jersey, and the famous Cooper refreshment saloon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were places of much interest to "raw re- cruits," and were conducive of pleasant memories in the weary months that intervened before those who survived retraced their steps through those loyal cities. Before reaching Baltimore, a railway accident resulted in the death of one of our number, and as it was the first death in the regiment, caused a tinge of sadness, more noticeable than it would have been one year later. Our short stay in Baltimore was evidently endured rather than enjoyed by the natives, and a visit to a camp of exchanged prisoners gave us an idea of the realities of war. Our stay here was very brief, however, to the satisfaction of all parties, I presume, and we embarked on a freight train for Washington, D. C. We had proceeded but a short distance before we were overtaken by an engine, which ran with full speed into the rear of our train, crushing several cars and severely injuring several of the men, some of them fatally. The engineer of the colliding train was suspected of wicked intentions, and undoubtedly owed his life to empty mus- kets and cartridge boxes, but was finally allowed to return to Baltimore under arrest. Upon our arrival in Washing- ton, D. C., we were quartered for the night in the gov- ernment barracks. In the morning we were marched in- to the "soldiers' retreat" for breakfast (?). We had not then become accustomed to soldiers' fare, and it is doubt- ful if the men ever saw a more repulsive repast, and I do not believe they ever were hungry enough to have eaten what they saw upon those tables with their eyes open, un- less we except that portion of our number who were so unfortunate as to die in rebel prisons. It was quickly passed by, however, and the stuff left for the next regi- ment.
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The regiment marched from Washington to Camp Chase, on Arlington Heights, where they took their first lessons in pitching tents, and for three days remained on the former home of the illustrious Washington. It was a season of much interest for the raw recruit who had a love for historic grounds and beautiful scenery, though marred by war's desolation, which has since become a vast bivouac of the nation's dead. On the evening of Septem- ber 29, we marched back to Washington and lay upon the sidewalks, no other accommodation being offered us. On the following morning we boarded a train of cars and left for Frederick City, Maryland. Here we saw the scars of the battle of Antietam, the city being filled with the wounded of both armies, and the ground had been made classic by the brave old Barbara Frietchie,
" Who bravest of all in Frederick town, Took up the flag the men hauled down."
October 4, President Lincoln made a flying visit to the town and the regiment formed in line beside the railroad to see him. As he passed us he came out on the platform of his car and bowed gracefully in response to our cheers.
On the evening of the same day we again broke camp and took the cars for Sandy Hook, opposite Harper's Ferry, where we arrived in the night, and lay down on the ground upon a hillside so steep that many of us slid down the hill several yards from our equipments before day- light. In the morning we ascended Maryland Heights, in view of scenery which Jefferson said was worth a journey across the Atlantic to behold, and which a Washington boy wrote home, made Lovell's Mountain look like a corn- hill. Harper's Ferry, burned and blackened by two sieges, wrecks of cars and steamboats strewn along the river banks, long trains of cars crossing and recrossing a frail bridge hastily thrown across blackened piers, formed a never-to-be-forgotten picture, set in the sublime
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gorge of Blue Ridge, and the roaring torrents of the Potomac and Shenandoah, which seemed to unite almost beneath our feet. Two days were allowed for the enjoy- ment of this scenery, when we moved over the mountain and camped in Pleasant Valley, Maryland, where we were fairly incorporated with the Army of the Potomac, being assigned to the Ist brigade, 3d division, 9th army corps.
The 9th, 89th, and 103d New York regiments, with our own, formed the brigade. A few days at this place were spent in drill and in many incidents of undoubted interest, but space forbids in this chapter a complete enumeration. On the 28th of October the Army of the Potomac began to move. The 9th army corps crossed the mountain, marched through Knoxville and crossed the Potomac at Berlin, and marched to Lovettsville, where they established a reputa- tion for foraging which they never suffered to grow dim. On, on, to Wheatland, and on Sunday, November 5, it marched to Phillemont. On this day's march we passed through a small town where the chivalry were holding public worship. We endeavored to assist them by sing- ing "John Brown's Body," and although they may not have appreciated the text of our song, it was rendered with a devotion they must have admired. Thence on each day, through Upperville, Rectortown, and on the 9th reached Goskin's Mills, where a snow storm occurred. There we drove a rebel regiment out of their camp so hastily that they left us their hoe-cake and corn dodgers on their camp fires.
A halt of nearly a week was made at this place. Gen- eral Mcclellan was relieved, and our corps commander, Gen. A. E. Burnside, succeeded him in command.
October 15, General Early attempted to capture our wagon team ; the Tenth was ordered to support a battery, the fight lasting half an hour. Some of the battery were killed but we escaped injury. The march was continued and Warrenton Junction reached. The next day's march
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to Bealton was very severe, being led ten miles out of our course, and some of the men dropped dead from exhaust- ion. On the 17th we reached Elk Run, and on the 18th, Hartwood church, where, in a cold drenching rain, the Tenth went on picket some three and a half miles from camp. On the morning of the 19th, we retraced our steps, joined the brigade, and by the hardest march of all, we reached Falmouth, over almost impassable roads, and passed a most disagreeable night in the mud and water, which scarcely admitted of standing, much less of lying down.
Constant drill occupied the next three weeks, but on the 10th of December, eighty rounds of ammunition were issued to each man, which in view of the rebel fortifica- tions which had sprung up on the opposite height, had a significant meaning. On the morning of the 11th, three hundred guns began their ceaseless thunder on the city of Fredericksburg. Bridges were laid and troops began to cross. It was dark, when, preceded by only one brigade, the Tenth went over and formed line of battle in the streets of Fredericksburg. All day Friday, December 12, a brisk interchange of shots was kept up. At daylight on the morning of the 13th, Colonel Donahoe took the regiment to the front, where we were thrown forward as skirmishers under cover of a dense fog. At eight o'clock the fog rose, revealing the close proximity of the hostile forces, and we were opened upon by a hot musketry fire, to which we promptly replied, and opened the ball on that part of the line. With the advance of the Tenth the assaulting column advanced on Mary's Height. Regiment after regi- ment of brave men rushed into a vortex of fire, but were forced back or left stretched upon useless graves before an impregnable position. The Tenth held its position, and pre- vented the enemy from flanking the assaulting column. Just before dark the 1st brigade is ordered to make a last charge, and the 10th New Hampshire takes its position at
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the right of the line. We advance over ground where all day long we have witnessed the slaughter of our comrades. The line is formed as darkness and the smoke of battle settle upon us. Orders are given in subdued tones. We fully realize our position. Not a man falters ; up we go over a steep bank and form successively in line of battle. The rebel batteries belch forth fire and death with re- newed vigor. We come to a fence and quickly cross it. Our feet splash in human gore-yes, in loyal blood. We struggle through a ditch and scramble upon solid ground. Bullets zip through our ranks and over our heads ; shriek- ing shells and hissing grape sing their death song. We come to a heap of dead and wounded men ; my right hand man and myself make a detour to the left to pass them ; we take a few steps in that direction, when he breaks from me to pass on the other side ; it is a fatal mistake; his lifeless body is added to the pile we leave upon the field and is recognized by the dimly burning lanterns of the burial party. But on we go in darkness until the guns seem to flash in our very faces. Regiment mingles with regiment in confusion, and we are unable to distin- guish friend from foe, and we are forced to retire. Dark- ness had saved us from the terrible slaughter of the day which had strewn the field with our dead comrades, and we realize our worst fears,-Fredericksburg is a rebel vic- tory. Yet in this terrible experience we lost but three officers and fifty men in killed and wounded, and under cover of darkness we recrossed the river on the evening of the 15th, and retraced our steps to our old camp ground. From this time until the 9th of February we are occupied with drill, picket duty on the Rappahannock, and lugging wood to keep ourselves from freezing to death. On that date we proceeded by rail to Aquia Creek, and thence by steamer Portsmouth and Propeller Planet (company H on the latter) down the Potomac and Ches- apeake Bay to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, thence up the
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Hampton Roads to Newport News. The change was a most agreeable one. Comfortable barracks took the place of our shelter tents, and the dry, sandy soil was a welcome change from the plastic mud of the Rappahannock shore. Wood could be drawn with mule teams, thereby enabling the company cooks to properly prepare the government rations. While here, company H, to which the Washing- ton boys fortunately belonged, were detailed as body guards at the headquarters of Gen. W. F. Smith, com- monly known as "Baldy Smith." While engaged in this agreeable duty, privates Hoyt and Mellen were employed in tinkering up the quarters which stood upon the banks of the river, near the ever-to-be-remembered scene of conflict between the Monitor and the Merrimack, includ- ing the destruction of the Congress and Cumberland, the top-mast of the ill-fated Congress being in full view of our quarters. A solid eleven-inch shot from the Mer- rimack passed entirely through the house, barely to the left of the chimney, leaving wounds which we failed to heal without a scar.
On the 25th of February, there was a grand review of the corps by Maj .- Gen. John A. Dix, one of New Hamp- shire's noblest sons, in which the 10th New Hampshire was conspicuous for its military bearing, and company H for its gentlemanly conduct and soldierly bearing of its members at the corps' headquarters. March 14, the regi- ment left for Suffolk, Virginia. Two days later, General Smith was assigned to a command in the Army of the Tennessee, and company H rejoined the regiment at Suf- folk. The day after our arrival, we assisted in the burial service of Surgeon Hanwood, who died very suddenly, having by his uniform kindness endeared himself to all.
Early in April, General Longstreet threatened to cap- ture Suffolk, and the Tenth was busily engaged with all the incidents of garrison duty, and for eighteen days were under an almost constant fire. Their labors were inces-
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sant ; sleep and rest were very limited. On the 19th, a volunteer force from the regiment went on an expedition down the Nansemond river, capturing a fort, guns and am- munition, etc., in which the Washington boys acquitted themselves with honor to their regiment and their town.
About this time Longstreet's forces were withdrawn to assist General Lee on the Rappahannock, and on the 13th of May, the Tenth broke camp and moved to Bower's Hill, Suffolk being abandoned by both armies. The Tenth was employed upon a line of work which had been sur- veyed from the east to the west branch of the Elizabeth river for the defense of Portsmouth. While here the regiment was sent on a raid to sever Lee's connection with Richmond, but after a severe and almost fruitless march of twenty-one days, returned to camp, where they found everything in good order, and deemed it a pause of rest. The march had been severe and without the glorious recompense of victory. After a few days' rest, work was resumed on the fortifications with great vigor. On the 20th of July, the regiment was reviewed by Gen. J. G. Foster, who was well pleased with the ap- pearance of the troops from his native state. July 30, we moved camp to Julian's Creek, or Camp Fort Reno, and did picket on all the important outposts of the depart- ment. On the 21st of August we received 166 recruits, most of them substitutes for better men we hope, and on the 4th of October, 169 more. They gave us no little an- noyance, and many of them deserted, for the benefit of the regiment. It is but justice to say, however, that some of them became excellent soldiers, John Frazer, a former but now deceased townsman being one of them.
On the last day of February, 1864, while the regiment was being mustered for pay, an orderly came rushing into camp announcing the presence of a rebel foraging party within a few miles of our camp. The regiment made a hasty march to Deep Creek, four miles distant, and there
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halted, spending the night, or a part of it, in a deserted earthwork commanding the bridge across the creek. A fearful rain was falling, and before morning all, or nearly all, left the fort and found protection from the storm in a house, said to belong to a major in the rebel army. Sleep was out of the question, and a part of the men up stairs amused themselves by tearing up the floor and kicking the lath and plaster on to the heads of those below, while we in the lower room retaliated by tearing out the stairway so quietly that those in the upper rooms were made prisoners in their own quarters. At break of day we learned that the "Johnnies" had made an attack on an outpost, and all men who were not feeling equal to.a rapid march were told to remain where they were. But few remained, and they were really unable to march rap- idly. About one hundred of us started in hot pursuit and traversed eight measured miles in one hour and fifteen minutes, our road being the tow path of a canal, the oppo- site side being an impassable swamp, arriving in season to render efficient aid to our comrades of the 9th New Jersey, who were retreating before the "Johnnies." Lieutenant Russell, taking an overcoat, waved it high and threw it flat upon the ground, a signal for "blue coats down," which was instantly understood, and as the blue coats dropped down we sent a volley after the retreating "rebs." They, however, bayonetted one of the Jersey boys and stripped his clothing from him, mounted their horses and were soon out of our reach. Destroying a bridge behind them they made good their escape. We, however, "borrowed" the floor from a neighboring barn, replaced the bridge, and succeeded in capturing a mule team laden with corn, and returned to camp after an ab- sence of three days of incessant marching, almost without sleep or food. On the 19th of March, the regiment left their camp at Julian's Creek, which had become almost a home to them, having been there since the 30th of July,
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and moved to Great Bridge, a distance of fifteen miles, and on the 19th of April moved from there to Yorktown and camped on or near ground made- historic by the sur- render of Cornwallis to the American army and its French ally under General Washington and Count de Ro- chambeau, eighty-three years before. On the 5th of May, the 10th and 13th New Hampshire embarked on steamers and moved down the York and up the James river to Bermuda Hundred, and the Tenth led the advance toward the Walthal railroad. On the 7th of May we encountered the enemy in the morning, and during the day lost several men on the skirmish line. On the 9th another advance was made, the enemy retreating before us.
After dark, while enjoying a brief rest, the regiment was aroused by a fierce yell and a volley of musketry. The boys were instantly on their feet, and guided by the flash of the enemy's guns, poured volley after volley into the ranks of the retreating foe, who broke and fled. But few were wounded, among them Lieut. John A. Eaton, a New- bury boy, but a former student of Tubbs Union Academy. While reforming his company he had his leg shattered by a musket ball, and refusing to submit to amputation, died from his wound, one of the bravest soldiers New Hamp- shire gave the nation. On the 12th of the month, an ad- vance was made toward Richmond; the rebel line, being forced back two miles, made a stand. An advance was or- dered, and the regiment plunged into a tangled swamp by the "right of companies to the front." They reach the skirmish line and reform ; the order to charge is given by General Burnham in these words : "Boom ahead and sock 'em, boys,"-effective if not military. With a clear, ring: ing cry they spring forward, deliver a volley, and with their bayonets scatter the enemy like chaff. In this action Moses D. Proctor received a mortal wound from which he died five days later, at Hampton, Virginia. Company H lost a brave and true soldier, and Washington an upright
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