USA > New Hampshire > History of the Twelfth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 37
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 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
You will render the citizens of Halifax and Pittsylvania counties all the facili- ties in your power. Send an officer from command to administer to them the oath of allegiance. Report direet to Brigadier-General Gregg for orders, and also your action in this case.
In compliance with the order and others in relation to the same subject, Captains E. W. Ricker. A. St. Clair, and D. W. Bohonon were appointed assistant provost marshals, and sent with a small detachment of men to the county seats of Patrick, Pittsylvania, and Henry counties. Lieut. A. W. Bacheler was for a time in control of matters in Fairfax county.
303
New Hampshire Volunteers.
To show what, besides administering oaths of allegiance and protect- ing the citizens from molestation by lawless mobs and predatory bands, these officers had to do and provide for, one of many orders issued either from General Ord or General Gregg appears below :
BY TELEGRAPH FROM LYNCHBURG,
May 29, 1865.
COLONEL BARKER, - Please deliver the following instructions to your provost marshals, and send copies to Patrick and Henry counties.
I am directed by the general commanding to instruct you to occupy some building in your vicinity as a poor-house in which will be placed all old and helpless men and women and helpless children and orphans to whom the desti- tute ration will be issued. You will encourage the keeping together of families, and in case where the helpless have any natural claim upon labors, you will see that the labor of such goes to the support of the holder of the family. When plantations have houses, cabins, or other buildings in which the helpless ean reside, you will induce them to remain.
It is not desired that idleness should be encouraged, and all the able-bodied will be compelled to work for the support of the helpless.
In addition to the destitute rations you can issue a half-ration of sugar and coffee or tea when deemed necessary by the physician.
I am, colonel, very respectfully, JNO. B. MAITLAND, A. A. G.
From the foregoing it will be seen that Danville was an important and a responsible position, and the selection of the few remaining and battle-tried veterans of the "Old Twelfth" to occupy it was distinguish- ingly complimentary both to officers and men. It was placing the regiment in comparatively an isolated situation, - a little independent command, relying upon nothing but itself in wisdom to direct or power to execute, and responsible for everything within its jurisdiction.
This jurisdiction not only included Danville and the county of Pittsyl- vania, but the adjoining counties of Henry, Halifax, and Patrick, in each of which provost headquarters had to be established, and the greatest vigilance exercised to maintain order and protect life and prop- erty. This section of Virginia had been intensely disloyal, so much so that when Davis fled thither, on that eventful afternoon and night of the 2d of April, intending to make a new line of defense of the Dan and Roanoke rivers (to which end work upon the defenses around Danville was being hurriedly performed under his own supervision when Lee surrendered), he was welcomed, as he says, "with an Old Virginia welcome, and her patriotic citizens, with one heart, contributed in every practicable manner to cheer and aid us in the work in which we were engaged."
To be so soon forsaken by him whose fast waning power they were so ready and willing to sustain, and turned over to the guardianship of the
304
History of the Twelfth Regiment
" infamous invaders" of their sacred soil, was adding insult to injury. such as it was very hard at first for them to submit to or endure.
But dangerous diseases require severe remedies, and the bitterest pre- scription to the taste has sometimes the most salutary effect upon sour digestion ; and especially so, as in this case, when there is both preju- dice and pride to embitter the dose, and the condition of the patient is such as to leave no choice of medicines.
There was, of course, an unsettled, chaotic condition of civil and social affairs at this time in all the Southern states where the rebel armies had been able to maintain their pseudo, slave-corner-stone Confederacy : and during this interregnum between the sword and the pen, the bullet and the ballot, the same strong military arm of the government that had crushed all armed resistance to its laws, had, for a while, to assist in protecting and supporting the people amid the broad waste of want, ruin, and desolation that their own mad and rash acts had brought upon them. Everything had been taken from the people to feed their army, so long besieged in Richmond and Petersburg, and thousands of families in the South, when the war ended, had not eaten a satisfactory meal for months. More than this, the white citizens, mostly old men, women, and children, had for a long time been living in constant fear of an upris- ing among their slaves, as they still called and claimed them, notwith- standing President Lincoln's proclamation : and they not only carefully avoided anything being disclosed to the colored people that would in any way tend to encourage or excite them, but purposely misrepresented the facts and deceived them, so far as they could, in relation to the progress of the Union armies southward, and the prospect of their final success against the cause of their masters.
So successful had they been in keeping these people ignorant of the true situation and condition of things, that in some sections, remote from our lines, they did not know of the result of the conflict and their own freedom until they learned it from Federal soldiers that had been sent into those sections to maintain order several weeks after the close of the war. This was found to be true by the experience of the Twelfth boys with the colored people in some sections around Danville.
To preserve order, administer oaths of allegiance to the Government and issue rations to those, white and black, who were in actual want of them, were the three principal duties embraced in Colonel Barker's letter of instructions, when assigned to this command. But acting as commander of the district, there were constantly arising, under the broad applica- tion of his first and most important duties of preserving order, and pro- tecting life and property, new and perplexing questions that required the exercise of sound discretion and keen discrimination to rightly decide. In his military administration of public affairs of a civil nature it was very difficult at times to determine what his duty and authority in the premises might be. But of a practically judicious mind and con-
New Hampshire Volunteers. 30
scientiously devoted to the right. whether the cause of complaint came from friend or foe, he. with the aid and counsel of Major Shack- ford and other officers of his little command, whom he selected as his staff, so wisely managed all matters, coming under his control as to com- mand the confidence and respect of the whole community, as their farewell address will show.
Among the many complaints, requests, inquiries, wants, and griev- ances of the white and colored citizens, the following grave, tragic, and humorous few are given as a fair sample of the whole.
One young ex-master of several negroes, becoming enraged at one of them for daring to tell him that he was no longer his slave and acting accordingly, stabbed him so that he died, under pretense of self-defense, and then reported the fact and gave himself up as a prisoner.
Another wanted to know, if he should not be allowed to control the work and claim the wages of his slaves. so long as they were dependent on him, as he seemed to take for granted, for support, and this while he was asking for Government rations on which to feed his own family.
A " colored gentleman." feeling somewhat honored and dignified by his new political status, as was not surprising, complained of the abusive language of his " young marsa " in calling him " a black nigger any mo'e." He was told that he was right in thinking himself as good as a white man, as long as he behaved as well, and that his . young marsa " would soon have to conform to the new condition of things, and treat him, as was hoped, in a more respectful manner ; and that if he did not he, the complainant, was now his own boss and could leave when he wanted to.
One day a bright mulatto girl, with such a pleasing contrast between the color of her teeth and eyes as would excite the envy of many a lady of higher race and station, presented herself at one of the assistant prov- ost offices, and wanted to know if she could " marry a man and hab childern jess like de white folks dus." She was evidently taking a pro- spective view of matrimonial matters, and used the word " hab" more in a possessive than a procreative sense, fearing that her children might be taken away from her. as in slavery times.
As mutually remindful, another and somewhat similar incident may be related here, where a father of many children - the number now forgot- ten - who had been married two or three times, desired to be informed whether. "under de new ordernation of Marsa Linkon" he would be allowed to take his pick when and where he could find them.
The disposition of the criminal case above referred to, where the inde- pendent freedman was killed by his hot blooded former owner, consisted in giving the latter a formal military introduction to the civil authorities about to assume sway once more in the "Old Dominion."
Colonel Barker no sooner learned of the crime than he ordered the offender under arrest and instituted a Court of Inquiry, the finding of which is here copied from the original record :
20
306
History of the Twelfth Regiment
HD. QRS. U. S. FORCES, DANVILLE, VA., June 5, 1865.
Lieut. R. E. GALE, A. A. A. G.
Pursuant to S. O. No. 26. Hd. Qrs. Danville, Va., Dated June 5, 1865, the commissioners met. The members were all present, and proceeded in an in- formal manner to elicit the facts in the case of Edward I. Carter who was reported to have killed a colored man, named Tom, who lived on his plantation and had formerly been one of his slaves. And the members of this commission are of the opinion that Edward I. Carter who under the influence of liquor did kill one colored man, named Tom, by stabbing him in the breast with a knife without cause or provocation ; and that because of his crime we are of the opin- ion that Edward I. Carter should be placed in confinement to await trial by court.
Members of Commission
N. SHACKFORD, Maj. 12th N. H. V. Q. Q. CARROLL, 20th N. 1. Cavalry. RUFUS E. GALE, Adjt. 12th N. H. I. and A. A. A. G.
Among the sad and sympathetic may be mentioned the case of the old man who was formerly from the North, and claimed that his heart had always been for the old flag, but that he had not dared to acknowledge it before since the war commenced even to his wife who was a southern born " fire eater " of the bitterest type ; that he had lost two or three sons in the rebel army, and one, who had deserted to and fought for the Union side, he had reason to believe was still living, but would never dare re- turn to Virginia again.
Another picture of disconsolation and woe was that of the poor widow woman who had given her husband and two sons, her only children, to the " lost cause," and was left without so much as a servant or a slave to pity and comfort her in her great sorrow. To talk with her with tearless eyes was more complimentary to the tongue than the heart of him who could do it, even if his ears were closed to her sad tale: for she looked too much of the deep and crushing sorrow that she felt.
Many similar instances of bereavement, want, and suffering might be referred to as coming under the observation or within the knowledge of both officers and men of the Twelfth while stationed at Danville, for the whole South was full of them. But especially was this true of Vir- ginia, the great battle-ground of the war, whose soil was a common sepulchre for the many thousands of both armies who fought, fell. and were buried upon her many blood-stained fields.
There were many disputes arising from counter claims to the owner- ship of horses that had been left by both the Union and Confederate cavalry in exchange for better ones in their marches through that section of the State, and others taken home by the disbanded rebel cavalry under the terms of Lee's surrender to Grant, many of the latter bearing the branded letters of U. S.
These disputes not only arose between the citizens, but frequently
307
New Hampshire Volunteers.
between them and Union officers authorized to take possession of " Uncle Sam's " property wherever found. The ex-rebel soldier claimed his by right of capture in battle or within their lines; and the citizen, found having one or more of government horses on his plantation, claimed them because he had been obliged to take them, when worn down, poor, and nearly worthless, in exchange for good and perhaps valuable animals ; and not to be allowed to keep them after he had kept, fed, and recruited until of some use and value to him, seemed indeed an unjustifiable hard- ship. Government took the same view of it, and the citizen claimants were allowed to keep them.
The Twelfth boys at Danville, and in the surrounding counties where some of them were stationed as provost detachments, learned more of southern life, and its every-day forms and practices, than ever before while in the army.
They learned by personal observation how true was the pen picture of Harriet Beecher Stowe, as given to the world within the book lids of " Uncle Tom's Cabin." Yet it was, in reality, only the brighter tints and the lighter shades that they saw, for between slave. life in Virginia, and slave life in the gulf states there was a much greater difference than dis- tance ; and. as naturally inferred, what was true of the relative care and treatment of the slaves was equally true of the contrast between the Christian refinement of the whites in the two sections.
The negroes still remaining upon the plantations were advised, and as a rule inclined themselves, to remain there, and labor, not as they had been accustomed to, for only enough to eat and drink, but for a reason- able compensation in money or for a part interest in the crops. And here again was a question, viz. : Whether the freed men were not entitled to receive from their former masters compensation for all the labor they had performed for them back from the date of their emancipation, January 1, 1863, by virtue of the war ediet of Abraham Lincoln. But this was a Yankee's suggestion, more than the negro's demand; for standing upon the threshold of freedom, with self-dependence as a new and untried experience before him, the black man was more interested in securing remunerative labor in the future, than collecting his just dues for his labors of the past. They were proudly happy in the idea of being their own masters, but the more thoughtful of them well understood that liberty and responsibility were reciprocal terms.
As showing the industrial status of the negro at this time, and the accuracy of official statements. required, the following from the report of Captain Bohonon will be found of special interest :
The number of colored people in the county of Henry under 12 years of age are 2,0So; between 12 and 55 years of age, 2,916; over 55 years of age, 389. making a total of 5,385. In addition to the above, there are about 320 who were born free. The number of all these between 12 and 55 who will be unable to
308
History of the Twelfth Regiment
earn their living will depend greatly upon the system adopted by themselves or those having them in charge.
In the absence of legislation to the contrary, it is presumed that a very large proportion of this class will remain with their former masters, and for wages will aid in farm labor; for so strong is their attachment to the house and neigh- borhood in which they were born and raised that very few will voluntarily leave them, and may, with kind treatment and for a reasonable compensation, be induced to engage in agricultural pursuits, and make a support for themselves and employers. Under these circumstances not over five per cent will fail to earn a living.
As these people have heretofore been under the control of white men who owned and furnished the teams and implements of industry used by them, very few have teams, horses, or farm implements of any kind. These articles will be furnished as before by their employers to all who work for wages, and the num- ber needed will depend almost entirely upon that fact.
It is impossible to estimate the number of this class who will be thus employed, but it cannot be less than fifty or seventy-five per cent if left to their own choice. Assuming that fifty per cent will need no implements of husbandry, it will follow that 1,455 of that class, whose families will include those of the first and third class, will have to be supplied. Estimating one mule or horse with plow harness for each family, averaging eight persons, it will follow that at least 120 horses or mules and a like number of plow gear will be required. . Most other articles which are needed they can generally procure for themselves.
The first order issued from Washington for the discharge of troops, including the Twelfth New Hampshire, and the long and circuitous official route it took before reaching Colonel Barker, it is thought proper to give here, not simply because of its importance to the men and its welcome reception, but more especially to interest the younger readers of this history, who belong to another generation, in tracing out the many headquarter depots through which it had to pass for endorsements, and in learning the way "red tape" was measured out in the army.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 29, 1865.
To Maj. Genl. H. W. HALLECK, Commanding Military Division of the James :
The Secretary of War directs that all volunteer organizations of white troops in your command whose term of service expires between this date and September 30 next, inclusive, be immediately mustered out of service. * * * *
All men in the aforesaid organizations whose term of service expires subse- quently to October 1, 1865, will be transferred to other organizations from the same State-to veteran regiments when practicable - having the longest time to serve. *
Should your command be reduced prejudicially to the service by this order, you are authorized to suspend it in whole or part, promptly notifying the Adjutant-General of the army with a view to receiving further instructions.
THOMAS M. VINCENT, A. A. G.
309
New Hampshire Volunteers.
HEAD QRS. MILITARY DIVISION OF THE JAMES, RICHMOND, VA., May 29. 1865.
Official :
ROBERT H. SCOTT. Maj. and A. A. G.
Maj. Gen. Ord will carry this into effect in the Dept. of Virginia.
(May 29, 1865.)
H. W. HALLECK, Maj. Genl. Comndg.
HEAD QRS. DEPT. OF VIRGINIA, RICHMOND, VA .. May 30, 1865.
Official copy furnished for the information of Maj. Genl. Gibbons, com'd'g 24th Army Corps.
ED. W. SMITH, A. A. G.
HEAD QRS. 24TH ARMY CORPS, RICHMOND, VA., May 31, 1865.
Official :
EDWARD MOALE,
A. A. G.
The Commissary of Musters of the Corps and his assistants are charged with the prompt execution of this order.
EDWARD MOALE, A. A. G.
Official :
GEORGE W. HOOKER, A. A. G.
HEAD QRS. 3D DIV .. 24TH ARMY CORPS, MANCHESTER, VA., June 1, 1865.
Official copy furnished for the information of brigade commanders.
By order of BVT. MAJ. GENL. DEVENS. GEORGE W. HOOKER, A. A. G.
HEAD QRS. 2D BRIG., 3D DIV., 24TH ARMY CORPS, NEAR MANCHESTER, VA., June 1, 1865.
Official : A. M. HEATH, Capt. 12th N. H. Vols., A. A. A. G.
HEAD QRS. U. S. FORCES, DANVILLE, VA., June 2, 1865.
Official :
RUFUS E. GALE,
A. A. A. G.
310
History of the Twelfth Regiment
And thus the order comes around and down to Colonel Barker's com- mand of his own regiment and a detachment of the Twentieth New York Cavalry comprising the " United States Forces" at Danville, Va. But to make the whole thing complete requires another order of " copies furnished" by Colonel Barker, commanding the sub-district, and another official recognition by Lieutenant Gale as adjutant of the Twelfth New Hampshire Volunteers ; and all this before the last military bow knot can be properly tied with the tail ends of this long piece of red-tape.
To the younger readers, for whom it is intended, this will certainly appear to be a very long tail for so small a kite.
On the 4th of June Colonel Barker telegraphed to General Gregg as follows :
1 have the honor to request that my command, which is now on duty at Dan- ville and vicinity, may be relieved, for the following reasons :
Our term of service expires before the 30th of September, 1865, consequently the company and regimental records should be made so complete that the muster out rolls can be made out immediately.
I have not an officer in the regiment who is not either on detached or special duty, and it is impossible to complete their records while on duty and away from their commands.
The next day a complaint by wire was forwarded :
The cavalry here is ordered to Manchester, Va., by General Ord. It leaves me with an insufficient force for the duties required, and almost without com- munication with Patrick and Henry court houses.
It appears from the foregoing that a cavalry force was then stationed at Danville, and is supposed to be the same cavalry command as reported to him for duty soon after his arrival there. About fifty men from the regiment and a small detachment of this cavalry constituted the command of each assistant provost marshal, who had a county for his department and a court house for his headquarters.
These officers, especially Captains Smith, Bohonon, and Ricker, had much to do; for, beside being crowded with applications of all kinds, they were required to make out numerous reports upon the condition and wants of the people. Some of these reports were quite lengthy, and covered a broad field of inquiry. They indicate close observation and careful reflection on the part of the writers, and are so replete with apt suggestions and wise recommendations that they would reflect credit upon officers of much higher rank.
Concerning the illiteracy and disloyalty of the white population it should be stated that only about one third of this class would take the oath of allegiance, and nearly one third of those who took the oath could neither read nor write. This was found to be true at Elmsville and other places in Patrick county where Captain Ricker and Sergeant Horner
31I
New Hampshire Volunteers.
went to administer the oath as late as the 7th of June, when the unre- pentant had had sufficient time to reflect upon and accept, if they had been inclined, the situation. Of two hundred and seventy whites who took the oath that day, seventy-six could not write their names, and had to sign their papers with a cross.
Thus it will appear that not all the ignorance. existing at that time among the masses of the South, was found upon the dark side of the color line. And in this connection it should be remembered that the ratio of illiteracy was much greater among those who did not take the oath than those who did.
Since the war ended there has been a far greater effort made to acquire an education by the colored than the white people of the southern states, and the former class, aided by philanthropic societies and men of means at the North. have made a progress that even surpasses the most sanguine expectations of their benefactors. Thus aided, and prompted by an active desire to be in this respect on an equal with the whites-to the futherance of which the common school system now quite generally established in the South is an important factor-there is a strong reason for the hope that the day is not far distant when their rights, civil and political. and their protection of life and property shall be as sacredly inviolate in the South as in the North.
But a speedy consummation of this, the sad want of which is a dark, damaging, and disgraceful blot upon an otherwise pleasant and promis- ing section of our fair land, cannot be expected without a corresponding stimulus being given to the education of the whites, who inhabit the same states and get a living from the same soil as the colored people, with whom they are thus necessarily often brought in contact. For this reason it is greatly to be regretted that the Educational Bill of Senator Blair, of New Hampshire, recently pending in Congress, should have been defeated. The measure, as believed, was wise and statesmanlike. and for his long-tried and laborious efforts to have it put upon the statute book of the Nation, he deserves a grateful remembrance.
And now. as could have been said with earnest truthfulness by the remnant of the brave men. for the sake and in the interest of whom and their posterity this history has been thus far written, we gladly approach the end, so far as their blood-tracked and dangerous journey through the terrible scenes and sufferings of rebeldom leads us, and we hasten thither.
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.