USA > New Hampshire > History of the Twelfth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 64
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CORP. EDWARD V. PRATT.
Son of Varnum and Elizabeth ( Lovejoy) Pratt, and was born in Hebron, December 10, 1840, and died while on the march to Fahnouth, Va. (see roster).
llis great-grandfather fought at Bunker Hill, and his grandfather was in the War of 1812. Tradition has it that he was in the ship with Paul Jones. His grandfather Spauld- ing, on his mother's side, was killed at Bunker Ilill.
He was brought up on a farm, received an academic education, and was exemplary in his habits and deportment. Sergeant Osgood says: " Ile marched while sick without a murmur of complaint, and died the same." Buried at Hebron.
· See pages 151 an 1 423.
561
New Hampshire Volunteers.
B. Bk. D. 6-13. JOHN F. PHILLIPS.
B. B. L. 5-93.
CORP. EDWARD V. PRATT.
B. B. L. 5-S. SERGT. HENRIE A. RANDOLPH.
562
History of the Twelfth Regiment
SERGT. HENRIE A. RANDOLPH.
Born in Northhampton, Eng., in 1823. (Name of parents unknown.)
His wife's name was Martha French, of Canterbury, whom he married before the war. His only child, a daughter, died several years ago.
In early life he had served in the English army. After coming to this country he learned the tailor's trade and worked at it for years in Bristol. One of the first in the company to enlist, and having experience in the ranks, he was selected as orderly sergeant, and did much in drilling the company during the first year.
He was in Bermuda Hundred, Swift Creek, Relay House, Drury's Bluff, Port Wal- thall. and perhaps in Cold Harbor. Naturally a good soldier, and it is to be regretted that more is not known of him.
SAMUEL C. ROBINSON.
As you see him here, wanting only his gun and equipments, he fought on three of the great battle-fields of his country, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.
Born in Sanbornton, December 8, 1842, son of Leavitt and Nancy (Calley) Robinson, who had another son, William MI. (oldest of their six children), in Company D, of the same regiment, who also did good service, being wounded at Chancellorsville. He, William M., did not fall back, but kept on firing at the advancing rebels until they came up and took him prisoner.
Great-grandfather, Levi, was in the war of the American Independence.
Married December 3, 1868, to Myra W. Taylor.
A whole chapter would be needed to do full justice to every soldier, whose record is as good as either this soldier or his brother. He was wounded severely at Gettysburg, which should be greater honor than the stars of a general, who never breathed the smoke of battle.
CAPT. J. W. SAUNDERS.
Read, in the roster, from this history and this sketch, and you will know, even then, but little of what could and should be said, in common with many others, of the family history and military career of this brave and competent officer.
He is of English descent, and his early ancestors in this State settled in Rye. The parents of the subject of this sketch, Joel and Phebe (Scott) Saunders, had two sons and two daughters, James W. being the second son, and having only one sister living.
Born in Strafford in 1833. Married, November 7, 1857, to Mary J., daughter of John Ackerman, of Alexandria. Children, Alice, Horace W., and Ida M.
Ile says : " I was never in hospital a day, only a few days excused from duty, and in every thing the regiment was." Brief words and few and " most like a soldier " spoken, but they compose a whole chapter of fortitude, heroism, and battle-field experience.
Occupation, a shoemaker before enlistment, a fighter during the war, and a farmer and lumberman since. He commanded a company all the time after Point Lookout to the end of the war, and he never hesitated to lead his men into the thickest of the fight.
Ife speaks of Bohonon. Drake, and himself, as the only three left in his company after Chancellorsville, where Gustavus Emmons was the first one of Company C to be killed. He also refers to Blanchard's (H. A.) coolness and courage under fire, and of his being one of the first to help rescue the guns at Drury's Bluff,* where Saunders himself took so prominent a part. Ile is highly respected, but cannot be fully appreciated by his townsmen.
CAPT. JAMES T. SMITH.
Son of James and Rachel (Hoyt) Smith. Born at Danbury, in 1819. He received a liberal education and before the war was a teacher of penmanship, auctioneer, and farmer. He enlisted several in Company C, and was elected and commissioned first lieutenant in the organization of that compauy.
* See page 183.
563
New Hampshire Volunteers.
Bk. B. L. 5-II. SAMUEL C. ROBINSON.
B. B. L. 5-S.
CAPT. J. W. SAUNDERS.
DG. Bk. D. 6-0. CAPT. JAMES T. SMITHI.
564
History of the Twelfth Regiment
He married Ruth R. Eastman, of Newbury, Vt., February 12, 1868, after living a sin- gle life for nearly fifty years. Ile died at Danbury, July 11, 1876, leaving her with two small children, Emma and Estelle.
He was in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.
After his death, his widow published a pamphlet criticising severely the action of the government concerning his pension, and in which she ably defended his name and memory.
SYLVESTER SWETT.
The youngest son and one of the five children of Isaac and Nancy (Brown) Swett, who was born in Bristol, April 29, 1831. Both his brothers in the war, Roswell D. (see sketch), and Benjamin, in the Fifteenth New Hampshire.
Married before enlistment, to Ermina E., daughter of John Jaquith, of Bristol, who died while in the army, leaving him one daughter, Mynetta J., but two years of age.
In Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and also in Gettysburg, where his haversack and canteen were shot from his side, and he was wounded by minie ball in right ankle.
Married September 24, 1865, to Marcia A., daughter of Benjamin HI. Smith, of Runt- ney, who is said to have been the first one drowned in Newfound lake. His children by this wife are, George F., Ellener J., Andrew F., Alvira M., and Wesley S.
Ile has the bullet that was taken from his ankle forty-eight hours after he was wounded, and it was five months before he could step, the surgeons insisting at first that he must lose his foot or his life, but he fought the doctors and saved both.
His mother lived to be ninety-six years, and may his years be lengthened to long enjoy the blessings for which he fought. Ilis business has been a farmer and railroad employee, and his residence, Plymouth.
ROSWELL D. SWETT.
This good soldier, a brother of the last (see sketch), was thirty-eight years old when he enlisted, yet from best information he was never married.
Died, of chronic diarrhea, on his way home on sick furlongh. (See roster.)
lle fought bravely on the fields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Wapping Heights. Ilad five bullets through his clothes at Chancellorsville, where he fought as coolly and deliberately as if following his plow at home.
Stout, rugged, willing, and brave, he deserved and gained the name given him above, a " good soldier."
SERGT. HOWARD TAYLOR.
Of all the youthful heroes of the Twelfth Regiment, and their list is effulgent with glory, no one, everything considered, has a better right to stand at the head than he whose boyish but intelligent face many will gaze upon with deep interest.
C'ertain it is that of no other member of the regiment can such an honorable and pat- riotic family record be written, leaving his own to speak for itself. The title of the "Little Corporal," given him by common consent from the first, being mustered in as such, was most befittingly bestowed, for he was two or three inches shorter than any other soldier of the regiment,* and soon proved himself worthy of Napoleonic honors.
He was the son of Jonathan M. Taylor, who is a remarkably active and intelligent man for his years (over eighty), and is the father of eight children, by half as many wives, being married four times. Ile has been in the mercantile business in Boston and New York, for over sixty years. Ilis third wife, Harriet A., daughter of Oliver Gragg, of Boston, was married AApril 12, 1842, and became the mother of Howard, in the city of New
· See page 393.
565
New Hampshire Volunteers.
B. B. L. 5-S3. SYLVESTER SWETT.
B. LB. L. 5-103.
ROSWELL D. SWETT.
H. B. F. 5-4. SERGT. HOWARD TAYLOR.
566
History of the Twelfth Regiment
York, April 7, 1845. Ilis two brothers died young, and an only sister, Harriet A. Bond, lives in Detroit. Mich. Ilis half-brother, Heury MI. Taylor, served through the war in the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, rising from private to captain, and being in over twenty battles.
His great-grandmother was the heroine of "Mary Butler's Ride," * and a cousin of General Butler's father; and her father was a cousin to Mary Eastman, the mother of Daniel Webster.
His great-grandfather, Ebenezer Eastman, of Gilmanton, commanded a company of " minute men " in Stark's New Hampshire regiment, at the battle of Bunker Hill.
Ilis great-grandfather, Jonathan Taylor, had two sons, John and Jonathan, in the Rev- olution, both of whom were at West Point at the time of Arnold's treachery, and the gun of John, who was on guard, was found to contain a sand cartridge.
Their father, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was kept at home for a while by the wants of his young family, but when volunteers were called for to beat back the enemy, he joined the " Green Mountain boys " and fought at Bennington. So it will be seen that one of Howard's great-grandfathers was with Stark at Bunker Hill, and the other was with Stark at Bennington.
Chase Taylor, a brother of Jonathan, was a captain under General St. Clair, at Ticon- deroga, and was severely wounded at Bennington, where he commanded the regiment in which his brother, and two of his sons, William and Chase, Jr., fought ; his other son, Nathan. who was at that time lieutenant in Captain Whitcomb's company of Independ- ent Rangers, and who was sent out with twelve men to reconnoitre, the day before the battle, was ambushed by a party of sixty to one hundred Indians, and three of his men mortally wounded. Lieutenant Taylor was shot through the shoulder, but saved himself by concealment in the top of a hemlock tree that had been felled a short time before. t
Thus did the great-grandfather of this "Little Corporal, " his brother, two sons, and three nephews fight, and two of them shed their blood, for our independence at Benning- ton.
In every march and fight of the regiment, except following of the rebel retreat from Gettysburg, where he was wounded in index finger of right hand. But the hospital had no charms for one of his blood, and so instead of waiting for a discharge, that he might have had, he ran away and rejoined his regiment, at Point Lookont. being absent only about seven weeks.
Wounded also slightly in left hand at Chancellorsville, and by minie ball in head at Bermuda Hundred. This last wound, though he did not allow it to unfit him for duty but a day or two at a time, was the cause of his insanity and death, more than twenty-five years afterward (see roster). No words of eulogy, though never more deserving, can add anything to a record like his.
BVT. LIEUT. TIMOTHY TILTON.
Few have made for themselves a war record so good and honorable as this brave and true- hearted soldier, who was born in Fremont, May 27, 1836. He was one of the eleven chil- dren (seven boys) of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Foster) Tilton. Another son, Jonathan, Jr .. served in the First New Hampshire Volunteers.
His grandfather, John Foster, was a veteran of the Revolution and the old gun-barrel that he carried is still preserved. Lieutenant Tilton followed and defended the colors into and through every battle of the regiment, yet never wounded, except slightly by a sliver from a tree at Cold Harbor. Married January 2, 1869, to Martha M. Jewett. of Bristol. No children.
He was a mason by trade, and fought the rebels as hard as he had learned to lay his brick firm and solid ; and when he turned his back to the foe, it was time for all left alive to do the same, or be taken prisoners. He seemed, like Marshal Ney, to be well nigh bul- let-proof, and as brave by nature as he seemed to be by fate secure. He was one of the bravest and best in the regiment.
* See Scribner's Magazine for April, 1875.
+ See Runnel's History of Sanbornton.
567
New Hampshire Volunteers.
B. B. L. 5-73. BVT. LIEUT. TIMOTHY TILTON.
B. DB. D. 6-14.
SCHUYLER WALKER.
HI. Bk. D. 5-63. SERGT. ALONZO H. WORTHLEY.
568
History of the Twelfth Regiment
SCHUYLER WALKER.
This soldier, the youngest of the two children of Osia and Judith (Patten) Walker, was born in Alexandria, March 19, 1843, and died in Chico, Butte county, Cal., May 28, 1876, of consumption ; his two children, Alice M. and Lulu M., dying a few years later. He moved from New Hampshire, with his family, in 1869. Ellen A., daughter of Erastus Bean, of Penacook, who married him, July IS, 1867, is now the wife of Carlos Ordway, of Salisbury, and her sister is the wife of Samuel A. Blaisdell, of Company C.
Wounded in arm at Chancellorsville, and never did service with the regiment after- ward ; also in the battle of Fredericksburg.
He is remembered by his old neighbors and acquaintances, as a good man, and by all his comrades as a good soldier. lle was one of the belated pickets at Fredericksburg .* A carpenter by trade. The picture is good of him, as he looked about a year after his dis- charge.
SERGT. ALONZO II. WORTHLEY.
This true scion of Revolutionary stock is the son of Moses and Cynthia (Marshall) Worthley, and was born in Weare, April 14, 1839. His great-grandfather fought for our independence under Washington, and his grandfather was one of the Home Guards, who were called ont at the battle of Plattsburg.
In all the battles of the regiment, except Gettysburg and Wapping Heights, when he was suffering from severe wound in right thigh by minie ball at Chancellorsville. With exception of this, and two or three weeks' sickness, in front of Petersburg, he was with the colors from first to last.
Married Ruth E. Perkins, of Ilebron, December 9, 1865, by whom he had one child, Alonzo II.
A much longer sketch would be written of this soldier if the anthor had more facts from which to write, for he was and is one of the best of soldiers and men.
· See page 49, et seq.
569
New Hampshire Volunteers.
COMPANY D.
At a town meeting holden at Sanbornton Square, August 9, 1862, " to see what action the town will take in regard to furnishing her quota of the volunteers called for by the President of the United States, and to see how and in what manner the town will vote to raise such sums of money necessary to carry out this purpose," bounties of three hundred and two hundred dollars were voted to three years and nine months men respectively.
At this meeting one from each district was appointed by the chair to take in consideration the subject embraced in the warrant and reported as follows : " That each and every inhabitant of the town be constituted a committee to put forth every effort in its power to secure the number of volunteers necessary to fill the quota of the town."
On the fourteenth day of August a war meeting was holden at San- bornton, at which Col. Thomas Whipple, of Laconia, was present and spoke, and the work of raising the Twelfth Regiment had commenced in earnest .* After Whipple's speech, Jonathan M. Taylor, a patriotic citi- zen of that town offered ten dollars to the first man who would enlist. Charles W. Drown (see roster) stepped forward, took the money and signed his name to the papers amid the cheers of the audience.
His example was immediately followed by others present until forty- nine had enlisted, when Warren Smith, one of the most active and promi- nent men in town, stepped up to the desk and said : " Here is five dollars from my own pocket for the man who makes the number of volunteers at this meeting an even fifty." Frederick F. Osgood, of Sanbornton, im- mediately stepped forward, took the five dollars, and added his name to the roll. A few days later the company met at Piper's Mills in front of the old chapel and elected the following officers : For captain. J. Ware Butterfield ; for lieutenants, David E. Everett and Bradbury M. Morrill. The non-commissioned officers were. George W. Hall, Alonzo W. Jewett, Warren S. Cooper, Luther H. Parker, and Samuel B. Swain as ser- geants ; and Frank Ferrin, Leavitt S. Roberts. Richard W. Musgrove, John M. Bickford, Charles G. Smith, Prescott Y. Howland, William II. Straw, and William H. Sanborn as corporals; George C. Currier and Robert Martin were selected as musicians. This company was mustered into the United States service, September 5, 1862.
* See pages 7 and s.
570
History of the Twelfth Regiment
ELBRIDGE A. BLANCHARD.
This resolute and sanguine son of Mars is the only child of Seth M. and Susan W. (Smith) Blanchard, and was born in Groton, November 5, 1844. llis father was a farmer and a captain in the state militia ; and his grandfather was a soldier of 1812.
He says : "In all of the battles except Gettysburg, and never excused from duty be- cause of sickness." "One of the best " is the recommend given him by one of his tent- mates, who is not inclined to praise the undeserving. Of an independent, outspoken nature he sometimes excited official resentment, but seldom or never withont cause.
He was not afraid to use his tongue or his gun, when occasion required, and he and his musket were inseparable companions unto the end.
August 7, 1869, married Sarah E. Whittimore, of Lowell, Mass., by whom he has had four children, Leonard W., Frank A., Rolf E., and Susan E .- all living, except the second.
BUT. LIEUT. CHARLES M. BROWN.
lIere you see him as he looked nearly twenty years after the war. One of the seven children - four boys - of Jonathan and Mary E. MeCauley ; born in Bow, May 16, 1833.
He was wounded at Chancellorsville, and taken prisoner ; on parole until exchange in September following, when he rejoined regiment at Point Lookout, Md. Also in battles of Swift Creek (where he was promoted to first sergeant on the field), Relay House, Drury's Bluff, and Capture of Richmond.
Ilis grandfather, Alexander McCauley, was a soldier of 1812, and of his brothers, Samuel and Caleb were in companies C and F, respectively.
Married Lucinda H., daughter of Kimball Corliss, of Haverhill, December 7, 1852. Children, Charles L., Ada L., Mand L., and Edgar D).
Of the sturdy and steadfast qualities of this member of the regiment, it may be said that he has been the true and tried employee of the same firm in Concord for nearly thirty- five years, working for them before the war, and all the time since. Soldier or citizen, he was and is always at the post of duty. and none is more favorably known in the city of Concord, where he resides, than he.
SERGT. HENRY C. BUZZELL.
Life's voyage, so safely yet so sadly ended, was entered upon by this soldier, August 15, 1842, under the paternal pilotage of Elias S. and Betsey (Runnells) Buzzell, who then resided in Northfield.
Ilis early life was uneventful, but his native traits of character were manifested by his kind, unselfish acts, even when a little boy. No survivor of Company D will speak aught but words of praise of this brave and kind hearted soldier, and those of them who knew him best will never cease to cherish his memory while theirs is permitted to exist. Look at his picture and you will see that he had a head to think as well as a heart to feel ; had he lived he would doubtless gained civic honors to crown his lofty brow.
He was one of seven children, four of whom are still living. Both his brothers, Charles W. and James M., were in the war, and served in the Fifteenth New Hampshire Volun- teers and a Vermont regiment respectively ; and of his three sisters, who lived to grow up, one married George Dawson. of the Fifteenth New Hampshire Volunteers (since drowned in Missouri river by caving in of the bank), and another is the wife of Sylvester D. Ilunt, who was also a member of the Fifteenth Regiment.
In every battle until mortally wounded at Cohl Harbor, where he was struck by pieces of shell in shoulder and thigh, and died of secondary hemorrhage, June 29, 1864.
He proved himself worthy the name of the great statesman that was given him, for he fought for the same great cause, for which Clay so eloquently plead - the peace and pros- perity of the whole country.
57I
New Hampshire Volunteers.
B. B. L. 5-73. ELBRIDGE A. BLANCHARD.
Bk. Bk. D. 6-5.
BVT. LIEUT. CHARLES M. BROWN.
G. 1 .. L. 5-8. SERGT. HENRY C. BUZZELL.
572
History of the Twelfth Regiment
JAMES T. CALLEY.
This was one of the four children of Richard, Jr., and Martha C. (Clark) Calley, and was born in Sanbornton, November I, 1844.
lle was brought up a farmer's boy, receiving the usual common school education, and although an only son his father consented that he should enlist, as he greatly desired, in the cause of his country.
Ile was in the battle of Fredericksburg, where he contracted the disease of which he died. Ilis father went out after his son's dead body to give it a Christian burial in his native soil. Ile was a good and faithful soldier.
CORP. ERWIN G. CATE.
This sketch is of the only son of the four children of Albert J. and Sally E. (Calley) Cate, and was born in Franklin, March 14, 1844.
Ile married Harriet, daughter of Alexander Whitney, of New London, October 13, 1867, and has one child.
This soldier ranks high in merit though he wore only a corporal's stripes. He was in all engagements of the regiment but Gettysburg, Wapping Heights, and part of Siege of Petersburg, where he was disabled from duty by wounds in left thigh at Chancellorsville, and in head at Cold Harbor, reporting for duty again in just four and two months to a day from date of his respective wounds. Ile was also wounded in neck and left arm while crossing a " death stretch" on his way with others to strengthen our picket lines at Drury's Blutf, and accidentally injured badly at Bermuda Hundred; yet he still lives to extend a smiling welcome to all his old comrades who may visit him. A solemn incident is related of him elsewhere. * Several of his ancestors were in the French and Indian war. His great-grandfathers were both in the Revolution. his grandfather was a soldier of 1812, and his own record shows that their blood still flows through at least one brave and noble heart. Standing nearly six feet and two inches high in his stockings, with a kind heart, jovial disposition. and plain but honest countenance, he was by some not inaptly nick- named " Old Abe."
SILAS G. CHASE.
" True to his trust " can be said of this soldier, for his record proves it. Though, like many others he never fired a gun on the battle-field, yet lie rendered valuable service in till- ing a place that he seemed especially fitted for.
His eyes first opened to the light in Milbury, Mass., August 7, 1822, being the oldest of the three children (one daughter) of Palmer G. and Sally (Burbank) Chase.
Married Lydia S. Woodman, June 19, 1845, whom he left with six small children, one a babe in her arms when he went to war. He was the first to enlist in the regiment from the town of Hebron. Ile seemed born to doing good instead of daring danger, and was therefore soon selected for a regimental nurse, but he was never troubled with " shell sick- ness," not even in front of Petersburg, when he was so often under fire, and where he acted for awhile as hospital steward and doctor, the regiment being without either at that time. After Gettysburg, he remained there with Dr. Hunt for several weeks, nursing the wounded and comforting the dying. lle was diligent and faithful, for which he deserves much credit. Colonel Barker used to call him the good Samaritan. The names of his children are, Sarah, Silas W., Hattie Q., Jesse E., Samuel B., and Mary F. The last, being the babe above mentioned, now is a mother, having had babes of her own, and resides in San Diego, Cal.
* See page 447.
-
573
New Hampshire Volunteers.
Bk. Bk. D. 5-10. JAMES T. CALLEY.
G. L. L. 6-14. CORP. ERWIN G. CATE.
Bk. Bk. D. 5-5. SILAS G. CHASE.
574
History of the Twelfth Regiment
CORP. ORRIN G. COLBY.
It needs no Lavater to read "stern resolution " in the well marked features of this manly youth. Born in Hill, August 24, 1845, he lacked ten days of being seventeen years old when he enlisted ; yet he unflinchingly followed and stood by the flag, on every march and ahnost every battle-field of the regiment from Concord, 1862, to Concord, 1865. He is the oldest child of Wilson and Martha J. (Quimby) Colby, and the father of four prom- ising children, Anna M., George E., Mary E., and Charles W., the mother of whom Georgie D., the daughter of George W. Woodbury, of Weare, he married January 9, 1872.
He was slightly wounded at Coldl Harbor, by solid shot or shell which, a comrade says, " knocked him heels over head," and from which he had a very narrow escape. He was also severely wounded in this battle by an explosive musket ball striking him in the back while retreating, he being one of the very last to leave the field. Ile says : " I was talking with Jonathan Leavitt when he was struck by a shell at the battle of Gettysburg. I saw himn again in a few moments after we had driven the rebels back, and said to him, 'You're still alive, then?' Ile looked up and replied, 'Yes, but I don't know how long I shall be.' The same shell - I think it was - took off one of the legs of a Company B * boy, and struck a man just behind me, the blood spurting all over my back. I felt something strike my arm, and reaching round picked off of my coat sleeve a large piece of warm flesh. Death filled the air on every side."
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