USA > New Hampshire > History of the Twelfth regiment, New Hampshire volunteers in the war of the rebellion > Part 68
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Although he went through (or until cut down) every battle of importance the regi- ment was engaged in, except the Siege of Petersburg, and was seven times wounded, and twice killed (! ), yet he is still among the liveliest of the living, standing as erect as ever, hardly up to the army standard, while his fighting weight, bullets and all, was never more than one hundred and twenty-five pounds.
Matchless as he proved himself in fighting the powers of rebeldom and death, he finally found his match and surrendered a willing captive to Miss Mary J. Martin, of Ports- mouth, by whom he has one son, Frank M., who is past commander of the New Hampshire Division of the Sons of Veterans, and evidently a " chip of the old block."
* He was lieutenant-colonel of the State National Guards for three years, and colonel of same com- mand for five years. He has also acted as secretary of the New Hampshire Veterans' Association for eighteen years.
615
New Hampshire Volunteers.
D. BK. L. 5-9. AMBROSE HI. MUDGETT.
DB. LB. L. 5-6.
JIORACE F. PRESCOTT.
B. B. L. 5-43. BYT. LIEUT. COL. NAT. SHACKFORD.
616
History of the Twelfth Regiment
BVT. CAPT. EDWARD L. SHEPARD.
Youngest child of John C. and Almira S. (Shepard) Shepard ; born in Holderness (now Ashland), May 3, 1842.
Married March 8, 1866, to Martha L. Blair, of Campton. No children.
In every march, skirmish, and battle of the regiment from Concord, 1862, to Concord, 1865, which can not be said of but two or three officers on the rolls of the Twelfth. When the color bearers fell at Gettysburg, he and Worthen, of the same company, volunteered to carry them, which they did, through the rest of the battle and all the time until the fall of 1864.
Captain Shepard is a man of deeds rather than words, and one of those valuable few, who, having the hard twist of the pure fiber in his own fabric, detests " shoddy " in every form and color. He has the firmness and simplicity of a Grant, and was, of course, a brave and reliable soldier, as he is to-day one of the best of citizens.
ALBERT Y. SMYTH.
This noble hearted soldier was the oldest of the seven children of Iloratio N. aud Eliza L. (Smyth) Smyth. Born in Holderness, February 4, 1839, and died at 3 o'clock on the morning of January 12, 1863, at Falmouth, Va.
He was in the battle of Fredericksburg, where, having but partially recovered from the measles, the exposure and excitement of the bivouac and battle undoubtedly hastened his death. He wrote a letter a few days before his death to Samuel W. Ilowe, then of Holderness, dated December 28, 1862, telling him about the sickness and expected death of George M. Annable (see sketch), but died first. Between him and Annable a very strong attachment of friendship had grown up as they lay side by side on their sick cots in the regimental hospital. They used to spend hours in talking about the improba- bilities of their recovery and of being resigned to the fate they believed awaited them. So strong was their attachment for each other that they refused to be separated, even when death seemed approaching, but seemed to cling closer to each other.
He had a natural gift for music, being when at home a member of one or two brass bands. His grandfather, Caleb Smyth, was in the War of 1812. One of his comrades says of him, " You cannot speak too highly of him and his many excellent qualities."
RICHARD G. STEARNS.
This only son of Anthony T. and Nancy (Gove) Stearns was born in Plymouth, where lie has always resided, October 22, 1838.
In every battle and march of the regiment, except Gettysburg and its campaign, which occurred while he was suffering from a wound received at Chancellorsville, where he had his knapsack shot off on the retreat ; and he came home with the valiant few who followed the colors, when able to do so, from 1862 to 1865.
Married December 24, 1871, to Elizabeth J., daughter of George Flanders, of Plymouth, their three children all dying in infancy. And now, at this writing, he too is near the end of life's march, weary, worn, but patiently waiting to bivouac among the "silent tents of green."
The nickname, "Noble Dick," given him by his appreciative comrades, will be his highest eulogy. Farmer, brickmaker, and postmaster.
His death, since the above was written, occurred January 7, 1893. A brave and noble heart has ceased to beat.
617
New Hampshire Volunteers.
Bk. S. L. 6-0.
BVT. CAPT. EDWARD L. SHEPARD.
G. LB. L. 5-73.
ALBERT Y. SMYTH.
B. L. LB. 5-93. RICHARD G. STEARNS.
618
History of the Twelfth Regiment
CORP. HEZEKIAH M. SWAIN.
Son of John and Priscilla (Bickford) Swain, and born in Meredith, in 1822, and died at Etna, September 16, 1894, of paralysis and heart disease. His grandfather, by the same name, served in the War of the Revolution.
Taken sick, soon after the battle of Fredericksburg, in which he participated, and was discharged the next spring as there was little prospect of his being able to do active duty for a long time, if ever. He took a pride in military displays, and was an officer in several companies under the old state militia.
Married October 28, 1847, to Hannah Pitman, and their only two children, Clara D. and Eva J. Miller, are both living. Ile is spoken of as a worthy man.
GUSTAVUS R. TOBINE.
Parents were George W. and Mary (Spiller) Tobine, and he was born in New Hamp- ton, in 1844. Ilis brothers, Norman B. and Thaddeus A., were in the Sixth Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers.
Ile was so severely injured in left arm at Chancellorsville, that he was maimed for life. Rejoined the regiment at Williamsburg, and after this he was with it all through to the end, and ranked as one of the best of his company.
Ile was married to Sarah Barber, as understood, soon after the war, and his children were. Norman B., Mary E., Emma A., Lumen G., Thaddeus A., and George W.
Died of pneumonia in Bridgewater, February 19, ISSI.
JOSEPH. B. TUPPER.
Anna F. Church who belonged, by descent, to a military family, married Roswell Tupper, and bore him four boys and two girls ; and he, whose boyish face is pictured here, and who seems earnestly watching you as you read his record, became the fourth child, at Campton, November 6, 1846. Ilis great-grandfather, Thomas (or Nathaniel) Tupper, came from Georgetown, Mass., and was one of the first settlers of Campton, and helped found the first church in the town.
In Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Wounded at Chancellorsville. in left hand, and never with the regiment afterward (see roster). A brother, William H., in Company A, Sixth New Hampshire Volunteers, was slightly wounded at Second Bull Run by minie ball in right knee. His father and another brother were in California fighting the Indians, for a time, during the war.
Susan M. Warner, of Stoneham, Mass., became his wife November 30, 1871, and has no children.
WILLIAM B. WELCII.
Though courage and pluck are often used synonymously and either word is a dictionary definition of the other, yet according to their radical import, is there not this important differ- ence ? A brave man will not run until he is hurt, but a plucky man will not run if he is hurt. No one can be plucky who is not brave, but it isn't every brave man who is plucky. To be a good fighter, one must have not only the courage to strike, but the pluck to stick. General Graut had both, but no more so than the humble private soldier whose pictured face appears near this sketch. Hle can be seen here with something of the same stern and deter- mined cast of countenance, as his captain has often observed of him when in line of battle as he stood facing the enemy ; the chief difference being that he does not look quite so cross.
Born January 7, 1834, and his parents, William and Mary H. (Welch), then resided in Plymouth.
Married March 16, 1858, to Mary J., danghter of Daniel S. Gordon, of New Hampton. Children, William S., Edward G., Florence (2., and Clara B. T.
Notwithstanding the hardships and dangers of a stormy voyage, he sailed safely through everything from Concord to Cold Harbor, Va., near which his staunch craft was struck by a resistless cyclone and so badly damaged that he was obliged to lay up there for
619
New Hampshire Volunteers.
B. D. L. 5-11. CORP. HEZEKIAH M. SWAIN.
Bk. B. D. 5-10. GUSTAVUS R. TOBINE.
B. B. L. 5-S. JOSEPH B. TUPPER.
620
History of the Twelfth Regiment
repairs. Eight wounds from five minie balls, in about fifteen minutes, are too hot and quick for even " Bill Welch," and he concludes to "lay low "; but the bull-dog grit is left, and he would still swap lead with the Johnnies, if his left arm was not broken by a bullet that has passed through it and lodged in his breast. A minute before, his right leg was struck below the knee, rendering it useless. He now crawls back a piece into some bushes, and feeling faint, commences to drink from his canteen when another minie ball inflicts a severe wound in his head, and about the same time he thinks, but probably before, he receives two slight wounds in the groins. He was also wounded quite severely in shoulder and side by the same bullet, above described, that struck his head.
While thus " slugged and plugged," with rebel lead, he lay near the field hospital the next day patiently awaiting to have his wounds dressed (the surgeons delaying his case until the last, thinking it a hopeless one),* he made an attempt, it is said, and actually did crawl some little distance to get a loaded gun, stacked near by, to shoot an officer that he saw abusing some wounded soldiers. That he would have carried out his intention, if his strength had been equal to his will, none who knew him will doubt. At Point Lookout, he shot a man who undertook to run the guard, and came near firing at one of the field officers. And here again we find, in this true but humble soldier, one of the important elements of military renown, so markedly characteristic of Grant. He fearlessly acted his convictions of the present, regardless of all ifs or buts about the future.t
IIe died in Bristol, October 11, 1883, from what Dr. Fowler certified to be "physical exhaustion resulting from his wounds." Buried in New Hampton cemetery.
JOHN O. WOODMAN.
Born in New Hampton, and was a student there at the time of his enlistment. Ilis parents were Benjamin P. and Elizabeth M. (Hill) Woodman.
In all the battles of the regiment, after it left Point Lookout. Wounded slightly at Cold Harbor, but not enough to be disabled from duty.
Married Mary P. Foster, of Lebanon, January I, 1870 (deceased). Married his second wife, Sarah W. Haskins, of Enfield, May 3, 1872.
LIEUT. GEORGE E. WORTHEN.
If there were better soldiers than this brave and patriotic officer, the reader need not hunt for them in this or any other company of the regiment. He was born in Lowell, Mass., May 26, 1843, and is the son of Ezekiel B. and Emeline S. (Draper) Worthen. His grandfather Worthen was in the French and Indian War, and was a captain in the Revolution ; also his grandfather Draper was in the Revolution. This shows the blood that flows in his veins.
He was in every engagement of the regiment, except, perhaps, Bermuda Hundred, when he was absent on detail, and yet was never wounded. At Chancellorsville a bullet passed through his blanket roll, another through his canteen, cutting out the middle initial of his name, and a bnek shot through his haversack. At Gettysburg he was struck quite hard, and. after taking the colors, a bullet went through his pant leg below the left knee. He was never in hospital and never off duty but one week, and then at Point Lookout. He was acting commissary of regiment for a while, post commissary at Manchester, and Dan- ville, Va. He was first promoted for his gallant conduct on the field of Gettysburg .; Served in New York Battery a while at Point Lookout.
September 6, 1866, he married Lizzie W., daughter of JJohn Nutter, of Portsmouth, and his children are Lucy E., Lizzie M., George E., Jr., Walter E., Julia N., and Laura D.
Since the war he has lived in Lowell, Mass., and been employed as grocer and overseer in United States Cartridge Works. He has been for many years a member of the Lowell Mechanic Phalanx and a member of Sixth Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, and has proved himself one of the best long-range sharpshooters in the state, being leader in the " Lowell team " for several years.
* Dr. Fowler says his wounds were not dressed until he reached White House Landing, twelve miles from, and a day or two after, Cold Harbor, the surgeous there refusing to do anything for him.
t See incident of him, page 396. # See History of the Colors, page 376.
621
New Hampshire Volunteers.
0
B. B. L. 5-7. WILLIAM B. WELCH.
B. B. L. 5-10. JOHN O. WOODMAN.
B. R. L. 5-S. LIEUT. GEORGE E. WORTHEN.
CHAPTER XIX.
PORTRAITS AND SKETCHES -Continued.
COMPANY F.
In the organization of this company Pittsfield, Loudon, and North- wood figured prominently, while Canterbury and Northfield sent fifteen men to fill out the company. All the men in this company were originally furnished from the counties of Merrimack and Rockingham. Various town meetings were holden at Pittsfield concerning her quota prior to August 23, 1862, and on that day a special town meeting was called.
The selectmen were authorized by the town to pay three hundred dollars' bounty to each volunteer filling up the quota of the call of the president for three hundred thousand men to serve three years, and that the money for paying the bounties be borrowed on the credit of the town. Sylvanus Smith, who, with the assistance of H. A. L. French, enlisted most of the men from this town, had been acting as town clerk, but on account of his enlistment resigned. Resolutions were adopted at meetings held in the other towns contributing to this company, and at one in Northwood, August 26, 1862, the following was voted : To pay two hundred dollars' bounty to each volunteer from this town who shall be mustered into the service : provided such person shall enlist, or shall have enlisted. since the eleventh of August, 1862. The selectmen were author- ized to hire money for this purpose.
The officers were selected mostly from Pittsfield, and were placed as follows : John F. Langley, who had served one year in the Third New Hampshire as lieutenant, was elected captain, with Sylvanus Smith and Henry A. L. French as lieutenants. Sergeants, Andrew M. Heath, Charles A. Kelley, George C. Parsons, George F. Lane, and Solon G. Blaisdell : corporals, Albert C. Evans, Benjamin F. Wells, William H. Hillsgrove, William A. Dow, Charles S. Emery, John W. Johnston, Charles H. Brock, and Frank M. Gay. Asa W. Bartlett acted as musician and Jeremiah Dennett as wagoner. On December 30, 1862, John Blake, a fifer in Company B, was transferred to this company as another musician.
This company was mustered into the United States service, September 5, 1862, and together with Company G, was left on the field of Chan- cellorsville, Saturday night, when the regiment changed position, and were saved from capture by the promptness of Colonel Marsh .*
* See page 73.
623
New Hampshire Volunteers.
CAPT. ASA W. BARTLETT.
This officer, the son of Richard and Caroline O. (Williams) Bartlett, was born in Epping, August 29, 1839, he being the youngest of nine children, of whom Bradley H. was a physician, and who lived and died in Amherst and also had served as hospital steward during the war in the New flampshire lleavy Artillery. Captain Bartlett, before the war, taught school and studied law in Quincy, Ill., but returning home in the spring of IS62, innedately enlisted in this regiment.
lle was in the battles of Chancellorsville, * Swift Creek, Relay House, Drury's Bluff,t and Port Walthall. Ile was never wounded, except slightly by a spent bullet at the battle of ChanceHlorsville. During the summer and fall of 1864 he acted as signal officer, and while in charge of the towers on the Appomattox and James rivers, had some thrilling experiences.#
Ile was married December 1, 1867, to Finette A., daughter of John Doe, of Pittsfield, by whom he has one child, Richard B., whose mother died July 2, 1894.
This sollier simply tried to do his duty. References to him will be found on pages 407. 414-415, 422, 433-435, 445, and in several other places in the history.
STEPHEN W. BACHELDER.
Son of Jonathan and Lois (Wells) Bachelder, and was born in Loudon in 1820.
lle was taken sick on the march to Falmouth, Va., near Warrington, from which place he was sent, with other sick ones, to Washington, but died on the cars before reaching there, November 17, 1862. He marched as long as he was able to stand up, being pushed forward by the rear guard when as it seemed, as it afterward proved, he was seriously sick and in a suffering and dangerous condition. Ile died for his country as much as if he had fallen on the field of battle, and his name and memory should be honored and revered.
WILLIAM T. BACHELDER.
Brother of Stephen W., whose family record appears above, and was born in Loudon, September 25, 1823. Married first to Mehitable Berry, of Pittsfield, who died not many years after the war. He had one son, Albert, also deceased. Second wife was llannah C. Buckman, whose maiden name was Danielson.
lle was in every battle and always present for duty from Concord. N. 11., to Coll Harbor, Va., where he was disabled by a severe wound in left shoulder, and never returned to his regiment afterward. Also slightly wounded at Chancellorsville and Gettys- burg, but kept along with his company when many others would have been in hospital. After his discharge he returned to his farm home in Pittsfield, where he continued to reside until his death (see roster).
There were few better soldiers in this company or in the whole regiment than was the subject of this sketch. You could always look and expect to find him at the post of duty, though ofttimes he grumbled at the way that duty was ordered or performed.
An incident characteristic of him, who was then in the writer's mind as the one related to, may be found written earlier in this history. ||
* See History of Colors, page 374, et seq. t See Drury's Bluff, page 182. # See Signal Service, pages 380-386.
!! See page 414.
624
History of the Twelfth Regiment
BVT. LIEUT. SOLON G. BLAISDELL.
Here is a very good picture of an extra good soldier. Blessed with a remarkably sound constitution, that gave him lasting powers of endurance, and a disposition to per- form faithfully his part so long as able, he was always present for duty except when disabled by wounds, and fought on every battle-field where his regiment did, excepting the Siege of Petersburg, when he was sick with wound in left arm received at Cold Harbor. Birth, February 11, 1834, at Danville, Vt. Parents, Greenlief C. and Emeline (Babbitt) Blaisdell. ITis grandfather, Isaac Babbitt, was a soldier of the Revolution.
Married, December 17, 1859, to Anna G., daughter of John Clarke, of Pittsfield, and sister of Benjamin W. in the same company (see sketch). Children, Frank E., John C., Emma G., and Elmer Y., none of whom are living but the oldest.
Occupation before enlistment and for some time after discharge, a harness-maker.
He moved to California a few years after the war, and after a while bought a ranch in San Diego eounty, and became a successful farmer and fruit grower.
Of his battle experienee it may be further said that he was also wounded by a ball in left breast, over the heart, at Cold Harbor, and which, but for his diary, roll-book, and his wife's pieture, would have killed him. He was knocked senseless and lay until after the retreat of the regiment, and then in getting back to the rear was shot in left arm.
Since the above was written this brave and hardy soldier has had to yield to the inevitable. He died April 6, 1897.
ABIEL B. BROWN.
One of a family of ten children, seven boys and three girls, and his parents were Amos and Hannah (Clifford) Brown.
He was wounded slightly at the battle of Chancellorsville, and was also in most of the engagements of the regiment. llis brother, True C., was in the same company (see sketch).
Since the war he has been employed on the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad as engineer, and for his post-office address see roster.
He was a good and faithful soldier, and served until the fall of the Southern Confederacy.
CALEB BROWN.
Brother of Samuel Brown and Charles M. (see sketches), of Companies C and D. Born in Bow in the year 1839.
In battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, but was taken sick soon after, and was sent to general hospital in Baltimore, where his father, who went out after him, got a furlough for him and brought him home, or as far as his sister's, Mrs. Ilutehings, in Coneord, where he died in about a week, of chronic diarrhoea, from which he had been suffering for a long time. Ile was siek enough to be in bed on the march to Gettysburg, but heroically kept along with the regiment and fought his last battle on that decisive field. All honor to his fidelity and praise for his bravery.
TRUE C. BROWN.
This soldier is the brother of Abiel B. Brown, of the same company (see sketch). Ile was in almost every battle to Cold Harbor, where he was killed on the field.
Ilis comrades remember him with sorrow for his death. Ile was brave, faithful, and true.
625
New Hampshire Volunteers
B. B. L. 5-43.
CAPT. ASA W. BARTLETT.
B. D. L. 5-35. STEPHEN W. BACHELDER.
B. D. L. 5-4. WILLIAM T. BACHEL.DER.
B. D. 1. 5-S. BVT. LIEUT. SOLON G. BLAISDELL.
B. L. L. 6-0. ABIEL P. BROWN.
40
626
History of the Twelfth Regiment
ASA O. CARR
Is the son of Isaac S. and Lucinda J. (Osgood) Carr, born in Gilmanton, October 31, 1842. llis ancestors on both sides have been prominent in the military records of the state, and his great-grandfather was a soldier in our struggle for national independence.
In the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and also fought at Gettysburg, where he received a severe wound by musket ball passing through his body and right Jung ; but a brave heart and strong constitution saved him from an early grave, and he still lives to remember and lament many of his brave comrades whose hearts have long since ceased to beat.
At Chancellorsville his cap was shot from his head by his file leader. into whose place he stepped as the other fell back a pace or two before discharging his musket and the next moment fell dead .* Ile was also wounded in this battle by a piece of shell ; a bullet hit him in the ankle, which, after cutting his pant leg and stocking partly off, lodged in his boot.
Ile was married October 31, 1871, to Vena Il., daughter of Samnel D. Perkins, of Pittsfield, where they now reside with their home blessed and brightened by one child, Alice M.
Occupation, a carpenter, and his sterling worth is appreciated by all who know him.
CORP. BENJAMIN W. CLARKE.
This faithful soldier was born in Pittsfield, November 2, 1828, and is the third of the nine children, of Jolin and Asenath (Wells) Clarke, of whom four were boys. llis father was captain in the state militia, and his grandfather, Stephen Wells, served in the Revo- Intionary War.
Married Mary Ann, daughter of Jonathan E. Brown, of Northwood, November 7, 1849. Children, Mary E., Abbie A., Annie II., and John W.
He served in the hospital department until the spring of 1864, after which he followed the flag through the battles of Swift Creek, Relay House, Drury's Bluff, and Port Walthall to Cold Harbor, where he was severely wounded in right hip, and lay all day on the field exposed for some time - until he erawled into a vedette hole - to the enemy's fire. Also at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, assisting the surgeons on the field. At Point Lookout he acted for a while as teacher and inspector at Contraband Camp. Returning to the front as soon as his wound permitted, he remained with his regiment, doing light duty, to the end of the war. lle was the friend of Chaplain Ambrose, and has a watch which he greatly prizes as a gift from his hand. He also has his saddle and bridle, procured after his death.
lle died since the above was written, JJuly 23, 1897.
FREDERICK E. COPP.
This soldier is the great-grandson of Solomon Copp, who came from Amesbury, Mass., and after living three years in the fort at Canterbury, removed to Sanbornton, being the second settler in that town. Ilis son, Thomas, grandfather of subject of this sketch, was a soldier of the Revolution, and, as seems true from best information, had the honor of being complimented by General Washington for not allowing him to pass the guard that Copp had charge of without the countersign. Maternal grandfather, David Wilmont, of Thet- ford, Vt., was also in the Revolution.
Frederick E. is the tenth of the eleven children of Amos and Lois (Wilmont) Copp, and was born in Sanbornton (now Tilton), September 1, 1843.
In Fredericksburg, also Chancellorsville, where he was slightly wounded in thigh, and severely by musket ball in right leg, and lay four days before he was removed from the field where he fell. In hospital, after this, in different places until discharged.
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