USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Keene > History of the town of Keene, from 1732, when the township was granted by Massachusetts, to 1874, when it became a city > Part 41
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Another organization that was of much importance to Keene was the Cheshire County Musical Institute. Its object was the improvement of music in the churches. As early as 1826 and 1827, conventions for that purpose were held in Keene, and the music of the Handel and Haydn
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Society's collection was used. In 1849, the subject was revived and B. F. Baker, of Boston, and I. B. Woodbury, of New York, conducted conventions in the town hall. Those yearly conventions became permanent in 1852, and soon afterwards developed into the institute, with Rev. Dr. Barstow, president, conducted in different years by Osgood Collester and Edward Hamilton, of Worcester, B. F. Baker, E. H. Frost, L. O. Emerson and Carl Zerahn, of Boston, and Wm. B. Bradbury and Geo. F. Root, of New York. Mrs. J. H. Long and other professional singers were em- ployed as soloists, and brilliant concerts were given at the close of each session. The chorus sometimes numbered as high as 600. Its sessions continued through the Civil war and for many years afterwards.
The census of 1860 gave Keene a population of 4,320, three of whom were colored. The state had 326,072.
The fifteen highest taxpayers in town that year were C. S. Faulkner, Cheshire Provident Institution, Josiah Col- ony, estate of John Towns, Henry Pond, J. A. Fay & Co., Charles Lamson, John Elliot, Samuel Dinsmoor, S. A. Gerould & Son, Keziah Appleton, J. H. Elliot, Thomas M. Edwards, J. B. Elliot, and the Ashuelot bank.
The threatenings of internecine strife in the nation were distinctly seen and heard, but they were generally believed to be the mere blusterings of the slave power and there was little fear of real war; nevertheless the excitement of the presidential campaign in 1860 was intense and the spirit of loyalty was thoroughly aroused in the North. At the election in November, Keene cast 635 votes for the Lincoln electors to 224 for the Douglass, 31 for the Breck- enridge and 5 for the Bell tickets.
The following paragraph was written from Keene about this time by a correspondent of the Christian Freeman : "Nearly in the middle of the county, on a broad plain where once was the bottom of a lake, surrounded by hills, is the smart and beautiful village of Keene. Its broad, straight, well made streets and sidewalks; its many large and ornamental trees; its elegant dwelling houses and fine gardens; its convenient 'Square' and miniature park ren- der it absolutely the handsomest village of the size in the Eastern States."
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CHAPTER XVIII. KEENE IN THE CIVIL WAR.
1861-1865.
On the 4th of April, 1861, Dr. Thomas E. Hatch was appointed postmaster at Keene under the administration of President Lincoln, vice Joshua D. Colony. Albert God- frey was the choice of the citizens, as expressed by a vote of 189 to 62, but Dr. Hatch was appointed through the influence of his uncle, Hon. Thomas M. Edwards, member of congress. Personally Dr. Hatch was acceptable to the people, but his appointment in opposition to the choice of the citizens caused much ill feeling.
During the early months of 1861, alarming reports of the acts of the disunionists were daily received. One after another the Southern states passed the "Ordinance of Secession," and a Southern confederacy was formed. Officers of the army and navy were throwing off their allegiance and espousing the cause of the South. Armed forces were organizing and drilling throughout the South- ern states. A majority of the cabinet of President Buchan- an was secessionist, and arms, forts, arsenals and other war material, besides public funds and other property belonging to the government, were seized, to be used in active rebellion. The forts in the harbor at Charleston, S. C., held by a small force of United States troops, were demanded and threatened with forcible capture if the de- mand was refused. The life of the president-elect was known to be in peril, but the designs of the assassins were frustrated and Mr. Lincoln reached Washington and was inaugurated on the 4th of March.
On the 12th of April, 1861, Fort Sumpter was attacked by the secessionists, and after a gallant defence was sur- rendered with the honors of war. The telegraph flashed the tidings to every part of the Union and the most intense excitement was aroused. Public meetings were hastily
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
called in every place of importance throughout the North to give expression to public sentiment. The city of Wash- ington and the archives of the government were in imminent danger of capture by the rebel forces. On the 15th, Presi- dent Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for 75,000 militia, for three months, for the defence of the govern- ment, and convening both houses of congress in extra ses- sion. On the 16th, Governor Gilmore issued his call for a regiment of volunteers from New Hampshire, in compliance with the request of the president, and Keene was made one of the recruiting stations.
On the afternoon of Friday, the 19th, handbills signed by leading men of both parties were circulated in Keene and the adjacent towns calling on the people of Cheshire county to assemble at Keene on Monday, the 22d, to take action on the national crisis. That mass meeting was held in Central square at 1 o'clock on the day named. Hon. Levi Chamberlain-one of the three commissioners from New Hampshire, recently returned from the "Peace Congress" at Washington-called the meeting to order, and Ex-Governor Samuel Dinsmoor, a Democrat, was chosen president, with seven leading men of the county, three of whom were also Democrats, vice presidents. Governor Dinsmoor took the chair and made a short patri- otic speech in which he said: "Amid the general gloom which pervades the community there is yet one cause for congratulation-that we at least see a united North." General James Wilson was at home from California on a visit and Governor Dinsmoor introduced him to the multi- tude. Both gentlemen wore rosettes of the national colors, and each as he came forward was received with enthusi- astic applause. Gen. Wilson made one of his old-time rousing speeches. He was intensely patriotic, and though too far advanced in years and too feeble to take the field himself, his eloquence roused the patriotism of the younger men. He was followed by others, several of whom offered their services on the spot. Col. Tileston A. Barker, of Westmoreland, a Democrat, offered to lead a company to the front; and such a company was immediately organized, with full ranks-named the Cheshire Light Guards-and
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KEENE IN THE CIVIL WAR.
was ready to march within three days. Hon. Levi Cham- berlain presented a paper already signed by twenty-three citizens, pledging $100 each to aid the families of those who would volunteer in case the town did not make an appropriation for that purpose, and the list was rapidly increased.
The same evening' a meeting of the citizens of Keene was held in the town hall to encourage enlistments and to take further action towards aiding the families of volun- teers, followed the next evening by another meeting for the same purpose. During this second meeting Lieut. Henry C. Handerson, who had been appointed recruiting officer at Keene, marched into the hall with a company of recruits; and they were received with rousing cheers. That com- pany, sixty-seven strong, left for Concord on Thursday, the 25th, and was assigned to the First regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, organized at Concord. The route then was by cars via Fitchburg, Groton Junction and Nashua, and a crowd of people assembled at the station to bid them Godspeed. Rev. Dr. Barstow offered a prayer, and an agent of the New Hampshire Bible Society gave each volunteer a testament.
The excitement continued through the summer and fall, and frequent meetings were held, several of them being mass meetings on the Square. The same enthusiasm pre- vailed throughout the North. Legislatures were called together and regiments of volunteers were rapidly organ- ized in all the states. Troops from Massachusetts, New York and other states were promptly on the ground to defend the capital and other points. The number of troops called for by President Lincoln had volunteered within ten days, and the quotas of the states were more than filled. During that season of 1861, besides a battalion of cavalry, a light battery of six rifled brass pieces-155 men-and three companies of sharpshooters, New Hampshire organ- ized and put into the field seven regiments of infantry ; and the eighth left the state in the winter following-in all nearly 9,000 men.
On the 6th of May, Capt. Barker's company of seventy- nine men and a third company of recruits of sixty-two
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
men left Keene for Portsmouth amid the cheers of a large concourse of people. Thus far all had enlisted for three months only, under the first call of the president, but these two companies, and others from other places, were accepted by the governor and sent to Portsmouth with the expectation that more troops would be needed; and the call soon came for another regiment from New Hamp- shire, to serve for three years or the war. Those who had enlisted for three months were given the first opportunity to serve in the longer term, and about one-half of the 1,000 volunteers then present at Portsmouth immediately reenlisted for three years or the war. They were assigned to the Second regiment and given a short furlough to pre- pare for their long absence. A large proportion of Capt. Barker's men reënlisted, and the company came home in a body.
There were no funds in the state treasury to meet these extraordinary expenditures, but the banks, the citizens and Gov. Goodwin himself became responsible for the money borrowed for the emergency. Two banks in Concord offered a loan of $50,000, and the three banks in Keene offered $10,000 each; and a little later, citizens of Keene subscribed for $25,450 of the loan of $150,000,000 negoti- ated by the government. Tuesday evening, May 28, a large meeting was held at the town hall to take further measures for providing for the families of volunteers. The sum of $5,000 had been subscribed on the paper already mentioned, but it was desired to secure appropriations from the town and legislation by the state for that purpose.
The women immediately began work in aid of the soldiers, furnishing underclothing, bandages, lint, and everything that might be needed by troops in the field or in the hospitals. The women of Keene held their first meeting for that purpose on the 6th of May at the house of Rev. E. A. Renouf. It was then decided to hold a meet- ing the next day at the town hall, and a large attendance was secured. At first packages were forwarded to Con- cord, where a state organization called the Soldiers' Aid Society had already been formed. Early in June the Chesh- ire County Soldiers' Aid Society, a branch of the state
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society, was organized in Keene, and the women of Keene, who were its officers and managers, acted under that organization. Correspondence and cooperation were estab- lished with societies in each town in the county, and their packages were sent to Keene, and later all the contribu- tions were forwarded direct from Keene to the agency of the National Sanitary Commission. Nearly every woman in Cheshire county was a member of the Soldiers' Aid Society. There was also a Juvenile Soldiers' Aid Society in Keene. This county organization continued with unabated zeal all through the war, held weekly meetings, received and forwarded large amounts in contributions- from the town societies and from individuals, churches and other organizations-and accomplished a vast amount of excellent work in aid of the sanitary and Christian com- missions. It had for presidents, Mrs. Thomas M. Edwards, Mrs. Thomas B. Kittredge, Mrs. Samuel Dinsmoor and Mrs. Thomas H. Leverett; for treasurers, Miss Loretta Boies, Miss Margaret R. Lamson and Miss Katherine Wheeler; for secretaries, Miss Susanna Thompson, Miss Katherine F. Wheeler and Mrs. Mary D. Smith; with Miss Mary W. Hale, corresponding secretary in the earlier part of the war. It was under the supervision of a board of eleven directors-of which the officers were members- selected from the several religious societies in town, and an assistant committee of men consisting of Hon. Samuel Dinsmoor, William P. Abbott, Caleb Carpenter, Sumner Wheeler and William P. Wheeler. At the close of the war, in 1865, the funds remaining in its treasury were used to aid the families of those soldiers who had lost their lives in the war. The organization was continued until 1871, when it did its last work to aid the sufferers by the great fire in Chicago. During the last two years of the war there was a Cheshire County Christian Commission, a branch of the national, with headquarters at Keene; and there was a Union League Club in Keene which held regu- lar meetings every week.
The New Hampshire legislature assembled on the 5th of June. Hon. Levi Chamberlain of Keene presented a series of resolutions pledging the resources of the state "for
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the integrity of the Union," and declaring, "That the duty of the General Government to suppress all attempts to dissolve the Union, is imperative, and cannot be evaded," which passed without a dissenting vote.1 On the 24th a bill passed the house-169 to 94-and became a law, appropriating $1,000,000 and placing it in the hands of the governor and council to be used for fitting out troops and sending them into the field, and the immediate organ- ization of three regiments was authorized.
FIRST REGIMENT.
The First regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers was organized by the appointment of Hon. Mason W. Tappan of Bradford, ex-member of congress, colonel; Thomas Whipple, Esq. of Laconia, a veteran of the Mexican war, lieutenant colonel; and Aaron F. Stevens, Esq., of Nashua, major. Rev. Stephen G. Abbott of Bradford, after the war a citizen of Keene, was appointed chaplain. The volun- teers from Keene were all in Company G, of which Horace T. H. Pierce was first lieutenant. Leaving Concord on the 27th of May, by the Worcester and Norwich route, the regiment reached New York on Sunday morning, where it was given a hearty reception, and proceeded thence through Baltimore to Washington. It was generously and even lavishly furnished with impedimenta by the state- provided with a military band of twenty-five enlisted musicians; sixteen four-horse baggage wagons, all new, with selected horses and harnesses made specially for mili- tary service, each company having one wagon to carry its ponderous cooking range and other baggage. A New York paper in giving an account of the passage of this regiment through the city said: "Accompanying the troops were one hundred and sixteen horses, sixteen baggage wagons, containing tents and provisions for thirty days, and one hospital wagon. There were also in attendance sixteen
1 Although large numbers of Democrats rallied loyally to the support of the government, the Democratic party was not unanimous in adopting a patriotic course, as is shown by the vote above stated. The New York Herald, Boston Courier, New Hampshire Patriot, Cheshire Republican, and other Democratic papers and some of the leading men of that party, were in active opposition to the administration, and soon became bitter and virulent. At first those leaders were followed by a small minority of their party, but with the inevitable opportunities for complaint of the management of those momentous public affairs their numbers increased until they formed a majority of the Democrats in the country.
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KEENE IN THE CIVIL WAR.
475
nurses, who took dinner at the Astor House." On its arrival in Washington it was reviewed by President Lin- coln, who complimented it as the best appointed regiment that had yet appeared at the capital. Its uniform, how- ever, furnished by the state, was of grey satinet of poor quality. After encamping for a few days near Washington the regiment joined the forces under Col. Charles P. Stone of the regular army, marched to Rockville, Md., and thence to Poolsville and was employed in guarding the crossings of the Potomac river. On the 7th of July, 1861, it marched via Sharpsburg to Williamsport, forded the river into Virginia, and joined Gen. Patterson's division. After a movement towards Winchester and a retreat to Charles- town, the division marched to Harper's Ferry, and the First New Hampshire recrossed the river and encamped at Sandy Hook. On the 2d of August its term expired, and the regiment returned to New Hampshire and was mus- tered out of service. Many of its officers and men after- wards joined other organizations and did good service in the war.
The names of the men from Keene are given below, with a brief record of their service. All were members of Company G. It is to be understood that they were privates and residents of Keene unless otherwise stated.1
Austin, Charles F. Age 21; enl. April 21; must. out Aug. 9. See Second N. H. V.
Bradford, Alonzo B. Age 21; enl. June 12; must. out Aug. 9. (Alonzo S. Brentford of Ayling's Register is doubtless the same person.)
Colburn, Eleazer. Age 21; enl. April 21; must. out Aug. 9. See Ninth N. H. V.
Cross, Charles R. Age 23; enl. April 19; must. out Aug. 9. See miscel. org. Dinonie, Octave. Age 22; enl. April 23; must. out Aug. 9.
Drummer, Charles H. Age 22; enl. April 19; app. 2d lieut. April 30; must. out Aug. 9. See Fourth N. H. V. and U. S. navy.
1 The abbreviations used in the tabular records are as follows:
Adjt
.adjutant.
Dept. department. Musc. musician.
Aft
after. Dis. disease. Must. .mustered.
App. appointed.
Disab .disability.
Non-com .. non-commis'nd.
Art artillery.
Disch discharged.
Org .. organizations.
B. (b.) .. born.
Enl. enlisted.
Priv private.
Byt
.brevet.
Exp. expired.
Prom promoted.
Capt. .captain.
H
heavy.
Reen1 reenlisted.
Cav
cavalry.
Hosp.
hospital.
Res ...
residence.
Co.
company.
I. C.
.Invalid corps.
Sergt sergeant.
Col.
colonel.
Inf.
infantry.
Sev .. severely.
Com commissary.
L .light.
Surg. .surgeon.
Com .. .commission.
Lt. and lieut ... .. lieutenant.
Transf. .. transferred.
Com'd. commissioned.
Maj. .. major.
V.R.C .. Vet. Reserve corps. Wd
Corp.
corporal.
Miss
missing.
wounded.
Cred
credited to.
Miscel miscellaneous.
Wds wounds.
Rxch exchanged. Q. M quartermaster.
Captd. captured.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Farwell, Artemas. Age 25; enl. April 22; app. sergt. July 12; must. out Aug. 9.
Gorman, Michael. Age 25; enl. April 19; must. out Aug. 9. See Four- teenth N. H. V.
Joslin, Horace. Age 25; enl. April 24; app. corp. July 12; must. out Aug. 9. See Third N. H. V.
Marsh, George W. Age 26; enl. April 19; must. out Aug. 9. See .Sixth N. H. V.
Pierce, Horace T. H. Age 37; enl. April 22; app. 1st lieut. April 30; must. out Aug. 9. See Fifth N. H. V.
Quinn, Samuel S. Age 21; res. Swanzey, after the war, Keene; enl. April 21; app. sergt. May 1; must. out Aug. 9. See Fifth N. H. V.
Ruffle, Josiah. Age 19; enl. April 24; deserted. See Second N. H. V.
Ruffle, Samuel H. Age 32; enl. April 24; must. out Aug. 9. See Second . N. H. V. Rines, George W. Age 23; enl. April 22; must. out Aug. 9. See miscel. org. Ross, Washington B. Age 20; enl. April 24; must. out Aug. 9.
Russell, Alonzo B. Age 24 ;. enl. April 22; must. out Aug. 9.
Russell, George F. Age 27; enl. April 19; must. out Aug. 9.
Slyfield, Andrew. Age 23; enl. April 23; must. out Aug. 9.
Stay, Charles. Age 21; res. Alstead, after the war, Keene; enl. April 22; must. out Aug. 9.
Steck, Friedrick. Age 29; enl. April 23; must. out Aug. 9. See Four- teenth N. H. V.
Streeter, Charles H. Age 18; enl. April 20; must. out Aug. 9. See Second N. H. V .; res. Troy, after the war, Keene.
Towns, Charles E. Age 22; enl. April 22; must. out Aug. 9. See Ninth N. H. V.
Waite, John H. Age 21; enl. April 22; must. out Aug. 9. See Fifth N. H. V.
SECOND REGIMENT.
The Second regiment was organized at Portsmouth early in May-first for three months' service, with Thomas P. Pierce of Manchester, a veteran of the Mexican war, colonel. But the government declined to take any more volunteers for the short term and the regiment was imme- diately reorganized with Gilman Marston, of Exeter, then member of congress from the first New Hampshire district, colonel, Frank S. Fiske, of Keene, lieutenant colonel, and Josiah Stevens, Jr., of Concord, major. Rev. Henry E. Parker, of Concord, a native of Keene, was appointed chaplain. Capt. Barker's company, from Cheshire county, was given the first place (Company A.) with Henry N. Metcalf, of Keene, first lieutenant, and Herbert B. Titus, of Chesterfield, second lieutenant. Company B was from Concord, with S. G. Griffin, of that city-formerly of Nel- son; after the war, of Keene-captain. The uniform of
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KEENE IN THE CIVIL WAR.
this regiment, as well as that of the First, was of grey satinet, but it soon gave place to the United States army blue. The Second was mustered into the United States service early in June, 1861, and on the 20th of that month, with 1,022 officers and men, left Portsmouth for Washing- ton, via Boston and New York. Governor Berry and his staff, ex-Governor Goodwin and many leading men of the state accompanied the regiment to Boston, where it was received with enthusiastic demonstrations. Immense crowds of people thronged the streets. An organization of fourteen hundred Sons of New Hampshire, accompanied by Governor Andrew and his staff and many prominent citizens, with military bands, escorted the regiment and its guests to the Music Hall, where a banquet had been pre- pared. At the close of the banquet, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, a native of Rindge, president of the Sons of New Hampshire, made a short, patriotic address, and Governor Andrew reviewed the regiment on the common. Proceed- ing by railroad via Fall River and the steamer Bay State, it reached New York the next morning. and received a similar ovation. And this was the manner in which all the earlier regiments were received in the northern cities as they proceeded to the front. From New York the Second was sent by the way of Harrisburg, passing through Baltimore, and reaching Washington on the 23d and encamping about one mile north of the White House.
The Second was brigaded under Col. A. E. Burnside, with the First and Second Rhode Island Volunteers, the Rhode Island volunteer battery and the Seventy-first New York Volunteers, and at the first battle of Bull Run was sharply engaged, losing nine men killed, thirty-five wounded -four of them mortally-and sixty-three taken prisoners. Col. Marston was among the wounded, and Lt. Col. Fiske succeeded to the command of the regiment. After that battle the Second was assigned to the brigade of Gen. Joseph Hooker and encamped at Bladensburg, Md. In October, Hooker's command was increased to a division and moved down the left bank of the Potomac to prevent a blockade of that river, and went into winter quarters at Budd's Ferry.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Early in April, 1862, Hooker's division joined the Army of the Potomac at Fortress Monroe, and was present at the siege of Yorktown. At the battle of Williamsburg the regiment lost sixteen killed, sixty-six wounded and twenty- three missing. Among the killed were Edward N. Taft and Nathaniel Lane of Keene. The Second shared in McClel- lan's campaign on the peninsula, with its "seven days' fight," and the depressing effects of those disasters. Re- turning with the army to Alexandria in August, the Second was engaged in the second battle of Bull Run and suffered heavy loss-thirty-eight killed and mortally wounded, and more than 100 wounded and missing, or about forty per cent of its whole number engaged. Dur- ing that autumn, while the main army was on its Mary- land campaign, the Second was attached to Sickles's divi- sion of Banks's command, which held the defences of Washington, and was encamped on the Virginia side of the Potomac. In November, Sickles's division rejoined the Army of the Potomac, then under Burnside, and the regi- ment was present at the battle of Fredericksburg, Dec 13, but was not actively engaged. Towards the last of Feb- ruary, 1863, it was ordered home "to recruit" (just before election) and was received with demonstrations similar to those made when it left the state. The men were furloughed, and they visited their families. The Seventeenth regiment was then organizing at Concord, and the government, not desiring another regiment from New Hampshire at that time, ordered the consolidation of the Seventeenth with the Second.
On the 25th of May, 1863, the Second again started for the front, with replenished ranks and with the regi- mental band of the Seventeenth, also transferred. Col. Marston had been promoted to brigadier general, and Capt. Edward L. Bailey, who had been raised to major and lieutenant colonel, was advanced to colonel. The regiment rejoined the Army of the Potomac at Rappahan- nock Station on the 13th of June, in time to take part in the retreat into Maryland, and was assigned to the Third brigade of Humphrey's division, Sickles's Third army corps. That corps reached Emmettsburg, Pa., on the 1st of July,
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