USA > New Hampshire > The Third New Hampshire and all about it, pt 2 > Part 22
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Nothing of note happened to our hero till the morning of 10 July 1863, after our troops had captured the lower part of Morris Island. We had advanced considerably towards Wagner, and they were firing solid shot, one of which, nearly spent, trundled along, striking him on the side of his calf, contusing but not disabling. Ile, however, went back with other wounded to Folly Island, from which place he reached the regiment in time to participate in the assault of 18 July, at which time he was taken prisoner. To show the uncertainty in such cases, it need only be mentioned that, on the following day, a letter written in regard to the casualities did not even so much as mention his disappearance, it probably being considered that he had possibly been wounded and would be heard from during the day, located in some hospital near by.
The circumstances attending his capture are not necessarily material to this history; yet there have been so many versions that at least one de- scription will be expected herein. He was taken to and contined in the Peni- tentiary at Columbia, S. C., with other prisoners. At the time, when it was threatened that captured Union officers should be set up in Charleston where Gillmore's guns could reach them, Bedel was told that he was one of the favored (?) ones. Tradition says he swore some terrible oaths, but didn't absolutely decline the favor. Speaking of profanity, leads us to remark that the Major occasionally indulged in the forbidden language, whenever oeca- sion in his judgment required its use. He probably used a maximum quan- . tity when pulled out of the ereck. While a prisoner at Columbia, it is said that Bob Toombs, a Confederate General, with whom Maj. Bedel had been acquainted in Washington before the war, called at the prison, having heard that his friend Bedel occupied a room there. He taunted Bedel with his loyalty, etc., and tradition steps in again and says Bedel cursed him roundly -- so roundly that he got put on bread and water diet and had closer con- finement for a limited period.
Col. Bedel's own story, as related in letter to Capt. Emmons, 4 March 1869, is as follows :
"I will explain how I was captured . . . soon after we passed the enemy's rifle-pits we came to a creek or the incoming tide from the left; and at that time Jackson ordered me to go forward to see if the creck was passable. I obeyed orders and passed the creek; but, on turning to hail the regiment. it was nowhere to be seen. The tide was rising and the bullets were flying pretty thick. I had no disposition to retreat, and seeing some troops to my right hurrying for the fort, I thought that perhaps the regiment had obliqued to the right and passed around the water, instead of coming through it, or at all events it was some portion of our attacking column making straight for a good place to enter the fort and capture a gun; and I hastened to join them. When near enough to distinguish per- sous, I found that these troops were rebels running into the fort instead of Yankees. I immediately endeavored to avoid them. When they discovered this they commenced firing upon me, as did also the rebels on the parapet ; and I was literally driven into the creek. When they thought they had killed me, or tired enough to do it, they came down and captured me in the
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water and took me into the fort, and threatened to kill me as a "d-d nigger officer," as I was taken in front of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts regiment.
There you have the whole of it. What others said about me I care not. The rebels gave me credit in their next morning paper for being captured while endeavoring to reach and spike a gun."
S. O. 458. W. D., 20 Dec. 1864, mustered him out as a Lieutenant- Colonel, to date from 5 April 1864. and in as a Colonel, to date 6 April 1864.
At one time a fresh arrival of prisoners at the place brought in our old Quartermaster-Sergeant, Varnum HI. Hill, then a Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, captured while with some Western troops, to which he had been assigned after promotion. Varnum - as the boys always called him - was very kindly given the privilege of quartering under the stairs in the corridor, the building being crowded. Varnum relates that the next day he heard some one using profanity in larger quantities than is usual or custom- ary ; and for want of something more interesting to do, he listened to find the cause, if possible. He suddenly thought the method or style of the sentences were familiar, and paying strict attention resulted in deciding it must be the Major. He called the guard and interrogated him. The guard didn't know the profane prisoner's name, but said in substance that he was a "d -- d Yankee Major from New Hampshire." That settled it. "Can I see him?" said Varnum. The guard obtained permission, and the result cannot be described in words. They embraced, they cried, they laughed hysterically, and then repeated. Result : they roomed together during their stay.
Upon being paroled, the Major steered his bark for New Hampshire and his family, not forgetting to call on " Uncle Abe," to lay before him the facts in relation to the manner our men were being treated while prisoners. He was a sort of Committee-in-Chief for that purpose, fully empowered by his comrades in prison ; and he promised them faithfully that before he saw his family even, their cases and his should be laid before the President. He faithfully executed this trust, and wore the old straw hat previously mentioned ; but before returning to New Hampshire le laid aside all evi- dence of rebeldom, and went home with a brand new uniform and, as the boys put it, " a biled shirt."
He remained at home with his family a part of the time and a part of the time at Camp Parole, until he was declared exchanged. He then rejoined the regiment, reaching it at Wilmington, N. C., on 11 April 1865 (accompanied by Capt. Atherton, who also had been a prisoner), after the capture of Fort Fisher and after the regiment had fought its last fight. He found the regiment in command of Maj. Trickey. Although Bedel (then Colonel) assumed nominal command of the regiment, Maj. Trickey practically remained in command, Lieut .- Col. Randlett being Provost Marshal. At Goldsborongh, Col. Bedel was in command of the Post. His parole was dated 10 Dec. 1864. nearly eighteen months after his capture. His commission as Colonel dates 6 April 1864. Ile was brevetted Brigadier- General of Volunteers for gallant and meritorious services (to date 13 March 1865).
After rejoining the regiment, Col. Bedel busied himself with inquiring into the history of the regiment, particularly that relating to statistics, and, as will be seen elsewhere, made notes of all he learned.
After being mustered out he returned to Bath, where he resided until his decease, 26 Feb. 1875. In IsBs and 1869 he was a member of the New Hampshire Legislature. representing his town. He was buried there, and his widow, with the three surviving children of the seven born to them, still (1889) resides there.
The Adjutant-General's Report (N. H.) of 1868 says, in reference to Mexican services: Serst. John Bedel was of Bath, N. H., the son of Gen. Moody Bedel. He was born in the Indian Stream Territory (now Pitts- burgh) { JJuly 1-22. Educated at Newbury Seminary. Vermont, and read law with Hon. Harry Hibbard of Bath. Admitted to the bar in 1550. En- listed as private in the Ninth U. S. Infantry, 25 March 1847. Joined Co.
.
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H and was made 1st Sergeant July, 1847. Discharged for disability at Vera Cruz, 8 Ang. 1847. Was appointed 2d Lientenant in the Ninth Infantry 30 Dec. 1847. Discharged in August, 1848.
NOTE I .- In the interim between discharge and appointment, it is said he returned to his home and taught school. He was a clerk in one of the departments at Washington for some years subsequent to the Mexican War.
NOTE 2 .- He did not accompany the regiment on the Bluffton recon- noissance, but remained in charge of the camp at Hilton Head. This was in March, 1862. He was in the reconnoissance up the Savannah River, also in March, and at the Pocotaligo affair, in October, accounts of which appear in their proper places.
NOTE 3 .- He was Post Commander at Goldsborough only during the temporary absence of Gen. Abbott to attend the funeral of his wife. On 6 July he resumed command of the regiment (Lieut .- Col. Randlett and Maj. Trickey being there and on duty).
NOTE 4 .- In October and November, 1862, at Hilton Head, Lieut .- Col. Bedel served on a general court-martial, as president of the court. The order, as printed at the time, read " Col. J. H. Bedel," by error. He was also on a general court-martial in January of the same year, at Hilton Head.
NOTE 5 .- He was siek upon the arrival of the North Bend at Vera Cruz, and was almost immediately placed in hospital, from which he was soon after discharged for disability.
CHARLES F. BRAINARD.
Brainard was the original Quartermaster-Sergeant, and served effi- ciently in that capacity till his promotion to 2d Lieutenant, 19 Jan. 1863, as of 17 Nov. 1862 (G. O. 3). Again, at St. Helena Island, a commission as Ist Lieutenant arrived, bearing his name, 26 June 1863; and he was duly mustered into his new grade 29 June, as of 23 June, rice T. M. Jackson, promoted to Captain. The commission was dated 13 May. He resigned in August, and his discharge was by S. O. 471. D. S .. 10 Aug. 1863, for disability.
Since the war his whereabouts has been uncertain. At one time he was in Richmond, Va .; at another at Washington, D. C. (clerk in the Treasury Building), in 1872; and later in the West. He was born in Elizabethtown, N. Y., 11 Sept. 1829; died at Washington, D. C., 13 May . 1881, of Bright's disease. Left a wife only, Cornelia A. (1632 Rhode Island Avenue).
JOHN S. BRYANT.
Bryant began his military life as a Corporal in Co. B. He was made Sergeant in December, 1862. and Ist Sergeant about 1 June 1864. From that grade was promoted to Ist Lieutenant, though he did not get mustered into his new grade till 23 May 1865, as of 26 April (his commission bearing date 6 April), cice J. Ackerman, promoted. He was ordered to act as Lieutenant 3 May (R. O. 23), and with his own company (B).
It was at Wilmington, N. C., that Bryant fell siek ; and he died on the evening of Tuesday, 23 May 1865, in his own tent, of malarial fever. The body was sent home and was buried at Exeter, N. II.
It will be noted that his muster-in as an officer and his death were of the same date. The last aet of this soldier on earth, was the raising of his almost powerless right hand toward heaven and taking a solemn oath to defend his country's flag. And almost immediately his light went ont.
WELBEE J. BUTTERFIELD.
He was born at Topsham. Vt., 16 April 128. His experience of several years with the militia. in Vermont, both in infantry and artillery, was of considerable value to him at the outset ; for he assisted largely in organizing and drilling Co. K, at Dover, in which he received a Ist Lieutenant's com-
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mission. He performed his duties faithfully and acceptably. He was not in the best of health when the regiment reached the South Carolina coast ; and little by little he grew worse, though on duty the most of the time.
On the discharge of Capt. Littlefield, he was placed in command of Co. K, 2 April 1862. It was his fortune, by a combination of circumstances, to be spared the dangers of the battle of 16 June 1862. He was Officer of the Day the day and night previous, and Lient. Scruton was Officer of the Guard; but one of the two was required to go on picket the night of the 15th, leaving the other to fill both positions. Lieut. Scruton chose to go on picket ; and it proved a fatal choice, for the piekets (four companies) joined the regiment on its way to the fight.
When Co. K was at upper end of Pinckney Island, about 10 Aug. 1862, his health had become so much impaired that he left the company and went to the regimental hospital, then at Graham's Plantation, where he remained about a week. Feeling somewhat improved, he returned to Pinckney Is- land, but not for duty. The company soon after left this post for Jenkins Island, practically a part of Hilton Head. and Capt. Butterfield (he had re- ceived a Captain's commission, dated 22 June) about the same time went home on a sick leave. Ile returned 2 Oct., by Steamer Star of the South, not much improved, and again took command of Co. K. relieving Lieut. S. M. Smith.
He resigned in March, 1863, after being fully satisfied that to continue longer in the climate would do him permanent injury ; and he was honorably discharged by S. O. 128, D. S., 6 March. His company parted with him with regret, and his brother officers all remember him with pleasure. It was the writer's fortune, while he himself was sick, to be called upon for clerical work occasionally by Welbee J. Butterfield, which service brought him into close relationship with his superior officer : and he remembers him as a kind- hearted man, a gentleman and an officer, with all that those terms imply.
He has, since the war, resided mostly in Vermont; but in 1887 was at Dover, N. H.
NOTE .- Capt. Butterfield died at Dover, N. H., Saturday, 28 Nov. 1891, at the residence of his married daughter, Eliza B. George, on St. John Street. The funeral took place Tuesday, 1 Dec. 1891, at the residence of hisdaughter. Present : Maj. Trickey, who conducted the services, Comrades Hanlon, Richardson. Estes and Eldredge. The four latter (all of Co. K). acted as bearers. The interment was at Pine Hill Cemetery, Dover. Capt. Butterfield's wife died at Boston, Mass., in February, 1887, at the Massa- chusetts General Hospital. and was buried in the Pinc Hill Cemetery. A son, George F., resides in Dover.
EDWIN N. BOWEN.
He was an original man of Co. I (Capt. Carlton), and went ont as a private. At his first fight (16 June 1862) he was wounded slightly in one of his ribs. In August. while his company was on outpost, he was promoted to Corporal. We find him sick at Folly Island (and in hospital), and umable to participate in the 10 and 18 July 1863 fights. He rejoined his company some time in the latter part of that month. After the evacuation of Forts Wagner and Gregg, Bowen received a furlough (with others) for good condnet during the siege.
Ile re-enlisted, and went home again, returning therefrom in latter part of April, 1-64. Meantime he had been snecessively promoted to Ser- geant and to Ist Sergeant. At re-enlistment he was a Sergeant. He par- ticipated in all the actions in the Virginia campaign where the regiment took part. On I Sept. (front of Petersburg), he wrote in substance that he had been promoted to Ist Sergeant. Was then in command of the com- pany and had been so for a week. The 2d Lientenant had recently got back. but was sick most of the time. There were 55 men in the company - about. 30 tit for duty. When the regiment went to Fort Fisher (January, 1865), Bowen, on landing, was, with others (Lient. Hitchcock in command), put
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on picket ; and the detail was kept there three days and nights, till after the capture of the fort. When Lieut .- Col. Randlett joined (17 Feb. 1865), with a detachment left behind in Virginia, Bowen was the recipient of a Ist . Lieutenant's commission in Co. K, to which he immediately went on duty. He did not get mustered till 6 May (as of 17 Feb.), and his commission was dated 4 Jan. 1865.
On 2 May, we find him on duty at Rose Hill (railroad duty) with about 40 men. Rose Hill is about five miles west of Magnolia. About one-half of the detail was stationed at a trestle two miles nearer Magnolia, under Bowen. He was at this place about six weeks. This substantially ends his service, so far as anything deserving of separate mention. The only important en- gagements he was not in were 10 and 18 July 1863, and 15 Jan. 1865.
He was born in Richmond, N. H., 14 Nov. 1843. Since the war he has resided at Fitzwilliam, N. H., where he is (1890) engaged in manufacturing. He attends the reunions quite regularly.
NOTE. - In September, 1892, Bowen (with Lient. Parker and the writer) made a Southern trip, embracing the battle-fields of the regiment. Bowen, on 9 June 1864, when the regiment was near Petersburg, was the scout to survey the rebel line on behalf of the Third New Hampshire. He did so, advancing stealthily to and into an open field, where he crept up to a point from which he could see the rebel battery ; and returning, reported to Lient. - Col. Plimpton that he could see a strong work on very high ground, with five guns in sight. Ever since that time Bowen has had a great desire to stand again upon the same spot and see whether his report had been correct and whether his judgment as to the rebel battery's strength and position was based upon facts. He and the writer walked the parapet of the battery in September, 1892, and the writer made a plan ( which see) ; and they also walked over much of the same ground that the regiment traversed on that day. Bowen is perfectly satisfied that his report and judgment were correet.
ANDREW J. H. BUZZELL.
Dr. Buzzell was born in New York City, 3 March 1831, but passed his boyhood days in Norfolk, Va. We next find him studying medicine, at Dover, N. II., with Dr. L. G. Hill, and graduating at Hanover in 1834. He soon afterward established himself in Dover, and became favorably known, both as an adept in the medical line and as a Christian gentleman.
He came to ns in September, 1862, having been appointed to fill a vacancy (see Hospital Department). Ile was well received at the regiment - indeed, would have been so received anywhere; for in his presence, one felt at once that the Doctor was a superior man -and had plenty to do.
Our Surgeon (Moulton) was absent on sick leave, with indications that he would probably never return, and Dr. Eaton, Assistant Surgeon, was well-nigh worn out. Changes soon occurred by which Dr. Buzzell was made Surgeon of the regiment, ere he had been with us two months -in fact had obtained the position asked for by him (of Gov. Berry) before the Third New Hampshire had assinned shape.
His skill soon became known beyond the limits of our regiment; and if any case requiring consultation ocenrred, he was sent for, and actually did mneh service outside of the regiment, as will be seen later on. He was at Pocotaligo (October, 1862), and went to Florida with the Inmber expedition (Jannary, 1863). Early in June, 1863, he was appointed a member of a Medical Board ( see G. O. 43, D. S.), and did good service upon it.
Upon our arrival at St. Helena. in June, 1863, where Strong's brigade was organized, Dr. Buzzell was appointed Medieal Inspector for all the troops there.
In July, 1863, when the troops (Third New Hampshire included) went over to Morris Island, the Doctor was left at Folly Island with the siek (of all the troops). After matters got into shape there, he joined the regiment at Morris Island. Soon after the charge on Wagner, Dr. Buzzell was made Brigade Surgeon. Following closely upon this, he was made Chief Medical Otlieer of our Brigade (practically same as Brigade Surgeon ) under Col. Guss.
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Under the multiplicity of his cares and duties, and the unhealthy cli- mate, Dr. Buzzell's health became considerably impaired, and a sick leave was granted him in September, 1863. from Morris Island. This was after the evacnation of Wagner. Previous to this, he had had special and almost sole charge of Gen. Gillmore, through a brief sickness, having one of our own hospital nurses (Murdongh) to assist him. The Doctor accompanied the boat expedition to Gregg (5 Sept. 1863), and in fact was in great demand.
Having returned from his leave, we find him next prominent at the execution of Kendall of Co. G, on Morris Island, in December. Early in 1864 we find him busily engaged, in addition to his other duties, in examining those who re-enlisted. Hle accompanied the regiment to Florida in April, 1864; and with it he went to Virginia. Here his well-known skill was sought for, and he was, as before, in great demand, often having charge of the entire medical department of our corps. At one time he had charge of the Flying Hospital. and was the chief operator. Indeed, at one time during this campaign, he had charge of a hospital where the surgeons under him were his seniors in rank.
In.August we find him a Hospital Inspector. Following closely upon the heels of this, we find him ordered North (started 12 Ang. 1864) to inspect the soldiers in hospitals, and order to the front such as in his judgment were fit for field service. While on this service, he made it convenient to . meet the original men in Concord, whose terms expired in August, 1864. The meeting was mutually agreeable, for everybody loved the Doctor.
During some portions of the autumn he was Brigade Surgeon as well as Medical Director of the Corps.
Late in September we find him again at the front; and in October he was appointed Medical Inspector of the Tenth Army Corps. This position he continued to hold until the reorganization of the Corps (in December), when he was appointed Medical Inspector of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps. Upon the illness of Gen. Birney, Dr. Buzzell was selected to accompany him to his home in Philadelphia, where the General soon died.
It may be inferred that the duties of these outside positions entirely deprived the Third New Hampshire of his services; but this was not the fact. He found frequent opportunities to visit the regiment and consult with our surgeons and officers. When the second expedition to Fort Fisher was gotten up, in January, 1865. the Doctor was assigned to an important place, in charge of the hospital ship of the expedition. The campaign proved to be too arduous. however; for at Wilmington, N. C., he succumbed, dying at the residence of a Mrs. Walker, 28 March, of typho-malarial fever.
A letter from a lady who was with him during his last illness says : "For ten days he lay on his couch of illness; and from the first he felt that the end would be as it is. He was perfectly resigned. Day after day I took my Bible, at his request, and read to him some of his favorite Psalms."
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An officer thus wrote: " Associated with him in the army for a con- siderable time. I had learned to love him dearly; and when I witnessed his noble, self-sacrificing charity in devoting his energies so earnestly to the welfare of the suffering prisoners who were then upon our hands at this place (Wilmington), I could not help feeling how good a man he was. It was in the discharge of his professional duties that he himself was taken sick. Suffice it to say. at present, that from the first he exhibited the sweet- est and most holy trustfulness in God: and although it was painful, yet I could not help thinking how beautiful it was to see the strong man resting with such childlike confidence upon the bosom of his Heavenly Father."
Dr. Buzzell was yet a young man -only 34; and to pass away in the midst of his usefulness -to pass away when honors were actually being thrust upon him; to die when administering to others that they might live - was indeed sad. Our regiment mourned deep and long. His remains were sent to his home in Dover. N. H., where a Masonic funeral was held on 4 April, the ceremonies being very imposing, and the ontburst of grief very general. By some singular but untoward circumstance no notice of the Doctor's demise preceded the arrival of the remains.
A fitting tribute to his worth was the conferring of a brevet, as Lientenant-Colonel. for gallant and meritorions conduct at the storming of Fort Fisher, to rank from 13 March 1865 (Act of Congress).
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The writer feels impressed to record one other phase of the Doctor's character. Upon the death of a soldier or officer, it frequently fell to the lot of the surgeon to communicate with the relatives of the deceased. Many a widow will have occasion to remember his letters to them, couched in the most beautiful language, and conveying a degree of sympathy and Christian consolation only such as he could thus convey.
EUGENE J. BUTTON.
He started as the 2d Corporal in Co. F. We find him promoted to Sergeant in July, 1862; and to Ist Sergeant 17 Oct., rice Stearns, com- missioned. In anticipation of the receipt of his commission as 2d Lieutenant, to which he had been recommended, we find him acting as 2d Lieutenant and in charge of the guard, 1 June 1863, at Botany Bay Island. His com- mission arrived 26 June, at St. Helena ; and he was mustered ou the 29th, as of 24th, and assigned to his own company (F).
In the charge on Wagner, 18 July 1863, he received a severe wound in the hand. This wound was at the hands of some Regular artillerymen, while they were vainly attempting to prevent a retreat. Ile served through the siege, and in a creditable manner. On 25 Nov. he was appointed Board- ing Officer in Light-HIonse Inlet by the then Provost Marshal of Morris Island (Capt. Randlett, of our regiment). In January, 1864, he was again promoted, being mnstered as Ist Lieutenant 20 Jan., and assigned to Co. I. He commanded Co. I while Capt. Houghton was at home with the re-enlisted men in March and April.
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