A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 72

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

USA > New York > A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 72

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The news from Fort Sumter and President Lincoln's call for troops aroused the utmost

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

excitement and enthusiastic patriotism throughout Kings county. The existing regi- ments at once began recruiting, and found no difficulty in swelling their ranks. Money be- gan to be poured out from every quarter to help those who proposed to do the fighting. The city government appropriated $75,000 to assist the families of those who volunteered. Plymouth Church gave $1,000, Pierpont Street Baptist Church $1,077, and others in lesser degrec. The Stars and Stripes were floated from every pinnacle, one Roman Catholic priest, Father Rafina, raising the emblem of union and liberty with his own hands on the top of his church, and military companies were being daily formed and nightly drilled. On April 20,-five days after receipt of the Presi- dent's proclamation,-General Duryea was or- dered to send two Brooklyn regiments to the front and selected the Thirteenth and the Twenty-eighth, and three days later (April 23, 1861) the former marched from its ar- miory under Colonel Abel Smith 600 strong. leaving 200 men behind awaiting equipment. The regiment went to Annapolis, and after- ward was stationed in Baltimore. The Twen- ty-eighth, under Colonel Bennett, went to Washington, and was on active duty until the end of the term of three months for which the enlistment of both regiments in the national service had been made. Both commands re- turned to Brooklyn when that time expired, although it was then beginning to be under- stood that the war had barely begun.

Writing of the history of the Thirteenth Regiment during the war, General Horatio C. King said: "Many of its officers and men there (on the return to Brooklyn after the three-months term) entered the volunteer service, and it is said that the Thirteenth fur- nished a larger number of officers from its ranks than any militia organization except the Seventh (New York City). One entire com- pany of the Fifty-first New York Volunteers ( Colonel Ferrero) was recruited by Captain Samuel H. Sims, formerly Lieutenant in Com-

pany B. Colonel Abel Smith raised the Eighty- seventh New York, and was killed by accident while superintending the organization. Captain Joseph Morgan, of Company C, afterward be- came Colonel of the Ninetieth New York Vol- unteers, in which Captain John Sullivan, of Company A, was a Captain. Captain Morgan also raised and commanded the One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Volunteers. John Manly was made Captain in the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth New York Volunteers, and was killed at Irish Bend, Louisiana. The Third New York Volunteers, Colonel Abel Smith, Jr .; Fifty-first New York, One Hun- dred and Thirty-ninth New York. Seventy- ninth New York ( Highlanders), Forty-sev- enth New York, Fifth New York Artillery, and Thirty-seventh New York were indebted to the Thirteenth for many excellent officers. Major John H. Walker, of Rankin Post, No. IO, G. A. R., was taken from the ranks of Company D by General Scott, and made an officer in the regular army. But it is impossi- ble to follow the names in detail. At least 600 of those who were connected with the Thir- teenth entered the army and navy and served their country with zeal and fidelity.

."Upon the retirement of Colonel Smith. Lieutenant-Colonel R. B. Clark was elected Colonel, with John B. Woodward as Lieuten -. ant-Colonel, and S. K. Boyd as Major. May 2, 1862, the regiment again responded to the call of the Federal Government, and pro- ceeded to Baltimore, where, after a march of four miles, it encamped just outside of Fort McHenry. The camp was christened 'Camp Crescent.' June 6th four companies of the regiment embarked for Fortress Monroe, thence to Norfolk. The remaining four com- panies, which left Baltimore June 7th, went direct to Portsmouth, Virginia, and the entire regiment a few days later arrived at Suffolk, Virginia. Here it was brigaded with the Sec- ond, Fourth and Twenty-fifth New York and the First Delaware, General Max Webber commanding, relieving veteran regiments.

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which were sent at once to the Peninsula. The country around was held by the Confed- erates, and the duty was both arduous and fraught with danger. The camp at Suffolk was called 'Camp Crooke,' after the com- mander of the Fifth (New York) Brigade, General Philip S. Crooke, recently deceased. It formed a part of the extreme left wing of McClellan's army, and rendered very effective and valuable service. At a review by General Dix, commanding the corps, accompanied by General Mansfield, the division, and General Webber, the brigade commander, General Dix complimented the organization as a 'su- perior regiment.' Picket duty and the usual accessories of war, except actual collision with the enemy, occupied the time until the expira- tion of the term of service, when, on August 3Ist, the men turned their faces homeward, and again received a most cordial welcome.

"Again, in June, 1863, and for the third time, the regiment was called into active serv- ice, and, with other New York militia, was hurried to the front. Colonel John B. Wood- ward was in command, with W. A. McKee as Lieutenant-Colonel. The presence of the militia organizations in Pennsylvania enabled veteran regiments to go to the immediate front, and, although no one of them was under fire, their service was of incalculable benefit to the Union cause. They had many weary marches, and suffered privations hard for un- seasoned troops to bear. The overwhelming defeat of the Confederates at Gettysburg, and their final retirement across the Potomac, ren- dered the services of the militia no longer in- dispensable, and, in consequence of the draft riots in New York, in July, 1863, the Thir- teenthi was ordered home, and during August did guard duty in the city while the draft pro- · ceeded, preventing further outbreak."

Many of the members of the Twenty- eighth Regiment also volunteered at once upon their return for active duty at the front, but the regiment as such did not leave Brooklyn again until 1863, when it was ordered to Har-

risburg, Pennsylvania. It was home again in July to aid in the suppression of the draft riots.

But gallant as these two regiments proved themselves, and ready for any sort of service as the officers and men undoubtedly were, there is no doubt that the fighting glory of Brooklyn was more fully maintained by the Fourteenth,-"the red-legged devils," which won a record that for endurance and accom- plishment is second to no other during the trying years of the great conflict. It was mus- tered into the service of the United States at first for the term of three months, and after- ward for three years. Its story is in brief that of the Civil War, from the time it marched away under Colonel Alfred M. Wood until it was mustered out June 1, 1864. Those who then had not completed their term of enlist- ment were at once transferred to the Fifth New York Volunteers, and gave abundant evidence that the fighting tradition of the Fourteenth had not suffered by the change of number.

On leaving Brooklyn May 16, 1861, the regiment, under Colonel Wood, went to Wash- ington, and on the 23d of the same month it was mustered into the service of the United States. Then, with its strength increased to 960 men by recruits from Brooklyn, it en- tered Virginia and suffered much loss in the- first battle of Bull Run. There Colonel Wood! was wounded and taken prisoner, and Liett- tenant-Colonel E. B. Fowler assumed com -- mand. Then its war record commenced in' stern reality, and it took part in the battles. of Manassas Plains, Chantilly, South Mount- ain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania Court House and a host of others, great and small. It was always on the move, always ordered to the front wherever was the danger line, and it could always be depended on to per- form whatever task was assigned to it. Under such circumstances its glory was great, but its- losses were heavy. At South Mountain it

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

lost thirty per cent. of its fighting force; at Gettysburg it lost half its available strengtlı, and so on the story of destruction went through the entire service. Needless to say that when, in 1864, the bulk of the regiment was honorably discharged and returned to Brooklyn, the survivors of a hundred fights met with a reception at the hands of their townspeople that certainly.repaid the veterans for many a weary march and three years of hardship and peril. When the war was over the regiment was reorganized under Colonel Fowler, who continued as its commandant until 1873, when he was succeeded by James McLeer, now Brigadier-General in command of the Second Brigade, New York National Guard.

On the outbreak of the war, as has been already said, the military fever in Brooklyn rose to a high pitch and separate companies were voluntarily formed in nearly every sec- tion of the city, the Brooklyn Grays, the Car- roll Hill Guards, Guard Lafayette, Relief Guard, City Guard and the like. When the war was fairly on a number of these organi- zations determined to unite in the formation of a regiment, and so in 1862 was started the Twenty-third. That command had a brief but honorable experience at the front. The Forty- seventh Regiment was organized the same year and after pretty much the same manner, but was recruited mainly from the military companies in the Eastern District. In May. 1862, under Colonel J. V. Meserole, it was ordered to assist in the defense of Washing- ton, and remained in the service of the Nation until, with the Twenty-third and other regi- ments, it was ordered back to assist in stop- ping the draft riots. The Forty-seventh after- ward performed another tour of duty at the front in 1863. In 1864 it was housed in its own armory, the first structure of the kind in Brooklyn.

The other regiments in which Brooklyn's sons took their share of fighting at the front included the 15th, 31st, 48th ("The Conti-

mental Guard," recruited by Colonel Perry), 50tl1, 51st, 56th, 67th (First Long Island, "Beecher's Pets"), 73d, 87th, 90tl (organized at East New York), 132d, 139th, 158th, 159th, 164th, 165th, 173d, 176th, 5th Artillery, and the 15th Engineers. Besides these there were many companies of Brooklyn men to be found all through the service, as in the First Engin- eers, Duryea's Zouaves, Fourth and Fifth Cav- alry and several others.

Having thus discussed as largely as need be here the force which Brooklyn directly sent into the field to defend the Union, it is proper to turn to the consideration of what was done at home to help the fighting arm. Besides the call for troops, one of the earliest things that brought the war right home to Brooklyn was an alarm (in the early part of 1861) from the Navy Yard over a rumor (rumors were rife in those days) that an at- tempt was to be made to destroy it by fire. In some way news of the rumored attack reached Captain Foote, then in charge of the yard, and he at once laid the matter before Mayor Powell, stating that he only had a force of seventy-five or eighty men,-too few to defend the Navy Yard,-and requested assistance so that the property of the Govern- ment might be protected. According to the news received by Captain Foote, the plans of the conspirators had been fully made, and made with so much thoroughness that the ut- most exertions were necessary,-immediately necessary,-to avert what promised to be a terrible catastrophe. Many at the time doubted the existence of a plot at all,-dubbed the in- cident "The Navy Yard Scare," and ridiculed the story generally ; but afterward it was fully confirmed that a plot to destroy the Navy Yard had really been concocted, although the exact details, so far as known, are not so ample as were those furnished by rumor. However, Captain Foote was thoroughly convinced that a plot was in existence, and fortunately so impressed Mayor Powell. with a sense of the seriousness of the situation that the latter at

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THE CIVIL WAR.

once placed the Thirteenth Regiment and Colo- nel Graham's artillery under arms ready to appear at a moment's notice, while an extra force of police (1,000, it is said) thoroughly patrolled the boundaries of the yard, on the river as well as on the land side, watched the ferries for suspicious gangs, or followed any loiterers near the scene of the proposed out- rage. The rest of the militia in the city was ordered to be in readiness to take up arms in quick order. Nothing unusual occurred, how- ever, the extraordinary precautions warning the conspirators against making any attempt, and the scare passed over as quickly as it had arisen.

There is no doubt of Brooklyn's entire loy- alty to the Government during the crisis of 1861. Doubtless some of the traitorous ele- ment which seemed to infect New York had an influence on a few in Brooklyn belonging to the lawless and discontented class, a class seemingly inseparable from all large commu- nities, in the poorer districts, but even of these the number who had any sympathy with the objects of the rebellion was very few. Brook- lyn was a loyal city, and it gave many unmis- takable evidences of it. Money was liberally subscribed, the Common Council doing its full share, and even the banks agreeing to make loans on terms which at other times would have been rejected, churches and societies voted money, private subscriptions were abundant, recruiting for the army was easy, and more than one corporation followed the example of the Union Ferry Company, whichi promised to pay the salaries of such of its employes as volunteered to those dependent upon them and to hold their positions in its service open until their return from the front. The members of the Kings County Medical Society promised to render to the families of the volunteers free of cost such medical serv- ices as might be needed.

The public interest was also manifested in many and unmistakable ways. On April 22, 1861, a mass meeting of citizens was held at

Fort Greene, at which it was estimated that 50,000 persons were present, and every Union sentiment was wildly cheered. A Union salute of thirty-four guns was fired, and the gather- ing demonstrated that clergy, politicians, busi- ness men and men of all ranks and shades of opinion had thrown down all the barriers which marked out their folds and come right out into the open with the single idea of sup- porting the national administration at Wash- ington. As Father Malone said, it was no time to talk about mistakes having been made, of this one to blame or that one to blame, to denounce politicians or even to anathematize those who had brought about the crisis. The crisis had come, the flag of the United States had been ruthlessly pulled down, and all should be forgotten until restoration had been ac- complished, and the only way to accomplish that was to support loyally and without reser- vation or question the Federal Government. It was a grand meeting in every way, and re- sulted in a generous outpouring of money as well as a marked impetus in the enrollment of volunteers for duty at the front. It has been estimated that from April, 1861, until July, 1862, 10,000 Brooklyn men went into the military service of the Government. It should be remembered that no one anticipated the imagnitude of the struggle on which the coun- try had entered, and all had underrated the tenacity of purpose with which the Southern States would cling to their Confederacy.

The enlistments for active service in Brook- lyn, as in most other places where the loyal spirit predominated, were rapid at first; but when it began to be realized that three months were really to cut no figure in the settlement of the disturbance and that the end promised to be a matter of years, vounteering began to fall off at a most alarming rate. This is not to be wondered at. This is a nation of busi- ness men and business is too complex a con- cern to be easily laid aside for three or four or an uncertain number of years and then taken up again, while even those holding situ-

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

ations could hardly expect them to be kept open indefinitely awaiting their return. Under these circumstances there was little cause for surprise that the active war spirit should fag a little. The country was in the position of a traveler who finds himself at the bottom of a very steep bit of road. To get over it quickly he gathers up his strength, discovers it to be steeper than he imagined and that he had used up all his energy in the first rush; so he has to wait a little until he recovers a little of what he has wasted, and then, wiser than before as a result of his first experience, he carefully and stolidly plods upward until he reaches the top and finds himself on level ground once more.

But while the enlistments fell off in Brook- lyn there were no suggestions heard anywhere in the city that the war should cease except as a result of submission on the part of the seceded States, and every effort was made to encourage the military arm. It was felt that the work entered upon had to be completed. All sorts of inducements were offered to stim- ulate recruiting. Money continued to pour in to various committees organized to help the families of those who were in the tented field, and subscriptions to provide equipment for new regiments or companies starting for the front were liberally responded to. The Com- mon Council, the Board of Supervisors and corporations of all kinds generally regarded as soulless, gave liberally and promptly. There is no need of going into details or to quote examples. The patriotic liberality of Brook- lyn at this juncture was beyond all praise, and the credit belongs to the city at large rather than to the individual givers.

Brooklyn aided in the defense of the Union very effectively also in another way. It was in one of her shipbuilding yards,-that of A. J. Rowland at Greenpoint,-that Ericsson's famous Monitor was constructed. It was launched January 30, 1862, just 100 days after the keel had been laid, a marvel of rapidity, and the strange vessel, almost every line of

which evolved a new idea, was completed with equal haste, but without any sacrifice of essen- tial qualities, so that she was put in commis- sion on February 25th. On March 9th she had concluded her virgin voyage to Hampton Roads, and at once engaged the Confederate- ironclad, "Merrimac," which was playing havoc with the wooden ships belonging to the United States Government. The success of the "Monitor" was so immediate and complete that the Government ordered quite a fleet of similar vessels, no fewer than seven additional ones being constructed at Rowland's estab- lishment. Long before the war closed a large number of war vessels of various grades had been constructed in different yards at Greenpoint.

Greenpoint, during the whole of the war period, was an exceptionally busy place, thanks to its shipbuilding industry. The "Brooklyn Union," of March 17, 1864, in referring to this, gave the following summary, after speak- ing of the succession of monitors built in Rowland's yard :

Though Brooklyn has had to bear its full share of the responsibilities and burdens of the war, its natural advantages and the enter- prise of its people have proved equal to any exigency ; and the course of our city has been as prosperous and as progressive as in more auspicious times. A satisfactory attestation of this fact may be had by a walk through. the outskirts of the city, where costly struc- tures rear their lofty heads, and the busy hum of industry may constantly be heard. The large manufacturing interests of our city,- which exist to an extent that but few of our citizens have any conception of,-are all high- ly prosperous, and are employed to their fullest capacity.

But it is in that portion of our city known as Greenpoint where the greatest evidences of progress and prosperity are to be seen. Within the past year a dozen or more streets in the Seventeenth Ward, which promise to become the most frequented and important thorough :- fares, have been opened, graded and paved, thus enormously enhancing the value of the property in that district. In the same ward.

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there has been erected within the past eight months not less than 100 first-class dwelling houses and stores, and yet the demand is greatly in advance of the supply. Besides these buildings, there have been erected in the same locality docks, ferry houses and factories, which have largely increased the traffic and importance of the neighborhood.

But, perhaps, the most encouraging feat- ure of Brooklyn enterprise is to be found in the unabated prosperity of the shipbuilding in- terest. The estimated value of the vessels now building at Greenpoint, including those for the Government, is upwards of ten million dollars, and the number of persons employed thereon

* * is between two and three thousand. *

A. J. Rowland has two iron monitors un- der way. One, the "Puritan," a sea-going ves- sel (length, 340 feet; breadth of beam, 50 feet ; deptlı, 23 feet), is the largest of the monitors yet built, and is justly regarded as a perfect marvel of naval architecture and strength. She is so nearly finished that she will be ready for launching early in May. The other iron vessel under way at this yard is the "Cohoes," a light draft monitor for coast service. She is 300 feet long, 42 feet wide, 28 feet depth of hold, and 2,800 tons burden. The number of hands employed at this yard will average about 500.

The Dry Dock Iron Works is a young rival of Mr. Rowland's establishment, and was opened last fall by Mr. J. S. Underhill. At this establishment is being constructed a light draft monitor, to be called the "Modoc," and in all respects similar to the "Cohoes," building in Mr. Rowland's yard.

Mr. Henry Steers, at his yard, is building for the Government the sloop "Idaho," a vessel of 3,000 tons, 300 feet long, 44 feet wide, and 27 feet depth of hold. The "Idaho" will be launched within a month from this time. She is built with an express view to speed, will be furnished with two propellers, and contain engines of 3,000-horse power, and will prove a splendid addition to the United States Navy.

A large number of ocean and sound steam- ers (both side-wheel and propellers), ferry boats and wooden vessels were also being con- structed in the various yards.

The Navy Yard was, as might be expect- ed, continually busy during those days of con- flict. Besides repairing many existing vessels, the following were constructed at this great establishment between 1861 and 1864:

Sloop "Oneida," launched November 20, 1861.

Steamer "Octorora" (paddle-wheel, double ender), launched December 7, 1861.

Screw steamer sloop "Adirondack," launched February 22, 1862.

Screw sloop "Lackawanna," launched Au- gust 19, 1862.

Screw sloop "Ticonderoga," launched Oc- tober 16, 1862.

Steamer "Shamrock," launched March 17, 1863.

Steamer "Mackinaw," launched April 22, 1863.

Steamer "Peoria," launched October 9, 1863.

Steamer "Tullahoma," launched November 28, 1863.

Steamer "Algonquin," launched December 31, 1863.

"Miantonomah," ironclad, double turret, launched August 15, 1863.

Screw sloop "Maumee," launched July 2, I863.

Screw sloop "Nyack," launched October 6, 1863.

Screw sloop "Madawaska," launched July 8, 1865. (Engines, boilers, etc., built by Johy Ericsson).

Screw sloop "Wampanoag," launched De- cember 15, 1864.

CHAPTER XL.

THE DEATH GRAPPLE OF THE STRUGGLE.

BROOKLYN'S MEETINGS AND CONTRIBUTIONS-THE SANITARY FAIR-THE WAR FUND COMMITTEE-REPAIRING THE LOSSES-THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.

B EFORE the middle of 1862 had passed President Lincoln and his cabinet felt that a fresh crisis had to be faced, and in view of the falling off in the enlistment a call was issued August 4th for a draft of 300,000 troops to serve for nine months. The quota assigned to Kings county under this call was 4,294. By that time the first glamor of the war was over, the ideas of a short and glorious campaign had been dissipated and the certainty of a long and bitterly waged contest had taken possession of the people. In other words, the conflict was no longer a fad, but a life-and-death struggle, and the sadness of the outlook induced an apathy that seemed inconsistent to thoughtless minds when considered in the light of the previous enthu- siasm. It was, however, merely the natural relaxation which comes to nations as to men in times of over-excitement, and that may be regarded as the real solution of the apathy which Brooklyn, and so many other centers of genuine patriotism, showed to this third call of the Government for troops. The re- sponse certainly was disappointing. But a public meeting held at Fort Greene on August 15th to consider the situation changed all that. so far as Brooklyn was concerned, and again aroused the same enthusiasm which had marked the opening story of the war. On the day following the Board of Supervisors of-

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 72

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188