USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121
The second camp occupied by the regiment in Baltimore was Camp Belger, situated near the residence of Judge Bond, in the vicinity of Druid Hill Park. Here they built commodious winter quarters, the barracks forming three sides of a rectangle. The main building was about 500 feet long, the two wings about 200 feet each.
The regiment was retained in Baltimore during the winter and spring, and, in company with the 15Ist, was engaged in guarding hospitals and stores. The government had fitted up as hospitals the large hotels and the residences of some of the lead- ing rebels in that city, and in these were our wounded and convalescent soldiers from the cam- paign of the previous year. These duties were of the most trying kind. The regiment, being separ- ated into small detachments, and in contact with the large rebel element of that city, quite a number were induced to desert. Some of these afterwards returned and voluntarily reported that they received larger bounties for deserting than for enlisting.
Only once while performing these duties did they break camp. Dec. 29, 1862, they, in company with one other regiment and a battery, were sent up the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, to the cross- ing of the Monocacy, three miles from Point of Rocks and a like distance south of Frederick City, Md., to intercept a rebel force reported to be raiding into Maryland to gather grain stored there. They returned from this expedition Jan. 2, 1863.
The regiment was brigaded and attached to the 8th army corps, first under command of Gen. Wool, and afterwards of Gen. Robert C. Schenck. Dur- ing the Confederate sortie to the Susquehanna in the summer of 1863, it was engaged in barricading the streets of Baltimore and incidental duties. June 25, 1863, it broke camp, and in company with two Maryland regiments, under command of Gen. Lockwood of the regular army marched through Poplar Springs and Monocacy to a hill north of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Monocacy River, which overlooked the entire val- ley through which the army of the Potomac was marching, having accomplished a distance of thirty-nine miles in two days. Here the regiment encamped. The men were very footsore and glad to exchange fine boots for army shoes, which were issued to them on Sunday, which was a veritable day of rest.
June 29, 1863, the 150th was ordered to join the 12th corps, commanded by Gen. Slocum, which it reached on the 2d of July, after a march of forty-six miles, through Frederick City and Bruce-
159
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, THE 150TH REGIMENT.
ville to Gettysburg, the last seven miles being made by a forced march in two and one-half hours, without blankets or knapsacks. It arrived on the field of Gettysburg between 4 and 5 A. M., and was assigned to the 2d brigade, Ist division, of the 12th corps. It was held in reserve till the afternoon of that day, when, with the first division of its corps, it was marched to the support of Gen. Sickles, who had injudiciously posted his forces in an untenable position and was forced back with the loss of half his troops to the position originally designed for him by Gen. Meade. The 150th did not have occasion to fire a gun. It returned during the night to the position of the 12th corps, on the ex- treme right of the national line, at the barb of the hook formed by Cemetery Ridge, on the crest of which from Culp's Hill to Round Top Meade's army was posted. While the contest for the pos- session of Little Round Top was in progress, Ewell, who had discovered that Culp's Hill was weakly defended, from the withdrawal of troops from Slocum's command to the left of the line, made a vigorous attack late in the afternoon and succeeded in getting a foothold within the exterior intrenchments, but was dislodged at the point of the bayonet early the next morning. This was the first fight in which the regiment engaged. The casualties were 8 killed and 25 wounded. Some 200 of the rebels surrendered to it.
The regiment then joined in Meade's dilatory but fatiguing pursuit of Lee's defeated army, march- ing and countermarching till August Ist, when it crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's Ford, and supported as skirmishers the cavalry, who drove the enemy. It re-crossed the river on the 2d, and on the 5th went into camp. During this period the men were without food and knapsacks for two days immediately following the battle of Gettys- burg, the latter having been sent to Westminster for safe keeping. On the 7th of July, while on the march, they were cheered by the news of the sur- render of Vicksburg. On the 11th of that month they came up with the enemy in intrenched works and had some skirmishing. On the 17th, the regi- ment was changed to the 3d brigade of the same division, commanded by Gen. Ruger. Much of the time the march was over muddy roads, and such were the fatigues, that on the 3Ist of July nearly all the officers were sick, only seven being fit for duty ; and this was the condition of a pro- portionate number of the men.
From the 5th to the 29th of August the regiment lay in tents and drank bad water. Most of the
men were sick with acclimating fever, and at the latter date there were 250 cases in the hospital with typhoid and malarial fever. On the 30th of August the regiment was removed to elevated ground and excused from duty on account of the great amount of sickness. Those who remained with the regiment recovered; but those who went to hospitals and had better treatment mostly died, both officers and men.
The regiment remained in this camp till the 16th of September, when it crossed the Rappahannock, marched through Stevensburgh to Raccoon Ford on the Rapidan, and encamped in woods, on low swampy ground, eighty rods east of Cedar Run. It was engaged in picket duty along the Rapidan till the 24th of September, when it returned through Stevensburgh to Brandy Station, where, on the 25th, it received pay for the first time since leaving Bal- timore.
The 150th was now to be transferred to other, not less trying duties. After his defeat at the bat- tle of Chickamauga, Sept. 19, 1863, Rosecrans withdrew the Army of the Cumberland to the de- fenses of Chattanooga, and was succeeded in the command by Gen. Thomas. Here Bragg followed and invested them so closely that they were threat- ened with starvation, or a disastrous defeat if the evacuation of the place was attempted. In this extremity Gen. Grant was assigned to the com- mand of that army, which was re-enforced by Sher- man with the Army of the Tennessee, and by Hooker, with the 11th and 12th corps from the Army of the Potomac. In conformity with this arrangement the 15th left the latter army, and took the cars at Bealton for Washington on the 27th of September. Thence it proceeded by rail and arrived at Stevenson, Ala., Oct. 3d. On the 5th it moved north to Decherd with the division to open the line of communication, the rebels having cut the road in their rear. It returned as far as Wartrace on the 6th, and rebuilt the railroad bridge destroyed by the enemy. The regiment was scat- tered along this road for twenty miles to guard it, with headquarters at Tullahoma. Here they built comfortable quarters.
October 23d, the regiment marched through a cold rain to join the rest of the corps, then near Lookout Mountain, passing over the mountains through Decherd to Anderson. The enemy had again broken the road in their rear, and on the 26th they were ordered back a second tinie, making a most fatiguing march over the mountains just crossed, camping at Cowan on the night of the
160
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
26th, and at the old quarters at Tullahoma on the 27th. On the 28th they marched to Normandy, Tenn., where the headquarters of the regiment remained during the winter. The regiment was divided into three detachments, one stationed at Normandy, another at Duck River, and a third at the water-tank midway between Normandy and Tullahoma, to guard the railroad over which were carried the supplies for the army at Chattanooga, and along which blockhouses were built for its pro- tection. The country was infested with guerillas and Forrest's cavalry were hovering around in all directions, so that no man was safe out of camp alone.
Foraging parties were sent out at different times in various directions. In the early part of Feb- ruary, 1864, such a party was sent into Lincoln county, twelve miles from Tullahoma. A Lieu- tenant and three of his men belonging to a Michi- gan regiment lingered a very short distance behind their train and were surprised and captured by guerillas. They were taken at night to the bank of a stream, their hands tied behind them, and the three men were shot and their bodies thrown into it. The officer, who was a good swimmer, jumped down the embankment and escaped. On learning the facts, Gen. Slocum, by order of Gen. Thomas, ordered Col. Ketcham to go down into Lincoln county with his regiment (the 150th) and the 13th N. J., and collect from the inhabitants living within ten miles of Mulberry, $30,000, of which $10,000 was to be sent to the families of each of the three men thus murdered. Col. Ketcham executed the order, taking from some of the people cotton instead of money, at a value it would certainly bring, and shipping it to Nashville. Anticipating that his collections would exceed the authorized amount by $5,000 or $6,000, he announced to certain of those on whom the impost rested most heavily that he should recommend the redistribu- tion of the surplus to them. But on the return of the regiment February 1 1th, George Lovelace and John E. Odell, who had charge of the Colonel's and Surgeon's horses, and were a few rods in advance of the regiment, were shot dead by "bush- whackers" at a turn in the road about eight miles from Tullahoma, and the horses hurried away, though the latter were recaptured by the cavalry connected with the command. In consequence of these murders, Col. Ketcham recommended that the surplus, instead of being returned, be paid to the families of the murdered men, each of whom received $2,500. The regiment and its Colonel
received the thanks of the commanding officer for the prompt and efficient manner in which they exe- cuted this trust.
About a hundred guerillas were captured by the regiment at different times while guarding this road. Among them were the leaders of the gang and the principal men of the locality, about sixty of whom were shot.
In the spring of 1864, a re-organization of the army was effected. Grant having been appointed Lieutenant General and taken charge of the Army of the Potomac, Sherman was assigned to the command of the Military Division of the Missis- sippi, comprising the armies of the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and Arkansas. In this change the 150th was brigaded with the 2d Massachusetts, 13th New Jersey and 27th Indiana.
April 26, 1864, the 150th marched to Tullahoma, and thence on the 29th through University Place, across the Cumberland Mountains, encamping May Ist between Nickajack Cave and Shell Mound. The march was resumed on the 2d over a very bad road, "most of which was cor- duroyed during the winter with dead mules," to Whiteside Station, passing around the point of Lookout Mountain on the 3d to Somerville, near Chattanooga. On the 4th it marched to Gordon's Mill, on the old Chickamauga battle-field, and on the 5th to Taylor's Ridge. On the 6th it sent back its extra baggage and prepared for action. Thence it followed the movement of the army in its detour through Snake Creek Gap, by which the strong position of Dalton was turned and its evac- uation compelled on the 12th.
Sherman then directed his forces against Resaca. There was heavy skirmishing along the entire front on the 13th, and at I P. M. on the 14th an attempt was made to break the enemy's line and force him from an elevated position in the immediate front. The effort, though bravely made, was futile. At 3 P. M., Johnston, in an effort to turn Sherman's left, made an impetuous attack, which was at first suc- cessful ; but, re-enforced by Hooker's corps, the Confederates were driven back about dusk with great loss. In this movement the 150th was marched from the extreme right to the extreme left of the line. Its timely arrival prevented the loss of a battery which the enemy had well nigh taken.
The battle was renewed on the 15th. The 150th, which, in the early part of the engagement, was held in reserve, was ordered to take position on a com- manding eminence on the extreme left, toward
161
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, THE 150TH REGIMENT.
which the enemy were seen to be moving. Their experience at Gettysburg taught them the advan- tage of an intrenched position, and the rails from an adjoining fence were quickly appropriated. Even this meager protection doubtless saved them many men in the heavy fire to which they were soon after subjected. The remainder of the bri- gade were hotly engaged on their right a half mile distant. Soon eight regiments were seen to emerge from the woods in their front into an open field, across which they advanced in splendid order. The 150th reserved their fire till the enemy had advanced to within three hundred yards, when a murderous volley was poured into them with deadly effect. So destructive was this fire, that Col. Cal- houn, (now Mayor of the city of Atlanta,) who commanded the regiment on the extreme right of the advancing foe, afterwards admitted to Gen. Smith, then Major of the 150th, that his regiment never had a roll call afterward.
This terrible and unexpected fire caused the enemy to move off by the left flank and seek pro- tection behind a fence which ran nearly at right angles with the line of the 150th. From that po- sition they kept up a scathing fire, which, within fifteen minutes from the time they opened, had cut down every stalk of corn which had partially con- cealed the 150th, and plowed the garden in their front as thoroughly as with plow and harrow. One could not place his hand on the little house which stood in rear of the regiment without covering a bullet mark. Notwithstanding the great disparity in numbers the 150th held its position immovably through the day, without being re-enforced or re- lieved ; yet with singularly light casualties, having only one officer and eight men wounded. The wounds mostly proved fatal, as the regiment, from the want of vegetable food, was suffering from
scurvey. But Lieut. Stephen Van R. Cruger, then Adjutant of the regiment, who was most se- verely wounded, recovered and rejoined the regiment in time to take the march with Sher- man to the seaboard. He is now Colonel of the 12th Regt. N. G., S. N. Y. in New York City, and the agent of the Trinity Church property.
Johnston withdrew his army from the defenses of Resaca during the night of the 15th. He was closely pursued and forced across the Etowah. After a rest of three days, from the 20th to the 22d, (the only one the 150th had during the Atlan- ta campaign of about a hundred days,) during which Sherman forwarded supplies to his army, Johnston's position at Allatoona Pass was turned
by a circuit toward Dallas, Hooker having the ad- vance, and having some sharp encounters at New Hope Church, in which the 150th was again engaged.
On the 25th of May, the regiment having marched from Cassville, its resting place, through Euharlee, Stilesborough and Huntsville, towards Dallas, was reached by an Orderly and directed to re-cross Pumpkin Vine Creek to re-enforce General Geary, who was hotly engaged on their left. The brigade to which the 150th belonged, then com- manded by Thomas H. Ruger, the late commandant at West Point, advanced in splendid order, the 27th Indiana being on the right of the 150th, and the 3d Wisconsin and 107th New York on its left, the extreine left resting on the New Hope Church road. The brigade advanced to within a few rods of the enemy's works, and held its position from 4 P. M. till midnight. Several attempts were made to relieve them with other troops, but none suc- ceeded in retaining a position in front of them. The casualties of the 150th were six killed and thirty-six wounded. Lieut. Mabbett was wounded by a spent grape shot, which passed over his head while lying down, and struck him in the back. Sergt. Story, of Co. C, deserves honorable men- tion. He fell while commanding and gallantly leading his company. Sergt. Blauvelt, of Co. E, who was one of the best sergeants in the regiment, was mortally wounded and died in a few days. The 150th was favored by its position, having passed the crown of the hill, so that the enemy could not depress their guns sufficiently to reach them. The regiment upon its right was driven from the field, and those upon its left suffered in casualties four-fold. The 150th covered the guns of the enemy so thoroughly that six in their front were silenced. The regiment retired from this line at midnight in a drizzling rain, and received the congratulations of Gens. Hooker and Williams, the corps and division commanders, for their noble conduct.
The regiment participated in those movements by which the turning of Allatoona Pass was com- pleted and the railroad at Ackworth reached, being almost continually under fire, which was at times of great severity, and for three days awaiting orders for an assault, for which every preparation had been made. On the 11th of June, while the movements in front of Marietta were in progress, Corporal Henry L. Stone, of Co. A, was killed by the ex- plosion of a shell while engaged in constructing breastworks. This same day a shell from Battery
162
HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.
I, which the 150th was supporting, killed instantly the rebel Gen. Bishop Polk, (a brother of the ex- President,) who, in company with Gens. Johnston and Hardee, was reconnoitering Sherman's posi- tion .*
June 22d, while Sherman was slowly advancing his army on the enemy's entrenched position on Kenesaw Mountain, the 150th, with the command to which it belonged, was moved to the right of the army. At noon the regiment reached the edge of an open field, which extended on the left to the top of Kenesaw Mountain, four miles distant. It was soon evident from the angry mutterings on the skirmish line posted in the ravine in their front, that a battle was imminent. Hood's corps, with detachments from the others, sallied and attacked at 4 P. M., the blow falling mostly on Williams' di- vision of Hooker's corps and a brigade of Has- call's division of Schofield's corps. The 150th took position on the right of Battery M, Ist N. Y. Artillery, its only protection being a winrow of rails, formed by pushing in the corners of a rail fence and allowing it to fall. At 5 P. M. the rebel Gen. Stevenson's brigade, said to be from 6,000 to 9,000 strong, emerged from the woods opposite them, full three-fourths of a mile distant, and ad- vanced in splendid order across the open field, though terribly cut to pieces by the federal artillery, which, for nearly four miles on the left gave them a raking fire, while Battery M in front dealt most severely with them with grape and canister, and the regiment of infantry gave them a terrific enfilading fire. Still they advanced through the ravine and formed four lines of battle, the foremost of which was not distant fifty paces ; but the deadly fire compelled them to retire to the ravine, where, and in the gullies leading to it, a large number of the enemy were taken prisoners the following day.
This battle cost the 150th one of its most valued officers-Lieut. Henry Gridley, of Wassaic, then commanding Co. A. He was directing the fire of his men, and a color-bearer in the front of the enemy was shot down by his direction, by one of his men, named Gollenbeck. His last words to his comrades were : "Give it to them, boys ! Take dead aim !" The enemy were repulsed, though opposed only by a single, unsupported line of battle.
June 27th two assaults were made on the rebel lines simultaneously, one by McPherson, on Little Kenesaw Mountain, the other by Thomas, a mile
farther south. Both failed, and Sherman therefore resolved to turn the position at Marietta, and that movement was commenced on the night of July 2d, by McPherson. A feint, in which the 150th took part, was made to cover it. Johnston aban- doned Kenesaw the following morning and was driven across the Chattahoochee. Sherman forced the passage of that stream and posted his army in proximity to Atlanta, on the general line of Peach Tree Creek, and across the Augusta Railroad. Here, on the afternoon of the 20th of July, he was attacked in force by Hood, who had superseded Johnston in command of the confederate forces in Georgia. The blow was unexpected and its weight fell mainly upon Hooker's corps, which was un- protected by works, and fought in comparatively open ground. The attack was repulsed after a severe engagement.
In this battle the 150th again met the enemy. The division to which it belonged deployed under the immediate eye of Hooker, and bursting through the enveloping lines of the enemy, gained its position in the line, thus connecting its right and left portions. Companies E, H and B, of the 150th, under command of Major Smith, were sent to re- enforce the front line, which was held. The 150th lost two men killed, and two officers and eight men wounded. The officers were Lieuts. VanKeuren and Barlow, the former of whom is now captain of one of the Poughkeepsie Transportation Com- pany's boats.
Having failed to prevent the passage of Peach Tree Creek, Hood next endeavored to turn Sher- man's left flank, and for that purpose made furious assaults on the 21st and 22d of July. But his success was only partial and temporary. The at- tempt was repeated, for the last time, on the 28th, but with far more disastrous results to the Confed- erates. Sherman spent some days in investing the defenses of Atlanta, and extending his army by the right flank with a view to reaching the Macon railroad, by which supplies and ammunition for the Confederates reached Atlanta. But owing to the difficulties attending the project with the forces at his command, he resolved to abandon the siege of Atlanta, and strike at the enemy's communications with his whole army. The exe- cution of this movement was commenced on the 25th of August, and the 150th, which had been engaged in the meantime in the trenches before Atlanta, moved back with the 20th corps to Chat- tahoochee, where they entrenched to protect Sher- man's line of communication and hold the railroad
* From the Diary of Gen. A. B. Smith, of Poughkeepsie. Draper, (History of the American Civil War, III., 284, ) says this event trans- pired on the 14th of June.
163
THE WAR OF THE REBELLION, THE 150TH REGIMENT.
bridge across that stream. The subsequent move- ments of Sherman in the development of his plan, but in which the 150th did not directly participate, necessitated the evacuation of Atlanta by the Con- federates on the night of Sept. 1-2, 1864. Before leaving the city, Hood destroyed a vast quantity of military stores, said to have aggregated in value $19,000,000, besides locomotives, cars, machine- shops, store-houses and depots. These explosions were heard by the forces on the Chattahoochee, and a reconnoisance on the 2d revealed the cause. The city was entered by the 150th at 5 P. M., of that day.
Sherman remodeled the works at Atlanta so that a smaller force could defend them. The 150th was among the troops which remained in the city for that object, and furnished a heavy daily detail to work on the fortifications, which covered about six acres in the heart of the city. These duties were varied by occasional foraging expeditions and reconnoisances. Col. Ketcham, who had been de- tailed at the head of a court-martial, left the regi- ment in command of Major Smith on the 15th of October, and returned home to be elected to Con- gress.
Sherman, having received permission from Grant on the 2d of November to execute his plan of marching his army through the Confederate States from Atlanta to the seaboard, at once began prep- arations for that movement, for which he retained four corps, including the 20th, to which the 150th belonged. On the 14th of November his army was grouped about Atlanta, which was thoroughly de- stroyed, with the exception of its churches and houses. Having effectually destroyed his line of communication, and left Gen. Thomas at Nash- ville to watch the movements of the rebel General Hood, he set his army in motion toward the Atlan- tic, living on the country as he went and marking his course by a line of desolation.
The 150th was the first regiment to report at brigade headquarters after the order to march was given, and led the 20th Corps out of Atlanta on the 15th of November. It reached the Savannah, at the crossing of the railroad from Charleston to Savannah, on the 10th of December, having had several sharp skirmishes with the enemy, and, among other acts of destruction, burned on the 26th of November, a very large quantity of bridge timber, which was framed and ready to be put to- gether and designed for the use of Hood's army in its anticipated raid into the Northern States. Dec. 13th Fort McAllister was taken, and commu-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.