USA > New York > History of the One hundredth regiment of New York state volunteers > Part 23
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BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL CALVIN N. OTIS, AND LIEUTENANT COLONEL ONE HUNDREDTH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS.
Col. Otis was born in Onondaga county, New York, June 2311. 1814. He lost his father at the early age of nine years. He emi- grated to Ohio in 1822. His education was that of the common school, and he attended not more than three months in a year.
The Colonel learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, which prepared him for the profession of an architect and designer. In 1846 he came to Buffalo and established himself, and succeeded as an architect and builder. Deeply interested and filled with a love for the beautiful in art, he applied himself, with steady study and general reading, to acquire what knowledge is requisite to make a successful and reputable designer. His work lately published illus. trates the thoughtful student and his utilitarian method of search- ing the history of the past to gain helps for the successful prose- cution of so popular a profession as an architect at the present time.
The breaking out of the great civil war found him, like many others, engaged in a successful business. Ile applied to Governer Morgan to raise a corps of engineers, but learned that a sufficient number of engineers were to attend each regiment, and hence a distinct body of engineers was not needed. This was in May, 1:1. Then it was understood that two companies of engineers were to be attached to each brigade, and Col. Otis was to have the charge of those companies, in connection with the Eagle Brigade. Thi- order was also revoked, and then Gen. Seroggs gave the majority of the One Hundredth to Col. Otis, which connected him with its in- terests till his resignation.
Col. Otis was commissioned major, February 7th, 1862, and be- came an active spirit, with the interests of the regiment deeply fixed in his thoughts. The record of his services is given fully in the body of the work. The Peninsula campaign constituted the larger share of the Colonel's military experience. At Fair Oaks, Bottom's Bridge, and wherever Naglee's rear guard was, there was the One Hundredth and Maj. Otis, buildling redoubts and defend- ing bridges, which saved MeClellan's army.
The death of Col. Brown left Lieut. Col. Staunton and Otis to perform the duties usually imposed upon a full staff of field ofa-
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cers. Gen. Otis was overtaxed, and felt heavily the imposition in the retreat to the James river, Harrison's Landing and Gloucester Point. The arrival of Col. Dandy as commander of the regiment, and resignation of Lieut. Col. Staunton, cansed the promotion of Gen. Otis, from major to lieutenant colonel. The commission was dated October 21st, 1862, with rank from October 14th, 1862. The senior captain of the line, D. D. Nash, was promoted to the majority, date and rank of commission same as that of Col. Otis. Gen. Otis was active in the construction of camp, and in the com- mand of working parties upon the fortifications at Yorktown. He commanded the regiment during our transfer to North Carolina, and most of the time of its stay at Carolina City. Gen. Otis con- tinued with the regiment at St. Helena, S. C., on board trans- port, and the landing on Cole's island. He was in command on the night of the 5th of April, when Folly island was taken, and did regular service till his resignation and discharge, June 20th, 1863. Each soldier felt that they had lost a real friend, one whose every act was an intent for the highest good of every man in the regiment. Gen. Otis was breveted brigadier general for meri- torions service. He returned to Buffalo, completed and brought out a valuable and comprehensive work on " Art," and has lately pur- chased a residence in Cuba, in this State, where, with an aged mother and a sister he is living, having done what he could for his country in her hour of peril, besides contributing valuable truths for the members of his profession.
MAJOR DANIEL D. NASII.
Maj. Daniel D. Nash was the son of John F. Nash, youngest son of the Rev. Daniel Nash, known as Father Nash, of Cooperstown, Otsego county, N. Y. He was born April 16th, 1839, in Coopers- town, N. Y. He lost his parents at the early age of two years, and was adopted by his uncle, Dr. Daniel Nash, then a resi- dent. of Springville, Erie county, where the Major lived till 1856. Having attended the Springville Academy for eight years, he left and continued his studies at Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, then and now under the able management of President Joseph E.
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King, where he remained two years. Then the Major went to Iowa, and from there to the then territory of Nebraska. After : stay of two years, employed in teaching, surveying, farming and locating land, he returned, on account of the increasing disability of his parents, to Springville, and entered the law office of Judge Morris Fosdick, where he remained until the breaking out of the rebellion.
He recruited the first company toward the Eagle Brigade. which was afterward known as Co. " A," of the One Hundredth Regiment. His success gave the first emotions of cheer to Gen. Seroggs, after his issues of authority to recruit to Maj. Nash and others. The popularity of Maj. Nash among his friends and asso- ciates, in the town of Springville and vicinity, enabled him to fill at once his company, and report to Gen. Seroggs, in Buffalo, for orders. Hence Maj. Nash became the ranking officer of the line. Though young in years, his tall and commanding form gave evi- dence of strength and endurance, the essential requisites of a soldier. His experience on the Peninsula was his first tuition as a soldier. He, too, went into that terrible fight of the 31st of May, at Fair Oaks, and was wounded through the arm, sending him to the hospital and at home for many months. Col. Brown having been slain, and Lient. Col. Staunton resigned, promotions were in order. Capt. Nash was commissioned major, October 21st, 1862, with rank from October 14th, 1862, vice Major C. N. Otis, promoted to lieutenant colonel. Maj. Nash rejoined the regiment at Gilou- cester Point, Va. At Carolina City, Hilton Head, St. Helena, Cole's and Folly islands, Maj. Nash was ever ready to perform his share of duty. Subsequent to the resignation of Col. Otis, in June, the duties of the Major were increased. The building of batteries at the north end of Folly, under Col. Dandy, and the preparations for the assault of Morris island, the assault and the charge on Battery Wagner, these added to the labors of Maj. Nash daily. In the charge on Wagner he was wounded through the leg, after the most determined efforts to take and hold the parapets of that fiercely defended work. With many other persistent and courageous ofli- cers he fell. but was borne away and saved from the hands of the enemy, and a life in a southern prison. After months of suffering he came to the regiment in November, while encamped on the south end of Morris island. During the absence of Col. Dandy, at Buffalo, on recruiting service, Maj. Nash was in command, the
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only field officer of the regiment. The interests of the regiment were well subserved. Though Capt. L. S. Payne had been recom- mended as lieutenant colonel of the regiment, then a prisoner at Columbia, S. C., yet it was well known that the chivalrous Captain would not have allowed himself to supplant the next ranking offi- cer in the field, and that Maj. Nash would have had his rightful position, due him from service and wounds.
At Gloucester Point, Va., Col. Dandy assumed command, and Maj. Nash went into the fight at Walthall Junction, for which he was again complimented by the colonel commanding. In the struggles on the Bermuda front, in that storm of iron hail at Drury's Bluff, in the taking of Deep Bottom, the battles of Deep Run, Fussill's Mills, and the month's siege before Petersburg, where Maj. Nash was in command of the regiment, as well as in the taking of the first line of works before Richmond, September 29th, and the assault of the rebels on the morning of October 7th, on the Newmarket road; in all these noted and historical places Maj. Nash was ever present, and active in the performance of duty. Full particulars of his services are noted in their order throughout this work. Wonderful it always seemed, that his large figure, so conspicuous as a target for the enemy, was not laid low in death, while so many less prominent were taken as the victims of san- guinary war.
Maj. Nash was honorably discharged, October 21st, 1864, after a service of over three years, with the record of a soldier who had served his country well, and sprinkled its altar with his blood. Subsequent to his discharge he came to Buffalo, and completed a course of study at law, was admitted to practice, and is now assist- ant district attorney of Erie county, which duty he is said to per- form with ability and success.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL LEWIS S. PAYNE,
THE SCOUT OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH REGIMENT.
Col. Payue was born in the town of Riga, Monroe county, N. Y., in 1819. His home is in Tonawanda, town of Wheatland,
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Niagara county, N. Y. As boy and man he was successful in business. As the highest civil officer of the town in which he resides, and as collector of tolls, and county clerk of the county, Col. Payne ever illustrated the shrewd and practical civilian.
In the fall of 1860 he raised a company of volunteers, which formed a part of the One Hundredth Regiment, known as Co. " D." With the regiment and his company he went through the Penin- sula campaign, participating in all the battles and enduring all the privations incident to that noted campaign. His peculiar qualifi- cations as scout began to be known, and his services were occasion- ally called into requisition before leaving Gloucester Point, Va .. for the South, where full play was offered for his remarkable characteristic.
In the advance of the One Hundredth Regiment upon Cole's island, Col. Payne began his " outside lite," as the medium of know- ledge between the enemy and our forces. It was from this point that he made his many bold and daring expeditions, learning the whole nature of the country, the positions, situation and strength of the enemy in their various localities and stations. On the nights of the 5th and 6th of April, 1863, he led the advance, as scout, up Folly island, under Gen. Seymour, to support the attack of Ad- miral Dupont on Fort Sumter, made with his iron monitors on the 7th of April, 1863. On the 10th of July he piloted and conducted our forces to the point of attack, and was first in the engagement. They carried and took possession of the south end of Morris is- land, and soon after he, with his company, succeeded in reaching and burning the steamer Manigault, in Charleston harbor, engaged in supplying Sumter, Moultrie, Battery Wagner and Cummings' Point.
Previous to the disposition of the necessary forces for an as- sault upon Morris island, Col. Payne had given his opinion of the number of rebel troops upon the island. Gens. Gilmore, Strong and Seymour could not credit his statement. As proof, he visited the island, counted their tents, leaving the estimate to the general in command. From this, more than a thousand men were added to the assaulting force. Col. Payne's statements thereafter were taken as facts, as near as facts could be obtained. Gen. Gilmore, over his signature, gave Col. Payne power to call for all the men he needed and turned over to him the whole picket line of ten miles, extending the length of Folly and Morris islands. Oficer-
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that outranked him were chagrined to learn that all reports were to be made to him, and not to Gen. Gilmore's headquarters. Capt. Payne and Co. " D" were the advanced guard, living in boats in the marshes, between the opposing armies.
On the night of the 3d of August, 1863, while engaged in inter- cepting communications of the enemy with Fort Sumter and other points, he was attacked by a superior force, and, after a most des- perate engagement, he was wounded and take a prisoner. He was confined in Queen Street Hospital, Charleston, until health per- mitted his removal to Columbia, where he was kept in close con- finement until the 14th of February, 1865, when he was, with others, moved North for exchange. On the 5th of March, 1865, he was exchanged, reaching home on the 1st of April, after an ab- sence of three years and three months.
The annexed commendatory notices in the New South, printed at Hilton Head, S. C., New York Tribune and other sources, will convey to the reader some little idea of the valuable services rendered the army by Col. Payne previous to his capture. The New South said after his capture :
"The loss of Capt. Payne at any time would be a serious one, but at this juneture it is greatly to be regretted.
"He was a brave. skillful and 'shrewd officer, and the very best scont in the department. A narrative of all the dangerous scouts he has been on while his regiment has been in this State would fill a volame. We hope if alive he will soon be exchanged.
"It appears Capt. Payne was recommended for promotion to lientenant colonel by Gen. Gilmore, previous to his capture, but entirely unknown to him. Lient. Newell, his first lieutenant, was afterward promoted to captain in his place. and an effort was made to get Capt. Payne mustered in, in his absence, in order to give place to Lient. Newell in his own company. The following is Gen. Terry's indorsement of the application :
'HEADQUARTERS U. S. FORCE .. 1 ' MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., November 27. 19%
. Respectfully forwarded, with the suggestion that an order might be ob- taine'l from the War Department to mister Cpt. L. S. Parne as Hent ont colonel, notwithstanding his absence. Cipt. Payne's chirirter as au o. and his valuable services, entitle him to the promotion which he has receive l. and to any indulgence which can be shown him.
A. II. TERRY, ' Brig. Gen. Commanding.'"
" Extract from Col. G. B. Danke's alles and report before the Board of Tra le, of Buffalo, published in the Butalso Commente 1& Fier, January 4th, 1:01:
. From North Carolina the regiment (One Hundredth New York Volunteers. Col. G. B. Dandy) proceeded to St. Helena islaud. S. C., and oa the ted of
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March I was to proceed with it and seize Cole's island. preliminary to the re- cent operations before Charlesten. Here we remained eleven days witte 41 support, and in sight of the enemy's pickets. and it is appropriate at this i'ne that I should mention the valuable services of Capt. Payre, who at great risk. . went out daily with a few of his men and always brought back valuable in for- mation of the nature of country and the position and force of the enemy's oul- posts. I was by this means enabled to add to the charts furnished by the navy, and to give valuable information to the general. who came up with re-intole- ments and succeeded me in command." "
"Extract from a letter of Chaplain Linn, of the One Hundredth Regiment New York Volunteers, to the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, dated Morris island, August 1st, 1863, and published :
'His (Capt. Payne's) services being so valuable. Gen. Gilmore has retained him and his company for >perial duty since our being on this island. and here let me say that a greater part of our success in taking Morris island was own _ to the very valuable information which he was able to give the general com- manding in regard to the position. force. ete .. of the enemy.'"
" How well Capt. Payne performed his duty can be seen by an extract from a report of Gen. Vogdes, to headquarters, who was in command on Folly island previons to the arrival of Gen. Gilmore:
'During my period of command I have been greatly assisted by Capt. Payne. One Hundredth New York Volunteers. in collecting very valuable information as to the enemy's position. etc .. and I take great pleasure in recommending him to the favorable consideration of the general commanding."
"In a letter to the Washington Chronicle. dated Morris isiand, Angust 5th, 1863, after giving an account of his capture, etc., it then snys :
. Capt. Payne's loss is deeply felt. He was one of the most valuable men in the Department (of the South) as a scout.'"
"The following is copied frem a rebel paper, the Charleston Mercury, while Capt. Payne was a prisoner in Queen Street Hospital. Charleston, and was the cause of his being placed in close confinement, and not exchanged :
.AN IMPORTANT CAPTURE .- It seems that the Capt. Payne, who with his boat's crew was captured on Tuesday night, is a scout of some note and dash among the enemy.'
"The New York Herald'& correspondent thus notices his services :
' It is not improper now to mention the distinguished services of one of the most skillful scouts our army allords. Capt. I. S. Payne, of the One Hundredth New York Volunteers, sconted all around Morris island and landed in -evend places. He seems to have a faculty of knowing just where all the enens 's picket- and troops are: his life is evidently charmed, as he has been fired on many times at very short range. He has command of all our picket lines.'"
"Extract from a letter written to, and published in the New York Tribune. dated at Morris island. S. C .. August 13th, 143:
'In my last I mentioned the capture of Capt. Payne. a valuable scont. who through this campaign has been of grent service to Gen. Gihnore. in obtaining accurate information of the enemy's movements. The loss of Cant. Payne at any time would have been a serious one, but at this time it is almost irene able. He was a brave, skillend and stirred ochver, and the very best scout in This te. partne. n. Alarutive of all the dangerous scout she has been on in this side would till a volume."
Did space permit, we could add Inngely to the favorable notiers of Col. Payne, but from the matter here presented the people of
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Erie county and Western New York can form some little knowl- edge of the One Hundredth Regiment and its extraordinary ser- vices, through its representative, the fearless and intrepid Col. Lewis S. Payne.
BREVET COLONEL WARREN GRANGER, JR.
Lieut. Col. Granger was born on the 19th of January, 1843, in the city of Buffalo, Erie county, State of New York. He received the greater part of his education at the school of the Rev. J. H. Brayton, Painesville, O. He returned to Buffalo, and at the age of seventeen commenced the study of surveying, under the instruc- tion of Peter Emslie, then city surveyor. He remained in his office until the commencement of the organization of the One Hundredth Regiment. Col. Granger was commissioned second lieutenant, February 7th, 1862. Young, ardent and patriotic, he entered into the spirit and detail of military with a resolution to master, as far as opportunity offered, the necessary knowledge for instant and active service. He endured with remarkable success the sufferings of the Peninsula campaign, and went into the fight at Seven Pines with an enthusiasm born of devotion to the right and opposition to the wrong.
The untimely death of Lieut. Wilkeson, and the absence and subsequent resignation of Capt. Henshaw, left the company to the care of the youthful, though efficient lieutenant. He was pro- moted to first lieutenant. June 20th, 1862, and to captain, August 13th, 1862, being the youngest appointment to a captaincy from the State. With a largely recruited company he successfully held command to Carolina City, N. C., to St. Helena, Cole's, Folly and Morris islands, where on the eve of the 18th of July, on Morris is- · land, with the regiment, he went into the charge on Wagner, was wounded and sent to Beaufort, thenee North to Riker's island in command of recruits, their reception and transportation to ditfer- ent departments of the army, where he remained till the following June, leaving the company for nearly a year in the charge of Lieut. Stowits, Lieut. Sheffer having resigned. June 21st, made the charge on the Grover House, driving the rebels from the position, for which he was complimented; and subsequently, in July, made 17*
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another charge, an attempt to take and hold the Phillips house, in advance of the Grover House, both times accompanied by Lient. Stowits, and on each occasion with but slight loss. August 14th, after the charge on the four-gun battery, near Deep Bottom, Col. Granger was detailed to haul away and secure the guns, which was done during a severe rain storm, with much labor and exposure.
August 16th, with the regiment, he went into the charge on the enemy's right at Fussill's Mills, and was taken prisoner, suffering with a varied experience the routine of southern barbarity and wickedness. He was exchanged, commissioned as lieutenant colonel, May 11th, 1865, and joined the regiment as its commander at Richmond, the last of May, and continued with it until its mus- ter out, the last of August. When at Albany he was breveted colonel for gallantry and honorable service during the war.
At the present time he is a resident of St. Paul, Minn., engaged in trade, infused with that same spirit of enterprizing zeal which ever characterized him as an officer and soldier in the service of his country.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHARLES E. WALBRIDGE.
Lieut. Col. Walbridge is the son of the late George B. Walbridge. a well known merchant and forwarder of this city, who died in 1852. Col. Walbridge joined the One Hundredth Regiment at its organization, in September, 1861, as second lieutenant of Co. " II." On the 17th of May, 1862, while the regiment was at New Kent Court House, on its march up the Peninsula, he was detailed as act- ing regimental quartermaster, and continued on this duty until taken sick at Harrison's Landing, in August, when he was sent to hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland. On his return to the regi- ment, in October, he assumed command of the company. Capt. Dye being absent on recruiting service at Buffalo. He was com- missioned first lieutenant, December 10, 1862. While the regi- ment camped at Gloucester Point, and when on picket. Lient Walbridge had correspondence with a Union man without the line : anıl across Sara's creek, who desired to come within the lines and go North. Col. Davis, in command of the post, after Lieut. Wal- bridge, with private Bishop, had a second interview, detailed
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two companies of the One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers to accompany and guard the man, family and effects, into the Union camp, from which he went North rejoicing. Lieut. Walbridge managed the affair with secrecy and success.
When the regiment moved to North Carolina and was encamped at Carolina City, Lieut. Walbridge was detailed as acting quarter- master of the One Hundredth, by Lient. Col. Otis, then in com- mand; but in a few days afterward was detailed as brigade quartermaster on the staff of W. W. II. Davis, colonel command- ing brigade, and served in that capacity until the One Hundredth led off in the advance on Charleston, when he was relieved at his own request, and again assumed command of his company, having been commissioned captain with rank from February 26th, 1863. Co. "H," of which he was in command, was the advance picket on the evening of the 6th of April, and held it till after the bombard- ment of Sumter, on the ith of April, 1863. In June, while the regiment was encamped on the south end of Folly island, he was detailed as chief quartermaster of the district of the Stono by Gen. Vogdes, commanding the forces on Folly island, and never atter joined his company. In November, 1864, he was commissioned as assistant quartermaster of volunteers, with the rank of captain. After nearly a year's service on Folly island, during the assault on Morris island, charges and siege of Wagner, taking of both Wag- ner and Gregg, and occupation of Morris island, and rebuildling of the forts and construction of additional works, all of which was accomplished by the aid of material furnished by Capt. Walbridge as quartermaster in charge of transportation and supplies for the army of operation on Morris island, he joined Gen. Seymour in Florida, in February, 1865, and acted as quartermaster of that district until the movement of the Tenth Army Corps to Virginia, when he was ordered to Gloucester Point to take charge of the disembarkation, and subsequent re-embarkation of the corps in the expedition under Gen. Butier. After the movement up the James, and the landing of the troops, he was assigned to duty as depot quartermaster of the Army of the James, and in this capa- city had control of the depot at Bermuda Hundred for nearly a year. January 1st, 1865, he was breveted major. In March he was or- dered to report to Maj. Gen. Terry, in North Carolina, and was assigned to duty as chief quartermaster of the Truth Army Corps. with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Remained on this duty until
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the corps organizations were dissolved, after the expiration of the war, and resigned October 1st, 1865. Perhaps we could not con- vey a clear idea to a civilian of the arduous and incessant duties of quartermaster at the various points mentioned, but to the experi- enced soldier there is no necessity of explanation.
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