USA > New York > Records of the 24th Independent Battery, N. Y. Light Artillery, U. S. V. > Part 9
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The number of his grave is 5,181.
Welch was one of the hardiest men in the Battery. Once or twice before he was taken prisoner, he had been attacked with fever and ague, but under any ordinary endurance he doubtless would have survived many others.
His death was quiet, and somewhat unexpected to us all.
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201. WELLER, JACOB H., Cuylerville .- Enlisted Au- gust 28th, 1862.
Mustered in at Buffalo, August 30th, 1862.
Taken prisoner at Plymouth, April 20th, 1864, and was sent to Andersonville.
202. WETMORE, CHAUNCEY, Hague .- Joined for duty, September 28th, 1861.
Re-enlisted at Plymouth, in January, 1864, and was taken prisoner. He was at Andersonville some time, and was finally removed to Florence, where he died.
Phelan thinks that he died at Andersonville.
203. WHITNEY, HAMILTON S., Albany .- Joined for duty, November 16th, 1861.
Re-enlisted at Plymouth. Was married to Elizabeth Owens, while on his veteran furlough. Taken prisoner at Plymouth. He lived through the imprisonment and was exchanged, December 15th, 1864. He was mustered out with Ferguson, W. Carnahan, and Holman, at Syra- cuse, July 7th, 1865.
Present address, Johnstown, N. Y.
204. WHITNEY, W. A., Wellsville .- Joined for duty, November 21st, 1861.
Re-enlisted in January, 1864, at Plymouth.
Appointed bugler. Transferred to Third New York Artillery, May 25th, 1864.
205. WHITBECK, HENRY, Hamlin .- Joined for duty, October 23d, 1861.
He died in January, 1862, in Washington, of the measles. It was the first death in the organization.
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206. WILLIAMS, OLIVER, Perry .- Enlisted August 26th, 1862.
Mustered in at Buffalo, August 30th, 1862.
Promoted corporal in December, 1862.
Promoted sergeant.
For a short time acted as orderly sergeant.
Was in command of a section of the artillery at the battle of Plymouth. Was taken prisoner at Plymouth, and died at Andersonville Hospital, of intermittent fever, July 24th, 1862. The number of his grave is 3,947.
Williams' enlistment in the Battery was not his first attempt to add his name to those who responded so promptly to the call of their country ; so thoroughly was he convinced of his duty, so firmly fixed in his determi- nation to go, that neither argument, persuasion, nor tears, availed aught against his decision. Dear were the ties that bound him to his home-bright were his future prospects, should he remain ; but what were these, when his duty was clearly demonstrated to his mind, and he saw those who had been his friends and associates from his early childhood, gathering around the standard.
He proved to be a man of worth, in the vocation of a soldier-he was fearless and proficient-his duties were promptly and satisfactorily completed-and as he showed his worth, he was promoted.
His section at the battle of Plymouth did good service, although they were among the first that were captured, or rather overwhelmed. He was sent to Andersonville Hospital from the Stockade, with a squad of sick men ; his friends found him, and from that time until his death, he was well cared for.
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We are aware, from conversations with him a few days prior to his death, that he felt that he would not recover. We believed he would, and we encouraged him to think so ; but intermittent fever is an insiduous disease, and its victim, one day seemingly bright and improving, passes away the next, to the amazement of even the physicians themselves. We believe that Williams was prepared to die, and was resigned to the will of his Heavenly Father.
207. WILLIAMS, THOMAS .- Enlisted October 4th, 1864, at Rochester. Joined at Roanoke Island, November 9th, 1864. Transferred to Third New York Artillery.
208. WINNE, BARNETT V. L., Albany, N. Y .- Enlisted September 7th, 1864. Transferred to Third New York Artillery, May 25th, 1865. Joined for duty at Roanoke, October 17th, 1864.
209. WOOD, EMMETT, Moscow .- Mustered in at Buffalo, August 30th, 1862. Taken prisoner at Plymouth, and died at Andersonville Stockade, of chronic diarrhoea (so said), September 1st, 1864. The number of his grave is 7,581.
With others, Wood at one time endeavored to make his escape. They succeeded in getting away from the hospital, but the flight was discovered in the morning, and the dogs were put on the track. The hounds over- took the party, and Wood had a portion of his ear torn off by them.
He recovered from this after he was brought back, but he was placed in the stockade, and of course he was a marked man after this; consequently he undoubtedly was denied many things that were furnished to others.
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210. WOOLSEY, JOHN .- He writes : "I enlisted in New York City, November 18th, 1861. Was mustered in about the 1st of December, 1861.
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"We were to be armed with 'Congreve Rockets,' and were led to believe they were a very effective weapon. Our commander, Major Lion (in a speech he made to us at Albany), told us that they were used with great effect in the Mexican War, one going a mile out of its way to kill a Mexican. (I have no doubt it struck a mile from the object it was aimed at.) Early in December we were ordered to Washington, where we were encamped about a mile from the Capitol. There we received the long expected 'Rocket Guns.'
" We took them over to the east branch of the Potomac to try them; we expected to see wonders (as we had been told that, with a little practice, a flagstaff could be hit five miles off). An artillery blanket was hung up for a target, about three-fourths of a mile distant. While we were shooting at it, some cold-blooded scamp stole the blanket. The rockets were balkey; like a mule, they would go any way but the right way. That night rocket stock was low in camp. The next day they were returned to the armory, and we received three inch rifled guns.
"One of our officers is worthy of mention : during that winter he used to appear on the parade ground at the morning drill with his head in a woolen . tippet, his pants in his socks, and his toes in a pair of slippers. He would watch the drill, and seeing something wrong, he would rip out a volley of orders, at the same time point- ing a clay pipe at us in such a manner, that if Barnum
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or Dan Rice could have seen and heard him, his fortune would have been made. The name of Rathbone was frequently heard to echo through the camp.
"At the battle of Plymouth, while loading the gun, in order to give the near approaching rebels a last shot, I was hit in the right thigh by a fragment of shell, and a few seconds after was shot through the right arm with a musket ball, breaking it so badly that a part of the lower bone had to be removed, which makes me partly a cripple, and I now receive a pension of eight dollars per month.
" I remained a prisoner at Plymouth about two weeks, when I was sent to Weldon by boat. I was then too weak from fever and inflammation to stir (except my tongue). I was put in a mule wagon, with a darkey on one mule, and started for the Raleigh depot. We had to cross about a dozen switches quartering. I repeatedly invited the darkey, in very strong terms, to drive slowly, but the more I urged him, the louder he sung to the mules, 'Get up there, what I feed you for !' He un- doubtedly enjoyed that ride better, and will forget it sooner than I shall. At Raleigh I had the erysipelas in my arm, and should probably have died but for the at-, tention of friends. In June I was sent to Salisbury ; there were not many prisoners until October, when about 11,000 were sent there. The scenes of that Winter you are probably familiar with. I there met a man named Ainsworth, a brother to Rufus and William. I do not know whether he lived to get home or not.
" On February 22d, 1865, I started for Wilmington to be paroled. Walked from Salisbury to Greensborough
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(fifty miles), on the railroad track ; signed my parole at Goldsborough, March 1st, and marched into our lines at Wilmington, the 2d. Was sent to Parole Camp at An- napolis, where I was sick in the Hospital for a time, When I entered the hospital I put $80 (that I had just received as ration money) in a safe that was kept for the purpose by the surgeon. When I went after it I was told that one of the clerks had run away with $5,000, mine among the rest. I have been unable to learn whether he ever stopped running or not. I did not re- enlist, and my time had been out since November, and I was ordered to Albany, to be discharged. I proceeded there, and after waiting a month, was mustered out May 3d, 1865. Since that time I have been on a farm in Westchester County, New York, until last Fall, when I came to Iowa, and have been teaching school in Cres- cent, Pottawottomie County, this Winter; but I intend . to return to New York in a couple of weeks. I have thus far been unable to find any one that is willing to be the wife of a crippled soldier."
Present address, Bedford, Westchester County, N. Y.
211. WOOLSEY, ETTING, Albany, N. Y .- Enlisted Sep- tember 7th, 1864. Transferred to Third New York Ar- tillery, May 25th, 1865. Joined at Roanoke, October 1st, 1864.
212. WRIGHT, GEORGE G., Hamlin, N. Y .- Joined for duty, November 9th, 1861. Re-enlisted at Plymouth, January 1st, 1864.
Was promoted corporal, and retained this position un-
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til he was mustered out. He was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville. Was paroled for exchange in November, 1864. Joined the Battery again for duty, April 12th, 1865. Was mustered out with the remnant of the Battery, in Company "L," of the Third New York Artillery.
We have heard that his present address is Rochester, N. Y. .
213. YANCER, J. D .- Joined for duty, February 8th, 1864. Reached Plymouth in time to be taken prisoner, and was sent to Andersonville. Mosier writes that- " Yancer died at Andersonville, August 15th, 1864."
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PART
CHAPTER I.
1861.
THE ROCKET BATTALION.
In the local columns of the Wyoming Times, under date of September 27th, 1861, we find the following para- graph :
Meetings and speeches in favor of the war we had supposed . " played out." Action, ACTION, is now the word. All are enlight- ened on the subject of the war, or ought to be.
Monday evening, however, another meeting was held, called by Messrs. Wyckoff, Lee and Page, with a view of obtaining recruits for a company of artillery.
Prof. Atkins was called to the chair ; whereupon Jay E. Lee Esq., stated it was their purpose to organize an artillery company to be attached to G. D. Bailey's regiment, and enlarged at some length upon the advantage of this branch of the service over all others.
He was followed by Harry C. Page, Prof. Atkins, Rev. Mr. Tom- linson, Rev. Joseph R. Page, Judge Gilman, N. P. Currier and Philander Simmons ; after which an opportunity was given to enlist.
The result of this meeting was a response from about fifty men to the call, who pledged themselves to the organization proposed. For some reason, which we are
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unable to explain, only twenty of this number kept their faith. A correspondent, over the nomme de plume of " Drummer," writes to the Times under date of October 29th, 1861 :
Most of your readers are perhaps aware that some fifty indi- viduals signed their names to the roll at Perry, and were expected to go with the company, in addition to those whom we expected to join us from Monroe County. Well, on the morning of our de- parture we could find but twenty persons prepared to go. Never- theless, according to previous announcement, we took the cars at Castile last Friday morning for Buffalo, with the understanding, if we found our Monroe friends on hand and a fair prospect of filling up our company soon, we would be sworn in and organize ; otherwise, we should return.
At Buffalo we met twenty hearty and determined men, and, after looking the ground over, were mustered in. Every man who went with us, except Wyckoff, was sworn in. * * * * * *
We were sorry to lose Mr. Wyckoff, but, as we had so few men, we could not ask for both captain and first lieutenant ; Mr. Wyckoff, therefore, though urged to remain, reluctantly withdrew. " If I can- not bring more than twenty men," said he, " and not half those men care whether I go or not, I shall not stay." That he did not go with us as captain is the fault of those who signed and failed to go. If we had gone to Buffalo with forty men, Mr. W. would have been captain.
Having completed the organization, the company re- mained at the recruiting head-quarters-Fort Porter, Buffalo -until about the middle of November. They then left for Albany with 56 men. While at this post, Major Thomas W. Lion, ex-English army officer, inventor of the wonderful fire-rocket, &c., &c., introduced himself to their notice. He desired to form a battalion, to use this rocket in the field. A consolidation of several squads of recruits, occupying the barracks at Albany, then formed
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THE ROCKET BATTALION. Major-Thomas W. Lion.
Company A. Company B.
Captain-A. Ransom.
Captain-Jay E. Lee. .
1st. Lieut .- H. W. Dodge.
1st Lieut .- L. A. Cady.
2d Lieut .- Samuel Hoddy, Jr. 2d Lieut .- G. W. Graham.
The battalion consisted of 160 men, equally divided between the two companies.
We are, however, only interested in the history of Company B. The non-commissioned officers appointed at that time in this company were :
Mark Andrews, Orderly Serg't. H. C. Page, Q. M. Sergeant.
Wm. W. Crooker, 1st Duty Serg.
Rufus Ainsworth, 3d Duty Serg.
Solon Rowell, 2d Robert Bullock, 4th “
Charles A. Clark, 1st Corporal.
Gustavus Barker, 5th Corporal.
Chas. R. Griffith, 2d
L. J. Sanford, 6th "
Franklin D. Otis, 3d
G. W. Kellogg, 7th
Geo. B. Johnson, 4th
Francis Leonard, 8th
Hoctor C. Martin, Bugler.
L. Newcomb, Bugler.
Albert Richards, Artificer.
In December, the battalion received orders to report in Washington. Leaving Albany, December 7th, they pro- ceeded on the steamer New World down the Hudson to New York. Were detained a day or two at the Park Barracks at New York City, and departed thence by railroad to Washington. There they went into camp on the artillery grounds, east of the Capitol. There were few incidents connected with this trip that would be of sufficient interest to relate. Just before reaching New York a fog enveloped them, and the steamer ran aground, and they were delayed some time. A discovery of some country produce among the freight packages of the
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steamer, furnished the boys with a dessert for their haver- sack dinner. The short stay in New York gave them an opportunity to do some sight seeing, and we judge that one of their number had "seen" a good deal, when he stepped into a millinery store and told the smiling young lady attendant, with his most winning manner, that he "thought he would take a whiskey sour." The young lady assured him that they kept nothing sour, but he would doubtless find it next door. "By George, I thought this was the right church, but I guess I am in the wrong pew," was his remark to himself in sotto voce, as he made a hasty exit.
The Wyoming Times' regular correspondent, "Quar- termaster " (Harry C. Page), writes under date of Janu- ary 6, 1862 :
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I said we left Albany, December 7th. In New York we were en- tertained at the Park Barracks, where we all slept for the first time, I doubt not, with the "gates open." A more vile and miserable den men cannot be packed into. It is the "Elysium of Loaferdom." I wonder if there will be any improvement under the new Mayor. Fortunately our stay in New York was brief. [The condition of Park Barracks was directly the reverse of this description in the Fall of 1862 .- ED.] On the evening of the 9th, we took the cars for Philadelphia, where, at midnight, we partook of a splendid repast, prepared by the ladies of that hospitable city, who, we were informed, had in like manner ap- peased the appetites of 100,000 soldiers since the war began. Upon the arrival of a train bringing troops a gun is fired, and whatever be the hour, day or night, a committee of ladies repair from their dwell- ings to the room prepared for that purpose, to serve out warm coffee and other food to the soldiers. There we took the cars for Baltimore, and few of us, as we marched through the streets of that city, but thought, I fancy, how different was our reception from that of the
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Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, which, on the 19th of April last, on its way to defend the capital of the nation, was assaulted by an infu- riated and misguided populace.
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We reached Washington, December 10th. * * * *
We copy from the Brockport Republican a brief sketch, from the pen of Captain Lee, of this portion of their trip :
. The contrast between our welcome in Baltimore and that of some' of the first troops that passed through there was most striking ; in- deed, our journey all through Maryland was a complete ovation. The women and children, of all classes and descriptions, hurrahed, waved flags, handkerchiefs and petticoats. A few in Baltimore looked savage and muttered.
It seemed strange to me that the citizens of Philadelphia and Baltimore should pay us so much attention. They greeted us as warmly and entertained us as generously, as though we were the first soldiers who had passed through their cities, and as though we were the sole saviors of the country.
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CHAPTER II. 1862.
THE ROCKET.
It was a "fizzle " -- yet it was an invention, or claimed to be one. It had a man of brass in Major Lion, to place it before the Secretary of War and the Chief of Artillery-so plausible was the theory, that the ex-' pense of sustaining the Battalion, as well as many other expenses were incurred, to give it a practical test. In the editorial of the Wyoming Times, December 20, 1861, we find the following, probably from the pen of T. S. Gillet, who was then in the office of Secretary of State, at Albany :
Various statements have appeared in the papers relative to the " Rocket Gun, " and none precisely alike, yet all representing this arm of the service as a most terrible one. It has never been used on this Continent, and experienced artillerists have never seen it. The papers and Government are only in the secret. Its principal purpose appears to be to throw forward a flame of fire sufficiently large to frighten horses and thus throw the enemy's cavalry into confusion. Of course, the battalion must have the right of the advancing army, and take their chances of having their 'Rockets' silenced by the picked riflemen of the opposing forces.
The "rocket" gun is represented as being a breech-loading field piece, capable of discharging bombs, balls and percussion shot as well as rockets. The rockets are to be used for firing buildings, behind which 10
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the enemy may seek shelter, or for removing by fire any obstacle thrown out to retard the advancement of the troops. The expansive properties of the rocket are wonderful, creating a ball of fire fifteen feet in diameter, which can be thrown by this breech-loading projectile 5,300 yards, or over three miles !
It is stated that the Government has purchased the exclusive right of manufacturing this terrible instrument of destruction, and is soon to introduce it to the rebels.
" Quartermaster " furnishes the Wyoming Times, of date January 24th, 1862, a more elaborate description of these instruments of war. He says :
I will give you an imperfect description of the missile and its use-
The rockets which I have seen, vary from twelve to twenty in- ches in length, and from two to three inches in diameter. The head is conical and solid iron, from two to three inches in length, according to the size of the rocket. The remaining portion of the rocket is a hollow iron tube, filled with a highly inflammable compound, which being ignited in the rear or tail of the rocket by a fuse, gives the weapon its impetus.
The composition of this inflammable substance is a Government secret.
To form some idea of the noise and force which they made when fired, you may multiply the noise and fury of a large Fourth of July rocket by one hundred. We have made but one experiment with them since coming here, and that was at the arsenal, and more for the purpose of testing some conductors or tubes from which to fire them, than the rockets themselves.
The tubes we used were of two patterns, one of drawn iron with a bore of three inches, and the other by uniting three three-quarter inch rods or wires, spirally, fastened by strong collars or bands, leav- ing a bore or tunnel of about four or five inches. Both were placed on a stand somewhat similar to a theodilite stand. The rockets used were old and not very perfect, yet we executed some very satisfactory firing. The results from the wire tubes were most satisfactory. Two three-inch rockets fired from the latter, went magnificently. The
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tube was pointed across the river (Potomac), diagonally, at an elevation of nearly 45°. Away went the fire spitter, out of sight, and probably found a grave in the " sacred soil." Turning the tube down the river, at the same elevation, a second was fired, it went beautifully -direct as the path of a bullet-and buried itself in the Potomac, at a distance of more than three miles. That was the estimate of General Barry, Major Ramsey, and others familiar with the locality. The rockets we are to have for active service are a decided improve- ment on those we used, which I have described.
The head, instead of being solid, will be hollow and filled with mus- ket balls and powder and exploded by a time fuse, in all respects similar to a "grapnel" or "spherical case " shot. The advantages from that improvement are palpable. The head will be heavier (on account of being filled with lead,) which will materially add to the direct- ness of the line of flight and to the distance. Then by being fired by a time fuse, it can be exploded at any time or place, scattering a storm of bullets and fragments around. Another improvement is this : the tubes or case containing the combustible material is to be per- forated by tangential, spiral holes, from which the fire will be thrown with great force and fury, giving a whirling motion to the missile, which as you see, will also assist in giving directness and distance to its flight as well as scattering fire and destruction on every side.
Our organization is the same as light artillery. We shall have gun carriages and limbers, followed by caissons. But instead of mounting one gun on a carriage, we shall mount four rocket tubes. Our company will work four carriages and its guns or tubes. Just think of us drawn up in battery before a regiment of cavalry or infantry. At one volley we could send into their midst sixteen rockets, each rocket spitting fire, fury and destruction on every side, and carrying in its forehead seventy-four bullets, ready to burst from their shell at just the desired point, and scatter death in every direction.
If all this succeeds in the field, as it is believed it will, our weapon will be terrible in its execution, and we a terror to traitors.
The " Rocket guns," after a long delay of nearly four months, were turned over from the hands of the inventor and contractors to the battalion. " Quartermaster " writes, March 31, 1862 ;
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We have been encamped here nearly four months, and have just got our guns. The principal cause of the delay arose from the fact of the guns being of a peculiar construction, and we were therefore obliged to wait for their manufacture. They have at length arrived.
The carriages are lighter than those of light artillery. The tube is made of wrought iron, and is eight feet in length, with a bore of two and a quarter inches. The tube is perforated with holes about one inch in diameter, the entire length, and about two inches apart.
The object of the holes is to permit the flame to escape while the rocket is passing through the tube, which might otherwise be corroded. We are immediately to commence experimenting with the guns. * * Nothing can much longer delay us, unless it is the scarcity of horses.
A week later, he writes :
I wrote you, one. week ago, that we had received our rocket guns. Since then we have had our horses. Recent experiments with the rocket rendered certain their perfect success and immense power as a weapon of warfare, so you may soon expect to hear from us on the field of battle.
May 12th, 1862, he writes, in transports off New Berne :
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